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“Groooff, grrrooff…”

“What is it, Grulf?”

 

He started to rub against me.

Perhaps he had been worried after waking up at night and seeing that I was not there.

He must have thought that he had been abandoned. For now, I scratched his fur.

 

Even after we got into bed, Grulf had not calmed down, and began to lick my face.

And so with a quiet voice, I explained what had happened.

 

“Luchila came to tell me that there was a strange noise. And so I went to investigate.”

“Grr.”

 

Grulf whined quietly. He was being careful not to sound loud, as it was night.

I think he was saying that I should have taken him too.

 

“But you didn’t wake up even when Luchila and Gerberga were here.”

“…Grrr…”

 

Grulf whined again and rolled onto his back. I suppose it was an apology.

I scratched his belly.

 

“You were tired. It can’t be helped.”

“Grooww-grr…”

 

Grulf’s ears and tail were pointing upward.

I felt that there was a strong will to never repeat that mistake again.

But I couldn’t understand him, so maybe it was just me.

In any case, there was no point in thinking about it. And so I went to sleep.

 

Early in the morning.

“Grrr-grrrr-grrrrr!”

I woke up to the sounds of Grulf’s growling.

 

Maybe it was an attack on Gerberga.

I quickly left the room and ran towards the howling.

 

“St-stop! Let go, you!”

“Grrr-grrr!”

 

When I arrived, I saw that Milka was lying face down on the ground and Grulf was on top of her.

Grulf was very big, and so of course, Milka could not move.

 

Grulf’s tail began to wag upon seeing me.

 

“Groof.”

Maybe it was just me, but his face looked smug.

Now that I think about it, Grulf didn’t know about Milka.

He had captured her, thinking that she was an intruder.

 

Milka noticed me as well.

“Mister Locke, help me!”

“Grulf. Let her go.”

“Grr.”

 

It wasn’t Grulf’s fault. He didn’t know about Milka.

Capturing intruders was the job of a guard dog. Or guard wolf.

And so I petted Grulf.

 

“Grulf. This is Milka. She is staying here from today.”

“Grrr?”

“Oh, that was horrible!”

“You get up early, Milka.”

“You said that I would be cleaning the house. So I was walking around to see what I could do, when I was attacked!”

 

And so I introduced Grulf to Milka as well.

 

“I see. It’s a guard wolf? Rich people are amazing. Nice to mee you, Grulf.”

 

Grulf snorted at Milka’s offered hand and turned his nose away.

As Grulf had been here first, he was proving to her that she was beneath him.

Or trying to, anyway. Dogs can be like that.

 

But Milka didn’t seem to notice Grulf’s attitude and began to pat him on the head.

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