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The meeting then ended without a hitch.
I, Braham, Ritsu, and Lithia head to the room where Rio is kept.
Upon entering the room,
Ren and Claus were playing in the room together.
“Oh! Brother, sister, and Mr. Ritsu! Ham is there too!” (Ren)
“Brother Ham, Brother Ham! Come practice with me next time!” (Claus)
“Younger sister and younger brother… It’s Braham. Please don’t call me weird names.” (Ren)
Braham looks embarrassed when Ren and Claus call him a strange nickname.
“Ahaha, little sister~! The one who’s calling me weird is Ham!” (Ren)
“I’ve gotten pretty strong too! Now I should be able to land at least one!” (Claus)
Ren was laughing.
Claus was closing in on Braham.
Braham seems to be well-liked by Ren and Claus. Although he has recently grown up, Braham’s mental age is not mature. That is probably why he is so popular with children.
“Oh, I’m working right now, so I don’t have time to play with you. Also, it’s a hundred years too early for you to land one on me.” (Braham)
“Wh-What!?” (Claus)
Claus looks annoyed at being underestimated.
“That’s the one we took in the castle… Hmm.” (Braham)
Braham compares the pictures on the paper with Rio.
“They’re almost identical… and the colors match… and there seems to be no doubt that it’s this guy! I thought I’d never find it again, thank goodness.” (Braham)
Braham was happy.
I had mixed feelings.
Ritsu and Lithia were also feeling the same way, or perhaps they had a buoyant expression on their faces.
“I’m going to return it to the victim as soon as possible!” (Braham)
“As soon as possible? Do you know who they are stolen from?” (Ars)
“Yes, I do! We’ve made the person who stole them tell us, and we’ve confirmed it with the person stolen from, so there’s no doubt about it!” (Braham)
Do you know who stole it?
If this happens, there’s no reason to stop.
The person who had Rio stolen from them must be worried.
We have to take him back as soon as possible.
“…are you going to take Rio with you?” (Ren)
Ren, who was smart enough to hear our conversation, seemed to have guessed that we were going to return Rio to its owner.
“Right. We found their owner, so we have to return them… for Rio, right?” (Braham)
Braham tilts his head in thought.
Then whisper to me,
“Um, were you planning to keep it, by any chance? I mean, you’ve given it a name and everything…” (Braham)
I was asked an awkward expression.
“That’s right… that’s what we planned.” (Ars)
“Ah… Is that so… you can just say you didn’t find it and keep it…” (Braham)
“Of course not.” (Ritsu)
“Right…” (Braham)
Ritsu immediately rejected Braham’s proposal.
It’s a matter of course, but stolen property that has been found by its owner must be returned.
“I’m not going to leave you! I don’t want to say goodbye to you after getting to know you so well!”
Ren, who is usually not so selfish and mature, said so in a strong tone.
He seems to have grown quite fond of Rio.
“I want to play with Rio more!” (Claus)
It seems that Claus feels the same as Ren.
Both of them had tears in their eyes.
Emotionally, I feel the same as them, but this is all…
But it’s not like I’m just going to get angry and force them do what I say.
While I was wondering how to persuade them, Lithia went in front of them.
She bent down a little, made eye contact with them, and began to talk to them.
“I understand how you both feel. We’ve grown so close that it’s hard to say goodbye.” (Lithia)
Ren and Claus nodded.
“But Rio has a real home, and I’m sure he wants to go back there. You don’t want that right?” (Lithia)
“…Yeah, I don’t like it.” (Ren & Claus)
“And I’m sure the people who originally owned Rio are just as sad as you are. I’m sure Rio is missing his owners. Ren and Claus know what to do for Rio, right?” (Lithia)
The two were silent for a while, but finally nodded.
“Besides, Rio will be returned to the people within Canale, right?” (Lithia)
“Yes, that’s right.” (Ren & Claus)
“In that case, I think you can go play with him if you get permission, what kind of person are they?” (Lithia)
“Well… they were older people from a merchant family. I think they are not bad people, but I don’t know if I can get their permission.” (Braham)
“That’s right. But don’t worry. I’m good at persuading people. I’ll definitely get you permission!” (Lithia)
“Oh, sister.” (Ren)
“Sister!” (Claus)
Ren and Claus looked at Lithia with respect.
Ren and Claus are also studying and training, so they don’t have a lot of free time on their hands.
Furthermore, we cannot let them go alone, so they need to have an escort.
They would not be able to see each other often, but it would be better than not seeing each other at all.
Ren and Claus seemed to agree.
I really should have been the one to convince them as their older brother, but I guess I had to rely on Lithia again.
Well, it went well, so let’s call it good.
Braham, Lithia, and I decided to go together.
Lithia was the one who convinced them to return Rio.
I was going because it was a request to the lord.
I’m going to make it easier to persuade them.
At times like this, it’s okay to take advantage of the power of the lord.
