@AThousandCurses@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

---

Quite the rambunctious critters, weren't they? Unfortunately for them, they could not escape a talented maids quick hands! She may not have had special powers or magic like Elastasia, but she was no less capable! As the critters were funneled towards them, Mella honed in on the more exotic looking ones and went specifically for those. A lizard like creature that vaguely reminded her of an axolotl was easily dealt with after snatching it from the ground before it could slip through Reginalds feet while he...oh, was that some sort of...holy bird or something?

Her eyes lingered on Reginalds prize for a few moments before she'd tear her eyes away.

She had and wanted nothing to do with such things. They'd only just get her in trouble. It was a good thing, then, something else else needed her intervention.

"Humph," As the kitten leapt towards Elastasia, it would instead be finding itself face planting right into Mella's bosom as she put herself between the kitten and the mage. "Its rather impolite to leap at a lady's face." She'd scold the kitten, using a free arm to pin it against her body in case it tried struggling.

When the kitten--why had a kitten known to go for her? had made that jump--Elastasia reflexively froze up, presenting a harmless and ineffectual target... one that would have been able to do nothing to maintain their little corralling effort. Fortunately for her, the totally-just-a-maid came to her rescue, and the barrier maintained its integrity. Barely; the little jumping trick did cause the entire thing to shimmer ominously before recovering its strength.

How odd that he'd caught a holy bird, though. Was that even a good thing? It might do... something, when panicked, and it wasn't exactly the holiest of all individuals that had just made a grab for it. Maybe they'd be lucky and it would make a beeline for someone more suitable, even if nobody with the exact magical affinity was in the area.

Of course, her brother now had his hands full, as well as his face. It looked rather like an ordinary puppy. A very large, very affectionate, very slobbery puppy.

Serrica had waited for Noctis to say something but he was rather quiet. "Well, fine, the boy seems shell-shocked. If you feel better, do follow. Otherwise, girl, I'm going to borrow you for a small bit so the patient can rest." With that, Serrica kept hold of Anne's hand and walked out the door with her, leading her to somewhere that wasn't the infirmary. They got out of the building for some fresh air before Serrica stopped and released Anne. She took a breath before she opened her mouth again.

"Alright then. Now that we can get out from that sterile smelling air, do you not want to work for the quite rich Serrica Francesca Haldblum? I can pay you a potent salary... Hmm..." She went silent for some seconds as she contemplated something. "I suppose I have yet to properly introduce myself..." The noble girl cleared her throat before speaking once more. "I am the eldest daughter of the Haldblum Duchy, Serrica Francesca Haldblum. May I ask your name and house? Or, lack thereof. Take no offence, but if you are of a noble house I've yet to see you attend to high society functions."

"Wait wha-"

On one hand it did allow her to escape from one of the romantic interests. On the other, this wasn't anything like anything that had happened in the game. Anne certainly hadn't expected Serrica to go dragging her off like this out of the blue. In fact, none of this behavior seemed like the Serrica she knew from the game at all. Just what was going on? Of course it wasn't that Serrica wasn't wealthy and exuberant but...

Maybe she was just imagining it? Maybe it was just because of how things had already shifted?

Anne wasn't certain, and she didn't really know how to handle a girl just dragging her off in the first place.

"Er... er... Marielle," she managed, when Serrica asked her name. It was more then she'd expected to be dealing with from her already, so it took a moment for her to even begin to articulate herself, "A-Anne Marielle, er, I guess we just didn't... run into each other...?"

She was from a minor house, in any case, so the chances of that were exceptionally high.

@Pyromania99

With the barrier comparatively unperturbed by the kitten's valiant efforts, the rest of the animals soon found themselves crashing into the magical wall... Or one another. To Reginald, who was watching the whole affair unfold in front of him, the mental image of a nasty pileup quickly came to mind—and a somewhat restrained grimace crossed his face as he turned away from the carnage.

"I certainly don't envy any of them..." he remarked to himself as the bird in his hands continued to wriggle and squirm about. Though he could not necessarily see the growing energy it was exuding now, he could certainly feel it now. To that, though, the young man simply chose to maintain his hold on the creature. 'Twas not his place to question why a magical creature was being held here, of course, but as far as he could tell, there was not much amiss about it beyond a slight glow.

