Spring has arrived, a day that perfectly captures the essence of the season.
On such days, everyone rushes around to see the flowers or go on picnics.
And now, Luke, Diana, Yerna, and Dayton have also been swept away in the current of the season and have come here.
It is, of course, the zoo.
——
“Wow….”
As soon as they passed through the entrance, Diana’s eyes sparkled like stars.
This was understandable, as it was her very first time visiting such a place.
“Whoa….”
In truth, Luke was equally astonished.
In the past, visiting the zoo had meant simply watching a few types of animals in cages, but to compare it to today’s zoo was akin to comparing a salamander to a dragon.
The size of the zoo was vast, to the point where it couldn’t all fit in their line of sight, and the spaces for housing the animals were wide beyond comparison to cramped cages.
Luke absentmindedly ran his hand through his hair.
‘I was completely mistaken.’
He had thought that a zoo would be nothing special, but…
“What do you think? It’s more amazing than you expected, right?”
“Indeed, this facility exceeds expectations by far.”
Luke lifted up a simplified map of the zoo.
Even just looking at it gave him an idea of how extensive this facility actually was.
‘Well, this is almost at the level of a territory.’
A landmass comparable to a territory filled with a massive number of animals…
In the past, no matter how much money one had, no one would dare to attempt such a thing.
Mostly because they didn’t feel the need to.
Certainly, with such a spacious area and layout, it would be worth seeing.
Although he thought he had seen a variety of animals throughout his life, viewing them in an artificially arranged facility gave rise to different feelings.
And most importantly, the types of animals were so numerous that counting them with both hands and feet would still fall short.
Moreover, it wasn’t just regular animals; there were also magical beasts and marine life to observe.
Upon examining the map, Luke noticed that the zoo was divided into three main areas: the left for regular animals, the right for magical creatures, and further inside for marine life.
Seeing Luke’s expression brighten, Yerna let out a sigh of relief.
‘Thank goodness, it seems he likes it.’
His expression had seemed anything but eager earlier.
Even in the car, he had worn a vacant expression that suggested he had no expectations at all.
Perhaps it was because it was his first time hearing about a zoo, making it so unfamiliar that he couldn’t imagine it.
Now that the children’s reactions had settled, Dayton thought it was about time to start, pointing to the left.
“Shall we start with the regular animals first?”
Typically, the order of viewing in a zoo is to first see the regular animals and then the magical ones.
The magical creatures do feel more climactic, after all.
However, Luke immediately shook his head.
“No, let’s go see the magical creatures first.”
With how magical creatures were exhibited in this era, he couldn’t hold back his curiosity.
——-
A long, straight horn extending from the center of its forehead, fur as pure and glossy as freshly fallen snow, bright black eyes. A sturdy and robust body.
The most ‘pure’ creature magically.
This was precisely a description of the unicorn.
“Oh!”
Luke exclaimed in awe.
“How magnificent! I’ve never seen such a straight and beautiful horn before.”
The straighter and smoother it was, the higher its quality became, as wild unicorns could never possess such a smooth horn.
What can be hidden, after all, is that the unicorn’s horn is an excellent magical material.
In the world of magic, where the purer the material, the better, a unicorn’s horn, which signifies purity by itself, is a very rare resource.
However, unicorns are nearly impossible to tame.
The fact that it was being so docile in a cage was already astonishing.
It seemed they hadn’t used any magical conditioning like mind control; what on earth did they do?
Dayton observed Luke’s fascination and thought this to himself.
‘What’s so special about it when I have two horns myself?’
If we’re talking about the extraordinary, wouldn’t a dragon be far more impressive than a unicorn?
Besides, its magical power was far greater than that of a unicorn.
Compared to Luke, one could hardly even feel its magic.
In truth, it was hardly perceivable at all.
‘Have I been around this creature for too long?’
Just like how one cannot feel a faint warmth if constantly exposed to a strong heat, he found himself unable to fully feel the unicorn’s magical power while gazing at it.
His senses had dulled.
‘Well, it’s bound to get better soon. Now that Yerna has come back…’
Dayton shifted his gaze toward Yerna, who was looking at the children with a warm smile from behind.
However, she seemed a bit more exhausted than usual.
Now that he thought about it, it hadn’t been long since she returned from her trip, and coming to the zoo right away seemed a bit much for her.
Moreover, she had originally planned to go with just Luke, but had ended up bringing Diana along after she insisted, which made him feel all the more apologetic.
While Luke had readily agreed without a hint of reluctance, he wasn’t sure how Yerna felt about it.
She did tend to try to accommodate Luke’s requests whenever possible.
Initially suggesting a visit to the zoo was an effort to fulfill the promise she made with Luke during winter.
Perhaps she was pushing herself a bit too much right now.
Dayton quietly asked in a voice low enough that the children wouldn’t hear.
