kscans

Chapter 326 - Interlude: Master and Follower

In her laboratory, Maris Sola stared at the email that had arrived for her.

It stated that she had been selected as a test player for the "Another Frontier Project." It also mentioned that she could experience a virtual reality indistinguishable from the real world.

Normally, there would be no need to hesitate. This was no time to be playing in a virtual reality.

However, by participating, she would receive a large sum of money. Money to protect animals from extinction. The email also stated that several animals could be preserved through Cold Sleep.

Everything cost money. Since humans were prioritized over animals, the organization Maris belonged to received little funding. If she participated, she could obtain nearly twenty years' worth of funds at once. Furthermore, while participating, she could also receive regular payments as a reward for test playing.

There was another condition to receive the money. She had to provide the content of her research.

It was only a theory, and her paper had been ignored when she published it, but perhaps someone had seen its future potential.

The thought made her happy, but being a virtual reality test player and providing her research content were a set. It was only natural to think something was amiss.

There was also the possibility that the email was from a different organization than the one Maris belonged to.

Their content was the opposite, but they had announced something similar. They had sent this email to steal her research. She couldn't shake off that suspicion.

(We're both working to protect animals, so it would be great if we could work together. I thought we could back then... but it's impossible. I can't agree with their policy.)

Maris's organization was established to protect all animals. Maris had fallen in love with animals as a child after seeing a video of a frolicking kitten. She had taken up the rare profession of a veterinarian and had been energetically active, conducting much research for the sake of animals.

The other organization's goal of protecting animals from extinction was the same, but it was unacceptable to Maris.

Because they selected which animals to protect.

They judged whether an animal was useful to humans or not, and then separated the animals to be protected from extinction from those that would not be.

It wasn't that they were simply abandoned. It was after training them to survive in the wild, but it was still abandonment.

To Maris, it was an unforgivable act, but she also thought it was realistic. Protecting all animals was the ideal, but for financial reasons, it was clearly impossible.

(I'm sure it was a difficult decision for them too. What we're doing is the ideal, but there's a high probability that in trying to protect all animals, we'll end up not being able to protect any of them. Considering that, the act of choosing which animals to protect and ensuring the survival of only a select few isn't wrong. But...)

Her head understood, but her heart could not accept it. If there was an animal in front of her asking for help, she wanted to save it without thinking about whether it was useful to humans or not. And if she saved it once, she wanted to take care of it until the end.

She had been told it was self-righteousness. That even if she saved that one, she couldn't save them all. Every time she was told that, Maris would retort, "I'm not smart enough to act based on good or evil."

Maris just wanted to save the animal in front of her. She never thought she could save them all from the beginning. That was just arrogance. Because she knew that, she just wanted to save the animal in front of her.

After much thought, Maris's mind was made up.

(Even if I can't save them all, as long as I have the funds, we can manage for a while. My role is to leave a little hope for the future. My research won't progress any further anyway, so it's fine to provide it. I'll just sell it off.)

Thinking that, Maris replied to the email she had received.

After several exchanges, it was confirmed that it wasn't a scam and she had truly been chosen as a virtual reality test player. And Maris was able to have almost all her requests met.

She was able to get one pair of each animal her organization was protecting onto the spaceship Aphrodite, where Cold Sleep was possible. The other party paid for all the expenses.

They were so generous it made her wonder what kind of wealthy person had planned this project. She also arranged for all the money she received to be donated to her organization.

When she told her colleagues at the organization about it, they were worried it was too good to be true. She had promised not to explain the details, so she dodged their questions while entrusting the remaining animals to the organization.

She would be bound as a test player for several years. For a while, Maris would not be able to do her animal protection work.

That was not a problem. She couldn't work, but she would get money. In fact, that was more welcome. While she was test playing, Maris would receive a salary, which would also be donated to the organization.

She would have less contact with animals, but if it meant leaving hope for the future, it was not a problem. With that, Maris boarded the spaceship.

After various contract procedures, Maris entered a pod on the spaceship.

Her first login to the virtual reality surpassed Maris's imagination.

It was a place that would not feel out of place if she were told it was reality. It was to the point where she thought she might have been taken somewhere else after falling asleep in the pod.

As Maris looked around, an old man approached her.

He was a man wearing a black coat and a black brimmed hat. Although it was a virtual reality, from the wrinkles on his face, he looked to be around eighty. The hair peeking out from his hat was pure white, and he wore black-rimmed glasses.