The two more magically-inclined girls in his company would likely be able to tell what was going on to some degree, though, given how the bird seemed to be absorbing energy from the disoriented and injured creatures lying about as the shopekeepers began to gather them back up. By now, the identity of the avian was a bit more obvious to those who had run through this event in the game—the heroine's "companion" on the routes more relevant to the church, traveling around and growing alongside her.

Unfortunate, though, that such growth usually required the presence of the injured and pained... Such as those lying around the street right now. Doubly so, of course, when one considered that the bird could hit a critical mass of energy before it reached a new stage in it's growth, as seemed to be fast approaching, and in so doing could cause anything from a shockwave of mana to a pulse of healing energy affecting those who it was nearby to anything in between.

All the while, though, the kitten that had now been caught in Melia's arms was flailing about, trying it's hardest to push itself free from her grasp. Notably enough, though, it seemed to deliberately not be trying to scratch or bite at her body despite being caught in a rather unbecoming situation... Though for what reason it chose not to do so remained to be seen.

By this point, though, the shopkeepers had begun to capitalize on the efforts of everyone actively aiding in their efforts to stop the stampede, and more than a few had already begun to bring the creatures splayed out on the streets back to their cages... For better or worse. The wyvern in Cervantes' grasp, for example, continued to struggle away at the net that had wrapped around it's body—or, to be more accurate, the net that it had incidentally wrapped itself up in. But the slight red glow beginning to form from within it's mouth was not exactly a herald of good things to come for anyone left unaware...

@AThousandCurses@Rune_Alchemist@Raineh Daze

"Phew, almost done." What a day. Cervantes grimaced as he dragged the straggling wyvern to a cage. It felt a little surreal to be in this situation. Mystical animals break out and he had to catch one of them; what was this an anime? Though he supposed it wasn't too wrong. After all, this was an otome game. Scenarios like these shouldn't be too surprising to see in an otome, but experiencing first hand was an entirely different matter.

Opening the cage, he looked down at the lizard. "Well, little guy, it's time to get into cage so-" Cervantes stopped when the whelp something glowing in its mouth. Did it eat a flashlight or something? First, he was sure that flashlights didn't exist in this world. Second, he was pretty sure that light was coming out of its mouth. It reminded him of a dragon about to breath fire. "Wait, breath fire?"

Fire?

In an instant, Cervantes was immediately alarmed of what was going to happen. Why could wyverns breath fire, or whatever it was doing? He thought only dragons could that. Wyverns were like the lame cousins of dragons and insignifcant to them. "Ah... Ah... Ah..." Cervantes panicked. What was he going to do? He had to do something, but he didn't want to hurt the wyvern either. Cervantes dug into his pockets and threw 'it' at the wyvern.

"Pocket sand!"

Immediately the sand slapped the wyvern straight in the face. It blinked before wrinkling it nose. With a sneeze that sounded like a gun firing, it shot out fire. Fire that easily burned his net. "Haaaaaa!" Cervantes yelped at the sudden brightness. Out of sheer instinct, Cervantes threw the net, along with the help, into the cage. "Nope, nope, nope, nope, not today. Not dealing with this, today." Without hesitation he closed the cage and locked it.

"Er, Reggie, you might want to let that one go..." Elastasia offered hesitantly. Of course, if the Heroine had been here, this very early opportunity to get the bird would have had it decide that the holy magic-aligned girl was its ideal partner despite the general disorganisation and chaos going on, but here? Well, maybe a maid would be a good alternative. Or it would be happy to find its way home or to freedom or to wherever it might actually find a suitable partner.

She highly doubted it was going to enjoy being held by a young man whose major skills lay in chopping things to pieces. "It might, ah... blow your hands off?"

Well, hopefully only bruise them. But holding onto it would likely hurt, if it wasn't all that happy with the current situation, and result in not holding the bird anyway.

@AThousandCurses@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

---

It seemed though, unless she wanted harm to befall her current employer, it would be best to intervene in some manner. Now, she could do as Elastasia did and simply politely inform him that holding onto a holy hand grenade bird was a bad idea, but on the other hand, that wouldn't be quite as entertaining and there was a chance he would neither hear nor heed those words. So she needed to make him drop it.

