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The Tale of the Wizrain Kingdom

The Hamster Goes on an Adventure

Translated by: S3

Treat me to a Ko-Fi to give me more motivation!!!

*****

The Hamster Spirit is, in truth, quite amazing. He's surprisingly busy every day. Do not assume he is always tucked away in Elna's pocket. Since he never misses a day of practicing his dance offering to God, he knows multiple spots where he can practice unseen, and while he's at it, he voluntarily patrols the castle.

Praying for Elna and Cross's happiness, he moves his small body mohi-mohi, wanting to be of help, however small. He even considers checking the castle for suspicious individuals to be part of his job.

Go-go-go-go-go-gonsu gonsu gonsu.

With a spirited chant, he scampers chaka-chaka through the castle corridors. It's darker and visibility is poorer than during the day, but being a hamster with night vision, he's perfectly fine on that front.

Go-go-go-go-go-gonsu gonsu gonsu gansu.

Chaka-chaka, his little claws kick against the floor.

「...Hm. Did I hear something just now?」

Gonsuuu—!

It's Jipi. It seems he was on night patrol. Fearing he might be suspected of being an escaped hamster, the Hamster Spirit even forgot to turn invisible and, his fur standing on end shibibit, ran back the way he came. He ran hard enough that a scream of howawa—! almost escaped him.

Helped along the way by Fire Spirits and Wind Spirits, the Hamster Spirit finally managed to slide into his target room. Or rather, he almost did but couldn't quite make it. He forced his head into the gap under the door so hard his body warped, his bottom and tail trembling puru-puru. He wouldn't fit. He trembled puru-puru again. His squishy body wouldn't move forward or backward. Just as he was struggling, thinking oh no, the person he was looking for glided past right in front of the Hamster Spirit.

It was Kyle, of course. The room beyond the door where the Hamster Spirit had half-stuck his head was the one Kyle had been permitted to stay in, so it was only natural he was there.

He had thought if he managed to sneak into the room, he could uncover Kyle's objective, but... The Hamster Spirit held his breath and peered into the room as best he could.

There was a single lamp on the desk. The room was dark, and even for a hamster with night vision, at this distance, he could only see the side of Kyle's face.

Kyle seemed to be looking at something on the desk. Standing with a pen in hand, he was bent over, writing something. It wasn't the movement of writing letters. In that case... a map or something...?

「Not here, either.」

The man muttered quietly. The sound of the pen scratching gari-gari against the desk echoed.

「No. This isn't it either.」

G-Gonsu...?

Gari-gari, gari-gari, gari-gari.

「Wrong, wrong, wrong...!」

He moved the pen forcefully, as if crossing something out on a map he had drawn himself. The Hamster Spirit began to feel a chill. Kyle was searching for something. 「Then...」 Suddenly, Kyle's lips relaxed into a smirk nimari. His shadow, illuminated by the lamp light, seemed to swell and stretch nuu. Or so it felt.

「Then, is it here after all...?」

The shadow stretched probably because he changed his posture. He preferred to think so. H-Hamjuraaaaaa. His body trembled buru-buru down to the tip of his tail. In that instant, his stuck body popped out supon. Perhaps a slight sound echoed, for Kyle turned his gaze toward the door, but by then, the Hamster Spirit was already moving his four legs frantically, sprinting through the castle corridor at full speed.

Arriving at Elna's room, he hooked his little claws hanwa-hanwa onto the sheets, climbed onto the bed, and repeatedly slapped the sleeping room owner's cheek pechin-pechin.

Elna, wake up gansu, wake up gansu, wake up gansuuu—!

「Eh... What...」

Th-That man Kyle! He's way too suspicious, gonsu! It's a huge problem, gonsu—!

「Eh... I already know... Kyle is suspicious...」

Ahh! Don't go to sleep, gonsu—!

It was the middle of the night. Elna's eyes grew heavy, and she buried her face back into the pillow.

Sleeeeping—! Gonsu—!

The Hamster Spirit, dejected fuen down to the tips of his whiskers, continued to slap Elna's head with both hands pechi-pechi-pechin like a percussion instrument, but the night only deepened.

It was an event that could only be described as having bad timing in many ways.

***

Several days had passed since the Hamster Spirit sneaked into Kyle's sleeping quarters.

Hearing again from the Hamster Spirit that Kyle seemed to be searching for something inside the castle... all Elna could do was report it to Cross. Even that had to be done via a message through Commonwald, as she was currently avoiding meeting Cross directly to stay as inconspicuous as possible, leaving her to bitterly feel her own lack of power every day.

Still, Commonwald praised her for letting them know, but of course, Elna couldn't claim it as her own achievement. As usual, the fluffy-cheeked Hamster Spirit was in Elna's pocket, and when she poked his pink nose with her fingertip saying, 「You did a good job, but please don't do anything dangerous anymore,」 his nose twitched hiku-hiku in reply.

A week had already passed since Kyle arrived in the Kingdom of Wizrain.

Had there been any progress on Cross's end?

