On our fifth and final day at the Flugel familyâs ranch, there was a huge âprojectâ or âfunâ we would be doing. You could say that it was the âpinnacleâ or âpeakâ of our fun stayover.
You might ask that. And here I would answer...
It was none other than a day âbabysittingâ or âtaking careâ of a small monster by ourselves~!
Obviously, the younger ones (namely Leticia, Freyr, and Freyja) had a stricter supervision. We wouldnât want anything to happen to them. As such, the three of them also would take care of a monster together. They seemed pretty content with that already, as long as they get to take care of one.
In the morning after our breakfast, we gathered to draw a lot to determine who would be taking care of what.
âLetâs count the lot, shall we? Before that, Carbuncle, are you sure you arenât joining?â Dmitria asked.
âNope, why would I be taking care of the small fries? Thatâs boring,â Carbuncle resolutely answered.
âWell, that would be a good experience, though, Kuu-chan...,â Iris responded.
âNah, Iâll skip,â Carbuncle added.
In the past few days, Carbuncle was really unbridled as usual. She would do whatever she wanted (obviously they werenât things that could trouble us), for example she would run around the field and fly in her half-dragon half-humanoid form.
There was also a day where she transformed into a dragon and roamed around freely. She looked so free and happy, though, so nobody really stopped her. It was so lucky that the Flugel had wyverns. Though Carbuncleâs appearance was quite different from the usual wyverns...Oh well.
âFufu~, so here we have nine lots in total. There will be three young Pegasi, three young Raphus, and three young wyverns in the pool. We have selected them, so each lot will be specific and canât be changed. Are you ready?â Valerie said.
âNine?â I raised my eyebrows.
âAh, Aneki, Iâm not joining as well~ I will be watching everyone having fun~!â Briar declared.
âBriar has done that many times already with us,â Dmitria added.
âOh, I see then...,â I nodded in understanding.
âHehe, shall we start?â Valerie said.
It must be my imagination, but why did it seem like Valerie and Dmitriaâs smiles seemed a bit mischievous? Like they were going to watch a fun show...
âTada, here are the lots! Now, pick your stick~,â Valerie said as she stretched her hands that were holding a bag with nine sticks protruding out of it.
Anyhow, I decided to pay no mind to my weird feeling just now and immediately picked a stick along with everyone else~
âHold it...Letâs draw the sticks together. On the count of three...,â Dmitria excitedly said, âTwo...and one!â
All of us obediently drew our sticks at the same time. I could see there were different numbers written on the other edge of our hands.
As for mine, let see...
[6]
We were told in advance that 1 was Raphus, 2 was Pegasi, 3 was wyvern, then repeat the cycle until number 9.
âOh, itâs number six, a wyvern, huh?â I muttered.
â...ft.â
I noticed Dmitria and Valerie trying to hold their laughter back, so I quickly turned to look at them with inquiring look. Meanwhile, the others were excitedly talking about their results.
âIs there something funny?â I tilted my head.
âN-nothing,â Valerie brushed it off.
âShould we tell now, Val?â Dmitria asked.
âLet it be surprise?â Valerie suggested.
âBut itâs Aneki!â Briar suddenly chimed in.
â...Alright then, because itâs Aneki, letâs tell her,â Valerie relented.
âWhatâs going on, guys?â I asked, not knowing what was going on. Did I have something weird on my face? Or my clothes?
I tried to check on my face and clothes, but I found nothing weird.
âSo, you see...Amidst all nine of the monsters we would be entrusting to everyone, we included one with...a challenging difficulty to handle. Itâs a wyvern, you see, and--,â Valerie explained slowly.
âWe put that challenging wyvern on number six,â Dmitria ended Valerieâs sentence.
âHee...I see, challenging, huh? ...Huh wait, number six?â I quickly checked on my stick and saw [6] written over there.
âMine?â I asked with an awkward smile.
âExactly,â Dmitria smiled mischievously.
âSince itâs Aneki, it should be fine!â Briar was so confident at myself, when I wasnât even that confident in me...Thanks, Briar.
âHold on, what are you going to do if the young ones were to get it?â I asked.
âSimple, we are going to redraw the lot,â Valerie shrugged.
âUwawa...handling a challenging one...just how is the wyvern Iâm going to handle?â I asked, feeling a bit nervous.
âWell, letâs just go to get your partners of the day rather than wondering~,â Valerie said as she and Dmitria led the way to the ranch.
Incidentally, the Flugel twins had separated the participating monsters in one place, so there was no need for us to go our separate ways. Upon arriving at a small barn, we saw three young Pegasi, Raphus, and wyverns. Since they were quite young, we couldnât really ride on them, so today was purely devoted to taking care of them.
As per the result, the ones getting wyverns were me, Luca, and Clavis. The ones getting Pegasi were Iris, Ein, and Kiri. The ones getting Raphus were the young ones, Harvey, and Alt-nii.
The Flugel twins introduced us to who would be our partners today.
I waited for my turn as I saw everyone who was being introduced to their respective monster of the day. After a brief introduction, the monsters seemed to be friendly enough with them. I was kind of looking forward to my turn because of it.
âAs for Aneki, here is your partner wyvern. His name is Autzag,â Dmitria said.
Before my eyes was a young moss-colored wyvern whose body size was around a large breed dog. His round eyes were looking at me curiously.
âHi, Autzag, nice to meet you, Iâm Lyra,â I said as I patted his head.
However, after my first pat, Autzag dodged my pat and was about to peck my hand. Luckily, I was faster than him, so I managed to dodge his peck.
