My Adventures In Philia

Delicious Food and A Tour

"...and that's why I came to you."

Isla, Trisha, and I all paid attention to Cobalt's explanation about why he decided to become my familiar in the first place. Now, we finally understand. As Cobalt finished talking, Trisha was the first one to speak first.

"So, that's why, huh. You decided to turn down a chance to become a leader and instead, you wanted to be shrimp's familiar, right?" The beer-drinking maiden stood up from the couch and approached Cobalt as she stared at him with her head lowered.

She shows an intimidating glare at him and I watched as my familiar feel uneasy from the glare that was shot at him. I looked at Isla who was about to step in if Trisha tries anything.

Cobalt gulped loudly and stated in a straightforward tone,

"Yeah, that's true. If you have a problem with it then say it directly to me."

A long pause filled the inn lobby until Trisha began to crack up. Soon later, she laughs even harder leaving Cobalt and me in confusion at the sudden outburst.

I then asked, "What's wrong, Trisha?" While waiting for her laughter to quiet down, she finally spoke.

"It's nothing at all shrimp, I was just messing with him. I just want to see that he is serious about being your familiar, that's all." Trisha patted Cobalt's head which almost made him fall over from the amount of force on her palm. "And it looks like he passed the test."

"Well, welcome to the Rose Empire, It may be big but you get used to the wonders around here. Is that right? Isla?" She turned her head towards her friend who gladly remarked,

"That's right, I know that we started on the wrong foot but I think we would try to get along,"

I glanced back at Cobalt who happen to have a big smile on his face.

"Thank you for that."

"No problem, little wolf. You are with us now." Trisha started as she ruffled Cobalt's white hair.

"What is going on here?"

I turned towards where the voice was coming from and I saw Nean who is walking down the stairs with Lexi behind her who is rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, you two are awake already?" I asked them.

"Well yeah," Nean answered as she stretched her arms wide above her head while letting out a yawn.

Trisha greeted, raising her hand and giving them a wave. "Nice to see you, two sleepyheads."

"Hello, big sister Trisha and big sister Isla," Lexi replied waving back at the Swashbuckler. Looks like I'm not the only big sister here. I mentally smirked to myself.

"By the way, what's up with him? Why is he here?" The archer pointed her finger towards Cobalt who stares at her, dumbfounded.

Isla then answered Nean's question,
"Cobalt is Ria's familiar now. Or probably a friend instead."

"Yeah, that's true." The Mystic admitted. He then shows them the thorn and the Goddess's Blessing on his palm. Nean's eyes widen and Lexi admires it from afar with absolute wonder. Suddenly, Lexi told something that caught me off guard.

"Does that mean he is now our pet?"

That sounds wrong and strange out of context. Familiars are not exactly pets but companions who fight alongside you.

I then glanced at Cobalt. He blinked several times, trying to process what she said until he finally realized what Lexi meant. His ears perked up in astonishment and his tail flicks up with the same reaction.