The Northern Grand Duke’s Hamster

Life is a series of burglaries.

At first, my life was stolen and I somehow survived, but then my human rights were stolen, then my wheel was also stolen. Now, even the shirt which I had hidden so well, has also been stolen. I don't have anything now to be robbed off of!

Is there a thief in my life. If there is, please go away.

It was clearly well hidden, I checked the way to it multiple times, even when I was in Sen's hand, I checked it again in order not to lose the way to it next time. I trusted the system's words, and hoped it could save the shirt, because it's a location I could use "Summon" in.

[ (・・= ・・) ]

Yeah, I know, it's not your fault. It's not like you tricked me into becoming a hamster, because you wanted me to take off the shirt.

The ones who found my clothes were none other than the magicians. As they searched for me at Kyle's request, they followed the flow of mana, and said they had found the clothes I had hidden in a place where traces of magic remained, albeit slightly.

I think the skill given by the system seems to be some kind of magic in this world, and the residue of it remained on the clothes I was wearing as the "Summon" was lifted.

Of course, those who would never dream of the existence of the system, seemed to believe that a deranged clothes thief entered the master's bedroom, but in actuality…

"I wish you could speak."

Kyle looked at me with a friendly look and soon sighed deeply. He continued to say.

"That's right. There's no way that you, who is as calm and kind as an angel, would've went out without a reason. Why did he try to steal you? Or was it a crazy thief, who took everything that he wanted, and you were just smart enough to find the shirt on your way back."

― Eek. [ What in the world are you saying? ]

I do know how to talk, you punk. And besides, I'm that crazy thief you're talking about.

Anyways, why is it even when you're cursing out a thief, you're still able to dish out silly praises like this. Can a hamster really be that smart?

"As expected, the thieves I first met were…"

No! No, calm down. Sit down. Are you going to beat them up? All they'll do is scream out of pain, they know nothing.

Anyways, my life hasn't improved one bit. Today, if I use the "Summon" skill, I'll still be naked. Thinking about it, the taste of rice, no, the taste of almonds is decreasing…

I smashed the walnut as hard as I could. Tuk. The walnut rolled down the slide and got stuck between the sawdust.

"Cashew Nut?"

Kyle who was about to run to the prison and hang the three thieves who had stormed into the study yesterday, quickly turned back to approach me.

He put me on his palm and began to stroke my forehead.

"Do they taste bad? Or do you not like walnuts? Should I change it to macadamias?"

Kyle rummaged through his drawer with his other hand, took out a macadamia and gave it to me.

I took a few bites out of courtesy, then he smiled brightly as if he had found a gold mine. But when I whose appetite disappeared again, stopped eating and pushed the macadamia away, he looked at me desperately with an expression of carrying all the burdens in the world.

"What's wrong with you? Why don't you have an appetite?"

Hey, who would be able to eat in this situation? I said I wanted to become human, I never said I wanted to walk around naked. I'm not Adam.

"What can I do to make you happy? If I knew how, I would spare nothing for it."

Ugh. That dedication. Such a gentle voice and eyes dripping with honey. If I weren't a mouse with a size smaller than a palm right now, I would be 100 times more romantic than you are now.

But actually, this fate is not as bad as I thought it would be.

I quite like how Duke Blake, who was said to be as cold as an ice field, petted me with a melting hand, and called my name in a warm voice. It's been a while since I received so much love for no reason.

Unlike me who was easygoing, Kyle seemed to be more worried than I thought.

"I don't want to lose you…"

He said with a deep sigh, I glanced at the book on his desk while winding myself around his palm.

< A magical beast's mana stone >

'When did you even get that.'

It seemed it took a great toll on him when the magicians said they couldn't feel any mana from me.

[ Magical beasts usually grow a heart during the growth process, and this heart is called a mana stone. Mana stones that finished forming are called 'nucleus.' When these stones are not able to form properly, the magical beasts are unable to live a long life. In severe cases, they die during the growth stage. ]

'Death… Was it that important?'

[ X_X ]

'Was there originally something like this?'

Of course, I'm just an ordinary hamster… Actually, I'm normal in a sense that I don't have a mana stone, I'm still a little unusual by the fact that I can turn into a human. But for Kyle, it was natural for him to think that my situation is a lot more serious than it looks like.

"Don't worry. It says that if you periodically inject magical power until the end of growth period, not only will it be able to live a bit longer, it will also become less feral."

Come on. Don't inject anything. I won't become feral, and I won't die. What if you inject something in me and side effects come out?

