Chapter 20
20
Chapter 5. I've Decided on My Future Dream (2)
What I fought so hard for, even becoming a spoiled brat, was just a tiny bit of salt.
'But it's something.'
To my tongue, accustomed to bland food, a little salt was stimulating enough. The moment I put it in my mouth, my spine tingled, and my whole body felt happy.
Salt is definitely happiness.
'I always liked salty braised chicken better than sweet snacks.'
Even after being reborn, my taste buds hadn't changed.
Of course, that doesn't mean I dislike snacks. But I can't judge because I don't know what snacks are like in this world yet.
'The architecture and clothing are Western-based, so the snacks must be too...?'
What could there be? Madeleines? Macarons? Brownies? They must have chocolate, right? Ah, why am I so young...?
They don't even season my food, so there's no way they'll let me eat sweet snacks. Since I got salt through struggle, I might have to get sugar through struggle too.
'Let's get stronger.'
Enough that I won't feel guilty even if I become a spoiled brat again.
I'll just have to be more shameless.
Because salt and sugar are achievements worth fighting for.
I quietly resolved.
'I'm not ashamed. There's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm a real child.'
Even if it's embarrassingly mortifying, it's all because I'm too mature. It's wrong for a child not to act like a child. It's not wrong to act like a child, it's nothing to be ashamed of...
Squeak?
"Ah, sorry, Evelyn!"
I was spacing out, rationalizing myself because I was hit with a brief moment of reality.
If I don't rationalize myself periodically, even tearing through several blankets wouldn't be enough to cover my shame.
At my feet, a puppy the size of my foot was looking up at me with shining black eyes. It was sitting quietly with its butt on the ground, but its tail was wagging incessantly.
I quickly apologized, and it rubbed its nose against my ankle as if to say it was okay. I felt its moist nose against my skin. Oh my god, oh my god, this heart-attacking criminal...
I covered my face with my palm, thinking I might be making a strange expression.
'I'm happy...'
Goodbye to the days of walking around the garden with Maria's hand in mine, wearing squeaky shoes.
After lunch, Bailey gave us a small ball and a tug-of-war toy as a gift. Evelyn and I cheered, of course. Maria and Ella clicked their tongues as if they were somehow resentful.
When I throw the ball, Evelyn runs after it with her short legs and manages to bring it back, holding the ball in her small mouth.
Her tail was wagging so hard that it looked like her butt would fly off.
Is that what it means to see a scene that makes you happy just by looking at it...?
"Shana, would you like to play tug-of-war too?"
Ella, holding a basket full of toys, said.
"Yes! Yes! Give!"
"Let's see, what would be good."
Maria, who was next to her, said.
"Give her something easy to grab. ...Put down that whip-like thing."
"You put down that gauntlet-like thing."
What are you two trying to give me...?
The two, who had been bickering for a moment, quickly came to an agreement and gave me a tug-of-war toy made of thick tangled threads. It looked easy to grab and had a moderate length.
'I don't know anything about dog toys!'
All I know is from watching dog-related TV shows.
Evelyn's eyes sparkled when she saw the tug-of-war toy. You like it that much, my baby. I smiled and held the toy in front of Evelyn's snout, and right after she excitedly bit it, huh?
"Ahhh, Shana!"
"Catch her, Maria!"
All I felt was my body tilting. Before my head could even think, 'Oh, what's going on...', I fell over, and Maria threw herself to cushion my fall.
"...Huh?"
"It's not 'huh,' Shana! It's dangerous!"
"Ehhh?"
"Evelyn! Why are you pulling so hard!"
No, that's what tug-of-war toys are for.
Evelyn whined and looked around cautiously. She must have been surprised that I almost flew away just from her lightly pulling on the toy.
I think my body actually floated up a little. It was too quick to be sure!
'She's so small... but she can swing someone like me around with just a slight pull...?'
She's small enough to fit in the palm of my hand.
Crazy. I like her even more.
"Evelyn!"
"Shana is the owner, so you should sternly warn her!"
"Cool!"
"...Excuse me?"
I ran over with my squeaky shoes and hugged Evelyn's neck tightly.
"So cool! Strong! Awesome!"
"...Shana... I'm strong too."
"Me too..."
Maria and Ella, not understanding the situation, chimed in. I ignored them as if I didn't hear them and continued.
"Cute but strong! The best!"
Squeak, whine...
Evelyn licked my cheek with her glistening black eyes. Her tail, which had been drooping, was wagging like a propeller again.
Ah, so cute...
"Actually, we made a mistake too. We shouldn't think of Evelyn as a normal dog... She's so good at controlling her strength that we forgot. I'm sorry."
