ーーI'll be sending a girl called Ruri over to you in the near future. Please take care of her while she's there.ーー
A sentence that screams minimalism was sent to Klaus through the aqua mirror a few days before Ruri's arrival to the capital.
It was a message from his mother who left the house for her children to inherit while she herself made the forest her new residence place for living out her old age life.
It's a known fact that the dragon race takes up the ideology of liberal upbringing. However, although Chelsea's sons have all managed to land a job in the castle, they were still feeling uncertain about themselves. They had stated their will on wanting their mother to stay with them until they become fine adults.
However, Chelsea just said this to them.
"You guys are the offspring of me and that person. I know you guys will do just fine!" -Chelsea
They couldn't offer any refute to that truth.
From the words alone, they knew that the motherly love she had for them was as real as life itself.
Chelsea had always been an odd one since long before. And with her promising that she would contact him regularly, he gave up on stopping her from leaving the house.
From this mother of his, came a delivery he did not expect.
Klaus went through his memory of the past, but he had no recollection of the person called Ruri.
It stands to reason that she was someone his mother met after she started her life in the forest. Although he thought that it was unusual for his mother to ask a favor from him, he didn't think much about it.
It was a few days after that when he encountered the white furred cat and the accompanying fairy outside his residence just as he was about to leave for the royal castle.
Not stopping after the initial surprise with the rare cat + fairy combination, the surprise just kept on coming.
From the letter, he a.s.sumed that the aforementioned 'Ruri' was human. However, what appeared in front of him was in fact, a cat. And with another layer of authorization of the fact with the letter handed to him, the cat in front of him was without a doubt an a.s.sistance of his mother.
Even more alarming, was a sentence… no, make that 'warning' that was written in it.
ーーThe a.s.sistant I've sent you is a Cherished One. You better not even make a scratch on her! Ruri does not know that she's a Cherished One and anything about this world. So please teach her the common sense of this world.ーー
Cherished One…
Klaus trembled upon the mention of that word.
It wouldn't be weird for 2 or even 3 fairies to surround an individual that is loved by the fairies. Having the only one fairy doesn't exactly make a strong case for her being the Cherished One.
However, after asking for confirmation, Klaus was surrounded by an absurd amount of fairies, a scene that he had never witness before ever in his life.
'I can't believe she would push someone like this onto me.'
Klaus was expressing his discontent towards his mother in his head.
Quickly determining that the situation was way over his head, Klaus took the next step without hesitation.
He forbids anybody that is currently staying in his resident to enter the room Ruri was at and headed towards the royal castle in record speed.
Klaus opened the door to the oval office with a huge bang in panic.
Not expecting such action from the usually calmed and composed Klaus, the Dragon King and the officers beside him can't help but stop what they were doing.
"I would like to have a private audience with your majesty.
" -Klaus
The Dragon King frowns his eyebrows after hearing those words that Klaus said abruptly the moment he entered. However, the Dragon King wasted no time at all to ask for everybody except few of his very trusted aids to vacate the room.
The few present was the Dragon King, Klaus, Agete, Finn, and the chancellor, Euclase.
"What is the matter, Klaus? This isn't like you." -Dragon King
"The Cherished One has appeared." -Klaus
At first, the word went past them. But a second after that, everybody went wide eyes.
"W-What did you just say?…" -Dragon King
"Is that true?!" -Agete
The Dragon King was trying to keep his cool, but he was audible taken by surprise.
Beside him, Agete was in an ecstasy state, not unlike one would experience upon finding out he/she had won the jackpot. He looked as if he might just go hug and climb onto anybody he could lay sight on to express his excitement.
The difference in att.i.tude is like day and night, but it was obvious both of them were absolutely astonished by the news. Goes without saying so does the other.
Cherished One. An individual that is loved by the fairies.
It is said that the first king of the Dragon Kingdom was a Cherished One.
Appearing once in a blue moon, the Cherished One had brought both blessings and destruction to this world.
It's the unspoken law of this world to want to be loved and protected by the fairies.
In order to have the Cherished One for themselves, Countries had waged wars against each other time after time in the past.
Past incident of fairies punishing the country that harmed the Cherished One was recorded as well.
