It looks like they need someone to set a good example for them, and I'm the most suitable candidate among everyone present.
I squat down and whisper "please" to Mojito sincerely before reaching out with my right hand to touch its head.
However, Mojito reaches out and blocks me with its front paw with a look of disgust.
A hard-working human will never admit defeat. I dodge its sturdy paws calmly and suddenly extend my right hand quickly toward its head.
Before I know it, Mojito's front paw turns into an afterimage and blocks me once again.
It looks like I won't be able to beat it with speed, so I decide to use my intelligence. I pretend to reach out towards its head with my right hand again, but this time, I also try to touch its chin with my left hand with a pincer attack...
Mojito tilts its head to the left and successfully dodges my attack. It then growls at me, exhaling all over my face.
These setbacks won't stop me. Refusing to accept reality, I prepare to attack for a fourth time when I suddenly hear the laughter of the staff.
[Male Staff]This black panther has such a good temper.
[Female Staff]Yeah, it hasn't gotten angry even though it has been harassed so many times. This "big cat" is so cute, unlike that little tabby cat in the courtyard.
[Male Staff]Which one?
[Female Staff]The stray cat that came inside a few days ago. Kaori got scratched when touching its paws last week. The scabs are still there.
I don't know if Mojito understood what the staff said, but it shook its head and snorted twice.
[Female Staff]Look, it's being friendly to us. In that case, I think it will be fine to let it inside if the owners watch it carefully. What do you think?
[Male Staff]I guess it's... okay.
[Male Staff]You two... Did you three make an appointment in advance before coming to Countless Springs today? ...I see. In that case, please follow me, and remember to keep an eye on it.
[player]Relax! I promise that everything will be okay.
While we follow the staff into Countless Springs, I quietly ask Ciri what Mojito was saying with those snorting sounds.
[Ciri]Oh, it was saying that it hates humans who don't respect others' boundaries.
Kurone Toujou is already waiting for us in the pavilion in the middle of the lake by the time we get inside Countless Springs. She is sitting behind a screen painted with birds singing in a bamboo forest. I can't see her appearance clearly, and all I can see are some indistinct shadows swaying with the breeze blowing through the pavilion.
Ciri doesn't act like a stranger in front of her. She skips the formalities and starts asking questions from the very beginning.
[Ciri]I've come to ask you about the situation that day when you picked up the red-crowned crane. The more details you can give me the better.
[Kurone Toujou]You're as impatient as ever, hehe. However, it's been a few days now, so please give me some time to think about what happened.
[Kurone Toujou]It was around 10 PM that night when I met the red-crowned crane, and I was just coming back from the East Wind dojo... I think someone was chasing it at that time, and it no longer had the strength to get back up again after it fell to the ground in front of me.
[Kurone Toujou]It was when I picked it up that I noticed the serious injuries on its wings and legs.
[Ciri]Were you the only one there at that time?
[Kurone Toujou]Yes, I didn't have anyone accompany me because East Wind dojo isn't far from Countless Springs... Of course, I didn't dare to rashly confront the people chasing after it at that time, so I took it and hid in a nearby 24-hour convenience store.
[Ciri]Didn't those people search the convenience store?
[Kurone Toujou]Maybe they thought the red-crowned crane wouldn't go inside a convenience store by itself... Anyway, they didn't search that place at that time.
[Ciri]Did you see who they were?
[Kurone Toujou]Through the glass at night, I think I could vaguely see... a group of people who were dressed like thugs and had weapons with them.
Upon hearing this, Ciri suddenly punches the pillar next to her and gives me a fright.
[Ciri]They tricked us.
I instantly understand what she is saying. Ciri thinks that the thug Shijukara we met the other day must have been talking about this red-crowned crane. He was probably lying when he said he was looking for a man called red-crowned crane.
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