Sherry made her decision

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“…Previously, Sherry said she would stay at the mansion…well, with you, Ms. Claire…”
“Yes. And I was happy, of course… But she might change her mind now that her parents are here. After all, Sherry is still young…”

Judging by how sad Ms. Claire’s expression was, she probably thought that Sherry was going to choose to leave.

“Leo.”
“Wuff?”
“Could you ask Sherry and the fenrirs, what they intend to do?”
“Wuff.”
“Kyuu?”

After talking to Ms. Claire, I went over to where Leo was.
Regardless of what Sherry choses, I wanted Leo to act in between them.
As for ms. Claire, she went to the excited Sherry.
Though, Sherry must have sensed that there was something different about Ms. Claire, as she tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

“Wou!”
“Gau!”
“Gau-grau!”
“Kyau!”

Leo barked once, and the fenrirs and Sherry got up and sat down. Sherry was looking up at Leo, but the other two had their heads bowed.

“Wuff?”
“Ms. Claire?”
“…Yes, very well.”

Ms. Claire had an air of determination now.

“Sherry, there is no need to give me an answer immediately, but… No, I should not say it in such a roundabout way…”
“Kyau?”

Ms. Claire shook head, and Sherry looked at her questioningly.

“Fenrirs are monsters that live in the forest. So perhaps you would want to live with your parents. But we are humans that live outside of the forest. We can be together right now, but we will have to leave eventually…”
“Kyau…”

Sherry seemed to detect what Ms. Claire was going to say, and she barked weakly.
Liza, who was riding on Leo, and the rest of us humans watched them silently.
Even Ms. Anne was keeping quiet, though she seemed like she wanted to say something.

“Sherry? If you want to stay with me, then you are welcome. But if you want to return with your parents, then I will respect that, and release you from the familiar contract.”
“Kyuu…kyuu…?”
“You cannot choose both. We have to return to the mansion eventually. Just like how the fenrirs will return home. And so you must choose who you will go with.”
“Kyuu…”

Well, the forest would always be here, so even if Sherry chose to go with Ms. Claire, she could always come back to visit them. If Leo was there, then the fenrirs would detect her presence quickly, and then could come.

However, that was not the same as being together all of the time.
Perhaps this was too difficult a decision for someone as young as Sherry…?
Still, it would not be much better for Ms. Claire or Leo to decide for her.
Besides, it was not Ms. Claire’s style to ignore Sherry’s will, and force her own. And so I wanted to support her.
Previously, she had said that it was wrong to use her authority as a noble, and regretted forcing me to go to the forest.

“…You can decide later. We will be in the forest for a few more days, after all. However, you must decide before we leave…”
“Kyuu? Kyuu…”

Sherry seemed to think about this for a moment, and then barked.
I guess she really could not decide immediately… I just hoped she would be able to decide by the time we leave…
As I thought this, Sherry raised her head and started to run.

“Kyu!”
“Ahhh! …Sherry”?”
“Kyau, kyu!”

Sherry had bounced up from a sitting position and then pounced onto Ms. Claire.
It was so sudden that Ms. Claire raised her voice in surprise, but managed to catch Sherry.
And as Ms. Claire wrapped her arms around her, Sherry barked and buried her face into Ms. Claire’s chest.

“…Are you…sure about this…Sherry?”
“Kyau!”

Sherry barked loudly.

“…Ms. Claire?”
“Mr. Takumi… Sherry says that she wants to be with me…”
“I see… That’s good.
“Yes…yes…”

While I couldn’t understand Sherry, I had an idea of what she was saying.
Ms. Claire’s shoulders had shaken, and then she turned in order to reply to me.
And while she was smiling happily, there were also tears in her eyes.
Clearly, she was very moved by Sherry’s decision.
I smiled back, and Ms. Claire nodded over and over again…

Next Chapter

My Beloved Dog is the Strongest in Another World