“What are you trying to do, kid? Turn back into a human!”
The choices seemed to change based on my relationship with Ed, and compared to when he first arrived, the lines had become much gentler.
I shouted something that might sound like worry if heard properly and glared at Ed. For a moment, his eyes looked like Mimo’s.
‘Huh…?’
Mimo used to look at me with those eyes when he thought I was pathetic. I couldn’t believe kind Ed was looking at me like that, so I blinked a few times. Then Ed’s eyes returned to their usual gentle expression as if nothing had happened.
Ed turned back to glare at the wolf standing far away. I was about to stop him when something touched my hand.
‘What’s this? Wood?’
I looked back to see a wooden fence planted in the ground to keep the sheep from escaping.
As soon as the dialogue from the choice was over, my body moved instinctively without even realizing it. I had crouched behind the small fence, trying to hide, which was ridiculous. No matter how small my frame was, there was no way I could fully hide behind such a fence.
While I was feeling embarrassed, Ed jumped over the fence and ran towards the wolf. I hurriedly followed after him.
‘I can’t let a kid get into danger as an adult!’
As I trailed him, I frantically searched for something that could serve as a weapon.
Awoooo-.
Ed started making sounds I couldn’t understand, as if trying to communicate.
‘There’s no way this will work…!’
Awoo-.
It did?
Since I took over, the only animal I had to deal with was the infuriatingly disobedient Mimo. I guess it was true that animals of the same species followed beastmen well.
The wolf growled menacingly and threw aside the sheep it had been holding. The wolf, which had pulled its teeth out of the sheep’s neck, answered Ed.
After a few more exchanges of howls, Ed, still in wolf form, looked back at me and waved his paw a few times as if saying it was okay.
The moment rendered the stones and stick I held in my hands useless.
‘…Is it over?’
Relief washed over my tense body, and my legs nearly gave way. But I couldn’t sit down just yet.
Awoo-.
The wolf suddenly howled and started running toward me, panting.
Ah! Why is it running towards me!
“Kyaaa!”
I thought I couldn’t speak in front of Ed except for choosing dialogue, but I guess a desperate scream was allowed.
I realized this while running down madly to avoid the wolf! And this was nearly a month after Ed had come to the mansion!
“Miss Remi!”
As I was running frantically, I heard Ed’s urgent cry from above.
I finally noticed the solid fences I’m approaching fast. But behind me, the wolf seemed even more excited and was chasing me.
I couldn’t stop running.
‘I’m going to crash!’
At that moment, instead of the hard wood and pain I should have felt, I felt as if I was defying gravity.
I gasped when I opened my eyes.
In front of me was the green grass I should have been standing on.
“What?”
I was floating in the air on all fours.
When a dumbfounded noise came out of my mouth, my floating body plummeted to the ground.
“Ouch!”
Rubbing my nose, which had unfortunately hit the ground, I looked up to see a very startled Ed above and the wolf, which had stopped halfway while running toward me, also looking surprised.
‘Huh?’
Wait, how was I floating?
My mind froze. My gaze was fixed on Ed’s shocked face.
Could it be…?
‘Is today the day?’
The time when Ed supposedly experienced something strange in the original story.
The now familiar, translucent window with numbered dialogue options appeared before me.
「 1. What was that? Did you do that?
2. How dare you put your master in danger?!
3. You better get rid of that darn wolf and come here right now, kid.」
Aside from the rough tone, some of the options included things I wanted to say.
Like telling him to send the wolf away and come here or asking if he did that.
My eyes fixed on option three, then on the wolf standing not too far away. My frightened hands trembled pitifully on the grass.
‘If I say this in front of the wolf, won’t it bite me?’
After much deliberation, I chose option one.
* * *
According to Ed, the reason the wolf suddenly ran towards me was due to a communication error.
He had told the wolf that if it didn’t eat that sheep, the person standing over there (me) would give it food.
The sudden wolf incident turned the mansion upside down, but Ed and I were also quite shaken.
I didn’t expect to see Ed’s magic abilities manifest this way!
In the original, it was just mentioned as “something strange happened,” and Billy was angry, saying that nobles should have noticed it but ignored it.
‘I thought it was just a minor spell that was hard to notice.’
I looked at Ed, who was standing next to Mimo, looking very downcast, while massaging my still throbbing nose with my fingers.
He was clasping his hands and bowing his head, probably feeling immense guilt for causing me to crash into the ground.
