“Huh…? That…?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Was that Phonia’s voice just now?”

I responded to Rio’s question with words that might as well have been a reply to Phonia.

“Huh?” “Huh?”

Apparently, only I had heard it. Rio and Ivan exchanged glances and turned their eyes toward Phonia.

“Did you hear something?”

“Yeah, I heard Phonia’s voice saying Ivan-brother didn’t make it.”

“What didn’t I make?!”

Ivan, who had been getting verbally beaten up for a while now, slumped to the floor with his hands on the ground.

‘Yes! It’s working! I can reach big brother now!’

“Ah—yeah. I can hear you loud and clear.”

What is this, anyway? I appraised Phonia and saw that her status had indeed changed to ‘Subordinate’. I must’ve tamed her, but Ivan doesn’t seem to have any kind of taming skill.

‘But I wonder if big sister can’t hear me?’

“Seems that way.”

Now that I think about it, Nir came when I called him at the military port. Maybe I can communicate with Phonia the same way by calling out to her?

“Muu, I can’t hear anything, so it just looks like Shu is muttering to himself.”

While I was considering a conversation with Phonia, Rio’s slightly displeased voice cut in.

“That’s not great… I don’t want people thinking I’m talking to myself at this age.”

‘That aside, Phonia, can you hear me?’

Thinking this might work, I called out in my mind. Phonia’s ears and tails perked right up.

‘I can hear you!’

Her five tails wagged happily. Hmm, this might actually be useful. If only I could talk to Rio like this too… Wait! Could this be the skill Telepathy? If so, then I should be able to try it with Rio too!

“Hey Shu, what’s going on with you?”

My thoughts of wanting to speak telepathically with Rio were pulled back to reality. Right, we were discussing Ivan’s situation.

“Ah, sorry, it’s nothing. Anyway, back to Ivan.”

I looked at Ivan, who had finally stood up. His expression had turned sour.

“No, seriously… First it turns out Phonia is a fox monster, and then all these surprises—I’m totally confused. But there’s one thing I can say for sure.”

Looking up at Phonia, who had become slightly taller than him, Ivan clenched his fists.

“Phonia’s still a child, so I’ve got to support her.”

‘Ivan-brother!’

Phonia immediately shot back, growling at Ivan in protest.

“W-What?!”

“Haha, she’s saying don’t treat her like a child.”

“Well, that makes sense.”

“Ouch, ouch! Stop biting me!”

Even though Ivan tapped Phonia’s neck to signal surrender, she didn’t seem interested in letting go.

‘I’m stronger than Ivan-brother now!’

So she doesn’t deny being treated like a child. If she’s self-aware enough for that, maybe Phonia is actually pretty mature. After holding Ivan down to her satisfaction, Phonia wagged her tails with a proud snort.

“Fine, fine! But I’m coming with you all the same!”

Yeah. This whole exchange was kind of a mess, but if it’s settled, then it’s fine.

“Alright then, shall we all head to the guild?”

“Good idea. Ivan should register as an adventurer while we’re at it.”

‘Yay! Let’s go together!’

“Wafu!”

Nir, excited, jumped around and playfully latched onto Phonia. In terms of size, it looked like a puppy tackling a fully-grown dog. Even though she’s only elementary school age in human form, her beast form is nearly twice as tall. Same thing when Nir shrank—I swear, the law of conservation of mass has just given up.

“Then let’s head over before the guild gets crowded.”

We asked for directions at the inn and went to the nearest adventurer’s guild. The building had a sign with a sword and shield over a magic circle and was located in a more upscale area, giving off a tidy, upper-class feel.

Once inside, we ignored the usual barrage of stares. Ivan seemed a bit on edge, which was a fresh change. In Reblos, adventurers were divided by floor, with higher ranks on the upper floor. I wonder how they do it here. From a quick glance around, it didn’t seem like there were any beginners.

“Welcome. How may I assist you?”

Greeting us in a crisp, respectful tone was a woman in a perfectly tailored butler-style outfit. Very cool.

“We have four things to take care of.”

“Understood.”

“First, reporting the completion of a request. Then, registering this girl as a familiar. Next, registering that guy as an adventurer. Lastly, we’d like to issue adventurer ID plates for me and her.”

“…Issuance, you say?”

Her eyebrows twitched slightly at the fourth request. Her expression instantly turned unpleasant—why?

“Don’t tell me… you lost them and want reissues?”

Ah, that’s what this is about.

“No, these aren’t reissues. I heard we could get them engraved here.”

I placed my C-rank adventurer plate and a smooth, unmarked mithril plate on the counter. Rio did the same with her ID, and the woman’s expression froze.