Quicker than my brain can catch up with the fact that Lynn has an ability that is inherently impossible for her to acquire, Lilia-san and the others began discussing it with serious expressions on their faces.
Incidentally, Aoi-chan and Hina-chan were very quick to tell me that they “had something they need to do” and went somewhere…… Skillfully retreating like flowing water…… The two of them just raised their hands.
[……Come to think of it, isn’t Lynn’s magic power pretty big too?]
[Yes, Lynn-chan is in her “magic power growth period”, but even if she weren’t, I think that this amount of magic power is too big.]
[Miyama-sama, did you feed her anything strange?]
……Did I feed her anything strange…… Arehh? What should I do, there’s something that popped out of my mind.
[……Ahh.]
[……Kaito-san?]
Hearing the voice that reflexively leaked out of my mouth, Lilia-san questioningly looked back at me.
[……Ah, no, errr……]
[This is just a guess…… but could it be that you thought of something?]
[……E- Errr……]
[Kaito-san?]
[……I did have one.]
The smile on Lilia-san looks like she’s about to burst. She’s smiling now but…… Her smile doesn’t reach her eyes at all, and looking closely, I could see her veins popping out of her forehead.
Her whole body was filled with an aura that seems to scream “You did something again?” which looks outrageously frightening.
[So? What did you feed her?]
When I honestly admitted that I did so, with that smile still on her face, Lilia-san approached me and put a hand on my shoulder…… Perhaps, this means that she wouldn’t get angry if I honestly tell her…… Unnn. Let’s believe that’s the case.
I kinda feel like I’ve been hearing a cracking sound from my shoulder for a while now, and my shoulder hurts like hell…… I- I guess that’s just my imagination, right?
Feeling a chilling sensation ran through my innards, I timidly…… speak out the thing that I think was the cause of Lynn’s abilities.
[……Fru……]
[Fru?]
[Fruit…… of the World Tree……]
[………………..]
When Lilia-san heard my words, her knees lost strength and she immediately collapsed.
[My Lady! P- Please pull yourself together……]
[……F- Fruit of…… t- the World Tree?]
Yes, as a matter of fact, when I was working on the music boxes, I was eating the Fruits of the World Tree while I was working, and Lynn happened to see while I was eating one, and she kept asking me to feed her a Fruit of the World Tree.
I kept refusing her in the beginning, because there are lots of other foods that she can eat stocked, but Lynn is just too cute…… or rather, she was being persistent about it, so I had no choice but to feed her.
Thereupon, she seems to like it a lot, as she started to beg me for it, and when she helps out, like times when I’m bathing Bell, she would ask me to feed her that as a reward.
[Ummm, Sieg-san. That really was the cause, right?]
[I think it’s very possible. Monsters have two separate growth periods: One for their bodies and another for their magic power. Lynn-chan is currently in her magic power growth period……. There’s a common belief that if you give a monster food with magic power during its magic power growth period, its magic power will increase.]
[……………..]
[The Fruit of the World Tree is like a powerful mass of healing magic power, so I believe that its magic power mixed with Lynn-chan’s magic power during her growth phase, making her change…… No, I think it would be better to describe it as evolved.]
It was even more outrageous than I thought!? F- For me, it was just supposed to be a reward for my cute Lynn…… I- I never thought that her magic power would be affected by it and change her at all.
As I was stunned by Sieg-san’s explanation…… Lilia-san slowly stood up.
[……Rather than that…… What the heck did you think you’re giving her!? Seriously, you!!!]
[Gueehhh!? L- Lilia-san…… It hurts……]
[Why are you feeding your pet the Fruit of the World Tree, which is so hard to even get one of, as if it was just a snack!?]
[I- I’m…… sor…… ry.]
Grabbing my collar, Lilia-san strongly rocks me back and forth, and as I felt my mind getting shook, I tried squeezing out an apology.
Lilia-san started yelling at me for a while, before she let go of her grip and lets out a loud sigh.
[……Geez, you really are out of the norm……]
[Erhem…… I- I’m sorry I did it again.]
[……Haahhh…… I’ll ask just in case, but there’s no way that you went to visit World King-sama to ask her for Fruits of the World, just to feed your pet, right……?]
[……I- I’m sorry.]
[……You did huh……]
I bow my head again to Lilia-san, who astoundedly looked at me, while her shoulders slumped down.
Yes, Lilia-san is right…… Actually, just a days ago, I visited Lillywood-san and explained that Lynn liked the Fruit of the World Tree, and tried to negotiate with her to see if she could share some with me.
Apparently, the effectiveness of the Fruits of the World Tree doesn’t lose over time, and Lillywood-san, who has restricted their distribution for may years, has enough Fruits of the World Tree that it was difficult for them to dispose of them, so she asked me to take as many as I wanted.
