The Gluttonous Raccoon Spirit
Yaruru was actually... “So I’ve been thinking——” She sat on the bed hugging her knees, staring straight at me. “You came up with another weird idea, didn’t you?”
“I don’t think any of the games I made were weird.”
“The fear from Retrieval ERROR still hasn’t faded, you know...”
Well, that couldn’t be helped.
“Fear worked really well.”
“I’ve been watching from the side, so I know that well, you know.”
“Yeah. It worked too well, that’s the problem.”
Only then did Yaruru’s expression turn serious again.
“First, the premise has to be something that isn’t dangerous even if you follow it.”
“Like Sudoku, you mean.”
“...Right.”
But that wasn’t enough. I wasn’t keen on it myself either.
‘It’s lacking dopamine.’
“On top of that, it needs to be addictive—something people get hooked on and want to keep playing.”
“Hee—”
“I thought it would be good to think in that direction.”
After hearing my explanation, Yaruru closed her eyes and pondered for a long while, groaning.
“It sounds plausible, you know.”
“Right?”
“But there are so many conditions that I have no idea what to do, you know.”
“You’re right about that.”
Since I didn’t have any specific ideas either, I was just vaguely setting the direction for now.
‘Something not dangerous, and if possible, cute, and addictive.’
“It’s difficult, you knowwww.”
“I don’t knooow, you knowwww.”
“Aaaaaah—”
“...”
As I watched Yaruru gradually losing her ability to speak like a human, my mind started itching. It felt like something was about to come to me...?
“...Ah!”
“Awawawa—— Huh? What’s wrong, you know.”
I really felt multiple times that the answer was right under my nose.
“I got it. The motif was right nearby.”
Yaruru had told me about it several times right in front of my eyes, so why hadn’t I thought of it sooner?
“More precisely... how about turning something that already exists into a game.”
“What do you mean, you know?”
“Spirits.”
Of course, the artificial spirit Adel lived in my mental space too, but...
‘She’s more like a separation-anxious puppy than a spirit.’
At my words, Yaruru blinked, then sprang up as if realizing something.
“Leave it to me, you know!”
“Your reaction’s good.”
“Spirits are my specialty, you know!”
“Of course. I know.”
It wasn’t a coincidence that I thought of spirits when looking at Yaruru. After all, I’d known she was a spirit user for a long time.
I just hadn’t had any reason to summon a spirit until now.
“But will she be okay?”
“Ehyo— I’m not sure, you know.”
Yaruru sighed and furrowed her brows.
“Would she hate being summoned even in this situation?”
Yaruru’s spirit possessed quite powerful strength. The flaw was that she hated fighting to an extreme degree. On top of that...
“She doesn’t like coming out from the spirit realm either.”
“Even there, she just eats and sleeps, you know...”
I couldn’t help but let out an awkward laugh at that.
Yaruru being a spirit user wasn’t a secret or anything she hid.
‘Because the spirit Yaruru contracted is lazy.’
Yaruru wasn’t the type to keep dragging out a spirit she disliked. That’s why she hadn’t summoned her spirit during the monster wave, at the closed research building, or at the magic tower.
‘No. If it was the existence on the 3rd floor... or if she’d fought that imperial investigator, I might have seen it.’
She wouldn’t be stubborn in dangerous situations.
“Hmm.”
After thinking for a moment, Yaruru carefully spoke to me.
“Chase... let’s go out and buy a lot of food, you know.”
“...Ah.”
“This time it’s not fighting anyone, and the environment is comfortable, you know. And if there’s delicious food too...”
Even as she said that, Yaruru’s face turned red with embarrassment as she tightly closed her eyes.
“And since I haven’t summoned her at all since entering the academy, it should be fine now, you know...”
“...”
***
Yaruru and I wandered around the academy city, buying food until our hands were full.
“Sniff sniff— No matter how much I eat Fireball bread, I want to eat more, you know...”
With saliva dripping, Yaruru stared at the croquette... no, Fireball bread, and I brought one to her mouth.
“Mm— Mmph?”
“You helped with research, so this much is the least I can do.”
