The carriage was leaning over on a broken wheel, and a girl alighted from it, dressed in white clothing. “There is no danger. Please put down your staff.” “Lady…Eilene… But…!” “It will be all right. I feel no enmity from him.” Yeah, that’s right! People who try to attack adorable puppy dogs with such big, cute eyes deserve to be punished. “…Understood, my lady,” said the sorceress to the girl, releasing her spell and lowering her staff. “Arwf… (Phew, that was scary…)” I take another look at the girl who calmed the situation down for me. “Arf, arf. (No matter how you look at her, she’s got to be Lady Mary’s ancestor.)” This is more than a strong resemblance. I was so surprised I cried out. She looks so similar that even I mistook one for the other—and I constantly live at Lady Mary’s side. This one might be a bit older than her, age-wise. She’s taller, too, and more well-developed in certain places. This is probably what Lady Mary would look like in another few years. The sorceress called her Eilene, too, so name-wise, she’s certain to be the ancestor. “May I go to you?” “Wait, Lady Eilene, they’re too dangerous!” The sorceress and other knights try to stop the girl as she starts walking over to me. But she gives them a calm stare, and they drop to a knee, embarrassed at their own remarks. “Thank you very much for saving us,” says the girl, extending a hand. “A-arwf? (U-umm, you’re welcome?)” Being a dog, I can’t exactly kiss her hand, but I do stretch out my head to it. She chuckles. “You are an adorable one… Yes, your previous ferocity is nowhere to be found.” Smiling, she pets me on the head. Yay! I got her to head pat me! This kindness, unfettered by the shackles of prejudice—I definitely feel the young lady’s blood in her. “Arwf, arwf…? (By the way, are you able to understand what I say, or…?)” “Yes, quite clearly.” Ahh, figures. Lady Mary can understand me, too. Obviously, her ancestor would be able to as well. I’ll have to be extra careful this time not to say anything weird. “I am Eilene Faulks. Might I have the pleasure of your name, dear savior?” “Arwf. (I’m Routa.)” The name was given to me by your descendant. I think it’s a good name, don’t you? “Squeak. (I am Lenowyrm.)” “Meow. (And my name is Nahura.)” The two animals follow my lead, poking out of my mane to introduce themselves to Lady Eilene. “There are…more?! How strange indeed…!” The sorceress, standing a few steps away, flinches upon seeing us all. “Hecate, you’re being rude.” “I’m…terribly sorry.” Yeah! See? You got scolded! Wait. Did she just say Hecate? “It is only that these…people are so incredibly suspicious. I understand they have no hostility toward us, as you say, but…” The sorceress removes the hood that was so low over her face. “I still do not trust them. If any of you do anything untoward to Lady Eilene, you’re not getting away easily!” Seeing her face has me in shock. “W-woof?! (H-Hecate?!)” Silver hair and emerald eyes. She’s a little shorter and less full in the chest than the Hecate I know, but it’s her all right. “Arwf, arwf… (We met her pretty quickly…)” “Mew! (I told you my guidance would be on point!)” Nahura puffs out her chest in pride. Yeah. We were looking for Hecate to begin with, after all. Though I wish we could have met under more peaceful circumstances. “You know me? Who on earth are you three?” “Arwf, arwf? (Hmm. Where do I even start?)” “…All right. I’ll hear what you have to say. I must apologize to you, Lady Eilene, but please, tend to the wounded.” “Yes, you can entrust them to me.” All the knights look heavily wounded after that battle with the monsters earlier. Lady Eilene walks over to them and holds her hand softly to one of their wounds. “Ohh, the pain is going away like it never existed…” “The wound has only just been closed, so you mustn’t try to move yet.” “Thank you so much, Lady Saint…!” The knights who have had their injuries healed start crying and thanking Lady Eilene. “Meowww. (She is very skilled with healing magic.)” Nahura can use healing magic, too, which means Lady Eilene’s abilities must be quite considerable. Now I know that they have amazing talent aside from being able to seal the Demon Lord. “We’ll obstruct her healing if we stay in this spot. I’ll hear you out over here. And just as a second warning, if you do anything suspicious, you’ll be…” The young Hecate gathers mana into the tip of her staff and threatens us. “Hecate!” Lady Eilene, still doing her healing, looks at us with angry eyes. “I’m… I’m terribly sorry…” That’s what you get! We’ve got Lady Eilene on our side! There’s no use threatening us! “Meow. (Talk about a weakling borrowing the authority of a