10 Hope

After watching Anna humiliate herself, and she had finished laughing, Rosa had one of the guards bring a pail of water to wash the slime off of Anna. Meanwhile, Anna continued to lay on the ground, hoping she could sink into the earth so she could hide.

Eventually, the guard was back with the water and a towel. He set down the pail and began to wet the towel when Rosa stopped him.

"I'll do it," Rosa insisted.

The soldier didn't argue and continued to guard from a distance.

Rosa sat down next to Anna who was still laying down, dying inside. Anna expected some sort of torture, but Rosa was surprisingly gentle. The warm water was soothing as the slime was wiped off. Anna began to relax when suddenly Rosa let out a "pfft" and started laughing again. Anna started to feel irritated, so she decided 'well since I'm just a dog, I guess I'll act like one.'

She got up and started shaking off all the water and remaining slime, lots of it splattering off onto Rosa. Her usually calm expression cracked.

"Oh, so the mutt wants to play, huh?" Rosa asked in a frightening manner.

Scared but also curious, Anna watched as Rosa walked over to Yogolm's carriages packed with luggage. She immediately realized Rosa's intentions when the latter got a crate the same as the one with the slime from earlier. She immediately began sprinting away.

This her first time running in this body. She'd thought her strength stat was probably pretty high after hitting the slime and sending it flying. But now she started to realize how high the stat was as her legs launched her forward at intense speeds. Unfortunately for her, her dexterity stat was low, on account of her still being a clumsy puppy. She didn't have the coordination to handle the speed generated by her strength and ended up tumbling over.

But by the time she stood up Rosa had already released more slimes and had approached with one in her hand.

'Oh shi-' Anna began to swear but was decked by a slime that exploded on impact.

Yogolm watched on as the two play fought with the poor slimes as weapons. Rosa throwing and Anna swatting them. He didn't stop them because it was important for companions to develop a friendly relationship. Plus while it was just a play fight, they were still defeating slimes and gaining experience.

Continuing to watch it he had a strange sense of realization that the two children playing before him would easily become among the strongest in the world. It reminded him of the responsibility that befell him in being their mentor.

His family had been Beast Trainers for hundreds of years. Not particularly strong or powerful, but still respected. He himself had been training kids and their companion beasts for many dozens of years. His high reputation had put his services in high demand, especially amongst nobility who wanted the best for their children.

When he first began teaching, he was optimistic, naively believing that he could be a positive influence for the children, and hopefully help shape the future of this country. However, every time he'd seen the same thing: noble kids who'd been given everything to succeed, without ever learning the perspective of those who weren't born with silver spoons. He'd always tried and failed to teach them that becoming strong wasn't easy without help. That the strength that is so highly valued amongst demons isn't possible to attain without the wealth and power from their families. Eventually, after years of his efforts being quashed, he stopped teaching nobility and began helping commoners. Although it had helped, he alone couldn't change trends that were set by those in power. He'd made small progress in that time.

When the King summoned him, he had wanted to refuse, and with his reputation and prestige, he could. But, being aware that this might be his last chance to help his country, he'd accepted albeit without much hope.

Watching as the two continued to play, blissfully unaware of the significance of their future, not just as royalty, but as future leaders of a nation that was in a precarious state. For the sake of the country, as well as themselves, he sincerely hoped he could properly teach them.