She was so excited, like a little girl with a star in the palm of her hand that she could never reach.
“I’m glad you’re so happy.”
Onesco raised her head and looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
“I’m so happy! I’ve always wanted jewelry!”
“Le- Leopin-kun. Than- ……!”
The words that were about to come out of her mouth caught her off guard and she quickly clamped her mouth shut.
And then she cleared her throat and said.
“Well, I guess I should thank you for …….”
I asked her a simple question.
“Didn’t you almost say ‘thank you’ just now?”
Then Onesco lifted her eyes and said, “No way!”
“No, of course not! That word is the greatest expression of gratitude in my family of knights! It is made with a kiss, and it is a pact of knights to give their lives for that person! It’s not something that can be said lightly!”
“Well, that’s a big deal.”
“Pikyiiiiiii!”
A deafening scream interrupted us.
I was momentarily dazzled by the flash of brilliance.
A huge white bird with wings larger than my outstretched arms was rushing in and attacking Onesco.
The bird picked and pulled Onesco’s hair with its beak, scratched her hands with its toe paws, and then flew away.
When Onesco was kicked in the back legs, she almost fell down, “Kyaa?” I reached out and pulled Onesco into my arms just as she was about to fall.
Onesco was turning blue in my arms.
“Ahh, the jewel is gone! The bird must have taken it! Wait ……!”
Onesco tried to run away, but I held her shoulders and wouldn’t let her go.
“Let me go, Leopin-kun!”
“Calm down, Onesco. Relax, Onesco, they’re flying. You can’t reach him from here.”
Onesco was completely distraught.
“Why are you so calm? It took my precious jewel! I can’t just give up now that I’ve got it! Without it, I, I, ……!”
“I’m not giving up either. I’m just saying that it’s out of our reach.”
“What?” Onesco is puzzled.
“What does that …… mean?”
“It means it’s like a jewel in a tiny hole. If we can’t do it, we can ask one of our friends who is good at it. Here.”
I pointed at the bird as it flew away.
The moment Onesco looked up.
… Shubaa….!
A black shadow flew from a tall tree.
It had the lithe silhouette of a cat.
If I had built a sporting goods store, I might have adopted it as the store’s logo.
Yes, I had ordered Tom, who had been standing behind Onesco like a shadow, to climb up the tree while Onesco was being attacked by the bird.