We Played With Tilura
Ms. Claire laughed a little playfully, but what Sebastian said was true.
What would have happened to her had Leo and I not heard her voice…
Besides, Ms. Claire was very pretty, so it would probably be best for her to take an escort when going to town as well.
Strange men might try to approach her… Well, I didn’t know if people hit on women like that in this world.
Regardless, many people would be sad if something ever happened to her.
“Ms. Claire, what about the others? Tilura and Sebastian would be heartbroken if something happened to you.”
“Now you’re upset as well, Mr. Takumi. …Indeed, I would not want my sister to be sad.”
“And what about Sebastian?”
“Sebastian is fine. He was originally my father’s personal butler. But he’s been put here just to monitor me.”
“My lady, it’s because your father was so worried…”
“I know. …And I will do my best so that you aren’t too worried about me in the future.”
“Too worried. So you will still make him worry.”
“That… Well…just pretend you didn’t hear that, Mr. Takumi.”
Perhaps Ms. Claire was just a free spirit.
Well, a more delicate lady would not have left the mansion and gone to a forest with monsters, even if it was for her own sister.
I already had a high opinion of Ms. Claire from our interactions, but I felt an even stronger affinity now.
While there was nothing wrong with a refined lady, it was also nice to see someone a little more adventurous.
“Mr. Takumi, you must scold her a little more than that.”
“Haha. But I don’t see the problem. It is a very endearing trait, I think. And as long as I am a guest here, I could have Leo protect her.”
“…If Leo was to be with her, that would be more comforting than any other guard.”
Sebastian and I laughed, but Ms. Claire had grown quiet.
I looked at her to see what it was, and saw that her face had grown a little red as she looked down.
Was it because I had said she was endearing? But surely someone like her received much better compliments regularly.
“…Mr. Takumi said I was…endearing…”
She whispered to herself, but I couldn’t hear the rest.
“But my lady, even if you have Leo with you, you must be careful.”
She raised her head and answered when Sebastian talked to her.
Her face had returned to normal and she had the usual cheerful expression.
Leo saw that I had arrived, and so she wagged her tail and came running towards me.
Tilura ran after her.
Their roles had now been reversed.
“What is it, Leo? You can keep playing if you want to?”
Leo bit my new clothes and started to pull on them.
Perhaps she wanted me to join in…
“Wait a minute, Leo. Surely you don’t want me to run around like that…”
“You should play too, Mr. Takumi!”
Realizing the prospect of someone joining in, Tilura smiled at me with great expectation in her eyes.
Leo continued to tug at my clothes and would not let go…
…I suppose I had no choice but to yield and play with them.
While I didn’t consider myself old, it could still be very exhausting when you had to run around and play with children and dogs.
“Hehe. Sorry, Mr. Takumi, but it looks like you’ve been enlisted.”
“…Ms. Claire… Very well. I’ll go.”
“Hehehe. I will watch you from here with Lady Claire, so please play with them thoroughly.”
I was practically dragged away from the mansion and to the open space in the back garden. This was where Tilura and Leo had been running around a moment ago.
After cheerfully seeing me off, Ms. Claire and Sebastian smiled and watched over us.
I will likely have sore muscles tomorrow… Still, if it would make Leo and Tilura happy, it was fine.
“Mr. Takumi, what game should we play?”
“Indeed… What if I throw a stick, and Leo has to catch it before it hits the ground?”
“But what should I do?”
“You can ride on Leo’s back. It’s quite fun to feel the speed while Leo is running!”
“That does sound like fun!”
It was as if Leo understood my words without a doubt. And she then crouched low so that Tilura could get on top.
She was laying lower than when Ms. Claire and I had got on top, because Tilura was much shorter.
So Leo was able to be considerate of others now…
I felt a little bit emotional as I thought of such things and picked up a few tree branches that were on the ground.
I suppose they were here because the back garden wasn’t tended to as much.
Or perhaps they were left there on purpose?
“Mr. Takumi, I’m ready!”
“Alright then. Leo, let’s go!’
Leo stood up and prepared to run now that Tilura was on her back.
I faced the opposite direction of the mansion, and then threw the tree branch as far as I could.
…I really need to exercise more… The branch did not go as far as I had hoped. It drew an arch through the air and looked like it would land about twenty meters ahead.
“You can do it, Leo!”
As Tilura cheered, Leo barked once that then dashed out like the wind.
But I could see that she was trying to run steadily so that Tilura wouldn’t fall off…that was very clever of Leo.
Now that I think about it, weren’t dogs faster than horses when it came to short distance races?
Because dogs could reach their maximum speed much faster… Well, my memory wasn’t too clear about it, so I could be wrong.
In the first place, Leo was larger than any horse, so she must be faster than race horses.
In fact, when riding on her, her speed felt comparable to riding a car down the highway.
It could have been nearly 100 kilometer per hour?
…I wonder how she compared to cheetahs, who were said to be the fastest land animal in the world… If there was a similar animal in this world, I would like to see them race.
It was with such thoughts that I watched Leo run.