kscans

Chapter 298 - Tamers and Pets

Surya looked puzzled, but she thanked Maris for the offer to work together. She said she wanted to summarize her requests and would return tomorrow to report, then she departed.

Rose also had to attend to the shop, so she left the area, leaving only Hayato, Maris, and Siegfried in the dining hall.

It was a delicate situation, and he wasn't sure if he should pry, but he decided that as clan leader, he should understand the circumstances if they were going to be working together.

"Are you really okay with this? I thought you didn’t think very highly of Surya-san, Maris."

"It’s not a problem. As I’ve said many times, I just don’t like her way of thinking. It’s not like I dislike Surya herself. Besides, she does have affection for her pets, and I respect that about her."

He disliked her way of thinking but respected her.

It was an answer he sort of understood, and sort of didn't.

He decided to ask for more details, gesturing for Maris to sit before taking the seat across the table from her.

He prepared a fresh cup of coffee, took a breath, and then spoke.

"Can I ask what kind of person Surya-san is? If we’re going to be working together, I’d like to know the circumstances."

"Understood. This is just my personal opinion, so I’m not saying she’s wrong. I just don’t like it. Please keep that in mind as you listen."

Hayato nodded.

"Surya believes that pets need to have value."

"Value?"

"Yes. There are many kinds of value, but the value Surya seeks in her pets is strength. In other words, she believes that pets are worthless if they aren’t strong."

Maris said this as she stroked Siegfried.

"My Siegfried here isn’t strong on his own. He can’t even beat the weakest monsters around here, let alone Surya’s dragon. From Surya’s perspective, Siegfried has no value. Her line of thinking is something like, ‘Why would a Tamer have a cat like that as a pet?’ She never said it to me directly, but I could tell from her words and actions."

"I see."

"She doesn’t complain directly about me having Siegfried as a pet. It seems she doesn’t think her own views are absolute."

Maris gulped down her coffee in one go.

"There’s more, too. Just because it’s to make a pet stronger, I can’t believe she’d just stand by and watch it get beaten to a pulp by monsters. Of course, it seems she had plenty of healing potions ready and was nearby, but isn’t that just cruel!"

"I agree with that, but let’s calm down a bit."

As Hayato said this, Siegfried must have had the same thought, as he moved closer to Maris and began patting her with his tail.

"Ah, I’m sorry. For reasons like that, our ways of thinking just don’t align. Of course, pets are in danger if they don’t become strong. You can’t go on adventures together if they’re weak. But still, I just can’t accept it."

Hayato had never owned an animal.

That was true for most people of this era. All animals were protected and lived only in the colony "Zoo." They were completely managed, and it was said that wild animals no longer existed.

And since he had never owned a pet in the game either, he didn’t fully understand what Maris was saying, but based on his imagination alone, he was on her side.

"I’ve never had a pet, but I don’t think being strong or not matters. They say pets are family."

It was just something he had read in a book or online, but Maris was so surprised by his words that her eyes widened as she looked at him.

In the next moment, she leaned forward and grasped Hayato’s right hand, which was on the table, with both of hers.

"Whoa! What!?"

"Hayato-san! That is a wonderful way of thinking!"

"Uh, ah, thank you?"

Maris’s eyes were moist as she nodded repeatedly.

"I’m so happy that you think the same way I do, Hayato-san! There’s a master-servant relationship with pets, but we should think of them as equals, like family!"

If anything, it seemed like Maris was below Siegfried, more like his vassal, but it appeared she held the view of a family with no hierarchy.

Though she looked happy, Maris let go of Hayato’s hand, let out a small sigh, and furrowed her brow.

"But I understand Surya’s feelings too. I wonder if steeling your heart and training your pet is ultimately for its own good. I had her show me the status of the dragon that was outside, and it was pretty incredible."

The game had a feature that allowed you to see a target’s status with their permission. This applied to pets as well. If Maris, a Tamer, said so, then it must be quite strong.

"It’s probably the strongest pet at the moment. A dragon raised to its absolute limit, it’s one of the pinnacles that a Tamer aims for. What’s more, that child follows Surya willingly, not out of fear. If that child disliked Surya, it would be all-out war, but that wasn’t the case. I think she raised it with love, just in a different way than I would."

It was said that pets had hidden parameters like loyalty and affection. Hayato had heard that giving them their favorite food or engaging in activities they enjoyed would raise these parameters.

It was said that things were usually fine unless something extreme happened, but it had been confirmed that a pet could revert to being wild on its own if its treatment was too poor. Since the parameters weren't visible, no one knew if such a thing truly existed, but it was believed to be so.

He could find out immediately if he asked Diite, but that would make the game less fun, so Hayato would never ask.

Whether it was true or not, Maris could speak with animals. And he had heard that she had resolved many pet-related troubles.

Rather than a story about parameters that may or may not exist, Hayato thought that if Maris said so, then that dragon must feel loved by Surya.

It was unclear how a simple AI monster had emotions, but Surya was a human living her life as if this world were real. It was reasonable to assume she wasn't just doing things mechanically like in a game, but raising it with affection.

"Regardless of her philosophy on pets, she doesn’t seem like a bad person."

"No. In fact, I think her love for pets is second to none. Our ways of thinking just don’t match. If she thought of her pets as just convenient tools, I wouldn’t even speak to her! I’d ambush her in the dark!"

"Don’t say things like Esha would."

"An ambush in the dark is too lenient. Anyone like that gets a Destroy, even in broad daylight."

"That’s a surprise. You’re unusually early today."

Esha was coming down the stairs.

She usually didn't log in until much later, but for some reason, she was logged in early today.

"I had a feeling Siegfried was here. It seems my intuition was correct."

"Good morning, Esha-san."

"Good morning, Maris-sama. May I pet Siegfried? If you refuse, please state your reasons. In five thousand words or more."

"Of course I don’t mind. But are you sure it’s okay?"

"It’s fine. I just ate a chocolate parfait."

"You didn’t eat the one in the storage without permission, did you?"

Esha didn't answer Hayato's question, instead extending a hand toward Siegfried, who was lounging on the table.

In that instant, she was bitten fiercely. Siegfried showed no mercy.

In Esha's case, her taming skill was negative, giving her the demerit of being disliked by all monsters and animals. But Esha paid it no mind, smiling happily as she was bitten.

"Siegfried is as skilled as ever with his love bites. I’m already head over heels."

"Even when you’re taking damage, you still call it a love bite?"

The gradual HP recovery effect of the chocolate parfait was canceling out the damage, but it was clear to anyone that this was no love bite. Still, since she seemed happy, he had no intention of saying anything more.

While Esha was enjoying herself, he turned back to Maris to continue their conversation.

"Getting back on topic, I understand the general situation. From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem like there will be a problem."

"Yes. Please rest assured, I will do my best not to cause any trouble. Besides, I have no intention of trying to change Surya’s way of thinking. In fact, I’m at a point where I want to understand her perspective. That’s why I suggested we work together."

"As long as you don’t clash with Surya-san, there’s no problem. In that case, putting that aside, is there anywhere you’d like to go, Maris? Or a monster you’d like to defeat?"

"I’d like to go to the floating island first. There are dinosaurs there, right?"

"There certainly are."

"I’m planning to seal monsters I don’t see very often, so I’d like to go to unexplored lands as much as possible. I also want to check if I can tame them."

"Understood. But that place, huh. We’ll have to gather some forces to defeat the dinosaurs. Can you wait a bit while I reach out to a few people? I’ll prioritize your opinion, Maris, but I’ll need to hear Surya-san’s as well."

No matter where they went, they would need combat power.

Hayato began to think about who he should ask.