Chapter 22

Chapter 22

022: Shocking Facts

I went to see Rodo’s parents.

According to Rodo, there are only three Akinists, Rodo and his parents. Therefore, Rodo has never seen a child Akinist.

He doesn’t seem to remember how big he was when he was a kid.

Is it because at the age of 156, old memories are vague?

However, I’m convinced that even I don’t know my size when I was born.

I was then taken to a big house.

A luxurious house that’s many times larger than Rodo’s house.

Rodo seemed to have grown up in a wealthy family.

The couple greeted me.

Apparently, Rodo was born between a man and a woman.

However, in this world, it’s impossible to know their age based on appearance.

Rodo’s parents looked about 40 years old.

I thought there are no children in town, but now that I think about it, there are also no old people.

Looks like at this age, they wouldn’t change much even at the end of their lives.

He has a kind father and a beautiful mother, much like Rodo.

Their hair, eye color, and wavy hair are the same as Rodo’s.

The ratio of beautiful men and women is quite high in this world, but is there a reason for it?

They’re originally beasts, so when humanized, why do they look so beautiful?

…I don’t understand.

At any rate──

“Nice to meet you. Call me Kou. Rodo, live together. Father? Rodo, mother?”

I have to introduce myself properly.

But how old are these two?

Rodo said there are only three living Akinists, so he didn’t have grandparents.

He said that the lifespan of an Akinist is 700 to 800 years old, so it’s easy to guess their low fertility rate with only three family members left.

Rodo might be the only child.

“Kou?”

They always pronounce my name strangely.

Even though it’s only three letters…

Moreover, because it’s stretched, it’s no different from a single letter.

(T/N: Okay, the Japanese reading of 虹 is ‘niji’ but the Chinese reading is ‘kou’, which is what the author put in furigana. MC introduced himself as ‘Kou’ but they kept calling him ‘Kō’, however, the ‘o’ here has a long sound. I’m sorry, I’m too lazy to type the ‘ō’ character so I just put all of them as Kou. Anyway, the pronunciation for Kou is short while the Kō they kept calling him is prolonged at the end. It sounds the same to me, so I don’t see the difference, though.

Also, the raw says it’s two letters “ko + u” and yes, they’re letters for Japanese. But Kou is complaining that it became a single letter since they made it into “kō” only. Sorry for the long explanation.)

…well, I don’t think I can say Rodo and kitchen properly either.

(T/N: I have no idea why the word kitchen appeared here. Probably because Rodo’s full name is Rodokiaus, and that last part sounded like kitchen to Kou.)

Somehow, I understood that Rodo is explaining why we’re here.

“***, this much *.”

I don’t understand some words but I could understand the gist because they showed me the size by gesturing.

Large enough to fit in both hands of an adult.

Just looking at Rodo’s beastification, it’s a big difference.

“Small, ne~?”

“Ne~” seems to be a word that asks for agreement.

“Cute **.”

I can’t hear what Rodo’s mother said at the end.

It might be a word peculiar to women.

Until now, I’ve only been around men, and this woman spoke the same way as Rodo’s men.

In other words, she’s speaking in honorifics.

(T/N: I didn’t even notice.)

Since Rodo’s mother is a parent, I’d understand if she doesn’t use any honorifics.

Rodo, who was holding me up, turned around for some reason.

It seems like he didn’t want me to be stroked by someone after knowing I’m his “mate”.

…but I feel like he hated it from the very beginning, though.

Rodo stroked my head as if to replace his mother.

I’m not a kid and sometimes I’d shake off his hand, but Rodo would show a hurt expression.

It can’t be helped so I pulled back his hand and he’d be happy.

Although he’s always a reliable adult, he seems to be a child only at such times.

“******.”

Rodo said something and turned on his heels.

(Are we going home already?)

Isn’t it too early?

“Rodo, goodbye? Akinist…”

I wanted to see an Akinist other than Rodo.

Involuntarily, I looked back.

“******? ******?”

Rodo’s father said something.

Is he holding back Rodo?

Sure enough, it’d be lonely if his son returned so soon.

But does Rodo hate his parents?

He didn’t even have a friendly atmosphere.

When I looked up, it looks like he’s staring at his father.

“Rodo, are you busy? Go home, don’t…no good?”

When I asked if he had to leave, Rodo shook his head and smiled.

“Waa! Thank you. Rodo, thank you!”

I was so happy that I screamed, but when I saw Rodo show a deeper smile, I also smiled.

Rodo returned to the table and let me sit on his lap.

Rodo said something quickly.

Normally, he wouldn’t talk at this speed.

He knows I can’t hear it unless he slowed down, so he’d speak slowly when talking to me.

I heard something that sounded like “Kou”, “Niho”, “18”, and others, so he might be explaining my circumstances.

…did you not explain it to them until now?

“I am *** father *****.”

“…Shari?”

I understand he’s calling himself a father, but I can’t hear what seemed to be his name.

“Sato.”

Then he said a short word.

It’s just like Rodo.

“Sato.”

When I imitated the pronunciation and said it, he had a smiling face.

As expected, I didn’t pronounce it well.

“*** mother *****. Al***?”

Is the word ‘mother’ harder to hear because of women’s unique way of speaking?

“Al?”

I managed to say what I could hear and she smiled.

The names of Rodo’s parents seem to be Sato and Al.

Next is my turn.

“Kou, become big, become magician. Rodo’s magician. Ruu, good, said.”

I have to say it properly.

I’m not going to be Rodo’s dependant.

However, they seem to be wondering about “Ruu”.

Ruu, who’s a chief magician, is called the “representative of the Tower of Trik”.

But I can’t say his name, and I can’t say “Trik representative” that everyone calls him, so I was told that Ruu was fine.

