“Pii.”
“Good girl, good girl.”
“Hun, hun.”
“Darw is cute. Hehe, hehehe.”
I woke up to the sound of Darw , who was being pampered by Sara.
Darw had climbed onto the bed and was lying on his back next to Sara, getting his belly rubbed.
It seemed like Darw had returned from his walk while we were taking a nap.
“Good girl, good girl.”
“Pii!”
It was good to see Sara and Darw getting along so well.
I felt happy and pretended to be asleep, watching Sara like that, with my eyes half-open, casually.
Carro, as usual, was standing upright on the headboard, keeping watch.
Just earlier, Kuro, who had said that spirits don’t need naps, was curled up near Darw , sleeping.
It turns out even spirits sleep.
The spirit king Loa from my previous life used to sleep with me as well.
As I was remembering one of the few warm memories from my past life, Sara gently petted Carro, who was on the headboard.
“Carro is cute too.”
“Kyu~”
Carro let out a pleased sound with a smug expression.
Then, with a natural motion, Sara petted Kuro.
“You’re very beautiful. Good girl, good girl.”
“!?”
Why was Sara able to pet Kuro? Ordinary people shouldn’t be able to pet spirits.
I confirmed this with my eyes half-open.
“Good girl, good girl.”
Looking closely, it seemed like Sara was stroking the surface of Kuro’s body, but that wasn’t actually the case.
Sara’s hand was slightly away from Kuro’s body, most likely because she was seeing a blurry form.
“Sara!”
“………”
Sara, startled, froze.
“I’m sorry, Sara. I didn’t mean to surprise you… Are you okay?”
“…Y-yeah, I’m fine. Hehe… Hehehe.”
Sara laughed, trying to cover up.
“What do you see, Sara?”
“…I see nothing.”
“Really?”
“I… I can’t see anything. I’m sorry.”
Sara looked like she had been scolded.
Her tail moved restlessly and got caught between her legs.
Kuro, now awake, silently watched Sara with concern.
I had intended to let her know that I could see too, but Sara, frightened, didn’t understand my true meaning.
She kept apologizing.
I just wanted to calm her down and reassure her.
“Sara, I’m not mad.”
“…Sorry, sorry.”
Her ears drooped, and she trembled slightly.
Seeing that, Darw licked her face as if to encourage her.
I gently petted Sara’s head.
“Really, Luria isn’t mad.”
“…”
“Sara, this is just between us, okay? …I can see too.”
I whispered this secret to Sara’s ear.
Sara’s eyes widened in surprise, and she stared at my face.
I looked back at her, staring into her eyes.
“That’s why you don’t have to hide it from me.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Once I said that, it seemed like Sara finally relaxed.
Her tail, which had been stuck between her legs, slowly began to move again.
“Actually, I haven’t told Mom either. It’s a secret, okay?”
“I understand. Secret.”
Sara nodded seriously.
For some reason, Darw also nodded with a serious expression.
Sara must have been scolded before for saying she could see spirits.
This is something Kuro always tells me.
People are afraid of children who see strange things, thinking they’re creepy.
Children who seem scary and strange get scolded.
If it were a baron and his mistress, they might have used violence when scolding.
I couldn’t help but hug Sara tightly.
“Luria-sama?”
“Yeah. I just wanted to hold you, Sara. You’re like a little sister, right?”
“Little sisters get held?”
“Yeah, they do. Older sisters and brothers hold little sisters.”
Sisters and brothers hold their younger sisters.
As I held her tight, Sara’s tail swished.
“Hehe… Hehehe.”
And she laughed.
“What do you see, Sara?”
I asked the same question again.
“Well… I see a blurry ball of light.”
“I see. And what about this one?”
I pointed at Kuro.
Kuro, without saying anything, just swished his tail.
“This one, the light is very strong. It’s really beautiful. What about Luria-sama?”
“To me, it looks like a black cat.”
“A cat!”
Sara’s tail swished excitedly.
It seemed that Sara liked cats. I could understand that feeling since cats are cute.
“It has two tails.”
“Two tails! Amazing!”
“It has wings too.”
“Wings? Like a bird?”
Sara’s eyes sparkled.
“Yes, like a bird.”
“Wow! Even though it’s a cat?”
“Yes, even though it’s a cat.”
“Wow, wow!”
Sara was so excited that Kuro looked a bit embarrassed.
“Kuro, stop being shy and talk.”
“I-I’m not shy. I can talk, but I don’t think you can hear me.”
“Sara, can you hear Kuro’s voice?”
“Mm-mm. I can’t hear anything.”
It seems that Sara can’t hear the voices of spirits, and only sees their vague forms.