"Lord Reginald." She'd simply say in order to get his attention. "Hold this for me, yes?" And then promptly grabbed the Axolotl like creature she had in her grasp, and threw it right at Reginald. A totally flawless plan that would certainly get him to drop the bird before anything bad happened. The animal flew through the air with a dopey smile as though it was enjoying the freedom of flying through the air.

With her other hand, she'd press the kitten a bit harder against her chest, didn't want it getting free and squirming about either.

"Anne Marielle? Hmm... Well, can't say I'm familiar with your house, truth be told. Well, that much can change Lady Anne." Serrica said, smiling a small bit. "You should come join my tea parties and other such affairs. I can assure you that it can only help your family out to be acquainted with the Duchy. Well, our Duchy. Not the other not as important one." Serrica mentioned with some small disdain in her voice.

The daughter of the duke seemed to clear her thoughts rather quickly before shaking her head and turning toward Anne again, "Well, hiring you aside, you are a new student this year, correct?" She asked but didn't give time for a response. "Of course you are. Well, if you need help with anything let me know. I'd be willing to help since I think of it as an investment in human potential." The merchant added, not hiding her reasons at all. There was no need to hide it, after all. She had let her intentions be known clear as day. "Regardless of all that however, let me say that it is a pleasure to meet you." She said, offering her hand for a handshake.

For several moments, Anne was completely silent. She didn't quite know how to respond to Serrica's offer. Certainly, she was an ally character in the game, but at the same time she didn't remember anything quite happening like this. It didn't seem the same.

"Er... thank you," she said, bowing her head as she reached out to accept the handshake. No matter what else was going on, it was quite a generous offer. Even if it didn't feel anything like the way Serrica felt in the game. Maybe it was just the difference between a video game and reality? That could be the case, but some things had seemed exactly the same as the game while others had diverged.

Certainly, part of this had to just be from different actions taking place causing things to change in different ways. But that couldn't be the only explanation for everything, could it?

It felt like everything was becoming even more complicated by the second.

@Pyromania99

Still oblivious to the danger within his hands—at least, for the moment—Reginald simply gave Elastasia a look of mild confusion as she warned him about the avian struggling within his grasp.

"Blow my hands off?" he asked, glancing down for a moment before shaking his head. "I can see it glowing a bit, sure, but it's not as if—"

But before he could finish his rejection therein, the momentary lapse in attention as he turned towards the maid calling his name followed by the flight of a rather flightless creature towards his face left the young man a victim to his instincts—and in so doing let go of the bird in order to catch the axolotl-like creature hurtling towards his face. It was as much for his sake as it was for the animal's, of course, but the bird that he had taken the pains to catch was now flapping it's wings as it tumbled momentarily through the air.

But that was for no more than that fleeting moment, though, as the creature swiftly swerved upwards with a flap of it's wings as it dodged the ground. The glow by now had become palpable enough for even Reginald to be aware that it was indeed likely more magical than he had first believed it to be, and the sudden burst of light thereafter after it flew into the center of the would-be helpers caused him to instinctively shield his eyes.

The light itself seemed to do no damage—quite the opposite, really, as a few of the more disoriented animals at their feet began to regain their bearings—but the bird that was the source of all this seemed to simply fly towards Mella before promptly perching itself in her head. It seemed to be staring daggers at Reginald now, of course, but it at least seemed to not be trying to escape again... For whatever reason that could be.

"...Well, that's a rather rude bird," he remarked, checking on the creature in his hands to see if it had been affected by the bird's magic before promptly handing it off to a nearby shopkeeper. "But I suppose that if it means to stick around, that's one less problem to worry about."

The kitten, though, seemed far less pleased with the current state of affairs. It was a bit more limp, now, pressed between the maid's hand and chest as ait was, but there was only so much it could attempt to do given the restrictions it seemed to impose upon itself. Surely, a scratch or bite would likely cause her to drop it... But the beast seemed to simply give up and accept it's fate.

"For what reason would you let loose a bunch of creatures into the area like this, though...?" Reginald mused to himself as he brushed off some of the dirt on his clothes before turning towards one of the less occupied shopkeepers. "Could I hear more about the details of this situation, by any chance?"

