“Animals really do hate you, though,” he said. “You might have to become a Beast Tamer if you want to pet them so badly!”
“A Beast Tamer?” Kanata looked up. She had never heard this title before.
“Beast Tamers,” her father explained, “are a Profession with the ability to befriend magic beasts. If you were one of them, you’d have no trouble at all getting your precious fluff!”
Kanata’s face lit up. “Wow!” she said. “Wow wow! I wanna be a Beast Tamer!”
“Now, now, Kanny,” her mother said.
“Ah, but Kanata,” her father continued, “it can be very difficult to get the Profession you want! You know, when I was young I wanted to be a Magician, but the Profession I qualified for was Fencer.”
“I’ll work hard!” Kanata exclaimed. “I’ll do my very, very best and I’ll become a Beast Tamer!”
“I see! You’ll do your very best, will you?”
“I will! My very very best!”
Her father picked Kanata up and let her ride on his shoulders, laughing. Even her mother cracked a smile at the sight. Her baby brother clapped his hands. He clearly had no idea what was happening.
And Kanata did her best. She studied every field of learning, mastered every art, honed her body, attended to her looks, and practiced flawless etiquette. She cut no corners, spared no effort, until the day of the ceremony.
Yes! It was all for the fluff!
And now that the Selection Ceremony had concluded, her long effort had finally borne fruit! Well, perhaps all that effort hadn’t been strictly necessary. Beast Tamer was always going to be on her list of Professions, after all. Still, it was thanks to those efforts that she had more than enough power to compensate for the debuff, so they weren’t exactly wasted.
Snapping out of her recollections, Kanata squeezed her fists tight, psyching herself up. “Beasties! Wait for me!”
“Excuse me, young lady. Are you leaving the city?” A nearby soldier in armor called out to her. This was the gatekeeper. He looked puzzled by the girl who seemed to be setting out to leave the city with no equipment and with her school uniform on.
“I am!”
“You are? I mean. There are magic beasts outside the city walls. It’s dangerous to go out without a guard, wearing—”
“Have a nice day!”
“Are you even listening, young lady? Don’t go out! Wait!!!”
But Kanata was already gone, sprinting toward the horizon.
† † †
Kanata left the town to go wander around inside the forest a short distance away. She walked so skillfully that she didn’t even get mud from the forest on her nice shoes; the leaves under her feet made no sound as she crept along. Kanata could have been an Assassin—literally, it was one of the Professions she could have chosen.
“Hmm,” she pondered. “I thought I would run into a magic beast right away, but I haven’t really seen any.”
Suddenly, she heard shouting. “Waaaaait!”
“Young lady! It’s dangerous to go alone!”
She looked over her shoulder to see the two gatekeepers, outfitted with spears and armor, waving frantically in her direction. It seemed that they had come after her.
The guards doubled over, gasping for breath. “You are frightfully fast, miss!” one puffed.
“We’re not in bad shape either,” said the other.
“What seems to be the matter, sirs?” Kanata asked. “Are you not needed to guard the gate?”
“What seems to be the— I saw you walk out of the gate like you had just decided you fancied a stroll, dressed as you are. I was worried about you!”
“There’s no issue, we just finished our shift. It’s just gonna cut into our lunch breaks a little is all.” They were off duty at the moment and more than willing to spend their break time helping this girl.
“Oh my!” Kanata gasped. “You shouldn’t waste your precious free time on me!”
“It’s not a waste at all!” said the guard. “We can’t just send you off alone now that we’ve found you!”
“You wish to come with me? Truly?” Kanata blinked.
“Well, in a way,” the guard said. “Miss, we came to take you back to town.” The guard raised the visor of his helmet, revealing a middle-aged face. Hot steam from his perspiration rose from inside his armor.
“Sir,” said the other guard, “allow me, please.” He also raised his visor. This guard was a young man. He was used to handling people of Kanata’s age, and he knew how her school operated. “Miss, you are a student at the Lulualas Academy for Girls, are you not? And I believe that the color of your necktie marks you as a third year. Isn’t this the day of your Selection Ceremony?”
“Yes!” said Kanata. “I just chose my Profession. I wanted to try my Profession Ability as soon as possible.”
The older guard shrugged his shoulders and smiled with fond exasperation. “Ah,” he said. “One of those. Sometimes fledglings with a battle Profession like Fencer or Magician get carried away and leave to challenge a magic beast. You shouldn’t take magic beasts so lightly, miss! You should return to the city before you get hurt.”
“Come on, sir,” said the younger guard, stepping in front of the older guard, “we were both that age at one point, you know.”
But what he had to say amounted to the same thing.
“There might not be much worse than slimes and goblins around here, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe to walk around alone. I’m sorry, but would you please come back with us?” The guard was speaking out of the goodness of his heart—both of them were upstanding, sensible grown-ups.
As the younger guard looked at Kanata’s face, he suddenly seemed to remember something. “Hey,” he said, “have I met you somewhere before?”
“Hey, hold on!” said the older guard. “Are you flirting with this young lady? She’s a beautiful young lady to be sure, but she’s much too young for you!”
The younger guard shook his head. “No! I really feel like I’ve seen her before. I’m sorry, but may I ask your name?”
“Of course! I am Kanata Aldezia,” Kanata said.