”First of all, my name is Wirk. As I said outside, I came to this island by ship from the Carcel Kingdom.” ”My name’s Eph. Papa is the Dwarven King, and I’m pretty much his daughter, so I’m called a princess.”
I see, so that’s what you meant. Well, I’ll introduce the others as well.
”This here’s Uni the brownie. Like I said, he’s an important friend that came with me.” ”Uni-!” ”Haah~, fluffy, fluffy~”
When I introduced Uni, Eph was focused on stroking him. Uni doesn’t seem to feel bad getting touched, so there’s no problem.
”Even so, to have a fairy brownie as a familiar… they usually don’t get attached to people so quickly…”
Eph wondered so. That’s what my master told me as well.
”This here’s the Bamboo Princess. As we said a while ago, she’s the personification of bamboo that we met on this island.” ”That, was it actually the truth?”
Eph blinked her eyes in surprise.
”What on earth did you think I was-noja?” ”A dreaming little girl.”
The Bamboo Princess scowled at Eph’s reply. Seems she, in the end, saw her as a little girl.
”The Bamboo Princess came out from within a silver bamboo.” ”That’s right-noja. I am the Bamboo Princess, born from the bamboo-noja! You should show me more respect.” ”Ara? In that case, I’m a princess too. You can show me respect too-wa!” ”Mugugu!” ”Nununu!”
For some reason, they seem to have developed a sense of rivalry. Though it’s true that they’re both princesses.
”Then once again doing the introductions, we befriended these moles on this island, and now they’ve become my familiars. From the left we have Yambo, Marbo, Komatsu, Kubota, and Iseki respectively.” ”Fwua~, they’re so fluffy~” ”Mogu~” ”Mogu-!” ”Umu. Certainly, this fluffiness is the supreme fluffiness-noja!” ”Mogyu-”
”Mo~gu~♪” ”Mogu mogu♪”
Eph and the Bamboo Princess started stroking the moles together. Fluffy fluffy. The moles are delighted too. So charming.
”Then riding on my shoulder is Kani. We also found this child on this island. She has a gem set in her forehead.” ”Koo~♪”
When I introduced her, Kani mewled and rubbed her cheek against mine. I patted her head and she squinted her eyes pleasantly while wagging her fluffy tail.
”Jiiii~” [TL: staring sfx, spoken aloud]
Then Eph looked at Kani with deep interest.
”Want to stroke Kani? That’s fine. Kani would like that too.” ”No I don’t, but of course I will.”
”But, isn’t this child a Carbuncle?” [TL: a carbuncle is a bright red gem] ”Koo~♪” ”Carbuncle?”
I tilted my head at those words. U~m, if it’s that, I’ve heard of it, but it didn’t seem to exist…
”Carbuncles are mythical beasts. It’s such a rare creature that’s its considered a legend, but… this child’s really friendly, huh. Did you make this child a familiar too?” ”I made a contract with her. But a mythical beast? No wonder it has a mysterious power.” ”What kind of mysterious power?”
Eph hung onto my words. She’s quite curious about it.
”Something like creating a barrier to protect you.” ”Ah, so it’s that kind of power.”
Eph nodded with words of agreement, but at the same time, I could sense a hint of doubt.
”Were you expecting a different kind of power?” ”In the end, they’re only rumours about its power, but Carbuncles were called mythical beasts that brought forth luck. That’s why whenever there’s talk of seeing a Carbuncle, humans’ eyes go wide as they try to get their hands on one. Well, you’re human too, but, you might want to be careful about those type of people.”
So that’s how it was… I thought she was an unusual creature, but I didn’t think she was that rare, and can bring forth luck to boot. That being said, I have found some good material since I befriended Kani. And Kani also told me about that mana pool.
”You’re an amazing kid.” ”Koo~♪”
Kani mewled proudly. That appearance was cute. Although, if that’s the case, I should be careful. Although then again, if we’re on this island, I don’t think we’ll be found by other humans.
”Continuing on, this here’s Keon. I saved it from a monster on the island, then we became friends and it became a familiar.” ”Keon gives off a nice and cool feeling-noja.” ”Kyupi~♪”
The Bamboo Princess stroked Keon while it was on her knee. Keon chirped, looking like he was in a good mood.
”This child’s also strange for a slime… seems like a Blue Slime, but normally Slimes aren’t this friendly.” ”Yeah. It sure is different from the Blue Slime I also know. It can oxidise iron and stuff.” ”Eh? What’s that? It has that kind of power?”
Eph was blinking her eyes in surprise. Hmm, we made good progress with the concrete thanks to that.
”I’m honestly surprised, you have all these fluffy guys as familiars. What on earth are you?” (Eph) ”I’m just a magic architect.” (Wirk) ”Ma, jik, arky, tect?” (Eph)
Eph pronounced it awkwardly while tilting her head. Was that hard to hear?
”Lastly is Kobelco. He doesn’t have fur, but instead is sturdy. He’s a strong guy that protects this fortress. He’s a friend we rely on greatly.” ”Go-!”
Kobelco raised both hands to appeal his strength. Then Eph stared at Kobelco.
”You got something on your mind about Kobelco?” ”If I had to say, yeah, something about him is nostalgic, like he has a familiar feeling…” ”Go-?”
At those words, Kobelco had a face that said “huh?”. Hmm, but, what is it? Are they acquainted?