The person in question—a somewhat lanky man in his late thirties—responded with a weak smile and a shrug.

"I'm sorry, sir; all I can recall were some young men sprinting away before the chaos broke out. I think one of them might've been holding onto something, but..."

"A robbery, maybe?" Reginald responded, arms now folded across his chest in mild concern. "What sort of idiots would attempt a robbery in broad daylight...?"

@Raineh Daze@Rune_Alchemist

---

The rather ham-fisted method Cervantes had chosen to get the wyvern out of his hair (or, well, net) drew a bit of an irritated glance from one of the shopkeepers nearest the event, and who, despite seeing everyhing unfold as it did, not not seem particularly pleased with how the wyvern had been lobbed into it's cage.

"Though I do appreciate the help," he began to say as he brought a large hamster-like creature towards it's cage, "I'd prefer if you didn't damage the merchandise in the process."

There was a pause and a sigh as he stared at the rows of cages—most of which had their doors wide open—before shaking his head.

"Thousands of coins' worth of merchandise, all for a... Prank? I don't even know at this point..."

The exhaustion and mental fatigue were rather evident from his body language alone, but there was only so much the poor man could even attempt to do at this point beyond try to salvage what he could from the mess that had just transpired.

@AThousandCurses

---

---

"I certainly did not expect to see you here of all places, Lady Haldblum. Were the events outside too few and far between to entertain you?"

As the conversation between Serrica and Anne found itself coming to a close, a rather dignified-looking young woman with long golden hair walked straight towards the pair. It was a face that Serrica would have grown to known well by this point, and one that would, in a sense, strike fear of a different sort into Anne's heart.

It was hard, after all, to ignore the main 'love rival' of the crown prince's route—Lilian Meridan, the prince's straight-laced and sharp-tongued childhood friend.

It almost seemed as if there were sparks flying out of Lilian's eyes as she stared straight into Serrica's eyes before turning towards Anne.

"...My apologies. I should not be so crass so as to not introduce myself first," Lilian said, taking a step back before giving a light curtsy towards the unfamiliar young woman in front of her. "Lilian Meridan, the daughter of His Royal Highness' chief advisor Byron Meridan. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Once she had spoken her piece, though, Lilian simply turned back towards Serrica with a look of mild contempt.

"I suppose that matching your refined tastes would have been a rather daunting task to begin with regardless," she remarked with a shake of her head. "How unfortunate."

The thinly-veiled venom Lilian's words was almost palpable as she continued staring Serrica dead-on, her gaze unflinching as she continued staring the woman opposite her down.

"To be quite honest, I'm quite surprised to even see you here in the first place. I would have thought you would have better things to do with your time than stroll down the hallways making small talk with the new students."

@Pyromania99@VitaVitaAR

That pricked his conscious. "You're not the only one suffering you know," Cervantes said as he scratched the back of his head. "I was planning to sell that capture net at my shop, but now look at it." All burnt up and being used a chew toy by the flying lizard. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed. Cervantes could already tell what tomorrow's gossip would be. News Headline, "Wild creatures run rampant in Plaza!?" What a mess.

Though, this may give him an opportunity. "Well, I am feeling generous today." With a smile, he walked up towards the shopkeeper. "If I may introduce myself, I am Cervantes Quixote. I am a merchant of many wares," Cervantes paused in dramatics before saying it aloud. "And connections. I can ask some of my 'friends' to help you with finding your merchandise if you'd like. That and I'll help with your shop. Of course, we'll have to write up a contract, but I want to hear your thoughts first."

Aside from the fact that he technically had no 'connections,' he had one resource that could potentially help a hapless old man.

The Heroine.

If would be able to convince the heroine on this endeavor, then he'd hit a jackpot. Though, of course, he'd have to offer something in return to the heroine to convince her. The world revolved in exchanges of course. Whether it be money, favors, or gods, something had to be given away in return. Cervantes would be have to flexible, since he didn't exactly know what the female lead could possibly want.

Though perhaps, he could get that maid into this as well. She did say she wanted to get into a business. Why not have this man teach her the ropes or something? Either way, after this he needed to find people fast.

"What is your name, mister?"

