“Maro~? Where are you~?”
I walked from corner to corner of the garden, calling out to find Maro. But no matter where I looked, Maro wasn’t there. I had Ikuru go to the roof to look, but he immediately came back down and informed me that she wasn’t there.
“Do you think it might have gone into the forest…?”
“I wonder. Well, I don’t think it’ll be a problem if Maro went into the forest…but, I am worried.”
I nodded at Ikuru and took another look around the garden. No good. It wasn’t here.
“If it was in the forest, it would be fine since Maro has Snow magic and quick feet…but, maybe the problem could be the possibility that someone had kidnapped it?”
“EEEEHHHH?!”
Maro was certainly cute. Moreover, she was rare.
It was possible for it to be quickly snatched up. It might even be confused for a stray rabbit and taken away. My internal anxiety must have appeared on my face since Ikuru called out, “It’s fine.”
“Well, there’s practically a zero percent chance that it was kidnapped. Capturing a snow bunny is extremely difficult. Besides…the house and garden are safe places, right?”
“Eh?”
“Hinami-sama has that skill after all.”
Aah!
The skill <God’s Miniature Garden>!
“That’s right!”
“You forgot? Jeez. Although, I don’t understand the specific details of its effects.”
“God said that enemies cannot enter this skill…”
“In that case, the possibility of Maro being kidnapped is zero. It’s either is hiding somewhere in the house or has gone out to the forest.”
Hmm?
There was no way that Maro was kidnapped? But, monsters cannot enter because of the miniature garden skill…wait, huh?
Right.
Maro was also a monster. Then, what exactly defined an “enemy?”
Hmmm. As I wracked my brain, Ikuru responded with an exasperated look. Huh? Did Ikuru know the reason?
“Hinami-sama, ‘enemies’ cannot enter, right? That can mean humans, monsters, or animals.”
“Ah, I see…”
It was true that the hard wolf that tried to attack me before was repelled by a barrier. But, it didn’t repel Maro. Thinking in that sense, it would be right to say that enemies were…what I, the skill user, defined as an enemy.
It somewhat felt like God was being very protective of me.
“Mi~”
“Maro?!”
As I was thinking about my skill <God’s Miniature Garden>, Maro’s voice reached my ears from somewhere. However, when I looked around, I couldn’t spot it anywhere.
“Maro, where are you?!”
“Mi!”
It would usually come jumping at me, but only its voice reached me. Exactly where was its voice coming from…the grass? No, it wasn’t there either.
The place where some grass was growing in the garden became a spot where the chickens enjoyed their snacks. I was convinced that it would be playing hide-and-seek there, but Maro wasn’t there either.
“…”
“Eh?! Ikuru, do you know Maro’s location?”
“…Yeah.”
“Where? Where, where??”
Ikuru saw through everything…even though I couldn’t figure out Maro’s location at all. Was this because of his Wind magic Search?
“Mi~!!”
“……Huh?”
Was Maro’s voice coming from Ikuru’s direction?
I stared at Ikuru when it popped out from behind Ikuru’s back and rode on his shoulder.
Maro was holding a small flower in its mouth.
“Mi!!”
“Eh? You’re giving it to me?”
“Mii~!”
“Thanks!”
I accepted it from Maro and sniffed the small, yellow flower. Then, a gentle air surrounded me as soon as I smelled its sweet scent.
Maro leapt down from Ikuru’s shoulder, demonstrating a beautiful jump. Then, it pitter-pattered on the ground.
“Hm?”
“It’s telling you to plant it there, right?”
“Ahh!”
I planted the flower according to Maro’s instructions. When I did, Maro also smelled the flower in satisfaction. Then, it jumped at me, so I made sure to catch it.
“Maro’s flower is so pretty!”
“Mi!”
Maro was probably saying, “That’s right!” in a high-pitched and cute voice.
Ah, right. Maro went through the trouble to bring this flower. I was sure that if we raised this flower in a flowerbed, it would be wonderful.
“Alright! It’s a cute flower that Maro brought, so let’s make it beautifully bloom! <Angel’s Sanctuary>!!”
In response to my voice, a sweet scent suddenly covered the entire ground. Then, small, yellow flowers spread out around our feet.
“Mii~!”
“It’s amazing as usual.”
Somehow, that was kind of making me blush. Hehe.
“Maro’s flower is beautiful.”
“Mi!”
“Yeah.”
The group of little flowers looked like a yellow flower carpet. If I made a flower crown with these, I was sure it would be adorable.
Wait…
Wasn’t I forgetting something important?
“Hinami-sama, shall we have tea inside?”
“Ah, yeah…”
“Should I also bake some bread?”
“Mii~!”
As Ikuru headed inside the home, Maro slipped out of my arms and headed to the house as well. Maro loved sweet bread after all.
Ah, right! Now I remember!
“Right! Maro, where exactly were you?!”
I shouted and chased after Ikuru and Maro.
Well, I knew. I mean, the flower that Maro brought…wasn’t a flower from the garden. This meant that it needed to go into the forest to bring it back.
“Mii~?”
“Ah! Maro, are you avoiding the question?!”
“Mi!”
The happy-go-lucky Maro seemed to dodge the question, just like that.
Well, I was just glad that it was safe…
KizunaTLs 