CH 72

Onesco received the gemstone, scooping it up with both hands.

She then let out a scream that was a mixture of delight and confusion.

“What? What? What? Why, why!? How could it be so easy to get something that I couldn’t get no matter how much I tried this morning?”

“Why, why, why, why? Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, ～～～～～～～～?”

She was so excited, like a little girl with a star in the palm of her hand that she could never reach.

“I’m glad you’re so happy.”

Onesco raised her head and looked up at me with sparkling eyes.

“I’m so happy! I’ve always wanted jewelry!”

“Le- Leopin-kun. Than- ……!”

The words that were about to come out of her mouth caught her off guard and she quickly clamped her mouth shut.

And then she cleared her throat and said.

“Well, I guess I should thank you for …….”

I asked her a simple question.

“Didn’t you almost say ‘thank you’ just now?”

Then Onesco lifted her eyes and said, “No way!”

“No, of course not! That word is the greatest expression of gratitude in my family of knights! It is made with a kiss, and it is a pact of knights to give their lives for that person! It’s not something that can be said lightly!”

“Well, that’s a big deal.”

“Pikyiiiiiii!”

A deafening scream interrupted us.

I was momentarily dazzled by the flash of brilliance.

A huge white bird with wings larger than my outstretched arms was rushing in and attacking Onesco.

The bird picked and pulled Onesco’s hair with its beak, scratched her hands with its toe paws, and then flew away.

When Onesco was kicked in the back legs, she almost fell down, “Kyaa?” I reached out and pulled Onesco into my arms just as she was about to fall.

Onesco was turning blue in my arms.

“Ahh, the jewel is gone! The bird must have taken it! Wait ……!”

Onesco tried to run away, but I held her shoulders and wouldn’t let her go.

“Let me go, Leopin-kun!”

“Calm down, Onesco. Relax, Onesco, they’re flying. You can’t reach him from here.”

Onesco was completely distraught.

“Why are you so calm? It took my precious jewel! I can’t just give up now that I’ve got it!　Without it, I, I, ……!”

“I’m not giving up either. I’m just saying that it’s out of our reach.”

“What?” Onesco is puzzled.

“What does that …… mean?”

“It means it’s like a jewel in a tiny hole. If we can’t do it, we can ask one of our friends who is good at it. Here.”

I pointed at the bird as it flew away.

The moment Onesco looked up.

… Shubaa….! 

A black shadow flew from a tall tree.

It had the lithe silhouette of a cat.

If I had built a sporting goods store, I might have adopted it as the store’s logo.

Yes, I had ordered Tom, who had been standing behind Onesco like a shadow, to climb up the tree while Onesco was being attacked by the bird.

As a backup plan in case the bird got away.

Tom and the bird tangled violently in the air.

The way the black and white creatures intertwined was like a yin-yang sign from the east.

The bird was trying hard to kick Tom off with its toe, but when Tom’s bite caught the bird in the neck, the game was over.

Tom put the bird down like a cushion and landed with a thud.

Tom came stumbling back with the retrieved gem in his mouth.

Onesco was astonished.

“Hii, Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!”

She was trying to get away from me, but now she’s clinging to me.

“B- B- B- Black panther!”

“Don’t worry, he’s my pet.”

“No- no way!” Onesco’s pupils were wide open as she looked at me.

“When I heard about it from Monaka, I thought it was a big cat or something, but ……! I can’t believe it’s real. ……!”

Oh dear, I didn’t realize that Onesco had the same level of perception as the boys.

“Look, Tom says he wants to give it back, take the jewel.”

Onesco gingerly held out her hand, “Un……un……”.

When Tom dropped the jewel into her palm, she squirmed irresistibly.

“He was so cute! Aahh! How cute!”

When Onesco stroked Tom, he lay back down like he was in a submissive pose.

“Kyaaaaah!” Onesco let out a loud squeal and stroked Tom’s belly, ignoring the jewelry.

“Aaah! Cat, cat, cat, cat! Big kitty! Leopin, what’s the name of this cat?”

“Tom.”

“Ahhhh! Tom, Tom, Tom! Cute, cute, cute, cute!”

Onesco is a picture-perfect honor student, always looking crisp with slanted eyes.

She exudes an aura of unapproachability, but now she’s like a different person.

No, she looked like a high school girl of her age.

While Onesco was frolicking with Tom, I collected the drop items from the bird that Tom had killed.

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Griffon Bird’s Gizzard

Quantity 1

Quality Level 5 (Material Level 5)

A light, crunchy bird gizzard.

In addition to being edible, it is also used as a material for alchemy.

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Griffon Bird’s Wind Feather

Quantity 1

Quality Level 22 (Material Level 22)

This is one of the rarest of the Griffon Bird’s feathers.

Depending on the angle of the light, it changes color to white, light blue, or silver.

It has a special effect when used as a feather decoration due to its hidden magical power.

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“Oh, yes! I got another item from Akemi! And I even got a rare item that might be worth processing!”