âHeâs asking you to play with him,â Dmitria said as she was almost laughing.
âUuu...such an energetic one...,â I gulped. Then, I patted his head again and the same cycle happened.
My initial worries were erased because apparently, Autzagâs mischievousness was to my liking. This built up my confidence that I would be fine with him.
...
Or not.
Yes, I severely miscalculated and underestimated Autzag.
Simly put, Autzag was a ball of energy as he didnât let me take a rest. When everyone else was walking around the farm leisurely, I was running to match my pace with Autzag. Luckily, we were provided with leashes that we could hold so that our partners wonât run away.
(Authorâs Note: To make you laugh, I initially made a typo from âour partnersâ to âour parentsâ)
I looked at how everyone else was doing at this time, wondering if anyone was having a similar problem with me. But when I turned around, I saw such a different scenery from my and Autzagâs walk.
Everyone else was laughing while walking leisurely with their partners.
âHahaha...,â their happy laughter was coupled with the monstersâ happy expressions as well.
Meanwhile, Autzag already tugged me and half-dragged me to run.
...
Such a contrast.
To everyone else, it might be jogging. But to me, it was a cardio workout...
(TâT)
As for Carbuncle, it seemed like she was having fun laughing at me and seeing the others taking care of the monsters. She even teased some of the monsters. Even Autzag was teased or intimidated by Carbuncle that he was calm for a few moments while Carbuncle was there. Of course, Carbuncle chuckled looking at my dumbfounded face and Autzagâs widening eyes of fear.
âCarbuncle, you should just go with Autzag. I think only you can subdue him...,â I said as I was catching my breath.
âMwahaha, this is nothing to me!â Carbuncle stuck out her chest in pride.
âCan youââ
âNo, no canât do. I like watching you guys. Youâre the funniest, Lyr,â Carbuncle chuckled.
âEeeeehh,â I hopelessly muttered as Carbuncle didnât want to help me.
But when I thought about it again, having Autzag intimidated into behaving by Carbuncle would stress Autzag and it would be no good.
With that in mind, I gathered my energy again.
During when we fed the monsters, while everyone else was harmoniously feeding their beloved partners of the day, I had another workout. You see...
âGrrawr,â Autzag growled as he turned his face away from me, who was holding out the meat for him to eat.
âWhatâs the matter? Still full?â I asked.
âAneki, Autzag wonât eat from your hands easily like that,â Valerie kindly told me.
âThen, what am I supposed to do? Just put the meat on the bowl and let him eat?â I asked.
âHmm, that is one option, but Autzag wonât eat quickly that way. To make him eat, you should throw the meat and he will leap to eat it. Like a hunter hunting its prey,â Valerie explained.
âGah...Like this?â I tried to call Autzag and throw the meat when he turned to look at me.
Sure enough, Autzag ran energetically, jumped, and bit the meat before he descended and devoured the meat.
âRinse and repeat,â Valerie said as she moved from me to see the others.
â...â
With that, I had the workout of throwing meat and chasing the wyvern.
Luckily, the humans also gained lunch break!
My energy expenditure was quite a lot today, so I ate a lot for the lunch. I felt like the others were looking at me with pitiful stare...
âCan you keep going, Lyra?â Alt-nii asked in concern.
âRururu?â Rurune tilted her head as she looked at me.
âYeah, Iâm fine! This is one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, itâs okay!â I said. I didnât want to give up that easily. I had considered this part of my physical training, too, hahaha...
âAfter this, weâre going to have a free time. You can do anything during this free time, such as playing with your partners. You are also free to roam around. You can even enter the nearby plains or forests, but be careful not to go too far. Especially the forest to the west of this ranch, the Silent Forest,â Valerie explained.
âIs there something in that forest?â Einâs interest was piqued.
âItâs a beautiful forest, actually. As its name implies, itâs quite tranquil and you can even relax in the forest. But thereâs a forbidden area in that forest, marked with a rope and several bells,â Valerie explained.
âThe forbidden area...,â Einâs eyes sparkled.
âHow about--,â Carbuncle smirked.
âDo not go there, though. A very strong and unique monster dwells there. It doesnât like to be disturbed. You can take a look from a far, but do not enter the area,â Dmitria warned us several times. It seemed like she was able to read Carbuncleâs mind.
âWhat happened to those who enter the area? They...can return, right?â Freyr asked.
âThey returned, but they were quite distraught for some time. To sum it up, they werenât like their usual self. I happened to see some of the victims and I think that itâs frightening to be like them. So, promise us youâll be careful if you want to go to the Silent Forest, okay?â Dmitria asked seriously.
Ein and Freyr nodded.
Carbuncle grumbled, but Harveyâs next words diverted her attention from Silent Forestâs forbidden area.
âSilent Forest, huh? Heard that itâs a beautiful and serene forest. Shall we go there?â Harvey casually asked.
âIf itâs too scary to go deeper into the forest, I recommend you to go and chill around the Still Water Lake thatâs located between the Silent Forest and the Beau Plains,â Valerie recommended.
Other than playing around, Carbuncle also enjoyed chilling in the nature, so this hit Carbuncleâs preference.
âAlright then, shall we go there?â Alt-nii asked.
All of us nodded.
At that time, I should have factored Autzagâs naughtiness before actually agreeing...
Thanks for reading and don't hesitate to comment! If you'd like to mingle with other readers and discuss the story, don't hesitate to join my Discord server!
If you'd like to support this series and gain access to advanced chapter(s), you can do so by clicking the button below :3
Special thanks to all patrons~!