Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Ever since that day, all I had done was study the knowledge of this other world.
And among everything I read, the books related to monsters were the ones I spent the most time on.
It was an absolutely necessary task if I wanted to choose the right familiar.
Pretending it was just a child’s curiosity, I had also managed to gather quite a bit of useful information from Eden.
And the more information I accumulated about familiars, the more my expectations grew.
Even if the future looked bleak, the present was enjoyable.
Maybe even that dreadful future…
Could somehow be overcome if I had a familiar by my side.
Still filled with anticipation, I looked out the window with a satisfied expression.
My imagination immediately began to run wild.
Me, wearing a flashy set of full plate armor.
And standing faithfully beside me, a dependable familiar…
“Sera!”
“Hwiit!?”
Just as I was about to sink into another pleasant fantasy today—
A children’s fairy tale book suddenly popped into view and blocked my sight.
Who else could it be?
“Want oppa to read you a storybook?”
Who else indeed? The only person who would shove a storybook into my face without warning was Eden.
“…Go way.”
“Hm? What way? Like ‘way too easy’?”
“I said go away.”
“Haha, Sera. Our territory may be poor, but we’re not poor enough to become beggars!”
“……”
It had already been four years since I came to this world.
I had grown, but I was still just a little kid, which meant life remained frustrating in many ways.
I could speak now, but my tongue was still clumsy and short.
Still, that was something time would solve eventually.
There was no reason to worry too much.
It was only inconvenient for now.
But why did this brat keep interfering with everything I did?
Shouldn’t a lord be busy handling territory affairs instead?
Seriously, he was unbelievably annoying.
“Jeez!”
It irritated me enough already that he constantly nagged me to stop reading monster encyclopedias and look at prettier, brighter things instead.
And I certainly didn’t appreciate him randomly shoving flower crowns at me or suddenly asking me to play with dolls.
“Go awayyy~!”
I pushed the storybook away and silently protested.
In other words, disappear from in front of me.
“Ah, you mean this storybook is boring? Then should I bring another one?”
I had no intention of reading one.
There was no need to.
I had already mastered children’s books for preschoolers back in my previous life.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Chu-Han Contention type stuff… ah, wait, maybe not those.
Anyway, after confirming that Eden had gone off toward the library to find another book—
Fwish!
I slipped under the bed and grinned.
How could a mere child dare interfere with the grand ambitions of an adult?
And not just any adult, but the tremendous ambitions of a former top contender from my previous life!
Absolutely unacceptable.
Lately, the young lord had started bothering me more and more under the excuse of “taking care of me.”
And every night, an irresistible wave of sleepiness would crash over me.
If I wanted to prepare strategies for the future, I had to make use of small gaps like this.
“Phew…”
At last, I had successfully secured some alone time.
And once again, I sank into thoughts about the future.
More specifically, the familiars I could choose from.
For now, based on everything I had learned, every option seemed decent.
Each monster had strengths of its own.
Even the first familiar candidate, the war dog “Magnar,” was like that.
Magnar wasn’t just an ordinary fighting dog.
It was an enormous beast standing ninety centimeters tall and weighing a staggering one hundred ten kilograms.
An overwhelming monster of a canine that ordinary wolves couldn’t even handle in groups of two or three.
That was Magnar.
Back in my previous life, I had only ever seen dogs that huge in photographs.
So when I first saw Magnar, I even thought this:
No wonder the status window classified it as a “monster.”
Magnar had once belonged to a farmer who lived on the outskirts of the territory, and after the farmer left, the beast had guarded the outer borders of Lutenberg.
Because of that, it had extensive experience driving away goblins and wolves.
And thankfully, it was gentle toward the territory’s residents.
There was clearly a reason why its subjugation difficulty was only ranked at one.
The more I looked into it, the more I liked the dog.
It was nearby too, which made bonding easy.
And yet—
I didn’t particularly want to choose it.
The reason was simple.
I could tame it later anyway.
Once I got a little older, becoming friendly with it wouldn’t be difficult.
Even now, whenever we crossed paths, I occasionally winked at it and tried to approach.
The reaction was lukewarm, but apparently dogs in this world lived pretty long lives.
So really—
Why bother?
I didn’t feel the need to waste such a precious opportunity on it.
As for the second candidate, the horned boar Aringo…
…It was delicious.
I had been disappointed when it ended up roasted during the territory festival, but the taste had been good enough to erase all regrets.
It was a mountain beast weighing over five hundred kilograms, but even something like that couldn’t survive getting mobbed.
The superior physical abilities of the men in this world had also contributed to Aringo ending up as roast boar.
The average height here exceeded one hundred eighty centimeters, and most people were solidly built.
When dozens of people like that came charging with spears and bows—
Forget boars.
Even apex predators like lions, tigers, or bears would probably be doomed.
Thinking, I wish I could eat it again someday, I quietly reminisced about Aringo.
You truly were delicious.
The next familiar candidate that came to mind was the hobgoblin.
A neutral monster living alone within the Bellark Forest, neither friendly nor openly hostile toward humans.
Its name was Bendalio, if I remembered correctly.
Pretty impressive name for a goblin.
Maybe it named itself, considering how intelligent it supposedly was.
Honestly speaking, a hobgoblin wouldn’t be extraordinary combat power as a familiar.