tiger.)” Heh-heh-heh. Reliance upon others is my policy. My intent is to brownnose anyone who has authority—like my life depends on it. Hecate brings us a short distance away, then sits down. “I’ll thank you for helping us. But I have no idea who any of you are. Monsters, in the Demon Lord’s territory—and yet you saved us. Why? And it seems you know who I am, but how is that possible? Nobody was supposed to know about this distant, secret expedition.” “Arwf, arwf. (There’s a pretty complicated reason why, but… Huh. I seriously don’t know where to start.)” Will she believe us if I just come out and say we came from the future to change the past? “Meow. (Routa, Routa, there’s a faster way to explain than through words. One that Lady Hecate will understand—even this young.)” I see. Talk about handy plot characters. Please, go right ahead. “Meow? (Lady Hecate, would you do me the favor of looking into my eyes?)” “What? Are you telling me to directly read information from your eyes? I can certainly do that, but why would a monster like you have such a skill…?” “Meow. (Look, don’t worry about it! Once you have all the information, you’ll know.)” “…All right. But if you do anything strange—” “Arwf, arwf. (Yeah, yeah. Getting real tired of this exchange.)” After I prompt her, Hecate sighs, then brings her face so close to Nahura’s they almost touch and peers into her eyes. Nahura’s blue eyes and Hecate’s emerald ones each reflect the other’s light, and the colors gradually begin to mix and meld. “Urgh…” Hecate looks like she’s struggling; her forehead is getting sweaty. She must be taking in a whole lot more information from Nahura than we could possibly express in words. They look at each other like that for a few minutes, and then finally their glowing eyes return to normal. “…Haah, haah…” It must have taken quite a toll on her, because she drops to her hands and knees, breathing ragged. “Arwf, arwf? (Hecate, are you okay?)” “Meow. (I compressed all the information Lady Hecate in the future gave to me and relayed it to her. If anyone besides Lady Hecate accepted it, their brain would’ve probably burned to a crisp.)” “A-arwf… (A-are you all right, Hecate? We can take a break if you need to.)” You can use me as a sofa, too. Come, come. I’ll let you lie against me. “R-Routa, it’s you…?” Oh—she said my name like Hecate from the future does. “And Nahura, and, yes, Len…” As though verifying her memories, she calls us all by our names, and then her expression suddenly becomes startled. “This is terrible…! At this rate…” Now aware of the truth of what is about to happen thanks to the message from a thousand years in the future, Hecate covers her mouth as if holding back an urge to vomit. Will she really be all right? It’s not like there’s anything I can do but provide her with this fluffy fur of mine, but still. “…I’m sorry—that was embarrassing. I’ll be fine now.” After struggling for a short time, Hecate catches her breath and stands up. “I haven’t exactly been overtaken by my future memories, but I do feel like I’ve aged many years in a single breath. It feels like I’ve been made to read a thousand years’ worth of someone else’s life. Millions of pages, all at once—I feel queasy.” I’d have figured it would be a lot more than just a little queasiness. Seriously—if you hadn’t been Hecate, your head would have gone ka-boom. “But…yes, I understand now. My future self comes up with…some incredible ideas. Routa, Nahura, Len, thank you for coming here from the future to save us.” Well, I mean, we haven’t been able to do anything yet, so it’s too early to thank us. And you probably would have managed that monster before even if we hadn’t arrived. In fact, we might have done something unnecessary and changed the flow of time to the future. If we don’t act along the proper timeline as much as we can, aside from defeating the Demon Lord, it might change the future where Lady Mary is born. “Arwf, arwf. (Yeah, I mean, we came to save you, but I don’t really know too many of the details myself. If you all could tell me, I’d appreciate it.)” “All right. There is still time before defeating the Demon Lord and changing the future.” And so, Hecate told us all about the world we didn’t know of a thousand years ago. This world, right now, is on the brink of total annihilation. Huge swarms of monsters appeared suddenly from the outskirts of developed land and attacked nations all throughout the world, and the people were massacred without any way to resist. Nobody was able to defeat the massive armies, led by five powerful monsters known as the Five Demon Generals, and humankind’s very survival hung in the balance. Amid it all, the