TEASER
Side Story: Do You Like Puppies?
Surrounding the two
figures was a row of weird equipment reminiscent of a laboratory, with various
colors of magical light shining through the equipment.
"So, how are things
going?"
One was a tall,
slender guy. His ears and tail, covered with shiny golden fur, were illuminated
by a suspicious glow of magical light.
"We haven't
gotten any results yet. We just finished that prototype a couple of days ago,
you know. More importantly, where did you put that prototype?"
The other one is a boy
with a rather distinct medieval tone in his voice.
He had been moving
around the room for a while now, working on some kind of equipment that had
been installed there.
He placed something in
the form of a shredded thread in a beaker that glowed purple, and subsequently
placed a sheet of paper on the laboratory table.
A circular magic
circle was drawn onto it, and a plate-like object reminiscent of a crescent
moon was placed on top of it.
"Since it's a
prototype, it needs to be tested. I thought so, so I'm putting it to the test
now."
"Where did you
put it?"
"Don't worry. We
are dealing with a reliable customer."
The boy gave a
disgruntled glance at the fox-eared guy, but at that moment, smoke erupted from
a purple beaker.
The boy hurriedly took
the thread-like material out of the beaker and placed it on the magic circle on
the lab table.
"Anyway, we don't
have enough material to make the complete version."
"If so, I guess
I'll have to go out and get some. I'll be right back."
The fox-eared guy
turned on his heel and quickly left the room.
The boy was left
behind, illuminated by a purple magic light as he continued his dubious
experiments.
==================================
One day after school.
Nozomu was invited by Irisdina to the forest north of the city.
According to her, she
wanted him to help with a request she had received from the guild.
Of course, they were
going to split the commission fifty-fifty, and since it was Irisdina's request,
Nozomu gladly accepted the offer.
"So, the request
was to take care of the wild hounds, was it?"
"Yes, the son and
daughter-in-law of a hunter who died last year asked us to take care of them.
There were two of them. There have been several sightings of similar-looking
dogs in these northern woods. They wanted us to escort them home and protect
them if we could, but if that's not possible, they'd like us to take care of
the Hounds for them. That's what they said."
"I see…"
The request was to
protect them. If it was not possible, the request was to kill the Hounds.
The Hounds were
originally owned by the client's father, and when he passed away, they both
disappeared.
Hounds that became
wild and started to harm people were identified as demon beasts. Demon beasts
known as Wild Dogs were classified in this category.
In particular, Hounds
that have been kept by people are especially dangerous because they are not
afraid of humans.
