We arrived at the forest

---

“…Thank you, Mr. Takumi.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“You let me ride on Leo because I was too nervous, right?”
“Hmm. Well, while you’ve ridden on Leo in the garden, you never rode on her while she was running outside. And so I just thought you might enjoy it.”
“Hehe. I see. Well, thank you for letting me ride on Leo.”
“Was it fun?”
“Yes, very fun!”

Apparently, Tilura had caught on to my intentions.
Still, it would look bad if I admitted it now, and so I pretended to be ignorant.
But judging by the way that she laughed, she was probably not fooled. Regardless, she thanked me again.

And with a smile, she said that she had a lot of fun.
She looked a lot like Ms. Claire when she laughed…they were sisters, after all.
Was it rude of me to think that it was good she didn’t laugh like her father?

Now that we had arrived at the edge of the forest, we decided to eat lunch before entering it. And so we had to gather some branches to make a fire.
The horses and carriages were left to the butler and guards who would stay, and I and the other guards gathered the branches.
Mr. Ekenhart helped us as well, and seemed to be enjoying himself.
Once we had enough, it was time to make the fire.

But when one of the butlers was about to do it with fire magic, Leo stopped him.
Just like last time, she wanted to do it herself. She did not have many opportunities to use magic, after all… Aside from wind magic..
Well, perhaps it would be good for relieving stress. And so I let Leo do it.
The others watched her with great interest.

They had not seen Leo use fire magic before.
Though, Mr. Ekenhart had seen Leo create magic water, when she made it for Liza.
He really was curious… I suppose that’s where Ms. Claire got it from.

“That’s amazing, Leo!”
“Oh… Good Leo, can you also make it more powerful?”
“Wuff-wuff.”
“She can even use magic… How astonishing…”
“Thank you, Leo. Please look forward to lunch.”
“Wuff!”
“Kyau? Kyu…?”
“Wou-wou!”

Tilura was delighted when she saw the fire, and Mr. Ekenhart asked a question.
Even Ms. Anne looked on with surprise from a distance. And Ms. Lyra thanked Leo.
Sherry was also surprised, but Leo was telling her that she could do it too if she tried.

“Everyone seems to be having fun.”

Ms. Claire muttered as she watched the others.
As for Liza, she was currently with Sebastian, as she wanted to thank the horses for pulling her.

“I watched Leo use magic last time as well… And was very impressed.”
“I see…”
“You two get along so well. I suppose it is because you were together before coming to this place… But normally, she would be considered a terrifying monster, you know?”

It was hard for me to imagine it.
Well, Leo was very big and reliable. And I would never be able to match her.
But she was also someone who played with children and devoured sausages.
…And had originally been a maltese dog.

“…Not only are you two equal, but it even seems like Leo obeys you. That makes you look very great indeed, Mr. Takumi.”
“Me? Oh, not at all!”

I was just a salaryman a short while ago. I was nothing compared to a duke.
Really, I was no different than the average resident of Ractos town.
The only thing that set me apart was Leo and the Gift.

“In that case, should I bring Tilura and father over here, so we can kneel in front of you?”
“Please don’t do that. I wouldn’t know what to do…”

Ms. Claire asked with a childish, mischievous look.

“Hehe, of course. And while I would have loved to see the troubled look on your face, I don’t want you to hate me.”
“…I would never hate you, Ms. Claire…”
“Really? Do you mean it…?”

Apparently, she did not believe me, and so she leaned forward and peered into my face as she asked the question.

Next Chapter

My Beloved Dog is the Strongest in Another World