NOVEL NEXT 46: Cat Guardian
In early May, with all kinds of seedlings planted and the wind starting to warm, the rosebuds were swelling larger.
For me, May is the busiest time.
Of course, I’m busy taking care of the roses.
Every day, I patrol the garden to check for pests and diseases.
When the branches and leaves start to flourish, it makes me happy!
I feel like dancing.
After finishing the rose patrol, I check the other plants.
I deadhead the spring flowers and guide the wildly growing clematis vines.
If you neglect clematis, it quickly extends its leaves like hands and tangles together.
In my previous life, I found it troublesome and left it, letting it become a mess.
Today, let’s carefully untangle and guide them.
That was just a few minutes ago.
Screech!
Why do you all grow so freely?
I’ve had enough.
I give up!
While I was grumbling, Billy, who was working with me, spoke up.
“Master Haku, I’ll take care of the clematis, so please check on the radberries.”
Oh, a voice from heaven!
“Really? Can I leave this to you?”
“Yes, leave it to me.”
Billy kindly accepted the task.
“After the flowers bloom, you can cut them back, so you don’t need to be too meticulous, okay? Take a break when you need to.”
“Understood.”
He’s a simple and good boy.
So, I headed to the radberry field.
The white strawberry flowers covered the field like a carpet.
Radberry flowers are twice the size of regular strawberries.
So, the fruit is big too.
In the radberry field, small spirits and bees were busily pollinating.
The bees seem to live in the nearby forest.
Thank you for helping with the pollination. Please take plenty of nectar.
I hope to get some honey later, but I won’t say that out loud.
Because I can’t talk to the bees.
While I was basking in the sun at the edge of the strawberry field, a small spirit seemed to be approaching a bee and talking to it.
I didn’t see or hear anything.
Maybe I should prepare a jar later?
The radberry strawberry field had no issues.
After checking the fields of edamame, high-end muskmelons, and red-purple sweet potatoes, I returned to the mansion.
Since it was almost lunchtime, I washed my hands and headed to the dining room.
I also cast a purification spell.
You get dusty working in the garden without realizing it.
As I walked down the hallway humming, Martha called out to me.
“Master, your cheeks are red. If you’re not careful this time of year, you’ll get sunburned quickly. Please wear a hat.”
“Okay.”
Martha gently took my hand and led me to the family lounge.
As I sat on the sofa waiting, Martha returned with a wet towel and some cream.
“Let’s cool your cheeks. Master Haku has very fair skin, so you could get burned if we don’t take care of it. Let’s apply some cream just in case.”
She wiped my face, neck, and arms with the cool towel and applied the cream.
“I’ll prepare a hat and a light jacket for you later, so please wear them when you go outside.”
She smiled and patted my head.
She also applied cream to the cheeks of Guri and Poko.
Yes.
The spirits are treated like children of this house too.
After tidying up, Martha took us to the dining room.
It was just Grandpa Al and us there.
Father is often busy, so I often eat alone, but since Grandpa Al came, we usually eat together.
“Haku boy, what will you do this afternoon?”
While eating a sandwich made with black bread, thick-cut bacon, and fresh, crunchy vegetables, Grandpa Al asked.
“I’ll be studying in the annex this afternoon.”
“Understood.”
After finishing his lunch, Grandpa Al was beaming with excitement.
We’re going to study, you know?
We’re not going to the back room, okay?
Do you understand?
You don’t understand, do you…?
So please don’t rush me.
I have a small mouth, so I can’t eat a lot at once!
Grandpa Al was being scolded by Burton for his eagerness.
In the end, the spirits and I were carried to the annex by Grandpa Al.
It’s not my fault if they say I’m slow.
I’m almost eight years old but still small.
What if I never grow up?
While I was worrying about that, we arrived at the annex gate.
On top of the gate pillars, there were the black and white cats, Kuro and Shiro.
The pair of cats that were present during the open house turned out to be the gatekeepers of this house!
I realized that a few days later, when I felt someone watching me, and looked up to see the cats staring at me intensely.
“You’re so oblivious for not noticing all this time, Nya.”
“You’re small, so you don’t look up, Nya.”
They dissed me right from the start.
Lately, it feels like that’s all I’ve been getting…
“Hurry up and name us, Nya!”
Pressured by the two cats, I named them Kuro and Shiro.
“How simplistic, Nya!”
“No sense of style, Nya!”
Ugh… if you don’t like it, you should name yourselves!
“That’s not allowed, Nya.”
“That’s right, Nya.”
“That’s because naming is a condition of the contract with spirits.”
Grandpa Al said, stroking his chin and looking amused.
“Even so, Haku boy, you’re a box of surprises. Hahaha!”
Grandpa Al’s laughter echoed in the backyard.
It’s not funny to me!
Hmph.
“Well, it can’t be helped, Nya.” the cats accepted their names.
Stop saying it with such resigned sighs!
By the way, the ornament of the dwarf spirit holding a lamp was just an ornament.
It automatically lights up when it gets dark, a sensor-activated automatic light!
It’s another piece of over-technology!
What are they making here!
The cats regularly patrol the wooden fence, guarding the house.
“Rest assured, Nya. Not a single mouse will get in, Nya.”
“Leave it to us, Nya.”
Saying that, they skillfully walked along, avoiding the rose thorns.
The real box of surprises is this house, isn’t it?