Rewinding to a minute ago.
Is someone following me?
Just as she stepped out of the hotel, Hyacine felt a gaze quietly observing her from the shadows. However, after sensing it for a moment and realizing the gaze held no ill intent, she pretended not to notice and continued toward her destination.
After walking for a short while, she intentionally paused and quickly spun around to look behind her.
A hooded girl?
Although the girl retracted into the shadows quickly, Hyacine was faster. Even though she only caught a glimpse for a fraction of a second, it was enough for her to see the stalker's appearance clearly.
Why is this girl following me? She doesn't seem like she's out to get me...
Looking at the spot where the girl had ducked away, Hyacine fell into thought. But she soon gave up on overthinking it; she figured it would be easier to just ask in person.
With that in mind, Hyacine turned and gave the floating Little Ica a sweet smile. "Little Ica, could you be a dear and fly me to the roof of this building? Thanks~"
"Doo-doo?"
Little Ica first looked at Hyacine's size, then looked up at the building that was dozens of meters tall, and finally looked down at its own short little legs, falling into deep contemplation.
Upon reaching the rooftop, Hyacine looked down from the heights. She quickly spotted the girl stealthily poking her head out to look where she had disappeared.
Seeing that Hyacine was gone, the girl appeared flustered, immediately shrinking back and glancing left and right in the alley. When she saw no one around, she let out a sigh of relief.
"Does she think I appeared behind her? I don't have that teleportation ability."
Finding the girl's reaction rather amusing, Hyacine decided to tease her a bit more. Seeing the girl walk out of the alley, she spoke to Little Ica again.
"Little Ica, please take me back down~"
"Doo-doo!"
Little Ica's eyes instantly turned into "> <" shapes, and it began circling Hyacine as if protesting.
"I'll buy you lots of delicious food later. I keep my word!"
"Doo-doo!"
Little Ica's eyes successfully transformed into stars. It then grabbed Hyacine's right arm and flew downward. (Don't ask how those short little hooves grabbed her; a Pegasus is a magical thing, right?)
Soon, Little Ica brought Hyacine right behind the girl. At this moment, the girl had her eyes closed and her nose twitching, seemingly sniffing for something.
"Blegh~ it's still so stinky here. I really hate using my nose to track in this place... As for that girl's scent... wait! Why is the scent so close!"
She found me through my scent?
Hyacine was surprised. She hadn't expected the girl to be able to pick up her scent with just her nose; when she smelled herself, she could barely detect anything beyond a very faint fragrance.
Fine, since I've been discovered, I'll let Little Ica give her a nudge.
Thinking this, Hyacine glanced at Little Ica, who immediately understood. It flew directly behind the girl and let out two "Doo-doo" cries.
The moment those cries sounded, Hyacine clearly saw the girl's body stiffen. She slowly turned her head. Upon seeing the chubby white flying pony and the pink-haired girl standing nearby with a smile, the girl managed a strained grin.
"If I said... I was following you with no ill intent, would you believe me?"
"I believe you."
"Eh?"
Those two words caused the girl's brain to slightly overload.
This wasn't how the plot was supposed to go. According to novels, shouldn't she say she doesn't believe me, try to capture me, and then harshly interrogate me about why I was following her? I even had my escape route planned out!
Hyacine had no idea what was going on in the girl's internal theater; she simply continued her explanation.
"I can feel that your gaze has no malice, so I believe that what you just said is true. So, may I ask why you were following me?"
"That... I... I don't dare to say..."
Hyacine's question pulled the girl back to reality from her mental stage play. She stole a glance at Little Ica beside Hyacine, and after hesitating for a while, she stammered out those words.
"You don't dare?" Hyacine found this puzzling. "Since you have no ill intent toward me, it proves your reason shouldn't be anything harmful to me. Why don't you dare speak?"
"Because... I followed you to confirm something. It involves a secret of mine. If I say it, the secret will be known... but I was caught early, so I couldn't confirm it. That's why I don't dare say it..."
"Have you considered that if you get caught following someone and refuse to state your purpose, you might run into serious trouble if that person has a bad temper?"
Though Hyacine spoke implicitly, the girl clearly understood the underlying threat. Her body shivered, but she shook her head firmly, seemingly willing to face the consequences rather than reveal the secret.
Watching the girl's behavior, Hyacine fell into thought.
What kind of secret is so important that she wouldn't even risk her life to reveal it? But... to confirm something? Could this be related to Little Ica?
Although the girl thought her small movements were discreet, Hyacine could see that her attention was actually fixed on Little Ica.
But Little Ica is a Pegasus from Amphoreus. Putting aside the fact that they weren't in Amphoreus anymore, this wasn't exactly a fantasy world. Even Cipher was often called a Genetically Modified Human, so a Pegasus shouldn't exist here. Was she just curious about Little Ica?
Despite her doubts, seeing the girl's firm attitude, Hyacine didn't push further. She reached out and pulled back the hood covering the girl's head, revealing a head of jet-black hair and a somewhat dirty face.
On the girl's face, Hyacine could clearly see several scratches and bruises.
At the sight of this, Hyacine's hand glowed with Rainbow Light, which she gently placed against the girl's cheek. Feeling the touch, the girl froze, squeezing her eyes shut. But when she realized there was no pain, only a warm and comfortable sensation, she tentatively opened them.
By then, Hyacine had already withdrawn her hand.
Looking at the girl—who had become quite cute and pretty once the dirt and wounds were removed—Hyacine shifted her gaze from the girl's face to a lock of hair by her cheek. After thinking for a moment, she spoke to the girl.
"So you mean that the thing you want to confirm only requires you to follow me for a while to find out?"