Chapter 33
Even though the food had been placed inside the bars, it was quiet within. A single monster with green eyes snapped it up eagerly.
Meanwhile, the other monsters didn’t cause any trouble.
“Good job, everyone!”
Crescent sheathed her sword and smiled brightly. Inside, the faint sound of a monster chewing on its food echoed softly.
The paladins watching were completely stunned.
…Did mind games actually work on a monster?
But the one who was even more shocked and horrified than them was Cardinal Ruben Pluto.
<Congratulations!>
<You have successfully fed a Demon Realm Animal (Difficulty: A)!>
<The target animal’s affection increased by 30!>
<Additional Job Change: “Animal Care Specialist” — Level increased to 20!>
<Communication skill with animals increased to Level 18!>
<Affinity with animals increased to Level 19!>
<All A-rank Demon Realm Animals now perfectly understand your commands!>
“Wow!”
As the monster ate the food I gave it, system notifications popped up one after another.
Not just any ordinary animal, but a Demon Realm Animal! Successfully feeding it instantly boosted my job level from 10 to 20.
Getting a level-up in the Demon Realm immediately after taking on the “Animal Care Specialist” job was insanely efficient.
“…Great. Let’s increase their affection by training them with food.”
I then began feeding the other monsters meat, one by one.
At level 10, I could roughly understand the monsters, but at level 20, communication became much smoother.
“You ate well! Franklin! Oh, right. From now on, your name is Franklin. Since you’re my precious children, I’ll name all of you. Do you like that?”
“Kya-kak-kung!”
‘What does a name matter! Just hurry up and bring more meat!’
Ding!
<You have successfully named a Demon Realm Animal (Difficulty: A)!>
<The target animal’s affection increased by 40!>
Wow, their affection went up again!
Getting affection from a vicious, foul-smelling monster felt strange, but I had to be happy for survival.
With feeding and naming, Franklin’s total affection rose by 70, and he let out a triumphant roar.
“Kya-kung!”
‘Franklin… seems to like it?’
“Good! Since I’m in a good mood, here’s another piece of meat!”
“Kyaaang!”
‘This is exciting!’
<You have successfully fed a Demon Realm Animal (Difficulty: A)!>
<The target animal’s affection increased by 30!>
<The animal’s affection has reached 100!>
<Additional Job Change: “Animal Care Specialist” — Level increased to 27!>
<Communication skill with animals increased to Level 25!>
<Affinity with animals increased to Level 26!>
Franklin, whose affection reached 100, leapt like a puppy. The cave trembled with his excitement, but my own level was also skyrocketing.
The other monsters, who had no affection yet, eyed him strangely, but Franklin’s expression was pure happiness.
“What… the monster is smiling…?”
“Those were the same monsters that were trying to tear us apart earlier?”
“It’s smiling… but it’s oddly disgusting…”
The paladins each muttered in disbelief.
Even to me, the monster’s smile was eerily unnatural. The saying that you can’t spit on a smiling face didn’t seem to apply to everyone.
At that moment, Cardinal Ruben Pluto, who had been silently observing, approached me.
“What… is happening here?”
“Huh?”
Ruben looked back and forth between me and the monster—Franklin—unable to believe what he saw.
His expression was even more horrified than when he had measured my divine power in the cathedral.
“That ferocious monster is obeying you perfectly!”
“Ah…”
Only then did another paladin speak up.
“This is amazing. Are monsters normally this easy to tame?”
Ruben flatly denied it.
“Absolutely not. This is my first time seeing a monster up close, and they are by no means easy to handle. I only suggested trying to tame them because there was no other way. It should have been impossible. Yet, Crescent… how did you…?”
The question was expected.
Any observer would know that a human communicating with monsters was far from ordinary.
I cautiously answered, looking as puzzled as anyone would.
“…Well… I just treated them like when I used to raise chicks at home… but they seem to understand words even better than chicks! I guess their intelligence is pretty high!”
“Krkyaaang!”
“Kaaak!”
‘This woman knows our true value!’
‘Yes! We are a highly intelligent species! Never underestimate us!’
The monsters understood me and caused a commotion. I just rolled my eyes from side to side in response.
What? Wow… they actually think they’re smart…
Not only do they think, but they even overestimate themselves. A bit more praise, and they’d probably follow my words like crazy.
Watching the monsters excitedly leap around, I smiled.
“Wow, they’re so happy! They must be proud that I recognized how smart they are!”
The paladins looked even more incredulous.
“That counts as happiness…?”
“They’re not trying to kill us?”
“Yes! They’re having so much fun! Monsters being happy is actually kind of cute. I’ve loved animals since I was little. These guys might look scary, but they follow instructions quickly, so they’re not scary anymore. They actually seem lovable!”
“Ugh…”
“Kraaaak!”
The humans and monsters reacted strongly at the same time.
The paladins nearly gagged at the idea of monsters being called “lovable,” bending over in disgust.
The monsters were shocked in return.
“Kraaaak!”
“Kyaaang! Kueek!”
‘We’ve never been called lovable before!’
‘No one ever said that about us! Izmir said that no one would care for ugly monsters like us!’
What?
I immediately turned toward the monsters. This was the perfect opportunity to farm their affection.
“What? Count Izmir only told you that you were ugly? How could he say such cruel things? Don’t worry anymore. If we become your masters, you’ll never hear that again. Ugh, Count Izmir really is a devil… oh, he really is, isn’t he?”
“Kyaaak!”
“Kuwaaang!”
‘She’s right! You’re right!’
‘Kuwaaang!’
The monsters began howling all around. Almost all the monsters gathered were making a ruckus.
It was a cheer of joy, fully agreeing with my words.
At that moment, system notifications popped up repeatedly.
<You have healed the long-standing trauma of the target animals and gained their favor!>
<Each target animal’s affection increased by 70!>
“…?”
What?
Being called ugly had been a trauma for these monsters…?
I was stunned to learn this. Monsters also hated being called ugly enough to develop trauma.
I never imagined it.
You all really look terrifying…
But if each of these monsters’ affection increased by 70, how much would that be in total?
The system notification flashed faster than I could calculate.
<The affection of all target animals has increased by 10,290!>
“!”
Insane!
Total affection exceeded 10,000. This was the result of 147 monsters each gaining 70 affection.
I didn’t even have to feed or name them individually to gain such massive affection!
So my level…?
<Congratulations!>
<Additional Job Change: “Animal Care Specialist” — Level increased to 107!>
<You can perfectly train all A-rank animals!>
<Your fame among Demon Realm Animals has increased!>
…Truly a remarkable moment to proudly claim the title of Animal Care Specialist.
At that moment, Ruben looked utterly incredulous.
“T-This… is impossible. The murderous aura from the monsters is fading.”