I said I’d go with Ritsu, but this time I have Braham as an escort, so that’s enough.
Ritsu is also a busy person, so I can’t let them help me with the return work.
I decided to have them stay in the castle.
“Rio, I won’t be able to see you for a while, but I hope you’ll be well.” (Ren)
“The next time we meet, let’s play a lot!” (Claus)
“Kon!” (Rio)
Ren and Claus say goodbye to Rio.
We headed for the town of Canale to return Rio.
We walk for a few minutes and arrive at the town of Canale.
Rio’s owner had built a larger house quite close to the castle.
In the town of Canale, there are wealthy people living near the Canale castle.
They were apparently successful merchants.
An animal as rare as Rio would be priced at a price that a commoner could not afford.
No wonder they are a wealthy family.
“Excuse me~! Mrs. Arnold~!” (Braham)
Braham called the landlord in a very loud voice.
There is a doorbell next to the door.
He was not aware of the bell, though he was told to ring it whenever he needed something.
He continued to yell loudly.
“Here.” (Voice)
The landlord came out.
It was an elderly woman.
Her name seemed to be Arnold.
“Oh, Mr. Braham. Hello!” (Arnold)
“Hello Mrs. Arnold, actually…” (Braham)
Arnold interrupted Braham as he was about to talk.
“Actually, I wanted to tell Mr. Braham! My Pina, who ran away, came back home safely last night!” (Arnold)
“Eh?” (Braham)
Braham was puzzled.
“Woof!” (Pina)
I heard barking from my feet.
I looked down and saw a blue-haired Chihuahua-like looking dog.
Dogs in this world are supposed to have wings without exception, but this dog did not.
“You really remembered this house~ That’s great, Pina.” (Arnold)
While saying that, Mrs. Arnold strokes Pina’s head.
“Um, uh, was that the stolen dog? It’s a dog, but it doesn’t have wings.” (Braham)
“Yes, it’s a rare breed of dog without wings! Isn’t she cute?” (Arnold)
“Yes, that’s right.” (Braham)
“Oh? Who is that child?” (Arnold)
Mrs. Arnold noticed Rio’s presence.
“He’s cute, isn’t he! He’s an animal I’ve never seen before, and he’s a rare child! Could it be that you came to sell him to me?” (Arnold)
“Huh? Oh no, madam! He is not for sale. I’m glad you found her. Well then.” (Braham)
Braham hurriedly denies it.
We then left the place.
“…Oh, that’s strange~ It seems that it was a mistake.” (Braham)
“It was a little similar, but… did you draw that picture?” (Ars)
“Well, we listened to the bandit, and then we had a good sketcher in our unit paint it.” (Braham)
Braham answered.
In other words, they didn’t see the real thing.
Well, the real animal was running away, so there was no way they could draw it by looking at it.
It is likely that the picture they drew was after hearing the characteristics of another animal happened to look exactly like Rio’s.
“You showed that picture to Mrs. Arnold, right?” (Ars)
“Yes, I did show it, and she definitely said it was her pet…” (Braham)
Well, Rio and that dog are similar. They have many things in common, such as blue fur and size.
It’s not surprising that she would look at the illustration and think it was her dog.
It is normal to think that there are some differences because it is a sketch.
“I’ve come all this way for nothing, haven’t I?” (Ars)
Lithia smiles wryly.
Ren and Claus had followed her to convince her to go see Rio.
It ended up being different, so we ended up not having anything to talk about.
“But why was Rio in the castle?” (Lithia)
“Certainly… there is no doubt that it is an animal that is not endemic in Messiaen… is it unrelated to bandits?” (Ars)
“Hmm… I don’t know.” (Braham)
Braham shook his head.
“Just in case, I’ll ask again.” (Braham)
“Okay, I’m counting on you.” (Ars)
In the end, it was going to take some time to find the clues, but we soon found out who Rio was.
When Braham went to talk to the bandit he had captured, he found that Rio was not an animal stolen by the bandit, but an animal he had captured with his own hands.
He said that he had caught Rio when he was a straggler who had lost his parents and was ready to sell him.
The day before he was captured, Rio went missing.
Since he was asked about the stolen animals, it seems that he didn’t think anything about Rio.
As for the criminal’s personal property, it will not be returned to the criminal…
They are supposed to do forced hard labor for a while. The personal property belongs to the person who caught the criminal.
In this case, the Rio belongs to the Louvent family because the Braham of the Louvent family caught them.
Whatever has been confiscated from the criminals so far, once it becomes the property of the Louvent family, it is converted into cash.
From there, it will be given to informants as a reward, or to vassals who have done well in capturing criminals as a reward.
Some money also goes into the family coffers, but not much.
Of course, there are times when the family does not hold much in the way of private property.
In that case, the reward is usually paid from the money on hand.
This time, of course, we will not sell Rio.
The Braham will be paid from the money they have on hand, no problem.
Rio has officially become the pet of the Louvent family.
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