Serrica merely smiled somewhat entertained as Lilian spoke harshly to her. There was always something entertaining about her interactions with the girl. Few people truly troubled her and Lilian Meridan was no exception to that. "Nice to see you as well, Lady Meridan. Looking as beautiful as ever." She mentioned as the girl just stared her down. Perhaps she would feel unsettled with the daughter of His Majesty's chief advisor staring her down... But a merchant couldn't let such trifles bother them.

She went silent mostly as Lilian introduced herself to Anne. It didn't bother her a bit. So long as she didn't plan on trying to snatch her new recruit from under her like a bitch. Which is not what it seemed like. Rather, she seemed rather focused on her for some reason. She always seemed wary.

Perhaps it was because she was not exactly polite to the royalty? Well, she didn't have to nor did she particularly want to. He was fairly boring as far as it went but, realistically, she didn't really focus on that sort of thing in her few playthroughs.

As soon as introduction was over... It was back to being stared at. Serrica couldn't remember being particularly mean to Lilian or anything of the sort. In fact, she had started trying to be.... Somewhat nice. She has consistently invited her to tea parties. Or, tried. A good ally is the daughter of the king's advisor after all. Now, however...

"Well, I had come this far out originally to assist a girl that had been pushed aside and scraped her knee. There I met this cute little miss." Serrica mentioned, defending herself in a small way. "And I always have time to make small talk with the new students, Lady Meridan. It's always wonderful to meet the new faces we'll be seeing until we graduate." She added before staring Lilian back in the eye. "My, you know, Lady Meridan, you stare at me like that much longer and I'll wonder if you have a thing for me. I thought you had a thing for the Crown Prince." Serrica teased, taking a step closer.

"Well, you may find that my refined taste includes people with beautiful golden locks if you're curious." The Duke's daughter took one more step forward towards Lilian. She was curious if she hit the hammer on the nail, though she somewhat doubted she did. Likely, she was just always irritated with the way Serrica treated the Crown Prince.

"Oh dear, the holy bird seems to like you..." Elastasia stated, watching the bird's choice of perch curiously. Was this information actually significant to any of the world's normal inhabitants? It could be mere happenstance that Mella was more appealing than any of the others around here--being marginally holier than a bunch of merchants and nobles might not be considered much of an achievement--but at the same time, it was a very definite preference...

Or maybe that was merely confirmation bias speaking. She knew why it was so attracted, therefore, to her, it was obvious. If she started acting on all the game knowledge to any real end, though, she'd get a reputation for uncanny prescience that would give out in such a short span of time, that would be quite annoying. And she really needed to start with something big before attention came to her, like making sure Reginald didn't go off and cause problems.

Maybe if he was encouraged to collect rare animals, they wouldn't need to depend on the Heroine's whims? That derpy-looking creature would be a good start.

And maybe one of the shopkeepers would get that dog off her brother. He wouldn't have anywhere to keep such a pet, no matter how friendly it was.

@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

---

"I'll send you an invoice for saving your arm later." Mella confidently stated with her usual neutral expression. Now the only thing was to get away before the bird did anything like give any sign that she knew exactly what was going on or that the bird somehow decided to stay with her.

She felt a set of bird feet perch on her head.

"Shoo, bird." She'd say, making an attempt at waving the bird off. She had no desire to get caught up with any holy creature unless said holy creature was worth the entirety of the country in its net worth that she could sell or profit from. More importantly though, was the little kitten that had accepted its fate, it seemed. She'd relax her grip on it just slightly, adjusting so she could hold it a little better and more comfortably with it resting on her shoulder instead of being firmly pressed against her. "More importantly...for helping you catch these runaway animals, I believe fair compensation is in order, sir?"

"..."

Ah.

Ah.

She wasn't ready to deal with this. There was no way she was prepared to deal with this situation.

Anne had prepared herself as quickly as possible to deal with meeting a variety of characters, but this was almost on par with meeting one of the potential capture targets.

The villainess.

Lilian Meridan.

How did she respond to this situation?! What did she do!? She wasn't planning on trying to pursue the crown prince(hell no in fact) but that didn't mean there wasn't the potential for disaster brewing.

Did she just introduce herself? It already seemed like Serrica was provoking her. Wasn't that a really bad idea?! She didn't need to be wrapped up in a scenario like this when she was still trying to figure something out?

