Pudding Has Gained an Ability Too
Pudding has gained an ability too.
Popcorn had shown me water droplets many times before.
Each time I thought it wanted praise, so I would stroke it and tell it verbally that it had done well, even though I had no idea what exactly it had done right. It seemed that wasn't the reaction it was looking for.
In the end, it drooped its shoulders while holding a water droplet as big as its own body, then kicked Pudding, who had crawled back near me.
Pudding, now angry, tried to swallow Popcorn whole.
Pudding, who had only ever taken the abuse before, seemed to have entered a rebellious phase now that it had grown a little.
Pipi, kkur kkur—the two of them were so noisy.
"Don't fight so much. Be careful not to get hurt, okay?"
They probably couldn't understand the words, but sometimes it felt like they did, so I spoke up. Both Popcorn and Pudding turned to look at me at the same time.
"Pipi."
"Kkur kkur."
Both of them looked like they were pleading their case, as if telling me the other one was clearly in the wrong.
Is this what it feels like to raise siblings born close together?
It felt strangely familiar.
Anyway, it was much later than usual, so I had been a little worried, but it turned out to be needless concern.
When I stood up, Popcorn flew right up to my face.
With a strangely serious expression, it offered the water droplet again.
Was it telling me to eat it?
Maybe it had found some incredibly delicious puddle water and rushed over to share it with me.
With no other choice, I opened my mouth. Popcorn struggled, making little grunting sounds as it carried the droplet to my lips.
The moment the droplet touched my tongue, it vanished instantly.
It seemed like ordinary water.
But there was a faintly sweet sensation to it.
It sounds strange to say, but it wasn't that the water had a flavor—rather, the feeling itself was sweet.
Perhaps this wasn't ordinary water after all.
"So this is what you went to fetch. It must be something special."
At my words, Popcorn flailed its arms and cried pipi.
It lifted them toward the sky, then brought them down to the ground, then shook its fingertips a little while moving its arms up and down between heaven and earth.
I had no idea what it was trying to say.
But I could tell that, in Popcorn's eyes, this water droplet was something very good and very precious.
"Thank you."
At that, Popcorn flapped around happily.
It seemed to understand the words thank you.
Maybe emotions were being conveyed directly.
These children probably read my feelings better than they understood words.
"Kku... kku...."
Suddenly Pudding began making small noises.
When I looked over, its body was trembling slightly.
What was it doing now?
As I watched quietly, Pudding wriggled its body and spat out something like glittering powder.
It extended a portion of its squishy body like a hand, carefully picked up the light powder, crawled over to me, and held it out.
It seemed to be telling me to eat this too.
Was this some kind of rivalry?
Popcorn flew over angrily and kicked Pudding, but the little slime didn't budge an inch.
It waited for me, carefully cradling the one or two precious grains of light powder.
Being loved by strange creatures really is exhausting sometimes.
They were both in the same place as that rat.
It felt a little off-putting, but seeing how it stood firm even while getting kicked by Popcorn, I couldn't bring myself to refuse.
When I reluctantly held out my hand, Pudding climbed onto my palm instead of giving me the powder.
Its wriggling movements were slow, but surprisingly quick.
Popcorn had now completely climbed on top of Pudding.
It grabbed Pudding with its tiny arms as if trying to strangle it, but its small hands and feet were instead sinking into the slime like they were caught in a swamp.
"Pipi...."
Popcorn looked up at me with a pitiful expression.
It seemed to be asking for help.
But honestly, you brought this on yourself.
When I pulled Popcorn free from Pudding, it began vigorously shaking its body as if grooming itself.
Pudding ignored Popcorn completely and stretched its hand out toward me, long and thin.
It extended like a snail's eyestalk, narrow and elongated.
Sorry, but it was honestly a little gross.
Pudding's hand reached all the way to my mouth.
It looked like it wanted to feed me directly.
It's trying to copy everything now.
When I opened my mouth, Pudding fumbled around my lips and tossed the light powder inside.
The powder seemed to absorb into my body instantly.
Huh?
....
Tonight's stew had been especially delicious, and without realizing it, I had eaten a little too much.
It was probably because my body had grown used to the fieldwork lately.
When you're physically exhausted, it's hard to eat a lot.
My stomach had felt uncomfortably full, but the moment Pudding's light powder was absorbed, the heaviness vanished.
It felt like I'd taken a shot of digestive medicine.
"You're incredible. Have you learned how to make digestive aids now?"
It really was amazing.
If it kept developing like this, maybe it could create other medicines too.
In this world where medical science wasn't advanced, most treatment available to commoners came from medicinal herbs.
In a pioneer village like this, there were even fewer options.
If Pudding could make medicine, it would be a truly wonderful thing.
When I felt happy, Pudding seemed to sense it.
It began shaking its body as if dancing, trembling with delight.
"Pi... pipi...."
Popcorn collapsed onto my palm as if in total despair.
It looked like a surrender pose.
It twisted its round, fluffy cotton-like body as if in sorrow and cried.
If I left it alone, it seemed like it would cry all night long.
Couldn't be helped.
"You're amazing too. To be honest, the food here didn't really suit my tastes before, but thanks to you, I can enjoy it so much more."
"Pit? Pipipipi!"
Popcorn really is simple.
The moment I gave it a little praise, it immediately lifted its head high and puffed out its chest.
Right beside it, Pudding imitated the motion, shaking its squishy body back and forth.
When I laughed at how funny they looked, both children shook their bodies busily, as if overjoyed.
