June 7th, Cloudy ☁

Recently, the human had been pacing around his bed, seemingly deep in thought…

Today, he finally secluded himself in his room to m*sturbate. He waited until I wasn’t watching, but something seemed amiss as he struggled for a while, clutching at himself.

After barely finishing, he sat on the bed sighing heavily, as if he’d just endured some great trial. While I was relieved he wasn’t as dim-witted as I’d initially thought, his behavior puzzled me.

He washed his hands and even laundered all his bedding to erase any evidence. More clever than I’d expected. He must be rather bashful.

The human, who had been sighing endlessly, began reading books. Had the m*sturbation somehow sparked this interest? I had worried about his lack of reading… It was a relief to see him finally showing enthusiasm for the written word. He read with intense focus, muttering to himself with reddened eyes.

Though strangely enough, he would periodically pause his reading to sigh and stare down at his cr*tch. What an odd way to read.

The books he chose were “Exploring Our Body” and “Water Has Feelings Too.” Since he wasn’t reading books meant for 3-year-olds, perhaps he was older than I’d assumed? I had thought him young due to his small stature.

Then again, I shouldn’t judge by our species’ standards. We reach our adult form within 3 years of birth, then continue growing larger. It’s among the fastest growth rates in the universe.

When comparing human size to other species, they fall exactly in the middle range, so if their growth rate is also average… Perhaps the human was around ten years old?

I ordered more books, and decided to reorder those discarded tools as well.

Order List:

• 100 Recommended Books for Young Adults
• M Company’s 258 World Literature Collection
• TOEIC, From Basics to Practice
• Recommended Adult Products

(Objective recommendations from 100 pet human owners)

***

June 9th, Clear ☀

The books arrived.

When I entered the room with the cage, the human was resting on the hamster wheel. (He had secured it with nearby stones and was using it as a chair rather than running on it.)

I was about to quietly hand over the books when the human glared at me defiantly. Suddenly, he ran off somewhere. As I watched, he retrieved something that looked like a long pole and pointed it at me.

To my surprise, it was a spear! A rather well-crafted one, with sharpened stones bound to a whittled piece of wood. The clever fool had made a weapon when I wasn’t watching.

I found it endearing how he brandished that pitiful spear, so I allowed him to stab me with his insignificant weapon. The poking tickled more than it hurt. After letting him have his fill of stabbing, I took the spear away. He didn’t resist, just slumped down dejectedly.

Perhaps he hadn’t meant to attack but wanted to play? I was pleased that the human seemed to be growing more attached to me. I decided to keep the spear as a memento.

Caught up in the moment, I kissed the human I held along with the spear. He was incredibly soft, though the Earth-made fabric of his clothes felt unpleasant. I lifted his clothes slightly to kiss his bare skin, delighting in how wonderfully pliant it felt. He made sweet whimpering sounds in my hands that suggested he was enjoying himself.

After our play session, I returned him to his cage along with the books and adult products. This impudent creature only took the books to his room, deliberately tossing the adult products into the pond right before my eyes. Then he threw in the three books I’d bought him earlier as well, despite having read them so diligently.

Could throwing things into the pond have been his way of cherishing them rather than discarding them? Though human books weren’t meant to get wet…

Humans were certainly stupid – I’d witnessed his lack of learning ability multiple times. Yet confirming his stupidity didn’t upset me. Rather, the thought that he might be treasuring my gifts in his own way made him even more lovable.

I would need to install a reactive warp portal under the pond so that discarded items could return to his house in pristine condition.

***

June 10th, Clear ☀

I boasted to Ezel about the human making a weapon. To my surprise, Ezel expressed concern for my safety, though I couldn’t fathom why – there was no way a mere human could harm me.

When Ezel offered to buy me a new human if this one proved too rebellious, I angrily cut off our communication.

Ezel contacted me again minutes later, explaining that humans weren’t naturally aggressive creatures and that my human’s current state was somewhat abnormal.

Abnormal. I found it amusing that Ezel worried about such things, considering I might be the most abnormal being in Arkea.

Ezel spoke of abnormality as though it were a defect and continued trying to convince me. They insisted I shouldn’t leave the human be, that if I didn’t plan to dispose of him, I should train him properly. They offered to introduce me to someone called ‘Lampresh’ if I needed help with education.

Lampresh is a member of the Dowd tribe who takes the form of a fishman and is said to be a famous collector of humans. They said he maintained about forty humans in a massive cage, where they had created their own society and lived in harmony. Supposedly, placing a rebellious human among them would teach them rules and manners until they became docile.

