I talked with Ms. Claire

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“Maybe Mr. Ekenhart feels like that. He is watching your growth as well. And while it might not be something felt a lot at our age…I have felt something similar.”
“Father… If that were the case, he would not have been so eager for me to get married. Even if I was the reason for that… Still, have you, Mr. Takumi? I thought you didn’t have any siblings?”

Mr. Ekenhart was nearly twice as old as me, and had a lot of life experience, including the raising of his daughters.
And so he probably would have felt a mixture of happiness and sadness as well.

“Previously, I told you about when I found Leo.”
“Yes. You found a young leo on a rainy day…”
“And since she was not well for some time, I stayed indoors and watched her… And when she was better, I was able to take her outside. And Leo was very popular with children.”
“Hehe. I cannot imagine how good Leo was back then, but it’s no surprise that children liked her. It was the same at the orphanage and Mr. Kalis’s store. And here.”

While Ms. Claire hadn’t seen it, Leo was also very popular in Range village.
Perhaps children were able to see the kindness within, even if she was a Silver Fenrir and powerful monster.
Of course…it was not like that with every child.

“While it may be hard to imagine her being small, she still liked to run around and jump and play.”
“Well…I can imagine her running. But jumping around… I would like to see that.”
“Haha, indeed. It would be very difficult for her to do that at this size… Well, she would play with children like that, but…”

I thought back on those fond memories as I talked to Ms. Claire.
This was when Leo used to play with the children in the neighborhood.
I was still a student at the time, and even though I had a part time job, I still had some free time.
And so I would take her out on regular walks so she could play.

But then a few years passed, and I got a full time job, which kept me busy…
And one day, when I took time in my busy schedule to take Leo outside.
We met a boy, who had been one of the children that Leo played with.
He was in elementary school when we first met, but he was a junior highschool student, and had grown quite a lot.

Still, Leo and he recognized each other, and were quite happy at first.
But then he was called by another boy from somewhere else, and he was distracted, and ended up running in that direction.
Leo had watched him leave and looked a little lonely. But now that I think back on it, she might have been a little happy as well.
Or maybe it was just me.

Boys at that age were very impressionable, and would want to play with friends or have other interests. And so he would care more about that than some dog he used to play with.
And though he was just some kid that Leo played with, and I didn’t even know his name, it was still a little like seeing your younger brother grow up, and I felt sad as well.
It made me feel sentimental about how children always grew, and would not always stay in the same place.
Perhaps that was a little different from what Ms. Claire was feeling. But growth was something that made you both happy and sad.

“I see. I know I should be happy about it. But one cannot help but feel lonely.”
“Indeed. However, that is just you. I don’t think the person growing should feel anything but happiness. You wouldn’t want Tilura to worry about you, right?”
“Of course not. She is my younger sister, and should never have to worry about me.”
“Haha. Your pride as the elder child.”

I didn’t know, because I didn’t have siblings… But I heard that older siblings tended to feel that way, no matter how close they were.
When I was a student, one of my friends complained about how his younger brother got good grades, and their parents would compare them.
He did not want his brother to beat him, and so that motivated him to study harder.

“Of course, I will do my best to stay ahead of Tilura. Well…except when it comes to skill with a sword.”
“Haha. Yes. I suppose you should just do whatever it is that you excel at.”
“I agree with that. However…what do you think I excel at?”
“Huh?”

As Ms. Claire did not train with a sword, it was one area where she had already lost to her sister.
While it may be important for her to stay ahead, as the older sister, they were humans who had different ways of thinking. And so I had told her to do what she did best.
However…she then asked me a question that I found difficult to answer…

Next Chapter

My Beloved Dog is the Strongest in Another World