Hiatus Gifting This Unfortunate Guy With Blessings

"What is it, Nanny?"

A male's sleepy voice answered the Shinehorn's cry.

"Maaa..."

"Hmmm? You can't sleep because of the noise? When will those guys learn?"

I had to strain my ears to hear anything coming from the guards' room down below so I doubted that Shinehorn's bleat was their fault. I had a very uneasy feeling in my gut that she knew that someone was behind the door even though I haven't made much noise.

"Stay, I will take care of it."

'Gincut-san' must have stood up because I heard a bed creak and then a few steps coming towards the door. There was a sound of a key entering the keyhole, the cling of the lock and the door has been swung open right afterward.

After hearing the first 'Maaa!' I had immediately changed into my squirrel form and climbed up the wall, directly above the door, since I doubted that anyone would look up after coming out of the room.

And it seemed that I was right about that because in a second I saw the owner pass through the door with his eyes focused on the floor level. Before he could close the door behind him I stopped clinging to the wall and experienced a free-fall until my legs hit the floor. I curbed the urge to squeak as the closing door swept me inside of the room.

"Maaa?"

"I'll be right back."

The Kung Fu Goat named Nanny had already spotted me and was looking at me curiously while giving out a surprised bleat to which Gincut answered in a reassuring voice.

I could hear the guy start walking away from the door with quick steps.

Meanwhile, Nanny has already stood up and walked up close to me. The Kung Fu Goat sniffed me for a second or two and then booped me with its nose. I thought I saw her horns flicker just a tiny bit but she didn't seem to have any bad intentions since my animalistic instincts didn't issue even a minimal buzz.

Since she has already touched me I used [List] command of my [Imitate] power and checked how long it would take for me to take the Shinhorn's form. As expected a new entry appeared on my [List] but my mind blanked out when I 'saw' the time needed to unlock that form.

> Shinehorn Doeling(2:59)

Since the time needed for me to acquire a new form depended on the 'best' form I already had had on my [List], I haven't expected to see three minutes on a counter for a Shinehorn form. I started wondering if my hypothesis about that was wrong because no matter how strong the 'adorableness' of Kung Fu Goat was, Griffin's form should be much stronger.

And it didn't seem to be a fully m.a.t.u.r.ed Shinehorn anyways! Since it was a Doeling it meant that it was just a kid!

Unfortunately, I wasn't given a lot of time to think or do anything else because I already heard steps coming up the stairs. When my mind was in a state of confusion, Gincut must have already take care of the guards' 'making noise'.

I started to look for a place to hide but I soon realized that Nanny's curiosity wouldn't allow me to stay hidden. The merchant would easily find me if his favorite pet kept staring at the place I was sitting at. My vision fell onto the window and I started wondering about running away but then I realized something.

Gincut has left the key in the lock on the inside.

"Maa!" "Huh?"

My sudden transformation seemed to startle Nanny and she jumped back in the split of a second before I could catch her. This elicited a sharp bleat out of the creature but before Gincut could've pulled on the door's handle I quickly turned the lock.

I immediately transformed back into a squirrel form in hope that Nanny would be confused but it didn't seem I was dealing with an idiot because she started looking at me with caution in her eyes.

Gincut, on the other hand, began trying to open the door but since it was locked he was just pulling the handle up and down repeatedly until I heard him sigh and ask.

"Nanny, I thought you grew out of these childish pranks…"

"Maaa!"

Somehow Gincut has thought that it was Nanny that locked the door. I started to wonder what was wrong with the guy's head because no matter how agile it was impossible for this creature to do something like this. Meanwhile, I was cautiously trying to walk up to the Shinehorn that kept backpedaling with my ever step forward.

"Are you mad at me for making you perform the whole day?"

The guy kept speaking as I tried to get closer to Nanny. I tried triggering her curiosity again by transforming into my owl form but that didn't seem to work. This made her jump on the desk and eye me with even more caution in her gaze.

"Maaa! Ma?!"

"I did it because the guild pressed me! I am sorry… Come on, open up. I'll be sure to treat you something good!"

Gincut somehow didn't recognize the panic in Nanny's bleats and kept conversing through the door. He unknowingly gave me a piece of valuable advice though. I quickly transformed into my Crimson Demon form that was currently in possession of three giant cabbages.

I thought I hit the nail on the head with the idea of bribing Nanny with tasty cabbages. But to my surprise, after I've put the cabbages down and tried reaching out a cabbage leaf to the little Shinehorn, I noticed that she has already jumped back on the floor and sniffing… me.

The change in attitude baffled me but I wasn't about to decline a chance when I saw one and so I reached out my hand calmly and weirdly enough the Kung Fu Goat let me touch its back. To my surprise, her horns suddenly lit up but before I could wonder about what was happening with them I heard another person behind the door.

"Sir, is something wrong?"

It was neither Rex nor Dave that came up to check on what Gincut was doing. Recognizing by the voice it was the 3rd guy who had been observing the corridor and seemed to like Shinehorn.

