Bonus Story
Bonus Story – The Sage Who Also Moonlights as a Dog
“――So, what should we do now?”
Having bought the tea leaves Millis requested and leaving the shop, Reid glanced over at Elria to check in.
“Maybe we should get a snack? I’m starting to feel a bit hungry.”
“Yeah. Shehri’s saying she wants food, too.”
Elria rubbed her stomach, and Shehri, sitting nearby, gave a soft bark, “Woof”. Since Shehri had been waiting outside the shop during their errand, she seemed to be asking for a reward for her patience.
“If Shehri’s eating too, maybe we should get some meat. I think there’s a skewer stall at the market.”
“We don’t need to go all the way to the market for meat. There’s a place nearby.”
Elria pointed in a direction.
“There’s a meat stall over there.”
“Wow, it’s rare for you to know where the shops are.”
Elria was something of a recluse, rarely venturing out into the royal capital, so Reid hadn’t expected her to know the location of any stalls.
Elria shook her head at his surprise.
“I don’t know the shop. I can smell it.”
“…You can smell it?”
“Yeah. I can smell the nice aroma of delicious meat cooking.”
“Woof woof!” Shehri barked in agreement with Elria, excitedly facing the direction she had pointed.
However, Reid couldn’t smell anything at all.
Shehri’s reaction seemed to confirm there really was a stall nearby, but it wasn’t visible in their immediate surroundings, so it had to be further away.
“This reminds me of the time you found me by scent…”
“Yeah. I’m pretty confident in my sense of smell.”
“Confident, you say… You’re practically like a dog.”
“That’s not true.”
Elria puffed up her cheeks in protest.
“I’m definitely not as good at smelling things as a dog.”
“Do you have any stories related to your sense of smell?”
“A few times when I got lost in the royal capital, I followed familiar scents to find my way back home.”
“That’s totally something a dog would do…”
“W-Well, anyone would follow familiar scents if they got lost…!”
Elria flapped her arms, arguing desperately, but even her actions were starting to look suspiciously dog-like.
As she sulked, Elria suddenly turned her face away.
“…If you insist, I’ll admit I behaved almost like a dog.”
“Should you really be admitting that, Sage?”
“But if that’s the case, I deserve a proper reward.”
With that, Elria extended her head toward him.
“Mm!”
“…Hm?”
“I found the stall, which means I saved us the time it would’ve taken to go all the way to the market.”
“Well… I guess that’s true.”
“That means I did a good job.”
Elria nodded confidently, making her case. Then she presented her head again to Reid.
“So, I expect an appropriate reward.”
“…You want me to pet you as a reward?”
“I thought it was a fitting reward.”
“There’s no way a dog would come up with something like that.”
Reid chuckled, but he gave her head a light pat anyway.
Immediately, Elria narrowed her eyes in pleasure.
“…Mm, the reward has been paid.”
“Alright, now lead the way to the stall.”
“I should receive a separate reward for that.”
“I’ll pay as much as you like for that.”
“Then leave it to me.”
Grinning, Reid gave her head another light pat, and Elria began walking with a spring in her step.
Thus, the Sage, cheerfully leading the way, was indeed very much like a dog.
