Chapter 18— Immediately After Birth

"Ku ~"

　The newborn Familiar cried out.

　It seems to have hatched alright.

　It wasn’t a loud voice, but I was relieved to think that this birth went successfully.

　Since there were cases where the Familiar did not hatch from its egg, I was secretly anxious at the bottom of my heart.

　I'm really glad that you were born. (TLN: Awww~~ Thanks~~!)

　It seems that he broke the egg shell using the two horns that grew on his head. (TLN: I’m just gonna say, but this Familiar may be a female. I am bad with genders. XD )

　It shakes its head lightly to sift off the egg shells on its horns.

　Then, while shaking his legs, he tried to stand up with his four thin legs.

　However, it may be difficult to get up with a small newborn body.

　The legs are shaking like a newborn fawn.

"Go for it!"

　When I saw him struggling to stand up desperately, I naturally made a voice.

　I hold both hands tightly and keep calling out to do its best.

　The Familiar succeeds in standing up with a lot of effort as if to respond to the support.

　I applauded when I saw him raising his face and pushing his proud horns into the heavens, as if he was proud of himself.

　After all, animals are cute.

　I've grown vegetables so far, but seeing a creature trying so hard is a moving experience.

　I was impressed just by thinking about that.

"Qi?"

　The Familiar looks at me as if wondering what I was thinking.

　I started observing it again, gesturing that it was nothing.

　There are two horns on its head.

　They are not straight, but have a shape that bends and branches over several times.

　However, I got the impression that the horns are more like a reindeer’s than deer’s because they have wide horns.

　Hair grows on the Familiar’s body, which is straight, white hair.

　Now it's just hatched from the egg and has a clear, dripping liquid like egg whites covering it, but if that disappears, I may be able to enjoy petting the smooth hair.

　And the body looks like a horse while walking on four legs.

　I've never seen a reindeer in my previous life, but I think the Familiar is more like a thoroughbred horse than a reindeer or a deer.

　At present, it is small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, but if it grows and grows larger, it may be possible for it to carry luggage.

　However, I don't think there were many horses I knew that had hair all over their bodies.

　Should this guy be called a horse or a reindeer?

　When I thought about it, the Familiar that was looking at my face began to take another action.

　He started eating the egg shells that were still lying on the floor.

　For a moment, I wonder if it's okay for it to eat such a thing.

　However, it was just an act of saying that eating it was a matter of course, so I just kept watching the situation for the time being.

"By the way, what does this guy eat?"

　I came up with a new question while watching the horse-like eating that the Familiar was doing while chewing the egg shells.

　The egg shell is about to completely disappear.

　Familiars have a special ecology in which eggs are born by absorbing magical power, but there is no difference that they are creatures.

　And the problem is that the causative beasts that were born seem to have different ecology.

　According to stories I heard from peddlers, dragons are carnivorous.

　It seems that the fuel economy is rather good, but if you don't give it meat every day, a dragon will naturally die.

　However, it seems that not all Familiars are carnivorous.

　The Familiars that are born have two different types of food that they eat.

　It seems that Familiars really are like different creatures.

　Their diets are also related to their ability to be like gambling devices.

　It seems that there are quite a few cases of failure in which the eggs of the causative beast were luckily hatched in consideration of making money from a one-shot reversal, but they could not be raised because the owners could not earn food to feed it.

　I understand their feelings.

　Even I, a poor farmer, cannot live a luxurious life by eating meat every day. (TLN: The author’s phrasing is weird, but let’s leave it like that. :) )

　Whether or not you can feed the Familiar is a tough question for many people.

　What the hell does this guy eat?

　Oh, it seems that the cub has finished eating the egg shell.

　It licks its lips so as to not have any more egg fragments in its mouth.

　I'm sure it’s hungry.

　Or rather, what if I am asked for milk?

　Of course, I don't have the body, ability, or magic to breastfeed it.

　The cub approached me in a hurry and rubbed its head against my pants, while I was in a sitting position.

　What?

　What on earth do you want to convey to me?

　I was surprised at the mysterious behavior, but it seems that he was not actually asking for something.

　After rubbing its head against me, the Familiar let out a slurp, cried out a “Ku~~” and then rubbed its head against me again.

　Apparently it was just an act of wanting to be spoiled or just being dear.

　Cute.

　After spoiling itself for a while, the Familiar climbed up on my cross-legged feet and fell asleep in my lap.

　What is this cuteness?

　Apparently the newborn Familiar was brilliantly attached to me.

　Well, there are a lot of things to worry about, but let's leave that thought aside for now.

　I stopped thinking about it and decided to stroke the back of the young Familiar sleeping in my lap.

TLN: As stated in the middle of the chapter, I do not know the familiar’s gender. SPOILER ON TWO CHAPTERS AHEAD OF THIS CHAPTER IS AHEAD!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!! IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ THE SPOILER, GO TO THE TOP OF THE CHAPTER AND CLICK “NEXT”! NOW, THE SPOILER!!!!!

Ars named the Familiar Valkyrie, so I think that the Familiar may be female, but I do not know. Can “Valkyrie” be a gender-neutral name? If it turns out that the Familiar is a female, I will change all of the “he”s referring to it to “she”s. 

The next chap will be uploaded later in the day.