"Oh! Am-san!...Ummm… it seems that the lock is stuck…"

For whatever reason, Gincut suddenly changed his mind and no longer insisted that it was Nanny's doing. The Shinehorn in question was at that moment getting shinier and shinier horns so I retracted my hand in surprise.

This seemed to stop the magical reaction, however, as soon as I did that, Nanny gave out a dissatisfied bleat "Maa!" so, deciding that a little bit of blue light was better than being immediately found out, I once again put my hand on the greedy creature.

After a few seconds, I realized that Nanny's horns were somehow reacting to my mana. It looked exactly like Megumin trying out new staves earlier that day. However, there didn't seem to be any adverse effects to it so I just prayed to goddess Eris that I wouldn't cause any harm to this creature.

"Ummm… then I will bring Dave, he's got Lockpick Skill. Or should I just smash the door?"

"N-no. There's no need to destroy. Let Dave try first."

The two seemed to be a little bit startled by the sudden cry but otherwise didn't react to it. I made sure I was between Nanny and the door so neither guard Am nor Gincut seemed to notice the weird blue light coming from the room.

When Am walked away I heard Gincut whisper through the door.

"Nanny, please don't use Lock again, okay? You don't wanna be taken away from me, right?"

I strained to hear more but Gincut fell silent. Meanwhile, the Shinehorn was silently sitting on the floor while enjoying a cabbage's leaf. When the counter got down to 20 seconds I heard two people come up to the door and Dave's voice resounded, stating confidently:

"Ha! I will take care of this lock in 5 seconds!"

Hearing this claim I have panicked slightly. After gathering all the cabbages around my body I've transformed into my Human form with my hand still touching Nanny. She voiced a sudden complaint again but with only 10 seconds left I ignored that and picked up the trashing Shinehorn.

"Can you do it faster? Nanny is getting impatient."

I cursed inwardly when I heard Dave's groan and answer:

"Give me 20 more seconds."

When I heard a *DING* in my brain I released the angry Shinehorn that immediately jumped back. I quickly went towards the window and opened it. After looking back for a second I noticed the Shinehorn once again looking at me warily while standing on the bed, far away from the window.

I certainly didn't want to steal Nanny or let her escape from someone who seemed to care for her so much. Although there seemed to be some mystery about their relationship it wasn't any of my business. I've thought about transforming into a Shinehorn and having a chat with Nanny but that would probably only complicate matters and there was no much time left.

I flew out in my owl form right after a few seconds when I heard a click in the lock which could only mean the door was finally opened.

Just to be sure that I wasn't somehow tracked by some invisible super scout I flew around the city for another half an hour. After getting rid of that sudden paranoia I headed directly towards my house.

When I got close I noticed a black cat sitting on my doormat. When I touched down and transformed into my Human form, Chomusuke stretched herself and came up to me to rub her head on my leg.

After patting her on the head I let her into my house and closed the door. To my surprise, Chomusuke immediately went towards the kitchen instead of my room like the day before. When I followed her there I heard a pitiful sounding meow that I immediately understood as a request for food.

But I had no normal stuff in the kitchen since neither Chris nor I were bothering with making food. The only edible things I had were… the three cabbages on my Crimson Demon form. My Earth's common sense rejected the idea as being stupid but remembering my Griffin's case I shrugged inwardly and proposed a cabbage to Chomusuke.

She sniffed the leaf I was offering and then… made a very disgusted face. That reaction was so normal that I got genuinely surprised after everything seemed to like cabbages.

"Well, sorry. That is all I have."

I swear I could see the disappointment in Chomusuke's eyes before she just stood up and trotted towards my room.

As there was no one else to feed, I fed all of my animal forms, besides Giant Toad that wouldn't fit anywhere in the house no matter what furniture I moved.

As the last one in the queue, I brought out the Shinehorn Doeling form.

Unfortunately, there wasn't any mirror in the house that could let me look at my form. After eating a cabbage's leaf or two I was already full and then I've confirmed its agility by jumping around the furniture and doing a few tricks in the air without a sweat.

With no one around to compliment my new form, it was kinda dull so I went to my room to show it off to Chomusuke. I peeked around the corner to see if Chomusuke was lying in her spot and after confirming it I took a running start and jumped right in front of her.

Chomusuke jumped up almost immediately and landed on the floor. After a few seconds, she seemed to recognize me by the scar I had on my left eye and soon sent me a reproachful gaze. I had no idea what reaction I have expected from her, to be honest…

But after a second I noticed that I was feeling attracted to the black cat sitting before me...

I repressed that urge for a few seconds until my curiosity won and I jumped down on the floor and booped Chomusuke with my head.

For a moment the whole room got illuminated by a flash of dark crimson light before Chomusuke suddenly cried out and jumped back in surprise.

"MEOW!?"

She assumed a defensive position and even hissed at me so I quickly changed back to my human form in order to try to calm her down. She became much calmer but even after five minutes wouldn't let me touch her no matter what I tried.

Very soon Chomusuke sat down on a windowsill and demanded to be let out with a loud cry. With the feeling of guilt for somehow wronging her, I opened the window and she quickly escaped. I sat down on the bed while wondering what exactly has happened.