It was technically a convenience store, but in reality, it was more of a souvenir shop.
Various souvenirs adorned the inside of the store, delighting the eyes of those who looked.
Animal-shaped badges, magical mood lamps, small bags, and even snacks.
Holding up a desert fox-shaped cookie, I tilted my head in wonder at its unnecessarily high quality.
‘There are kids around here too. Isn’t this kinda destroying the childhood innocence..?’
After wandering around for quite a while, I barely managed to find a single lip balm.
Heading towards the counter to pay for it—
“Arthur, take a look at this!”
Lily suddenly called out to me in an excited voice.
When I turned my head to see what it was… Huh?
In both of Lily’s hands were headbands… with animal ears attached.
“Aren’t they super cute?”
She stood next to me holding the headbands up against herself, pondering which would suit her best.
“…Are you really going to wear that?”
“Mmhmm!”
“…”
“Don’t worry. The magical disguise is still active. Unless someone’s especially strong or stupid, they won’t notice us.”
That was a relief, at least…
“These ones are best. I’ll get this one too!”
Lily then handed me a gray puppy ear headband that matched my hair color.
Taking it in my hand, I felt a bit absurd as I touched it. Each strand of the ‘fur’ was unnaturally soft.
“…Are you seriously buying this?”
“Mmhmm!”
Looking at Lily’s expectant face, I found it impossible to say no.
Deciding to head to the counter with resignation, a thought occurred to me, and I halted my steps.
“…I think it’s unfair if only I wear one.”
“Huh?”
“What do you say, Lily? You pick one too.”
“Me?”
Giving a nod, I led Lily over to the counter where various headbands with animal ears were displayed.
Lily would look cute no matter which one she picked, but if I had to choose one…
“This one.”
I handed her a black cat ear headband.
Lily definitely suited cat ears.
Just imagining her in cat ears… Damn, it was bad for my heart…
Even if I risked dying from heart failure just by looking at her, I still wanted to see her wear them, so I went to place both our purchases on the counter when Lily suddenly blocked my path.
“My one’s not necessary.”
“What?”
“Hey!”
With a cute shout, horns or something seemed to sprout from Lily’s head.
As it grew larger, they took on a familiar shape.
“…Ears?”
Cat ears.
And they even twitched back and forth!
“Wow! Is that really possible?”
“Of course~ Who else am I? Now, Arthur… don’t touch!”
When I reached out to touch them curiously, she moved away, covering them with her hands.
“They’re sensitive!”
Lily’s flushed face—wasn’t that just too cute?
“So, I’ll just buy mine.”
“Mmhmm!”
Before we left, a golden oldie was still watching us carefully at the counter.
After buying the lip balm and the headband, as we stepped outside, Lily immediately pulled me to a stop.
“Put it on for me!”
“Right now?”
“Put it on!”
Seriously, are we supposed to wear this now?!
Since she didn’t look like she’d move until I acquiesced, I sighed and picked up the headband.
With Lily watching with sparkling eyes, I placed the headband on her head.
Though I thought it might feel uncomfortable, perhaps because of magic, it stayed in place perfectly without causing any irritation.
“Does it look okay? I mean… I don’t know.”
Lily was staring at my face with a vacant expression.
“…Lily?”
Calling her name again, something finally seemed to dawn on Lily’s face and she responded.
“…Cute.”
“Excuse me?”
“CUTE!!!”
“Whoah, wait a moment!”
Lily suddenly lunged forward, wrapping her arms around me and started petting my head.
“You’re too cute!!!”
She practically lifted me off the ground and shook me around.
Being tightly held by her, I felt a mix of heaven and hell.
‘Gahk! Hard to breathe… AND SO SOFT!!!’
As I wondered if suffocating like this would be a happy death, Lily finally let me down.
She then declared proudly.
“Let’s take a picture!”
“…What?”
“Such a cute look absolutely has to be memorialized with a photo! Or else it would be a national, no, universal loss according to human standards!”
Wait, is it really that bad?
Besides, talking about pictures… How exactly?
In the empire, high-end culture exists only among the nobles. It’s extremely difficult to take pictures without supplementary tools, even with photography magic, and very few people can even wield such magic.
But since Lily said it, there must be some way, so I waited quietly, and…
“Shwrr…”
Lily pulled something out of the air.
The object looked like a rectangular prism with a cylinder attached. A bizarre shape.
“What’s this?”
“What? You don’t know?”
“Yes, I’ve never seen this before.”
“Hmm… So, this dimension doesn’t have cameras?”
“Wait, a camera?”
“Yes, this is a camera.”
“…Wow.”
I had read about it before.
A quirky mage once tried to popularize photography magic, and he dedicated his life to creating a portable magical camera but ultimately failed. The name of the contraption he tried to build was called a “camera.”
“How does it work? How do you channel mana into it? How do the prints come out—”
“Stop, stop! I don’t know the exact principles, but one thing’s for sure: not a single drop of mana is used here.”
“Doesn’t use mana? Really??”
I stared at the camera in awe.
“This camera’s from another dimension’s Earth. There, most people have no mana. Hence, non-magic-dependent technology flourished.”
I could only stare in awe.
“No mana? The whole society?”
A world without magic existed?
Earth without magic? I couldn’t even imagine it.
‘So inconvenient…’
I wondered if they were still stuck in the Stone Age.
“Anyway, it’s still in perfect working order here. So… Strike a pose.”
Lily pointed the cylindrical end of the camera at me.
‘Hmm, a pose? What kind?’
I thought through various poses, but in the end…
“V…. V”
My awkward V sign seemed to please Lily.
“Great! Great!”
Eventually, the camera made a clicking sound.
