A Cute Little Animal

“Hello, princess. Is this the person you were looking for?”

“Morning, Dad. Yes, this is Saraqael. She is also going to Gan. Saraqael, this is Paulus, my father.”

“Hello, Sir, you can call me Sara. Nice to meet you.”

“Such a good manner for a little girl. How old are you?”

“I’m nine years old.”

“You are a cute homo Felidae.”

Saraqael is pale, skinny, and has black hair with some white spots. Now that I think about it. She somewhat resembles a tuxedo cat. Like my cat Minoru back on Earth! Was this a way for me to recognize her?

“Thank you, good Sir Paulus.”

“Is your family with you? Where are you heading?”

“My parents are dead, I live with some relatives, and we are heading to the kingdom of Greenland, south of Gan.”

“I’m sorry about your parents.”

“Thank you, I do miss them a lot, but my relatives are a good family too.”

“If you ever go to Dale City in Eleutheria, you are more than welcome to stay in our home.”

“Thank you. I might enroll in the Academy of Eleutheria, so maybe we will see each other in a couple of years.”

“That’s great! Cato will enroll in a little more than a year there. She will be your upperclassman.”

“Yes Saraqael! We will be fellow students!”

“I can’t wait!”

…

We got off the ship to finally be in the kingdom of Peradama in the continent of Gan. This is the last part of the journey. Dad and Mr. Damian want to buy Adamantium, the strongest material in the world. From the city of Dale, this is the closest place to find it. The kingdom of Dikausyne, which is next to Eleutheria to the east, also has Hypadama trees. However, our kingdom does not have a good relationship with them.

The Hypadama tree can grow more than 500 ft. That is around the size of the Washington Monument. Imagine a forest with a bunch of those tall trees. These trees live for centuries. And the older they get, the stronger the material is. How do these trees become stronger? They burn every summer, secreting a sap that heals the tree, making the wood stronger. It gets so strong over the years that it becomes uncuttable. Is that amazing? And guess what! My father, Paulus the blacksmith of Choca, the low-magical-affinity chancho, knows how to work the wood to make weapons. One percent of blacksmiths in the world know how, and my Dad is among those who know. Mom has an Adamantium wand that Tato, grandpa Drausus, gave her as a wedding gift. Mom is always proud of that wand.

I’m excited to bring this journey to an end and go back home. I miss Mom and Camillus so much. I also miss Aunt Eugina, and I suppose Marcus too. Paulus can stay at the Academy far away from me. I wonder if Mom is feeling lonely. She must be missing Dad like crazy. It will get busy when we come back.

Also, I finally met the hero. We will be traveling together for a day, and then he will go south. However, we will see each other at the academy if all goes well.

We have to travel for 12 hours, and the sun sets quickly here. We will set camp soon.

“Dad, I need to go,” I said, moving my legs really quickly.

“One or two?”

“Dad! What do you care… one.”

“Okay, Albus, go with her. Don’t go too far north.”

“I will- crunch- go too!” Said Sara, holding an apple in his hand.

We walked in the forest for some time, and then each one of us hid behind a tree or bush to do our business. I was the first to finish when a little animal appeared. It’s such a cutie! It looks like a small deer with little horns. I want to touch it!

“Hello, beauty. What do you want? Are you lost? Are you looking for your parents?” I said this as I got closer to patting it. The little, cute animal was looking at me with its head to the side.

“Miss Cato, watch out. We don’t know what that is,” said Albus, coming out of his hiding spot, “Remember what Phaedrus said about a small cervus and how dangerous they are?”

“Are you a dangerous little thing? It can’t be. This is too cute, and look, it is limping. I think it's hurt.”

“Cato, here.” Sara came out of hiding and threw her apple at me.

“Wait, where are you doing one or two?”

“Two”

“Ewww, I don’t want your apple.”

“I used water magic! Give the apple to the pudu, I will come from behind and heal it.”

I slowly got closer and knelt, cut the apple in my hands with magic, and offered it to the pudu.

“Here, baby, eat some apple.” The pudu came close and ate from my hand. At the same time, Sara came from behind and used healing magic to cure the cervus’ leg.

“Okay, baby, bye-bye, go to mama, okay.” The pudu rested its head on my shin for a little while and left.

“Why are you two so reckless! We know how dangerous that is! And how did you cure its leg! I have never heard of a magic that can heal before!”

“Oopsy, it’s a secret, Albus. You can’t tell anybody,”

“Healing magic? Is that something we can learn?” I said.

“I don’t think so. I can use it because of my direct connection to the heavenly beings.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“No, I'm trying to keep it a secret; otherwise, I will be an easy target for the fallen beings.”

“I see. Is the demon lord looking for you? Did he kill your parents?”

“That’s right. That’s why I’m always in hiding until the moment we are ready to strike back.”

“Understood.”

“Eh? What is all this nonsense?”

“I will explain to you, Albus, if you are going to follow me around, I think I need to tell you some things. However, this is a secret that you cannot tell anyone, not even Dad.”

“I would be disobeying the master. I cannot do such a thing.”

“I cannot tell you if you don’t promise me that you will not speak about this.”

“Sorry, Miss Cato, don’t tell me because I can’t keep that promise.” That made me really sad. Albus will always think like a slave. We went back and didn't discuss the subject for the rest of the way. We finally set camp to spend the night.