How long had I been doing that? Around the time when the light shining through the gaps of the barn started to change from an indigo blue to a whitish gray. The egg in both of my hands bounced particularly large with a small thud. That warmth which I had wrapped all through the night without getting tired of it—almost as if it answered the warmth of my hands—made a small crisp sound, and a single crack ran across the shell.
I held my breath. The crack spread slowly, but certainly. Each time it was tapped from the inside with a small thud, fragments of the white shell fell patter-patter onto my knees.
“…Is it coming out?”
My voice was pitched high enough to sound foolish even to myself. Before long, something white peeked out from the split in the shell. It was wet and helpless, but it was fluffy fur. With one final push, the shell split cleanly into two halves. What rolled out and fit snugly right into both of my hands was a completely round fluff ball. Silvery white fur. It was round like a ball, and its limbs were buried deep in the fur so that it was hard to tell where they even were. From amidst that fur, two black, round eyes appeared. Those eyes looked up at me with a dazed expression.
“…What are you?”
Those words slipped out of my mouth before any clever phrases like “how cute.” It is neither a rabbit nor a cat of this world. If I had to say—would it look just a little bit like a chinchilla? Though, I feel like it was not this white and fluffy.
“Kyu.”
The fluff ball cried out. While still crying, it placed its short front paws, probably front paws softly onto my thumb. Even though it was still wet, it was already warm.
At that moment, I gently re-wrapped the small weight in both of my hands. …Come to think of it, I had been all alone ever since coming to this world. I was driven out of the castle, wandered through the forest, and worked silently in the corner of a village. Even when I spoke to myself to tell myself, “Let’s go,” there was never any reply coming back.
That is, right now.
“Kyui.”
For some reason, that helpless cry sounded like a reply to me. …No, there is no way that could be. How could a freshly hatched beast understand human words? There is no way it understands.
Even so, when I asked, “Are you hungry?” it cried, “Kyui,” and when I said, “Are you cold?” it cried, “Kyu, kyu.” It had such a strange timing to it, almost as if our conversation was actually clicking.
“…It is just my imagination, right.”
As if to answer me, the fluff ball stepped on my finger softly again. For the time being, the fact that it is hungry is probably true. I am the same way. This is troublesome. What should I feed it? I remembered the last piece of bread left over in the bowl from last night, broke it into small pieces, and gently offered it right in front of the fluff ball’s nose. The fluff ball sniffed at it with a little snort and chewed it up properly with its small mouth. While eating, it skillfully crawled deep inside the cuff of my school uniform sleeve. It is a strange tailored piece of worn-out clothing that no one in this world wears. The inside of that sleeve seems to be quite warm.
“…That tickles.”
I could not help but smile at the sensation of it rolling around and moving about inside my sleeve. It had been quite a long time since I felt that way.
“You need a name, right.”
Looking down at the fluff ball that I had returned to my knees, I thought for a bit. It is round like a ball and soft. …Come to think of it, in the world I was in until just recently, there was a soft snack that was white and completely round like this and melted softly the moment you put it in your mouth. The name was probably—
“Mashu… maro, or something?”
The fluff ball did not twitch at all.
“Then… Maro?”
“Kyu!”
The fluff ball bounced. It spun around once like a ball, and then looked up at me with those round eyes again.
“…Maro is fine?”
“Kyuu.”
To what extent does this fellow understand when it cries? I do not know that. I do not know, but—
“I see. Then, it is Maro.”
When I said that, Maro cried “Kyui” as if it were satisfied.
I had no intention of hiding Maro from the villagers. Even if I tried to hide it, it pokes its head out of my sleeve and climbs up onto my shoulder at the slightest chance. Besides, hiding a strange creature inside your clothes might actually look a lot more suspicious.
As expected, when the village child saw me coming out to the fields with Maro riding on my shoulder for the first time, he was the very first one to run over. His name seems to be Theo.
“What is that! So fluffy! Can I touch it?”
…”Gently, okay.”
Theo touches Maro’s back with hesitation. The moment he did, his perfectly round eyes lit up brightly.
“So soft! Hey, what is its name?”
“Maro.”
“Maro!”
The adults were just the same as always. Even though I was bringing along an unfamiliar beast, they only glanced over for a second and nobody spoke to me. An outsider of whom nobody knows where he came from picked up a beast of whom nobody knows where it came from. —Just that, and nothing more. As before, I remain an outsider in this village. That is fine. It might be a bad habit of mine, but it is always best not to stand out.
That day, too, I was covered in dirt until the sun went down. I picked up stones and pulled out weeds. Every time I bent down, my grown bangs fluttered down over my eyes.
…Come to think of it, I have not cut my hair even once since coming to this world. If you leave it alone, it just keeps growing. I brushed away the hair stuck to my forehead with the back of my hand by sweat. Thinking of my hair from the previous world which was kept short and neat. It has truly turned into quite a messy appearance. Maro on my shoulder was curled up and sleeping without a care in the world.
That evening. In the straw bed of the barn, the two of us, Maro and I, curled up together. The inside of my clothes is warm. It is incomparable to the warmth of just a single egg from last night. The usual window floated up behind my eyelids.
‘Daily Reward — Experience +1’
…Today, it is 1. Last night it was 2. It is a capricious number as always. My level does not budge at all. Even so, today felt kind of good. Rather than the number increasing by one, hearing small breathing sounds coming from inside my clothes—that felt much better.
I was about to close my eyes. At that moment. From the direction of the village, there was the sound of dogs barking frantically. One dog turned into two. Two turned into three. It was a broken, frightened voice, as if they were terrified of something.
Inside my sleeve, Maro shifted its body with a twitch.
“…What is it?”
There is no way it would answer.
Only that night, the barking of the dogs did not stop for a while.