only means they had come up with to turn the tables was to use Lady Eilene’s body to seal away the Demon Lord. Born with a lot of mana, able to weave many healing spells and bounded-field spells, Eilene has saved many people in the past, and now people praise her as a saint. She personally devised the spell that could seal the Demon Lord. It was a grand magic, capable of maintaining itself as long as her own bloodline persisted. Even if her descendants didn’t have the ability to use magic, their blood would be the medium for the pact; theoretically, it could be maintained forever. Hecate and the knights had been dispatched in order to deliver Lady Eilene, its user, straight to the Demon Lord, all of them the best of the best warriors they had. These handpicked elite had gone through a long journey, constantly hiding from the eyes of the Demon Lord’s forces, until finally they managed to make it to the Demon Lord’s lands. The Five Demon Generals, all on their own expeditions, had for some reason left their troops behind and returned to these lands, and now was the best chance they would ever have to seal them all away. To that end, Lady Eilene’s team was putting their lives on the line to fulfill that mission. “And now I understand why the Five Demon Generals all returned here,” says Hecate, having received her future memories. “They’re not trying to wipe humanity out of their own volition. All of them are under the control of the Demon Lord’s miasma.” “A-arwf?! (W-wait, what?!)” A shocking truth. Actually, speaking honestly, I had an inkling. Whenever I looked at them in the past, they never seemed like totally evil monsters. “Weren’t their memories hazy when they were resurrected in the future?” “Arwf. (Yeah, now that you mention it, that’s how it seemed.)” Mircalla, especially, would talk about her “beloved Demon Lord,” but not even be able to remember his face. Normally you’d never forget what someone like that looked like. The others were very similar; none of them could remember much of what happened a thousand years ago. “The Five Demon Generals won’t have any minds of their own right now. They’re just puppets acting solely on the orders the Demon Lord has given them to destroy the world.” Hmm. This Demon Lord really sounds like bad news. The demon generals are so strong—but he could brainwash and manipulate them all? “They can’t be away from these lands for too long—they need to absorb miasma, which thins out during their expeditions. They must have been coming back here on a regular basis for more.” In that case, without the Demon Lord, they wouldn’t have ever been doing this? All the generals in their new forms in the future were surprisingly happy folks. Mircalla and Richmond, in particular, have gotten accustomed to lives as regular people. “Arwf, arwf? (Then as long as we defeat the Demon Lord, they won’t attack, either, right?)” “Not right away, at least. Unfortunately, if we try to slay the Demon Lord first, they will be sure to act in his defense. We’ll still have to get rid of them all. Even if the Demon Lord’s miasma goes away, it will take a long time for their brainwashing to be completely removed. Either way, we’ll need to seal them, too.” And if they don’t get revived later on, that might lead to a different future than the one we want. I’m sorry, you guys—looks like I’ll have to seal you away in the past, too. “Arwf, arwf? (Is Lady Eilene going to be sealing them? Won’t that put a burden on her body?)” “Compared to sealing the Demon Lord, it will be almost nothing at all. The burden on the generations of female Faulks family members is because of that seal, after all.” I see. So if the burden the Demon Lord causes is one hundred, the Five Demon Generals would be like ones or twos. “The difference is likely even greater.” Wait, for real? This Demon Lord guy is insane! I’m actually unsure we’ll be able to beat him now. “My future self bet a millennium on this plan, so have faith.” If she says it herself, I’ll just have to believe in her. “Arwf, arwf? (Got it. I think I understand the situation now. What should we do, then?)” If we keep on going, we’ll get to the Demon Lord as planned, and Lady Eilene will end up sealing him away. And then the same thing will happen. In the future, Hecate said that I’m the only one who can change the timeline. But she didn’t tell me anything about what I would actually have to do. “Arwf, arwf. (Well, my brain probably wouldn’t understand even if she did, so it would be great if you just give me the instructions when I need them.)” Even in my previous life, I did nothing but wait for instructions. That was why that exploitative company could