Umm, I wonder if this is the familiar's stable?
I came to a halt in front of a separate building adjacent to the Fourth Monster Knight Order's building. I looked around and saw what looked like the manager's office, so I knocked on the door.
"Hello~! Starting today, I, Fia Ruud, am in charge of monster recovery!" (Fia)
The door was soon opened and a well-built man in his late forties came out.
"Oh, it's you. Vice Captain Assistant Patty has contacted me. Well then, I'll show you around the family quarters right away."
And so, we entered the familiar building together.
Inside was a spacious rectangular space with a high ceiling. In the room, there were three rows of cages, each containing one monster.
"This room is the largest, and it's used to store monsters of D-rank and below. Next to it is the room for C-rank monsters, and beyond that is the room for B-rank monsters, and beyond that is an empty room."
The manager looked puzzled and continued speaking.
"All monsters look scary, but they're interesting because they might actually be lonely or clingy. When a monster calls its master, its master will come running over right away. Look, there are some knights standing in front of the cage right now, right?"
"Heh, that's cute, right?" (Fia)
Indeed, there were several knights in the room, talking to the monster in the cage and stroking its body. However, I noticed that among the imposing knights, there was a girl wearing a white robe.
"Who is that girl?" (Fia)
The manager narrowed his eyes and said, "Ah."
"She's a saint. Only the Fourth Monster Knights and saints can enter the familiar mansion. The knights of the Fourth Monster Knights are there to look after the monsters they serve, and saints are there to heal them. However, she is the only saint who actually visits here."
The little saint stared intently at the monster in the cage. She was a girl around 7 or 8 years old with a cute face and shoulder-length orange hair.
Although I was worried, the manager continued his explanation, so I decided to concentrate on that.
"Your job is to give healing potions to injured monsters. One bottle lasts about three days, so when it runs out, you can go to the saints to get some more."
Oh, I don't have to go get it every day, huh? But I wonder if such a small bottle will last for three days? Maybe there are only a few injured monsters?
"That's a healing potion for humans, so when using it on monsters, you dilute it ten times. Monsters have a high self-healing ability, you see. Injured monsters have a red card inserted on top of the nameplate attached to their cage, so you can tell them apart by that."
Now that I thought about it, each cage had a 20cm square plate attached to it, and at the bottom of the plate is written the name of the monster, the name of the contractor, and some other information. The top of the plate was designed to allow several cards to be inserted.
"If you put a healing potion in this dish here and then put the dish into the food slot on the cage with the red card in it, then you’ll be done. But, the hard part starts from here, you know."
The manager sighed and gestured around to the monster's cage.
"Each monster has been told by their contractor to drink a healing potion. However, healing potions taste really bad, and the healing process is painful, so they are reluctant to drink them. Almost all monsters will try to intimidate you. So, you have to stand in front of the monster's cage and keep telling them, 'Drink it. This is an order from your contractor,' until they drink the potion."
"……I see" (Fia)
Having said that, the manager scratched his head and continued with a look of difficulty.
"...Sometimes the monsters don't listen to what they're told. It seems that monsters judge the person in charge of healing potions by their appearance, so usually one of the most intimidating knights in the Fourth Monster Knight Order takes turns in charge..."
I see. So that's why Vice Captain Assistant Patty tried to object when I was put in charge of healing potions, right? It must take a lot of courage to express an opposing opinion to your superior, the Vice Captain, but she's a really nice person to try to protect me. Okay, let's treat the familiar of Vice Captain Assistant Patty with special care!
After thanking the manager for his explanation and leaving, I immediately decided to give the monster a healing potion. Looking around again, there were various monsters in the cages.
"Umm, this room only contains monsters below D-rank, right?"
I look around, searching for the cage with the red card in it.
"Oh, isn't it Violet Boar?" (Fia)
Looking into the cage with the red card in it, I saw a boar-shaped monster inside. It must have been injured recently, as there was blood seeping through the bandages wrapped around its stomach.
"Hopefully you'll get better soon, okay?" (Fia)
As I spoke, I handed over the plate of recovery potions.
In an instant, the monster kicked up its front legs, stood up on its hind legs, and threatened.
"Gyuuuuuuuuu!!"
Then, as it got close enough to bump into the cage, it bared its fangs and continued to growl.
"Try drinking it. It won't taste good, but it will heal your injuries. Your master will be happy to see you get better soon." (Fia)
I looked it in the eye and talk to it. However, the monster just opened its mouth wide and gnashed its teeth.
...This is a problem. What should I do?
It had a wound in its stomach, and getting excited was not good for this monster either.
In a hurry, I pushed the plate further in to get it closer to the monster, but its fangs protruding from the gap in the cage scratched the back of my hand.
Ah, I've suffered an injury that will take one second to heal...
As I gazed upon the aggressive monster in confusion, Zavilia suddenly popped out.
"Fia, can I help you?" (Zavilia)
"Huh? Ah, yeah?" (Fia)
After I replied quickly, the question came to mind, "How can he help?"
Zavilia bared her teeth and made a sound by exhaling.
"Shhhhhhh..." (Zavilia)
As soon as it heard that sound, the monster in front of me stopped threatening me. Then it walked right up to the plate and began drinking the potion in silence.
"Huh? How?! Zavilia can control monsters?" (Fia)
I was so surprised that I couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah, I don't think that's possible. It's a threatening sound. The sound I make is special, so I think it will work on most monsters." (Zavilia)
"Wow, that's amazing! Zavilia is like the king of monsters, right!!" (Fia)
I meant it as a compliment, but Zavilia stiffened in surprise.
"...Yeah, sorry. I'm not king yet." (Zavilia)
"Oh, no, I just thought it looked good on you like a king! It's okay if you're not a king!" (Fia)
"...Do you, Fia, want me to be king?" (Zavilia)
Zavilia asked, with his eyes down casted.
"Let's see……" (Fia)
When I looked at Zavilia again, I saw his blue eyes looking straight back at me from under his fluffy blue wings.
"Zavilia is cute, strong, kind, and wonderful... Yes, Zavilia is enough for me just the way he is!... You can't become a king just because you want to... But if Zavilia is meant to be king, the opportunity will surely come, and then I'll decide what to do when the time comes." (Fia)
"...Yeah. Thank you, Fia." (Zavilia)
Zavilia rubbed his face against me as if she was being affectionate.
Yeah, he's really cute now.
"Well then, shall we give the rest of the familiars some healing potions?" (Fia)
That's when I was talking to Zavilia.
"...Umm, Lady Knight."
I heard a small, cute voice.
When I turned around, I saw the young saint standing there with her hands clasped together.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading.
[Thank you] Thank you for your constant feedback, reports of typos, reviews, bookmarks, and ratings!!