"I'm...what's my name? I can't remember it."
"Don't you even remember your own name?"
"Well... I once had a name that fit... and I felt like I had some sort of clear role, but now I can't recall what it was."
This scene seems to be setting up the event for me to name this guy.
One of the joys of the game is to give a name to an unnamed monster when such an event occurs. So through this event, I can give it a name -
"...You seem to be thinking about something, according to my guess, because you hit me on the head, and all the memories, including my name, disappeared."
"Hey, is it my fault!?"
"Adventurer, give me a name. You don't want to keep calling me dragon, do you?"
Indeed, naming a dog or cat "dog" or "cat" is very boring, so naming a dragon "dragon" is not very good either. After all, I still have to choose the name.
I'm not sure if that's the case, but it's said that the reason why this guy lost his memory was my attack. It's not good that I attacked suddenly, but this guy said he would become my partner... so it's better for me to do it. Bar.
"Okay, I get it. So..."
Suddenly, I searched for some words in my mind and found a few names that seemed to fit this guy, and then considered whether they would be a good fit. After all, this guy is quite powerful among the monsters I’ve seen so far——
"So, how about Godzilla?"
"Godzilla? Is my appearance suitable for being called Godzilla?"
"So, where's King Kong Ghidorah?"
"Isn't that dragon golden? My body is white"
"Then Moth Wyvern"
"I feel like I'm not a dragon"
Every time I mentioned a name, it responded naturally. This guy seems to be equipped with quite advanced artificial intelligence. Sure enough, the monsters that can be tamed seem to be different from ordinary AI.
"Then, let's pick a middle name, like Gamera."
"..."
"Don't like it?"
"I don't like it. I'm not a monster"
The nameless dragon seems to know monsters that have appeared in monster movies of the past. Although I don’t know much about taming monsters yet, what is certain is that the artificial intelligence equipped by taming monsters is not an ordinary thing, it is a very finely crafted AI.
"That's it...then..."
Suddenly, I thought of the dragon's biggest feature. This guy lost his memory, like he was initialized and rebooted. Initialization, restart. If you restart...?
Indeed, restarting in English is "Reboot", "Restart"...even when it comes to IT terminology, it is "Riran".
"Lilan...how is Lilan?"
When he was called Lilan, Long's expression seemed to brighten suddenly.
"Lilan...sounds good"
"It seems you like it. Then, your name will be Lilan."
"This is the name of the dragon that will become my 'familiar' from now on. It will be called 'Riran'."
The moment I said this, a window appeared in front of me. The window has an input field and a keyboard-like area. This is a window for entering text.
"Just enter "Lilan" here, right?"
"It seems so."
I typed the name that came to mind into the window while squinting at the eager dragon for a name. The spelling is the same as the English word for the reboot, called "Riran".
After pressing the OK key, the window closed once and then opened again.
The window showed a different status than mine. Looking at the name column, the text "Lv: 75" was displayed on it.
At the same time, it was a surprise to me to see that it was as high a level as I was.
I raised my head and looked at Lilan. A green cursor appeared above its head, and the words "Lilan" and "HP Bar" were displayed in the upper left corner.
"In this case...do I become your master and an 'animal tamer'?"
"That's it. My name is Lilan. And my master's name is..."
At this time, I finally realized that although I had given Lilan a name, I had not told her my name since we met.
"I'm sorry, Lilan. I forgot to tell you. My name is Kirito."
"Kirito. What is the best thing to call me? 'Master'? Or 'Lord'? Or 'Master'?"
"... Just call me Kirito."
Lilan nodded.
"I understand. From now on, I will be Kirito's friend. No matter what enemies or obstacles they are, I will destroy them for you!"
Lilan announced loudly. However, something is wrong. No, it seems like something is wrong.
Maybe it’s the “eliminating for you” part that feels unnatural. Because it can breathe fire, it probably means "turn it into ashes (ashes) and destroy it for you."
"If that's the case, turn it into ashes and destroy it for me."
"……Yes, it is"
"No problem, there's nothing wrong with your head."
"The impact when I was hit by you seemed to be quite big."
“Is it still my fault in the end?”
Lilan turned her head towards me. Despite its wolf-like silhouette, its expression is unmistakable.
"But if I follow you, I'm afraid I'll be able to recover my memory sooner or later. Let your journey also be my journey to recover my memory."
"What does this mean? However, it seems that you lost your memory because of me, so be it. If there is a battle, I hope you can give me the solid support you just did."
“I will support you not only in battle, but also in daily life.”
