Chapter 505: Things that Won’t Change

The first thing I saw when I woke up was a girl standing in front of me.

Black hair, healthy skin, a body without unevenness, distinctive black cat ears, a cat tail, and big eyes displaying her determined will.

She was my partner, Fran.

『Fran』

「Master?」

『Yea』

Fran muttered the word as if to confirm, and I replied in a slightly quiet voice.

I wonder, why my heart was so full that I couldn’t get the right words out of my mouth. I felt like I just slept and woke up, so I shouldn’t have experienced the passage of time so much…

This must be the feeling of nostalgia. If I had tear glands, I would have cried.

「Master…」

『Fran』

「Master!」

Fran rushed over and hugged me while I was still stuck on the pedestal. It was more than a hug, but she’s giving it her all.

If the sword being hugged wasn’t me, her hug might have destroyed it. And if it were an average person, she might have killed them. That’s how powerful her hug was.

However, I was rather happy that this lack of restraint seemed to express Fran’s loneliness. And it meant that she missed me so much.

「Master…」

『Fran, I’m back』

「Nn…」

I used my telekinesis to gently wipe the tears from the corners of Fran’s eyes. Then Fran rubbed her head against my handle as if she was trying to be sweet.

『Fran, if you rub your head against me that hard, your head will get hurt』

「I’m fine」

『Fran…』

I was in the middle of stroking Fran’s head while she was spoiling me.

Growl―…

『Hmm?』

A mysterious sound echoed about.

But it doesn’t seem to be a mystery or anything. ‘Fran-san, you must be hungry, aren’t you?’ Even though this is an emotional reunion scene?

Grooowl―!

「…I’m hungry」

Even after five months, Fran was still the same Fran, huh? Should I be happy that she hadn’t changed, or lament that she hadn’t grown up? Well, there is almost no change in her appearance.

Fran was holding onto me with her right hand and rubbing her stomach with her left. Then she quickly cringed and opened her mouth to me.

「Master」

『Wh-what is it?』

「Give me curry」

『Cu-curry, huh?』

「Nn!」

『Woof!』

「O-okay―… eh?」

『Woof woof!』

Before I knew it, Urushi was here too. He seemed to have come out of Fran’s shadow. However, his appearance had changed drastically.

He was basically the same Urushi. A black wolf with lustrous fur. However, his fur color and the presence he emitted have changed greatly.

Originally, the red color was just mixed in with the fur on his neck, but now it was all over his body. Dark red was mixed in at the tips of his neck, knees, and tail. In addition, the fur on his back had silver lines now.

Only by looking at him, I knew that he had evolved. He had become so flashy.

『Urushi, you――』

Grrrooowll―

「Master… Curry…」

『Ah yes, sorry! Look, I’ll bring it out now! Urushi wanted the spicy one, right?』

「I want a big bowl」

「Woof woof!」

『Then, we’ll use ten toppings for the curry. And for Urushi, I’ll make the curry ten thousand times spicier』

After receiving the curry I served, Fran and Urushi began to devour it as if it was their first meal in several weeks. The curry, which I was worried might be a bit too much, was quickly filling their stomachs.

When was the last time she had eaten? But I’m sure I had cooked a good amount of food in the Forest of Exhaustion and stored it for Fran in Dimensional Storage…

『Aah! Co-could it be, the skill-sharing didn’t work?』

If that were the case, she would have lost my dimensional storage and cooking skills. And it would have been difficult to even survive on this plain.

『F-Fran… You must have experienced a lot of difficulties…』

「Nn? The skill worked」

『Eh? The skill-sharing worked?』

「Nn」

『Then, the reason you wanted to have that much curry is…』

「Fran-chan and Urushi ate up all the curry in the first two months」

『Ooh, so that’s why…』

I usually kept her under control. If there was no one to stop her, she would always eat her favorite foods. But I’m rather surprised that her body hadn’t changed!

But I’m glad Fran hasn’t gotten fat after all this time!

『And then, Amanda, how are you doing?』

She had been there from the beginning, so I called out to Amanda, who was smiling at me behind Fran and Urushi.

「I’m fine. But rather than that, why don’t you tell us what had happened?」

『You need to know that there’s very little that I can tell you, okay? But I’d rather want to know what had happened while I was gone』

「Are you sure? This is gonna be a long story」

『I’ll leave it to you. Fran won’t be able to do anything for a while after all』

「Mogu mogu!」

「Wouf wouf!」

「Yeah, I guess so…」