After the repet.i.tion of wars, under the unanimous vote of the 4 power alliance, it was agreed upon that the Cherished One belongs to no particular country. The Cherished One is free to choose whatever country or place he/she wants to go or be in. Other smaller countries followed suit with the decision made by the major countries.
That said, it's not like the desire to want the power of the Cherished One for themselves has disappeared.
It is common knowledge to put the Cherished One under the protection of their own country before other countries have the chance to.
"Your Majesty! We should make haste to bring the Cherished One into the care of the royal castle. And what of the race?!" -Agete
"… It's a cat" -Klaus
"Cat-people you say." -Agete
Within the ranks of demi-humans, cat-people do not have that high of a magic power. Coupled with the fact that there was only a very few example of cat-people being the Cherished One, Agete became slightly depressed.
That's because the ability among Cherished Ones is not equal.
Depending on how much the magic power of the Cherished One is loved by the fairies, the level of cooperation the fairies are willing to give is affected as well.
That said, strong magic can't be used if the wielder doesn't have a strong magic capacity.
However, he cheered up again after he considered that the very action of having a Cherished One in their country alone would bring prosperity to their land.
Klaus reluctantly corrected Agete on the matter.
"Uh… That is not entirely correct… She is just a normal cat, not a cat-people." -Klaus
"… a cat? Not 'cat-people' cat, but a normal cat?" -Agete
"Yes." -Klaus
"Are you certain of that?" -Dragon King
Klaus nodded in response to the inquiry of the Dragon King who spoke out in Agete's stead seeing as Agete was currently lost for words.
"Yes. I'm certain because she only has one tail." -Klaus
The difference between a cat and cat-people was their tail.
Unlike a cat with only one, cat-people usually have 2 or more tails.
"However, it would be incorrect to say that she's just a cat. Her name is Ruri, and I fear that her magic power is at the same level as your majesty…" -Klaus
Upon hearing that, chancellor Euclase, who had only been listening in to the conversation so far blurted out his refutation.
"A cat with magic power equally powerful as the king of the Dragon King? Blasphemy! You're definitely mistaken!" -Euclase
"At first, I thought that the magic power I felt came from the fairy beside her. But there was no mistake about it.
Plus, she could use telepathy to converse with me, and seems to be very intelligent." -Klaus
"Cat using telepathy?!" -Euclase
Klaus retells the story of his day from the moment he received the letter written by Chelsea up until right now.
"d.a.m.n Chelsea… " -Agete
With the way Agete cursed Chelsea's name, he was probably having the same feeling Klaus had before this.
" I'm not sure how Chelsea came upon a Cherished One, but my guess is that the cat is some sort of magical beast. It is said that once in a while, a beast with high intelligence will be born within the midst of the magical beasts ." -Dragon King
Klaus displayed his agreement to the words of the Dragon King.
"That is true. I once heard from my mother that magical beast with strong magic power lurks in the forest. I'm sure she's that magical beast my mother was talking about." -Klaus
Not realizing that they had made a huge misunderstanding, everybody nodded in agreement. The conversation continues to the matter of the future of the Cherished One.
"It's really great that we could understand her. So, how is she doing?" -Dragon King
"She's currently at my place. I've given strict orders to the people staying at my place to not approach her. If anything, I would like to prevent anything from happening to her that would anger the fairies." -Klaus
"That's a wise decision. Let's have her come to the castle to be taken care of." -Dragon King
Klaus relaxed upon hearing that.
"That would be of great help. My mother said that this Cherished One does not know the common sense of this world and wants me to teach it to her." -Klaus
"Understood. I'll make a decision after meeting her." -Dragon King
"If she's oblivious to this world, It would be easy to control her wouldn't it?" -Agete
Agete said that while laughing.
While being wary of their surrounding, they saw multiple fairies floating in the air at the window nearby.
"Fairies…?"
『We've come to give you a warning.』
『Warning, warning.』
The fairies were repeating the word 'warning' multiple times in unison.
There has never been a recorded case of fairies doing what they are doing now. The Dragon King and his aids unconsciously tensed up.
『Warning number one!』
『Number One~』
It was obvious the fairies were showing some level of hostility, but because of their mannerism, It was hard to take them seriously.
Even though they knew that they shouldn't relax, they can't help but be distracted by it.
『You must not hurt Ruri in any way!』
『Those who hurt her will be given a painful death~』
With the mention of the name 'Ruri', everybody there instantly knew who the fairies were walking about.