The old man smiled at Maris, took off his hat with his right hand, and spoke.

"You must be Maris-kun?"

"Ah, yes. And you are...?"

"Would you understand if I said I was the one who called you here?"

"Eh, ah! Th, thank you for everything!"

Maris bowed as she expressed her gratitude.

She was not thanking him for inviting her to the virtual reality, but for providing the funds.

"You're thanking me for the funds, aren't you? Please raise your head. It is I who should be thanking you."

"Um...?"

Maris slowly raised her head.

She had no memory of doing anything to be thanked for. As she wondered about it, the old man gave Maris a gentle smile.

"It's your research. It was an interesting approach. Of course, it's been studied many times before, but you were probably the first to shape it to that extent. If you had the research funds and specialized researchers, I'm sure it would have gone well."

"Uh, um, thank you...?"

She was probably being praised. She thanked him thinking that, but it was so sudden that Maris was a little confused.

Seeing her state, the smiling old man produced a pendant from thin air.

"We're giving a special item to everyone who comes to this virtual reality, but as a token of my gratitude, I wanted to give it to you personally, Maris-kun."

Though she didn't fully understand, Maris accepted it.

Looking closely at the pendant, she saw a stylized drawing of a snake.

"The name of this pendant is Melampus."

"Eh? Isn't that..."

"Yes. The name of the prophet from mythology who understands the language of animals. And it's also the name of your research topic."

Maris had been researching how to communicate with animals.

It was one-way communication. It was research to understand what animals were thinking. It wasn't about judging from their cries, but about reading electrical signals from their brainwaves and translating them by comparing them with their actual behavior.

Of course, they didn't have complex thoughts like humans, so even if it were possible, it would be broken speech, but she had been researching it because it would be helpful as a veterinarian.

However, she had already stopped that research. She didn't have the funds to continue it. Besides, she needed more specialized researchers for the study of animal brains. It was better to use that money to help animals more directly.

She just hoped that it would be researched again someday on an Earth with restored resources. There were research results she hadn't published, but she was selling them off as a condition for receiving the funds.

"I was inspired by it when creating this virtual reality. I wanted to thank you for that."

"Is that so. I'm glad if I was of any help. And I'm happy if I was able to contribute, even just a little, to such a wonderful virtual reality."

"I'm glad to hear you say that. I hope you enjoy this virtual reality."

"Yes... but I don't really play games, so I don't know what I should do."

"Then how about trying to be a Tamer?"

"A Tamer?"

"It's someone who uses animals to fight monsters. There's something called the Taming Skill, and if you use it on animals or monsters, they'll become your companions. There are many animals and monsters in this virtual reality, so I think it would be perfect for you, Maris-kun."

"That sounds interesting!"

Even if it was a virtual reality, if she could play with animals, there was no reason not to. In reality, she had been protecting them, but she had rarely played with them. At most, it was just walks for exercise.

"Also, the Melampus I just gave you has a special effect. You can understand the words of the animals you make your pets. Though most of the animals here are AIs."

"That's fine with me! I've always admired that kind of thing, which is why I was researching it!"

"Is that so. Then you should try making various animals your pets. It's impossible to make a monster like a dragon your pet from the start, so if you raise your Taming Skill with cats and such, you'll eventually be able to make something big your pet."

"Cats, huh. I've always wanted to have one. And I've always wanted to run around with one."

"Though it's a virtual reality, you can make that dream come true here. By all means, please do."

"You're right. Since I have the chance, I'll try doing all sorts of things I've wanted to do. Thank you for everything, including this pendant."

"Don't worry about it. Well then, if fate allows, we shall meet again."

The old man gave Maris a slight bow, then put on the hat in his right hand. Then he smiled, and turned into particles of light and disappeared.

Just as the old man had said, Maris immediately looked around, intending to try taming a cat.

A year passed.

Maris had gotten used to this virtual reality and was now enjoying this world with her many pets.

There were no problems in the real world either. She couldn't leave the spaceship, but she could communicate, so she had exchanged messages with her organization several times. They said that thanks to Maris, the number of animals they could protect had increased.

As always, Earth's resources continued to dwindle, and there was no hope there, but even so, fighting until the end was Maris's creed, and also the philosophy of the organization she belonged to.

Just as she was wondering what to do today, the calico cat at her feet tapped her leg with its tail.

"Food."

"Ah, is it that time already?"