Since Popcorn had returned, it was time to head back to the bonfire.
As I turned, Popcorn grabbed my finger.
"Pipi... pipipipi...."
It gripped my finger tightly with its small hand, like an antenna, and tried to pull me somewhere.
Was it trying to go to Sprout? Or to the place where this water droplet had come from?
Thinking that, I followed its lead for a short while, but Popcorn passed the fields and gradually moved farther away from the village.
"No. If you go any farther, beasts will attack and you'll die."
"Pip?"
Popcorn tilted its head.
For a spirit, darkness wasn't a frightening place, but for a human it was dangerous.
No matter how much of a constitution I had that made spirits and strange monsters love me, not everything in this world would be so friendly.
Unlike spirits, I was a human who would die if I didn't eat and would bleed if I got hurt.
Popcorn tugged at me a few more times, but when I refused to move, it seemed flustered.
It pointed at the darkness while crying pipi and said something, but sorry—I still didn't want to die.
"My dream, you see, is to meet a good woman and build a happy family like my mother and father had. To raise several children and grow old quietly together as a couple."
I wanted to avoid life-threatening situations as much as possible.
Maybe because we were alone in the empty darkness, the words came out easily.
Rather than living like a hero, my life's goal was to live long and ordinary.
"So I'd like to avoid danger whenever I can. No matter how good that water is. I'm sorry."
"...Pi... pipipipipi!"
For some reason, after hearing my words, Popcorn cried even more loudly and raised its arms high.
It seemed to mean Good, let's go!
I didn't understand why it was reacting that way.
As expected, words just didn't get through to this one.
Whatever the case, it was time to head back.
It was almost time for the children's study session.
"Let's go back."
When I turned and started walking, Popcorn and Pudding followed noisily behind me, crying pipi and kkur kkur.
These kids talked more than I expected.
It was noisy.
When Popcorn wasn't around, butterflies would often come flying in groups.
They looked similar overall to the ones on Earth, but this world's butterflies were slightly different in the finer details.
For example, when they flapped their wings, light powder would sometimes fall, or their antennae would sparkle unusually, or their insect legs looked a little strange.
The most peculiar thing was that they didn't fear humans.
Of course, that only applied to me.
Even when the children or villagers approached, the butterflies never went to them.
They only came to me.
Until now, I hadn't paid it much mind.
Even when butterflies came, they would simply circle around me or occasionally land on my head, never interfering with my work.
Since I figured it was because of the spirit tree or whatever that attracted them, I thought it wasn't strange for insects to flock to me.
Even the monster called slime was friendly toward me, after all.
But even after a long time had passed, the children never tried to catch the butterflies.
They paid them no attention at all.
That was starting to feel strange.
At first I thought most butterflies in this world looked like this, so it wasn't unusual, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
The children would cheer and chase after even common moles.
Of course, that was because moles could be eaten.
Today as well, Popcorn had disappeared somewhere since dawn, and Pudding was working in another field.
As if aiming for that exact moment, another swarm of butterflies flew into our field.
The other fields still seemed far from sprouting, but our roughly prepared field already had sprouts rising like weeds.
Looking closely, the butterflies were flying around our field, scattering light in various places.
Even someone as slow as me finally realized these butterflies were not ordinary creatures.
No, it's not that I'm slow.
I had simply assumed Earth and this world would naturally be different.
The children went here and there every day doing chores the adults assigned them.
Today it seemed they had business at our field.
The children came running over.
"Hello, teacher!"
"They say there are the most herbs here."
"They said the herbs we gathered here last time were the best."
"So they told us to gather herbs here."
The children shouted all at once.
Lately the children had started calling me teacher sometimes.
Other times it was village chief or magic uncle.
Today their task was to gather herbs used for treating wounds.
In their hands they carried grass that looked like mugwort as a sample.
I had seen it before.
At first I thought it was mugwort, but the scent was different.
It seemed to be an entirely different plant.
"You're all working hard today too."
At my words, the children's eyes sparkled brightly.
The children loved being told they were working hard.
"By the way, kids, do you see any butterflies?"
"Butterflies?"
"Where?"
"There aren't any butterflies."
The children looked all around.
"Right in front of you. They're flying all around me."
When I said that, the children's eyes widened.
So these really weren't ordinary butterflies.
"I don't see anything."
"Is it a spirit!"
"A transparent-wing slime?"
"A slime-butterfly community!"
The children moved busily around me.
They reached their hands into empty air or shouted greetings.
"Spirit! Please give me a cool slime like Pudding!"
"I want a praying mantis."
"I need a wolf slime that can chew up and eat anything!"
The children shouted into the empty air.
Sorry, but there really is nothing there.
The butterflies flew around me, flapping their wings as if laughing.
A few of them lightly landed on the heads of the children circling around me.
Perhaps these were monsters. Or spirits.
Seeing how they helped the plants grow well, they were probably spirits.
But why did they only come when both Popcorn and Pudding were away?
Popcorn was a spirit too, so they should be friends.
Maybe Popcorn is being ostracized because it came from my body.
If that was the case, it was pitiful.
It already had no friends, so its social skills were lacking and it fought with Pudding every day.
But then why didn't they come even when only Pudding was present?
Surely Pudding isn't eating the spirits....
The image of Popcorn occasionally getting swallowed by Pudding flashed through my mind, and I frowned without realizing it.
No, surely not....
The light powder Pudding gave me yesterday couldn't possibly have been the remains of a dead spirit, right?