“Now that you mention it, I do remember the sun being especially hot yesterday,” Myusel said, nodding.
“I’m just happy she’s all right,” I said. “I was going crazy with worry...”
“Y’ have our most heartfelt thanks, Master,” Brooke said, bowing deeply to me.
Cerise, after a glance at Myusel, likewise bowed her head. “We’re told that you were with her the entire time,” she said to me. Myusel must have told them.
“Aw, I really didn’t do anything. Man’ya beat that fever by herself.” Heck, I’d fallen asleep halfway through. “Come on, don’t bow to me,” I urged them. Then I looked over at Man’ya. She was reclining happily in Myusel’s arms. She looked like the picture of health, like nothing had happened. “Talk about a relief,” I smiled, reaching out to pat Man’ya on the head.
At which point the child latched her jaws onto my fingers. Yep. She was back to her old self.
“Hey!” Brooke reached out in a panic.
But I said, “Don’t worry, Brooke, it’s okay.”
It wasn’t exactly that I wanted to be bitten, but it was just such a relief.
Hang on... It... doesn’t hurt?
“Man’ya...?” I said, and she pulled her mouth away from my hand. Once again, she started licking my fingers with that long, snakelike tongue.
Wow! I marveled at how much I had leveled up in just a day!
“Man’ya learned a new skill: Nibble!”
I was very, very pleased. Then came a sound that made my eyes go wide.
“Shii-ichi.”
“H-Hey! That was my name!”
“Yes, I heard it, too!” Myusel said. We looked at each other, and I clenched a fist in triumph. There was no mistaking it: Man’ya had said my name. I guess I had finally graduated from being “raemu” to being a friend.
“She’s finally started to understand how kind you are, Shinichi-sama,” Myusel said.
“Wow...” This was hard to process. I was so happy. Excuse me, I think I have something in my eye...!
Brooke, however, sounded less thrilled. “He’s our honored master,” he admonished his daughter. “You must not address him by his name alone.”
Aw, c’mon, she’s just a kid!
“It’s all right, Brooke.”
“No, Master, I can’t allow—”
“Seriously, it’s fine. Man’ya isn’t technically my servant, anyway.” I gave her another pat on the head.
“Gyu.”
This time the lizardman girl didn’t bite me at all, but offered a friendly gurgle.
Two days later, the other eggs had finally hatched, and our house was pretty lively.
“Gyu!”
“Gyu?”
The newborns toddled around the yard, dug in the ground looking for bugs, and wrestled with each other. They all seemed to be having a good time. It turns out race or species or whatever doesn’t matter: watching chubby, short-limbed children play is adorable no matter who you are.
“We’re so sorry about all the noise,” Brooke and Cerise said, bowing their heads. I guess most lizardman children weren’t this active. Considering that Man’ya had been the same way, maybe it was because the mansion was situated a little bit closer to sea level than the lizardmen’s reservation, meaning the temperature was a little higher on average. Some extra warmth and plenty of oxygen would make just about any living creature outgoing. Anyway, it was just a theory. And it didn’t really matter.
“It’s all good,” I said. “I’m just glad they’re happy and healthy.” The rest of us were watching the children play, smiles on our faces. “Speaking of which, where’s Man’ya?” I didn’t see her among the rowdy, excited kids.
“I suppose she might be playing in the yard somewhere, like she usually does,” Cerise replied.
I glanced around for any sign of her, and meanwhile the other kids came trundling over to us as if to say, Play with us!
“Oh—!”
“Grr!”
Some of them grabbed on to the hem of Myusel’s skirt, while another took an interest in Elvia’s tail. One tried to get Minori-san to pick it up, while another babbled at Hikaru-san in incomprehensible baby talk. Brooke and Cerise tried to keep them under control, but there were only two of them to deal with five separate children. Each of the others found themselves with a kid to entertain, and even if they didn’t always seem quite sure what they were doing, they seemed to enjoy doing it. Hikaru-san, in particular, seemed to have it a bit rough, his Gothic-Loli dress getting pulled and tugged from every direction.
“We’ll make it clear to them they’re not to interfere with your work,” Cerise said. I nodded, just as one of the kids came wandering toward me.
“Ugi?” The child stared me down with an expression that made me think of Man’ya when she had just been hatched.
I smiled at the baby, crouching down. “What’s up?” I reached out to pat it on the head...
“Gyu!”
Chomp.
“Eeyow!” I cried as the child munched on my fingers.
Myusel looked over when I shouted. “Shi-Shinichi-sama?!”
At the exact same time:
“Ugi!”
“Oo!”
The kids babbled and squeaked and all started piling over toward me. Before their parents could stop them, they started biting my arms and legs.
“Ouch! Agh! Wh-Why?! Why me?!” Why didn’t anyone else ever get bitten?!
“Stop that right now!” Cerise started pulling the children off me, passing them to Myusel, Elvia, and Minori-san in turn. The kids, for whatever reason, sat placidly in their arms, with no sign at all of imminent chomping.
“Guess Man’ya isn’t the only one who sees you as prey,” Hikaru-san said, crossing his arms.
Minori-san, hugging one of the children, smiled a little. “It is strange.”
“I wonder if I, like, emit something that makes them think of me as food.”
“What?! You mean like a slutty-bottom pheromone...?!”
“No, I don’t! This isn’t BL! They’re just straight up eating me! Anyway, forget the banter and help me!” Wasn’t she supposed to be my bodyguard?!
“M-Master, I—I will take responsibility in place of my children...!”
In stark contrast to me and Minori-san, who weren’t really worried about the situation, Brooke had managed to produce a scythe from God knew where and was preparing to amputate an arm. Myusel and Elvia hurriedly stopped him. But
