MTLNOVEL 77
The blue-eyed beast companion silently gazed up at its master. That was all. And yet, the nauseating churn in his stomach settled. Kyle unknowingly smiled at the familiar and welcome change.
‘Since when did I start relying on this little guy?’
At the very least, it had been over a season. His fated companion, trapped in this tiny body for most of the day, was truly willing to go through fire and water for his sake.
Watching the affectionate little paws pressing firmly against the back of his hand, the tension and anger that had been stretching his nerves taut seemed to loosen just a bit.
“It’s okay now.”
Kyle whispered gently. Then, using his other hand, he carefully lifted Cashew Nut’s soft body and pressed a kiss to its fluffy forehead, chuckling quietly.
“Good boy.”
He felt the tiny paws kick against his hand. As if that wasn’t enough, the little creature even smacked his cheek with its front paws. It was probably glaring at him with a disgruntled expression right now.
— …Squeak.
It certainly wasn’t a kind word. Even knowing that, Kyle continued to stroke him with his fingertips, speaking in a voice full of affection.
“Yes, I like you a lot too.”
His beast companion would never know. That sometimes, his master deliberately played dumb and gave the wrong answer just to use it as an excuse to smother him with affection.
***
‘Let go, you bastard. I said let go!’
It was truly strange. Sometimes, he seemed to understand me perfectly, almost eerily so. Other times, he was absolutely oblivious, no matter how obvious I made it. I could never tell if he was slow-witted or unusually perceptive.
After smacking his face about three times, Kyle finally seemed to get the message that I was getting annoyed. He placed me back on the table, looking at me with eyes dripping with affection.
‘…I’ll let it slide because I like you.’
Well, he could be a bit annoying, but at least he wasn’t rough.
I busily moved my short legs, making my way to the other side of the pile of documents, where the stack of letters lay. Digging through them, I found a familiar envelope nestled in between. Gripping it with both paws, I huffed and pulled it out.
[To Grand Duke Blake, from Sen Langde.]
Kyle’s face brightened at the sight of the familiar name. Pulling a tiny hamster-sized sofa closer, he placed me on it before opening the letter so we could read it together.
Sen’s letter consisted of two pages.
[Recently, an unknown outsider has been coming and going from the village. Based on their use of the capital’s dialect, it’s almost certain they were sent by Lorenz.]
The opening words carried a heavy weight. Kyle and I exchanged a brief glance before continuing to read.
[Also, there have been grave robbers. On the night I returned from selling potatoes in the neighboring village, there was an attempt to desecrate His Highness Belial’s tomb. Fortunately, the knights you dispatched were standing guard, so they couldn’t do any damage—but it’s only a matter of time.]
This, too, was undoubtedly Lorenz’s doing. It meant that the short reprieve we had was coming to an end.
Kyle’s expression grew graver. As he read Sen’s words, he murmured to himself.
“I’ll have to send more people.”
I nodded in agreement.
The heavy topics continued for a little while longer. However, not all of Sen’s words were grim or burdensome.
In the second letter, she wrote about her daily life. She had included a dried flower, mentioning that she was doing well while taking care of Belial. The neighbors were kind, and lately, she had been engrossed in learning embroidery.
Kyle smiled softly as he read about her days. Ever since Belial had collapsed, Sen had been left in a seemingly endless waiting game. And yet, she didn’t seem entirely unhappy.
That was the kind of person she was. Even in the lowest depths, she burned with a fierce will to live, never losing sight of the fragments of joy and hope in her life.
The people of Blake were always like that. It was one of the countless reasons Kyle loved this land and its people.
‘Come to think of it, ever since that hunt, the flow of the original story has changed quite a bit…’
As if responding to my thoughts, several system windows appeared before me.
[The Grand Duke of the North, Kyle Jane Meinhardt, has died.]
The line I had fought so desperately to erase distorted, rewriting itself to reflect the present reality. A new story, different from the original, was unfolding.
[The death of the Third Prince, Belial Serena Meinhardt, has been made known to the world.]
[Lorenz Serena Meinhardt has become Emperor. He is no longer a weak man. However, he has yet to fully consolidate his power. Though people may submit to authority, they do not give their loyalty so easily.]
[Sen Langde, clutching the dying Belial, headed toward ??…]
A quick glance at Heart of Winter revealed that most of the content remained unchanged from what I had seen before.
Except for one part.
[In the end, Lorenz decided to overturn death itself and seize immortality through the ‘Heart of Winter’—a power that transcended the domain of gods. The ultimate desire at the end of every mage’s ambition.]
It wasn’t entirely shocking.
If, in the original story, Serena sought the Heart of Winter to save Belial, then this time, Lorenz was after it for some other reason.
