His voice was filled with confusion and surprise, as well as excitement.
I didn't know who this person he called out was and I didn't know why but, as soon as he called out that name, everyone aside from me picked up their ears.
A surprise and excitement-filled expression appeared on their faces and Anna jumped from her seat with Celes in her hands.
"Yei~! Where is she~?" Anna cheerfully shouted, gaining all the attention of the people in the garden.
This confused me even more but at that same time, I heard Celes's voice in my head.
[{ "Master, I'm not sure but I think you should see this one." }]
Her voice confused me but, the next moment, the visual she showed me from one of her clones surprised me even more.
I couldn't believe this and I really couldn't speak at this moment.
What I was seeing was really unbelievable.
"Oh! Eon doesn't know about her, right~?" my dear first aunt asked in a cheerful manner, excited about something even more.
"Oh, yes. Eon, I don't think you know about your dad's familiar, right?
She's a really amazing, strong, and big cat~!"
This was mom and at her words, I couldn't help but look at dad with surprise-filled eyes.
"Oh... yes. We never had a chance to talk about her, right? Hehe... I was going to introduce you when we get back but, I never thought she would just come here herself.
She's really something..."
Dad now had an awkward smile on his face and there was an even more unbelieving expression on my face.
'Dad? Are you some story's protagonist?'
That was my genuine response to just how causally they were talking about this.
What did she say just now? Amazing, strong, big... cat?
Well, yes. A tiger is a cat but... a tiger!!!
Those known as rulers of the mountains.
Creatures of pure strength, royalty among beasts as well as one of the most powerful beasts of the world in their prime.
Creature of pure strength, the strength that was enough to destroy the whole of a mountain.
Ferocious beasts, at the same time, creatures of purity. nature and mountains.
The highest ranking beasts, yes... they were some of the most famous (Purple) ranking beasts of this world.
They mostly lived on high ground and mostly mountain rangers or ruled a sole mountain.
Their nature, elemental affinities, and powers differed as their surroundings.
They were natural rulers, kings of that mountain. And every other beast respected them.
They just so unnaturally accepted them as their king that it was unbelievable.
A beast that bows before no one.
Creature and symbol of strength.
Possesses some of the best natural instincts.
Master of elements they wield almost from their birth.
Possessors of high natural energy that make other creatures just bow before them if they wanted.
Tigres... are awesome creatures and one of my favorite beings in this whole world.
And my dad had one such being as his familiar…
This fact wasn't just hard to believe but, it was almost unreal to me.
Like... I knew dad was a genius mage and all but a tiger?
And not just any tiger, even dad might not know this but, tigers rarely had more than two elemental attributes.
And just like him, this familiar of his had three elemental stripes.
I could say just from the colorful stripes on her body, she was a rare tri-elemental tiger mostly found in the western parts of the empire and western continent's mountains.
It is not like there aren't any people with a tiger as their companions, there are but... I don't think there should be more than three with one like dad.
On top of that, all of them were prominent figures in the world.
Even in history that I was familiar with.
Everyone, every single person with even a normal tiger as their companion, was a great person with many achievements.
Though they weren't rare, not like Celes or even the Rein's crow, tigers loved peace.
They lived alone, found partners, made families, and lived alone until their children were able to handle themselves. Then they leave them on their own and find a new place.
Tigers made partners of a lifetime and although they loved their children for a long time after the children were of age, they solidified their hearts and left the grown children.
Or, in some cases, when the child understands they are ready, they just separate from their parents on their own.
To find a place to call home and to find a partner to be with all their lives.
And they were highly powerful creatures of nature and loved by Mana.
And 'being loved by Mana' means that Mana would just follow their orders whenever they wanted.
In simple terms, they can cast spells just from a simple thought.
They were strong creatures, wise, sometimes even more intelligent than humans, and when they grow to their limits, they could even transform into a humanoid form.
It was difficult to believe that dad had a tiger as his companion but, just how the hell will he handle her?
The tiger was beautiful, gorgeous actually.
She was also an adult, not a cub or child, or even a teen at her age.
The creature that dad had as a companion was an almost at-the-peak stage tiger with immense powers.
I could see her almost flying through the jungle at a surprising speed right now.
Even after putting all Celes's clones after her, most of them could only barely catch up to her with their limitations.
This cat, no, this tiger, was amazing.
Just her presence that Celes described was world-changing…
And it was even more surprising that dad got this lady tiger, and she got close to him in just a few months since I hadn't seen him last time.
It was for brief moments but, I could see her face while she was running all her time.
She was anxious right now.
And maybe, in those eyes, there was fear of something happening to him.
As well as happiness to be able to see dad once again.
Anna was happy she will be seeing this 'big kitty' once again, and I knew this much that that tiger would love Anna too.
Dad didn't have this companion the last time we exchanged letters, and I wanted to hear just what things had happened with him that he now suddenly had a tiger as his partner.
How he met this magnificent creature, how they two got together.
And… just why a tiger fell in love with my dad?
Not that he wasn't lovable.
My dad was someone who definitely had as much charm as Rein's grandfather, even at this moment.
It was understandable if she just fell for his body, or strength, or magic, but... did I ever explain how 'demihumans' came to existence?
I wanted to know about him and this tiger he named Taika.
And I didn't have to worry about her for longer as just in some moments Celes was changing pov for me, we heard a loud rower of a ferocious predator.
And when my eyes fell on her form... I couldn't help but admire this creature.