After defeating the True Ancestor and installing the magic teleportation circles, I returned home and retired to my bed along with Grulf.

  As Grulf was very fluffy, he was comfortable to cuddle with.

  While I had defeated the True Ancestor, he had also escaped. And I didn’t know how many others remained.

  Furthermore, there was no doubt that the dark ones would do something in the near future.

  “Still, I defeated a True Ancestor. So maybe they will be more cautious now.”


  “.……Woof.”


  “You think so too, Grulf?”


  “.……Woof……woof……oo……”


  As his reply was strange, I looked and saw that Grulf had fallen asleep.

  It hadn’t even been a full minute before he got on the bed.

  In other words, he must have been very tired.

  “You worked hard too, Grulf.”


  And so I patted him gently.

  Grulf was sleeping comfortably on his back and making sounds as if muttering in his sleep.

  Just watching him started to make me feel sleepy as well.

  And so I slowly fell asleep while petting him……

  “Groof! Groof! Groof!”


  Before I knew it, Grulf was standing on top of me.

  I wouldn’t have minded if he was just barking, but he was licking my face as well.

  There was no way that I could continue to sleep now.

  “Grulf. Thank you for waking me up.”


  “Groof!”


  Grulf wagged his tail smugly.

  In any case, I praised him and patted his head.

  When I looked outside of the window, it was already quite bright.

  That being said, not much time had passed since the sun rose.

  “I’m tired. Just let me rest a little longer.”


  “Groof?”


  When the sun rose, it was morning. Morning meant getting up. That was just how Grulf thought.

  And getting up in the morning meant breakfast.

  He did not understand the concept of sleeping in.

  Perhaps I would have to teach him about it later.

  “Grulf, you should sleep a little more as well.”


  “Groof?”


  As Grulf looked puzzled, I rolled him over onto his back and gently rubbed his belly.

  “Because you worked hard yesterday too.”


  Grulf’s tail wagged happily.

  I continued to pet him for a while, and then Grulf eventually fell asleep.

  “Groo……ff……”


  He breathed as if very relaxed.

  “So easy.”


  While Grulf was very big, he was still a puppy wolf, and so it couldn’t be helped.

  And it was because he was young that sleep was important.

  I wanted him to sleep a lot and grow big.

  And so I petted Grulf a little more and then went back to sleep……

  “Cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck.”


  “.……Lord Gerberga.”


  “Cluck-cluck.”


  When I woke up, I saw that Lord Gerberga was next to my pillow.

  And he was gently nibbling on my ear.

  I looked out of the window. It had likely been an hour since I went back to sleep.

  In other words, I could sleep a little longer if I wanted to.

  “Lord Gerbera. You came here just to wake me up?”


  “Cluck-cluck.”


  “Thank you for everything you did yesterday, Lord Gerberga.”


  “Cluck-cluck.”


  Lord Gerberga had come with us to the beastkin wolves’ settlement.

  And when the vampires attacked in great numbers, he helped with his cry.

  “You must be tired too, Lord Geberga. Now, why don’t you come under the blanket?”


  “Cluck?”


  As Lord Gerberga looked puzzled, I put him under the blanket.

  And then I held him in front of my chest and petted him gently.

  “Now, now. You should rest and recover from your fatigue.”


  “.……Cluck.”


  It was dark under the blanket.

  And after petting him for some time, Lord Gerberga became drowsy.

  And a short while later, Lord Gerberga also fell asleep.

  “Now……”


  I fell asleep for the third time……

  “Cluck-cluck.”


  “Groof-groof.”


  This time, both Lord Gerberga and Grulf were trying to wake me up.

  Lord Gerberga was pecking at my ears.

  While Grulf licked my face.

  “So you’re up already.”


  “Cluck.”


  “Groof.”


  Lord Gerberga looked very happy when he saw that I was awake.

  Grulf was also wagging his tail, which caused the blanket to fluff up.

  And Lord Gerberga was flapping his wings.

  “Lord Gerberga, Grulf. Are you two hungry?”


  “Cluck-cluck.”


  “Groof!”


  Apparently, they were hungry.

  “Alright, let’s go and eat then. I’m hungry as well.”


  “Cluck-cluck!”


  “Ggggroof!”


  When I got out of the bed, Lord Gerberga and Grulf got out politely as well.

  Lord Gerberga was riding on Grulf’s back.

  And when we went to the dining hall, Milka came running up to us.

  “Oh, Mister Locke. You’re up! Good morning!”


  “Good morning, Milka. Good morning Philly and Tama.”


  “Mister Locke. Good morning.”


  “Woof.”


  Philly and Tama were in the dining hall as well.

  Upon seeing me, Tama slowly walked up to my legs.

  And then silently rubbed against them.

  As I petted Tama, Philly talked as if muttering.

  “Mister Locke. I heard that you found a very interesting magic tool.”


  “Do you mean the bomb? I wanted you to take a look at it, but it exploded, as bombs do.”


  “But could you at least tell me about it?”


  “Yes. Very well.”


  And so I decided to talk to Philly about the bomb.