I’ve been with my Master for 15 years.

I’ve liked Master for a long, long time.
I didn’t like humans very much, but I like Master, I like him a lot. Before, I never understood why the others wanted to be humans for their masters, but now I do. If I was a human for Master, then I would fight for Master, and I could protect him even better.

He doesn’t know who I am, but I know him.
Goddess Hecate sent me to be beside him the very moment she granted Master his blessing, but he doesn’t know that. That’s okay though, because I do. 

Goddess Hecate told me that even if her Blessing was a simple C-Rank, Master was strong, and I could withstand his strong magic, so I was the only one who could stand next to him. It made me very proud to be the only one to stand next to him. I am Master’s guardian and protector, so I will stick with Master forever.
Master was really happy to have a Blessing, and I was happy to have Master.

Even when he locked himself away in the dark for years, he studied so hard to challenge the Tower again. He remembered all of the information he could find about the Tower and its floors, waiting to challenge it again. I’ve listened to Master’s worries, Master’s laughter, and Master’s cries. 

Many, many times, I wanted to encourage him. But he couldn’t hear me, so all I could do was listen to him. 

One day, Master said he was going to challenge the Tower again. Master looked happy, which made me happy too!

But Master was injured, and he was going to die. I felt bad, because I couldn’t protect him even though I was his guardian. But Master didn’t accept his injury, and Master didn’t accept death, so he cast a spell to kill the monsters before they killed him. 

I amplified Master’s spell.

I would protect Master even better.

I will stay by Master’s side forever, so I can protect him with everything I have.

When the Tower granted Master’s wish, it also took away Goddess Hecate’s Blessing, which meant that I had to be taken away too. I didn’t want to be separated from Master, even if I didn’t need to protect him anymore.
So I begged the Tower to let me stay with him. 

The Tower compared me to a little mermaid. I don’t understand why.
And the Tower said it would allow me to stay with Master, it would let me become almost like a human.

I was happy, I could stay with Master.

Then, I heard Master knocking.

I don’t know when I became a homunculus, but when I opened my eyes, I could see Master. He reached out his hand and told me to come out, so I held Master’s hand. 

I stared at Master.
It felt like a dream, but I don’t know what dreams are.

He told me my name would be ‘Xingxi’. I liked that name, but I will like anything Master gives me. I didn’t know how to move my face yet, and I still can’t talk, but I can always listen to Master. I held Master’s hand, I didn’t want to let go. Master touched my head, I was very small compared to him, I couldn’t feel anything before, but now I can, it’s weird, but it felt nice. 

Clothes felt weird, and it was hard to get them on, but Master said it was better, so I think it’s good. I held Master’s hand as we walked, I felt like if I didn’t hold on, I would be separated from him. I didn’t want that.

When a horned rabbit charged at Master, I remembered when he was hurt. I didn’t like that, and I didn’t want to fail at protecting him, so I ran to kick it away. 

I killed it.

I turned to Master, I wanted to tell him that I would keep him safe, but he told me I didn’t need to force myself. He rubbed my head and complimented me. He trusts me to keep him safe, so while he took apart the rabbit, I protected him. I don’t want to see Master injured again. Master’s goal was to kill the rabbits, but since I am technically a part of Master, I should kill them for him instead. 

Master knows what I’m thinking, all the time, I don’t have to speak. Which is good, because I still don’t know how to speak yet, but now Master understands me easier, so I can tell him more things now.

It was easier to use the horn Master gave me, and since Master gave me the horn, I have to treasure it so it won’t break.

…

I broke it.

But Master told me it was okay, and he rubbed my head again. I don’t know why he likes doing it, but it feels nice, so I like it.

He told me to keep the fragments safe, so I made sure not to drop a single piece.

Then someone took the fragments out of my hands, Master told me to keep the fragments safe, so I ran after them. I didn’t want to leave Master behind, but I have to catch the thief, if I didn’t, then I wouldn’t be keeping the fragments safe. The thief was fast, but I was faster!

Look, look, Master! I caught the thief!

He called Master ‘this kid’s big brother’. Was ‘kid’ referring to me? Am I that small to be considered a kid? He kept thrashing around, which is annoying. Why can’t he stay still?

