I stopped in front of an annex building adjacent to the Fourth Monster Knight Corps. Looking around, I saw what seemed to be a caretaker's room, so I knocked on the door.
"Hello! I'm Fea Rude, the new monster recovery officer starting today!"
The door opened immediately, and a well-built man in his late forties came out.
"Oh, you're the one. I've received a message from Deputy Commander Patty. Well, let's start with a tour of the Familiar House."
And so, we entered the Familiar House together.
Inside, it was a spacious, rectangular room with high ceilings. The room had three rows of cages, each containing one monster.
"This room is the largest and houses D-rank and lower monsters. The next room over is for C-rank monsters, and the one beyond that is for B-rank monsters. The rooms beyond that are currently empty."
The caretaker continued with a smile.
"All the monsters may look scary, but they can be surprisingly lonely or affectionate, which is quite amusing. When a monster calls for its master, the master comes running. Look, there are a few knights talking to and petting the monsters in their cages right now."
"Wow, they're quite cute."
Indeed, there were several knights in the room, talking to and petting the monsters in their cages. However, I noticed a girl in a white robe among the imposing knights.
"Who is that girl?"
The caretaker squinted and said, "She's the Holy Maiden. Only the Fourth Monster Knight Corps and the Holy Maiden are allowed to enter the Familiar House. The knights take care of their familiars, and the Holy Maiden provides healing for the monsters. But, in reality, she's the only one who visits here."
The small Holy Maiden was staring intently at a monster in one of the cages. She looked to be about 7 or 8 years old, with orange hair down to her shoulders and a cute face.
Although I was curious, I focused on the caretaker's explanation.
"Your job is to give recovery potions to the injured monsters. One bottle lasts about three days, so you don't need to get a new one every day."
"Oh, I don't have to come every day. But, can one small bottle really last three days? Are there few injured monsters?"
"That's because it's a human recovery potion. When used on monsters, it needs to be diluted ten times. Monsters have high self-healing abilities. You can identify the injured monsters by the red cards inserted above their name plates."
Looking closer, I saw that each cage had a 20 cm square plate attached, with the monster's name, the master's name, and some basic information written on it. The top part of the plate had slots for several cards.
"You can place the recovery potion in the dish and insert it into the feeding slot of the cage with the red card. That's the basic procedure. But the hard part comes next."
The caretaker sighed and pointed to the cages.
"Each monster is told by its master to take the recovery potion. However, the potion tastes terrible and causes pain during recovery, so they often refuse to take it. Most monsters will threaten you. You'll have to stand in front of the cage and keep telling them, 'Drink it. It's an order from your master.'"
"…I see."
The caretaker scratched his head and continued hesitantly.
"Sometimes, the monsters don't listen. It seems they judge the recovery potion handler by appearance. Usually, the Fourth Monster Knight Corps assigns the toughest-looking knights to take turns handling this task…"
I see. That's why Deputy Commander Patty tried to oppose my assignment as the recovery potion handler. It must have taken a lot of courage to oppose the deputy commander, but she tried to protect me. She's really a good person. I'll take extra care of Deputy Commander Patty's familiar.
After thanking the caretaker for his explanation, I decided to start giving the recovery potion to the monsters. Looking around, I saw various monsters in the cages.
"Right, this room only has D-rank and lower monsters."
I looked around for a cage with a red card.
"Oh, it's a Violet Boar."
Peering into the cage with the red card, I saw a pig-like monster. It seemed to have been injured recently, as its belly was wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage.
"I hope you get better soon."
As I spoke, I inserted the dish with the recovery potion.
Instantly, the monster reared up on its hind legs and threatened me.
"Grroooaar!!"
It approached the cage and continued to growl with bared fangs.
"Try drinking it. It doesn't taste good, but it will heal your injury. Your master will be happy when you get better, won't they?"
I looked into its eyes and spoke, but the monster only bared its teeth and growled.
…This is a problem. What should I do?
Worried about the monster's injury and the fact that getting excited wouldn't help, I tried to push the dish closer. Suddenly, my hand was scratched by the monster's fang through the cage.
Ah, a one-second injury…
As I looked at the aggressive monster, Zabiria appeared.
"Fea, can I help?"
"Eh? Ah, sure?"
I answered without thinking, then wondered how he could help.
Zabiria bared his teeth and made a sound by exhaling.
"Whooooo………"
The moment the monster heard the sound, it stopped threatening and walked to the dish, silently drinking the potion.
"Eh? Why?! Can Zabiria control monsters?"
I asked in surprise.
"No, I can't control them. It's a threat sound. The sound I make is special, so it usually works on most monsters."
"Wow, that's amazing! Zabiria, you're like a king of monsters!!"
I meant it as a compliment, but Zabiria stiffened.
"…No, I'm not a king yet."
"Oh, no, I just meant you look like a king! It suits you! It's fine even if you're not a king!"
"…Do you want me to become a king, Fea?"
Zabiria asked, looking down.
"Hmm…"
Looking at Zabiria again, I saw his blue eyes staring back at me from under his fluffy blue feathers.
"Zabiria is cute, strong, kind, and impressive… Yes, I'm fine with Zabiria as he is! …Becoming a king isn't something you can just decide to do… If Zabiria is meant to be a king, the opportunity will come, and you can decide then."
"…Thank you, Fea."
Zabiria nuzzled against me affectionately.
Yes, you're really cute.
"Let's give the recovery potion to the other familiars, then."
As I was talking to Zabiria,
"…Excuse me, Knight."
A small, cute voice called out.
Turning around, I saw the young Holy Maiden standing with her hands clasped.
Thank you for reading.
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