“Most people choose messengers based on animals or plants they are familiar with or have special memories of. Since Seedo has never had a pet, it’s likely he chose a creature he frequently sees and is comfortable with as his messenger.”

Adding this brief explanation, Cheshire chose a park in the southern part of the royal capital for the field trip.

Though called a park, it was nearly indistinguishable from a forest with its vast grounds where all kinds of animals and plants had made their home.

Cheshire’s theory was that they could find Leo’s messenger there, and it was quite close to the correct answer.

Even in <Hirome>, the southern park was a location with nearly 90% probability of encountering Leo’s messenger model.

After arriving at the park.

“There’s a squirrel over there!”

Whenever there was a rustling sound, Leo would perk up his ears and busily turn his head, and now he had spotted a squirrel.

He immediately lured the squirrel with nuts he had brought along, and after observing it to his satisfaction, he turned to Cheshire with a tense expression.

When Cheshire nodded, Leo began gathering magical power in both hands with an utterly serious face.

“Slowly, imagine you’re sculpting a squirrel model with magical power.”

Cheshire guided Leo with a rather teacher-like attitude.

With his duck-like lips that only appeared when concentrating, Leo molded his magical power in the manner of someone playing with clay, then shouted with the intensity of a battle cry.

“Squirrel!”

But the result was disastrous.

With a crack, the magical power that had gathered in Leo’s hands scattered like grains of sand.

Nevertheless, Leo didn’t get discouraged and immediately looked for his next target.

“Pigeon!”

“Hamster!”

“Sparrow!”

“Cat!”

“Duck!”

Whenever Leo discovered an animal he thought might work, he tried to create a messenger, but each attempt ended in failure.

Only after the nuts that had filled both his pockets were completely gone did Leo stop observing animals and fidget with his empty hands, mumbling awkwardly.

“I really thought it would work this time…”

I wanted to whisper the answer to Leo right away, but unfortunately, there was an obstacle between Leo and me.

“What were you thinking of for your messenger just now?”

At Cheshire’s question, Leo glanced at the butterfly-shaped magic stone fluttering around him.

“Cheti. I thought Cheti would become my messenger.”

“The butterfly is my messenger. You need to find your own Cheti.”

Seeing Leo’s dejected face, I subtly guided our group deeper into the park.

The animal Leo had chosen as his messenger model was wary of humans, so it couldn’t be seen along frequently traveled paths but in more secluded areas.

I tilted my parasol toward Leo and whispered quietly enough that Cheshire couldn’t hear.

“Instead of theory, try relying on intuition.”

“Intuition?”

“Sometimes what you casually think of is the right answer. For example… yes, how about an animal with fluffy fur and an elongated body?”

As I secretly gave him hints, Leo stopped in his tracks as if something had occurred to him.

“Maybe…”

Yes, Leo! What’s on your mind right now! That’s…!

“Maybe it’s this caterpillar!”

What?

Before I could stop him, Leo picked up a leaf rolling at his feet and held it up to my face.

“It might be an insect like your messenger, not an animal!”

Leo spoke with renewed energy and determination, but my attention was entirely focused on the thing wriggling on the green leaf.

“Lady Belinda?”

And finally, when that thing with fluffy hair, elongated body, and terribly demonic appearance raised its head and looked at me.

“Eep!”

I couldn’t even scream as I stepped backward and tripped over a stone.

“…!”

“Lady Belinda!”

As I tightly closed my eyes, bracing for the pain to follow.

“My lady.”

Instead of rolling on the dirt, something solid like a wall gently supported me.

“I didn’t know you were afraid of bugs. That’s quite adorable.”

When I cautiously opened my eyes, I saw Cheshire smiling like the spring sun while half-embracing me.

Heat rushed to my face.

How embarrassing to show such an unseemly appearance!

I quickly straightened myself, adjusted my clothes, and cleared my throat.

“Anything with more than five limbs is automatically out.”

“It’s fortunate that I only have four limbs. One more and I would have been out.”

Cheshire playfully responded, then, with a light gesture, summoned my parasol that had been thrown far away and placed it in my hand.

