My Pet Is a Holy Maiden

With a loud crack, a thick tree was knocked down.

The fallen tree engulfed the surrounding trees, and with a roar, swept up the dead leaves and dust that had piled up on the ground.

And as silence hit, something menacing began to appear from behind the dust and dead leaves.

It was a gigantic demonic beast covered with a sturdy grayish-brown shell.

If Tatsumi or Elle had been here, they would have said that the beast was twice the size of a large bus.

Underneath the sturdy-looking shell, which was split into several sections, were countless smaller feet. The antennae protruding from its head, which looked tiny in comparison to its huge body, were moving about, sensing its surroundings.

The gigantic beast, perhaps noticing something, moved its countless legs and approached the trees it had pushed down with its huge body, and began to chew on the fallen trees.

With a gurgling sound, the creature’s mouth easily gnawed away at the sturdy tree trunks.

The creature’s mouth is small compared to its huge body, but its proboscis is covered with sharp, fine fangs. These sharp fangs continued to gnaw away at the tree trunks as if they were sandpaper.

Perhaps startled by the sound of the fallen trees, a deer-like animal ran in front of the beast.

The protruding antennae twitched and wriggled again, and the head of the beast turned toward the fleeing deer.

A small proboscis was stretched out, and a sharp sound like air escaping came from it.

At the same time, a purple fog surrounded the deer, and the deer’s legs were slowed by the fog.

The deer stopped completely and fell down on the spot with a thud.

Its limbs twitched, while its mouth started to foam. In a flash, the deer quickly died.

The purple mist that the beast had just spit out must have been extremely poisonous. As it slowly made its approach towards the body of the dead deer, which had succumbed to the poisonous gas, the demonic beast began to devour the corpse.

With the force of its strong jaws, it crushed the bones and bit off the flesh, and the large body of the deer soon ended up in the stomach of the large beast.

But that was not enough to satiate the demonic creature. The beast leaned on the tree closest to it and knocked it down like the rest, as it continued to feast on the foliage.

While the beast was chewing on the tree, the sound of another tree could be heard falling right next to it.

And this time, the trees were not just being knocked down in one place, but several at the same time in the surrounding area.

A cloud of dust and smoke was billowing up. Beyond that, I could see the figures of several demonic beasts chewing on the trees.

With a slight creak, the door of the “Elf’s Rest Pavilion” was pushed open.

The people in the restaurant casually look in that direction, their eyes widening slightly in surprise.

A man and a woman entered.

The man was wearing armor made of material from a magical beast and was holding a large spear in his hand.

The woman, on the other hand, was dressed in a loose-fitting, ankle-length, kantou-like garment.

The men must be mercenaries or hexenbiest hunters, while the women are probably commoners. Their outfits are easily recognizable, but they aren’t not dressed in anything unusual.

However, they… or more precisely, she attracted the attention of all the magical beast hunters in the store.

Long, flowing hair, tinted in the same color of the blue sky. Sharp eyes that shine like green columnar emeralds. A beautiful appearance comparable to the most acclaimed works of art. And most distinctive of all, her ears, which poked out from beneath her hair and protruded from her head.

“Hey, look at that.”

“Oh? Is that an elf?”

Yes. She was an elf, which is considered to be closest to the water element among the variations of subhumans.

The elf woman was looking around the Elf’s Rest Pavilion with a curious look with a man from behind who appears to be her companion.

The man, who was dressed as a hunter, was also looking around the restaurant slowly, although he did not seem to be as curious about their surroundings as the elf woman behind him.

Eventually, he must have found what he was looking for. He briefly whispered something to the woman behind him and started to walk towards a corner of the store.

Meanwhile, the people occupying a corner of the Elf’s Rest Pavilion also seem to have noticed their approach.

They – mostly women – were just as surprised as the other customers.

“Oh, Morger. It’s been a long time.”

“Yes, Carse. Are you alone today? What happened to Tatsumi?”

“The Master is in the temple training. I wonder if he’s being disciplined by Slate right now, since she often treats him like a big brother.”

“Disciplinary lessons from Mr. Slate? That’s a lot of work for… Tatsumi.”

The man put on a wry smile with a look of sympathy in his eyes; his name – Morgernike.

The Slate they were referring to is Giuseppe’s own son and brother-in-law to Tatsumi and Calcedonia, who holds the position of the chief warrior in charge of the holy templars of the Temple of Survival.

Although he himself is not a magician, his combat skills are at the top of the Temple of Survival in both name and reality, and he is a priest warrior who has earned the sobriquet of “Castle Wall.”

He is often sighted equipped with a huge square shield and a one-handed sword, which are rare in the Largophili Kingdom, and his fighting style overlaps with Tatsumi’s in many areas. Perhaps, for this reason, Tatsumi is often training with his brother-in-law.

Naturally, Morgernike, when he was at the Temple of Survival, had also fought with Slate many times, but he was so good that even Morger found himself struggling against the templar.

“So what’s up with you today?”

“Well, that’s the thing…”

When asked by Calcedonia, Morgernike shifted his body slightly, exposing the woman behind him to Calcedonia and the others.

Seeing the woman, Calcedonia and Mira shouted in surprise at the same time.

“Lady Sheila!”

