Birds of a Feather
“… Ah, um, Young Lady Joan, could you perhaps introduce those familiars you were talking about earlier?”
“O-okay, Count. In that case, may we step outside for a moment?”
Saying so, I led everyone out to the front approach. Waiting ahead, Zack had already brought Snowy and Pearl, with Rosso curled up on Pearl’s back.
“I’ll introduce them. My familiars: the pegasus, Snowy; the fenrir, Pearl; and the carbuncle, Rosso.”
““““Huhhh!? Legendary beasts!?””””
Wow~ what perfect harmony.
They really are close, aren’t they.
“C-c-could it be, that’s not just an ordinary white horse?”
“Y-yeah, yeah, and that one only looks like a white dog, doesn’t it?”
Belle’s father and Hans were clearly shaken. Behind them, the ladies had their mouths hanging wide open.
Belle’s mother and Lady Isabella—if you keep it like that, a bug’s gonna fly in, you know?
“Ah, of course you wouldn’t know from appearances alone. Everyone, greetings please.”
Whoosh. (It is an honor to meet you, Young Lady Belle’s family. I am Snowy, Joan’s familiar, a pegasus.)
Snowy spread her wings, bent her front legs slightly, and bowed.
(It is an honor to meet you, Lord Belle’s family. I am Pearl, Joan’s familiar, a fenrir.)
Pearl shifted from the size of a large dog to larger than a lion, and, sitting down, bowed her head in greeting.
(Huh? Eh? Joan?)
Rosso, who had been napping on Pearl’s back, rolled off when Pearl transformed, and Joan caught him in her hands.
“Rosso, greetings!”
(Hm? …!! N-nice to meet you, I-I’m Rosso, Joan’s familiar, a carbuncle. P-pleased to make your acquaintance.)
Though flustered, Rosso bowed his little head again and again in Joan’s palm.
“The real thing…”
“They’re talking…”
—Reception room.
“Father, are you alright?”
“Y-yeah… I’m fine. I just underestimated how outrageous this would be…”
“I think… I just used up my lifetime supply of surprise.”
While Belle’s father and Hans slumped in exhaustion—
“They’re sooo cute~”
The puppy-sized Pearl and Rosso had shot straight through Belle’s mother’s and Lady Isabella’s hearts.
Knock knock knock. “My lord, dinner preparations are complete.”
“Ah, understood. Young Master Gene, Young Lady Joan, our land is humble, but please allow us to offer our own style of hospitality. I hope you’ll enjoy it.”
We were guided back to the training grounds we’d visited earlier.
There, a big pot and an iron griddle were set up, filling the air with delicious aromas.
“Since we’re surrounded by mountains, all we have is mountain fare, but we’ve prepared teppanyaki and hearty Big Boar soup. Please, eat your fill.”
““Thank you very much.””
We sat at the tables and benches—newly set up since before—while Zoey and Lill brought over the food.
“Mmm~ delicious! This Big Boar teppanyaki is amazing even without sauce.”
“Ah, we marinate it overnight in a special sauce from the head chef. Pretty good, right?”
“Mm-hmm, the best! Put this on rice and—oh, hey, can I do the rice presentation now?”
“Yeah! Could be good. But… do you have any?”
“…Y es. I do. But around here, people think it’s just animal feed, right? How should we go about this?”
“Joan, lend it here?”
Saying that, Belle piled teppanyaki meat onto a rice bowl, then declared, “Be right back!” and headed for her family’s table.
“Hey… I might be out of line, but don’t you think Young Lady Belle is starting to resemble Joan?”
“So you noticed too, Gene. I’ve been feeling the same lately.”
(Birds of a feather flock together, don’t they?)
Pearl mumbled from underfoot, chewing on teppanyaki.
““Haah~””
(And Joan always says, giving up is important too, right?)
Rosso, on the table, clumsily used his little paws to hold a scrap of meat as he stuffed it into his mouth.
“Even the familiars are starting to resemble her…”
“Hey! Brother Gene, Young Master Eric, don’t say things like that.”
““Ah—sorry.””
Meanwhile, Belle—
“So good!!”
“Yeah, really tasty. The more you chew, the sweeter it gets. Combined with the meat’s saltiness, it’s perfect. But what is this grain? Not wheat…”
“Hehe. Father, Brother, this is rice.”
“What!?”
Pffft!
“Brother, that’s so unrefined.”
“W-what on earth are you feeding us!?”
“But it was delicious, wasn’t it?”
“… Yeah. It was.”
“Belle, is this truly rice? It’s different from what I know…”
“Yes, it’s rice without a doubt. Normally it’s covered in a brown husk, but when you remove the husk and polish it a little, you get this white grain. Then you cook it with water. In the eastern countries, it’s eaten as a staple food… Everything I just said is what I heard from Joan.”
“I see… so we simply didn’t know how to prepare it. Belel, I’d like to speak with Young Lady Joan.”
“Yes! I’ll go ask her.”
With that, Belle ran back to us. Watching her retreating figure, Hans spoke.
“Father, if we could bring rice into our land…”
“Yes. We could finally let the people eat their fill. Well, first we’ll need to speak with Young Lady Joan…”
Belle came running back with a huge grin.
“Joooan!! It was a big success!! Father wants to hear more!!”
Saying that, she leapt into my arms.
“Whoa! Careful, Belle. But thank you—you made things much easier.”
“No problem. Maybe rice will change the Burst domain.”
“Think so? Then… you’re welcome?”
“Haha, why’d you make it sound like a question?”
What do you think about this chapter?