“Yerna, are you alright? Are you feeling tired?”
Yerna immediately snapped back to attention, waving her hands dismissively.
“Oh, no, I’m fine. Thank you. I just have a few things on my mind.”
She was sorting through the information she had obtained from her recent trip in her head.
The facility guided by the Third had already been thoroughly ‘cleaned’ by someone.
It was likely that something required covering up had happened recently.
There were corpses littered about, and the documents had turned to ashes.
However, there was still something to gain.
The facility was surely owned by Proiten, and the absence of any announcement despite the mass killings meant that there was certainly something embarrassing involved.
Then why did he say he was being chased by Proiten?
‘Did he escape from the facility?’
A runaway experiment and mass killings to cover up the facility…
Perhaps the pieces fit.
When he had asked the Third how he knew Luke, he replied that he had seen him in the alleys recently, and when he inquired further if he had known him before, the Third claimed to have no recollection at all.
Yet Luke spoke as if he knew him, meaning he must have been from the same facility and had been moved to that location.
Hmm, but Luke seemed completely unaware of Proiten.
Whether he genuinely had no recollection or if there was another force apart from Proiten, he wasn’t sure…
‘What to make of it…’
Yerna directed her gaze back to Luke and Diana.
As she watched the children’s joyful expressions, it suddenly reminded her of why she had insisted on coming to the zoo.
Wasn’t all of this to find some psychological stability?
‘For now, yes… let’s enjoy it.’
——-
“Oh my gosh. The magic is gathering at the tip of the horn to form crystals. The purity seems incredible. Such materials are really difficult to find.”
– Oh! Awesome!!
The fact that magical crystals can form even without processing means it’s top-quality material.
If it wasn’t a unicorn owned by the zoo, he would’ve wanted to take a piece of it.
Py also seemed to show interest in the magical crystals.
That said, it seemed more like he just wanted to play with them rather than genuinely wanting to keep them.
On the contrary, Diana, looking somewhat anxious, grasped Luke’s arm as she gazed up at the unicorn.
“Eew, it’s a bit scary seeing it for real… Sis, I don’t like unicorns…”
Though she had always loved animals, it was worth noting that Diana had never seen a unicorn in person.
Dayton had never had the leisure to take her to the zoo until now.
Thus, seeing it for real seemed to frighten her.
Well, while she claimed to love unicorns, it was all the cute representations of unicorns in characters or stuffed animals she liked, not the unicorn itself.
Luke soothed Diana, saying, “It’s okay, Diana. It can’t harm a pure maiden.”
Unicorns cannot harm purity and chastity because they symbolize it themselves.
Just as pure water mixed with pure water remains pure, purity cannot tarnish purity.
Thus, those who are pure—such as maidens—will not be harmed by unicorns.
It might be a bit of a wordplay, but primitive magic often relies on such puns.
However, Diana tilted her head, puzzled by Luke’s explanation.
She didn’t understand the definition of a maiden.
“A maiden? A girl? Does that mean unicorns don’t harm girls? What’s a maiden?”
Luke pondered how to explain this to her.
“Um, well… a maiden means an unmarried woman.”
Though this wasn’t a magically accurate explanation, it was a close enough definition, he hoped.
He felt satisfied with his explanation.
“Ah, so that means you and Sis are both safe! We just have to be careful about you, big brother.”
“Hey, I’m stronger than a unicorn, okay? It should be the unicorn that has to be careful around me.”
“Really?”
“Hahaha, yes, that’s right.”
Luke chuckled bitterly.
‘A maiden…’
Diana had inadvertently included him in the definition of a ‘maiden.’
Well, I wonder if this body can truly be called a “pure maiden.”
‘Though appearance-wise, it may seem that way.’
But what kind of form will the unicorn see him in?
Unicorns are among the most representative magical beasts endowed with the ability to judge the purity of souls.
Then what sort of form would the unicorn perceive his soul to be?
Wouldn’t it look like some sort of monstrous creature with an unknown gender or race?
“……”
At that moment, Luke turned his head toward the sensation that brushed against his shoulder.
Yerna eerily wore a somewhat sad expression.
“……? Why do you wear such an expression again? It’s such a nice day.”
Then, without a word, Yerna embraced him.
Luke was a bit taken aback and shifted, but eventually, he halted his movements at Yerna’s softly murmured words.
“It’s okay.”
“……”
Is this comfort?
Did she sense his worries as a chimera?
‘Haha, I see. It seems I was the one unable to control my expression.’
The only thing Luke could do was turn his head so he wouldn’t poke Yerna with his horn.
– Crunch…
Somehow, it felt like Yerna’s grip was growing stronger.
“Yerna? I’m alright now. I’ve already received enough comfort…”
“Yes…….”
Yerna thought she could never forgive those from the facility.