Lily took out a single sheet of paper that appeared underneath the camera.
“Is this the photo?”
I moved closer to examine it, but all I saw was black.
“Huh? Just a black piece of paper?”
“Heh heh, wait and you’ll see.”
After waiting for a bit as Lily had instructed…
“Wow! The photo appeared!”
The blackness gradually faded away, revealing my awkward V pose.
“There’s even a newer model of camera. But, the printout is quite cumbersome.”
Lily shook the photo and tucked it somewhere.
“Let’s take more!”
“Eek… again?”
It was intriguing, but I also wanted to explore with Lily…
After a brief moment of thought, I hit upon an idea.
“Then, you’ll take one too.”
“Me as well?”
“Yes, I want a photo of Lily too.”
A photo of Lily, especially of Lily wearing cat ears…
‘There’s no way I can miss this.’
“Alright then.”
Lily cheerfully nodded and handed me the camera again.
“Strike a pose!”
This time, I had thought of a pose beforehand, so I didn’t flounder.
I bent my knees slightly and brought my hands near my chin, clenching them lightly. That was the point.
And then…
“Meow!”
“!!!”
At my cry, Lily’s eyes went wide.
Regaining her composure, she adjusted the camera.
Click!
She immediately ran to me after taking the photo.
“Arthur!!”
Lily, who ran over and hugged me, seemed a little warm due to her excitement.
“You really like it?”
“Mmhmm!”
Seeing her so happy made me happy too.
Though I felt embarrassed, it was nice that she liked it so much, and I felt satisfied.
“Can I take some now too?”
“Mmhmm, here you go. Just press this button.”
Lily’s handed-over camera, though it looked a bit rugged, was light and convenient.
After keeping some distance, I aimed the cylindrical end at her like she had done.
Her form appeared magnified through the viewfinder of the camera.
“Strike a pose.”
This time, Lily struck a pose similar to mine.
And then…
“Meow~”
…I lost all words.
A blank sensation enveloped my mind.
What was I doing just now?
What was I about to say?
Nothing mattered.
I wanted to keep looking at her forever.
Even though Lily struck a pose similar to mine, there was something different about her.
Even though the academy uniform she wore had zero exposure, her curved figure that confidently showed through the clothes exuded a sensual atmosphere, complemented by the wiggling cat ears, enhancing her cuteness.
I understood why Lily liked it so much.
‘Insanely cute…’
The cat-ear Lily was the best.
After storing the printed photo in my pocket, I approached Lily.
“Let’s take some together this time.”
I adjusted the angle of the camera lens inward and stretched my arm out.
Grasping Lily’s waist with the other hand, she naturally assumed a hugging position.
“Ah, then there’s no hand to press the button—”
“No need to.”
Lily’s hair stretched straight to take the camera from my hand.
She positioned it farther away than my arm could reach, aiming it back.
We continued taking photos after that.
One with her hugging me.
One with her wrapping her arms from behind.
Even several photos of a kiss.
“Let’s do this again next time.”
“Okay!”
Lily and I divided the printed photos and smiled happily together.
Among them, I especially cherished the photo where Lily struck the cat pose.
“I’ll treasure this forever.”
—
There was also the incident with the desert fox. After considering, it seemed like visiting the zoo any further wasn’t the best choice, so we decided to leave midway.
Lily insisted she was fine and could keep looking, but I felt both delighted and conflicted knowing she was enduring it for me, so we decided to go elsewhere.
Just as we stepped out of the zoo, it was lunchtime, so we decided to resolve our hunger.
“What do you feel like eating? We can go back to the restaurant we went to last time.”
“Hmm… Is there anything Lily wants—”
Before I could finish my sentence, Lily’s gaze fixed on me, more specifically, my lips.
“Of course…”
There was no need to ask.
In the end, only my opinion mattered.
But no matter how hard I thought, nothing particularly appealed.
After all, no matter how pricey or fancy the restaurant, nothing would surpass the sandwich I had for breakfast.
My taste buds had been taken over by Lily’s cooking.
And yet, returning to the dorm to resolve lunch just seemed absurd for a date.
‘What should I do…’
Right then,
“How about trying this?”
Lily pulled out a container from thin air and handed it to me.
It had a heavy feel to it.
“…This, could it be..?”
I tentatively opened the lid slightly, and there it was…
“Just in case there was nothing satisfying out there, I decided to prepare some. What do you think?”
What do you think?
Did you even need to ask?
What Lily handed me was a lunch box.
Inside were various types of food arranged in a beautiful manner.
I carefully closed the lid.
And then,
“Ah—!”
“Chhwooo!”
I immediately lunged forward and delivered an ardent kiss.
“Lily’s the best!”
—
We had agreed we’d skip some events, but there was something we had to do before heading back to the dorm.
When we arrived at the designated place, it was the same as before.
I rang the bell.
There was a moment of silence before a familiar voice responded.
“Come in.”
Opening the door, we walked inside.
John was sitting calmly at his desk, and it appeared as if he was writing something down.
“Ah, you’re back. How did it go?”
“It was good.”
Lily, standing next to me, gave a small nod.
John observed us silently for a bit with a thoughtful look.
“You both seem… happier.”
A faint smile creased his lips.
“Good job.”
He returned his gaze to the papers on his desk.
“We’ll be going now.”
“Understood. Safe journey.”
“Thank you,” I said before we turned and walked out of the room.
As we walked down the corridor, I felt a slight tension.
“Are you okay?”
“Hmm? Oh yes. There’s just always a little tension when seeing Professor John, isn’t there?”
“Mmn…”
“Still, it was worth it.”
Lily smiled gently as she replied.
“Yeah.”
I couldn’t agree more.
