Chapter 30 – The Sea Hippo and Demon Wolf’s Territory

Hippolius started licking Victor’s face.

“Now, now Hippolius. Please calm down.”
Said Victor, but he looked very happy as he petted Hippolius.

Fio and I also quickly caught up with Hippolius and Shiro.

“Victor. Sorry. Are we disturbing you?”
“Not at all. We were just resting here.”

Kelly also caught up with us and then questioned Victor.
“Is the geological survey going smoothly then?”
“Fine enough. You could say that.”
“I see. And have you found any unusual animals?”
“We saw some animals, yes. But I don’t know if they are unusual.”
“I see… I would very much like to start my own biological survey soon.”

And then Kelly went to question the Adventurers and geologists who were resting.
She was probably going to trade information with them regarding living creatures and the soil.

“Are you on a walk, Mr. Theo?”
“Yes, we are. Shiro is a wolf, after all.”
“Is that so? I’m sure it is important for wolves to get exercise.”

Victor said as he petted Shiro.
Shiro was very friendly towards humans, and so he wagged his tail happily.

“Mr. Theo. Have you had any trouble at all while working?”
“We are fine. Hippolius and the others have been very helpful, and so we finished gathering the materials.”
“That’s wonderful. Hippolius sure is a hard worker.”
“While our meeting was a coincidence, it really has been fortunate for us.”
“Indeed.”

Even as we talked, Hippolius was being petted by the Adventurers.
The sea hippo really did like humans.
Upon seeing this, Shiro ran off towards Hippolius.
I suppose he wanted to be petted by the Adventurers as well.

“Shiro sometimes acts like he is Hippolius’s younger brother.”
“Indeed. It has probably helped him get accustomed to being here with us.”

Perhaps Shiro thought that his position with this pack was right below Hippolius.

“Up until recently, Shiro had to be strong and be the leader of a pack.”

Even though he was still young, he had to do his best in order to protect the weak Fio.
And it must have been very taxing for him mentally.

“Yes, Shiro is still a young wolf. And so he should enjoy being doted on.”

Personally, I hoped he continued to be like that even as an adult.
However, it was especially important when a pup.

“Fio. You are also a child, so you should be doted on as well.”
“I’m fine!”

Fio said as she wagged her tail energetically.
She did not look afraid as she watched the Adventurers.
But she also did not need to be petted like Hippolius or Shiro.

If anything, she was just standing quietly behind me.
I suppose she wasn’t used to being with us yet.

After we had talked for a while, Victor and the others returned to work, and we resumed our walk.

Hippolius walked in the front, followed by Shiro, and then Kelly, Fio and I followed them leisurely.

Shiro continued with his thorough inspections of our territory.
He would often stop, sniff and mark.

Hippolius would look at him curious as he did this.
And then with a loud ‘Kyuo!’ Hippolius did the same.

“You want to mark your territory too, Hippolius?”
‘Yes!’

Hippolius wagged its tail happily.
Perhaps Hippolius felt bad about allowing Shiro to do all of the work.

“Since Hippolius is a high-ranking dragon, that should keep a lot of monsters away.”
“Yes, Theo is right. High-ranking dragons are at the top of the food chain. Any monster with a good sense of smell will know to run away.”
“But Hippolius is so cute.”
“Cute, but still a carnivore.”

In fact, Hippolius had hunted a large boar the previous day.
So there was no doubt that the monsters in the surrounding area were cautious.

Kelly then went to touch Hippolius, who was standing next to Shiro.

“Still, Hippolius…”
“Kyu?”
“…Don’t you need to spread your droppings as well?”
“Kyuo?”

Hippolius looked very confused.
And then Hippolius looked at me with a shocked expression.

‘Theodore! This person is strange.’
“Indeed, very strange.”
“What is strange?”

Kelly looked at me questioningly.
As she did not have the taming skill, Kelly did not understand what Hippolius was saying.
And so she wanted me to translate.

“Hippolius is very confused as to why you are talking about scattering droppings.

Even Shiro and Fio were confused.
After all, wolves did not have such habits.

Kelly was the only one who was not confused.
And so she took out a book from her pocket and began to write in it.

“Hmm. So sea hippos do not scatter their droppings. I thought that it was holding it back.”
“Kelly. What are you going on about?”
“Because that is what hippopotamuses do.”
“Is that so?”
“Aye. They do it to mark their territory. They wag their tails in order to make it spread out.”

Kelly said as she poked Hippolius’s long and thick tail.
Hippolius did not seem to like this at all, and tried to move the tail away from Kelly.

“Wait-wait.”
“Kyuo!”

And then Hippolius turned around in a circle.
Kelly and Shiro began to chase after the tail.

“Well, I suppose they are just playing.”

At the very least, Shiro definitely saw it as a game.
Shiro was still young. He should play as much as he wants.

As I thought of such things…
“Theo, Theo.”
Fio said as she pulled at my sleeve.

Next Chapter

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