wring me dry like they did—but all that doesn’t matter. I’m gonna take out the Demon Lord lickety-split, then restart my happy pet life at the mansion. “I know the plan now. In general, we’ll keep on going like this, keeping the past mostly the same. If we do anything too differently, this future information will stop being much help.” Yeah, I thought as much. I had a bit of sci-fi trope knowledge in my past life, so I kinda get what Hecate is saying. “We’ll have Eili keep heading for the Demon Lord like this.” Oh, she didn’t call her Lady Eilene. And it’s a nickname, too! Hecate, even in the future, said that Lady Eilene was a precious friend. The lack of protocol and position when it comes to them must be proof of their closeness. “I’m uneasy leaving her with only the knights for protection, but in the meantime, we’ll get rid of the obstacles in their path.” I see. It feels like when the Fen Wolves and I protected those adventurers who came to the forest on an investigation. “Squeak? (By obstacles, you include the Five Demon Generals, yes?)” “Yes. If we defeat them first and Eili seals them in a weakened state, we can decrease the toll on her body even more.” So as long as the Five Demon Generals get sealed, we can safely ignore how easy or hard it was? We’ll go along with what history says as much as possible, save for the sealing of the Demon Lord, which will greatly change the future. If the future is changed so that the Demon Lord is defeated instead of sealed, Hecate, living a thousand years from now, will fix things up behind the scenes. Maybe for her, the real job will happen after we defeat the Demon Lord. “Arwf, arwf? (But will it really be that easy to find where the generals are?)” I know they’ve come back to this forest in order to absorb more miasma, but this forest is really, really big. We could probably search around the spots where they were sealed in the future, but Belgor, for example, was sealed in a sword and became an item the Hero Alstera carried around. We’d have no idea where he was right now. “Meow. (Heh-heh-heh. And that’s where I come in.)” “Arwf? (Hmm, do you have a plan or something?)” “Meow. (In the future, I set an anchor on the Five Demon Generals, so no matter where they are, we can just warp to them with my spatial magic.)” Oh! You never overlook anything. So if it’s the same being, you can still use spatial magic to chase them even though they’re in a different time? I tend to forget about it since we basically use it as a portal to anywhere, but that’s no different than a cheat ability, huh? “Routa, you’ve defeated them all before, correct? Then you should already know the way to beat them by now.” Well, there’s not much of a method—I basically just take them down with my barf beam. No strategy, no tactics, none of that. “Arwf, arwf. (I guess we should do it in the same order as the future? Which means Richmond is the first to beat.)” I recall the kind, elderly butler—but his true form is Lich, the giant bone monster. “Arwf. (Ahh. No, wait a second.)” The barf beam didn’t work on Lich, did it? Even if I completely obliterated his body, he would regenerate from the fine particles and revive. There were specific conditions needed to defeat him. “Arwf! (The Fen Wolves! We need their help!)” How did I defeat Lich back then? I and the other Fen Wolves ate him. We took him down by eating his crunchy, bony body. “That’s correct,” says Hecate in agreement to my answer. “Arwf, arwf. (But where are all the Fen Wolves now?)” “In this very forest. They’re the only faction that was able to resist the monster armies led by the Demon Lord.” Seriously? Man, they’re strong. “The sealing team’s original plan was to meet with the Fen Wolves ahead of here and borrow their strength to seal the Five Demon Generals.” I’m surprised they’ve been in this forest since this time period. Though they did say they’d been protecting it for a thousand years. Guess it makes sense they’d be here. I just hope I can be friends with them in this era, too. “Based on my future memories, we did a terrible thing to them. After sealing the Demon Lord and restoring peace to the world, a period of terrible oppression of the Fen Wolves began, and all we could do to prevent war from breaking out with them was to shelter them in this forest. They aided us, and we repaid their kindness with persecution.” Ahh. Garo and the other Fen Wolves did hold a grudge against humans for generations, didn’t they? So it was because they could no longer leave this forest. But wait. Then what was that thousand-year pact they were talking about? They said that if they protected the forest for a thousand years, the Fen