Once it had passed.

I proceeded to make an agreement with Nikita, who had calmed down somewhat.

“As you might have guessed, it’s impossible to create a cure for a disease that has not yet appeared.”

“…I guess so, right?”

It was fortunate that she didn’t curse at me for saying something that made sense.

“However, the lady has my weakness, and you know the meaning of the text I couldn’t decipher…”

She looked at the glass marble and notebook in my hand for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and said,

“If a disease develops, I will try to make a cure.”

As words of cooperation came out of her mouth, a feeling of relief washed over me.

It was fortunate to find Nikita before the plague really began.

Although she said, ‘I will try,’ she did not say that the probability of success was low, so she seemed confident in creating a cure.

After gathering some composure, I pointed out the part that was a little annoying.

“Hey. Why didn’t you say that I helped you twice?”

“…When did the lady help me twice?”

“I recovered your stolen notebook at the night market. You almost got treated by the laughter therapist for loitering around Weil Castle, but I took you away. That’s right, twice.”

Then she rolled her eyes and murmured softly.

“Maybe it would have been better not to have received help…”

“What?”

“Oh, no.”

I stared at her for a moment, then she shrugged and quickly relaxed.

“Well, I don’t know what to say in return, but as you said, I’ll find out how and when the whales were able to use magic in the Weil library. I’m also curious about that.”

‘Of course, even if I find out, it’s another thing to let her know.’

Then her dead eyes came to life again. After beating with a whip, giving a carrot seemed to make it taste better.

“Oh, oh! Even the lady still has a good conscience!”

…Should I hit her?

It might be okay to hit once.

As I fiddled with the magic wand, Nikita asked in a more cautious tone, as though she felt something wrong.

“Well then, when are you going to tell me the meaning of the text written on the notebook?”

“I’ll see what you do.”

“… … okay.”

As if she knew I would say that, Nikita backed off easily.

“Then I will leave the whales to the lady and I will go up to the center.”

“What, do you trust me so easily?”

“No. But it’s because I thought it was time to go back.”

How honest too.

“Okay. Then go to the center and contact me. We will talk again then.”

After the rough reply, I took her to Suradel.

I asked Suradel to cast a tracking spell on Nikita.

Nikita, who suddenly had a tracking spell like a criminal, sent me a gaze full of betrayal.

But I didn’t care.

Even if she said she would go to the center, I had to let her know where she stood.

It would be naive to think I would let her go without any safety net.

It seemed she did not know much about the world as she only studied.

After casting the tracking spell, I freed Nikita without regret.

Seeing how she quickly disappeared without looking back, I felt a sense of satisfaction.

I waved my hand with a warm expression.

Of course, I did not forget to say a few good words to her who was living in a harsh world.

“Raccoon, from now on you should live happily and healthily without being noticed by people~?”

When she completely disappeared from sight, I brushed my hands off like I had worked hard.

“Come to think of it…”

I suddenly had a question.

How did Anemone, a pure-blooded human in the original work, not get sick?

Until now, I vaguely thought it would be because she had the main character buff from being the female lead.

However, even in novels, there was a certain probability.

I thought that there must be some other reason.

There were a number of cases.

1. Anemone is not actually a pure-blooded human.

2. She ate foods that prevent infectious diseases.

3. She has a specialized immune system.

Although I diligently searched for Nikita, I did not feel assured that she would be able to create a cure.

Perhaps, the cure could only be completed after all pure-blooded humans have died.

Therefore, I was looking for a way to save my father on my own.

If I looked at the lifestyle of Anemone, there might be something different from normal humans.

‘Then, the next target is set.’

To get close to Anemone and observe her until the plague surfaced.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

After meeting Nikita.

Since the owner of the notebook and the raccoon were the same person, I no longer had to suffer outside.

However, since Jerome was waiting at the same time and place every day, it was necessary to tell him that I had found the raccoon.

So as usual, I took Lord Hanu and Iprus and went out of Weil Castle.

But today there was one more person.

“You’re in human form today, Jack?”

I sneakily inspected Iprus’ face. Seeing that there was no sign of discomfort, it seemed that he had an agreement with Iprus.

Jack raised an eyebrow and explained.

“I brought an interesting rumor. I have to be in a human state to tell you, so I came here despite the rudeness.”

“An interesting rumor?”

“Yes. There are two things, would the lady like to hear the rumors related to you first? Or something related to what you asked of me separately?”

If he had the requested information…

It would be additional information about the imprint of the wolf demibeast and Theodore’s movement.

This was what I had asked of Jack recently, when he was chasing Iprus in the form of a field mouse.

But I was more important than Theodore.

“Rumors about me.”

Then Jack asked with a playful laugh.

“Is it true that you and Sir Suradel are initimate?”

“What?”

At the absurd remark, rather than anger, a sense of bewilderment took precedence.

He said it was an interesting rumor.

“Who the hell is spreading such absurd rumors?”

“They say you said it yourself.”

“…Me?!”

As I was lost in thought, Iprus elbowed Jack in the side.

“Jack, are you talking casually with the lady?”

“…I heard you say it yourself.”

I left Jack, who had become rapidly polite, and eagerly searched my memory to see what mistakes I had made in the past.

But let alone a slip of the tongue, I had never acted like a lover except for the time when I walked hand in hand with Suradel in the Weil territory.

“What did I say?”

“Some people have heard that the lady spent the night with Sir Suuradel. It wasn’t just one…”

“…Did I say that? Where?”

“At the Igle family’s succession banquet.”

It seemed that I did a good job of hitting Suradel at the banquet hall.

‘If there’s a part that is somewhat suspicious, it’s that Suradel shouted that he likes me.’

But wasn’t it a very different story to end up with ‘spend a night’?

“Hmm. I don’t know why there are rumors like that. Is it because I attended the banquet as Suradel’s partner?”

“I don’t think rumors like that spread from being partners.”

After deliberating on various reasons, I finally decided to calm down.

It was fine as long as it wasn’t a rumor that I was a penguin demibeast.

“It doesn’t matter because it’s not true. I can’t afford to pay attention to such rumors right now.”

But unlike me, Iprus seemed to be eagerly hoping the rumors were true.

“Did something really happen with Sir Suradel, Lady Lia?”

“You don’t know even though you stick with me every day? He and I simply…”

Wait, what’s the relationship between Suradel and I? Friends? Rivals?

“…We are just acquaintances.”

“Do you really think so, Lady Lia?”

At Iprus’ intent stare, I finally changed the topic.

“Anyway. All sorts of strange words go around. Is there nothing to do?”

“…Well, the subject is Sir Suradel. The only demibeast that makes even top predators tremble. Everyone deserves to be interested.”

Fortunately, it seemed that Iprus was not going to obsessively dig into my answer. I looked at Jack and asked.

“So, other than those crazy rumors about me, what’s the other thing?”

“Ah. This is news about Sir Theodore of the Wulf Family. That he could pass either today or tomorrow.”

“…What? Why is that healthy guy suddenly…?”

He was not some kind of sunfish, yet he was hurting every time I heard about him.

I had no choice but to push that thought away immediately.

It was because of what Jack said.

“Hmm. It’s said that it happens only to wolf demibeasts whose imprinting has failed. They call it an incomplete imprint.”

Ame: I wonder if it was because of the imprint that Anemone survived in the original. Perhaps it altered her cells or body makeup.