The Overlord And The Puppy

“Now then… what should I name you?”

I stared at the puppy—Lesser Wolf cub—inside the pen in the corner of my room, watching it stay wary of me and occasionally growl low, and I fell into thought.

But still, isn’t “Lesser Wolf” a weird label…?

Were wolves considered monsters…?

“Lesser Wolf” basically means “inferior wolf,” right? So why is it a monster?

And what even was the difference between a monster and an animal?

Well, whatever… more importantly, what do I do about its name… no, can I even keep it?

For now, I prepared water, food, and bedding… I don’t mind if it never gets attached to me, but it would be sad if it got sick from stress.

I can’t return it to the city… but if it comes to it, should I release it into the wild?

All the injuries it had over its body were healed by Eisha, but… there’s no way it would open its heart that easily.

And I mean… it looks like a puppy, but it’s a monster… Even if I take care of it, it might not get attached to me.

Well, I’ll wait a bit before naming it.

Day 1: Night

It should be hungry, but it still didn’t touch the food I prepared.

It did seem to drink water… and to avoid stressing it, I tried not to look at it as much as possible.

When our eyes met, it growled at me.

Day 2: Morning

It didn’t look like the food I left last night had decreased. Maybe because it’s a monster, it didn’t like dog food?

The water had definitely gone down, so I’d count that as a win for now.

I replenished the food and water, cleaned up its toilet area, and decided to focus on paperwork today.

Normally I would go to the office, but… today I chose to work in my private room.

Day 2: Noon

The Overlord’s private room was quite large, so even if I was in the same room, the puppy shouldn’t feel too stressed.

While I was at it, I had lunch brought here too.

Maybe my food smelled interesting to it, because it stuck its nose through the gaps in the pen and sniffed repeatedly—no matter how you looked at it, it was just a dog.

For now, you should eat the food I prepared.

Day 2: Night

It sniffed the food I prepared and wandered around near the bowl.

You don’t have to be that wary—there’s no poison in it… I muttered that without thinking, and the puppy stared at me.

Since our eyes met, I stared back for about an hour…

Our battle—neither of us moving an inch—had only just begun.

Day 3: Morning

When I woke up, the food I’d prepared last night was gone. It finally ate.

Day 3: Night

Once I put down the food and stepped away from the pen, it started eating with incredible speed.

I’d prepared a portion sized for a small-breed puppy, but I might need to increase it a bit.

Tomorrow I had to call Oscar to the castle and discuss various things, so I couldn’t stay glued to this one.

Day 4: Night

After handling the toilet and feeding in the morning, I ended up leaving it alone all day.

I’d instructed a maid to check on it, and there didn’t seem to be any issues.

Speaking of maids—Oscar, that bastard.

Even though he came to the castle so tense he looked like he might throw up, once we started talking work and he settled in, he started flirting with our maids in the second half.

No—he looked like he was about to actually hit on them. I needed to tell on him to Patty-san.

Also, I might need to confiscate his hair.

Anyway, putting him aside, when I returned to the room, the puppy was staring at me.

It still wouldn’t touch the food until I stepped away, but it felt like its wariness was gradually fading.

Day 5: Noon

The puppy kept staring at me as I worked at a distance from the pen.

When I stood up and moved around the room, it turned its head to follow me with its eyes. It seemed interested in me.

Also, even with me in the room, it started taking naps.

Day 7: Morning

After finishing the toilet cleaning that had become a routine, I put the food in the pen as usual—then the puppy licked my hand while it was inside the pen.

When I offered my hand again, it licked my hand over and over instead of eating.

Could I consider that it had opened its heart to me?

Day 7: Night

When I approached the pen to put food in, it stood up on its hind legs and started hopping excitedly.

I thought it was eagerly waiting for its food, but even when I set down the bowl, it kept hopping toward me.

It might be about time to let it out of the pen.

When I offered my hand, it rubbed its head against me, so I petted it for a while.

Its fur was rough… I wanted to bathe it, but it was still too soon.

Next time I’d wipe it down with a damp towel.

Day 8: Morning

As always, it looked happy when I approached the pen.

At this rate, it should be fine to let it out.

When I removed part of the pen, it burst out and dashed straight to me, rubbing its body against my legs.