Master made a contract with him, they even shook hands! Then he called himself the Fleet-Footed Envoy, which is too long to say, so I think it’s easier to call him ‘Envoy’. He huffed a lot, and he whined a lot, he said he can’t take 50 rabbits, it’s too many for him. I don’t think it’s that many…but Master went easy on him, so I should go easy on him too.

I killed the rabbits, but this time Master wanted me to crush the horns into fragments. So I did.
I didn’t know where to put them, so I cut off the cloth at the bottom of my shirt to make a bag to hold the fragments. I’m really clever, right, Master?

This continued on for a while, it was fun! Envoy ran really fast, but I was even faster than him. And since he made a contract with Master, I had to keep him safe too. I’m getting even better at protecting now!

Then Envoy left, which meant he completed his contract with Master. Maybe? I feel like he’ll be coming back.

When another human came up to Master, he looked terrified. Scary! If this human was powerful enough to scare Master, I will also be scared! But if I’m also scared, then I won’t be able to protect Master, so I have to be brave for him! Master ran away though, so I will run away too. Bye-bye, scary man, don’t come near my Master again!

When we exited the Tower, I saw two people crash into Master. All three of them fell to the floor, so I had to help Master get up. I remember these boys! Master had two younger brothers, he called them twins. I heard their names before, Shuwei and Shuixian, still too long to think about, so I’m going to call them Shu and Xian. They were silly boys, I thought they were funny. Hmm, but now that I think about it, I don’t know Master for as long as they have, so that means they’re my seniors…right?

I guess it doesn’t matter, I know they like Master as much as I do. 

Shu hit the top of Xian’s head, so I rubbed it for him. There, there, the pain will go away now.

We all walked home together, but when we reached the door, an old woman came out. She gripped the twins in a big hug, scary, it looked like she was crushing them. This is Master’s mother, right? Wah, I’m kind of scared, I’m going to hide behind Master.
But Master’s mother was nice to me, she told me I can call her ‘grandma’, so I’m going to call her Grandma, and she told me to call Master’s father ‘grandpa’. Grandma’s very nice, I like her. She also likes Master as much as I do, and so does Grandpa. She taught me how to move my face into a smile, because she keeps pinching and stretching my cheeks. Master looked at me, so I smiled at Master. See, look Master, I can smile now!

They let me sit next to Master at the table. There’s a lot of food that Grandpa made, but I don’t know how to use the sticks…it’s hard, maybe it’ll be easier if I used the sticks to stab the food. Hmm, but I also don’t know if I can eat, because I’m not a human. But food tastes good, so I think I can eat it.

Master offered me a bed in his room, but I don’t want to impose on him any more, so I’m going to sleep where he found me.

What is sleep, anyway?

I close my eyes and the next thing I know, I’ve opened them again, Master called for me, right?

The next few days were fun, I didn’t go outside with Master, but I stayed home with him and helped Grandma and Grandpa with the house. It turns out that a human body is very useful around the house, which means I have even more use for Master! But I’m still small, though, smaller than the twins, who only reach up to Master’s shoulders. I have to get taller for Master!

⸻⸻⸻⸻

Master let me walk around the mall with him. 

The concept of walking around a large building decorated with shops at every corner seemed fun, and I got to see what Master saw while he left me alone to get me clothes. At one point, Master had a bad look on his face.

Are you okay, Master?

Master said he’s alright, so that’s good. He asked me if I found anything I wanted, but I only want to stay with Master.
But I did remember something, so I took Master to that weapons shop I saw earlier. Look at that girl over there, doesn’t she look familiar? I remember her, Master! But of course, Master already knows her, as expected of Master!

While Master talked with the weapons girl, I looked at the magic staffs she had put on the shelves. Obviously, since Master’s magic is very strong, he’s going to need a catalyst as strong as me if he wants to cast spells. But Master already has me! So there’s no need for additional catalysts when he has the best magic catalyst (me) around!

Master finished talking with the girl, so we were going to go home.

Master said he was going to get a weapon to protect himself! Traitor! He already has me! That’s cheating! You can’t leave me, Master, I’m going to protect you so you don’t need to protect yourself! 

Hm? You don’t need a weapon anymore?

Good! I’m happy!