Heibon na Watashi wa Tonikaku Hibon - Heibon 19. Monster Taming

Three days after registering as a contractor, I went to a forest in order to finish my first job. The forest was about one day’s ride away on a horseback from the royal capital.

The contract was to collect herbs. The contract level was D.

The contracts were divided based on their level of difficulty, ranging from E to S.

Rey-sama, Tonic-san, and Emyu-san had to attend the final council to prepare for the soon-approaching Demon Lord Army, so this time, Av will come with me instead.

Incidentally, Rey-sama didn’t allow me to ride a horse on my own. I spent a day and a half on a carriage to the nearby village and walked from there.

「………hey, Av」

「Yes?」

While I harvest the requested herbs, I shifted my attention to Av who was accompanying me from behind.

Specifically, the wolf that had following him and the two-headed crow on the wolf’s back.

「Is it okay for these guys to leave the Beast Fang Forest? This isn’t exactly their territories, isn’t it?」

「The forest is not their territories anymore」

「W-what do you mean with “anymore”?」

「 These guys are your tamed beasts, after all」

「Tamed?」

「You named these guys, did you not? Therefore, they now answer to you. From then on, they belongs to you」

「Just from naming them?」

「That’s the way of things for these monsters」

「Oh no… I didn’t know about it. I didn’t mean… I didn’t want them to obey me like that…」

I didn’t name them because I wanted them to obey me.

These two were more friendly compared with the other monster. They spent quite some time together with me, so Emyu-san asked if they had a name.

Hearing that, I was swept by the mood and named them on the spot.

Up until then, the relationship between them and I were just “Neighbors living in the same area”. Besides, they were stronger and their population greatly outnumbered me. All I could do was to prevent them from turning me into dinner. The tamer monsters were the ones who stayed with me in the hut.

But by naming them, they became a part of my family, whether they were humans or not. I couldn’t just treat them like some outsider.

That being said, mistakes or not, I had named these two.

「……But why?」

I asked Av.

They responded with the names that I gave them, so they accept me as their master.

But that’s the reason why I asked.

Why?

Why did they accept it?

If they didn’t respond to the name that I gave, they wouldn’t been tamed by me.

「Because that was what they wanted」

「Eh?」

Av said while stroking the wolf’s head.

「As your tamed beast, they can move for your sake」

「What do you mean with that?」

「Monsters only do things for their own sake. Whether it’s their instinct or their own conscious decision. In any case, no matter how important a person to them, they won’t move for that person.
When you were attacked by the monsters when you first stepped into the forest, they lamented that they were not your tamed beasts. They felt sorry because they can’t bare their fangs or claws for you. That’s why they were so happy when you named them. So happy that they even came to me and bragged about it」

Gaa Gaa… The two-headed crow barked and flew 3 times around me before finally perched on my shoulder.

「Nigi…」

The wolf whimpered and pushed herself against me.

「Lapis…」

I gently stroke both of their heads respectively, all three heads in total.

I didn’t know what exactly they are thinking about.

I was not Av, I couldn’t speak monster language.

Even so, if they still accepted it, then I will welcome them.

If they wished to stay with me, then I will welcome them.

「Once again, please take care of me from now on」

They answered me with their love. So I welcomed them.

◆Nigiニギ(仁義)

A two-headed crow. They are about twice as large compared to ordinary crows.

Rio came to Beast_Fang_Forest and began to feed Monster with cookies.

The detailed species is currently unknown.

Since it rarely appear together with its kin, perhaps it wasn’t the kind of monster that flock together.

When Rio ran out of cookie ingredients for the first time, they were the first to gather ingredients for her. Ever since then, it periodically gather ingredients for her like some sort of greeting (Jingi). The kanji for it was written as 仁義 and could also be read as ニギ (Nigi), which was why she named them Nigi.

By the way, this is just another trivia, the right head is named Ni while the left head is named Gi.

◆Lapisラピス

Female forest wolf, 2 years old.

These wolves are commonly found in the Beast Fang Forest.

They lived in packs of tens and live their live within their own pack’s territory.

Short time after Rio started feeding them, some of the younger wolves decided to settle in the hut as well.

Since the hut is still within the range of the wolves’ territory, the wolves would have no problem with their group as long as they go back to their own pack periodically. But since they took a liking to Rio, they spent less time with other wolves.

Her white and silver fur is soft. Rio’s favorite part of her is her bushy fluffy tail.

The wolf looked very happy when Rio used her belly as a pillow, so it became Rio’s recent boom.

Because she has deep blue eyes like ultramarine, Rio named her Lapis lazuli.