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When I was back to the living room, I was met with the same sight that I left; the peddler still trying to sell his goods to Regina, whose pout on her face only deepened.

“That’s too low, you can’t even buy wholesale with that price. People will buy it even with three times that price anywhere else!”
“Then go elsewhere. You must be crazy to go deep into a forest to sell cosmetics.”
“I brought it here because I’ve known you for years. Please take that into account and buy it at this price…”
“I’ll take it into account and buy it with a friend discount then.”
“Oh, come on!”

Although, as I expected, Regina would just one-sidedly dictate her own price.

“Umm…” I vocalized coyly, and Regina turned to me with a troublesome look on her face. The peddler looked overtly relieved at that.

“What is it, Jill? Is there bad news in that letter or what?” Regina slumped her shoulders with a scowl, as if she had just received a death notice of her own family.

This might be a bit too far-fetched, but for some reason, her question almost sounded like she was deeply worried about me. Feeling a little out of place, I tilted my head inwardly and told her what was inside Eren’s letter—mainly her invitation to the coming of age ceremony.

“…Hmph. In short, you want to take a day off since you want to go to the festival. —You, a blockhead who can’t even stir a pot.” Regina confirmed it, her face expressionless.

Yeah, I could tell from a mile away, she’d say no to this. I’m sorry Eren— Right when I was halfway through giving up, Regina said, “Feel free to go. I’ll have you stir three pots of amrita until then. You can go to your festival or go berserk in the forest all you want once you’re done.” In some quirk of fate, her permission was easily granted.

“—!! Th-, thank you so much, Mentor!”
“Hmph. Don’t get too jittery and slip up, you hear me?!”

“How dreamy, the festival of confession for boys and girls. Although, if I asked Milady to come with, she would probably prepare a flaming tire for me to wear around my neck…” The peddler who blended into the background, somehow managed to say something so bleak with such a happy-go-lucky tone as he produced a square wooden box from his baggage. “And for you, young missy, this mister has a present.”

When the lid was opened and the contents were presented to me, I found eggs of various colors wrapped in sawdust. They were about one size larger than a goose egg, and colored with polka dots, stripes, star marks, and such jolly colors as though they were easter eggs.

“The ancient Pet Eggs! If you apply mana to this egg and hatch it, you can get a Pet that’s much more powerful and obedient than any of today’s demon beasts. They are the culmination of a mythical secret art lost in the modern age. Purchase an item today and I’ll give one of these as a special gift!”

Both those eggs and his advertisement were nothing short of shady. Even those colored chicks the night stalls sold were much more credible.

“What, just one? Damned stingy.” Swearing, Regina snatched up lipstick from the row of cosmetics.

“And yet you picked the cheapest one. …Pot and kettle, I say.” Mumbling, the man offered the box to me again after he received the payment from Regina. “Now, young missy. Help yourself with one.”

“Eh…? Umm…?” Is it really okay for me to choose it myself? I turned to Regina for an answer, but she was already back to her favorite chair by the fireplace, her back telling me she didn’t want to be bothered.

I judged it to be a silent affirmation from her part—or perhaps it was more likely that this whole Ancient Lost Art thing was bogus and she left it to me since it was too ridiculous for her—so I took the man’s word for it and decided to choose one for myself.

“…let’s see.” Well, this whole talk about Pet thingamajig, I’d say perhaps there was a 49% chance of it being genuine…genuinely a scam, I meant, like the other 50% of it. That being said, I still reached my hand for the eggs to take a closer look at them—but, the moment I did, a powerful wave of mana pushed my palm back. My hand stopped midair.

“?! Is this perhaps a real thing?!”
“But of course. Not once have I ever lied in my whole life, and I take pride in that fact.”

Now THAT has to be a lie.

I renewed my will and picked up the eggs one by one, carefully checking their mana and taking time comparing the seven of them. “I would say, this one…” I chose the egg with blue jagged lines on a rather simple white background, simply because the mana wavelength this egg emitted was closest to mine, and that just felt right.

“—Hoh. A sirius, I see. You’ve chosen well.”
“Sirius?”
“Indeed. A wolf demon beast that has wings on its back. It should hatch in about two weeks as long as you always have it with you and keep feeding it mana. If you give it a name once it’s hatched, the familiar contract should be complete.”

Always with me…wait, isn’t that too big a responsibility?! I have to always keep this egg sticking with me 24/7?! What is this, the Turtle Hermit Training Arc?!

Ignoring my stunned reaction, the peddler quickly packed up his belongings and began preparing to leave.

“I’ll come again when I’m around.”
“Don’t you dare show your ugly mug near me again!!”

Regina yelled at him, and yet the peddler didn’t seem at all perturbed. He bowed, all smilingly, and was about to leave when he suddenly turned around and pointed at my chest.

“Young missy, I advise you to cover it up. Something bad will happen if an evil person sees that necklace.” Oh, I didn’t notice it was outside this whole time. The necklace was my only possession now, and it was the memento of my mother too.

After being warned with quite a serious tone by him, I quickly grabbed it and hid it away. In the meanwhile, the peddler swiftly turned his heel around and left the living room.

I soon came to myself and rushed to see him off, but I noticed that I didn’t hear the front door ever being opened. Even after I stepped into the hallway, his figure had disappeared as if he were a ghost. I peeked outside and found that it was still raining cats and dogs, and not a single sight of a person anywhere.

It was as though I just had a hazy daydream, but there was the Pet Egg in my hand that was clearly tangible.

“What are you dawdling about?! Get started on the amrita!!”
“Y-, yes!”

Regina’s guttural order came from the living room so I hurriedly closed the front door. In that instant, the egg in my hand shuddered as if it was afraid.

Author’s Note:
I adopted the Eight Immortals as my setting for the names of the group that supports the world, both in name and reality.

By the way, both «White» and «Yellow» are hereditary titles, and the current «Yellow» is actually the third generation while «White» is still being held by the first generation. The others, aka «Red», «Silver», «Green», «Black», «Purple», and their leader «Crimson», are immortal beings.

«White» actually only turned to witchcraft in her olden years.

The immortals (omitting «White» and «Yellow») only need to expose a Pet Egg to their mana for a few seconds for it to hatch, but it would take a few days to a month for magicians of the current time to hatch a single egg.

Translator’s Rant Note:
This author went to the stars and beyond to make up a very, very deliberate setting, but decided to use google translate to name everything in latin and/or maybe french, and/or maybe german too. So, yeah.