Aiming for a Cozy Life in a Dangerous Forest in Another World! - Chapter 16
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- Aiming for a Cozy Life in a Dangerous Forest in Another World!
- Chapter 16 - Introducing My Familiar
Chapter 16: Introducing My Familiar
When we reached the back of the cave, Pola seemed to have woken up from the sound of our footsteps. She sat up and looked at us.
And then,
“Kotoha-nee-chan, welcome back!”
She greeted us with a cheerful smile.
“I’m home, Pola. I heard you ran out of magic power. Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah! I got really tired and sleepy, but I’m all better now!”
Just like Pola said, she looked fine and was giving us her usual big smile.
Seeing this, Kaito nodded in relief.
Pola seemed to have a good appetite too, so after placing the Fangrabbit’s magic stone and fangs, as well as the containers of salt Kaito and Pola had made, in the back of the cave, the three of us headed back to the cave entrance.
I grabbed a few 『Amaju Fruits』 from the container to have as dessert.
…Right, before we do that, I need to introduce them to Rin.
I almost forgot again…
“Before dinner, there’s someone I want you two to meet…”
“…Someone you want us to meet?”
“Who is it?”
“Well, it’s not really a ‘who’… It’s this little guy!
An Origin Slime! Its name is Rin. It became my familiar. Be nice to it, okay?”
I said as I scooped up Rin, who had been hopping around my feet – boing, boing – and introduced it to them.
Rin jiggled as if to say, “Nice to meet you!”
The two of them stared intently at Rin and then reacted in completely opposite ways.
“So cuuute!! Kotoha-nee-chan, Rin is so so cute!
I’m Pola! Nice to meet you, Rin!”
Pola, predictably, was over the moon at the sight of Rin.
I completely agreed that Rin was cute.
The way it walked – well, crawled – and the way it jiggled as if to respond to me was absolutely adorable.
It was unbelievably endearing, just its appearance alone.
Kaito, on the other hand,
“A s-slime?! Slimes are dangerous monsters! Onee-chan, are you sure it’s safe?!”
He exclaimed.
…Slimes are dangerous?
Aren’t they supposed to be the weakest monsters, the kind even beginners can defeat?
And so slimes were monsters, not magical beasts…
“Kaito, are slimes really that dangerous?”
I asked Kaito, who was desperately trying to stop Pola from touching Rin.
“Yeah. They invade villages and melt houses and fields. They charge at you if you try to touch them, and they spray this dangerous liquid. I even heard a story about travelers getting eaten by slimes in their sleep!”
“I see. But those are wild slimes, right? Rin made a familiar contract with me, so it won’t attack anyone. Right, Riin?”
I asked Rin, and it jiggled as if to say, “Of course!”
Rin couldn’t talk, but I could sense its intentions from its movements and gaze – even though it didn’t have eyes, it felt like I could sense its gaze.
Was it because of the familiar contract…?
As I was thinking about this,
“Onii-chan! Rin-chan won’t attack us!
Rin-chan is saying so!”
Pola protested to Kaito.
………So Pola could understand what Rin was trying to say too?
Kaito reluctantly nodded at his little sister’s protest, and then,
“…N-nice to meet you, Rin.”
He greeted Rin timidly.
Well, introductions were over.
♢ ♢ ♢
The three of us, plus one slime, stepped out of the cave and started preparing for dinner as we had yesterday.
What was different from yesterday was that we now had salt. And there were ice cubes floating in the cups of water I created with 『Water Magic』.
By the way, Pola had filled the cups with water.
She was so happy to be able to use magic that she excitedly told me all about what she had practiced while I was gone.
“You’re really happy to be able to use magic, Pola.”
“…It’s not just about being able to use magic. If I can use magic, then I can help you like I did today, Kotoha-nee-chan! That’s what makes me happy!”
She replied, looking up at me.
Her words warmed my heart.
♢ ♢ ♢
The Fangrabbit meat, grilled with salt, was delicious.
The meat, cooked as is yesterday, had been delicious in its own way, but salt really did make a world of difference.
We stored the leftover meat in a box I made with 『Earth Magic』, along with some ice.
It was a double-layered box, a larger box with a smaller box inside, like a matryoshka doll.
I put slabs of ice created with ice magic into the larger box, and then placed the smaller box containing the meat on top. This allowed us to keep the meat cold without it coming into direct contact with the ice.
And for some reason, the ice I created with magic didn’t seem to melt, so there was no risk of the meat getting soggy.
Of course, it wasn’t a freezer, so it would only last two or three days at most.
I tried freezing the meat directly, but it shattered, so that was out of the question.
I was wondering what to feed Rin, but it ate – or rather, absorbed – the grilled meat as is. It enveloped the plate of meat, jiggled a few times, then slid off the plate. The meat was gone.
I felt a sense of “Satisfaction!” from Rin, so I figured it was fine.
Pola had completely fallen for Rin, and after dinner, she wouldn’t let go of it.
Rin seemed a bit heavy for Pola, and she almost lost her balance a few times.
Back in the cave, I decided to make a bed for Rin.
But I didn’t know what kind of bed it would like. For now, I used 『Earth Magic』 to create a round cushion slightly larger than Rin.
Rin climbed onto the cushion and jiggled happily. I was glad it liked it.
And with that, we all went to our respective beds and fell asleep.