by Aneko Yusagi
What should I do? The carriage was broken. And the Filolial was too hurt to pull it anyway. I hadn’t applied the monster control seal, and I couldn’t make her work when she was hurt anyway.
“Gah?”
“I’m sorry. I have to go soon.”
I’d taken a bit of a detour, but I’d have to meet up with the shadow and make my way back to Melromarc soon.
“Gaaah!”
My Filolial called out to the blue Filolial.
“Gaaah!”
After nodding a few times, the blue Filolial called back.
Then, all of a sudden, we were surrounded by a whole group of Filolials.
There were so many—I’d never seen anything like it.
Three Filolials came walking over to the blue Filolial.
It looked like they were all listening to her, and I know I wasn’t just imagining it. She was like their mother, and clearly the leader of the group.
“Gah!”
“Gah!”
The blue Filolial raised a wing and motioned for me to approach the other three Filolials.
“Um…”
I climbed down from the blue Filolial and walked toward the others.
When I approached, all three of them knelt to the ground in what I assumed was a signal to climb up.
“You’ll take me there?”
“Gah!”
All three nodded.
“Gah!”
The blue Filolial was waving its wings at me.
“Thank you!”
I yelled my gratitude, and the three Filolials took off running.
I had such a mysterious experience with the Filolials that day. I’d never forget it for as long as I lived.
The three Filolials found the road I’d been on originally and then brought me across the border into Melromarc.
On the way we got tired and took a rest. I’m pretty sure we were near a village in the east of Melromarc.
“Gah?!”
Someone was approaching us, and the three Filolials were squawking in surprise.
Then, as if they suddenly noticed something, they all ran off.
“Ah…”
I guess that was the end of our friendship? This wasn’t a very convenient place to be dropped off. But I guess I wasn’t so far from Melromarc. I could just get a carriage or something.
“That bird looks delicious! Every time I pass one I can’t get over how good they look.”
“You’re one of those birds.”
I heard people talking.
“If you chase them, you can still get them, Master!”
I walked in the direction of the voices.
There was a Filolial there, but she was different than any Filolial I'd seen before.
She was wider than normal, with white and pink fluffy feathers. And she was really big.
She had clear, blue eyes, and a very happy and cheerful face. She looked like very pure, happy Filolial.
The blue Filolial was no doubt rare, but I had never seen anything like this one before.
I was so fascinated that I walked right over to her.
“Wow… Are you a Filolial?”
“You mean me?”
“You can talk?”
To meet a Filolial that could talk like person, it was like a dream!
This is all the mysterious stuff that happened before me and Filo met.
After we met, it took a little while to become best friends. In that time, all sorts of things happened—but that’s a story for another day.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Vol. 3
© Aneko Yusagi 2013
First published by KADOKAWA in 2013 in Japan.
English translation rights arranged by One Peace Books
under the license from KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Japan
Written by Aneko Yusagi
Character Design Seira Minami
Cover Design by Yusuke Koyama
English Edition Published by One Peace Books 2016
One Peace Books
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