We left the city and continued on through the empty desert.
I could see a kind of mirage on the horizon. The distance was so long that the distant mountains looked like floating islands in the sky.
It is a dry and hot place.
The area is not inhabited by demons or monsters, only by small creatures.
Ā«Yuck, yuck.Ā»
Ā«Kyuļ½Ā»
Panda was flying unsteadily, carrying Frau on top of him. He seemed to be at his limit.
Besides Kaede had been walking all this time silently without saying a word.
*Poff*
I hear a noise and turn around and see, much to my horror, that Kaede was lying on the ground.
I rush over and carry her in my arms.
Ā«Donāt give up now, Kaede.Ā»
Ā«Masterā¦ Iām seeing three more like you.Ā»
Ā«Hey, here, drink some water.Ā»
As if putting all her strength into it, Kaede drank water from my bottle weakly.
Her skin is damp with sweat and her face is completely matted by her white hair.
Despite hydrating regularly, she was still quite weak and unwell.
Could her hair have anything to do with it?
Ā«Letās take a break in the shade of that rock over there.Ā»
Ā«Iām so sorryā¦Ā»
I approached the rock while carrying Kaede on my back.
Ā«You donāt have to apologize. Itās natural for a master to take care of his slave.Ā»
Ā«Iāve always thought that Master is too kind to his slaves.Ā»
Ā«Hmmā¦ Not to be arrogant, but I think Iāve actually been behaving rather selfishly. Lately, Iāve been letting you and Frau take care of everything.Ā»
Ā«Thatās not good enough. You have to lean on us more ā much more!Ā»
Ā«I see youāre feeling better already.Ā»
Ā«Youāre wrong!Ā»
How is it that she can have so much strength in her voice to speak in that tone when she is so weak?
Well, I guess it doesnāt matter.
This is the only way to repay you for all youāve done for me.
By the way, what happened to Frau and Panda?
I stopped and looked back, and saw both of them also lying on the ground.
Ā«ā¦ Hey, you guys too.Ā»
Ā«Master ~, No ~, I canāt anymore ~Ā»
Ā«Kyu!Ā»
I managed to bend down and tied Frau and Panda to my waist with a piece of rope I had pulled out.
Ā«Haah ~, haaah ~Ā»
Ā«Kyuļ½Ā»
Frau and Panda were emitting small sounds of exhaustion at the current situation.
We were able to reach the shadow of a rock. I then gently placed Kaede on the ground, and then did the same for Frau and Panda.
Ā«Thank you very much.Ā»
Ā«Donāt worry, itās time for you to rest.Ā»
Ā«Okay.Ā»
Iām starting to get hungry, but Iām too tired to eat.
I heard that months can pass without any rain in this area.
But when it does, it rains so hard that it can create a river.
Iād like to see something like that, but Iād risk getting stranded in this place. Itās a situation Iād like to avoid if possible.
*Ploc ploc ploc ploc*
An eerie sound came from the distance and I looked towards it.
There was a black cloud in the sky up ahead.
Every now and then there was a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder that shook the air.
What a timely situationā¦ I literally did not expect it to rain any time soon.
I quickly grabbed Kaede, Frau and Panda and looked for a suitable place where we could take shelter from the rain.
The rain did not seem to stop. Lightning and strong blizzards were battering the area.
We had taken shelter in a cave and were very surprised at what our eyes were witnessing.
Ā«Itās amazing how hard itās raining.Ā»
Ā«I like the fact that itās cooler now, but with all this rain weāre stranded here.Ā»
Ā«Kyui.Ā»
Iāve never seen it rain like this before. The amount of water is such that a small river is forming on the site.
It would be very unwise of me if I tried to escape in a situation like this.
Everything indicates that weāll be staying here for a while.
I go back to the cave and look at the pot on the fire.
The temperature has dropped and itās gotten cold.
Hot soup is what we need.
Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder is heard nearby.
Ā«Eeeek!Ā»
Kaedeās tail stiffened, as did all her hair.
She immediately ran and hid behind me while holding her tail.
Ā«Are you afraid of thunder?Ā»
Ā«ā¦Yes.Ā»
Funny, I had no idea Kaede had those kinds of fears.
Well, I used to be afraid of thunder when I was little, too.
I remember my smiling mother threatening me at all times by saying Ā«Thunder-sama will pinch your belly button and rip your guts out.Ā»
As I was lost in my thoughts, I saw something like a spark near the fire.
ā¦What the heck was that?
Ā«Frau, letās eat.Ā»
Ā«How nice!Ā»
I decided to pay no attention to what I had seen, and called Frau and Panda to eat.
Five days have passed and itās still raining.
Even though it was daytime, it was as dark as the night outside. The water flowing on the ground was getting heavier and heavier.
Luckily we are high in the mountains, so we donāt have to worry about flooding, but we have nothing better to do with our time.
Ā«Ruru, Ruru, Ruru āŖĀ»
Ā«Kyu, Kyu ~ āŖĀ»
Ā«Chupipi ~ āŖĀ»
Frau, who was in her human size, was sitting at the entrance watching the rain fall.
Next to her were Panda and Chupibi.
Outside, Kuratan was flying merrily in the air, Sharkboy was playing in the puddles and Rousuke was fighting against his fear of water.
Kaede and I are wrapped in a single blanket, her head resting on my chest as she sleeps soundly.
I didnāt expect the temperature to drop so much all at once.
Itās so cold that I can see my breath.
I couldnāt help but gently rub my cheeks against Kaedeās head. She is so soft and comfortable.
Her fox ears are so fluffy that it makes me feel twice as good.
Ā«Hmm.Ā»
Her fox ears twitched.
Oops, Iām going to wake Kaede up if I get too carried away.
She always gets up so early in the mornings, waiting for me to wake up. The least I can do is make sure she gets a good nightās sleep tonight.
Suddenly, an electric light ran across the floor. There it is, that freaky thing again.
Could it be that thereās something we canāt see?
When I activated the dragonās eye, countless translucent creatures appeared.
They were like insects. They looked like a firefly, their backsides emitting a small light.
Could it be a lightning spirit?
One of them notices my gaze and sneaks up on me.
I held out my finger and it wagged its antennae, leaning on it at the same time.
Itās a very pretty creature. And if I look closely, I can see that its color and size are a little different from the others.
Other spirits would flee just by sensing my presence, but this one approached me on its own.
I feel an electric shock in my fingers, but it doesnāt hurt at all.
I proceeded to check for other spirits, but even although I saw some water and earth spirits, there were no fire or wind spirits anywhere.
Well, Alusha said something about spirits having compatibility with humans.
I wonder if thatās why I canāt find any nearby.
Ā«Masterā¦Ā»
Kaede looks happy as she sleeps.
Itās really nice to have a relaxing day like this.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!