2. Youthful Days
Sheto woke up to the smell of the morning mist.
He could see the sky from the entrance of the hut, which was already starting to be rid of darkness. Carefully, so as to not wake up Fi, he made his way outside. He stretched his limbs and took in a deep breath.
What he saw at dawn in the forest was information that would help to dictate his whole day.
The humidity and smell said that he would not have to worry about rain until the afternoon. The smell from the bushes and trees showed that no dangerous animals had come nearby.
As Sheto approached the oven in order to start his work, the white wolf came out from the bushes.
“Morning, Guto.”
“Wuff…”
He petted the star wolf’s soft fur, and got a lick on the face.
“Thanks for watching during the night. I’ll be counting on you again today.”
“Ku-funn!”
This smart companion was the reason that they were not threatened by small critters and bears who would target their food.
Few would purposely enter a territory that smelled of wolves. Fi wasn’t used to being in the mountains, but Sheto could send him without worry, because of Guto.
He gave the wolf some leftover bones as a reward, and then started a fire.
‘Good morning, Sheto.’
He smiled when the voice reached his ears. And then he added some herbs to a pot.
“Morning, Salia. How are things, over there?”
‘Well, things are slow. Sorry to leave you alone.’
“It’s fine. Nothing happened here. No humans or Heroes come.”
A month had now passed since Sheto had started to live here after the battle with the hundred Heroes.
Since then, there were no traces of any humans or monsters coming into the mountain. Salia thought that anyone who knew what had happened would avoid it.
‘I confirmed it up here as well. Aside from the Seer’s army, there are no other Heroes in Morania.’
She said. Sheto shrugged as he checked on the pot.
“So, I’m not really a Hero.’”
‘Oh, I argued with him as well. And he apologized profusely.’
Ever since the battle, Salia’s environment had changed drastically. While the others had used to avoid her, they now flocked to her whenever she went outside.
While she felt conflicted about this, she did know that it was important to have connections.
And so while Sheto’s bond with Fi was growing, he heard less and less from Salia.
‘The dragon god has been keeping me updated about you. Still, is there anything that I should know?’
“I’m fine. Fi and Guto work well. Very helpful.”
‘…I see. That’s good.
A flowery scent was added to the morning air, and he could feel that the goddess was happy. Sheto breathed it in and relaxed.
“Will teach Fi more about the mountains today. Also, prepared various things.”
‘That’s perfect. I wanted to talk to you about that as well. Tonight, then.’
“Talking with the other gods again?”
‘No. Next business is about my god rank. I will be spending some time with the dragon god as well, so you can contact me through Fi.’
Another reason that Salia was away, was in regards to her rank.
Normally, it was something that took time to get used to. But she was absorbing it all very quickly.
“Be careful. Don’t hurt yourself.”
‘Do not worry about me. We god’s do not get sick. Besides, compared to you, what I am doing is easy.’
“…Fine. Thank you.”
‘See you later then.’
The goddess’s presence faded, and then Sheto added some wild plants and dried fish into the pot and stirred it. After seasoning it with some salt, breakfast would be complete.
“Fi. Breakfast is ready. Hurry, get up.”
He called while removing the pot from the fire. The dragon’s wings twitched, but he did not get up.
“Guto. Wake up Fi.”
“Wuff.”
The white fur went into the hut.
“AHHHHH!”
“Wuff!”
“Idiot! Stop! Stop licking and eating me! Ahh! Stooooop!”
The dragon protested as he was dragged outside by his tail.
“What a sadistic way to get me up! This is dragon abuse!”
“Told you, early morning. Get up properly.”
“Fine! Tell him to let go of my tail! Ahhhh!”
The blue form went flying through the air and landed at Sheto’s feet. After accomplishing this task, the white wolf disappeared into the bushes
“Does he hate me or something!?”
“Wolves. Can be grumpy. Best think of being polite with him.”
“That’s what I want to say! You tell him!”
“Fine. Will tell him to be a little more, gentle.”
That being said, Guto was already quite considerate when it came to Fi.
He always made sure that the area up ahead was safe when they went foraging. As for how he treated Fi just now, that was normal behavior in wolf packs to those who did not obey the leader, which was Sheto.
While a little rough, the wolf just wanted to teach the child dragon some manners.
“Still, you should get up when told.”
“I’m sorry about that, but… He didn’t have to do it like that.”
“When hunting, you don’t know, what will happen. You could sleep in. And die.”
“Uh…”
As if reminded of something, the young dragon nodded.
“Fine… I’ll listen to you…uh, Ganari?”
“Yes… Now, eat.”
He passed him a bowl and the dragon ate hungrily. At first, he had been surprised by the food, but he was now used to the kobold’s style of cooking.
“Taste. How is it?”
“It’s alright. I wish there was more salt.”
“Sorry. Salt is valuable. Can’t use too much.”
“I know… I’ll have more.”
While complaining, Fi continued to eat. Sheto ate as well.
Now that he thought about it, it had been a long time since he would cook for someone else.
Sitting down with others. How long had it been since he last did something so normal?
“…What? Why are you looking like that?”
“Me? What about my face?”
“You’re staring at me and grinning.”
And then Sheto finally realized it.
The change in his expression.
“Am I…smiling?”
“…You are. What? Did you remember something funny?”
“It’s nothing.”
Sheto covered his mouth with the bowl. But his expression remained the same.