Another world, Celeste

Chapter 39, pt 2

The gentle wave of Archie's mana stirs me awake. When my eyes open, I'm pleasantly surprised at the sight of animals and monsters resting comfortably in front of me that I almost thought that I was still dreaming.

"You're finally awake, Iris."

The sound of Serafina's weary voice reminds me of where I am.

"I'm sorry?"

I habitually give an apology followed by a yawn before finding out what sort of trouble I unknowingly caused this time.

Serafina sighs loudly and plops down beside me on the bench.

Archie stays on my lap, openly facing the animals and monsters which is unlike him. In this type of situation, he usually puts up an unbothered mood.

"Listen, Iris, I know I'm not the right person who should be saying this," Serafina starts off by saying. "You can't act carelessly in this place. The garden park is teeming with all kinds of tamed animals and contracted monsters. If you carelessly step into their space, you'll either get hissed at or clawed."

"This place is just so relaxing that I unintentionally let my guard down," I respond before stretching my stiff neck from side to side.

It just occurred to me that my mana presence might've leaked out while I was dozing off, which may explain why there are curiously many creatures gathered here including the ones that are not visible.

"Being surrounded by monsters without their tamers is relaxing?"

Serafina turns to look at me in disbelief.

"It happens quite a lot, so I'm used to it already."

My mind's frantically checking the flow of mana in the air when that just slips out of my mouth without thinking. To my relief, there is only Archie's mana.

Rather than reacting suspiciously to my response, Serafina's inner thoughts leak out. "Some people are born blessed with being loved by the fluffy creatures, it's vexing."

Then, Serafina crosses her arms and sulks. "Can't you share some of that blessing with me too?"

I awkwardly laugh it off since the answer to that means revealing that I do have a blessing, a pretty big life-altering blessing.

Purr, Purr, Purr

"Where's that loud purring sound coming from?" I wonder.

I sweep my gaze around but there isn't a glimpse of a cat.

"Uh, Iris."

I turn my head slightly to Serafina. She looks somewhat apprehensive with her eyes to the ground. So, I leaned my body forward, squishing Archie in the process and found the source of the loud purring. By my feet, there is a cat with the face of a fox staring up at us.