“For my lady, I’ll cast a barrier on this parasol to prevent any flying insects from entering. Except for me, of course.”

True to his word, a magic circle briefly appeared over the parasol before disappearing.

Soon, Leo approached, not knowing what to do, and apologized to me.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know you disliked insects.”

“It’s alright. There’s nothing wrong with being unprejudiced.”

Yes, how unprejudiced must our Leo be to consider a caterpillar as a potential messenger.

And to have the courage to immediately touch that disgusting, horrible, evil thing!

I had thought he was just a child, but he had grown up so much without me noticing, and I felt proud.

Eventually, when we reached the area where Leo’s messenger was likely to appear, I made an excuse to rest on a nearby bench, and Leo resumed his wildlife observation.

And before long, I realized.

“Maybe it’s a frog. I have a feeling!”

At least when it came to messengers, Leo’s intuition had a terrible success rate.

“Or maybe it’s a rabbit?”

No, it’s not…

“Yes. It must be a rabbit.”

Leaving Leo, who had become fixated on a white rabbit and started a staring contest with it, I secretly sighed.

I hadn’t realized this quest would be so difficult to complete.

I had brought him to the area where his messenger would appear instead of directly telling him the answer, as Cheshire might become suspicious, but the target was reluctant to show itself.

“Everyone else finds their messenger quickly, but Seedo is struggling unusually much.”

Sitting with me on the bench watching Leo, Cheshire spoke, and I asked him in return.

“Doesn’t it usually take this long?”

“Most people at least know what they like. Being unable to create a messenger despite trying so much is not normal.”

The reason why summoning a messenger, which was easy for others, was particularly difficult for Leo.

Perhaps it was because he had only recently developed preferences for what he liked and disliked.

While making this somewhat reasonable conjecture, Cheshire casually opened his mouth.

“Oh, you don’t need to pay for Leo’s lessons with magic stones anymore.”

At those words, I forgot what I had been pondering and turned to Cheshire.

“You don’t need magic stones anymore?”

I don’t know how long he had been looking at me, but our eyes immediately met.

“Yes, I’ve obtained as much as I wanted.”

As much as he wanted, he said.

Previously, I had to pay a considerable amount of magic stones as compensation for summoning him to our winter travel destination and treating him harshly.

But after that day, Cheshire requested that his commission fees be paid in magic stones, and as a result, quite a large quantity of magic stones flowed to him.

It was so much that the Magic Tower suspected I might be buying up magic stones to monopolize them.

But until now, I hadn’t been curious about why Cheshire needed so many magic stones.

“And I’ll have to postpone Seedo’s magic lesson next week. Something absolutely unavoidable came up, and it happens to coincide with the lesson day.”

Except for this moment.

Until now, Cheshire had prioritized Leo’s lessons above all else.

But just as he obtained all the magic stones he needed, suddenly something more important than Leo’s lessons came up.

I gripped the handle of my parasol tightly and carefully began to speak.

“I’ve heard the Magic Tower has been in turmoil lately.”

After becoming a Marquis, many things had changed, but what had notably improved was the quantity and quality of information that reached my eyes and ears.

After becoming a Marchioness, many things had changed, but what had notably improved was the quantity and quality of information that reached my eyes and ears.

When overseeing family business, one inevitably had to pay attention to the capital’s flow of funds and the movements of large organizations like the Temple and Magic Tower.

And such news from the Magic Tower had reached my ears.

“Did you know? Next week is Walpurgis Night. The reason I’m skipping Leo’s lesson is actually…”

“The Tower Master has announced his retirement.”

At my words, Cheshire momentarily closed his mouth.

I continued regardless.

“If the Tower Master retires and returns to the Mage Republic, what will happen to your residence?”

If the Tower Master left this country, Cheshire would have to move with him.

Cheshire was still a slave subordinate to the Tower Master, and above all, the Tower Master would never set Cheshire free.

In the end, nothing had changed since the day Keith left.

I recalled what Cheshire had sworn to me that night.

“My lady, I will eventually kill the Tower Master. Even so, can I be a good teacher for Seedo?”

Perhaps that day has finally come.