“Ready for your first day at school?”
I woke Nowa up while she was still sleeping. Much as I hated to do so, she couldn’t be late on her first day.
However, I didn’t expect her to actually pout and turn her head away from me angrily.
‘What did I do wrong?’
“A-Are you mad because I woke you up early?”
No response. But something told me that it wasn’t the case. ‘Then what is it?’ I tried recalling yesterday’s events. I got lost in the forest with Freya, returned home, and—
“It’s about the kiss, isn’t it?”
Nowa flinched.
Chuckling, I kneeled down on the bed and planted a quick kiss on her lips. “Satisfied?”
She meekly nodded as I ruffled her hair.
“Then, prepare your stuff. I’ll wait downstairs.”
As soon as I left the room, I let out a muffled scream in my hands. ‘DID I ACTUALLY JUST DO THAT!? AHHHH!’
After spending a few moments to calm myself down, I got out of the house and ignored the Spears siblings, who were arguing first thing in the morning as always.
One thing that I noticed was that the so-called “heat shelter” looked like it was finished. ‘I should probably find out what it is.’ But…should I though? I was already too busy with my delivery job, training, and now, picking Nowa up from school.
Whatever the case was, I didn’t have time to think about it anymore since the Guildmaster emerged from the heat shelter with sunken eyes. My guess was that he spent the entire night finishing it.
“Come in,” he yawned and went back into the shelter.
I saw no reason to refuse and entered. Inside was what I’d expected—an empty space with walls padded with some kind of soft yet sturdy material.
“Give the wall your best punch.”
‘What’s all this about?’ I looked at the Guildmaster with a questioning gaze. However, he merely yawned again, clearly too tired to answer anything.
Sighing, I activated [Iron Tail] and struck the wall. Although it wasn’t a punch, the force behind that attack was much greater than one.
And, to my surprise, the wall held up. ‘Huh, neat.’
“Now, Magic.”
I frowned. What would he need me to strike this place with Spells for? But I relented nonetheless, if I’d accidentally destroyed this place, at least I’d have the satisfaction of seeing him groaning and rebuilding this place all over again.
“[Flame Cannon]”
The pillar of blue flames was absorbed into the white padded walls, leaving no traces behind.
Well, almost no traces.
A deafening sound rang out from outside the heat shelter. While I was thoroughly confused, the Guildmaster nodded in satisfaction and exited the shelter.
I followed right behind him, wanting to find out what was up with that sound.
“Woah, did you do that, Fox spirit?” Freya jumped right up to me as soon as I got out.
Distancing myself a bit from the overly excited Dryad, I asked, “What? What did I do?”
“You shot your cool fire magic through the roof!”
‘...What?’
This time, the Guildmaster finally answered the obvious question. “The walls absorbed your Spell and released it through the roof.”
“...But why?”
“Can’t have you destroying the shelter or hurting yourself. This costed half my yearly salary…”
‘What is he on about?’
But judging by the latter half of his sentence, it was safe to assume that he wanted me to say something. I knew what it was, but I wasn’t going to say it.
Why? Because if anything, this “heat shelter” seemed like a prison tailored just for me.
‘...I’ll have to keep my guard up around him.’
“I see. Interesting. Anyways, I have to get Nowa to school.”
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I stood before the school gate with Nowa holding my hand. ‘What’s this feeling?’ Sadness and reluctance, but I didn’t know why I was feeling them! Nowa was going to just be gone for a few hours. That was all. And yet…
“Nee-chan! Don’t worry!” Nowa suddenly squeezed my hand. “I’ll be back!”
Saying that, she excitedly ran past the school gate like any kid her age should.
I stayed there, kneeling and watching Nowa’s figure disappearing in the crowd of students. I was definitely obstructing the traffic, and people were definitely giving me weird looks, but all I cared about at that moment was the anxiety I was feeling.
‘S-She’s gone…’
For the first time in more than a year, Nowa had escaped my sight. Sure, there were times when I had to leave her for work, but she was always in safe places where I could come and go as I pleased.
But apart from special occasions, this school wouldn’t let outsiders in. So, a physical wedge between Nowa and I was created.
And I absolutely hated it.
What if she was bullied? Nowa was a sweet child, but she was different. I knew how kids liked to ridicule those that were different from them.