Though Ezel presented this as something wonderful, I wasn’t particularly interested. While the human’s defiance was irritating, his unpredictable behavior was also endearing. Complete obedience might prove less entertaining.

Ezel worried about my depression and warned me not to become too absorbed with the human. I told them I’d think about it more.

***

June 28th, Rainy ☂

I woke up in a foul mood.

Of all days, the Sovereign had to contact me on a rainy day. Only Ezel and my doctor knew how rainy days affected my temperament. Fighting the urge to kill, I forced myself to listen to the Sovereign’s petty concerns.

The Sovereign lectured me about Arkea’s pride and duty. Clearly, they didn’t know me well enough. Such matters had never concerned me. Besides, my resignation from the position of Sovereign had been mutually agreed upon. The war was over, and I had sworn never to return to the frontlines. It was all to avoid using my abilities – the best decision for both myself and our species.

But the current Sovereign was consumed by greed. They had discovered a planet rich in Atarect, except it belonged to the Orsh. Seizing it would mean war with the Union, and they kept insisting they needed me to minimize casualties-

No, I shouldn’t dwell on these thoughts. Whatever the circumstances, I shouldn’t have directed my anger at the human. It was wrong. How disgraceful to repeat a mistake I had already regretted.

Lately, the human had been fleeing at the mere sight of me. This behavior started after I helped him with his self-pleasure a few days ago.

His attitude was both insolent and perplexing. He had clearly enjoyed my assistance with his self-pleasure. His reactions had shown unmistakable pleasure, which I had verified multiple times.

So why did he run? Without understanding human thought processes or habits, I couldn’t grasp the reason. His reactions simply made no sense.

Today, when I entered the room, he abandoned his book on the hamster wheel and bolted to his house.

Watching him flee as if I were something repulsive infuriated me so much that I nearly used my ability. But I couldn’t waste it on such a trivial matter.

The Center had attributed my depression to centuries of warfare and repeated use of my ability. That’s why I tried to avoid using it. While a brief mental scan probably wouldn’t hurt, breaking my recently well-kept principle over one human seemed unwise.

In retrospect, I should have just used my ability to read his true feelings, principles be damned. The dominant emotion I felt was rage – hardly conducive to caring for another being.

Furious, I snatched up the fleeing human. I wanted to crush the ungrateful creature but managed to restrain myself through sheer willpower. Even in my anger, I knew I would regret killing him.

I held the panicked human immobile and left the room. Seeing the android inquire about the situation, I recognized my last chance to end this without violence. I handed the human over. But infuriatingly, he immediately relaxed in the android’s arms – not mine, but the android’s.

True, the android encountered the human frequently. While I handled his care, the android was responsible for feeding him when I forgot.

But the android could never provide more than I did. It wasn’t the android who supplied his basic needs, bought his books, or assisted with his pleasure. Yet this human, who fled from me in terror, found immediate comfort in the android’s embrace. My blood boiled at the sight.

In a burst of rage, I seized the android and crushed it. Though the android stood about 3 meters tall – larger than the human – it was tiny compared to me.

The human tumbled and rolled from my sudden action, clearly shocked at watching the android explode before his eyes. I extended my hand, gesturing him to come, but the frightened creature ran in the opposite direction instead.

He headed for the android’s exit – a 3-meter-high door large enough for him to escape through. Pale with fear, he struggled with the door before fleeing outside.

I stood watching, thinking smugly: ‘Let’s see how far you can run, as if escape would lead anywhere good.’

I should have caught him immediately.

Two hours later, my senses returned. This planet I called home was an anarchic wasteland filled with society’s dregs. I had chosen it because I could dispose of annoyances without consequence, but it was no place for a human.

By the time I realized my mistake, the human who had fled during those two hours was nowhere to be found. I ordered other androids to search, but feared the fragile human might not survive.

So I finally used my ability.

The human had been captured in a Lavas¹ nest. His terror was palpable. The Lavas, approaching their feeding time, were about to start consuming him.

I did what I always did – collapsed the minds of every Lavas present. They turned on each other, tearing and devouring until none remained. Five minutes later, and the human would have been swallowed whole.

I considered going myself but sent the androids instead. In my current state, I might have exterminated every Lavas on the planet.

The androids returned with the unconscious human. His body was covered in wounds, likely from resisting capture. The android reported his temperature was elevated – probably from shock. I ordered them to treat his injuries. It galled me that another creature had dared damage what was mine.

***

¹Lavas are bipedal mammals resembling gorillas. They can communicate with simple language. Their habits are closer to Earth’s rats. Size is approximately 2-3m. Carnivorous. They store live prey and eat them while still alive.