Chapter 14

I followed Lady Marie until we apparently reached our destination, where she finally stopped walking.

Was this… a garden?

“Um, Lady Marie? What exactly are you planning to do…?”

“Just shut up and watch.”

“Y-Yes…”

That was quite a response, considering I’d only asked a question…

Ugh, for some reason, she reminded me of Lilina.

While thinking that, I watched her as she wandered around, seemingly searching for something.

“Hey, have you ever wanted a pet?”

“H-Huh?”

Lady Marie suddenly asked me that, and my mind momentarily short-circuited.

A p-pet? Why was she suddenly bringing that up…?

“You know, I’ve wanted one many times. But Mother always says no. She keeps brushing me off, saying it’s dangerous.”

As she spoke, she picked up what she seemed to be looking for… a wooden stick lying on the ground.

“U-Um, Lady Marie? What exactly are you trying to say?”

Unable to make sense of her actions, I couldn’t help asking.

Then Lady Marie pointed the stick at me and declared something absolutely shocking.

“You. From now on, you’re going to be my pet.”

…………

…………?

………………???

“U-Um, I’m afraid I don’t quite understand what you mean…”

I couldn’t understand what she’d just said. Was something wrong with my ears? It sounded like she’d told me to become her pet…

“Oh? Didn’t you hear me? Then I’ll say it again. Starting today, you’re going to be my pet.”

“W-WHAAAAAT!?”

Hearing her repeat those words, I let out a scream that was practically a shriek.

“Now that we’ve settled that, we need to give you a name first… Let’s see. How about Kuro, after your black hair?”

“H-Hold on! W-Wait a minute! Don’t decide that on your own!”

W-Why was this woman talking as if it had already been decided that I would become her pet!?

She let out an exasperated sigh and explained things to me as though I were being troublesome.

“Sigh… You’re my caretaker, aren’t you?”

“Y-Yes. I suppose I am?”

“Then you have to obey everything I say, right?”

“W-Well, I guess…”

“Which means you’re my pet. It’s an order, you know? And that’s the end of the explanation~”

“No, no, no, no!?!?!”

You skipped a whole lot of steps there, didn’t you!? How was I supposed to accept something like that!?

“…If you can’t follow my orders, perhaps I should tell Mother? Oh, Mother~! This adventurer is being violent toward me~!”

“W-W-Wait! Please! I understand!! I’ll do it! I’ll do it, so please!!”

“Oh? Well, if you’re going to insist that much, I suppose I have no choice.”

T-This woman… She’d planned this from the very beginning, hadn’t she?

I could feel my face twisting into a frown, but she didn’t seem to care about my feelings at all. Instead, she turned her back to me.

“All right, I’m going to throw this stick now, so go fetch it. Oh, and don’t drop it, okay? If you do, I’ll punish you by spanking that cute little bottom of yours.”

What kind of dangerous thing was she saying!?

W-Wait a minute. Was my butt about to face the greatest crisis of its entire existence!?

“Come on, Kuro! Go get it!”

“E-Eh!?”

“Oh, and you have to answer with a ‘Woof!’ If you speak normally, you’ll get a spanking!”

“W-Woof!!”

After responding to Lady Marie, I hurried to retrieve the stick she’d thrown, making sure not to drop it.

“W-Whoa!?!?!”

Th-That was close!? My foot slipped, and I nearly dropped the stick!

“If you’ve got it, hurry back!”

“W-Woof!”

Her voice made my body jump, but I quickly returned to her side and handed over the stick.

“Good boy, good boy! You’re such a good Kuro~. You’re the first obedient dog I’ve ever had.”

As she said that, Lady Marie vigorously ruffled my hair.

I had absolutely no idea how I was supposed to react.

“Let’s see… Next, why don’t you act more like a dog and fetch it on all fours? And when you bring it back, carry it in your mouth.”

“E-Eh!?”

“What’s your answer?”

“W-Woof!”

“Good boy~. All right, here we go. Take this!”

“W-Woof! Woof, woof!!”

And so, the game of playing pet with my supposed caretaker began.

There were a few times when I accidentally dropped the stick, and whenever that happened, she gave my butt a good hard spanking.

It hurt so much that I remember desperately doing my best to avoid experiencing it again.

“Haaah… Haaah… Haaah…”

After running back and forth so many times, I’d finally reached my physical limit and was completely exhausted.

Th-This was bad… I might drop it next time…

“…I’m bored now.”

“Eh?”

“I said I’m bored. That’s it, our pet game is over. Stand up straight.”

“……..”

“Hurry up?”

“Y-Yes!”

Her words left me momentarily unable to think.

W-What was with this woman? She suddenly stopped just because she’d gotten bored…

“Come on, don’t just stand there. We’re leaving.”

“W-Where are we going?”

I asked as Lady Marie started walking out of the garden.

For some reason, I had a really bad feeling about what was coming next…

“The city, obviously. You’re going to keep playing with me. Now, what should we do next…? Maybe I should put a leash on you and take you for a walk…”

“………..”

I think I finally understood why so many people had quit being this woman’s caretaker.

Even while forcing my exhausted body to keep moving, I followed Lady Marie.

All the while, I couldn’t help realizing that what I was doing wasn’t really taking care of her.

I was nothing more than her plaything.