Things progressed smoothly in Valt, and the Gate Crystal was installed in Neige’s private room.
They called it that at Neige’s request, and after finishing her duties in the evening, I immediately came to Alka.
Neige had been to Alka several times before, but this was her first time staying overnight, and her first time going up to the fourth and fifth floors of the main hall, so she was surprised by the bedroom and the open-air bath on the top floor.
I introduced them to Ed and the others during dinner, and I was a little annoyed that everyone accepted Neige so casually, but I understood.
In the end, I had a blast not only in the bedroom but also in the open-air bath on the top floor, and Neige seemed to accept me, as she was sleeping next to me when I woke up in the morning.
Mako was on the other side, but with both of them holding me tightly, I felt like I would wake them up if I moved carelessly, and it was frustrating that I couldn’t do anything until they woke up.
Neige returned to Ovest after breakfast, but she said she would come again when she had time.
Today is a holiday, so I wish she could have stayed a little longer, but she is a Beast Duke, so she must be busy.
As for how we spend our holidays, of course, there is the development of MARS, but that alone doesn’t end the day.
We sometimes walk through the streets of Feel and Float, and we also play with our familiar spirits.
Alka has mountains, forests, and lakes, so during the day, we play wherever we like while in Alka, and at night, we return to the familiar spirit hall where we sleep.
Today, I felt like going for a cruise, so Mako and I came to the lake.
We can’t always use the Tenju Manufacturing Beast Carriage, so Marina built a small boat about 10 meters long, and it’s floating there.
The exterior is almost the same as the Tenju Manufacturing Beast Carriage, but the hull is made of Jade Silver, so we don’t experience magical fatigue or deterioration even when we ride it.
Thanks to that, we can ride it casually.
On the shore of the lake, Jade and Fluorite were relaxing and catching fish.
Jade, a Hippogriff Philius, and Fluorite, a Hippogriff Philia, are often found in the mountains and by the lake.
Especially since there are fish stocked in the lake, they not only eat them themselves but also catch them for us.
It has been almost a year since we helped and contracted with them last summer.
Hippogriffs apparently become adults after one year of birth, so we can consider them adults now.
Their body length is now over 6 meters, and they can easily carry about three people on their backs and fly, but I think they will grow a little larger.
There was a prediction that they might evolve when they become adults, but that hasn’t happened yet.
Nearby, Battle Horses are also walking around.
There are Manna’s Spica, Meena’s Breeze, Mako’s Kaede, Raus’s Lean, Rebecca’s Far, Carol’s Orchid, and Seras’s Trefle, as well as one Battle Horse contracted by each Butler, so there are 14 in total.
It seems Lumina’s Battle Horse, Raffaga, was contracted during her time as a Hunter and has been with her for nearly eight years.
She is also good friends with Uny, but it seems her financial situation has become difficult, and she was considering disposing of him in the worst-case scenario, so she was truly happy to be able to let him roam freely in Alka.
The reason Alice, Laurel, and File also contracted was that Battle Horses cannot pull a beast carriage by themselves; two are needed.
It’s not a problem when we are in Alka, but we often go out, and Marisa and the others come with us, so we would have trouble when we need a beast carriage.
I considered having just one person contract, but then Lumina and that one person would always need to be available to use the beast carriage, which I thought would be too much of a burden.
So, I had all three of them contract.
Alice’s Celestial Magic is Summoning Magic, but for the same reason, I didn’t have Alice contract alone. Instead, I had her contract with Grantpus.
However, Alice seems to be active as a seamstress at the Crafter’s Guild, so she says she wants to contract with a Caterpillar or a Crawler.
Although the Crawler’s appearance is unappealing, its range of activity isn’t that wide, so if we renovate a corner of the familiar spirit hall or even create a habitat in a corner of Alka Forest and let them roam freely, we wouldn’t have to see them unnecessarily.
Furthermore, when familiar spirits and summoned beasts evolve, they suddenly become rare species, and in the case of a Crawler, it evolves into a Grand Silk Crawler.
