“Wait, there is one more thing!”
Sherry motioned for them to come to the courtyard, while simultaneously telling Cybele to bring those items.
Soon, a pile of organized goods that looked like some kind of fur products appeared before Anis. Looking up, she saw the head of a black bear with its eyes closed, lying quietly atop the pile of bear skins.
Wasn’t this the very bear she and Mimi had hunted?
“I have already commissioned someone to process the grizzly bear for you. Please take it and sell it next. Of course, all the money earned will belong to you.”
Anis pulled out her wand and used magic to store them all away. Afterward, Cybele opened the carriage door for her and gestured for her to get in.
“No need. I will make my own way there.”
Anis heard Sherry’s calculations loud and clear. Sherry wanted Cybele to drive the carriage to pick her up and drop her off at the commercial town in the neighboring territory for shopping. On the surface, it was a noble young lady’s private transport service.
But in reality…
‘She still wants to use this method to monitor me? No way!’
Anis would never agree. Since there was no way to truly run away from this family yet, couldn’t she at least have this much freedom?
She lightly waved her wand. Her second exclusive tool as a witch—her broomstick—came whistling toward her, and she caught it in one hand.
‘It has been a while since I’ve ridden this.’
Anis sat down gently while holding the cat. The broom sank a short distance after feeling the weight.
“Well then, I’m heading out.”
As she waved her wand again, Anis, cradling the cat in her arms, instantly vanished into the sky above the courtyard.
“I didn’t expect you to actually bring out that thing after it’s been gathering dust for so long!”
Sherry stood in place, stomping her feet in anger as she glared at the spot where Anis had disappeared.
“Meow~~~”
Mimi was so scared that it crawled into Anis’s robes, leaving only its small head exposed to face the buffeting winds. It seemed quite terrified; how could a cat have ever experienced such a grand adventure?
“Hold on tight. We’re speeding up!”
Anis was very happy. The feeling of freedom surrounded her, making her feel like a soaring eagle in the sky, her mind drifting with excitement. She planned to visit the northern snowy mountains first before going to the neighboring territory for shopping.
According to the information Mimi had provided, a magic crystal mine was buried in the snowy mountains. It contained crystals capable of storing a large amount of mana, making them essential items for developing new magic.
Fortunately, she hadn’t explored that vein earlier. Otherwise, if Sherry had found out, she would have one less trump card!
“Mimi, wake up. We’re here.”
Anis jumped off the broom and lightly scratched the head of the cat, who had already closed its eyes in her arms. As if a switch had been flipped, the cat opened its eyes, jumped from her embrace, and shook its body a few times by Anis’s feet.
“Mimi, lead your master to that mineral vein.”
To encourage Mimi’s work enthusiasm, Anis even took out a lettuce leaf to feed it. This was much cheaper than the cat treats from her past life.
“Meow~”
Mimi ate the food greedily, its tiny pink nose twitching slightly against the ground.
The person and the cat walked along a winding mountain ridge path. Anis held the cat as she waded through knee-high snowdrifts, eventually stopping at a certain spot halfway up the mountain where everything in sight was a vast expanse of white.
“Meow!”
Mimi called out loudly while jumping down from Anis’s arms, beginning to dig a hole in the snow. However, the snowfall had been far too heavy. Mimi’s body was almost buried in the drift, yet it still hadn’t reached the bottom!
“Let me do it.”
Anis gently lifted the cat out and pulled out her wand to cast magic on the hole it had dug.
“BLIZZARD BLAST!”
A small whirlwind kicked up in the cave. Just as the name of the spell suggested, the accumulated snow was blown into the air, turning into drifting flakes that whitened Anis’s eyelashes and Mimi’s whiskers.
Anis couldn’t help but feel that it would be wonderful if she could just play in the snow freely.
Once the snow cleared, a very narrow, pitch-black entrance was revealed. By Anis’s estimation, only someone with a petite, flat frame like Sherry’s could crawl inside.
“Meow.”
“Wait for me!”
Mimi entered through the passage, and Anis could only follow closely behind. As expected, when she lowered her feet, it was manageable. When her plump, supple thighs entered, there was a bit of resistance.
But when she reached the level of her chest—
‘Damn it!’
She was stuck fast.
In her past life, she had really liked well-endowed older sisters. When she was able to become one in this life, she had been so excited! Her bath times had even increased significantly!
But now, she regretted it for a moment!
‘Phew…’
She took a deep breath and pulled in her stomach. Of course, it was useless because it was her chest that was stuck, while she was pulling in her belly.
She could only use that move.
Anis raised her wand again and cast a shattering spell on the entrance!
A sense of looseness immediately spread throughout her body, and even her breathing became much smoother! However, blasting the entrance open came with a price.
This was a downward-sloping passage, much like a slide. Without any resistance, Anis slid down like a child playing on a playground!
“Ouch!”
“Meow!”
Mimi, who was scouting ahead, was suddenly struck from behind. But it was, after all, a cat with reaction speeds seven times faster than a human’s! In a few quick bounds, Mimi jumped onto Anis’s body, using those two large “melons” as a buffer as the pair slid all the way down!
The cave changed from narrow to increasingly wide, and the original pitch darkness began to flicker with dots of green light at the end.
*Thud!*
When she reached the end, Anis fell solidly onto the ground. The space here was over six feet tall, more than enough for her to stand up.
“My god, this is…”
The emerald-green light ahead was so bright that Anis could hardly open her eyes. She blocked the piercing light with one hand while using the other to pick up a piece of ore that had fallen by her feet to examine it closely.
Rather than calling it ore, it was more like a crystal. They possessed an octagonal structure with a point of light in the center. The mana was radiating from that very point.
After careful identification, Anis determined that this green mana did not pose any radiation-like threats to the human body. There were no detailed descriptions of these things in books, but there were indirect, lateral descriptions. This was the primary basis for Anis’s judgment that she could develop entirely new magic with them.
This kind of mana had a specific name: “Energy.”
It originated from nature and was a type of mana with a very high ceiling. For more specific details, Anis would need to study it slowly.
*Crunch, crunch…*
*Gag!*
Just then, the sound of a cat retching came from beneath her feet. Mimi had bitten into a small piece of energy crystal, but the taste seemed to be exceptionally foul.
“Mimi! I don’t think you’re supposed to eat that!”
Anis was about to stop it, but then Mimi opened its mouth and spoke in human tongue once again!