Wolf King would be revived, and they would advance their forces on the rest of the world. Maybe something about that got passed down wrong, like the fairy tales about the Hero. “What are you discussing?” The voice from behind makes me jump. “Arwf?! (Ahh, my lady—er, I mean, Lady Eilene?!)” “‘My lady’? I am not of the nobility.” “A-arwf, arwf. (Er, um, never mind. Just talking to myself.)” “Also, you may call me Eili if you wish.” “Arf, arf. (All right. Then I’ll call you Lady Eili.)” Having finished curing all the knights, Lady Eili has come over to us. Her voice is exactly the same as Lady Mary’s, and when addressed from behind, I couldn’t even see—or rather, hear the difference. “Hmm?” When I look away, Lady Eili clasps her hands behind her back and peers into my face. That’s exactly like how Lady Mary does it, and it’s adorable. “Lady Eilene…” “Everyone else is resting over there now, so you can speak freely, Hecate.” “…Okay, Eili. Thanks for all that. You should rest some, too.” “Oh, but you’re the one who needs rest! You’ve been commanding everyone this entire time. You’re the most exhausted of us all, aren’t you?” In contrast to her saintly behavior thus far, Lady Eili is speaking and acting casually now. Even the way she speaks is exactly like Lady Mary. If they were the same age, there would honestly be nothing for me to tell them apart. “No, I’m fine. In any case, we should halt our advance for today and take a rest. The wounds of the knights may be healed, but their exhaustion is reaching its peak.” “And you’ll rest, too, right, Hecate?” “You inform the knights. These three are going to guide me around the forest, so we’ll go a little bit ahead to scout things out.” “Mrgh. That doesn’t sound like rest!” “We’ll be back soon, so don’t worry. When I return, I’ll rest for real. Oh, and could you prepare food for these three?” Hecate looks over to me and pats me on the head. I guess she’s not going to tell Lady Eili about how we traveled through time. Well, there’s nothing she’d be able to do about it anyway, and if anyone aside from Hecate learns who we are, it could affect the future. “Mmmgh. It’s not fair that you’re the only one making friends with Sir Routa and the others. I wanted to talk to them, too!” “Please don’t sulk. Also, please don’t let the knights see you making such an ungainly face. It will affect morale.” “Fine, fine, I get it.” Lady Eili pouted, making her seem younger than she looks. It’s likely something she only lets Hecate see. “Okay, then, once you get back, you’ll take a rest for real, right?” “Yes. Even I can admit I’ve been pushing myself. I’ll have to take a good break.” “Arf, arf! (That sounds nice. I love taking breaks, too!)” “Oh, are you tired, too, Sir Routa?” “Arf, arf. (I want to take breaks all the time even if I’m not tired. Also, please just call me Routa.)” “Routa?” “Arwf! (Oh, yes! That feels good!)” It makes me happy—it’s like Lady Mary is calling my name. “Let’s go, then, Routa,” says Hecate. “Arwf. (Gotcha.)” “Please be careful!” As Lady Eili waves her hand and sees us off and I wag my tail back at her, we venture into the forest with Hecate. “Arwf, arwf. (You do know where the Fen Wolves are in this forest, right?)” “Indeed. I even know what they’re up to right now.” Oh? Even that was listed in the information from future Hecate? “Arwf, arwf. (Also, they’re monsters, too, so is there any threat of them getting controlled by the Demon Lord?)” She said they’re the last faction holding out against the Demon Lord’s forces, but if the Demon Lord can control monsters, how is it that they alone are fine? “It seems they’ll be all right as long as the Demon Lord doesn’t touch them directly. They are kin of the moon, and closer to spirits who have gained flesh, so perhaps that makes them harder to taint with magic.” Hmm, hmm. I suppose we won’t have to worry about it, then. “Well, we can’t say that, either.” “Arwf?! (Huh? Why not?!)” “The Fen Wolves seem to have taken the offensive as well. They apparently plan on defeating each of the Five Demon Generals one by one, now that they’ve returned without their troops in tow. They’re currently attacking a castle belonging to one of them, but they seem to be at a major disadvantage.” “Arwf, arwf! (Well, that’s not good! We have to get there quick!)” Which one are they up against? If it’s just one, they won’t be that scary. “Nahura?” “Meow? (Yes?)” “Set your coordinates to the vampire princess Carmilla and send us there.” “Meow! (Right away, ma’am!)” Nahura gives a cry, and the teleportation begins. White floods our vision, and the scenery changes completely. “Arwf?! (Whoa?! We’re floating?!)” I panic—I don’t feel