“But, isn’t raising a panther a hassle? Besides, I don’t feel like a panther really suits me, right?”
‘If it were my past self, raising a black panther might not have felt so out of place. But now, I don’t look “cool” at all. If I were to raise one in this state, would anything good even come of it?’
“It doesn’t matter. As long as you want to, Little Fox, you can have any pet you want. Besides, who says a princess has to have a cute, fluffy pet? A fierce beast like this is a great choice too.”
“Serveyia, do you really want me to keep a pet that badly?”
Ever since the start of the hunt, Serveyia had been using all sorts of tactics to convince her to keep a pet. What exactly was her goal?
“I just think it’s a rare opportunity. Honestly, there won’t be a better chance than this. This panther seems quite friendly toward you, Little Fox. Why not give it a try while you have the chance?”
‘Fine, since Serveyia is putting it that way, I’ll give it a try. I feel like if I don’t agree, she’ll keep pestering me with this topic. I don’t know if I can hold out against her much longer.’
“Serveyia, can I pet it?”
Since she now intended to try raising it, she first had to see if it was sentient enough to understand people.
If it wouldn’t even let her touch it, there was no point in keeping it.
“Of course. With us here, the panther shouldn’t do anything reckless. It’s also possible the creature itself wants to be your pet, Little Fox. If that’s the case, it saves a lot of trouble.”
Liuli quietly approached the black panther as it ate. If it really were cautious, it should have fled the moment it felt her approaching.
However, the black panther only looked up at her once before lowering its head to continue eating its prey.
It was hard to say whether this was because it trusted her or because it looked down on her.
Even when her hand touched its head, it only shook itself impatiently.
Seeing that it couldn’t shake her off, it continued to eat its food, ignoring her.
“Serveyia, why do I feel like it’s not very smart?”
To put it nicely, it wasn’t smart; to put it bluntly, she felt like this guy didn’t care about anything but eating.
It had such shiny fur that it clearly wasn’t malnourished.
“I think, Little Fox, it might just be too lazy to acknowledge you.”
As if to confirm Serveyia’s theory, the black panther let out a disdainful huff and turned its head away, no longer looking at Liuli.
To be honest, seeing the black panther look down on her like that made Liuli a bit unhappy.
‘What a joke. I haven’t even decided to adopt it, and it’s already looking down on me? If I really took it in, its tail would probably be held high in the clouds.’
“Never mind. I don’t think it likes me very much…”
Liuli knew exactly why she wanted a pet: to provide her with emotional value. She wasn’t so desperate that she would raise a pet that didn’t even like her.
“Alright. It’s a bit of a shame, but if you don’t like it, Little Fox, I can’t force you.”
Serveyia had no reason not to feel what Liuli felt. She thought the panther was simply too proud to bow its head or be restricted by others.
Honestly, there was nothing wrong with this personality for a wild animal, especially for a magic beast that had developed some intelligence.
‘It’s already become a magic beast; it’s going to have at least some pride. It’s understandable it wouldn’t want to bow its head. Besides, the black panther’s quality of life doesn’t seem poor. Why would it submit when it has no worries about survival?’
Moreover, when they left, Liuli specifically looked back one more time.
She found that the creature had no intention of asking her to stay.
‘Fine. If it had actually run over to show some attachment, I might have really hesitated. But now, I don’t even have a reason to hesitate.’
“Liuli, if you want a pet, I can bring you one,” Fina said as she leaned in, sounding mysterious as she recommended herself.
“What kind of pet? It wouldn’t be a fish, would it?”
If she had to raise a fish, she would rather raise a rabbit.
She could at least judge the physical condition of a land animal by observing it, but she knew nothing about fish.
She couldn’t exactly keep replacing them, could she?
“Not just fish. Sea turtles, jellyfish, crabs — as long as it’s a sea creature you can think of, Liuli, I can find it for you.”
“I… I think I’ll pass. I don’t know much about sea creatures, so maybe I shouldn’t raise them.”
“Alright. But if it’s a land creature, raising a magic beast is really better than raising a regular animal. The gap in intelligence is right there. If you think an adult magic beast is hard to tame, you can try raising one from adulthood. That way, you won’t have to deal with disobedience.”
