Chapter 197 – Crossing the River
Timi was watching this kid’s face get tight in anger, and yelled to him,
「I’LL WATCH YOU FROM HERE! SWIM IT!」
「How dare she talk to him like that!」
The older man with him was shocked by Timi’s words.
I had heard the father of this kid, Cruz’ assistant, was a wonderful guy.
But he may have not been good at raising his kids.
「They say the kids of accomplished men are often fools.」
And they also don’t understand the difference between foolishness and accomplishment.
It happens to kids that are babied by their parents until adulthood.
Femm looked at me with an exasperated look,
『I guess this kid thinks he’s really something, huh?』
「If you’re a royal, you have to understand what makes you one, first.」
「ryaa!」
Timi was really angry as she said that to Shiggy. Shiggy looked upset as well.
Timi rubbed the dragon that was still in my pouch.
「You’re a royal too, little Shiggy. You know you shouldn’t act like people like that, right?」
「ryaa」
「Right! You’re a good girl, Shiggy.」
The two ancient dragons were talking about it to each other.
As we were talking, a fellow on the other side had stripped and was crossing the river.
He had a package on his head, and was walking through.
It was one of the bridge carpenters that complained to the kid about riding him across.
The kid and the older man watched him walk through the current with their arms crossed.
We all watched him too, and Femm said,
『It’s pretty deep.』
「Yup.」
Timi said it was up to my chest, but it was now up to his neck.
She made an excuse for it.
「Well, this guy’s a lot shorter than you Al, so…」
「Yeah, even so, he might get swept away, and he’s having a hard time of it.」
『If he does get swept away, we’ll help him.』
「Please.」
Femm got ready.
She watched him cross and whispered,
「No, I guess it is a lot deeper…I guess it looked really shallow from above.」
「I think it’s a bit hard to judge a river from above, Timi…」
「Yeah…」
Seems the Timi was doubting her own ability. She was a bit sad.
As we were talking about it, the first guy crossed all the way.
「Good job.」
「No, it would be nice in the summer, but now it’s quite cold!」
I retrieved a towel from my magic bag.
「You can take this if you want it.」
「Ah, thank you very much!」
「Dry off your clothes. I have a change of clothes if you need it.」
「Thank you very much, but I have another change with me.」
This fellow was quite polite.
I could tell why he couldn’t hold back his anger at that kid.
The next person came across.
Timi said to him as he approached,
「How was the current? Was it fast?」
「It was quite fast. I was about to fall, and I was frightened.」
「Is that so?」
Shiggy stayed in my pouch, hiding from the men.
She was probably cautious, so that’s why she hid.
Then, when the third man was about to make it over.
「Whoaaa!」
In the middle of the river, we saw a man fall.
He was a short, thin man, and in the middle of the 10.
His lightness might have been to much to keep him on the ground.
「Gwafff!」
When he fell over, Femm sprung up and into the river.
The short man was splashing as he was carried down the river.
He was being carried away quickly.
But Femm was faster.
Femm was a heavenly wolf king, even without having to grow back to its real size.
Way faster than even a magic wolf.
Femm caught up to the man almost immediately, and bit onto the man’s hair.
Then Femm started pulling the men back to us.
The man who was drowning was flailing. He seemed to be unconsciously whipping his arms and feet all around.
He was also hitting Femm, who was trying to help him.
Even so, Femm didn’t react, but just kept swimming.
They quickly reached the shore.
「Cough hack cogh!」
The man quickly began to heave and spit out the water he had inhaled. He looked quite close to death.
Another man patted his back and said,
「Thank you so much for saving him!」
「Wuff!」
Femm barked and stood proudly.
「Femm, great job.」
「Excellent!」
「Wuff!」
We both complimented Femm, and it wagged its tail.
After a moment of spitting the water, he got his breath back.
Then the man bowed to me.
「Thank you for saving me.」
「It’s all thanks to Femm’s help.」
「Femm, thank you. I’ll bring you some food as a reward.」
「Wuff!」
He bowed to Femm again, who just looked like a big dog.
Then he want to pat Fem on the head.
But Femm pulled back.
Then I explained why Femm didn’t let the man pat it.
「He’s a very proud…Femm. Sorry.」
「Not at all, Femm. Thank you again for saving me.」
And instead of trying to pet Femm, he bowed once more.
Just then, the others, except the kid and the old man with him had crossed.
I gave them all towels.
The first bridge maker turned and noticed the road behind us.
「You made THIS?!」
「Yes.」
「Wow, that’s some work!」
「Well, we weren’t going to cover it with stone…」
「Just cutting the trees is enough!」
Timi then said,
「We’re very good at it!」
「Is that so?」
The way Timi said it made her sound like a woodcutter.
「If you continue down that road, you’ll come to the temple.」
「Thank you.」
「And there’s another river on the way, but much narrower, and not hard to cross.」
「Oh, thanks for the information.」
Then the bridgemakers looked over to the other side and shouted,
「WE’RE HEADED TO THE TEMPLE! TAKE ALL THE TIME YOU NEED TO CATCH UP!」
「YOU…YOU BASTARDS!!」
The older man screamed back. The kid’s face was even redder now.
But the men ignored the other two and turned back to me with a smile.