my feet on the ground anymore. “Meow! (I cast flotation magic on the house!)” We’re hovering in the skies above the forest. “Squeak! (Beloved! Look below!)” I do as Len says and see a castle built there—one made of crystal. The fortress is awfully gaudy and looks totally out of place in the deep forest. Carmilla had set up a maze full of traps in that crystal castle using her magic, hadn’t she? Of course, when we fought, I fired a barf beam and wrecked the whole thing, so I never went inside. As we look at the exterior, we see figures in an intense battle inside the crystal castle. Carmilla is rampaging, surrounded by blades of bloody wind, and the Fen Wolves are continuing their desperate fight despite their own wounds. “Arwf?! (Huh? The battle’s already started!)” The Fen Wolves seem to be getting overwhelmed. They’re doing a good job of positioning themselves to avoid traps, but Carmilla’s long-range blood-blade attacks are keeping them from getting close. “Grrrrrr…!” The groan seems to shake the earth. I think at first it was the Fen Wolves making the noise, but it’s not them. “Grrrrrr, graaahhh…!” Carmilla, her eyes stained a deep crimson, is putting her viciousness on full display. She’s using brute force, flinging magic everywhere—the way she’s fighting is completely different from the elegant, cultured Carmilla from the future. “A-arwf… (W-wait… I don’t really want to get in the way of that…)” “Her eyes are shining red—proof that the Demon Lord is controlling her. Considering her fighting style, she seems to have lost most of her ability to think as well.” Is this the time for relaxed observation?! Go help them, quickly! “Me? I can’t. The future me might have managed, but I’ve only inherited a millennium’s worth of knowledge and technique. I am still inexperienced when it comes to my mana. I don’t have the strength to control what high-level spells I now know.” “Arwf! (What a disaster!)” My plan to rely on others for everything is up in smoke! “Which means,” says Hecate with a smile, “I’ll have to ask you to do it, Routa.” …You’re getting closer and closer to future Hecate, you know. Actually, I guess you’re the same person, so it makes sense? “You can launch a surprise attack from here, can’t you? And she is the weakest of the Five Demon Generals. It will only take one strike from your ultimate destruction magic.” I feel really sorry for Mircalla. She’s getting called the weakest. Still, even in the future, she was always the type to use indirect fighting methods like traps and stratagems. Whoops—she’s not Mircalla now, but the vampire princess Carmilla. Right. She doesn’t seem to have noticed us, so we could probably hit her with a sneak attack. I take a deep breath, then expel it all at once. “Grrraaaaaaaawwwwwwwww!! (Retiring as soon as you make your entrance—I’m sorry about thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!!)” My instant-noodle beam pierces the castle from directly above, annihilating Carmilla and carving a gaping hole out of the ground to boot. Having lost its master, fissures begin to form in the crystal castle, and it starts to collapse. With the sudden disappearance of their opponent, the Fen Wolves are dumbfounded—they have no idea what just happened. “Woof, woof! (Heeey, everyone! It’s dangerous, so get out of there!)” I call out from the skies. Their shock is renewed. But realizing they can’t stay in the castle like this, they all begin escaping from the newly created hole in it. Once the last Fen Wolf gets out of there, water begins to spurt up from the ground. “Arwf?! (Whoa, what’s that?!)” “Squeak. (You must have hit an underground water vein.)” Did my beam dig too deep? It’s always been tough for me to adjust it… I was digging up hot springs and stuff in the future, too, so maybe there’s a lot of water veins under the forest. “Arwf. (And now I’m thinking about the hot spring. I wanna go in it…)” The hot spring was originally something we dug to be hospitable to the adventurers who came on their investigation, but we couldn’t get them to use it, so it ended up becoming a resting spot for the denizens of the forest. Come to think of it, I haven’t gone there recently. Once I get back to the future, I’ll take another dip. While I’m thinking about all that, the crystal castle sinks into the water. The whole area is in a sunken-in spot in the ground, so if the water continues to gush, it might turn into a big lake. “Squeak. (Ha-ha. I see.)” “Arf? (What do you see?)” “Squeak, squeak. (Beloved, this is where the lake is in the future.)” The lake? You mean that one we always go to play at? Come to think of it, when Carmilla revived, her crystal castle floated