The next morning.

I cautiously opened my eyes in the box bed.

Yawn

It felt like it had been a long time since I started a day on my own.

Just as I was about to get up, feeling a strange sensation, I noticed something small stirring beside me.

“Huh?”

It was the Shark Grandma, no, the Shark Girl.

Since when had she been sleeping beside me?

Driven by curiosity, I couldn’t help but poke her cheek.

“Uuuhhh…”

The Shark Girl mumbled and pulled the blanket over her head.

They say grandmothers have light sleep, but that didn’t seem to apply to the beast-kin.

“Hey…”

Poke, poke

I kept pressing on what seemed to be her cheek under the blanket.

“Why… why do you do that…”

“Why are you sleeping here?”

“I’m your educator…. It’s only natural that we live together…”

Cough

Is she trying to say that she would live together with me until she’s done teaching me?

What a pain in the ass, but I needed to learn about mana, thus, I decided not to overtly express my displeasure.

“Yes. But I have something to do this morning, so I’ll step out for a bit.”

“Alright… take care…”

With that, she fell asleep again.

I looked at her for a while before stepping out of the tent.

The sun was just rising, and I enjoyed the small rays of sunlight filtering in.

‘I did say I’d start early in the morning.’

As I emerged from the bushes, I saw a fierce-looking woman and several cars filled with aquariums in the distance.

Just the sight of her made my heart flutter.

Yet, I slowly took steps towards her.

“Are you putting mackerel and loaches together?”

“Yes. There’s an item developed for aquaculture. It’s okay to mix them.”

The woman was conversing with someone who looked like the driver of the aquarium car.

As I cautiously approached them,

Crunch—!

I accidentally stepped on a twig.

“Huh?”

The loud noise made the driver and the woman turn to look at me.

Startled by their sudden attention, I quickly turned my head away.

“Are.. are the minnows okay…?”

I saw small minnows swimming under the clear pond water.

Pretending to observe the minnows, I turned my back, but she started walking towards me.

“……!”

My ears and tail bristled.

Still, I pretended to watch the minnows calmly.

One minnow, two minnows, and then three.

Counting them with trembling eyes, the woman approached right behind me.

“Um…”

“Yes—!”

I froze in shock, unable to turn around.

What was she going to do, coming so close to me?

As I stood rigid, unable to even breathe, she stopped next to me.

“We know each other, right?”

“Ye–yes—!”

I glanced at her sideways, only moving my eyes to observe her.

She stood beside me, gazing down at the pond.

What was she thinking, looking so melancholy?

As I cautiously stepped aside, she finally spoke.

“I’m sorry about last time.”

“What for?”

“For everything I did. I’m truly sorry.”

Everything?

I wasn’t sure what all that entailed, but I decided to accept her apology.

If I didn’t, it might delay filling the pond with fish.

Right now, the fish were more important to me than the woman.

“Okay…”

✧✧✧✧✧

Together with the woman, I checked the fish being introduced into the pond.

Twenty mackerels.

Thirty silver fish.

Four hundred loaches, among others.

The sight of various fish coexisting in the spacious pond was enchanting.

“…The pond is quite large, isn’t it?”

“Yes…”

I gazed down at the pond, now teeming with fish.

A pond harmonizing freshwater and seawater fish.

Could this still be called a pond?

Lost in the wonder of the item, I kept staring down at the pond until the Shark Girl approached me.