Lorenz, who neither loved nor trusted anyone, would undoubtedly use it solely for himself. Giving power to someone like that was dangerous.
“The reprieve is ending.”
Kyle spoke in a serious tone, seemingly sharing my exact thoughts.
“Starting tomorrow, things are going to get busy.”
— Squeak. (Exactly.)
With careful hands, he folded the letter and stored it in a small box. He briefly considered reviewing more documents and letters but then shook his head and picked me up instead.
“That’s enough for today. Let’s go to bed.”
— Squeak-squeak. (Yeah, whatever.)
“What time can you come tomorrow?”
To minimize inconvenience, we had established a few signals.
Right now, I could only use Reload for six hours a day—one-quarter of a full day.
Kyle insisted on dedicating that limited time entirely to me, so I usually informed him of my Reload schedule before going to sleep.
— Squeak-squeak.
For reference:
One squeak meant from 6 AM to noon.
Two squeaks meant from noon to 6 PM.
Three squeaks meant from evening to midnight.
Four squeaks meant from midnight to morning.
“All right. Then I’ll wake you at noon. We can have lunch together.”
I let out a deep sigh instead of answering.
This whole system was ridiculous. It would be nice if I could communicate while in hamster form. If talking was too much to ask, couldn’t I at least write things down?
‘Why not add something like a messaging feature to the LoveLove Corner?’
[(￣▽￣)7]
It’s been ages since there was any new stock in there. Time to get to work, system.
While I bickered with the system, Kyle carried me to his bedroom. At some point, he had set up a tiny hamster bed beside his pillow.
After gently placing me down and even tucking me in with a blanket, he watched me with affectionate eyes, waiting for me to fall asleep.
Hold on a second. Who knows? Maybe the system will actually get things done for once…
[LoveLove Corner~❤]
See? They had it ready all along but stayed silent until I nagged them. Typical.
Kicking off the blanket, I sat up.
[Adorable Stationery Set! (Hamster-sized) | ❤×500]
The price was ridiculously steep, but it didn’t matter.
[Current balance | ❤×999]
I swear, I’ve asked them at least ten times to increase the balance cap beyond four digits, but they still haven’t done it. Then again, Kyle had been so happy just looking at me lately that I could easily rack up more points.
‘Fine. As long as I can buy it.’
Letting out another sigh, I purchased the Adorable Stationery Set. A small bag containing a tiny pen, a miniature notepad, and even a highlighter dropped in front of me.
To clarify—it was hamster-sized.
— Squeak… (It’s so tiny…)
Tiny! Way too tiny! It looked like a miniature collectible!
I gave the bag an irritated kick. Unfortunately, my toes were weaker than the bag itself, so I ended up hopping in place, trying to shake off the sting.
“What’s this?”
Kyle, who had been watching me from his reclined position, propped himself up slightly. Picking up the tiny bag with his thumb and forefinger, he caused the notepad and pen to tumble out.
Clicking my tongue, I hopped onto his palm and took a seat. Then, with a determined expression, I grabbed the pen.
One fortunate thing about possessing this body was that my writing was automatically translated by the system. As long as I scribbled something down, the system would make sure it was legible.
Feeling Kyle’s gaze on me, I began to write, my letters coming out wobbly.
[Kyle is]
I lost my grip on the pen while writing the last letter, leaving an awkward blot.
Damn, this was harder than expected.
Now I was determined. Practically shoving my face into the notepad, I focused on my task.
Slowly, crooked letters filled the page.
[A clueless idiot.]
Triumphantly, I held out the notepad.
— Squeak! (Go ahead, read it! )
Even for me, the letters were tiny, so for Kyle, they must have been nearly invisible.
As expected, he stared at the notepad for a long time, looking like he was about to fall into it.
Maybe I should get him a magnifying glass.
“…”
How long did he stare at it? Suddenly, he turned his gaze toward me.
What? What is it?
Did he actually think it was some heartfelt confession? Dream on.
“Shu.”
Expressionless, he lifted me with both hands. Sensing danger, I quickly crossed my arms into an X shape. No violence! Treat your companion beast with love!
His face got closer and closer…
Smooch.
[(―3―)!]
“…”
Kyle beamed at me.
“Yes, I like you too.”
…Did he actually understand what I wrote?
He didn’t, did he? The system translated it correctly, right?
— Squeak! (Hey! Stop kissing me!)
“Yes, yes. I know how you feel.”
— Squeak-squeak-squeak! (You don’t know a thing! First, you couldn’t understand my words, and now you can’t even read!)
“I always like you the most.”
— Squeak! (Ugh!)
Idiot! Clueless fool! Illiterate dumbass!
As Kyle rained kisses down on me, I thought to myself…
…Fine. As long as you’re happy.