up from the bottom of the lake, didn’t it? “Arwf. (Which means I’m the one who made that lake?)” Wait, no, that doesn’t make sense. This is the first time I ever came to the past. I couldn’t have been the one who made the lake. Something a lot like that must have happened later on in the past without us here. “Kee, kee!” Oh, stop screeching. What do you want? “It looks like Carmilla.” Hecate grabs a small bat, flapping its wings and storming around, with her fingertips. Seriously? This thing is Carmilla? “Right before being obliterated, it seems she unconsciously shifted her soul into a small part of her body and fled.” She was really stubborn in the future, too. And Hecate even captured her afterward, just like now. “Once we get back, I’ll bring Eili here and have her seal Carmilla all at once. When she’s this weak, she shouldn’t put any strain on her. By the time the seal is undone a thousand years from now, the miasma in Carmilla will be gone, and she’ll go back to normal.” That’s a relief. Hecate gives a command to Nahura, who uses spatial magic to save the annoying bat for later. That means we’re finished with Carmilla. Next, we’ll descend from the sky and ask for the support of the Fen Wolves. They’re busy crawling out of the ditch, now that they’ve escaped the castle. Their eyes are pinned to us in midair. I hope they’ll listen to my request, but what should I do if they get really mad for getting in the way of their fight or something? I might cry. But my fears appeared to be unfounded. “““Grwl! Grwl! Grwl! (Our king! Our king! Our great and mighty king!)””” Immediately, they’ve accepted me as “king.” The Fen Wolves apparently took me, the one who buried the wicked monster with a spear of light from the heavens, as a god. We’re given a big welcome, and they listen to what we have to say with keen interest. “…Woof, woof. (And that’s the short of it. We’ll need all the help of the Fen Wolves in order to defeat the next demon general. Will you lend me your strength?)” “““Grwl! Grwl! Grwl! (Our king! Our king! Leave it to us!)””” The Fen Wolves give loud howls. Never expected to come all the way to the past and have the same thing happen with them… Parting ways with the Fen Wolves for the time being, we return to the carriage, where Lady Eili is waiting. “Welcome back—Hecate, Routa, Nahura, and Len.” “Thank you. Did anything happen?” “No, nothing at all. I passed out food to everyone, and I’m having them rest in shifts.” “Arwf, arwf! (Food?! Sounds great! I’m starving, too!)” Time-wise, it hasn’t been that long since coming to the past, but you know me—I’m always hungry. “Here you are.” Lady Eili offers me a hard, rectangular object. “…Arwf. (You know, this thing seems super-familiar…)” It’s the same stuff the adventurers who came to the forest for an investigation in the future were eating with those dead eyes of theirs. And just like that stuff, this smells like weeds. No doubt about it. It’s that putrid, disgusting portable food that that’s no better than shit, apart from its nutritional value and how long it keeps. When I think about it, Lady Eili and the others did come all this way with a small, elite group who couldn’t resupply. I guess this was the only food they could afford to bring along. “Here’s some for you, too, Hecate.” “Thank you.” And there’s Hecate, eating it like it’s nothing special. Is she so used to it that her tongue is numb or something? “Will you not eat it?” “A-arwf… (U-urgh…)” But my pride as a dog won’t allow me to leave anything given to me. “Arwf! (I will!)” I open my mouth, and Lady Eili tosses the portable ration into it. Ahh, this is so nostalgic—this claylike mouthfeel. As I chew, making mushy noises, I sink into my memories. The first time I ever ate this was when Drills, also known as the young lady Elizabeth, fed me. Apparently, it’s an excellent product that had a considerable amount of nutritional value no matter what race you are, but there’s no doubt that her pet monsters went insane with stress after eating it every day. “Arwf… (It’s awful…)” Suppressing an urge to vomit, I manage to choke the whole thing down, but the astringency is still on my tongue. If I have to keep eating stuff like this, I’ll lose my energy. “It’s really not that good, is it…?” Lady Eili, who has sat next to me, is nibbling away at her portable ration. “Arwf. (Oh, so you’re not a fan of it, either, Lady Eili?)” “Of course not! I may come from the slums, but even we ate food that tasted better than this!” Lady Eili! The knights are looking over here and wondering what’s wrong. They’re suspicious that I did something to you, so please, settle down. Also, that was a causal