"I will do my best to take care of you. It is already too late to send you back to the wild…"

What are you talking about! If you throw me back to the fields, I'll spend 23 hours and 30 minutes in the body the size of a mouse poop and I'll become a snack for other demons for the next 30 minutes.

"What a strange thing. I've conquered the North with thousands of beasts, yet I'm worried to death by a child of those beasts."

I know, thanks to you, I can't get used to it either. Who takes care of a hamster like this.

But seeing that I don't hate him that much, it means that I seem to have some affection for him.

All my life, I've lived and done everything alone and it made me sick and tired. How can I not like someone who appeared so suddenly and treated me kindly for no reason at all.

"I don't think you've drank water all night, and you don't even have an appetite… Hmm?"

Kyle tapped me on the nose, and looked as if he wanted to shower me with kisses but afraid of causing me more stress, he resisted the temptation.

That's right, don't kiss me more than 10 times a day okay? 10 times is too much.

By the way, it's a misunderstanding that I'm not thirsty. I just chose not to drink from the water bowl because, I ran around so much yesterday and as soon as I came back to the house, I washed my feet in it. The truth is, I'm actually quite thirsty.

But I can't drink the water which I used to wash my feet in! It feels like licking the floor.

Forced to remain silent, I couldn't do anything but look up at him. Seeing me staring, he contemplated for a moment, then called the knight to bring up Sen.

"Starting from today, I want to feed it other snacks aside from nuts, do you know what food other rodents eat?"

A new diet? Sounds good. I'm looking forward to Serena's excellent answer. Serena, please be nice to me.

Can you say beef? Ah, or is that too much? Then how about, pork? Duck meat? Even chicken is fine? What else is there huh? Sheep, lamb? Maybe shrimp or fish… Whatever it is, I like it. Give me lots of delicious food!

It's about time that we change my diet. I was just thinking how I'm still as small as I am because of malnutrition.

So, protein.

Give me protein, okay?

*

"I think mealworm would do, Your Highness."

… Wait no! That's not true!

"Or crickets? If you want to train it, it would be better to feed it a barely alive cricket so it can try to hunt. That's the best meal for hamsters, so wouldn't it be the same for Cashew Nut?"

"All right."

Don't listen to it so seriously, you crazy man!

Sen fixed her glasses with a serious face and gave Kyle a menu or something. He listened to the report with an impressive face as if he had seen the discovery of the century.

What are you two doing…

"Nuts alone are not enough. You should also think about giving it fruits, and since its currently at growth period, it's best to give it protein."

"That makes sense. I'll entrust this matter to you with full authority, so prepare everything with the highest quality, okay?"

No, it's not okay!

You crazy people, what do you mean crickets. No! I hate it! I won't even touch it with my mouth. If you feed it to me, I'll scream and faint.

"We are officially starting the festival this evening, so I might be a little busy… I'll be going now, so I can come back early in the evening."

Kyle held out a pocket full of money without hesitation.

"You don't have to be thrifty, buy everything and what's left is yours."

Sen answered one more time.

"I understand, Your Highness, I'll buy everything to the point where it feels that the money might be insufficient. Although it's a bit hard to buy everything in the North, I think I may be able to get everything because of the festival!"

"All right, that's good. I'll ask the chef to prepare as well."

You two play really well huh. I'd rather go out and leave the room than see you two go at it.

[ Miracle value has risen! ]

[ Current miracle value: 7% ]

The miracle value suddenly increased, it seems that the relationship of the two in the original book which was stuck in abyss had suddenly improved.

That's right, I can only live if Kyle lives, and to make that happen, we need to prevent Serena from holding a knife towards Kyle, just like the original novel.

Whatever it is, continue to be on good terms, okay?

Just don't buy me a mealworm!

*

― Squeak! [ Put it away! ]

Do you have wheels on your feet? How could you buy hamster food so quickly! You said you'd only buy the best! Shouldn't that take you around a few days!

I jumped up and down at the sight of worms in the bowl.

"Look at this, Your Highness, does it not seem like he likes it a lot?"

Kyle's face brightened at Sen's words.

It's the opposite, you punks! Aren't you going to clean it up right now? Do you want to get hit with a mealworm? Don't look at me with anticipation, I'm not gonna eat this!

I ran away in hurry, and when I got stuck in the slide, I looked back and saw Kyle picking up crickets with tongs and placing them close to me.

Hey, you bastard! Don't put them close to me! Ack! They're alive! Please stop!

Do you want to die? Aren't you gonna put them away!

Please, help and save this hamster!

You punks, you'll see.

When I turn human, I'll make sure to get revenge.