“Mii...” The lethargic carbuncle let out a weak sound. It tried to move its limbs and mouth, but was barely able to. Even I thought it was a painful sight.
“Hmm... Excuse me,” Leen said as she picked up the carbuncle.
“Mii...” it cried weakly. Even with its body supported, it didn’t seem to be doing well.
Leen flipped it over and touched its stomach. It didn’t even resist, only letting out small breaths as it squeaked “mii.”
“Does he have a name?” Leen asked.
“No. I decided not to give it one as I didn’t want to get attached. Still happened though.”
For some reason, Leen seemed to smile happily at this. However, her expression clouded over once more.
“This is really difficult for me to say,” she said.
“Is the prognosis bad?” Tiesel said, worried.
Leen folded her arms and groaned, her eyebrows knitted together.
“This is kind of awkward, but...he’s just very overweight.”
“Oh, he’s just... Wait, what?”
Both Tiesel and I stared at Leen with our jaws wide open.
“Like I said, the reason for his poor health is because he ate too much!” Leen said with an awkward smile. “If you compare him to any other carbuncle, he’s positively round!”
“I’ve never seen a normal carbuncle before!” I couldn’t help but snap at Leen’s tone that this was an obvious thing.
Although, looking at the carbuncle, she did have a point... It wasn’t particularly sleek and was kind of bulky...
“Mifoo... Mifoo...”
Its breathing was quick, and it was gasping with an open mouth. It did look like it was in some pain, but apparently this was akin to an overweight and unfit person gasping for breath...
“So, uh... I was raising him poorly?” Tiesel said.
“Mifoo?”
It seemed like the carbuncle’s owner(?) felt guilty for having raised it incorrectly. He looked down with an apologetic expression at the carbuncle; it simply looked up at Tiesel and cocked its head.
“Anyway, a carbuncle isn’t the sort of monster that can survive in a human settlement,” Leen said. Her expression was halfway between exasperated and amused. She raised a finger as she always did. “Carbuncles are mana eaters. They are a rare type of monster that consumes mana as their primary source of food despite having a physical form. The reason they live in deep forests or in underground caves is because there is a lot of mana there for them to eat.”
Leen poked her finger at the chubby carbuncle’s belly. It flapped its limbs in protest but did nothing more. It was kind of like a beetle on its back...
“Here, where people live, the mana is thin, so he can’t breathe properly. I suppose he feels like he’s been underwater for a long time,” Leen went on.
“Hey, how long did you say you’ve been keeping this carbuncle?” I asked.
“About a year...” Tiesel said.
“Miiifoo... Miiifoo...”
After a few seconds, the carbuncle’s light resistance came to a halt. It seemed like it was having trouble breathing still—something that made a bit more sense with Leen’s explanation.
“So how’d he get so fat?” I asked.
Leen poked the carbuncle’s forehead—where the Carbuncle Stone had just fallen from yesterday—then indicated Tiesel’s right hand.
“I think it was a real lucky coincidence, but this carbuncle and Tiesel have a strong affinity for one another,” Leen said. “Have you noticed that his Sphere and this Carbuncle Stone are the same color?”
Now that she mentioned it, I noticed that the tiny Carbuncle Stone forming on the carbuncle’s forehead—still pale, but due to deepen—was the same orange as Tiesel’s Sphere; a sunstone. Although the carbuncle’s gemstone glittered more radiantly, the hue was pretty much the same.
“The mana particles that are created from Tiesel’s Sphere are a delicious snack packed with nutrients—so much so that he would put up with breathing problems to enjoy them.”
“Hold on...” I said.
If I remembered correctly, Tiesel had used fire magic to try and defeat the carbuncle when he first encountered it, but the carbuncle dodged in time. The carbuncle must have noticed the colorful mana particles from Tiesel’s spell and given them a nibble, only to discover they were incredibly tasty. That explained why the carbuncle stuck around Tiesel.
“Basically...this little thing’s just a damn glutton?” I went on.
“In simple terms, yeah!” Leen replied.
“You gotta be kidding me!”
There was Tiesel, who wanted the carbuncle’s gemstones, and the carbuncle, who wanted to gobble up Tiesel’s mana. As luck would have had it, they had found one another and could give one another what they needed.
“You can’t blame him for wanting a lot of mana,” Leen went on. “While he’s eating, it feels like he can breathe. Unlike fairies or spirits, whose bodies are made of mana, a carbuncle is a type of monster who digests the mana and converts it into body mass.”
“So...because this carbuncle’s in a human settlement, it can’t breathe properly. Therefore he eats the mana because it’s tasty and allows him to breathe easily, which resulted in it getting so fat...”
