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Chapter 207 Part 1

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Translator: “Hakou”                             Editor: “Weasalopes”

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Winter was approaching the royal capital
The sun was setting surprisingly early. It is almost mid-afternoon now, but it will be dark in a couple of hours.
Tauro’s house, located on the northern edge of downtown. The shadows of the tree in the forest-like garden on the roof had already begun to grow long.

(It came back to its former length)

In the center of the pond, a turtle was mumbling to itself under the shade of the tree. The turtle was about 20 centimeters long, and its eyes were fixed on its own tail.
After moving it from side to side, it slapped its tail on the surface of the water.

(It’s completely healed)

It didn’t feel any flaws.

(All the scratches on the shell are also gone)

It turned its head back to the front and submerged itself under the water up to its eyes. Then it thought about its late friend.
The human sorcerer who it allowed to live on its back. He was a man who had mastered all kinds of high level magic and was said to be the best magician in the world at the time.
It wondered if he could have healed its wounds like this.

(It would’ve been difficult)

He has never tried it. It never asked for treatment, and its friend had never offered to do it either.
It had even forgotten that it had a scar. It must be not surprising that it didn’t notice it.

(His magic didn’t emit light)

When the Lord of this land healed him, his entire body was enveloped in a red light. It is a sign that it was magic beyond high rank.
Its size was only about 20 centimeters long when it was here, but its original size was around 200 meters. It would be impossible to erase the scars on its entire body with ordinary magic power.

(Fumu)

Its late friend has made friends with the humanoid creatures that lived in the forest and lent them his strength.
He loved the Spirit Forest, and his hobbies were taking a stroll and reading. And when he reached the end of his life, he was buried by the spirit lake.
It had no intention of being a grave keeper. But since it had nowhere else to go, it stayed at that lake.

(Shouldn’t it be fine now?)

Looking back at it, it was a long time ago. If it were a human race, it would have taken more than a dozen generations.
It has places it wants to go and food it wants to eat, unlike back then. It also has people it wants to talk to.

(How ironic)

The things that you want will only increase as your remaining life becomes shorter. The thought of this made it shrug its shoulders slightly.
But that’s only when it looked at it from the perspective of its own species. Compared to the human race, it still had a long life ahead of it.

(Now then, I guess I should find the head of the kin)

In order to live the rest of his life the way he wanted, he swam out to the medicinal tree.

***

I finished my shopping and returned home. I bought some confectioneries, coffee beans, and tea leaves.
I grind the beans and make a coffee. The tool I used was a siphon.
But it’s not a simple flask attached to the top and bottom. It’s made of a curved glass tube that looks like it would be very hard to wash.

「Ignite」

I put my hand on the magic circle in the kitchen and chanted. I’m not a magician, but I still can use magic tools.

「Well, I’ve been here for almost a year now」

If it were a high school student, it is about the same period of time that they can study abroad and come back fluent in English. It shows how much I’ve grown.

「Oh, it’s boiling already. It’s fast as always」

This is actually not a tool that should be used for making coffee. It is used by pharmacists to make potions.
As I call myself a pharmacist, I need at least one essential tool. That’s why I bought it instead of interior decoration.

「Still, what did they mean when they said it tastes better when brewed with this thing? I wonder if brewer for commercial use has a different flavor」

It might be because it could keep the aroma and richness without letting it escape. By the way, I also use this to brew my tea.
To add to that, it’s easier to clean than it looks. As expected a tool made for work, it’s made with consideration for easy maintenance.

「….What a nice fragrance」

I enjoyed black coffee while looking at the garden forest.
Then I received a call from the head of my kin, the one in charge of managing the garden forest.

「What is it?」

I replied while smelling the fragrance under my chin. Our bond is so deep that even if our voices can’t reach each other at this distance, we can still have a conversation.

「You want me to come to the garden pond? All right, but let me finish my drink first」

After a short while, I went outside. My family members were already there to greet me.
As I was told, I put Imosuke on my shoulder and walked through the garden forest with Dangorou leading the way.
Neither of the two animals wore their eye patch or spine armor today.
I thought they might have gotten bored with it, but I guess not. It seems that Imosuke and Dangorou have their own time, place, and occasion to wear it.

「Zaratan wants to be one of my familiars?」

Imosuke nodded.
I had invited him once before, but he was hesitating. It seems he had changed his mind.

「As expected, helping it to heal his injury the other day must have helped him come to a decision, huh」

His tattered tail and scarred shell, which I healed with a B-rank cure injury magic.

「What? He understands how great I am, you say?」

As expected of the head of my kin, his talk was very entertaining.
I was flattered, and I laughed pleasantly.

「You sure get it don’t you Imosuke-kun? You really have good eyes on you」

While we were enjoying such conversations, we arrived at the edge of the pond. Zaratan was already waiting on the shore.
I lowered Imosuke to the ground and asked him.

「When one’s become a member of our family, I will be able to talk to them directly, right?」

The caterpillar shakes its head up and down. It is said that once the mental path is connected, it will make it easier to communicate.
I squatted down and called out to the turtle.

「Um, I take it you’re fine being one of our family, right?」

After Imosuke’s interpretation, the turtle nodded his head. I held out the pinky finger of my right hand and continued to speak.

「Best regards from now on too, Zaratan」

Zaratan put out one of his paws and touched the tip of my pinky finger. I could somehow sense that he says, “Likewise”.

「Eh? That’s it? He already became our family member?」

Imosuke said that the contract was now complete.
It was pretty simple, but when I think about it, it was the same with Dangorou. I think all I did was say, 『I accept you as my family』.

「Well, since we’re all here, why don’t we all have a chat?」

I’m sitting on the ground, with Imosuke and Dangorou on my lap. While Zaratan remains at the shore in front of me.
We exchange idle talk about the garden forest. This will help deepen our interaction and spiritual path.
As expected of a powerful spirit beast. We are soon able to have somewhat proper conversations.

「Hm? What is it?」

I sensed that Zaratan wanted to ask me something, so I told him not to be reserved.
The turtle stared straight at me from below.

『What is a skewering whirlwind?』

Silence filled the air around us. A winter wind blew through the garden forest, lightly blowing up the fallen leaves.
I couldn’t immediately understand what he was asking me.

「….How did you know that?」

A pilot of the kingdom’s knight order and a member of the Adult Gourmet Club. I asked him back as the face of the slightly unattractive perverted macho floated in my mind.
Where in the world was the connection between Zaratan and Corneal?
The answer soon came from a different direction.

『Skewering whirlwind!』

『Skewering whirlwind!』

Imosuke and Dangorou moves while saying this.
They seem to have reacted to the words 『Skewering whirlwind』 and are starting to chase each other between me and Zaratan.
There is no doubt that Zaratan knows about this because of these two guys.

(How the hell am I supposed to explain this?)

They must be trying to catch each other’s butt, the two animals formed a circle on the ground. As I stared at them, my thoughts wandered.

「It’s my best friend’s nickname, and it’s also the name of his special move」

I turned my gaze back at the turtle and answered honestly.
Zaratan took his gaze off of me and shifted it to the Imosuke and Dangorou who were still moving around.

『Special move…』

It seems like he was pondering something.

『Reverse rotation!』

A fifth instar larva of a swallowtail butterfly and a dung beetle, both of them then turning to move counterclockwise. Both of them were slow, so they didn’t make much of a circle.
In the end, there were no more questions from Zaratan.
Like this, I welcomed a new family member.

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