They really would do almost anything to get out of meeting with Elrand, huh? He definitely earned that reaction, though, I thought as my mind drifted back to all the mischief he’d gotten up to when he barged into my house in Karelina. Ugggh... I remember the way he chased Dora-chan around trying to touch him, and the time when he asked Gon to give him samples of blood and spit, among other things. Calling that “groan-worthy” doesn’t even begin to do it justice. So many crossed lines. I’d be sighing too, if I were in their shoes.
But then again...they’ve all been waiting for so long to try their precious leviathan meat, and I think they know that we really do need him if we want that to happen. I bet they’re just conflicted since their desire to eat the leviathan’s fighting with their desire to not be anywhere near Elrand.
Gon and Dora-chan heaved another set of sighs.
“Enough of this!” Fel boomed. “I tire of your doom and gloom! We shall hunt! Hunting is the best salve to soothe your wounds at times such as these!”
《Yaaay! Sui’ll pew-pew a bunch of monsters!》 Sui chimed in.
“Oh, I don’t think so!” I said. “I’m not falling for that—you just want to go hunting, don’t you? Also, stop encouraging him, Sui.”
“To the contrary, my liege, Fel does have a point,” Gon said. “Staying here and moping certainly won’t make us feel better, at any rate.”
《Yeah, you said it! Getting out there and running wild for a bit sounds like a great way to take my mind off all this junk,》 Dora-chan agreed.
“N-Now hold on a second! This isn’t a done deal! I get a say too!”
“What else would you suggest? We have nothing else to do until the leviathan is ready to be butchered, no?” Fel said with a self-satisfied smirk.
This was his plan all along, dang it! It was all one big scheme to drag me out hunting!
“I mean, you’re not wrong, but—”
“But what?”
“But, umm, well...”
《Hey, c’mon, Fel! Hurry up!》 Dora-chan called out.
“Yes, indeed! Let us go on the hunt, and take our minds off what awaits us afterward!” Gon said.
《Sui’ll beat up sooo many baddies!》 Sui added.
Y-You guuuys!
“Enough with your dawdling. Let us be off,” Fel said before lifting me by the collar of my shirt and tossing me into the air.
“Gah!”
I landed with a thump right on Fel’s back, and the instant I was stable, he set off at a sprint. “W-Wait, no, stop! At least let me leave a note behind before we go!” I frantically shouted.
Willem had left the house early that morning to get some work done at the Adventurer’s guild. We’d be back in time for dinner, in all likelihood, but if he got home before that and realized that we’d gone missing, it would probably turn into another huge, nightmarish ordeal. He’d actually taken to interrogating me about my plans for the day every morning—apparently, I “have a record” when it comes to vanishing on him—and I’d told him that we’d be taking it easy at home today, so he’d have more reason than ever to assume the worst.
“Tch! Make it quick,” Fel begrudgingly acquiesced.
My familiars were all so intent on hurrying me along that in the end, I only had time to write “We went hunting” on a very rough piece of paper (that I’d obtained from this world, by the way), which I left on the living room table.
“Good. Now, away!”
“But not far away! We’re keeping this trip close to the capital, got it?!”
“I am well aware.”
“You’d better be, because I’m serious! Not too far! I really mean it, you hear me?!”
We set off through the city streets, making our way out of the capital.
✦ ✦ ✦
Fel sprinted straight out of the capital with me on his back. Then, the moment we’d cleared the walls and made it out into the open field beyond...
“Good. The time has come for you to play your part.”
“Indeed it has! Climb aboard my back, all of you!”
...Dora-chan and Sui happily transferred from Fel’s back to Gon’s.
“Whoa, whoa, wait a second!” I shouted. “Why do we have to fly to get where we’re going?! How far are you planning on taking us?!”
“As far as I must. Settle down.”
“That’s not an answer, and no, I won’t!”
《Masteeer, hurry!》 Sui urged.
《Yeah, what Sui said! Get on, already!》 Dora-chan shouted.
“I’m not hurrying to do anything until I get some answers!”
“Enough of this. We are climbing aboard, now.”
The next thing I knew, Fel had picked me up by the collar once again and hurled me onto Gon’s back.
“Gaaah!”
Come on, guys! What are you even doing, and why’d you have to do that twice in a row?!
“Good, everyone is ready. Take flight, Gon.”
“Very well! I know just the place, considering our current whereabouts.”
“And where’s that?!” I shouted. “It’d better not be somewhere far away!”
“No need to worry, my liege. It isn’t far at all.”
“If it isn’t far, then why do we have to fly there in the first place?! That’s a dead giveaway that we’re going somewhere super remote!”
“Enough of your screeching. Be silent,” Fel said as he covered my mouth—well, my whole face, really—with one of the pads on his paw.
“Mmmnggf?! Mmph, mmnfff!” I battered away at Fel’s paw with my fists. It didn’t do much.
《Hey, uhh, Fel? You think he can breathe like that?》 Dora-chan asked.
No! No, I can’t! You figured out the problem! He’s blocking all my airways, and I can barely breathe at all, actually! I thought as I kept flailing away.
“Hm? Oh,” Fel grunted before finally releasing me.
I took a moment to gasp for breath. “Felll! Are you trying to kill me, or what?!”
“Your anger is unwarranted. It was but a slight mishap.”
“Mishap, my foot!”
《Masteeer, are you okay?》
“Oh, Sui! You’re the only one who ever worries about me!” I said as I swept the slime up in a hug.
“Let us be off, Gon.”
“Indeed!”
And with that, Gon flapped into the sky.
“Hey, wait! This conversation’s not over yet!” And seriously, where are we even going?!