It’s as if the World is Still

The day after I met Owen, I had my hands and forehead glued to the table and was apologizing to Bruno as best I could.

“I’m sorry I got you into this.”

“No, it was part of my job to protect you. I’m the one who should apologize. I had even prepared a magical tool to prevent myself from telling the truth with confession magic, but it was hit within a second of activation. Who the hell is that guy?”

There was no way I could tell Bruno that that person was someone who held the highest authority in this country’s magic tower, so I had no choice but to lie to him with a bitter smile.

Now that he knew I existed, it was best not to get too involved until Erica had reached the end of the story. Having made that decision, Owen forcibly took Theo, who went on a rampage, and Erica, who cried loudly, and left.

“Could I sneak off to see Nina alone?” 

I laughed at what he said, but I knew that Owen would never do that.

─From now on, things would go back to the way it usually was. It made me feel kind of lonely. 

“I knew you were running away from something, and I’m really sorry. Nina makes me a lot of money on a daily basis, so I’d like to apologize to you.”

“Oh, no, you don’t have to apologize.”

“Didn’t you say you wanted a magical beast before? Well, there’s a festival at Cerevista starting today, and there are stalls selling magical beasts. I know a guy there, and I can buy it for you.”

“They’re selling magical beasts? I thought I was going to have to meet one in the mountains or in the forest, and if we hit it off, we could go home together.”

“Hahaha, what’s with your imagination? Actually, it’s very tough, in a lot of ways.”

It seemed that there was a law that stated that magical beasts couldn’t be caught without permission and that it was necessary to go through the prescribed procedures and pick them up at a store that had obtained permission from the country.

Some magical beasts liked humans and some didn’t, so only friendly magical beasts were sold.

“I heard that they have also recently been selling the popular snow hare, the Snow Rabbit.”

“Snow Rabbit… A-Are you serious….?”

“Of course. If you’re free, let’s go there right now.”

Just the name alone convinced me that they were absolutely adorable. Also, people said that because a snow hare had a sensitive nose, they should be able to help me find some medicinal herbs.

With my heart pounding, I got ready and headed for Cerevista with Bruno.

◇◇◇

“Wow….! There are so many people!”

“I like your reaction, it’s very countryman-like.”

When we eventually arrived at Cerevista, it was as gorgeous as the streets of the royal capital and crowded with many people.

Theo and Erica also frequently came here using a teleportation magic circle between Cerevista and the royal capital.

It was my first time coming here because most of my errands were done in a town near the village. Of course, I had the transformation magic on, and I was dressed modestly and wore a hood over my eyes.

With so many people around, I doubt that I would catch anyone’s attention.

“Come on, this way.”

Bruno pulled me by the hand and we headed for a large tent-like area.

There were many magical beasts inside, from cute little ones in cages to big ones like the silver wolf from the other day.

All of them were cute and charming, which made my heart flutter. The owner of this store seemed to really like magical beasts, as the money from the purchase would be used to pay for their protection and feeding in the future. It was very kind of him.