Ella said. Of course, it wasn't Ella's fault either.
Maria said with an awkward expression.
"Even if Shifters are strong, they're not this strong when they're small babies like Evelyn. Evelyn, you're going to get even stronger as you grow up. We have to protect our young lady well in the future?"
"Young lady what..."
"The young lady is our Shana."
"I'm not a baby."
"Yes, I'm sure you're not. You're not a young lady, you're a child?"
If I give in here... I'm not an adult...
"I'm just Shana, okay? A baby is someone who's lying down..."
"Hasn't it only been a few months since you were able to run?"
"...No..."
Not mature... enough...
"Until recently! You were a baby drinking Bailey's milk! You haven't even been out of diapers for long,"
"Noooo!"
I am a child, that's right. A child doesn't need to be mature!
I clenched my fists tightly and ran at Maria, hitting her repeatedly. In my mind, I was hitting her hard, but Maria was still smiling.
"Oh my, Shana's punches are so fierce. I think you could become a great martial artist!"
"Don't tease me!"
"I'm not teasing you!"
Maria, really, I hate her so much.
I was huffing and puffing and kicking Maria's legs (I have to admit it...), but Maria, who had been smiling contentedly, turned around.
"Oh my, Shana. The knights are here."
"Huh?"
I stopped punishing Maria and looked in the direction she was looking.
If it's a knight, it would be Lloyd, but knights?
Behind Maria, Ian and Leon were standing with wooden swords. Actually, only Leon was holding one. What's with that wooden sword?
"Shana, come here!"
"Huh?"
Maria covered her mouth as if she was about to die laughing. Maria, your shoulders are shaking...
"Get away from Shana right now, you bad..."
Maria, who was covering her mouth with her hand, looked at Leon, who was shouting energetically with a face full of laughter.
'...He seems... a bit... like a villain?'
Why does he look so mean when he's having fun?
"You bad woman!"
Leon, in the end, couldn't find another word to describe Maria, so he just added the very simple information, 'woman.' He probably wanted to say something else, like, 'You bad kidnapper,' or 'You bad thief.'
But Maria's face alone was kind and cute.
"Hello, knights."
"Get away! Let go of Shana!"
"Oh my, what misunderstanding could you be having? I'm not holding Shana."
I was the one clinging to her and hitting her.
Maria smiled brightly and teased Leon, who had suddenly appeared and pointed a wooden sword at her, deliberately adding an "Oh my!"
Leon didn't know what was going on and widened his eyes, and I... awkwardly moved away from Maria.
Ian sighed deeply from behind.
"Uh, what's going on?"
"Leon."
Leon, who seemed confused and didn't know what to do, looked at me when I called him.
I took a few steps away from Maria and pointed at her.
"Victim."
"......"
And I pointed at myself.
"Perpetrator."
"......"
Maria said, "Oh my, I wasn't harmed at all!" but Ella hit her on the head. She told her not to tease the child.
"I told you to listen to me, Leon."
"But, but anyone can see..."
Leon stammered with a red face.
Ian acted as if there was nothing to listen to and nudged Leon. Leon lowered his head with a red face.
"I, I'm sorry..."
"No, it was cute."
Maria smiled and accepted the apology, and in the meantime, Lloyd approached me.
"Shana, how have you been?"
"Hi, mister."
"I heard a new member joined the family, so I came to say hello, but..."
I quietly looked at the twins. What do you mean say hello. You brought them to play with the twins.
I could see the impure intentions clearly, but the excuse was... It wasn't easy to scold him with my clumsy tongue, so I used my narrowed eyes to speak instead. Lloyd laughed heartily and said.
"Of course, the twins also begged to see Shana!"
"Ask the kids, they probably didn't..."
"That's right."
Ian suddenly chimed in.
"They did want to see you."
"......"
"We can't lose to a dog. We're definitely going to become Shana's knights."
No, I don't have any intention of hiring you?
Leon took out his wooden sword and swung it, adding.
"I'll show you how hard we're working! Look, I learned it from my father!"
There was a cracking sound.
"Oops."
Evelyn bit and broke the wooden sword that Leon was swinging.
Leon, holding the broken wooden sword, looked at Evelyn with bewildered eyes. Evelyn spat out the end of the wooden sword she had been holding and looked at Leon with reproachful eyes.
Maria said.
"You shouldn't swing a wooden sword in front of Shana. It's dangerous."
"......"
"Good job, Evelyn."
Evelyn quietly received Maria's praising touch.
A moment later, Leon's loud crying echoed throughout the garden.
'Children are... annoying...'
I shouldn't become a crying spoiled brat.