Siegfried, the calico cat Maris had first met in this world, spoke. To others, it would only sound like a "nya," but Maris heard it as words.

Siegfried was a name Maris had put all her effort into. She had spent about three days thinking of a cool name for him. When she first named him, he had said, "No, sense," but now he seemed to like it.

Normally, there was no need to keep a cat that wasn't a fighting force as a pet, but Maris couldn't part with her pets. She knew this was a virtual reality and there was a limit to the number of pets she could own, but she didn't want to be separated from them.

Besides, from Maris's perspective, Siegfried didn't seem ordinary.

Maris, who had interacted with animals in the real world, could tell. His usual gestures and actions didn't seem like those of an AI. His movements were just like a cat's, a clear cut above the other animals. And his whimsical nature was also very cat-like.

(I wonder who programmed him? I don't think it would be possible unless they knew animals well...)

For fantastical animals from a fantasy world, it would be possible to create them from imagination since no one knew what they were like. But dogs and cats existed in reality. Few people had seen them directly, but many old videos of them were in circulation.

Considering that, it wasn't impossible to create them, but videos were just videos. Maris's opinion was that without actual contact, it was impossible to create an AI that behaved so much like the real thing.

(Maybe someone from the other organization is helping... They lend out animals for money.)

The organization with conflicting ideas selected animals based on whether they were useful to humans. Animals not useful to humans were returned to the wild. By doing so, they conserved their limited funds.

And to make people think animals were useful, they lent them out for various purposes and earned money.

She didn't know what the right answer was, but she thought she wouldn't find it in her lifetime. Not in ten or twenty years, but possibly not even in a hundred years. If things went badly, humans might go extinct before then.

(I can't say that's right, but I can't say it's wrong either. Maybe the very idea of us humans protecting animals is wrong, and animals would be able to live more freely if humans went extinct. Maybe the biggest threat to animals is humans.)

When such dark thoughts crossed her mind, Maris's feet naturally stopped.

It always popped into her head, and she would think about it, but she could never find an answer. Maris had repeated this process many times. Since entering this virtual reality, the frequency had increased.

Since entering this virtual reality, she no longer had to go to Earth's danger zones to search for animals. She occasionally logged out to check the health of the animals in Cold Sleep on the spaceship, but other than that, she was almost always here.

For Maris, virtual reality was a way to kill time. Maris wasn't the type to play games, and she spent every day wondering what she should do. Basically, she just went out to safe places with her tamed animals to play, with no particular purpose.

However, she couldn't complain if she could get real money by doing various test plays here. Her monthly income was three times what it used to be, and it was all being donated to her organization. If she complained about this, she'd be punished.

Still, with more free time than before, the frequency of questions popping into her head increased. And when she started thinking, she couldn't move for a while.

Siegfried, who had been walking a little ahead, came back and hit Maris's leg with his tail as he turned around.

"Food, hurry."

"Ah, sorry... Hey, Sieg. Do you like humans?"

She knew he was an AI, but Maris still asked Siegfried.

Sieg tilted his head, then hit Maris's leg with his tail again.

"Like."

"Really? I'm happy if you think so."

"Gives, food."

"Ah, so it's on that level...? Well, I guess that's fine."

"But, humans, weird. Maris, more, weird."

"Huh? Is Melampus broken? You didn't just call me weird, did you, Sieg?"

Maris shook and tapped the Melampus hanging around her neck.

Siegfried, watching her, attacked again with his tail.

"Very, said."

"Oh, I see. But, well, from a cat's perspective, I might be weird."

"So, I'm teaching."

"Teaching? What?"

"Fun, things. Food. Play. Sun, on me. Sleep. Sometimes, dog, tease. Copy, do, good. Weird, but, okay. Can be, happy."

Maris laughed as Siegfried said that proudly.

"I see. So what you usually do is teach me how to be happy?"

"Yep. Humans, should learn from, cats."

"I wish I could, but humans have a lot of things to deal with."

"Don't know. Also, humans, think, too much. Food, what, to eat, think, only, enough. Today, fish, please."

Maris burst out laughing at those words.

Siegfried was saying that humans think too much and that just thinking about what to eat is enough. It was impossible to only think about food, but she felt that thinking too much wasn't good was correct.

If thinking didn't lead to an answer, then there was no point in thinking. So she should just do what she felt in her heart. She just had to believe that was the right thing to do.

"Thank you, Sieg. Maybe I do think too much. I feel like I've been able to let go of a lot of things."

