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I guide Ryuka and Ruri to an empty room, then Olivia and I sit in the living room with the Comet Wolf. She was too big to enter the house in wolf shape, so she changed back into demi-human form.

“Alright so…where should we start?”

The Comet Wolf did not feel comfortable sitting on a chair, so she settled on sitting on the floor. Once she was settled, Olivia began talking.

“Woof?”

Even though she’s the main topic of conversation, she’s just carelessly scratching her head with her feet. Seeing her like that makes me realize that she’s different from actual demi-humans, and is just a wolf that recently became able to walk on two feet.

“Okay, first I’d like to verify this. Are you the same Meteor Wolf I fought before?” When I ask, she lowers her feet and nods.

“Yes. I evolved. I’m a Comet Wolf now.”

I knew it.

“I needed mana…to get stronger. A lot of mana in you. Eating you would make me stronger.” The Comet Wolf says while staring intently at me.

I guess that’s why she was so intent in attacking me before.

“I learned your scent. You went far. I followed.” The Comet Wolf’s speech is pretty awkward, so Olivia and I just keep quiet while we wait for her to finish.

“Too many scents around you. It was hard to find. I searched a lot. I fought a lot. I evolved. When I found you, you were fighting. Snatching no good.”

So she followed us to Ingralowe trying to eat me for my mana, evolved on the way there, and when she found me I was fighting Lacks. We were her prey, so she attacked Lacks before he could defeat us.

I guess she would’ve eaten me next.

“But she stopped me.”
“I did.”

She points at Olivia, who chuckles with a playful grin.

Why are you acting so cute now?

“I ate different human. Had lots of mana. I became a Werewolf.”

Flute told me that Lacks had been eaten by the Comet Wolf. I guess all the power Flute gave to Lacks was enough mana for the Comet Wolf to evolve.

“I didn’t know that a monster evolving could make them become a demi-human.”
“Not a demi-human.”

The Comet Wolf shakes her head.

“Demi-humans are people. Werewolves are monsters. Different.”
“Natalia, I think it’s similar to how Aria can become an Arachne.”
“Ahh, I see.”

Aria usually looks like an Arachne, but she can get rid of her human parts and look just like another Purple Steel Spider. From what I know, a Purple Steel Spider needs to gather a lot of power to be able to manifest human parts like that.

And so the Comet Wolf did not become a demi-human, but she can just transform into a Werewolf.

“Then I lost. Boss got mad. Exiled me. Because of you. But you’re strong, so I join your pack. I waited where we first met. Knew you’d come back.”

So she wants us to take responsibility, since we were the reason she was exiled. That’s a bit far-fetched.

“Listen, I get that you’re going through a lot, but asking that from us is-”
“Can’t return to pack. Have no place.”

She interrupts me before I can finish my sentence.

Maybe we were the reason she was thrown out, but we were just defending ourselves. Whatever happened to her for whatever reason, it was her problem and not our responsibility to bear.

“Natalia, can we keep her?”
“Young Lady?”

Then Olivia says that.

“Didn’t you hear? She was cast away from her pack, I feel bad thinking of her having to be all alone. I’ve been fine since I have you, but if I was alone then I probably would feel really helpless.”

I guess she’s relating to being alone after losing her parents. I can understand where she’s coming from, but I can’t allow myself to be soft here.

“Young Lady, I apologize for being blunt, but all we did was defend ourselves. There’s no denying that, and there’s nothing to fault about that either. She should be the one dealing with the problems her actions caused. Or do you think I should’ve just let myself be eaten by her?”
“No! That’s not…what I meant…”

Olivia denies it right away, but her voice quickly falters. She’s smart enough to understand my logic and reasoning, but her sympathy seems to be stronger than that. And that’s exactly why I have to be stern.

“If you want to help her just because you feel bad, then what about all the orphans and homeless people out there? You want to take all of them in too? Can you really bear the responsibility of helping whoever shows up in front of you? And then what if someone pretends to be in need, or tries using you? I’m sure you know there’s people like that out there, what will you do then though?”

Olivia’s head hangs down, I probably was a bit too harsh.

Thinking that way might be a bit heartless, but neither the world I lived in before nor this one are filled with good people. There’s plenty of tragedies, injustices, and misfortune all around. Some people choose to harm others, or some ignore the feelings of others. Even I might have a bit of that.

I have to be a bit heartless to protect myself too. Letting one’s virtue crush oneself is something that should never happen.

“I know I can’t help everyone. I’m not that kind, and not that righteous.” After being silent for a bit, Olivia starts talking.

“I’m also scared of being used or being told bad things. I don’t know what I’d do if that ever happened to me. But…” She raises her head and looks straight at me. “But I can’t just abandon her right after her pack pushed her away. That’s all I know for sure.” Her eyes are filled with resolution.

There’s only one way I can reply to that. “I see. If you insist so much, then I won’t oppose you. Just be prepared to take responsibility until the end.”

“Thank you Natalia!”

Somehow her enthusiastic reply reminds me of a child that was just allowed to have a pet.

“Alright, so do you have a name?”
“Everyone calls me Clarissa. That’s long, so Claire is good.”

Is it really long enough to warrant a shorter name though?

“I see, nice to meet you then, Claire!”
“Yes, Boss.”

I guess Clarissa will refer to Olivia as Boss now. Maybe that’s how wolves refer to the leader of a pack, but it still feels really strange.

“Let’s rest from the trip for today. Tomorrow we can go out to the Adventurers’ Guild to register her as a Servant.”

Saying that, I get up and leave the living room.

“You really are no fun, huh.”

I find Ruri in the corridor, leaning against the wall. Was she listening the entire time?

“Did you really have to be so harsh with her? If you keep that up she might end up hating you, you know?”
“Next year she’ll be an adult (15 years old). She can’t be an ignorant child forever, and spoiling her will only make things worse in the long run. I have to be clear about things like that, even if she hates me.”

Olivia no longer has parents that can scold her, so I have to make sure she can take care of herself in the future, even if she hates me for it. That was the responsibility Ophelia entrusted me with when she passed.

“…She doesn’t hate me, right?”
“So you actually do care about that.”