As it turned out, my prediction came true and the animal café became a big hit from the next day it opened.

We ran out of monster-type magic constructs for serving customers and had to stay up all night to frantically make them….well, I guess this was better compared to worrying about the number of customers coming in.

Anyway, this means that our plan on investigating when the magic construct’s ego will occur will proceed. However, what we really need to do is to be able to control that ego.

I have an idea but this is something that can’t be done by the magic construct engineers alone.

Even if we try to control a magic construct with another magic construct, there is a possibility that the magic construct that will control the first magic construct will get an ego too.

I spent about a week scrambling in school and finally managed to write a joint letter for the capital with the names of Professor Marino, Dean Estoma, who had become a relative of mine, and the school principal.

I was really tired. Anyway, the rest of this will wait until we receive a reply from the royal capital.

-0-

One day, my second brother, Shishiriki, came to our house on a horse in the cold.

He was so cold that he had a runny nose so I asked Laura-san not to meet him.

I can’t let a pregnant woman catch a cold after all.

I led him to the parlor and had him sit in a chair in front of the fireplace. After a while, his nose finally stopped dripping.

「Aniki, what happened to the eight-legged bicorn? If you had used that to come here, you wouldn’t have frozen like that.」

「That thing was not so fuel efficient. I know I couldn’t use it on a regular basis.」

「True」

It is a special magic construct so the fuel consumption is roughly two and half times compared to a normal bicorn.

Considering the income of my second brother, who lives in his room, it will be quite difficult to maintain it.

「So, I came here today because I had a request for you~」

「If you’re going to ask me to make another magic construct, I have to say no. I’m very busy right now.」

「No, no, I want to borrow your Schenker Street and your marching band. I’m getting married.」

「Eh! Really!?」

「Yeah, it’s true. She is a girl working at an inn. She’s a nice girl and father likes her too.」

Second brother scratched his head in an unusual embarrassment. He seemed to have calmed down after sitting cross-legged on his chair.

Well, I had never met any of my second brother’s girlfriends before let alone this one.

This is a happy occasion.

「Hee〜, congratulations, aniki.」

「Hehehe, thanks. So, I want to make our wedding showy. Thus, I want to rent the street and your band.」

「That’s great. So, when are you planning to do it?」

「Well〜, we haven’t decided yet whether we’ll do it in winter or spring.」

「Ah, then, you better make it sooner. Our band is going to the capital soon for work. They might not be able to come back in spring.」

The band was to deliver the music I had prepared at the request of a powerful noble in the capital.

This time, the work of the band is not only to go there to play but also to teach the music to the other bands.

I heard that the client will prepare seats for the entire band on the magic train both going and returning. However, there is still a possibility that the return trip tickets will be difficult to get.

「Then…it’s going to be a bit busy but, how about the end of this month?」

「Aniki, have you prepared the clothes already?」

「You don’t have to worry about that, it’s alright. Both of us were originally going to borrow clothes from our senpais〜」

「Understood. I’ll make the arrangement.」

「Please.」

My second brother, who’s sitting on the chair cross-legged, bowed.

「I’ll inform Chicken about this matter so you can go to the headquarters anytime to discuss the details.」

「You’re a lifesaver, thanks〜」

As soon as he said that, my second brother rushed out to leave but I stopped him.

I didn’t have anything prepared for him because of the short notice but I would at least have him bring home some Laura Rola to celebrate.

This Dr.P*pper sake is an expensive product that I successfully branded.

「Here, for you and neesan in law.」

「Ah, this sake is….are you sure?」

「Why are you holding back?」

My second brother gave me his most childish smile of the day and poked me in the side with his finger.

「oi〜, thanks〜」

「I heard you are popular with ladies so don’t drink this alone.」

「If I do that, I’ll be in danger〜, my bride loves drinking too.」

I strapped four bottles to his horse for him and the new sister-in-law. His eyes are just staring at the Laura Rola.

It’s my second brother’s wedding and it should be lively.

Still, it’s getting very cold.

My sigh whiten as something white climbed on top of my head.

When I looked up, I saw the quarter moon floating in the sky.

The moon with a horizontal line on it looks like a golden cup.

It is a golden cup to congratulate my second brother.

It gives off a strange sense of fragility and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. It’s as if if I tried reaching and grabbing it, it would shatter.

Only the sound of the cold wind resounded in my ears.

I could see white flakes beginning to mix with the wind.

I stood still and watch the first snowfall of Torquiva.