After I let it do as it pleased for a while, it seemed satisfied, and then it started racing around the room at incredible speed.

Being shut in a small pen must have built up stress.

Just in case, I’d moved anything dangerous away, so it should be fine… but the maid’s workload for cleaning this room was definitely going to increase.

Day 10: Noon

When I returned to the room, it dashed over to me and clung to me.

When I lifted it up, it stretched up as if hugging my face and started licking me all over with its small tongue.

I still hadn’t bathed it, but since I’d wiped it thoroughly with a towel, its fur had gotten a bit softer.

I should brush it too—and I might need to have someone develop a brush for dogs.

And since it was this attached to me, I decided to name it.

Lumina.

There was no particular reason. If I had to give one, it was just that it was a girl, so I chose a girlish name.

From now on, I needed to call her Lumina and teach her her name.

Of course she probably didn’t understand yet, but when I told her, “Starting today, your name is Lumina,” she licked my entire face as if in thanks.

The maid nearby stared at me like she’d seen something unbelievable… probably because it wasn’t “Overlord-like.”

But “playing with a pet in an Overlord-like way” was a ridiculous request, so I wanted her to forgive me.

Day 14: Noon

Today I decided to bathe Lumina.

We could’ve let her splash around in the castle courtyard, but I chose to use the castle’s large bathhouse.

I also planned to bathe myself at the same time… but it was difficult to wash Lumina and then wash myself alone, so I had Kiriku help me.

I couldn’t exactly bring a maid into the bath area.

Our bathhouse had excellent facilities, but since there were no showers, we used buckets to slowly rinse Lumina.

I’d worried she might be afraid of water, but she seemed to be the type who actually liked playing in it.

Because she was still small, I thought washing her would be easy, but since she used to be a stray, the grime didn’t fully come off no matter how much we washed, and it took quite a while.

Maybe because he wasn’t used to this work, Kiriku kept panting the whole time. I told him he could get out first, but he stubbornly stayed to the end.

A serious, dutiful guy. I felt bad dragging him into a purely personal errand… Should I wash his back later?

After we cleaned her thoroughly, Lumina’s fur turned a slightly whitish gray.

She was quite the pretty girl. Should I eventually find her a husband?

Day 15: Noon

While walking Lumina, I decided the two of us would wander around the castle.

At the training grounds, Marie and Saria were sparring against Jōsen, and when they saw us, they ran over.

Marie and Saria held Lumina and petted her. Lumina didn’t show any dislike—if anything, she seemed happy to be fussed over and played around with them.

I thought her former stray wariness had vanished, but when Jōsen reached out to pet her head, she barked at him.

Jōsen looked slightly shocked, but since they were going to resume training, I parted ways with the three of them and continued strolling through the castle.

Next I met Kamila, and it seemed she wasn’t good with dogs—she leaned back a little, uneasy.

If it were a dog-shaped monster, she could just kill it and be done, but a dog she couldn’t kill was scary… a complicated feeling.

Maybe because Lumina found Kamila’s reaction funny, Lumina chased her around… Kamila, fleeing with genuine tears in her eyes, finally clung to me, and I ended up carrying her in a princess carry without meaning to.

At that moment, Lynferia and Ilmitt happened to pass by. They released an intense wave of anger for an instant, then took Kamila somewhere.

They probably thought Lumina hadn’t been trained properly. I wanted them to cut me some slack—only about ten days had passed since we met—but… she’d been chasing someone who was afraid, so as the owner, I should have stopped her. It was only natural they were angry… I deeply regretted that I hadn’t fulfilled my responsibility as her owner.

For now, even if she couldn’t understand, I explained to Lumina that she mustn’t chase people who dislike it.

She responded energetically with a bark, but I doubt she understood.

Just as we were about to return to the room, Bangagonga appeared from down the corridor.

Lumina hid behind my legs and barked like crazy.

Seeing Lumina like that, Bangagonga gave a wry smile, said, “Sorry for startling you, miss,” and left.

Apparently he could tell Lumina’s sex at a glance… impressive, Bangagonga.

Maybe she was tired from all the exercise, because once we returned to the room, Lumina immediately curled up in her bed.

Listening to Lumina’s sleeping breaths, I began processing paperwork.