What if she was hurt, and the school’s infirmary was manned by some shady doctors?
So many things could go wrong, and I was powerless to do anything against them.
Realizing that my thought had gone too far, I slapped my cheeks to recompose myself. ‘Come on Esther, stop overthinking things!’ S-She was going to be fine, and I could be sure of it in six hours.
In the meantime, I should continue with my daily routine: delivery and training.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
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Skin as fair as snow, flaming eyes, and a chilling cold attitude. That was what Burren thought as soon as he laid eyes on the beauty before him.
Despite the perfection that was laid before his eyes, his mind was only occupied with one thing.
‘Are her ears and tail as soft as they look—’
“Boss! What are you staring at?”
Burren blinked. Then, he glared at one of his cronies—a lanky girl with mouse ears. “Can’t you see perfection?”
“See what now?” The Mouse girl scanned the surroundings once more and shook his head. “Are you sure you didn’t eat anything strange last night, bos—”
“Shut up!” Burren slapped the back of the girl’s head. “Since when did you become comfortable around your boss?”
The Mouse girl laughed sheepishly and stayed silent.
Burren sighed. ‘She’s for sure going to annoy me again.’ It’d always been this way. Being the only son of a wealthy merchant, he’d always gotten what he wanted. And of course, even kids twice his age wanted to be friends with him!
Yet, this Mouse girl—Jerry was the only one whom he felt comfortable with. He could tell that Jerry was unlike the others; she wasn’t after his money. Thus, she was the only one who was willing to make jokes around him.
But Burren had his dignity. He couldn’t simply leave the joke-maker unpunished. “A slap on the head” was the punishment agreed on by both of them.
Burren snapped himself out of his recollection and pointed at Esther. “You see that? She’s perfection!”
Jerry frowned. ‘That Fox girl?’ She didn’t know what her boss was talking about. Sure, she was a beauty. Sure, she was their age; but that was it. Even worse, the Fox girl was actually running around the town doing deliveries! She couldn’t believe her boss liked someone like that!
Still, as a faithful servant/friend, Jerry knew her boss best. This was definitely a one-time crush. And by the look of it, the crush was wholly one-sided.
After all, she’d heard about that Fox girl—Esther. She didn’t care about anything other than her sister.
Legends said that once upon a full moon, Esther’s sister was hurt by a thief. The next day, the townsfolk found that same thief dead in the middle of the town square with his guts ripped out.
Jerry didn’t know how true this story was, but rumors don’t start from nothing!
She watched nervously as she and her boss moved from bush to bush, basically stalking the scary Fox girl. All the while, she could see her boss practically drooling with his eyes fixed on Esther’s ears.
Jerry’s frown deepened yet again. Normally, her boss was very assertive. He’d go up to Esther and demand she be his girl if he was his normal self. But something about Esther seemed…wrong. Almost as if it would be insolent of both of them to approach her without permission.
‘What am I thinking? That can’t be true. Boss is just umm, too shy! That’s right!’
Jerry followed her boss for hours. The stalking would’ve continued normally if it wasn’t for their run-in with a particular duo.
“Ouch!”
They encountered Freya and Fred Spears—both hiding in the big bush that she and her boss were about to claim.
Jerry widened her eyes in surprise. ‘T-This! Our boss’ Archenemy!’ But she and Burren kept their calm. They knew that it’d be bad if Esther had noticed them.
So, they pulled the Spears siblings further away from Esther and began interrogating them. “What are you do—”
“Brother, what are you doing in that bush!?”
“I’m asking questions here!” Fred shouted back. “Are you stalking Esther?”
“Yes!” Freya answered without any thought.
Then, silence ensued. But soon, the atmosphere turned tense as the siblings glared at each other with sparks flying out of their eyes.
“So…” Freya growled dangerously. “...you’re after her too?”
“Wouldn’t you know it best, my dearest sister?”
Although Burren was intimidated by the siblings, his pride didn’t let him be ignored any further. “Hey, are you forgetting about me?”
The siblings abruptly snapped their heads toward Burren.
“Burren? Are you stalking Esther too?”
“W-What? Stalking? Nonsense! I’m merely investigating my future girl!”
Fred and Freya turned their gazes toward each other again. Nodding simultaneously with her brother, Freya said, “Should we get rid of him?”