"Thanks, then, go, there. Saury, like."

"Ah, the diner run by the married couple. It's amazing that they met in a virtual reality and got married. And everyone else is doing realistic things like building houses and running businesses. Maybe I should try some kind of business too. How about cooking? I could make food for you and everyone else, Sieg."

"Maris, cooking, bad."

"Guh. Th, that's because my skill level is low. If I try my best, I can too!"

"Have hope. But, today, saury. Hurry."

With that, Siegfried left Maris and started walking.

"Alright, alright, let's go. At this rate, I don't know who the master is."

At those words, Sieg turned around and looked at Maris.

"Master, me. I teach, many things."

"Oh, is that so...? Well, I guess it's fine. Alright, then today I'll add Nekomanma to the saury!"

"Will follow, for life."

"You're so materialistic."

Maris laughed.

Sieg's idea of happiness was not that of a cat, but that of an AI. Perhaps it was the idea of the person who developed it, but Maris somehow felt that it was a good idea.

Time passed, and an event called the Clan War was about to begin.

Maris did not participate. It was a ten-on-ten team battle. She could fill the slots with her pets, but her pets were completely useless as a fighting force.

Besides, she didn't have any acquaintances to fight with. She had dealings with people in production skills who ran businesses, but she had no one she was deeply involved with.

Just as she was thinking of gathering ingredients to practice cooking today, a strong wind suddenly blew. And despite being in an open grassland, the sun was blocked.

When she looked up to see what was happening, a dragon was flying in the sky.

"Why is it here!?"

Monsters' areas of activity were more or less fixed, and unless they were being pursued after accumulating Hate Value, they wouldn't leave their habitats.

A dragon had appeared before her eyes, even though there were supposed to be only weak monsters in the grassland where Maris was. It would be unreasonable to tell her not to be surprised.

"Sieg! Let's run!"

It wouldn't be a problem if she was defeated, but there was no reason to be defeated for no reason, so she tried to run.

But Siegfried didn't seem particularly flustered and tapped Maris's leg with his tail.

"Look, close. That, is a pet."

"Eh?"

When Maris looked closely at the dragon, she saw a person riding on its back. It was a woman in a clown-like outfit, wearing a clown mask on the right half of her face. As if to show she had no intention of fighting, she had both hands raised.

When the dragon landed on the ground, the woman riding it dismounted with a light movement. Though only half her face was visible, she approached Maris with a smile. She kept both hands raised the whole time.

"Did I startle you?"

"I was a little surprised, but I'm okay. Um, do you need something from me?"

The woman glanced at Siegfried and smiled.

"Are you the Tamer around here who talks to cats?"

That alone made her seem a little eccentric, but Maris nodded, figuring it was undoubtedly about her.

"I'm actually looking for members to fight in the Clan War. I'm thinking of forming a clan of animal lovers, or Tamers. Would you like to join us?"

"Eh, ah, um..."

"Oh, I'm sorry. That was too sudden, wasn't it. I'm Surya White. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Maris Sola. Nice to meet you... Surya White-san...?"

"Maris Sola...?"

They both recognized each other's names.

There were famous people in this virtual reality.

Ivan Forcaro, the world champion of Virtual Gladiator. Veru Brandle, the actor. Cecil Arven, the world-class athlete. Rosalie Quentis, the world-renowned digital fashion designer. Xenobia Baylott, the world's number one fighting game player.

Even Maris, who wasn't very interested in anything other than animals, had heard of the people in this virtual reality. So she thought the name Surya White was the same, but she couldn't remember.

Similarly, Surya was tilting her head, but seeing that, Maris remembered.

There were only a limited number of people who would know her name. In other words, a colleague.

"Could you be Surya White from Artemis?"

Artemis was the name of an organization for protecting animals from extinction, a different organization from Noah, which Maris belonged to.

Surya was surprised and, like Maris, realized.

"Yes, that's right. And you're Maris Sola from Noah. I was careless. I had considered the possibility that someone from your organization was participating..."

The two fell silent.

It was a sudden meeting, and neither knew what to say. Their views on the treatment of animals were incompatible. But they also had parts where they acknowledged each other as fellow animal lovers.

In the awkward atmosphere, Siegfried tapped Maris's leg with his tail.

"Thinking, too much."

Maris was startled by those words and then spoke.

"Um, Surya-san, right? Did you tame that one?"

