Chapter 170 – Return to the Base
“Over here.”
“Bemu.”
The land shark did its best to waddle along.
But it was very slow.
“Could I carry you?”
I asked the land shark.
Many wild animals and monsters did not like to be picked up.
Even dogs who were not used to being around humans were like that.
“Bemu?”
“Just tell me if you don’t like it.”
Apparently, it did not know what I was talking about.
And so I held the rear part of the shark and gently picked it up.
“Does it hurt? Are you scared?”
“…Bemu.”
The land shark stayed still.
At the very least, it did not seem to hate it.
Perhaps it just had a friendly personality.
And so I erased my presence while walking as fast as I could.
On the way, I whispered and introduced Pii, who was on my shoulder.
“I am Theodore. This is Pii, the slime king.”
“Bemu.”
“Do you have a name?”
“Bemu.”
Apparently, it did not have a name.
However, as a Tamer, I could not just casually give out names.
After running for some time, I could see Hippolius and the others up ahead.
Kelly, Fio, and Ije were riding on top of Hippolius.
And to the side was Shiro, whose tail stood up cautiously.
‘Theodore!’
“…Wou!”
“Theo…”
Kelly and the others noticed me, but quickly stopped.
They saw the land shark, and realized that something must have happened.
And then Hippolius walked towards me slowly while wagging its tail.
But Shiro ran quickly and then stood on her hind legs in order to smell the shark in my arms.
She must have decided that it was not an enemy, since I was carrying it.
“Au?”
“Be-bemu.”
The shark looked a little scared of Shiro, and it clutched onto my clothes.
Apparently, it was more scared of Shiro than Hippolius.
“Don’t worry. Shiro and Hippolius are friends.”
I petted the land shark and then I petted Shiro and Hippolius.
“Hippolius, Shiro. Thanks for waiting for me.”
“Kyuo.”
“Au.”
“Hippolius. Sorry to say this right after returning. But I want to get back to the base as soon as possible. So please carry us.”
‘Kyuo! Okay!’
“As for Shiro…”
“Wou!”
Shiro barked to reassure me that she was fine.
She was confident that she could keep up with Hippolius’s running.
Kelly, Fio and Ije were on Hippolius’s back.
And so Hippolius could not run at full speed, or it would shake too much.
So I suppose Shiro should be fine.
“Alright, you run and follow us, Shiro.”
“Au.”
And then Hippoliuss lowered itself towards the ground.
And I climbed up onto Hippolius’s back.
As Hippolius was so big, there was plenty of space for all of us.
I was in the front, with Kelly, Ije, and Fio behind, in that order.
Kelly held the basket with the wolf cubs.
‘Go now?’
“Yes. But Fio and Ije are riding too, so don’t run too fast.”
‘Okay!’
And so Hippolius ran so that it did not shake too much.
But even then, it was quite fast.
“Shiro is…”
“Hah-hah-hah.”
Shiro was running her fastest.
“(Hippolius. Make sure that it’s not too fast for Shiro.)”
‘Okay!’
Shiro had been confident that she could keep up with Hippolius.
And so I said it quietly, so as not to hurt her pride.
After a while, Kelly said,
“So, what happened, Mr. Theo?”
Fio and Ije’s ears perked up.
“I found this shark while making my way there. But I didn’t see the enemy.”
“And what is that?”
Kelly was very interested in the land shark.
“A survivor of the group that was protecting the sugar beets.”
“Oh? They were?”
“I don’t know the details. We will have to ask about it later.”
“Is it a state of emergency?”
“The false demon bear or…devil. It appeared. And it is wreaking havoc on their fields.”
“That is bad.”
Fio and Ije gasped.
“And so I will call Gisela.”
Gisela would be able to defeat the devil.
“By the way, how are the wolf cubs?”
I looked into the basket that Kelly was carrying.
“They are sleeping soundly.”
As they were still small, they needed a lot of sleep time.
“That’s good.”
If they were awake, they might become scared when hearing about the devil.
“Bemu.”
The land shark’s eyes seemed to light up when it saw the cubs.
It seemed to think that they were very cute.
And then it raised its head.
“Bemu?”
It looked at Ije and froze.
As it had been clinging onto me, the land shark had noticed her up until now.
“What is it? Do you know Ije?”
“Bemu-bemu!”
Without answering me, the land shark extended its arm out to Ije.
“Ije, do you know it?”
“…Don’t know.”
Ije looked confused.
I asked the land shark gently.
“Does she look like a friend?”
“Bemu-bemu!”
Apparently, she looked like someone it had been close with.
The land shark must have shared their sugar beets with Ije’s tribe.
And so it must have thought Ije was a friend.
“…Bemu.”
After seeing Ije’s confusion, it must have understood that Ije was a stranger.
The land shark looked very sad.
Thanks for the treat.