“Mmmph! Mmmnam— Thanks, you know!”
We placed all the food we’d bought on the table next to the bed. Yaruru and I sat comfortably on the bed.
“Then let’s start, you know!”
“Ooh!”
When Yaruru snapped her fingers, the air in the room felt a bit lighter. Then I could see a faint light flowing from Yaruru’s fingertips. There was no grand incantation or intense impact. Just particles of light like grains of sand played between her fingers, then gathered into one point.
Plop—
The cluster of light gathered into a single point flew toward the bed, and soon some form fell onto it.
“...Raccoon?”
“That’s rude, you know! Our Ruru is a raccoon, you know!”
The spirit Yaruru summoned had a completely unexpected appearance. It was cute, but... round. Very. Glossy brown fur, short limbs, a plump tail. And above all——
“Wakyapya...”
Its belly, swollen to the limit of cuteness, drew my gaze. It looked so soft that I wanted to poke and squish it. Or better yet, bury my face in it and let out a belly fart...
“Ruru is cute, you know.”
Yaruru said proudly.
“Don’t tell me the spirit’s name is Ruru?”
“Yeah!”
“...”
Was it fortunate that the spirit’s name wasn’t Yaru?
Meanwhile, the raccoon spirit—Ruru—who had plopped down on the bed, looked around with half-closed eyes, then yawned as if bothered.
Sniff sniff—
Sniff?!
As if it caught the scent of food, its small black nose twitched, and it slowly turned its gaze to my hand.
“Ooh. She’s looking at me right now, right?”
“She is, you know.”
“...Kruung.”
Right then, Ruru turned to Yaruru and let out a short cry.
“Ah! She says the smell of the bread Chase was holding earlier is still there, you know!”
Was she talking about the bread I fed to Yaruru?
“Krrrng. Kruung.”
Since only the contracted spirit user could understand the spirit’s words, naturally, all I heard were raccoon sounds. In contrast, Yaruru nodded repeatedly as she understood.
“What did she say?”
“She asked for some snacks, you know.”
“Ah. Come to think of it, raccoons are part of the canine family. As expected, her nose is sensitive.”
“And she says as long as it’s not fighting, a little while is fine, you know.”
“How long is ‘a little while’?”
“Until she eats all the food and gets tired, you know.”
“...”
She really didn’t match any part of the spirit in my imagination. Lazy, and loves food. Knowing she’s cute and going all out, huh.
As soon as the words ended, Ruru slowly approached me with sluggish movements. I casually opened the bag next to the bed and took out one Fireball bread from inside. Seeing that, Ruru’s eyes sparkled brightly.
“Kyang— Krrrng—”
“Wow— Don’t tell me she’s acting cute to ask for this?”
“There probably isn’t any spirit that likes food more than its contractor, you know...”
Yaruru muttered in disbelief.
But if it’s cute, isn’t that enough?
“Chase can say that because he’s not a spirit user, you know.”
“Well, that’s true.”
I split the Fireball bread in half and handed it to Ruru.
“Kung!”
Ruru took the bread, then sprawled out on the bed. Holding it tightly with both hands, she started eating with a happy face.
‘I didn’t know a raccoon’s face could show happiness like that.’
Wungnyangnyang—
Angnyangnyang—
“...Nice.”
Before I knew it, I was handing her more each time Ruru finished eating.
“Huh!”
“Huhu— Our Ruru is a bewitching spirit, you know.”
Is Ruru full now? Or does she want more? She must be in a good mood? Does she like the food? I want to watch her longer. Can I touch her belly? What should I say? Those kinds of thoughts kept coming...
‘Was a raccoon this cute?’
Yaruru’s words about her being a bewitching spirit were right.
“Kuru? Kung? Kyung!”
“What did she say this time?”
“She says the cookie crumbs on Chase’s hand look tasty too, you know...”
“Wow! You can eat this too!”
“And.”
Yaruru said, averting her gaze.
“She says not to touch her belly, you know.”
“Me? Ruru? I haven’t even touched her yet, you know?”
“She said it’s burdensome how you’re staring at her belly with perverted eyes, you know.”
