Chapter 63
No words came out in the face of the devastating scene before me.
That’s when the security guard shouted sharply.
“A mage attacking a civilian! Is this acceptable? This is an act of terrorism!”
What now?
This was truly something I hadn’t anticipated.
I’d gone to the trouble of preventing a magic demonstration with explosion risks, only for them to attack a customer now.
From the looks of it, the culprit who’d turned the customer into a charred lump seemed to be Edwin.
“What’s going on?”
As I approached, the security guard glanced at Alferen in his bear costume and said.
“Non-involved parties, step back.”
Perhaps because this event had been accident-free until now and a blemish had appeared, his reaction was extremely prickly.
Well, with an injured person, it was only natural.
At this rate, our powerless club would be forced into dissolution procedures.
Summoning my courage, I clasped Alferen’s hand and told the security guard.
“I am involved. I’m part of this club here.”
“Rodellia.”
That’s when Sierra wiped the sweat from her forehead with a weary expression. In that brief moment, her face looked like it had aged ten years.
“What happened?”
“It seems Edwin and Glaster misunderstood something.”
Sierra explained the sequence of events. Roughly, they’d attacked the owner who was raising a magical creature.
“He was a licensed tamer. Probably the Golden Camelli hid its egg without the owner’s knowledge…”
Golden Camelli. A magical creature from the chameleon family, known for its playful nature and being extremely difficult to raise.
Especially skilled in transformation magic, it was a master of disguise—once it started hide-and-seek, you’d suffer for days trying to find it.
“B-But it asked for help! It said that guy was keeping it locked up against its will!”
Glaster grumbled, still refusing to let go of the container in her arms.
Then, the charred figure, who had dramatically recovered after drinking a healing potion, retorted.
“That’s because it turns the house upside down whenever it wants. Do you think taming is easy?”
“Then what was all that about asking where the egg was?”
At Edwin’s ominous remark, the man snapped back.
“That was because this guy hid the egg and made it impossible to find! If left like that, it wouldn’t hatch and would die!”
The charred man looked utterly aggrieved.
From the circumstances, it seemed Edwin had caused the accident, with Glaster cheering him on.
‘Even you, Glaster…’
My head spun at the realization that even Glaster, whom I’d trusted, had joined in the mishap.
I stepped in front of Glaster and said.
“First, give that back to its owner.”
“B-But…”
“And apologize properly.”
At my firm words, Glaster teared up.
With no choice, she was about to hand me the container when it happened.
Perhaps the latch had loosened from Glaster’s fervent grip—the Golden Camelli burst out of the container.
And then…
Kyung-!
The Golden Camelli draped itself around my neck.
“Huh?”
The surprised owner stared blankly at the Golden Camelli.
“It’s a creature that hates being touched by people…”
The reptile’s characteristically cool, moist skin pressed against mine.
The Golden Camelli, looking oddly content, licked my cheek.
Kyung kyung.
The creature, which had kept its mouth shut tight and played innocent all along, now whimpered and fawned over me.
It resisted when I tried to detach it, leaving me in a bind, so I sought help from Glaster.
“What on earth is it saying?”
“W-Well…”
Glaster stared at me and the Golden Camelli as if she couldn’t comprehend it.
A moment later, she swallowed hard and replied.
“‘Take me with youuu… I like you so much!’ …That’s what it’s saying?”
“What? You’re kidding, right?”
“I-It’s true! It says you have a nice scent, Rodellia. That it makes all its fatigue melt away.”
A nice scent?
I’m not some fatigue recovery potion.
As I tilted my head in complete bafflement at the incomprehensible claim.
The bear paw easily peeled the Golden Camelli off.
The creature, which had been squirming in protest, suddenly became docile.
Alferen placed the Golden Camelli back in the container and handed it to the owner.
The man, caught off guard by the goodwill from the bear-costumed figure, accepted the container.
“Th-Thank you? But who are…”
“Ah.”
Only then realizing he’d been wearing the bear head all this time, Alferen removed it.
The man gaped at the familiar face.
“Y-You are…?”
“The Magic Tower will compensate you for the damages you’ve suffered this time. However, I’d appreciate it if you could let today’s incident slide. As you can see, it was done by some clueless kids.”
His demeanor was as polite as a parent dealing with their child’s mishap.
The man, receiving the proffered Magic Tower business card, wore a dazed expression.
“Huh?”
For several minutes, the man alternated between staring at the card and Alferen’s face.
“Eeeeek?!”
At the man’s cry, Sierra, who had been wrangling with the security guards, glanced our way.
Her look said, Did you cause another accident? But I felt wronged.
I’d just been trying to clean up the mess—hadn’t the Golden Camelli attacked me first?
That’s when Edwin muttered to himself.
“Huh, come to think of it, during the last Magic Tower tour. It seemed like magical flowers bloomed where that jelly guy passed. Hmm, let me think.”
It was a passing comment, but loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.
In the midst of all this, I felt like bopping him on the head for letting his mind wander.
Suddenly, Edwin clapped his hands and pointed at me.
“I thought it was a coincidence back then, but whoa! Newbie jelly! You have some hidden ability… Oof!”
In that instant, Alferen snatched a steamed bun that a passerby was about to bite into and shoved it into Edwin’s mouth.
Thanks to that, the attention that was about to pour onto me scattered between Alferen, who had fed the bun, and Edwin, whose words were blocked by it.
“Quiet.”
His whispered voice was sweet, but his gaze was utterly menacing.
Did he think the troublemaker was being too noisy?
Well, he was in the middle of cleaning up, and the culprit was just lounging around—it was bound to be irritating.
But the words that came from Alferen’s mouth were completely unexpected.
“It’s not jelly—it’s Delly. And more importantly, I’d prefer if you didn’t casually use Delly’s nickname.”
Is that really the issue right now?
I’d long grown used to my name being mangled, so this was a totally unforeseen nitpick.
Meanwhile, Edwin looked bewildered but still munched on the bun in his mouth.
Having devoured someone else’s steamed bun without leaving his seat, he smacked his lips.
“This is tasty, huh?”
You’re so simple, it’s almost enviable.
How can you cause a major incident and still have an appetite for a steamed bun?
I gave up trying to understand Edwin.
As Sierra said, he really is Magia’s problem child!
* * *
Fortunately, with the Magic Tower Lord’s appearance, the Golden Camelli’s owner’s momentum deflated, and the matter resolved easily.
Alferen even placated the security guards and sent them on their way. Standing beside him, I whispered softly.
“Sorry. I dragged you into unnecessary trouble.”
“It’s not something you need to apologize for.”
Alferen glanced coldly at Edwin and Glaster for a moment, then clicked his tongue.
But before I could even register his displeased expression, he turned back to me with a smile as sweet as honey.
“So this is why you said I should hang around the event grounds?”
“Yeah. Just in case.”
Of course, I truly hadn’t expected Glaster to join in and cause an accident too.
Joining a magic flora and fauna club feels less like dealing with magical plants and animals and more like taming runaway mages.
“But thanks to you, it all worked out.”
We nearly faced club dissolution like in the original story.
Someone who raises a Golden Camelli must be quite a wealthy noble.
Turning such a person into charcoal—there’s no excuse even if I had ten mouths.
Just as it seemed the incident was wrapping up neatly.
“Well, well, even the great Duke Ainluk resorts to status over principles sometimes, I see.”
An unwelcome figure smirked with a cigar in his mouth.
The two tear moles under his eyes crinkled into half-moons with his mocking smile.
Cesare exhaled a puff of cigar smoke and murmured.
“Nanael, what do you think? Honestly, doesn’t this warrant disciplinary action?”