She said, looking at the dragon standing rigidly by Surya's side.

"Y, yes. I was able to tame it with the help of an acquaintance. I'm still training it, but it's pretty strong."

"Aren't dragons strong from the start...? What's its name?"

"...It's Garland. Right, I wanted to thank you for something."

"Thank me?"

Surya took off her clown mask. A mark like a claw scratch remained on her face.

Seeing that, Maris understood the meaning of her gratitude.

There had been an accident at Artemis where a tiger had attacked a person. Maris didn't know the details, but she had heard they were in the middle of some kind of research. The person who was attacked, Surya, had said it was absolutely not the tiger's fault, but that tiger was removed from the protection list.

As a policy of Artemis, they could not protect an animal that had harmed a person. The organization that took in that tiger was Maris's organization, Noah.

At that time, Surya had come to the organization's headquarters and bowed her head many times. That's what Maris had heard.

Maris had been in a danger zone, so she hadn't met her, but she heard the story later.

Noah was in a tighter financial situation than Artemis. Moreover, they were reluctant to take in an animal from an organization with incompatible ideas. But Maris, who had returned from the danger zone, had said they couldn't abandon an animal with nowhere to go and had almost forcibly taken it in.

Artemis hadn't expected them to take it in, but that changed things. They handed the tiger over to Noah with enough funds to take care of it for the time being.

Maris looked at Surya's dragon.

Its name was Garland.

The same name as the tiger they had taken in.

"That one... Garland is doing well. He got together with one of our tigers and had cubs."

"Really!? That's great..."

Maris could see that Surya was truly happy.

Their ideas were incompatible. Neither knew which was right. But there was no doubt that they both loved animals. That alone was enough to lower her guard.

"You really love Garland, don't you."

"Eh? Y, yes, well, I suppose so. I raised him since he was a baby."

"That's amazing. To be attacked by a tiger and have a scar on your face, I think that would be terrifying. But to not hate Garland, or animals, after that, I don't think a normal person could do that."

"Uh, um, thank you. But I think the same of you. You go to danger zones to look for wild animals, don't you? Normally, you'd leave that to experts, but to go with them, I don't think you'd have enough lives for that."

"Wild animals are often on edge. In those cases, I'm the expert."

"That's certainly true."

After that, the two talked about animals for a long time.

Normal people didn't have much contact with animals in reality. They ended up talking about real animals, something they couldn't easily do in virtual reality, until they were both satisfied.

The two got excited talking about animals for the first time in a while, but in the end, Maris did not join Surya's clan.

Maris didn't have any pets that could fight in the first place. Maris herself could fight to some extent, but she wasn't strong enough to win in PvP.

Though they didn't join the same clan, Maris and Surya started talking often.

They were reserved at first, but as they got used to each other, their true feelings gradually came out. Because of that, they often clashed.

"I keep telling you, funds are limited, so you have to limit which animals you protect!"

"Th, that's true, but... but if you say that, Garland wouldn't have been saved!"

"Guh. I, I'm truly grateful for that... b, but, that was my mistake. He's not a bad boy! He's a very good boy!"

"I know. He is a good boy. He's so gentle it's hard to believe he attacked you, Surya. And he's so smart, as if he understands words."

"Right!? They say animals can't understand human words, but he can!"

"They say they just recognize the tone of voice and don't understand the words, but they do, don't they!"

It wasn't that the closer they were, the more they fought, but the two would clash every time they met, and then somehow end up talking about animals. That's how it always ended.

Neither would change their assertions about animals. To a third party, they looked like they got along well, and even though they both thought of the other as a friend, they also thought the other probably didn't like them.

That strange relationship continued for a long time.

One day, some time after the Clan War event had ended, a sudden announcement came to Maris's ears as she was playing with Siegfried in the grassland.

To put it simply, it was decided that this virtual reality would be discarded, and an AI that disagreed with that decision had hijacked the spaceship and was running away.

Everyone here was being asked to decide whether to go with it or not.

The reason was simple. Resources had been discovered on a planet other than Earth.

The "Another Frontier Project" using this virtual reality was for living with as little human activity as possible, an emergency plan carried out behind the scenes of the "Frontier Project," a plan to move to other planets. The form was different from the original plan, but the emergency plan was no longer needed.

This virtual reality was wonderful, but it was uncertain whether that plan would be accepted. Since not everyone could enter the virtual reality, one was a sacrifice, and the other was a salvation. The very existence of such a plan would likely divide the world.

