CH 153

Words : 1141 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

I Played Around With Leo “It’s hard to imagine Ms. Claire like that.” I had finished my sword swings and took a bath before returning to my room. I then sat down on my bed in order to rest, and I thought back on the discussion in the dining hall. Sebastian was knowledgeable and could explain nearly anything to you. But Ms. Claire also seemed very wise, and so hearing about her childhood was a little surprising. “Oh, but there are those stories about arranged marriage…” The founder of the house had an arranged marriage…which led to Ms. Claire wanting to have one as well. I suppose in the past, she was more impulsive and relied less on knowledge. Thinking of it like that, I realized that Tilura was quite similar. They really were sisters. “Wuff!” “Oh?” As I sat on the bed, Leo approached me while sniffing loudly. “What is it, Leo?” “Wuff-wuff.” “He-hey!” Leo brought her face close to mine and started licking. And while I was nearly overwhelmed, I petted her back just as enthusiastically. “What is it? Do you want to play?” “Wuff!” I moved my face away and asked Leo, and she nodded eagerly. “Now that I think about it, we haven’t been able to play recently.” “Wuff. Wuff.” Leo barked in agreement. These past few days I had been training with Tilura, studying with Milina, and then I had to make Ramogi for Range village. So there wasn’t much time to spend with Leo. While Leo played a lot with Tilura and Sherry, and even trained with us by dodging our swords, it was never just the two of us playing. And I suppose Leo missed that. So though it was a little late…I decided to play with Leo a little. “All right, Leo. We’ll play today!” “Wou!” As I saw Leo wag her tail happily, I knew that I would not be getting much sleep. Well, I would have to go to Range village the day after tomorrow, so it had to be today. Besides, Leo was going to be carrying me, and it was only natural to keep your buddy company. “There, there…” “Wuff! Wuff!” First, I used both hands to scratch her behind the ears. Previously, I only had to use my fingers, but she was a lot bigger now. Leo reacted by barking happily. Being scratched behind the ears was like getting a massage for her. “And next…here!” “Wuff!” My hands brushed through the thick fur of her legs and moved as if to pull the skin upwards. I guess this was like having your shoulders massaged. This seemed to be especially pleasurable as she barked and began to wag her tail. As she spent so much time on her feet and would run around or stand still, they were probably tired. “Haha. Do you like that?” “Wuff! Wuff!” And so I continued to pull and massage and pet her for a while. I suppose it wasn’t really playing. But it was difficult to play with Leo like I used to. Previously, I was able to pick her up and raise her into the air or let her nibble gently on my fingers. But we couldn’t do that now. Not only was she too big, but I just knew those fangs would easily tear off my entire arm… “Leo.” “Wuff.” After petting and massaging her for a while, I stood in front of her and raised my hand. Leo realized what I was doing and she got up on all fours and looked at me. “Sit!” “Wuff!” “Lie down!” “Wuff!” “Sit again! Now do the gimme pose!” “Wuff… Wuff!” I moved my hands like a conductor and gave Leo the orders. Leo barked in reply and obeyed. She sat, lay low, and then sat up and raised both of her front paws. Seeing her move her front paws like this, it reminded me that in spite of her size, Leo hadn’t changed much at all. However, it was hard to look up at her like this… I was worried that her head would hit the ceiling… Thankfully, the ceilings in this mansion were higher than most. “Good girl, Leo. Alright, lay down again.” “Wou!” “Good, good. Well done. You remembered.” “Wuff!” I smiled and patted her on the head. Usually, I would have given her a sausage as a treat, but I didn’t have any now. Besides, Ms. Helena always prepared them for Leo. So I just praised her instead. “Next…” “Wuff!” Leo was having so much fun that we continued like this late into the night. And so I had a few hours less sleep than usual. But I was fine, since Leo had enjoyed it. She must have been happy to spend time together, as when we slept, she lay half of her body on the bed so that I could use her as a pillow. And so I watched her tail, which was still wagging, as I fell asleep. —————– “Good morning.” “…Morning, Tilura.” “Wuff!” “Kyau!” The next morning, Tilura took Sherry and visited our room. She came to tell us that breakfast was ready, which she hadn’t done recently. I still felt a little tired as I dragged myself out of bed and greeted her. But Leo was perfectly fine, as if lack of sleep was not a concept she was aware of. “Are you tired, Mr. Takumi?” “Haha, I’m fine. I just played with Leo last night. So I went to sleep a little late.” “So that’s why Leo is in such a good mood!” “Wuff!” “Kyau!” Apparently, Tilura could tell if Leo was in a good mood or not. But it was true that Leo had continued to wag her tail and was now greeting Sherry happily. Sherry also looked happy to play with Leo. “Well, I’ll get ready and go down to the dining hall. You go on ahead.” “Very well. Let’s go, Sherry!” “Kyau!” “Wuff!” “Are you coming too, Leo?” “Wuff-wuff.” “Haha. Can you take Leo with you then?” “Yes, I will! Let’s go, Leo!” “Wuff!” “Kyau-kyau!” I said while getting out of bed and washing up. But just as Tilura and Sherry were about to leave, I noticed that Leo wanted to go with them. That was unusual. Leo would usually go with me instead of Tilura. But perhaps it was because I had spent so much time with her last night. I chuckled as I saw them leave, and then moved my sluggish body and got ready for the day.

CH 153

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