『Warning number two!』
『Number Two~』
『You must not ignore the will of Ruri!』
『We will all pa.s.s judgment to those who do~』
Euclase squeezed in a question.
"So it's fine if we persuaded her and let her come to an agreement by herself, is that correct?" -Euclase
The fairies gathered together closely and started mumbling towards each other.
Upon reaching a consensus, they returned to their previous position.
『If Ruri says it's ok, It's ok. But unwillingly forcing her is not allowed.』
『What we're trying to say is that using her obliviousness for your own convenience is a big no no.』
『Next, warning number Three~』
『If you make Ruri sad…』
『We'll attack with Fire~』
『We'll attack with Water~』
Both water fairy and the fire fairy spoke at once. They started an impromptu debate on which of them should do the attack.
For the Dragon King and his aids, the country would face a devastating level of destruction no matter the choice. However, the fairy was chatting about such horrifying matter like they were deciding on whether to have cereal or toast for their breakfast.
『Why not do both?』
When one random fairy gave the following idea, the fairies made a face like it was the greatest idea.
『Yeah! After burning everything with fire, we'll flush everything away with water.』
『Let's call the fairies from outside the capital over as well!』
『Yeah~!!』
The fairies held their fist high up in the air. Euclase who was turning pale desperately shouted to the fairies that were looking like they were actually preparing to fly away and do the deed.
"Please hold on a minute! We haven't done anything to the girl!" -Euclase
『Ah』
Hearing Euclase's word, the fairies that have totally forgotten the purpose of their visit turned shy.
『Ehehe, that's true.』
『Oops, our mistake~』
If it wasn't for Euclase, the fairies might actually have started an all out destruction frenzy towards this country all because of a whim. Realizing that, a chill ran down the spine of everyone present.
『Anyway, protecting her takes priority over anything else.』
『Just remember that we will never forgive you guys if you bully Ruri. Well then, goodbye~ 』
Everybody in the room went into deep thought the moment the fairies left the room. The silence continued for some time.
The Dragon King was the first to break the silence.
"Klaus, can the Cherished One control her emotions?
If she's as unpredictable and selfish like a baby, things won't look good for us in the future." -Dragon King
That was a very good point.
It wouldn't be a joke if she were to complain about something really trivial and caused the fairy to commence their attacks.
The damage would be enormous if she has the temper and patience of a child, or rather the lack of.
"Yes, From what I could ascertain, I believe so. When I was conversing with her, she was calm and polite the whole time. Ah, by the way, she even scolded the fairy." -Klaus
"And the fairy listened to her?" -Dragon King
"Yes. When she told them to quiet down, they did just that." -Klaus
The Dragon King gave the matter a deep thought again and came out with the same conclusion as before.
"I'll make my decision after meeting her personally. Did the Cherished One accept your proposition of wanting her to stay in the royal castle?" -Dragon King
"She wasn't that eager on coming…" -Klaus
This was right after they heard the warning from the fairy.
Klaus answered the Dragon King in a soft voice.
"If that is the case, go back and confirm her intention. If she doesn't feel like it, you don't have to force her to come.
Finn, go together with him. If the Cherished One doesn't intend to come, stay there and be her bodyguard." -Dragon King
"Understood!" -Klaus
"Yes, your majesty!" -Finn
Both Klaus and Finn gave a bow and left the room for Ruri.
The Dragon King lay out a deep sigh that conveys clearly that things have escalated to something quite troublesome.
"It's been a while since the Dragon Kingdom has a Cherished One. Is this a normal occurrence for countries with a Cherished One?" -Dragon King
The Dragon King relayed his question to the 2 remaining aid of his, Agete and Euclase. But they both shocked their heads.
"Right now, the Spirit Kingdom and the Beast Kingdom both have a Cherished One in their country. However, for the fairy to appear and give verbal warning is unheard of."
"My guess would be it's due to the apt.i.tude of the Cherished One. The fairies must really like the magic power of the one called Ruri."
"That means that the blessing our land is going to receive will be tremendous. In the same time, it also means that the trouble that could befall upon us will be equally huge."
"Good thing the Cherished One didn't appear in Nadarsia."
"I can't agree more."
The Dragon King gave another long sigh after reading the content of the doc.u.ments he had on hand.