Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Owner and Pet #2
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I asked Aira.
"By any chance, are you hiding something from me?"
She had been stroking my head like one might pet a dog or cat, but at my words, she pulled her hand away and looked down at me as if to ask what I meant.
"Theo, hiding something from you? What do you mean by that?"
"Just the literal meaning. Maybe there are things you're troubled about but haven't told me. Various important matters...."
I probed her gently, taking care not to upset her.
"It could be political matters you might be brooding over alone, Queen, or grand-scale issues. Or even deeply personal topics that could be fatal if debated with others or the world."
"Puhuhu."
Aira ended up laughing as if she'd heard an amusing story.
"Theo Gaspar, I can't win against you. Truth be told, there was something I kept secret from you. I planned to tell you when the time was right."
"You really had a secret from me?"
It was somehow shocking.
Aira, keeping a secret from me?
It had never happened before.
Could it be a variable born from twisting the main storyline? If there was a reason, that had to be it.
Rustle.
"Wait a moment."
Aira began rummaging under her bed. Seeing her search for something, I felt a twinge of tension.
After digging around under the bed for a while, she held out a box to me.
It was about the size of a human head, wrapped in pretty packaging, but I could somehow sense something rattling inside.
"What's this?"
"Theo Gaspar. A gift I prepared for you. I wanted to hide it a bit longer, but as expected, you're a wise man. To think you'd see through my secret."
What is this?
A gift for me.
I got tense wondering if it really had a human head inside.
With extremely careful hands, I peeled off the wrapping. And finally, what appeared in my grasp was a transparent glass box.
Inside the glass box was a tiny model house, covered in wood shavings, and atop it lay a beast yawning lazily—
Woof woof!
It barked.
As everyone could guess from that cry, it was, of course, a barking squirrel. A barking squirrel with a scar by its right eye, just like me—Kungkung.
"How did this happen? How is this guy here?"
I felt glad seeing Kungkung the barking squirrel moving around inside the glass box.
Woof woof!
He had once been my one and only family, my pet, but I'd rushed to Acro so hastily that I hadn't even known if he was alive or dead.
"Theo, I knew you'd like it."
Aira looked somewhat satisfied herself as I rejoiced.
Truth be told, I was surprised not just that Kungkung was here, but that Aira had prepared such a gift for me at all.
Exchanging gifts.
To think that kind of communication was now possible.
* * *
Lying down under the covers, Aira said,
"Theo, look into that guide fellow. At least the part about him knowing of my family's death doesn't seem like a lie."
"......"
"But I don't want to hear it from that man's mouth. You find out, and you tell me directly."
"Understood."
"And Theo."
Aira called me as I turned to leave the room.
"Do you have more to say?"
"Theo, are you hiding something from me?"
"No."
My answer came immediately.
Lying once or twice numbs the conscience until it doesn't bother you anymore.
Right now, my acting skill synergized with my dulled conscience to produce an answer more truthful than any truth.
"I see. Theo. In the end, you're the only one I can trust in this world."
With those words, Aira slowly closed her eyes.
Click, creak.
Having finished my conversation with Aira, I left her room. I'd just dropped by casually, but looking back, the timing had been quite good.
What if I hadn't known about this?
Woof woof!
"Whew."
Letting out a light breath, I turned my head. Since I was already here, I figured I should check on Elga's condition.
It had been several days since I'd tossed the collar to her.
I wondered how it went.
No way the stubborn Elga had accepted my offer, right?
And so, I knocked twice on Elga's door.
—No one's home.
"Lady Elga, it's me. Theo Gaspar."
Then came a loud rustling sound, and finally the door opened. In the dark room, only Elga's blue eyes peeked through the crack like a ghost.
"What? Why are you here?"
"Just checking if you're doing well, Lady Elga. Did you have a good weekend? May I come in?"
"No."
"Thank you."
"Hey, I said no?"
I barged right into Elga's room. The room was pitch black with all lights off; I couldn't even see my own feet.
"Why is it so dark in here?"
"My mood."
Elga was more curt than ever. But the moment I lit a nearby lamp, she flinched and shrugged her shoulders.
And wasn't there a collar around Elga's neck, just like a leather belt with a buckle? Seeing it, I suddenly felt like laughing.
As I suppressed the laughter bubbling up, Elga trembled all over, furrowing her brow as if truly furious.
"If you laugh, I'll kill you."
"Is that how you talk to your master?"
I jabbed at her jokingly. Elga was angry but seemed unable to retort, like someone without any cards to play, just seething.
However, those furious eyes turned toward the glass box in my hand.