Elna gazed vacantly at the sky where thin clouds stretched suuu. Before she knew it, the clouds drifted away, and the blue of the sky stung her eyes, causing scales to fall with a shara sound.

(Dragon...?)

She narrowed her eyes and looked up further to confirm. What she had mistaken for Elnalfia's scales was apparently just the overly strong sunlight. The glaring heat girari slowly scorched her skin. The clouds visible in the distance next were swelling moku-moku like the Cloud Candy children eat.

(Summer is approaching before I know it...)

「Elna, hey, Elna! Are you listening properly!」

At that moment, a puppy barked kyan. No, it just looked and sounded that way to Elna; in reality, it was a boy's voice.

「Time is limited, so there's no time to be spacing out!」

This boy, who looked like a smaller, even more adorable version of Cross, had his arms crossed, showing off his smooth knees, and his conspicuous golden hair seemed to be bobbing piko-piko with his mood.

His mouth, unable to hide his joy, curved into a happy arc, and his cheeks were flushed a warm pink hoko-hoko.

「Now, it is time to depart!」

The Kingdom of Wizrain, His Highness the Prince.

The boy affectionately known as Feliol puffed out his chest mun toward Elna and broke into a happy grin.

「...Um. Although you say depart, are you feeling unwell somewhere? We could reschedule for another day...」

「Ah, not at all, I was just spacing out. I apologize, Lord Feliol.」

「If that's the case... then it's fine. No, it is fine.」

Realizing his own words, Feliol coughed geho-geho to cover it up. However, perhaps coughing too much caused him to choke on something strange, and as he bent over with a bright red face, Elna silently rubbed his back. At that moment, she noticed the surrounding gazes but continued rubbing without concern, until Feliol raised one hand sui to stop her, indicating he was fine. Not to Elna, but to the others.

「I'm sorry, Elna-sa... no, Elna.」

「Yes. It is alright.」

Since he seemed to be self-conscious about his wavering speech, Elna didn't intend to say anything about it. Personally, Elna didn't care how she was addressed.

「I might be a little nervous. Even though I'm in disguise, walking around the city with guards is a first for me...」

Feliol blushed as if ashamed and glanced up at Elna. Unintentionally, Elna found Feliol just a little bit cute. ...The fact that he resembled his brother Cross might also be one of the reasons her heart skipped a beat kyun.

「...Everyone is like that with their first time. It is nothing to be ashamed of.」

She managed to swallow a breath and conveyed it as gently as possible with her usual demeanor. Even Elna possessed enough sentiment to want to be kind to a young person. Whether she was succeeding or not, she didn't know.

Yes, today was the redo of the day they met, something Feliol had been wishing for for a while.

Elna's meeting with Feliol had been like an accidental collision, and according to him, 『Meeting Elna is unforgettable, but please erase all my actions from that day from your memory!』 There was no need to worry so much, Elna thought, but it was true that Feliol on the day they first met was a bit arrogant and somewhat reckless. In short, a cheeky little boy. When Feliol remembered that, he would hold his head saying awawawawa with teary eyes, but since she had no hobby of bullying children, even if forgetting was difficult, she had no intention of bringing it up.

So she really wanted to tell him not to worry, but for him, it probably wasn't that simple.

「Umm, Elna-sa, no, Elna.」

Feliol also knew about Elna's past life, but he seemed desperate to interact normally, mindful of the public eye. His eyes seemed to be spinning guru-guru. Regarding this too, he had lamented, 『How foolish I am to try changing my attitude based on a person's standing!』 when they first met, angry at himself for treating Elna lightly, but Elna felt that being royalty, it couldn't be helped. She thought it was strange to be formal with a maid anyway, and besides, she hadn't been treated that rudely.

However, in any case, there was no doubt that today would be a precious day for Feliol.

After all, usually riding in a carriage was the most he did, and he almost never walked the city on his own feet. The redo of the day they met was the ulterior motive; ostensibly, it was for the Prince's social studies field trip. Therefore, guard knights were properly stationed everywhere, and Feliol's hand gesture earlier was directed at them.

The boy who vowed never again to selfishly sneak out of the castle seemed a size bigger than when they first met.

Elna, of course, was in the role of accompanying him as a maid. However, since they were incognito today, she was wearing a long apron dress instead of a maid's uniform, and Feliol was dressed like a common boy you might find anywhere. Though they didn't look much alike, the cover story was that they were just siblings.

However, the knights watching over Feliol from hiding surely wouldn't suspect. That Elna, in the role of the older sister, was arguably the strongest guard.

As an incognito inspection for royalty, it was the safest and most appropriate arrangement possible. From Elna's pocket, the Hamster Spirit poked his face out koso-koso and sniffed the surrounding scents kun-kun.

「Yeah. ...Yeah. I'm okay now.」

Feliol, who had been unable to speak as he wished due to nervousness, seemed to have finally calmed down after taking slow, deep breaths. His expression, which had been completely stiff, softened, and he looked straight up at Elna.

「Elna, do you mind if I leave the guiding to you?」

Meeting his sparkling eyes, Elna naturally smiled too.

「Yes, of course!」

So, she replied with all her might.