I had heard its physical abilities were only slightly above those of an adult man.
Not bad, but definitely lacking compared to the war dog or the giant boar.
Still, it wasn’t something I could completely dismiss either.
After all, hobgoblins possessed intelligence comparable to humans.
Depending on training, it could become a strategist devoted entirely to me.
And since it had hands and feet capable of using tools—
Once properly equipped, it had the potential to become a versatile familiar that could serve as either a fighter or a tactician.
Maybe it was the type of choice that grew stronger with age, like gaining +1 stats every year.
Teach it swordsmanship, teach it writing.
Wouldn’t it feel like a familiar growing together with its master?
But hoping for a hobgoblin to fully bloom was no different from waiting for myself to become an adult.
It wasn’t bad, but that one issue sharply reduced its appeal.
What I needed right now was immediate combat power.
Someone strong enough to act as my guardian before I became an adult.
Besides, walking around with a goblin would probably disgust most women.
So the third candidate, the hobgoblin, was eliminated.
As for the next option, the werewolf…
The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt.
Honestly speaking, the werewolf was the familiar candidate I desired the most.
Normally, it lived as a human, so it wouldn’t attract much attention.
Once transformed into its true form, it grew over two meters tall and looked incredibly reliable.
And on top of that, it possessed enough raw power to tear apart dozens of armed soldiers.
According to the monster encyclopedia, it was a familiar with practically no weaknesses.
But there was one enormous obstacle that erased all those advantages.
It was ridiculously far away.
The village where the werewolf lived, a place called Adens Village.
Adens Village was located a whopping three thousand ri away from Bellark.
About 1,178 kilometers.
Its subjugation difficulty rank of four clearly came from the absurd distance.
Even in modern times, driving that distance by car would be exhausting.
So how was I, a tiny child, supposed to get there?
Even making a round trip from Seoul to Busan wouldn’t cover that much distance.
I also couldn’t ask Eden to take me there under the excuse of “travel.”
A lord abandoning his territory for months just to travel?
And Sir Rekun, the territory’s only real military strength, would obviously have to leave alongside him as an escort.
Considering the current state of this dying territory—
Monsters or bandits would probably attack.
Or riots might break out before that even happened.
So the fourth option was eliminated too.
The final candidate was the centaur.
A warrior named Gawen.
He was already quite famous around these parts, whether as a monster or simply as a person.
For now, he hadn’t caused harm to the territory, so even Sir Rekun wasn’t paying much attention to him.
Still, he was undoubtedly considered dangerous.
And for good reason.
That centaur warrior—
Had once served as the chief of an entire tribe.
Setting aside their notoriously violent tendencies, centaurs were said to possess greater average combat ability than werewolves.
And to make matters worse, only the strongest member of a tribe could become its chief.
Which meant Gawen’s strength was probably on a level where even werewolves looked insignificant in comparison.
Naturally, I desperately wanted to recruit him immediately.
But even difficulty rank four already felt impossible.
And this one was rank five?
Considering Lake Retebein was nearby and made access easier, there was a good chance I’d have to risk my life.
Besides, it was still an option filled with unknown variables.
Anyway, there were still around two hundred days left before the deadline to choose a familiar.
There was no need to relax too much.
But there was no need to rush recklessly either.
Ding!
For now, I focused on the transparent window that appeared to commemorate my fourth birthday.
< Trait Selection! >
As always, my gaze turned toward the empty air.
The moment I saw the new choices, my expression twisted immediately.
Were they messing with me right now?
Why the hell was that third option even appearing!?
Were they trying to mock me for not being able to use magic?
“Grrgh!”
If that was the goal, then congratulations.
Because it completely ruined my mood.
The second option was tempting, at least.
Simple and powerful. The kind of trait tankers would love.
But I wasn’t certain I’d end up using a shield later in life.
And I didn’t like the idea of having my weapon choice forced just to utilize a trait.
If it had been something like “Stamina +15%” instead, even with lower effectiveness, it would’ve been far more versatile.
Because it required conditions to activate, the trait felt disappointing.
And just like many previous options, it also bothered me because it was “something I couldn’t use immediately.”
Still, favorability plus thirty percent?
That was absolutely a utility skill, but the effect was huge.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
If people naturally found me likable, then my persuasiveness would increase too.
And if I combined that with the advantage of the familiar bonding system—
Couldn’t I potentially make the centaur warrior my familiar?
Personally, I suspected the centaur warrior’s high subjugation difficulty mostly stemmed from his awful personality.
It felt like he might stomp me flat with his hooves before I could even make my proposal.
But with this ability, even if the bonding failed, I’d probably survive the encounter.
Something along the lines of:
“I don’t feel like it, but your face is cute, so I’ll spare you.”
…Maybe not.
Still, this trait would probably help me survive countless dangerous situations.
People who seemed likable or gave good impressions—
Most creatures hated getting angry at people like that.
Humans included.
If someone liked you, they’d rather give you an extra rice cake than pull out a blade.
So choosing at least one utility trait didn’t seem like a bad idea.
It felt a little wasteful, but this was good enough.
Unless you were a god, interacting with others was unavoidable.
And compared to a child holding a shield—
A dependable centaur warrior would make a far better shield.