“But, are juvenile magic beasts really that easy to find?”
Liuli naturally knew the advantages of a pet raised from childhood. However, even regular animals knew to protect their young; wouldn’t magic beasts with higher intelligence do the same?
“Wild ones might be hard to find, but there are quite a few farm-raised ones. Although they’re a bit more expensive than regular pets, they can be found on the pet market.”
‘So there really is a business for that?’ “Is it really safe?”
“The breeds for sale are basically those that have been domesticated for a long time. There’s generally no danger. Of course, as long as they are raised properly, there won’t be any safety issues.”
“Ah, I see. But, Fina, you really know a lot about these things.”
Normally, Serveyia would be the one answering these questions.
Would a mermaid like Fina really have such a thorough understanding of things on land?
“Hehe, after all, I’m full of curiosity about everything on land. Plus, I’ve always been interested in pets, so when I came to the surface, I started learning about what land pets are like. That’s why I know a thing or two.”
“In that case, Fina, you must know where to find them, right?”
“Yes. I know a few of the shop owners there. If you really want a pet, Liuli, I can help you get in touch.”
“Then, I’ll thank you in advance, Fina.”
Although she had been hesitant about raising a pet at first, after being convinced by Serveyia for a while, the thought of keeping a pet had taken root in Liuli’s heart.
After returning to the motorhome, the others were still processing the prey from the hunt and using magic food preservation. This gave Liuli some time to herself.
Attracted by what Fina had said earlier about magic beast pets, Liuli decided to take this time to look things up.
There should be similar information online. She might as well take the opportunity to see if she could find a pet she liked.
“Princess, what are you looking at?”
Just as she was thinking about what kind of pet to keep, Aili’s voice suddenly rang in her ear, giving her a fright.
“Ah, Fina told me there are people who sell magic beast cubs as pets. I was curious, so I planned to take a look.”
“A magic beast, I see. So, Princess, do you have any favorites?”
“Not yet, I’ve just started looking…”
There were many types of magic beasts. Even after excluding the rare ones and those that were too fierce to be tamed, there were still many left.
Some types didn’t even look different from common animals. However, she couldn’t tell much through a screen.
If possible, she still wanted to see the real thing before making a decision.
“Actually, we have similar places back where we come from. Would the Princess like to go and see them with us then?”
“Can I?”
“Of course. It’s not a difficult request.”
To be honest, Liuli was suddenly a bit touched.
This seemed to be the first time in the last several days that Aili had proactively started a conversation to approach her.
Seeing Aili willing to take a step forward, a surge of… well, relief rose in Liuli’s heart.
“So Aili, do people keep magic beasts in the Elf territory as well?”
“Rarely, but there are many unique magic beasts in the Forest of Elves. Many outsiders are interested in them. Since those magic beasts have to be hunted eventually anyway, we might as well make some extra money. No one can refuse that kind of profit.”
“So, Aili, what kind of special magic beasts do you have there?”
“That depends on what kind of magic beast the Princess wants to raise.”
“For me, I actually want to raise one that’s smart and well-behaved. Is that a hard requirement to meet?”
“It’s not hard. Honestly, as long as there’s a market demand, merchants can breed any kind of magic beast. For the Princess, getting a perfect magic beast is just a matter of spending a bit more time. Let me think… For someone with your requirements, I think a Forest Elemental would be quite good.”
“A Forest Elemental?”
“Yes. The full name is actually Forest Elemental Spirit, but to distinguish them from the Elf Race, they’re simply called Forest Elementals. They are elementals that live in symbiosis with the forest. They’re smart and cute; the only problem is that they might be a bit mischievous. However, if you really plan to raise one from infancy, it wouldn’t be hard to correct its personality.”
“Is that really okay? A Forest Elemental should be part of the forest. Won’t there be problems if I just take it away?”
“It’s fine. Although the name sounds cute, and they are indeed cute, many of our people are actually quite bothered by them. Their prank-loving nature doesn’t cause major trouble, but the small annoyances are constant. Plus, with the Forest Elemental’s extraordinary regenerative abilities, we can’t catch them all. Because of that, the Elf Race doesn’t actually have a good opinion of Forest Elementals. So, Princess, you don’t need to feel any mental burden. Everyone feels that way.”