“Exactly. But no matter how you slice it, this little fellow has eaten far too much. He’s taken in so much mana, the production of Carbuncle Stones can’t keep up. He is very unhealthy.”
“Mii...foo... Mii...foo...”
The carbuncle opened its mouth again as if trying to endear itself to Tiesel. I supposed he would have normally given it some more mana, but now he turned to Leen. She shook her head and made a cross with her arms.
“He’s fine. He’s just a glutton,” she said.
“Come on, man...” I muttered.
This carbuncle had become overweight and couldn’t move. It asked Tiesel for food so he gave it some out of pity, and it got even more fat... I could see what had led to this cycle. Tiesel had to bear some responsibility for improperly raising the carbuncle, but it was the carbuncle’s fault for tagging along in hope of receiving more food. Were both of them at fault, then...?
“What should I do with him? Put him on a diet?” Tiesel asked.
“Don’t worry,” Leen replied with a bright smile. “I’ve got a more desperate measure I can use to help, but if we return him to his pack then he’ll have to work off the excess weight. If you want to keep him, then things might be a bit different.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m now fully aware of how little I know about him.” Tiesel had said he’d developed an attachment for this carbuncle, so there was probably a reason for that. He stroked its head as he went on, “I’ll take him back home. That’s for the best.”
His answer evidently pleased Leen.
“Then our work is just beginning,” she said.
“Hm?”
Leen smiled and peered close at the carbuncle. “Myumyu mii! Mii myumi!” she said, telling it that it could go home (or so I imagined).
I wondered what was up with the carbuncle, as it wasn’t reacting, when suddenly it lifted up its chubby body and started smacking the table with its little paws. Was it having a tantrum?
“Mi?! Myumyu mifoo! Myuumyu mii! Miimii!” it replied.
“Mi mifoo mifoo... Myuu, miimyuu, miiii mi!”
“Mi! Mi... Mifoo?”
Leen ignored me as I stood in confusion at the scene unfurling before me. She continued an intense debate with the creature. In stark contrast to its lethargic state earlier, now it was trying to explain something desperately to Leen.
“Miifoooo miifoooo! Myuu miiii mi?” Leen said.
“Mi?! Mii... Mifoo myumyu mifoo!”
“Miiiiyu. Myufoo miifoofoo, mi! Myumyumyu miimi!”
“Myumyu mifoo, mi, mifoo, mi.”
“Mifee...”
Uh, it seems like it’s agreeing? I think?
Tiesel quietly approached me and whispered, “Can she speak with monsters?”
“According to her, she can,” I replied.
I was still a bit on the fence about this ability, but seeing the carbuncle slump its shoulders, I felt like she probably could communicate with it.
Leen sighed and looked over here with a face that indicated the questioning was done.
“He will return to his pack,” Leen said. “But he doesn’t know the way, so we’ll need to take him.”
“By the way, what did you say to it?” I asked.
“He said that he was in the perfect world where he could eat delicious food and laze around all day without anyone scolding him for it. He was moaning about having to go home, so I made sure to give him a good telling off,” Leen replied.
“Tiesel, your parenting methods need work,” I said.
“Yeah... I was wrong. I apologize,” Tiesel said.
“Mifoon!” the carbuncle chimed in. Even I could tell this little guy was saying, “Seriously?!” It was smarter than I gave it credit for.
“He said he was thinking about sneaking back to you, but I advised him not to. I told him that you’d visit him if you wanted, Tiesel, and that would be safer.”
“Is that really all right? Wouldn’t it be bad for that balance stuff you talk about?” I asked.
Leen didn’t scold Tiesel for keeping a carbuncle or for raising it poorly. I was more worried about this “balance” than the carbuncle’s well-being.
“Hmm... If he had been hunting down lots of carbuncles, then it would be a different matter. This carbuncle chose to tag along and stay with you, Tiesel. Not only that, no one knows how best to take care of a carbuncle. Not even me.”
“Is that right?”
Leen’s job was to maintain balance, not to prioritize people or monsters. The carbuncle’s gluttony had led to this situation, so that was that, I supposed.
“I think the economic balance is a bigger concern with all the Carbuncle Stones flooding the market. I’m glad things settled before they got out of hand,” Leen said.
“You care about that stuff too?!”
“Who do you take me for?!”
The market had been affected in Esma, but it was just a blip when you looked at the bigger picture, so I guessed things would work out.
“I’m sorry, but tomorrow’s my little sister’s wedding day. I’ll have a lot of preparations to do, so I’d like to return him today if possible. Could you accompany me?”
I looked at Leen and nodded. We didn’t have a reason to say no.