“Huh?”

“Si-Sister Sheila!

Calcedonia and Mira, who raised their voices at the same time, looked at each other.

“Mira-san, how do you know Sister Sheila?”

Mira, on the other hand, also had no idea that Sheila would be here.

“I’m so glad… I’m so glad to see you…! I went to so many human cities like this looking for you, but there were so many people that I didn’t know how I was going to find you. You really gave me one heck of a time.”

It was this person, after all, who was trying to calm and organize the Calcedonians, who was most surprised by this unexpected encounter.

“Calm down, Calce and Mira,” he said, “let’s get settled first before we start exchanging information.”

With an almost audible snap, Jadock closed one of his four eyes.

“Armored dragons?”

Tatsumi returned home after completing his training at the temple.

While enjoying a delicious dinner that Calcedonia had painstakingly prepared, Tatsumi listened to his beloved wife tell him about what had happened while he was away.

“Yes,” she said.

“It seems that Mira-san saw an armored dragon near the village of Sheila-sama, and she was looking for allies to hunt the armored dragon.”

“I see, so this Mira person had such a situation… and this Sheila elf was also an acquaintance of Calce and Mr. Morgar.”

“I had met Master Sheila before, when I was still working with Morgernike, during the extermination of a… certain aquatic beast that was possessed by a demon.”

A village of elves that exists in a certain lake. Sheila was the daughter of the village’s chief, and Calcedonia and Morgernike had previously been asked to exterminate a magical beast that had attacked the village.

It was during that time that they became acquainted with Sheila.

There were also human villages scattered near the lake, one of which was Mira’s hometown.

It seems that Sheila saved Mira from drowning when she was playing in the lake near the village as a child.

That is how Mira and Sheila became friends, and their sisterly relationship continues to this day.

“Sir Morgar, Jadock and the others are going to go hunt that armored dragon, aren’t they?”

“Yes, Morgar, Mr. Jadock, Mr. Miril, and Mira are all getting ready for the hunt for the armored dragon. I am no stranger to Lady Sheila, and it seems to me that meeting Mira-sama at a time like this is some kind of fate… some kind of will of the master. Therefore, I too would like to help in the slaying of the armored dragons.”

Incidentally, the gray robe and staff that Calcedonia usually equips were originally treasures handed down from generation to generation in the village of Sheila, and were given to her as a reward for her extermination of demons.

“Well, if Calce is going, of course I’m going with you.”

“Sir…”

Calcedonia’s face lit up with joy.

Scherer’s request was only a personal request, and not through the temple or through the Elf’s Rest Pavilion.

It is true that Jadock and Miril are willing to accept Sheila’s request, but Tatsumi is not obligated to go along with them.

Tatsumi is currently being commissioned as a magical beast hunter, but his ultimate goal is to become an exorcist at the Temple of Survival.

Once he reaches that status, he will have to take a different path from Jadock and Miril.

But that is still a long way off. For now, Tatsumi thinks only of putting all his energy into what is in front of him.

“Well then, first of all, let’s talk about the armored dragon. Calce, can you tell me as much as you know about what kind of magical beast the armored dragon is?”

“Yes, let me explain.”

Calcedonia responded to Tatsumi’s request with a happy smile, and proceeded to tell Tatsumi everything she knew about the armored dragons.

“I see… so it is a large magical beast with a strong outer shell that acts as armor, as the name implies. And on top of that, it utilizes a potent poison mist. Sure enough, it is a formidable foe.”

“Yes,“ she continued. “Apparently, there were at least five of them.”

This is the reason why Sheila came to visit Mira. She came to tell them that the armored dragon that appeared near the elf village was not alone. The first sighting was indeed one, but now at least five armored dragons have been spotted.”

“Even just by itself, an armored dragon is a formidable foe. When there are at least five of them, it is difficult to deal with even for a mid-level demon beast hunter.”

“But we also have Morger. I don’t think we will be defeated so easily.”

The presence of Morgernike is definitely a factor here. His experience and knowledge as a magical beast hunter will be a powerful weapon for Tatsumi and his team.

Tatsumi looked happy to know that he can fight side by side with Morgernike.

Ishiseki the Mouse had fought with Morgernike at that time as well, but it had been a bit of a letdown because the opponent was a small and not very strong magical beast.

This time, however, they were up against a powerful opponent. Tatsumi’s “warrior” heart was filled with anticipation for the joint battle with Morgernike.

Calcedonia glanced at Tatsumi, who could not conceal his excitement, with a sullen expression on his face. Then she stood up slowly, walked around the table, approached Tatsumi, and sat down on his lap.

Tatsumi looked confused with this sudden gesture.

Calcedonia rubbed her forehead against his neck.

“Master always looks so… happy when he talks about Morgar, doesn’t he? It’s kind of… frustrating…”

“No, no, no, no! Mr. Morgar is just an inspiration for me…! It’s not that I have any strange tastes!

“I know that, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know!”

The head rubbing gesture is something she used to do when she used to be a cockatiel.

“Please don’t be jealous of Morgar, no matter how much I idolize him.”

Tatsumi smiled bitterly.

But at the same time, his loving feelings for Calcedonia welled up again, and he slowly stroked his beloved wife’s head with his warm hand.