Nonetheless, an enormous silver wolf pulling a wagon stood out like a sore thumb. Kanata’s party was getting all kinds of stares from the people around them. Not that they themselves seemed to particularly notice.
They picked up a number of passengers along the way as well—a family whose crying child was tired of walking, an old woman with bad legs—who thanked Kanata politely as they settled in for the ride to the next village.
“Did you know,” the old woman said as she sat down next to Kanata, “the village you’re heading to now is the birthplace of the First Saint herself!”
She pointed up ahead, across the field. Following her finger, they could see the houses up ahead. They were still no larger on the horizon than grains of rice, but it was good to be in sight of the night’s lodgings.
Kanata and company had only known the village to be another town along the road. They’d had no idea it boasted such a considerable claim to fame.
“Oh?” said Zag’giel, looking over at Fenrir. The two of them had been playing with the child Kanata had picked up in the back of the wagon—or rather, the child was taking turns squeezing the two furballs and rolling them around. “In that case, you would know something of this place, would you not?”
“I’m afraid not...” Fenrir answered. “I only began following Her Holiness after her visit to the Forest of Spirits. But she did tell me she came from this part of the world. I have no reason to doubt that this village was her hometown.”
It was a good thing they were speaking telepathically. Otherwise they would have never been able to hear each other’s words over the child playing. Until today, Zag’giel and Fenrir had both had no idea that playing with children could be this exhausting.
It was a good day for travel, and the wagon reached the village right as the sun was beginning to set.
“Thank you ever so much,” said the old lady. “My son is coming to meet me, so please let me off here.”
“Okay!” Kanata cried. “Fen-fen, stop!”
“Understood!” Fenrir put the brakes on his main body, bringing the wagon to a gradual halt in front of the village gates. The other passengers decided that this was a good place for them to get off as well and disembarked, thanking Kanata as they exited the wagon and made their way into the village. Kanata offered the old lady a hand to help her down from the passenger’s seat, and turned around to catch the child jumping off the platform.
“Thank you, miss! Thank you, kitty! Thank you, doggy!” the child said.
“We are no cat!” Zag’giel snapped.
“I’m not a dog!” barked Fenrir.
Their protests didn’t stop the kid from petting the pair’s grumpy faces. The young child hadn’t held back from playing with them the slightest bit while they were in the wagon, and Zag’giel and Fenrir had borne the attention with excellent patience, all to give their exhausted parents a moment to rest.
“Hee hee!” Kanata laughed. “Good work, Zaggy, Fen-fen. You were such good boys today!”
“Hah,” Zag’giel said as he puffed out his chest. “A follower of Kanata must be proficient in childcare as well as battle. We did only as was expected of us.”
“Lady Kanata,” declared Fenrir, “being useful to you is my greatest joy!”
Kanata petted the two on the head. It seemed like they had somewhat recovered their spirits. Not counting her endless appetite for fluff, this was the first time the two had actually been of any particular help to Kanata. But it seemed like that thought had not occurred to the two cheerful critters.
“Thank you very much.” The child’s parents bowed their heads. It seemed like they lived in this village. “We really appreciate the help.”
When the old lady’s son showed up, he offered to let Kanata stay at his house for the night, but his humble abode didn’t have the space to park the wagon, so she politely refused and made her way to the village inn.
As the wagon made its way through the village, Zag’giel called out to stop from atop Kanata’s head.
“Kanata, let us have a look at that bronze statue...”
Ahead of them was an ancient, weathered bronze statue. It must have been many years since it was erected, but it still looked far too splendid for a humble rest stop. There was no sign of moss or vines covering the statue either. The villagers must clean it regularly.
“Wow!” said Kanata. “A fluff-fluff! It looks like you, Fen-fen!”
The statue, it turned out, was of a large wolf who seemed to stand guard to protect a young maiden.
“Her Holiness...” muttered the Fenrir on Kanata’s lap.
“No doubt the presence of this statue is the reason it is said that this is the hometown of the First Saint, as the crone told us earlier,” Zag’giel mused.
“So this is the First Saint...” Kanata said.
“She does bear a certain resemblance to you, after all...” said Zag’giel.
“Oh, you think so?” said Kanata. “You’re gonna make me blush!”
Kanata was a gorgeous young lady with splendidly refined features, if she ever kept quiet about the fluff. Zag’giel wasn’t wrong that she resembled the statue.
“Sob...” Tears came to Fenrir’s eyes as he looked up at the bronze maiden. “Your Holiness...”
The statue must have reminded him of his time traveling with the First Saint. If the depiction of Fenrir was so close to reality, it seemed plausible that the Saint was a decent likeness as well.
Fenrir seemed halfway poised to leap from the carriage onto the statue itself as Kanata gently petted him on the head. He looked up at her, and shook the tears from his eyes.
“Your Holiness...” he prayed. “Please watch over Lady Kanata on her journey.”
Past the statue, the inn was a grander building than the surrounding village. Kanata parked the wagon at the end of the road and went inside to check if they had an available room.
“Oho!” said Zag’giel, impressed as they stepped inside. “The interior furnishings are of high quality as well!”
“This will be the perfect place for Lady Kanata to get some rest!” agreed Fenrir.
There were inns like this one all along the kingdom’s highways, but this one seemed especially well frequented. The dining hall was full of boisterous travelers eating with gusto. Zag’giel jumped down from Kanata’s head and struck the bell on the reception counter with his little paws.
“Excuse me!” Kanata called.
The innkeeper poked her head out from the back room.
“Of course, of course! You’ll be staying the night?” She was a robust woman who seemed well at home in her role managing such a large inn. There was a friendly smile on her sunburned face as she picked up a ledger and pen. “Is it just the one of you?”
“No, no,” said Kanata, plopping Fenrir on the counter next to Zag’giel. “I’m traveling with these babies!”
“Hm?” the innkeeper asked. “I’ve never seen animals like these before. Missy, are these your pets?”
“We are not pets!” declared Zag’giel.
“We are the guardians and servants of Lady Kanata!” seconded Fenrir.
“Th-They talk!” the innkeeper exclaimed.
That was usually how people reacted upon encountering the pair for the first time. Zag’giel and Fenrir had come to expect it at this point and were getting rather fed up.
Kanata, however, just smiled and explained that she was a Beast Tamer, and that the two beasts were her companions, as well as a third who was currently pulling her wagon. On that note, she also asked where she should put the wagon to park.
“I see!” the innkeeper said. “Well, if they’re registered with the Adventurers’ Guild, we don’t have a problem with it. But I never thought I’d meet a flesh-and-blood Beast Tamer...”