Grand Silk Crawlers are P-R rank, and the materials they yield can be used for a considerable amount of time even by Ancient Class users, so there’s the advantage of not having to go hunting for them all the time.
Therefore, if Alice wishes, I don’t mind her contracting with a Crawler.
The problem is her appearance.
The Battle Horses are enjoying themselves, drinking water and playing with each other.
There are two rare War Horses among them; one is Manna’s summoned beast, Spica, and the other is Breeze, whom Meena contracted with.
Breeze evolved during the second investigation of the Krater Labyrinth.
It’s only been less than two years since she contracted with Meena, but it’s apparently not possible to evolve this quickly.
This is just a guess, but I wonder if she was influenced by the magic of an Ancient Class?
Summoned beasts increase in magic power between the contractor and the summoner, so it’s apparently easier to evolve them if they are Ancient Class, but it’s said that familiar spirits are not like that.
However, it’s not entirely impossible, so it’s a possibility, according to the Crafter’s Guild.
“Hey, Uny! Wait!”
“Hahaha!”
I heard Lumina and Uny’s voices. What are they up to this time?
Looking over, Uny was riding Snow White at full speed, and Lumina was chasing her.
Snow White is the child of a Slume Lord contracted by Mako, a P-R rank Snow Mirage Tiger. Like Jade and Fluorite, she has undergone a special evolution and is thought to be equivalent to one rank higher.
Snow White has now grown to the size of a foal, and can easily carry one person on her back, so there’s no problem for a three-year-old like Uny.
Uny often plays with the familiar spirits, and she’s particularly close to Snow White.
“Snow White, stop!”
“Gau!”
Snow White wasn’t running at full speed, so she responded to Mako’s call and stopped slowly so as not to drop Uny.
“I’m sorry, Lady Mako.”
“It’s fine, but what did you do this time?”
“I was cleaning the familiar spirit hall, and suddenly Uny said she wanted to go to the lake. So, I called out to Snow White, and she got on her back in an instant…”
“…I’m sorry.”
In other words, Snow White also wanted to go to the lake.
Well, it’s not something to get angry about.
Mako and Lumina probably can’t ignore it due to discipline issues.
Ah, the lecture has begun.
Both Uny and Snow White look dejected.
“Okay, Uny. I’m not saying you can’t play. But you shouldn’t get in the way of work. Besides, you said you wanted to help clean the familiar spirit hall, right? You need to finish what you start.”
“I’m sorry…”
“It’s good that you understand. Now, let’s go back to the familiar spirit hall. Honest and Valey are waiting, you know.”
“Okay.”
Honest and Valey, the Grantpuses, are in the familiar spirit hall.
Honest is contracted by Apricot, and Valey by Alice, but both are gentle.
They are friends because they are both Grantpuses, but they rarely leave the familiar spirit hall and often spend the entire day lounging around.
However, they seem to enjoy interacting with people and are often the first to greet us when we go to the familiar spirit hall.
“Huh? Lumina, where’s Flow?”
“Flow went out as soon as we entered the familiar spirit hall.”
“That’s unusual.”
Flow is a Ridoceros that Flam contracted with a while ago. Ridoceros is an S-N rank monster, a rhinoceros-like creature that can move freely both on land and in water.
Originally, Ridoceros have large horns like a rhinoceros, but Flow’s horns are broken from the base.
This is because they were attacked by a Tyrannosaurus, a monster that shouldn’t inhabit the Nadal Sea.
The Tyrannosaurus is a dragon species called Saur, and it’s a G-U rank monster. Saur species inhabit not only the Nadal Sea but also only around Valentia.
However, there are apparently individuals that occasionally move northward, so it’s speculated that this Tyrannosaurus traveled north from Valentia and entered the Nadal Sea.
Flow, with his horns broken by the Tyrannosaurus, managed to escape to near Prada Village, where Flam saved him.