Frazzled was the best description for the expression on Anne's face.

"N-nice to meet you," she managed, curtsying and trying not to acknowledge the obvious provocation occurring beside her, "I-I'm Anne. Her, Anne Marielle! ... Daughter, er, daughter of Lord Marielle... er..."

The anxiety had made her stumble over herself.

This was a mess.

@Pyromania99@PKMNB0Y

Curious though he was about whatever had sparked this incident in the first place, Reginald reminded himself that, at the end of the day, there were other matters to worry about over investigating the circumstances that had kept everyone here to begin with. With that being said, though, it wasn't as if he could tell as if these events were predetermined or not to begin with. He had little memory of any events like this while proceeding through the game, but at this point, chasing after a dangling thread on his first day here in hopes that it would lead to other issues seemed a bit...

Frivolous? Yes, frivolous was the word. He needed information first and foremost, not instinctual hunches.

"...Well, there were surely other witnesses. Hopefully those with more authority will find the ones responsible," he said, shrugging his shoulders as he glanced towards his maid. Being the person she usually was, of course, his servant requested recompense—one that he was less willing to give due to the bird that seemed to be gravitating towards her, granted, but what she had done otherwise at least warranted some minor bonus.

"If you wish to bill me, I will, of course, review the costs," he remarked back, watching as Mella attempted to get the bird off of her head. A small smirk crossed his face as he watched the bird flit about, dodging the maid's hands as it flew into the air for a moment... Before promptly returning to sit atop her head.

"Would you prefer I purchased that bird for you? Or, rather, maybe I should do so regardless..." he joked before taking a step to the side as a few more shopkeepers—and, now, some more willing volunteers—began to carry the rattled animals back to whence they came.

Walking back towards Elastasia and Terys, though, the black-haired student noted that the latter was still wrestling with a rather large puppy, which seemed to have taken to him as much as the bird had to his maid. Whether or not he wanted to be pinned to the ground and licked over and over was not necessarily his jurisdiction, of course, but given that it seemed to have been going on for long enough for the boy to try (and fail) to push him off...

Well, it only seemed right to step in and assist.

With a sigh, Reginald leaned over and wrapped both of his arms around the dog before prying it away from Terys, the beast notably heavier than it seemed to be at first glance.

"I am... Surprised they could keep this thing to begin with," he said, some strain evident on his face as the dog shook about in his arms. "Rather friendly, it seems—for better or worse."

@Raineh Daze@Rune_Alchemist

---

The older man stared at Cervantes for a moment before shaking his head and sighing.

"Jacob Verdan. As for recovering what was lost, well..."

There was a moment as he trailed off before glancing at the people bringing the animals back over to the shop.

"...I suppose that can wait until after I've taken inventory. There are a fair number of creatures I need to make sure are all right... Assuming that they've been captured," he remarked, shoulders slumped as he moved to take a snakelike creature off of a young man's hands. "If there is anything missing, though... Well, depending on what it is, I might have to take you up on your offer."

By now, more of those animals were starting to be brought back in, whether in makeshift containers or in the hands of someone... Or, in some cases, hanging off of a limb with their mouths firmly latched on. It was a comical sight, to be sure, but the sheer quantity of the animals in question made this a far less entertaining matter for the man who had to worry about them to begin with.

@AThousandCurses

---

---

Lilian seemed to physically recoil as Serrica stepped forward and said her piece, though she made an honest attempt at trying to mask her displeasure with the noblewoman's words and actions in the process. The young woman seemed to be suppressing the urge to simply respond to the provocations of the greedy woman in front of her, but it was difficult for her to not try and create space between herself and Serrica as the latter moved closer to her.

"My feeling towards Chr-the Crown Prince have nothing to do with this matter. Regardless, I would sooner bite my own tongue off than deal with you alone for a night," the young woman responded, a frown on her face as she let out a brief sigh before turning towards the stammering young lady caught up in this mess. There was a pause, of course, as she listened to the nervous attempt at an introduction before sighing.

"No need to feel so alarmed, Miss Marielle," Lilian said, a businesslike smile crossing her face as if her prior reaction towards Serrica did not exist moments prior. "Though our stations may differ, we are all students here. Though..."