[……Ummm, I was only warned not to give them to others, so I got a lot.]
[……Is that so……]
Lilia-san looks as if her eyes were staring in the distance already, as if she’d given up on everything, while I was just earnestly apologizing to her…… That’s when Sieg-san, who had a wry smile on her face, helped me out.
[Lili, please forgive him with that already. It’s not like Kaito-san had any ill intentions either.]
[Sieg…… You’re spoiling Kaito-san too much.]
[Hmmm. Well, I had been watching Kaito-san take care of Bell-chan and Lynn-chan on a regular basis, so I knew that Kaito-san really cares about his pets. He’s fine with feeding Lynn-chan the Fruits of the World Tree because she’s so important to him.]
[T- That is, well…… That may be true but……]
As I thought, Sieg-san is an angel. No, she’s the messiah.
I was relieved to hear Sieg-san as she calmly makes a follow up for me, to which, Lilia-san had an expression that seems to say that it can’t be helped. I was feeling relieved inside but…… It was shattered by a single word Lunamaria-san muttered.
[……I wouldn’t be surprised if Kaito-sama had given something to Bell-sama now……]
[………………….]
[Kaito-san? Why did you look away just now?]
[………………….]
No, stop that, Lunamaria-san…… If you make a tsukkomi at that time, I would feel troubled. Or rather, I’m going to get scolded again.
However, it’s already too late to think about such matters, as Lilia-san was looking at me with that frightening smile on her face again, and I felt a large amount of sweat running down my back.
[……Kaito-san, please answer me honestly. What did you give to Bell?]
[……U- Ummm, Bell told me he wanted to get stronger…… So I “consulted with Magnawell-san”, and he told me to grind his scales into powder and mix it with his food…… That’s what I fed him……]
[……Please sit over there for a moment.]
[……Yes.]
Hearing the words I timidly said, I could clearly see Lilia-san’s veins pop out of her forehead just now, and with a tone of voice that seemed to say that she won’t let me talk back at all, I obeyed and sat down in seiza.
[……You…… What the heck are you doing!? Are you trying to raise the most powerful monster that you can!!!?]
[Hyiiiihhh!?]
[Moreover, you’re using Dragon King-sama’s scales? How out of the norm can you be for you to feel comfortable using that in your pet’s food!? Even though I wanted some of Dragon King-sama’s scales too…… and you’re just feeding him those…… How much stronger do you want Bell to become!!!?]
[My Lady, My Lady? Your desires are kinda leaking out!]
Lilia-san loves Dragons…… I showed Lilia-san the Dragon King’s scales that I got before and she fainted in surprise, but she wanted some of them huh…… She should have just told me…… Magnawell-san would always give me some when I visit him, saying that it’s my allowance, so I had lots of them.
[……U- Ummm, Lilia-san? I could give you some…… Dragon King’s scales, I mean. I- I’ll also give you some fangs!]
[……Erhem. Well, I’m sure Kaito-san didn’t mean any harm, and I don’t really intend to scold you that harshly……]
[My Lady? Why the heck did you let yourself get instantly caught……]
Lilia-san looked really frightening when she was wholeheartedly scolding me, but her reaction when I said that was so obvious that even I, the one who proposed that, was bewildered……. S- She really wanted them that much huh……
[Well, Kaito-san. It‘s fine to adore your pets, and I won’t prohibit you from feeding them with your own belongings but…… Please report such things to me from now on. I’m having a hard time consuming enough stomach pills for all these troubles I’m facing now. I feel like I’ve already taken enough for a lifetime……]
[Y- Yes. I’m really sorry.]
Hearing Lilia-san’s very fervent, heartfelt outburst, I put my hands on the ground and deeply apologized.
Dear Mom, Dad———– For the first time in a long while, I was scolded by Lilia-san after she found out that I had given the Fruits of the World Tree to Lynn and the Dragon King’s scales to Bell. Well, it’s my fault for not properly reporting it to her about it, so I can’t really complain. Unnn, seriously——— Reporting is important.
<Afterword>
~~ Remarks ~~
Bellfreed (Behemoth)
—A gradual and long growth period of a few hundred years, growing about 5 meters in a hundred years and eventually exceeding 100 meters. With the way Bellfreed is raised though, continuously raising him with this method would seriously make him reach a monstrously strong level.
Lindwurm (White Dragon)
—The ages 1 to 5 are the magic power growth period of the White Dragons, and ages 5 to 10 are their physical growth period. Incidentally, she’s currently 2 years old. Because she ate a lot of Fruits of the World Tree, she already possesses more magic power than an adult dragon. It seems that she has some sort of purpose as to why she is begging Kaito for the Fruits of the World Tree (which will be talked about in an Intermission Chapter later).