If he says he’s fine with it, then it should be fine.

The next question asked was becoming Rodo’s magician, that.

I was asked what about being Marihect’s magician… why be a person’s magician when I can serve the country instead? I wonder what that means.

Work for that Doberman king whom I want to escape from…?

…no, no.

If I can make enough money to not bother Rodo, that’s fine.

…Rodo doesn’t seem to need my earnings though.

Well, I can just work as his sword.

Rodo said something tongue-twisting again.

Maybe it’s about me.

Sato stood up noisily and said something in a hurry.

Rodo continued talking in a plain tone.

He turned his gaze on me, so he’s still talking about me.

Is it about my power that made him restless?

Or is it the lifespan?

…as a guess, it would be either of them.

“Rodo, what?”

“Work, talk.”

“…work.”

Rodo said it’s about work.

When it’s about my power, he wouldn’t fool me like this.

…but I can’t do anything about the lifespan.

The same thing is true when talking about the fact that I’m from another world.

I didn’t want to come here.

So even if I leave someday, that’s not my intention either.

It’s not something I can control.

Rather than such uncertainties, I turned my eyes to expectations.

Because there are three Akinists here, right?

All-you-can-stroke kitty cats…

That delusion didn’t stop me from drooling.

“What’s up?”

Sato, who noticed that I was glancing at him, called out.

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This is…a chance to talk about my desires!?

“Akinist, become?”

Will he say no?

For some reason, Sato and Al showed stern looks.

I’m often asked if I’m afraid of Akinists, but I can’t be afraid of cats.

…the dog fans often told me that I couldn’t possibly be afraid of dogs.

Then you should try being chased by stray dogs too!

On a jungle gym, you should also enjoy my feelings of being frightened by the dogs that roamed around.

How many times did I say that to them…

Rodo and Sato talked about something again.

But soon, Sato took off his clothes and turned into a beast.

“Hyaaa! Akinist!! Cute, Cute, ne~”

It’s the same as Rodo’s beastification.

…no, it’s bigger?

Anyway, it’s still a cute cat.

“Stroking, also, good?”

When I approached while reaching out──

“Good.”

Permission was granted

I stroked and he turned out to be muscular.

“As expected, it’s amazing! This fluffy texture…”

I unintentionally spoke in Japanese.

But it can’t be helped.

No one wouldn’t be excited in front of the cute cat-sama.

He licked my cheeks and I unintentionally laughed.

It’s too cute that it’s dangerous.

This would motivate me to work better.

…limited to Akinists, though.

The race I saw the other day, Torujiu, was also cute.

It looked like a cat with a dorsal fin.

But the blissful time was soon over.

──by Rodo’s hand.

When he lifted me, I looked at Rodo in dissatisfaction, Rodo’s atmosphere became colder than ever.

“*******.”

Humanized Sato said something to Rodo.

──he sounded amazed.

It’s no good to stroke even though the other party is your father?

…is this jealousy?

Rodo said he would marry me, but he still feels like my guardian.

Therefore, even if the desire for monopoly is a given, it only felt like an idiot parent keeping bad adults away from their children.

Rodo is my “mate”, so he said he’d marry me but is this monopoly a conditioned reflex between mates…?

I know it’s impossible to see this as a love affair.

“Go home.”

Rodo, who always smiles, seems to be in a bad mood.

He left without hearing my opinion.

“Sato, Al, goodbye.”

While being held up by Rodo, I waved at the two over his shoulders.

Rodo walked out without glancing at the two.

It’s rare to find such a moody Rodo.

He straddled Sig and secured my body to his with a thin cloth.

Whenever I ride Sig, I’m in this position.

Rodo’s parents’ home is a little far from the house where Rodo lives.

When we go to the barracks nearby, we often walk, but if there’s a little distance, we’d ride Sig.

I’m bored looking at the repeated scenery since no one seems to be trying to get close to Rodo or Sig and inevitably, I only saw them at a distance.

That’s why I say the names of things I see and sing the songs I used to listen to when I was in Japan.

Sometimes, I get too bored and fall asleep.

Rodo’s parents’ home is close to the castle.

The castle town…I don’t like the bustle, but in any case, Rodo’s parents might be in important positions.

Al, who is as muscular as Rodo, is beautiful but doesn’t feel ephemeral at all.

…are they both soldiers?

Are they also Rodo’s boss?

Is that why their interactions are cold?

I watched the castle move away.

I’m really glad that we didn’t stop by the castle.

It’s impossible to get used to that king.

I know I won’t like him since he’s a dog.

Sig is wolf-like and also horse-like.

Moreover, for some reason, I have a good feeling about him, so I can stroke him.

(But newborn Akinists are really small.)

The size shown by Al is about 20 cm in total length.

It’s considerably smaller than the average human baby.

With such a small size, how could it grow to be so big…

It seems that people here don’t humanize until they’re 15 to 20 years old, but will they grow up gradually until then?

Or would they grow even after obtaining a human figure?

…it’s a mysterious world.

The humanized figure wouldn’t age much, but the beastified figure would grow…

Or will it show in the humanized form after the growth is over?

I don’t really understand how they categorize adults.

Rodo seems to have become a soldier soon after humanizing, and yet adults are said to be 100 years old.

It seems that many people would also get married in that year, so is marriageable age = adulthood?

Isn’t he an adult after starting work?

In the first place, does it make sense that I don’t see any adults becoming beasts?

Is it that surprising for me to stroke an Akinist?

Maybe I just don’t realize it?

…but is there something else aside from being a cute cat-sama?

I’m just attracted to them.

I’m confident that I can be motivated all day long.

What are they afraid of?

…I wonder why they’re surprised at knowing I’m afraid of the King.