Red entered the student market building with his Mireling perched on his shoulder.
"You must be one hungry bastard," Red said, petting the Mireling on the head. Because it was the first day of school, he only had one class as the academy wished for students to be accustomed to their beasts. Entering one of the shops in the building Red approached an employee, an older student.
"What kind of meat do you got here, and how much does it cost?" Red asked the employee. The employee, who was cutting up some meat, looked up at Red. He picked up a slice of meat in front of Red's face.
"It depends. Are you looking for meat to feed yourself or your tamed beast?" the employee asked, eyeing the Mireling.
"Both," Red replied, letting his Mireling down to the ground.
"Ah, well, we have beef for one copper coin a pound for you. You look like a first year, so something cheap would probably do. As for your little partner here, we got some magic boar meat, bred for beast feeding. Since it is magic infused meat, it helps with the growth of your beast. 5 copper a pound," the employee said. Red reached into his pocket, tossing out six copper coins.
"Shit's cheap compared to what's outside the academy. What the fuck?" Red said, somewhat surprised.
"That's because we sell things at a discounted price to students and staff," the employee said, storing the coins away into a box and bringing out two packages of meet from the shelf. Red accepted the packages of meat before leaving quickly.
Red led his little Mireling to an empty field, where he began to pile up sticks.
"Little buddy, I ought to give you a name soon, shouldn't I. Why don't we go with Juna?" Red said. The little Mireling simply wagged its tale, staring at the packages of meat in the ground. Red simply shrugged his shoulders. "Juna it is."
Red pulled a lighter out of his pocket, lighting the sticks aflame.
"Juna, when I once lived in the streets, I would always end up making my own fires to stay warm when it was cold, and to cook food. Give me a minute, Juna, and I'll make something decent for us," Red said. He unzipped his jacket, reaching for a pocket on the inside, pulling out a pointy metal stick. He opened the magic boar package, ripping pieces of meat off and sticking it onto the rod. He then held the rod over the fire, allowing the meat to cook. After waiting a few minutes Red finally pulled the rod back lowering it down to the panting little Juna, who greedily bit down in the first piece of meat, tearing it off and swallowing it. Juna barked a few times before tearing off another piece of meat, swallowing it.
"You're a hungry piece of shit," Red said, petting Juna on the head. "Open up."
Juna obediently opened his mouth, allowing Red to scrape the meat off the rod and right into Juna's gaping jaws. Juna chewed for a little before swallowing. Juna barked at Red a few times before climbing onto his lap and following asleep. Red couldn't help but grin, finding Juna rather endearing.
"Barely met this little fucker for more than a few hours and he's already doing cute things like this. I'm gonna like him a lot," Red said to himself, unable to resist running his finger across Juna's scales. "I should get those wounds of his checked out though. He looks pretty sick too."
"I also gotta figure out how I can turn this little guy stronger… he definitely has a worse starting point than the other beasts that my peers have. I know without a doubt I can turn him strong; the question is how I'm going to do it," Red thought to himself. "Shit, I'll worry about that stuff later. I gotta make sure this thing is ok before I can even think of doing anything."
Red carefully lifted Juna and his own package of meat up, deciding not to eat yet. Carrying the sleeping Juna, he made his way back to the academy's main building. His destination? The infirmary.
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"Hi, my name is Sophie! What brings you here today?" a beautiful blonde girl said, waving enthusiastically from behind the reception desk.
"Look at my Mireling. Do you really need to ask?" Red deadpanned, glancing down at the sleeping Juna. Sophie turned beet red from embarrassment, waving at Red to come closer.
"Alright, I'll take a look at him," Sophie said. Sophie waited for a few minutes before frowning and looking up at Red. "How have you been raising this cute little thing? Are you not feeding such a fragile thing enough food?"
"Fucking bitch, don't look at me. I only got him today. I'm a fucking first year," Red said, pulling his student ID out of a pocket on the inside of his coat. "I only got this little shit today, so I have no idea what the fuck happened to him."
"No need to be so rude," Sophie said, frowning slightly as she stood up. She was taller than Red was, at about five feet and seven inches. She reached for Juna, gently taking him out of Red's arms without waking him up and looking at him. After examining him for a little bit, she turned around and pulled open a curtain behind her.
"Hey, Lily, are you there?" Sophie called. A girl with white, insect-like wings and bright pink hair stepped out, frowning at Sophie before glancing to Juna and gasping.
"Poor little thing! How can anything be so tiny and precious? I've seen Mirelings before, and they're all so small, but this is a new low!" Lily— whom Red assumed was a fairy, said.
"Is there anything you can do about his wounds? I also believe he is sick," Red said to Sophie and Lily. Lily frowned slightly but nodded.
"Yes, I can take care of both right now, but do you know how it ended up like this?" Lily said. Red became agitated, pointing to Sophie.
"This bitch asked the same shit. You can go ask her for the answer," Red said with a hint of annoyance in his tone. Lily simply rolled her eyes, but touched two fingers to Juna's head, causing his wounds to seal up almost instantly.
"Done. I can't do anything about him being so small and skinny. That's going to be based on how you feed him," Lily said. Sophie handed Juna back to Red, but gave him puppy dog eyes.
"Please let me feed this precious thing. This little cutie deserves to be spoiled!" Sophie said fervently. She gave him a pleading expression, hands cupped together and shaking.
"Fuck off. That's my responsibility as his tamer, not yours. What kind of tamer am I if I can't even feed my own beast?" Red said, giving her the middle finger. "Thanks anyway, though. I owe you one."
Sophie growled in an animal-like manner out of frustration.
"Come on! I'm the headmaster's daughter, and I can spoil him all he wants! Let me!" Sophie said. Red raised a brow, slightly surprised.
"Headmaster's daughter? He wouldn't be happy with you using money to feed some random guy's beast, would he?" Red said, shrugging her pleas off. "This is a free academy anyway, I don't see how you could make enough money."
Sophie angrily crossed her arms, glaring at Red.
"For the record, the Emperor pays us based on the quality of students we produce. We're a high level school, so we get a lot of funds every year," Sophie said with a hint of pride.
"High quality is for me to judge," Red said. "I'm not gonna just take your word for it."
Red then strutted out of the infirmary with the sleeping Juna, leaving behind a seething Sophie.
"Who does he think he is?" Sophie said angrily. "Lily, find him in the student records NOW. No one is going to deny of that cutie pie fox!"
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Red sat down on a field outside of the Academy grounds, quietly watching the sleeping Juna.
"When you wake up, let's find out what you can do."
Red silently pet Juna on the head before lying down in the grass, relaxing himself.