Even if she can’t speak to them, introductions should still be made.
“Hmm… Sara, let me introduce you. This glowing one is Kuro.”
“Kuro… Kuro-chan?”
“Yes, Kuro-chan. Can you touch Kuro?”
“I can’t. But it feels warm.”
Sara moved her hand near Kuro, as if trying to pet.
“Hmm? Kuro, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know. But, sometimes there are children who can see spirits.”
“I see.”
“As they grow older, they might stop being able to see them.”
“I see?”
“Children who can see spirits are very compatible with them, and they have the potential to become great magicians.”
“I see, I see?”
As I was talking to Kuro, Sara tugged at my sleeve.
“Can you talk to Kuro, Luria-sama?”
“Actually… I can.”
“Wow. That’s amazing.”
Sara looked at me with admiration, making me feel proud as an older sister.
“Hehe.”
“That’s amazing.”
“Ah, let’s keep this a secret from everyone, okay?”
“Got it. Secret. Hehehe, hehe.”
“Wow-wow.”
Sara was happy, and Daru nodded seriously, though he probably didn’t quite understand, just copying Sara.
“Luria-sama, woo-woo, play with us.”
At that moment, three young spirits appeared at once from beneath the bed.
“Whoa!”
Sara was surprised and reached her hands out toward the spirits. But, as expected, she couldn’t grab them.
I gently stroked the young spirits. Even though they were small, compared to Kuro, they were still strong spirits, as being able to talk meant they were quite powerful.
“Yay!”
“You came?”
“Here we are! Woo-woo! Play!”
“Honestly, they’re just children.”
As I was saying that, Sara’s eyes sparkled as she looked at me.
“Luria-sama, can you talk to these kids too?”
“I can.”
“That’s amazing!”
“Uh… hehe.”
It made me feel shy when she looked at me with such respect.
“Luria-sama, what do they look like?”
“Sara, what do these children look like to you?”
“They look like small, dimmer balls of light, more so than Kuro.”
“I see.”
“What about you, Luria-sama?”
“They look the same as you see them.”
It seems that the way I see the small spirits isn’t much different from how Sara sees them.
After that, we went out of the bed and played a game of “spirit tossing.”
“I’m going.”
“Okay.” “Woof.” “Kyu-ru.”
Sara, Daru, and Carro lined up in a row.
“Here we go!”
“As I caught a small spirit and threw it, Sara, Daru, and Carro chased after it.”
“Woof woof woof!” “Kya-kya.”
Using his size, Daru quickly caught the spirit in his mouth and showed off, proudly.
This made it the fifth time in a row Daru caught one.
“Daru, you’re fast.” “Kyaru.”
Sara and Carro seemed a little dejected.
“Daru, come here.”
“Woof?”
I took Daru to the corner of the room.
“You need to hold back a little!”
“Woof woof!”
When Daru barked, the spirit he had caught seemed to be having fun from the vibrations.
“You’re making it unfair to Sara and Carro if they can’t catch one too!”
“Woof?”
Daru didn’t seem to understand very well.
“Woof woof~”
He proudly showed me the spirit he had caught, as if asking for praise.
“Daru, you’re fast and amazing, aren’t you?”
“Woof~”
I praised Daru and petted his head.
Then, I declared to Sara and the others that the rules were changing.
“We’ll change the rules!”
“Change them?”
“Yes. Carro will pass the spirit Sara touched to Daru.”
“Okay.” “Woof.” “Kyu-ru.”
Initially, Sara couldn’t hold the spirits. I needed to reflect on that.
“Daru will carry the spirit to me without using his mouth.”
“Woof?”
Daru tilted his head, seemingly confused by my explanation.
“Here’s how it works.”
I pointed to a spirit, placed it on my forehead, and ran around the room.
“Like this! Carry it without using your mouth!”
“Woof~”
“Daru, try doing it like this.”
I placed a spirit on Daru’s head, then stepped away a few steps.
“Daru, bring it over to Luria.”
“Woof… woof!”
As Daru walked, the spirit nearly fell off, but Daru used his nose to nudge it back up and prevent it from falling.
“Kya-kya.”
The spirit seemed to be enjoying itself, being bounced by Daru’s nose.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?”
“Woof~”
After some struggle, Daru managed to bring the spirit over to me.
“Daru, that’s amazing!”
“Woof~”
Daru was proud.
The “Spirit Catching Game” was too easy for Daru, but the game where he had to carry the spirit without using his mouth was just the right level of difficulty for him.
“Okay, let’s go again.”
“Okay!” “Kyu.” “Woof woof!”
We continued playing the “Spirit Carrying Game” with Sara and the others for a while longer.