"What's that?"
Woof woof!
"A barking squirrel."
"Who doesn't know it's a barking squirrel? I'm asking where it came from."
"Lady Aira gave it to me as a gift."
"No way. Aira giving a gift? I'd believe it if she took it away, sure."
Elga couldn't believe her cousin had given someone a present. She leaned down slightly to peer into my glass box and marveled.
"Guess Gracia's waters really are good. People change. Stick around here a year, and you might start doing volunteer work."
Woof woof!
"It has a scar on its eye too. Looks like you, you idiot."
Grrr...!
Calling the scar she herself inflicted idiotic. For a moment, I felt intensely annoyed at Elga.
"So, Lady Elga, does wearing that collar mean you've made up your mind?"
I turned the conversation's arrow back to Elga. She clicked her tongue reluctantly.
"Just one month. Got it?"
"Sure."
One month.
What to make Elga do for a month.
Truth be told, I hadn't thought about it much. I'd never even imagined she'd actually put the collar on herself.
Just as it was shocking for Aira to give someone else a gift.
It was equally shocking that Elga had volunteered to be my slave and put on the collar—something utterly impossible in the original story.
So, what to make her do first?
Would Elga really obey my commands?
I recalled the errands and torments Elga had inflicted on me during my slave days. Some memories surfaced, but I couldn't decide where to start.
Then, a good idea suddenly struck me.
"Alright, then. Since you've properly worn the collar like I said, I'll give you a reward first."
"A reward?"
"Then, first—"
I was thinking of petting her head or something when Elga spoke first.
"...You're going to grab my collar and take me for a walk?"
"What?"
"You're going to grab my collar and walk me outside."
Why a walk all of a sudden? Then, one instance of how Elga had tormented me came to mind.
On a day I'd handled one of her extremely annoying errands, Elga had put a collar on me as a "reward" and made me crawl on all fours through the garden.
—How's that? Feels good to walk outside for once, right?
—Puhuhu, look at that.
The humiliation from the servants and maids laughing at me back then still lingered as embarrassment. Now that I thought about it, Elga deserved punishment, not a reward.
Naughty girl.
But of course, I couldn't do that.
If someone saw Elga crawling on all fours through Acro grounds with me holding the leash, both she and I would be ruined.
So, I came up with a compromise.
"Then let's start inside the room. On all fours, walk around the room. Just three laps."
"What?"
Elga furrowed her brow as if she'd heard something unbelievable.
"You heard me. I won't say it twice."
But as I put on a stern face, Elga knelt on the floor grudgingly, placing her palms on the soft carpet as if it were utterly humiliating but unavoidable.
"Ugh.... This is really humiliating."
Thanks to that, her ample hips, slim waist, and firm buttocks protruded prominently under her dolphin pants, making me suddenly want to smack them.
However, keeping a straight face, I said to Elga,
"If you really don't want to, just meow and give up."
And then I lightly straddled her back. Sitting atop a woman's body was more thrillingly taboo than I'd imagined, quite arousing.
Of course, Elga's body was sturdy and brimming with strength, so my light weight didn't disrupt her breathing at all.
"Huu, haaa...."
No, her breathing was disrupted.
Tired?
Now that I looked, her body was trembling too.
Perhaps the humiliation was even more torturous than physical fatigue. I lightly raised my palm and smacked Elga's butt.
Smack.
The elastic sensation wrapping around my palm felt pretty good.
"Eek!"
And from Elga's mouth came a girlish scream that didn't suit her at all.
"If you don't start moving, you'll get more of this. Understand?"
"Grrr...."
Rustle, rustle.
Growling, Elga slowly began moving forward. And text appeared before my eyes.
「Amazing Achievement!
Occupation: Tamer level up.
Tamer Lv. 6 → Lv. 7
Your hand is already the whip and carrot itself!」
Tamer level up, huh.
Maybe I could level Tamer up to high levels through Elga.
"Sir Reinhardt would be shocked to see this."
"Sh, shut up...!"
Elga's breathing was much rougher than before.
The room felt hotter and stuffier than earlier, and the body heat from Elga beneath my butt had risen. Looking closely, sweat was trickling down her forehead and neck.
"Telling me to shut up? Who said you could talk back?"
Smack.
I smacked Elga's butt once more.
"Ugh...!"
Elga's body twitched.
The reaction felt a bit different from before. Wondering, I slipped my hand between her thighs.
"Mmm...!"
Squish.
It was unmistakably wet there—even through her clothes, I could feel the thick love juices!
"Lady Elga, are you getting excited while being punished?"
"......!!!"