*crash*

And the lupo just ran headfirst into the barrier. Anortha thought that that must have hurt. She slowly walked to the unconscious lupo, with her hands outstretched in front of her. When she felt the barrier protecting the village from the rats, she invoked her magic to cut a small hole in the barrier and dragged the lupo through the barrier. She carefully patched the hole and then healed the lump on its forehead. Noticing that it was also fatigued from what she presumed was running away from the rats, she also cured that too.

Anortha thought, Isn’t this the perfect opportunity to adopt it? It was clearly abandoned since the rest of the lupoy left hours ago, and if I didn’t do anything, it’d be eaten. Papa didn’t say no last time I asked if I could prove of it being abandoned. Not to mention that since the barrier is up, no one is on guard duty, so I can easily sneak in with the lupo.

She carried the lupo in her arms and quietly made her way back to her home. She laid it on her bed and anxiously waited for her parents to return home. In order to convince her parents to let her keep it, she moved the lupo to the bathroom and vigorously scrubbed the lupo with soap and magically conjured water. After that, she conjured a steady stream of hot air to dry it off.

When she carried it back to her bedroom, she noticed that its fur became nice and fluffy and couldn’t resist burying her face in its back.

Wait, she thought, now is not the time to get lost in this fluffy paradise. I need to come up with a speech to convince my parents. If I succeed than I can do this anytime I want.

Motivated, she paced around the room, speaking out loud her planned speech to her parents.

“Mama, Papa, you know how a while ago, you said it was okay to adopt a lupo if there were sure signs of it being abandoned?”

“Wait, did I say that? I don’t recall…”

“Yes you did¹He never did. He said "We’ll talk about it if that ever happens" (Ch 11). Remember, only a clear "yes" is considered consent.,” Anortha said indignantly. “You can’t just break your promise! And besides, I promise to take care of all its needs and take responsibility for any damage it will do. And —”

“What if it chews up everything in the house like that squirrel of yours did?”

“It won’t but if it does, I’ll repair and buy everything that it does destroy.”

Anortha’s father looked at Anortha’s mother, who shrugged.

“Alright. Let’s assume I did promise you. How are you going to prove that it was abandoned instead of it just wandering off temporarily?”

“I saw the rest of the lupoy running away from the rats, and then hours later, I saw it by itself. It clearly was left behind and would have been eaten if I didn’t go and save it.”

Her parents whispered to each other.

“Alright, we’ll let you —”

“Yipee!”

“— under certain conditions.”

Knowing her father’s personality, there is no way these conditions would be trivial. Worried, Anortha asked, “What are they?”

“First of all, we will provide absolutely no support whatsoever. We will not provide food, lodging, or anything. It’ll have to stay in your room, you’ll have to provide it food. If it wants deer, you’re going to have to hunt for it yourself.”

“What! But the poor deer!”

“Then I guess your pet will have to starve then.”

“No! I fed it nuts before. I know it can live without hunting. And I can go and gather nuts and berries myself.”

“I have my doubts on that, but it’ll be a learning experience for you when it happens. Anyways the second condition —”

“There’s more?!”

“ — is that you’ll have to do some household chores like wash the dishes, clean the house, and the laundry.”

“What does that have anything to do with the lupo?”

“Nothing. It simply is something we want you to do in return for letting you keep it.”

“But –”

“Then I guess you’ll have to let it go.”

“…Fine then. But no changing your mind and no adding conditions.”

“Deal.”

“So that’s the lupo that you want to adopt?” asked her father.

“Yes. Isn’t it so small and cute?” replied Anortha.

“Sure, sure. What did you name it?”

“Uh, I haven’t actually because I don’t know what gender it is. I was hoping you’d know.”

“Hm? Isn’t that easy? Let me check then.”

Her father walked up to the sleeping lupo and peered at its groin. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see anything because its legs were in the way, so he spread open its legs to get a better look. The lupo sprang up and immediately ran behind Anortha. It was trembling all over and clung to her tightly.

Anortha picked it up, and petted it to soothe it, while asking her father, “So, what gender is it?”

“Probably a girl? I couldn’t get a good look and then it ran to you. Well, at least it seems attached to you. So what are you going to name it?”

Anortha thought about what a good name for it would be. While her father did say it was a girl, he wasn’t sure, and it would be awkward if she gave it a girl’s name when it was a boy. Anortha was not particularly good at giving names, and decided to give it a gender-neutral, common name.

“Alright, your name will be Pochi²Pochi is a common dog's name.”

“Well, good luck with taking care of Pochi. It definitely is harder than it looks. Trust me, I had to raise you, and it was more challenging than I expected.”

In order to leave the room, her father walked by Anortha and Pochi in her arms. Pochi trembled at the sight of him.

Anortha remarked, “Looks like it’s afraid of you. See, I’m not the only one who thinks you look scary.”

“That’s a sample size of two, and for all I know, it just doesn’t like strangers.”

When the elven man left the room, the lupo jumped out of her arms and began looking around the room. Anortha was worried that it would break something, but it held everything cautiously.

Soon it was time for bed. Anortha went to sleep, hugging the lupo in her arms.