“That’s unfair.”
But inwardly, I thought I should be careful. If I got misunderstood as a pervert for no reason, the chance to touch her belly would disappear forever.
I looked at Ruru’s various parts with a more wholesome gaze than before. It was rather good that she wasn’t an elemental-type spirit. If it was an existence with unique personality and appearance like Ruru, even more so.
“Come to think of it, spirits aren’t only things like fire, water, wind.”
“That’s something only people who’ve only read books would say, you know.”
“Animal-type, insect-type, human-type, elemental-type, object-type... Their appearances are diverse, and even with the same appearance, personalities often differ, you know.”
At my question, Yaruru chattered on with various information like a fish in water. Among all the bulletin boards I’d looked at, there was a spirit user board too, but what Yaruru was saying now were things I’d never heard before. The spirit user board was full of bragging posts disguised as complaints and outright bragging posts.
Of course, if I thought about it a little, it was obvious, but...
‘I didn’t really need to think about it until now.’
“Then where do spirit users usually get this kind of information?”
“From the guild, sharing childcare diaries written by other spirit users... or learning by writing them yourself, you know!”
“...Childcare diary?”
“That’s right, you know. I didn’t know there was such a thing as a spirit user guild, so I had a really hard time raising Ruru, you know...”
“Kkyuung! Kung!”
“That’s not true, you know! Ruru was raised by me carrying her on my back, you know!”
“Kraaang!”
“Hoo...”
Not being limited to just animal appearances, the unique personalities and preferences of the spirits too. Writing childcare diaries while raising such children? If I think about making this accessible even to ordinary people who don’t know about spirits——
“I finally understand why there are so many sensible posts on the spirit user board.”
“Hihi. The job children most want to become is spirit user, you know.”
“...Not knight or mage?”
“Anyway! you know!”
Thanks to Yaruru and Ruru, the ideas that had been floating around like fragments in my head started to fit together.
‘But if they make a contract with a spirit from the beginning, it feels like I’m just copying what spirit users do.’
The most important thing among the information I’d organized so far was the bond between spirits and spirit users. To make ordinary people understand this right away would be difficult with a game. I want to do it my way while making this stand out more...
‘Is wanting both my greed?’
“For now.”
I said, poking Ruru with my finger.
“Rather than contracting with a spirit and doing something... I think it would be better to simply raise and care for them to become close.”
Among people who want to become spirit users, there would be many who want to become friends with cute spirits rather than for other reasons. Want to get stronger? Then go to the knight training center. Want to make money? Becoming a mage is the best.
‘The reason I wanted to make this kind of game in the first place was...’
“Ooh! I understand well, you know! That’s a more spirit user-like way of thinking, you know!”
“Pfft— Thanks.”
Whether it was because her main major came out or not, seeing Yaruru’s excited appearance made me excited too, and I started throwing out all sorts of ideas. Feeding, bathing, playing with them— If you don’t pay even a little attention during that process, the spirit gets sulky.
‘In severe cases... No, let’s think about this a bit more.’
“I don’t think we should make the system too difficult.”
“Anyone should be able to enjoy it if it’s easy and intuitive to understand.”
Hearing my words, Yaruru’s eyes started sparkling before I knew it.
“It already looks fun, you know!”
“It’s a relief that a spirit user says that.”
And before long, Ruru, who had devoured all the food, paused, then suddenly lifted her head.
Sniff sniff.
Seeing her black nose moving quickly, I thought she was looking for food and casually shook the empty bag. But Ruru paid no attention to the bag and rolled toward my lap.
“What? Now I look tasty too?”
“Kyangkyang— Krung!”
At Ruru’s somewhat fierce cry, Yaruru’s expression became strange. What on earth did she say?
“Why?”
“Just a moment, you know.”
Ruru cried out long once more, and Yaruru looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“Kruung! Kang! Kang! Krrrng...”
“Chase...”
“Why all of a sudden?”
Yaruru alternated her gaze between Ruru and me, then spoke with an ambiguous expression.
“Chase, is there perhaps a spirit without a contractor nearby, you know.”