Now was the time for the whole world to unite, and the seeds of unrest should be nipped in the bud. To that end, it was decided to discard the virtual reality and erase the memories of those involved.

Maris, who learned of the situation, was hesitant.

She looked at Siegfried at her feet.

They had been together for a long time. Even if the animals were AIs, she had grown attached to them. And Maris could communicate with them thanks to Melampus's effect. Her attachment to her pets was probably stronger than that of other Tamers.

Even if resources were found outside of Earth, it would take several years for things to get on track, such as securing stable routes. And they didn't know how many resources there were, so they couldn't immediately judge if it would be okay.

A sprout of hope had appeared, but there was a possibility that the sprout would wither.

Even if she stayed on the spaceship, her real-world memories would be erased for permanent login, but even if her memories were erased, she would probably become a Tamer again, and she just had to find Siegfried and the others again.

Stay or leave. It was a difficult decision for Maris.

As Maris was worrying about what to do, an old man appeared before her.

It was the old man who had given her Melampus when she first entered this virtual reality. Just like that time, he took off his hat and had a gentle smile on his face.

"Grandpa."

"Maris-kun, it's been a while. Do you have a moment?"

"What is it?"

"You must have heard the announcement, but the spaceship you're on is leaving Earth."

"...Yes."

"We're taking the animals that were put in Cold Sleep here too. There's no time to unload them."

"Ah..."

There were many animals on the spaceship. According to what she heard from Surya, her organization had also put pairs of animals on this spaceship.

They had to escape Earth immediately, so there wasn't enough time to unload all the animals.

"If you would, could you stay for the sake of the animals on the spaceship? They may be sleeping in Cold Sleep, but there might be an unforeseen situation. For such a case, we need a competent veterinarian."

"...I understand. I'll stay."

Maris thought for a moment and then chose to stay.

She was worried about the animals on Earth, but she had her colleagues on Earth. If Maris left the spaceship, there would be no one for the animals remaining here. Surya might take care of them, but she didn't know if Surya would stay here, so she concluded that she should be the one to stay.

"Is that so. Thank you. Your real-world memories will be erased, but I'll ask for them to be restored if something happens to the sleeping animals. And you can rest assured about the organization you were in. My Foundation will take good care of it until the end."

"Foundation...?"

"It's called the Zodiac Foundation, but you probably don't know it."

"No, I've never heard of it."

"It's a Foundation that has been pulling the strings of the world from behind the scenes for several hundred years... that sounds suspicious, but it's something like that."

"I see..."

"You don't seem interested, but what I want to say is that you don't have to worry about the animals remaining on Earth. We will continue to pay the funds, so please rest assured. We will support them fully."

At those words, Maris bowed her head.

"I leave it in your care."

"Mm. I have things to do on Earth to help the spaceship escape, so I can't go with you, but the AI managing this place will protect you, so please rest assured."

"You mean the AI that sometimes makes announcements? It just asked me if I wanted to live in this world."

"That's right. She's as immature as a baby, but one day she'll become a real human. For that to happen, she needs you, so I ask you to take care of her as well."

"Um...?"

"It's fine if you don't understand. This is for her to work on. Well then, I must be going. I have many things to do. We won't meet again, but stay well."

The old man said that and, without waiting for Maris's reply, turned into particles of light and disappeared.

Only Maris and Siegfried remained in the grassland.

She had easily made a major life decision, but she had no regrets. Besides, since she didn't know what was right, she had followed her desire to protect the animals on the spaceship.

And since the organization had been receiving money until now, she could probably trust what the old man had said.

"I've decided to stay here."

Maris said with a smile to Siegfried at her feet.

Siegfried looked up at Maris.

"Food."

"Yes..."

"Two people, conversation, difficult. So, food."

"I don't know what you mean by 'so,' but you're right. It's not our last supper, but let's have a feast today! I'll treat everyone to a five-star Nekomanma Deluxe!"

"Will follow, for life."

"Yes, I'd like to ask that of you too. Let's stay together forever... right, I might forget about you, Sieg, so come find me then."

Sieg tilted his head, then hit Maris's leg with his tail.

"Me, master. Taking care of, follower, is natural."

"Ahaha, you're right. Well then, let's go."

"Hurry. Starving."

"Hey, don't leave me behind!"

Sieg started running towards the settlement at a considerable speed. Maris followed, trying not to fall behind.