Later that day…
The 'Llynun Capital City's Beast Garden' rested along the northern edge of the capital like a sprawling garden of grass and glass! Tall white archways framed a series of open-style entrances, almost forming a wall, their pale stone standing in contrast to the vibrant greenery just beyond. Each arch was carved with rune-etched reliefs of great leviathans, legendary phoenixes, mythical griffins, alongside countless other beasts that had long since vanished from the world! Decorative runes rippled faintly along the outer structure, each layered carefully into the stone to reinforce the containment measures and illusory systems, precautions meant to serve as a final safeguard in the 'unlikely' event of an outbreak.
The banners hanging overhead depicted small children and roaring beasts walking side by side.
It was clean, orderly, and filled with joy, but it was absolutely not prepared for what was approaching!
-
Soon, Petra arrived!
She stood before a grand staircase with her hands on her hips, her newly approved hairstyle resting neatly over her right shoulder! Behind Petra was Lilly, Luna, Levy, and three beast maids, the fox, deer, and the raccoon.
Petra squinted up at the sign: 'Llynun Capital Beast Garden!'
"Mm!"
She nodded, then entered with a lazy swagger…
* * *
At the same time—
Another group arrived, around six of them in total.
At the front of this group walked two young men, their steps measured to reflect the outside world's expectations. Their presence was quiet but impossible to ignore, and both of them unconsciously radiated an air of nobility, despite their somewhat lacking appearances.
The taller of the two young men carried himself with a disciplined, upright posture. His gaze was sharp, steady, and far more serious than most youths around his age. His retainer, one step behind, carried his long red spear, but he paid little attention, appearing almost distracted as he looked around—
This was 'Dilan' Dimebeck of the Dimebeck Family!
Beside him walked another young man with long black hair tied neatly into a low ponytail. His complexion was pale, faintly sickly, and yet there was an unsettling grace in the way he moved. His dark green eyes were thoughtful, distant, and calculating—
This was 'Oxin' Barak of the Barak Family!
The two young men walked in front, with Oxin half a step behind.
In addition, two female attendants followed a respectful distance away, and finally, at the very back—
A scrawny boy hurried to keep up with the party!
This young boy had short black hair with a single streak of bright red highlight that cut through it like a flame. He was perhaps two-thirds Dilan's height, thin with narrow shoulders, and had an almost naive, overly earnest expression.
This was 'Cinder' Dimebeck!
Although not a member of the main branch, he was one of the most promising talents in the younger generation, and he had earned the right to stand at Dilan's side through sheer abilities alone—and some stubborn effort…
As they passed beneath the rune-carved arch of the entranceway, Dilan took a deep breath.
"Ah! It's good to finally get out," he said while stretching.
Oxin hummed in agreement. "The capital's been… tense lately. You've been under house arrest ever since you tried to run away to the western region during the Second Calamity, right?"
"Bah! What does that old man know?" Dilan scoffed. "I would've been fine! He didn't need to lock me up for over a year!"
Oxin snorted. "A year? If I remember correctly, it was only a month at first, right? If you hadn't tried to escape again and again, you wouldn't have been confined for so long."
"Tch! What do you know? As a man, it's only natural to run headfirst into danger!" After saying this, Dilan nodded to himself as if trying to convince himself. "Oh, hey—have you heard about the stuff in the east? I hear the beasts up there are still gathering, and no one knows why! Isn't that crazy?"
"You're just learning about that?" Oxin replied calmly. "You really have been locked up too long. It's likely related to the reason the Great Storm Spell is refusing to dissipate, but even the mage towers haven't uncovered the truth. Naturally, my family has looked into it, but we found nothing…"
He paused.
"Hm, on a more recent note, have you heard about the incident at the border? Apparently, old man Otan finally kicked an iron plate!"
Dilan let out a sharp snort. "That sounds like him! If he's finally dead, it's about time too! What's worth complaining about? When we were young, he bullied all of us under the pretext of training! Didn't you also suffer? He just stole our resources to cultivate! What training! Bah! Who said he was a classy elder… I still wonder why our families never did anything about him..."
Oxin didn't respond…
Dilan continued, "I did hear a bit about that. My grandfather said it might've been that little troublemaker from the north? Did you know I've met her before? I wasn't exactly sober at the time, but thinking back on it, it wasn't my imagination at that time! She's definitely a little faker! What pig? She's obviously a hungry tiger!"
Oxin's eyes shifted slightly.
He nudged Dilan's side and murmured, "...Speak of the devil?"
Dilan followed his gaze.
About twenty meters ahead—
A small green-haired girl was walking into the beast garden, flanked by two black-haired twins and trailed by a handful of beast girls. Even from behind, the brazen aura surrounding her was unmistakable.
"…That's the one?" Dilan asked quietly.
"…Yeah." Oxin's eyes narrowed with a strange emotion. "That's her..."
A faint green light flickered in Oxin's pupils as he extended a thin strand of his soul sense. (Spiritual Sense with the Soul)
It brushed against her—
And vanished!
It wasn't blocked or deflected, it was simply gone…
Oxin frowned.
The soul thread he used was so thin that losing it meant nothing, so even if it was destroyed, it wouldn't harm him, but the sensation of being swallowed by an endless void as it passed through her was—
Unpleasant to say the least…
Also, for a split second, he felt as if something deep within that 'void' had turned towards him.
A cold prickle crawled down his spine before fading away.