Vines slowly crept their way toward Burren’s feet as she said so.
Fred commanded his bear to stomp on the vines and shook his head. “He has no chance. Let’s not waste our energy.”
“If you say so.”
The siblings then left, leaving a very shocked Burren behind.
Jerry knew that this was her time to shine. “Boss, ignore them. I’ll make sure that Esther falls for you.”
“T-Truly?”
“Did I ever lie to you, boss?”
“You’re the best, Jerry!”
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“Listen here! We are all serving under boss Burren, correct?”
The five or so kids standing in a line before Jerry simultaneously shouted, “Yes, ma’am!”
“Good!” Jerry made her way toward the start of the line and singled out a goat boy. “Recruit, our mission?”
“Yes, ma’am! We are to attack Esther Raze on her delivery path!”
Jerry nodded in satisfaction and called out to a chicken girl next. “And the conditions?”
“Y-Yes, w-we m-mustn’t actually harm her. J-Just keep her in her place long enough for b-boss to save her.”
Jerry then turned toward the rest of her underlings. “Are we clear?”
“YES!”
“THEN GO!”
“UWAHHHH!”
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Utter failure.
The target was stronger than Jerry had thought; being able to subdue all of them without injuring any. The worst part?
-”You, Mouse girl, I know you’re stalking me with a Wolf boy. You’re not very good at hiding yourselves. But there are two more presences I can’t discern. Who are they?”
Just thinking back about that memory made her grit her teeth in anger. ‘I should’ve snitched on the Spears siblings!’ But alas, she was too scared and shocked to say anything.
What shocked her even more was that Esther merely left with a heavy sigh after not getting any information out of her. Truthfully, she felt relieved that she could escape with her life intact; assuming that it was even in danger in the first place.
Jerry could hear rapid footsteps approaching her. Turning around, she saw that it was her boss.
“Jerry! What happened?”
“I failed, boss.” Jerry hung her head down low. But determination still flashed across her eyes. “Boss, dirty tricks won’t work. You have to be straightforward!”
“W-What?”
“Tell her how you feel! She’ll surely accept someone as rich and handsome as you!”
Despite being taken aback by his crony’s sudden words, Burren still nodded determinedly. “I-I got it! Thanks, Jerry!”
Jerry watched as Burren bought a flower from a nearby shop and ran toward Esther’s current location—an all-girl school. She felt…hollow, but she pushed such feeling aside and limped her way toward her boss.
‘Wait, why am I even limping? I’m not hurt!’
But when she arrived, her boss was already a crying mess. His knees were on the ground, the flower that he bought was in a nearby trash can, and his eyes were filled with utter despair.
Jerry knew what happened. And somehow, she felt relieved.
“Boss…”
“J-Jerry, s-she rejected me.”
“Arghh, that girl doesn’t have eyes! How could anyone reject you?”
“S-She told me that I’m disgusting…”
“That Vixen! She’s really blind!”
Burren rambled on and on. Unbeknownst to Jerry, Esther did nothing other than reject him. Anything else was Burren’s own mind deluding him.
After listening to all of her boss’ woes, Jerry placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Let’s go.”
“...?”
“There are many girls left in this town. Let’s…make a harem.”
“...!”
“Let’s make that Vixen regret ever rejecting you!”
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I caressed my itchy ears. ‘Is someone talking behind my back?’ Nah, that couldn’t be the case. And even if it was, it didn’t matter as much as Nowa finally coming back from school!
Amidst the sea of school children, Nowa wasn’t hard to find. I pushed toward the crowd to get to her.
“Nowa!”
“Nee-chan!”
I picked her up with my tail and quickly got to the nearby park since it was less crowded. After settling on a bench, I placed Nowa down and immediately fussed over her.
“Nowa, are you okay? Are you hurt? Did they bully you?”
To my torrents of borderline nonsensical questions, Nowa simply answered with a smile. “I enjoyed it, Nee-chan.”
Those words were all it took for me to think that maybe, just maybe, the choice of sending Nowa to school wasn’t a wrong one.
Nowa then reached into her backpack and took out a piece of paper. “For you!”
[https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/995278815909646419/1105117738705358898/Yesa.png?width=400&height=400]
“Nowa…”
I neatly folded the paper and pulled her into a tight hug.
“Thank you…”