But how many magicians could perfectly control their magic from the start? Especially since Ed was only seven years old, it would be even harder for him.
I really wanted to thank him for saving me from crashing into the wooden fence, but I knew the choices wouldn’t reflect my feelings.
I agonized over how to comfort Ed and how to help him develop his abilities in the future.
Meanwhile, the rumor that “the young wolf slave can use magic” spread quickly within the mansion.
‘As if I didn’t have enough to worry about, now there’s a rumor… How did this even happen?’
After the incident at the pasture, I began to wonder.
If the “strange incident” Ed experienced in the original story was indeed what happened in the pasture, even a child should have realized he had used magic.
‘But the Ed in the original said he couldn’t remember exactly.’
There was another mystery. Who started the rumor?
Did someone hear my scream and see the scene at the pasture?
‘If it was that noticeable and caused such a rumor, Ed should have been aware of his abilities.’
It led me to conclude that this incident happened because I was possessed, causing a deviation from the original story.
The original Remi would have only used Ed within the annex and wouldn’t have taken him to the pasture. My actions, different from the original, were likely the cause.
‘How do I resolve this now?’
Should I start by quelling the rumors? My worries deepened.
***
A small, shabby yet relatively tidy room.
“You’ll sleep well here, right? You need to be well-rested to work properly.”
Thanks to Remi, who replaced the old bed with a new, soft one so Ed could sleep well and work efficiently, Ed’s body was now nestled comfortably in the bed. The moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating the small room.
Tonight, like any other night, Ed had spent a relatively uneventful day and now lay in bed, staring at his hands. He inspected them with wide, curious eyes, then touched the area near his chest where he felt something strange. He reached out his hands into the air.
Nothing happened.
“Then how was I able to use magic?”
Endless questions bubbled up, confusing his mind. He suddenly recalled the strange incident that happened before the one at the pasture.
After Zeb Horse started visiting the mansion, Ed occasionally had some alone time.
The master had said that slaves shouldn’t be brought to meet important guests.
When Ed was alone, he usually spent time walking around the annex garden out of sight of the servants, playing with Mimo, or engaging in solitary activities in his room.
That day, heavy rain poured down from the dark gray sky.
Ed, who had escorted Remi to the entrance of the main building and returned to the annex, shivered in the cold wind. Perhaps due to the early autumn weather, it was an unusually chilly day.
“Stay in my room while I’m gone so you don’t catch a cold.”
Remi had said this before entering the main building alone. Though the tone was brusque, Ed appreciated it. He planned to go to Remi’s room because the fireplace in his own room wasn’t working.
‘Miss Remi doesn’t seem to be a bad person after all.’
Ed felt a warmth in his heart as he turned to head to Remi’s room to warm up for a bit.
Just as he was about to open the door and step out, he was stopped by a servant standing in the doorway with a fierce glare.
“Hey, slave!”
The servant glaring at Ed was Ben, one of the annex servants. Ben, who disliked the idea of carnivorous beastmen dominating herbivorous ones, openly expressed his dissatisfaction and frequently harassed Ed, a carnivorous beastman.
Ed was accustomed to Ben’s verbal abuse and bullying and hadn’t mentioned these incidents to Remi.
“Do you need something?”
Although only Remi had the authority to command him, Ed couldn’t ignore Ben.
From his days wandering the streets, Ed had learned how to deal with people like Ben. So he lowered himself and asked.
Ben, seemingly satisfied with this, smirked and shoved a large laundry basket at Ed.
“Take this to the stream at the back and wash it. Make sure it’s clean, understand?”
His words carried a barely concealed glee.
Ed, holding the laundry basket, looked out the window. The rain continued to pour heavily, showing no sign of stopping.
“But it’s raining.”
Normally, he would have complied without complaint, but today was different. It was simply impossible to do laundry in such conditions.
“Are you talking back to me? Do you know how much work needs to be done in this mansion? If you keep slacking off just because it’s raining, when will this ever get done?”
With a strong shove to his shoulder, Ed stumbled back.
Letting out a discreet sigh, Ed steadied himself and, with a resigned voice, agreed to go. The laundry basket was too heavy for him to carry, so he dragged it along the ground.
“What are you doing now?”
Just as he was about to step out of the annex, a large shadow fell over him. It was Remi.
☆ ☆ ☆
If you want to support the translation and the translator, please buy a coffee ♥︎