He withdrew his senses and glanced to the side at Dilan, who seemed oblivious to all of that, then his gaze shifted to the back, because—
Cinder had stopped walking at some point.
Because ahead, walking beside the small green-haired tyrant—
It was Luna!
Dilan also noticed his odd behavior.
A smirk slowly spread across his face. Seeing his little cousin redden ever so slightly, seemed to amuse him more than it should have, after all, Cinder had long harbored a crush on Luna. This was already known by the whole Dimebeck Family!
Yes, it had been mentioned before too! Do you remember, dear readers? Probably not…
Up ahead, Luna, focused completely on Petra, remained unaware of the group of six trailing behind.
Cinder's ears flushed red from just watching her walk.
He abruptly straightened his back, but this was far too deliberate, making him fail to appear composed. Even one of Oxin's attendants glanced back at him.
Dilan shook his head and chuckled.
This kid still has a long way to go.
"…Control yourself," Oxin muttered in a low voice.
"I-I am controlled," Cinder mumbled weakly from the back, staring very intently at a decorative engraving to the side. To the not-so-honest him, it suddenly seemed as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world!
Dilen: "…"
Oxin watched the exchange with a quiet sense of amusement, one hand resting lightly against his chin. "Ah," he said softly, almost wistfully. "Youth, how I wish it lasted forever…"
There group of six entered the Beast Garden…
* * *
Not long after Petra entered with Lilly and Luna, one final figure mysteriously followed.
Unlike Dilen's group, this figure received a cinematic shot that only revealed a green-patterned black boot that stomped into the shot, then followed from behind.
* * *
Back to Petra! Standing in the front Lobby—
The interior of the beast gardens front lobby opened up into a vast circular hall.
Looking up, a glass dome filtered sunlight through several layers of magic enchantments, creating the illusion of drifting clouds overhead. Beneath it, a large map hovered in the air, divided into 'six' clearly labeled sections:
Land Beasts
Aerial Creatures
Sea Exhibit
Ancient Predators
Leviathan Hall
While lazily looking around, families moved through the hall as children tugged excitedly at their parents' sleeves. Young cultivators tried their best to look unimpressed, while certain nobles failed to conceal their curiosity.
To the left stood a small gift shop, its shelves lined with wooden carvings of several small beasts and other charming trinkets. To the right, several food stalls released waves of sweet and savory scents into the air. Directly ahead, behind a long-curved counter near the entrance, stood a line of beastmen attendants, each unique, each with either fox ears, rabbit ears, or cat ears, and all wearing neatly pressed uniforms. Their expressions were polite, professional, and endlessly patient! Beyond them, large doors marked the official entrance into the beast garden.
Petra stepped into the center of the hall with her entourage and stopped directly beneath the floating map. She inclined her head, looking directly up at the grandiose scene.
A virtual, illusion-formed globe slowly rotated overhead.
"…Mm." She tilted her head, interest flashing in her eyes.
At the same time, directly below her feet, she walked across a circular inlaid map that had been embedded into the floor. Upon closer inspection, it was another depiction of Pillomal, stylized and designed as a decoration. If the globe above them was a 3D depiction of the world, then the map below them was a 2D depiction of the world.
Petra, turning her head down, squinted suspiciously.
"How do they know what the planet looks like?" she muttered to herself.
"It's probably wrong..." She concluded internally.
As if asking for confirmation, Petra looked to Levy, who she assumed would know, and to her surprise, Levy nodded her head, indicating that the map was indeed accurate.
Petra blinked up at her.
How was that possible?
One had to know that on Earth, the appearance of the planet came after space exploration. For Pillomal to know such a thing, was it possible that—
They already had such a high-level magic spell!
To Petra, for whatever reason, the idea that a practitioner could survive in space didn't even cross her mind! This was partially because Levy had already told her something about the 'Void', but it mostly came from the fact that Petra was positive that the space surrounding the world of Pillomal was not the same as the space surrounding Earth. It was difficult to put into words, but Petra was already preparing a special telescope for just that purpose!
Mm, moving on…
Lilly quietly excused herself and went toward the ticket counter, while Luna drifted towards a food stall.
Petra remained in the center of the lobby, hands behind her back, rocking on her heels as she stared at the gift shop from a distance.
"…A gift shop," Petra murmured.
She frowned.
In her past life, she had only seen a true 'gift shop' once…
It was ridiculous, yes, but Petra's past life on earth was pretty harsh. Thinking back, it was during—around the time of the Sky Sphere Terrorist Incident that shocked the entire country!
She took a deep breath.
"…What a shame," Petra shook her head.
A few minutes later, Luna returned with skewered pastries and a cup of something sweet. She handed it to Petra without a word, and Petra accepted it without looking at it.
While eating, she glanced towards the ticket counter.
From what she could see, Lilly seemed to be negotiating…? The beast woman clerk was smiling professionally, but—
Petra chewed hard!
—Why did it seem like the always so kind Lilly was about to hit somebody? Could there be something wrong…?
Eventually, Lilly returned, clutching a small stack of tickets with a visibly scrunched up face!
"Apparently, they raised the prices…" she muttered with a grumpy expression.
Petra rolled her eyes, thinking that it was not a big deal.
She finished her snack, dusted off her hands, and gave a clap!
"Alright!"
She turned toward the massive doors leading into the beast garden.
And with that—
They stepped inside…
* * *