way to reveal your origins. She must have really struggled, coming from a poor family and eventually being worshipped as a saint. “Actually, someone from the church said that I had magical talent and invited me to the monastery. After that, I didn’t have to worry about eating anymore.” Lady Eili’s a nun? “Yes, but I’ve already renounced the cloth. My sealing spell works through a bloodline oath, so I will need to bear children.” I don’t know how the people in this world view marriage, but it must be tough on her to need to have children to pass down the magic. Once we defeat the Demon Lord, I’d at least like to make it so that she can marry someone she loves. “…There is no need to worry about that,” Hecate tells me in a soft voice. “For some reason, women in every generation of the Faulks family marry at the end of a passionate romance, so with regards to that, at least, she won’t be unhappy.” I see—that’s good. Wait, no, that’s not good. Not good at all. My beloved lady is a woman of the Faulks family, too. Will she one day find a wonderful man to marry as well? “Grrrr… (I won’t allow it… I’ll make sure I get in their way…)” Papa will definitely help me out on this. The two of us men will get in their way. “Oh, are you sure? I think Mary would have wonderfully adorable children.” “A-arwf…?! (L-Lady Mary’s…children…?!)” Well, of course they’d be adorable! And it’s a pet’s job to watch over babies, after all. I could get all cozy with the little babies in front of the hearth. That’s nice. That’s really nice. “Arwf… (I have no choice. Fine, I’ll let her get married… And whoever it is, they better be good to her!)” “…Although hers isn’t yet decided…” Hecate sighs and looks down at me as I drown in my delusions of playing with babies. “…? What are you talking about?” Whoops—we were whispering, but it looks like she heard us. “A-arwf! (N-nothing at all!)” Urk! I can’t even whistle with my dog’s mouth. Not that I could in my past life anyway! “Mgh. You two are telling secrets again! That isn’t fair!” Lady Eili jumps at me and starts scratching around my belly. “A-arwrw! (Ahhh, wait, ahh, more, please more!)” I should have expected as much from Lady Mary’s ancestor—her petting technique is immaculate. I let Lady Eili enjoy me as much as she wishes, petting me, scratching me, and burying her face in my fluff. “Ahhh… This is bliss.” “A-arwf… (Wh-what skill…)” My legs give out and I flop over. Lady Eili is such a technician! She’s not afraid of my appearance at all, either. And it seems like the Faulks bigheartedness has been passed down for generations. “It’s gotten dark,” notes Lady Eili. “We should rest, too.” The sky is always cloudy because of the miasma, but it does seem like the sun has started to sink below the horizon. Our surroundings grow dimmer by the minute. “Eili, please sleep in the carriage. It’s warmer in there compared to outside.” “But the carriage has broken. It’s tilted over and difficult to sleep in.” Lady Eili is right. Only one of the carriage’s wheels is gone, and now it’s leaning that way. I doubt it will be able to move, and there aren’t any horses to pull it anyway. Probably thanks to the monster we saw when we arrived. “Oh! I have a good idea!” Lady Eili goes over to the carriage for a few moments, then runs back with blankets in her hands. “If I sleep with Routa, I’ll be warm!” Ah, I see—that is a good plan. My fluffiness won’t let any stupid nighttime chills get in. “Is that all right, Routa?” “Arwf! (Yeah, baby! Right this way!)” I lie sprawled on the ground and open my legs up wide. Sleeping with Lady Eili? I’d be delighted. But the problem is whether or not everyone else will be okay with it. “What am I going to do with you? Oh, fine…” I thought the knights would stop us, but Hecate gives permission, so they only watch without coming to say anything. Maybe this means they trust me a little now. “Heh-heh. This really is very warm.” As I lay on the ground, Lady Eili nestles against me and pulls a blanket over herself. “Arwf! (I’m warm, too!)” “Squeak. (You and your lovestruck tendencies… Even in the past, this is how you act? You’re utterly indiscriminate.)” Well, Lady Eili isn’t like that, so you can set your mind at ease. “Eili, move over a little.” And then! Even Hecate gets in on the party. Heh-heh-heh. I’ve got a pretty lady on either side of me! This is the life! “Mgh. Even you want to sleep with Routa, don’t you?” “It’s the most efficient way to stay warm. Good night.” Hecate pulls her blanket all the way over herself and falls fast asleep right away. Lady Eili, looking relieved that Hecate is finally resting, sinks down into my floof herself.
Chapter 120
34 min read