Flow was surprised that Flam defeated the Tyrannosaurus so easily, but he understood that he had been saved and didn’t act hostile. Flam also wanted to contract with a familiar spirit that could move in both water and land, so he offered a familiar spirit contract, and that’s how it came to be.
I, too, am grateful for an S-rank aquatic familiar spirit like a Ridoceros.
If the hydro-engine breaks down, I can have it pull the beast carriage.
By the way, it seems that the broken horns will grow back, although it takes a little time.
Like Honest and Valey, Flow rarely comes out of the familiar spirit hall.
He occasionally comes to swim in the lake, but that’s about it.
So, this time too, I wonder if he’s swimming somewhere?
“Then we will return to the familiar spirit hall.”
“Please do. Oh, and Uny, if you help your mother properly, I’ll let you ride the boat later, okay?”
“Really!?”
“Yes. Of course, Snow White will come with us too.”
“Hooray! Snow White, let’s go on the boat together!”
“Gau!”
Uny hugs Snow White and rejoices.
“Thank you, Lord Yamato.”
“I’m sorry, Yamato.”
“Except for Snow White, Uny can’t leave Alka without us. I’ll do this much.”
I haven’t given Uny a Gate Crystal.
She’s only three years old, so letting her use it without permission would only cause problems.
Therefore, Uny is confined to Alka unless she is with her mother Lumina or us.
She can help with simple tasks, but Alka and Hinomoto Mansion are vast, so she often spends her days alone.
That’s why she spends a lot of time playing with the familiar spirits, but when we go into a labyrinth, even the familiar spirits leave Alka, so I’m wondering what to do about that.
There’s the idea of giving her a Carbuncle like Manna, but she’s only three years old and can’t use familiar spirit magic yet.
Besides, Uny seems to prefer monsters she can ride on her back.
“Let’s think about Uny later.”
“Is that all we can do?”
We really need to think about this.
“The mood for cruising is gone, but what do you think?”
“I don’t want to give up on spending time with just you two, Mako, so let’s go.”
“R-right. Come to think of it, this might be the first time we’ve been alone together since we got married.”
“That’s right.”
Mako blushes, but we only got married two days ago.
In fact, the only time I’ve gone out alone with Mako was when we visited the Trial Hearts in Polar to request reinforcement for Torencia.
Yeah, I’m getting a little nervous too.
“…Luna, why are you here?”
I thought so, but there was already a passenger on the boat.
It’s Manna’s summoned beast, Star Ruby’s Luna.
Luna was the first summoned beast Manna contracted with. She’s a squirrel-like creature, but she’s actually rare despite her popularity.
She was originally a Carbunculus, but she evolved and her species changed.
She’s a friendly monster, so she’s rarely hunted, but she apparently has a long lifespan and isn’t a very strong monster, so she’s rarely seen and is almost never raised on farms.
Luna was a gift from Lady Sayuri, and Lady Sayuri said she found her by chance.
By the way, there are no higher species of Carbunculus. The rare species is Star Ruby, and the anomalous species is Red Star.
Disaster species and Demise species are unknown.
She tilts her head, her beady eyes looking at us, but this time she doesn’t look very cute.
“I didn’t expect Luna to be here. What do you think? We’re about to start the boat, are you coming too?”
“Kyui.”
Mako tried to invite Luna, but Luna let out a cry towards the sky.
Then Sirius, the Ice Rock, descended.
Sirius is also Manna’s summoned beast, so he’s friendly with Luna, another summoned beast.
Sirius hasn’t evolved yet, but Luna and Spica have evolved, and since their contractor Manna is an Ancient Elf, they will likely evolve in the near future.
Luna bowed to me and Mako and got on Sirius’s back. Sirius let out a cry towards us and then took flight.
Were they being considerate?
“It seems they were being considerate.”
“It does seem that way. Well, shall we go?”
“Yes. Since we’re here, let’s enjoy our date on the lake.”
Yes, let’s enjoy it.
As the words suggest, Mako and I enjoyed our lake date.
Since it was our first time being alone together, we did what we had to do.