There was a pause as the blonde-haired girl threw a passing glance towards Serrica before continuing.

"...I worry some people here may treat this school as a hunting ground of sorts rather than a place of learning. In any case, I suppose I should ask what you were doing here, given that there isn't exactly much to do within the building at the moment—especially not at this time of day."

@Pyromania99@VitaVitaAR

"Very well, Mr. Verdan. If you do require assistance, here's my business card." Cervantes said as he drew out a card from his jacket and placed it on the counter. It seemed formal to print out a variety of cards for his business. That and the school's market was big enough by itself; it would sometimes be hard to pinpoint the exact location of Cervantes's shop. "Take care, Mr. Verdan. I pray that your business booms in the next few days." With that, Cervantes left the shop. Mr. Verdan needed all the help he could get after all.

Cervantes closed the door, not that it mattered since the shop was partially destroyed, and began to walk down the street. "Whew, what a day." Wiping his brow of sweat, Cervantes tried to calculate his next move. It might take a little while for Jacob Verdan to open his shop again. From taking account of the missing animals, the cost of repairs, and the amount of time that it required to do them, it would take a week or two for Jacob Verdan to open his shop again. "What a shame. I was looking to buy a creature for myself."

The merchant wasn't a fan of pets, but he didn't dislike them either. The responsibility of taking care of another organism felt too heavy for him to bare in the other world, so Cervantes avoided adopting one. Now, the circumstances were different. Cervantes needed protection. The market clearly wasn't safe from what Cervantes had seen earlier, not to mention the unknowable fate of his future. If he were to overcome it, he'd need to be as prepared as possible.

'Though was Jacob Verdan in the game?' Cervantes thought to himself. He had a lot of game knowledge when it came to Cross Heart Academy. Jacob Verdan must have played some sort of crucial role in the game, considering he was the pet vendor. If Cervantes remembered correctly, there was also a route that played similarly to Pokemon. He had watched a few speedruns before but didn't retain much since the content was rather lackluster in the merchant's eyes. A frown graced Cervante's face, but he pressed on. Jacob Verdan was most likely an important NPC regardless, in comparison to Cervantes, who went nameless in the game.

His eyes darted to a few familiar figures. Reginald, the maid, and a few others. They seemed to be doing their own thing, and Cervantes had his own thing to do. Heading straight to his shop, Cervantes wanted to write up that help request for the bulletin board. The market was probably going to be slow during the day, thanks to the market, which meant that Cervantes didn't have much to do.

"Maybe you should keep the, uh..." what had that thing been? She wasn't exactly an expert in the native fauna of this world, but it had looked pretty cheerful. It did bring a name to mind, but Elastasia really wasn't sure it was the right one. The crossover between her previous life's native Japanese and the language of this world could be a little hit and miss, without the benefit that a game had of being able to translate everything. "Wooper? Yeah, you should keep that happy thing, Reggie. You could do with something friendly around."

Terys' thanks were rather excessive and featured much bowing--although the boy had seemed to be largely enjoying the hefty creature's attention, who knows how long it would've been before he was free to do something else with that doing its best to cover every inch of him in friendly slobber. "Um... sister, do you mean the salamander?"

Was that what it was? Oh poo. "I thought those were more lizard like and... fiery?"

"When they're older, but..."

"Oh! You wound me Lady Meridan! Such harsh snappings at my person wound my spirit." Serrica said, hardly serious about the matter. The rich noble didn't mind having one person that tried to put her down. And of all people, Lady Meridan would likely be the best out of anyone. Well, her and von Afah.

"And treat this place as a hunting ground? I think you will find that a place of learning is in fact the peak setting to find those with innate or hidden talents that one needs to draw out." Serrica mentioned, looking at Anne in particular. "And, if you must know what I was doing here, it's something I'm sure you would do in the same situation. Some unruly students knocked a girl over so I escorted her here and then met Lady Marielle here." None of it was false at the least."

With a smirk, Serrica looked towards Lady Meridan once more. "And, lest I forget, you should hurry up and get together with that Prince of yours. If you sadly aren't interested in me, that is." The woman teased. "I believe that would be in the best interests of everyone involved, wouldn't you agree with me, Lady Marielle?" The student had to ask the other, wondering if the Heroine found any interest in the prince.