The Goddess Granted Me the [Hatching] Skill and Somehow I Became the Strongest Tamer, Commanding Mythical and Divine Beasts - 53

Chapter 53: Ecology of the Petite Golem

★

“Eh? Are you staying at the Tamer Guild, brother?”

“Yes, I’ve been told to inform you of that.”

Seria was briefly confused by the messenger’s words, but quickly hid her expression.

“I understand. Thank you for letting me know.”

After thanking him, she returned to the mansion.

‘Pii?’

‘………..?’

Feni and Purple both looked at Seria at once, seemingly waiting for their master, Klaus, to return.

“It looks like brother won’t be back for a few days,” Seria said.

‘Pii~’

‘……..$’

The two creatures responded to Seria’s words, but without being connected to the familiar contract, Seria couldn’t understand what they were feeling.

“By the way, Purple-chan, shall we brush you?”

‘……..♪’

Thinking to comfort them, Seria suggested brushing, something Purple liked.

Purple flapped its wings and landed on Seria’s lap, ready for the brushing.

Seria took the special brush and slowly began to stroke Purple’s wings.

‘……..♪♪♪’

Each time Seria moved the brush, Purple’s wings trembled slightly, and its antennae twitched.

Scales fell off and dropped onto the sheet laid beneath them.

Rainbow butterfly scales seemed to shed with metabolism, and this brushing, which helped remove waste, had recently become one of Purple’s hobbies.

“Still, brother keeps causing one thing after another…” Seria sighed while brushing Purple.

Now that she thought about it, even when she lived at home, Klaus sometimes did unpredictable things.

“But maybe brother is better off now, more lively and thriving.”

There was a time when Klaus had been struck by lightning and nearly died from a high fever, but after recovering, his progress was astonishing.

In less than half a year, he had become one of the most elite national adventurers, obtained three familiars, and was even starting to gain attention from important figures in the country.

Seria felt lonely seeing her brother’s success, but she also wanted to support him.

‘Pii?’

‘……..$’

Noticing that Seria had stopped moving her hands, Feni and Purple both looked at her, seemingly trying to get her attention.

Although Seria had been living a hectic life since moving to the royal capital, she found the time she spent in this mansion, even without her brother, to be comfortable.

“…I wish I could live here too,” she muttered, thinking about wanting to watch her brother’s rapid progress up close.

★

When we entered the Tamer Guild’s premises, we headed deeper into the building.

“This is the facility that houses monsters from the mining areas. Right now, we are keeping Rock Lizards and Sand Mice.”

Inside was a huge facility with a ceiling covered by stone. There were rocks scattered everywhere, and high stone walls stood tall. It wasn’t as bad as the mine where Rock lived, but it was a similar environment.

‘……..(happy)’

I felt a relieved emotion coming from Rock.

“There’s a research facility here, so we’ll observe them for a few days,” the staff member said.

“Thank you.”

I bowed to the staff member again as we entered the research facility.

Once inside, there was nothing for me to do.

Even though they were researching the ecology of monsters, I didn’t know how to handle biological creatures. I had no choice but to watch as the researchers moved around.

Among them was the staff member, who was giving instructions to others. Maybe her position was higher than I thought?

I looked away and saw that Rock was walking around on the table.

As usual, Rock was holding a scarlet diamond rough stone, looking like it really liked it.

It was so cute that I could watch it all day, so I observed Rock for a while.

“They’re really cute, aren’t they?” I heard the staff member say from nearby.

She was holding a tray, with steam rising from a teapot.

The staff member smiled as she saw Rock staring at me and said, “…It seems like it understands what we’re saying.”

“Yes, it seems that way,” I replied.

When I spoke, Rock reacted. I didn’t think it understood language, but I could feel its intentions through the familiar contract.

She sat next to me and poured tea into a cup.

“Here you go.”

The pleasant aroma of the tea tickled my nose.

“Thank you.”

When I drank the tea, I felt a slight sweetness and a refreshing taste pass over my tongue.

“Among golems, the higher-ranking ones, like the Mithril Golem, live in mithril mines. There’s a theory that they grow by eating mithril ores.”

The staff member didn’t take her eyes off Rock even as she drank tea.

“Then, does that mean Rock will become a Scarlet Diamond Golem when it grows?”

If that theory is true, Rock must be holding the rough stone to eat it.

It’s hard to imagine from its current tiny size, but would Rock eventually grow to be as large as the golems I encountered in the mine?

“That’s a possibility,” she said.

“Monster ecology is still full of unknowns, so let’s investigate Rock’s future together.”

She said that’s what the Tamer Guild was for.

“Anyway, all the familiars Klaus brings are so rare, it’s fun to be involved with them.”

‘……..(sleepy)’

As Rock hugged the rough scarlet diamond and started nodding off, the staff member watched with gentle eyes.

“It’s really just a coincidence… It somehow ended up following me…” I thought back to the time when I first met Rock, and I had heard a voice that resembled the goddess Muse’s.

Without that, Rock would never have become a familiar.

(Thinking about it, when Feni and Purple became familiars, I also heard that voice. Do other tamers not experience that?)

If that’s the case, perhaps this power was granted by the goddess Muse. It might be better not to talk about it to others.

‘……..(wake)’

While I was thinking, Rock woke up and started moving again.

Rock became interested in the teacup and tried to lift it.

However, it seemed like its arms weren’t long enough to grab and lift it.

‘……..(sweating)’

“Hey, stop messing around,” I said, worried it might break the expensive cup.

“Maybe it’s hungry?” the staff member suggested as she suddenly had an idea. She stood up and brought a wooden plate.

“Here’s something for Rock.”

On the plate, there was sand mixed with some kind of metal.

“What is this?”

“This is leftover ore from refining ingots. I thought maybe the rough stone was too big for Rock to eat, so I brought this.”

Rock stopped reaching for the teacup and looked happily at the deep dish.

‘……..(happy)’

Rock eagerly dove into the sand, rolling around and flapping its arms and legs like it was taking a sand bath. It seemed so joyful.

Rock was moving so much that sand was flying all over the table.

“Sorry, I’ll clean it up later,” I apologized.

“Isn’t Rock acting a bit strange?” the staff member said.

“Huh?”

When I looked at Rock again, I saw that the sand had scattered, but the metal in the dish was missing. The surface of Rock’s body had metal stuck to it, and it had changed color.

“Could this be…?”

“Is it eating?”

Both the staff member and I came to the same conclusion at once.

“Could this scarlet diamond rough stone be…” she said.

“Shall we try breaking it?” we decided to give it a try.