I suddenly noticed the image of Lilan.
Lilan's body is much larger than that of an ordinary dragon, and it seems that she cannot enter the town. But it is my "familiar" and I am the "tamer", so it must be able to enter the range and enter the town. I can’t put it out of range while I’m in range….
"By the way, Lilan. What are you going to do when I enter the town? The town is too narrow for your body."
“There seems to be no problem with this“
"What?"
"In any case, take me into the town with you. I still have some remaining memories, so entering the town should be no problem."
"That said, players... no, I am not the only adventurer. Moreover, not everyone is a "tamer". If a huge dragon like you appears in the town, it will cause a commotion. "
"It looks fine. Anyway, we have nothing left to do here. Let's go back to town."
If it can't get into a town, or it's clearly causing trouble in a town, it's best to take it out of range at that point.
While it's impossible to predict what will happen, in this game, it's a common occurrence. Lilan becoming my "familiar" was also unexpected, so no matter what happens, I won't be surprised anymore.
"Okay, I understand. Let's go back to town."
"Understood"
Saying that, I walked toward the town with my "familiar" Lilan, who was not here before.
After passing the peaceful forest and passing through the city gate full of Christmas atmosphere, I turned back to make sure. I wanted to know if Lilan could pass through the city gate... However, what I saw when I looked back was not Lilan's figure, which surprised me.
Did you get lost on the road? No, until I passed the city gate, I still heard Lilan’s footsteps and felt her presence. So it won't go away.
"Well, Lilan? Where's Lilan?"
As I looked around in confusion,
"No need to be so loud, Kirito"
Once again, the "voice" suddenly sounded in my mind, making me jump. However, the voice that sounded in my mind this time was not like the voice of an elderly woman like Lilan, but the voice of a girl about fifteen years old who was about the same age as me... Besides Lilan, is there anyone else who can teleport through words?
Or is it because I became an "animal tamer" that a new event was triggered?
Even though I tried to search for the source of the sound, I couldn't find anything like it.
"What is this sound..."
"It's me, Kirito"
It knew my name and used the first person pronoun of me... This is Lelan. But no matter where I looked, I couldn't find Lilan. The only thing that can be seen is the Christmas tree that still shines late at night, the NPCs at the roadside stalls, and the couples passing by. The dragon was nowhere to be seen.
"This way, Kirito. Look to the lower right from your perspective."
Being called directly, I looked in that direction and my eyes widened. What appeared there was not the figure of the ferocious and beautiful dragon, but the dragon transformed and transformed into a mascot-like small animal form. From a visual inspection, it's about the size of standing on my shoulders.
This little creature had the same red eyes as Lilan and stared at me.
"This... what kind of little animal is this..."
The little animal spread its wings, flew in the air, flapped its wings at a frequency that did not fall, and hovered in front of my face.
It seemed like a "voice" came from this little animal. Coupled with the way it speaks, it seems to understand me...could this be that Lilan! ?
"You, are you Lilan!?"
I pointed at it involuntarily, and the little animal nodded firmly.
"Yes. Are you surprised because your appearance has changed?"
"Why, why did it become like this? Where did you go, that dragon?"
Lilan, who had become smaller, whispered and looked around.
"In my memory, it seems to be referring to this. After I enter the circle, my body will shrink to a size suitable for action in the circle."
"It seems? You have become it, right?"
"Yes. In this case, I can stand on your shoulders and act with you. The adventurers around you won't be surprised to see me of this size."
Well, you will definitely be surprised. Never before has a player had the experience of walking down the street with a small monster on their shoulders. It’s safe to say that it will definitely draw people’s eyes in surprise.
I answered Lilan while scratching my head.
"You will become this size when you are in the city. Will you stand on my shoulders when you move?"
"Yes. You'll get tired if you keep flapping your wings. If you stay in the city, you'll get tired and won't be able to fight with all your strength. It's putting the cart before the horse."
"I'll let you walk on my shoulders...well, that way it won't be stolen. Then, let's go to the hotel, Lilan."
"I see."
Saying this, Lilan jumped onto my shoulder. Unlike the weight of a sword, there is an extra weight on the shoulders, but it feels like there is an arm resting on the shoulders, and it does not feel heavy. And, perhaps because this guy was covered in fur, he felt warm for some reason.
"let's go."
I walked toward the hotel while letting Lilan stand on my shoulders. There were almost no pedestrians on the road at this time, no one noticed Lilan on my shoulder, and no one made a fuss.
I entered the hotel calmly and walked into a single room.
