Magic Life in the Empire-Chapter 97: Ammy

Cyril quickly experimented a bit, thinking about different things.

The fox reacted not to the content of his mind, but rather to the emotion being brought up.

When Cyril thought about how Tigris attempted to play hide-and-seek when Rhamn wanted to start the morning lesson, the fox sat with its eyes shining, a happy yip escaping its mouth.

And once Cyril remembered Bran, the fox lowered its body, evading his sight.

It can feel others' emotions...

Cyril came to a conclusion and voiced it to others.

"Maybe it's just a good actor." Rhamn still didn't let go of her skepticism.

"A cat that can read people's emotions and consume mana..." Rose thoughtfully hit her chin with her pen.

"This is clearly a fox," Cyril couldn't help but reply.

Rose froze and looked at him in surprise. "What? This is obviously a cat," she protested.

Cyril, in a dumbfounded manner, stared again at Ammy, only to still see a rather standard fox.

Large, almond-shaped eyes, a pointed muzzle, a small nose, and relatively big ears all signaled this was a fox.

"Is Rose actually stupid?"

At this moment Myra approached and cast a spell at the small animal.

After a flash of light, the fox remained seated on the ground without any changes, at least that was how it looked to Cyril.

"What!? It actually is a fox..." Rose said, dumbfounded.

Next, she immediately began scribbling something in her notebook.

"This is a Spirit Fox cub, adept tricksters and form-shifters," Myra explained with crossed arms.

"Only its ears are a little bigger than normal, I think," she carefully added.

Even though its disguise was revealed like that, Ammy didn't show any signs of nervousness or fear. It sat there slowly moving its tail from left to right.

For whatever reason, it continued keeping a close distance to Cyril, and whenever he moved further, it would quickly follow.

"It must be because your mana has good taste," rationalized Rhamn.

"Does that mean its illusion might not work on everyone equally?" Rose thoughtfully said.

Cyril was no longer surprised about his experiences being different from other people's. It is what it is.

"As if such a weak being could trick us," Rhamn proudly put her hands on her hips, fully enjoying this victory over a small animal.

...

"Alright, what do we do now?" Rose asked everyone.

They didn't even talk about what to do with any zoo escapee, let alone an abandoned pet.

"...Maybe you could take it in?" Myra cautiously proposed to Cyril.

It was a reasonable idea from their perspective. Cyril was the one creating a zoo out of his dorm. But this was more of a misunderstanding.

Morpho and Tigris weren't really pets but more like family members.

And at this moment, the tiger's and the butterfly's stares changed from curiosity to slight hostility. They didn't wish for an outsider to enter their lair.

Cyril didn't even need to ask Rhamn what she thought of this. She never really cared about normal animals; all she was concerned with were her 'creations.'

The fox felt some of the hostility coming from his direction and quickly hid behind Myra.

This gave Cyril an idea. "Why don't you take it in?" he said.

Myra pointed at herself with a startled expression. "Me? I am not really good with taking care of animals... Why not, Rose?"

She turned her head to look at her friend in hope.

"Sure, I don't mind," Rose readily agreed and eagerly approached the fox.

However, feeling the ulterior motive coming from this knowledge-obsessed girl, Ammy hid behind Myra again.

Rose froze with an awkward face and stood straight. "I guess it doesn't like me..."

Myra frowned, and she racked her brain for any other ideas. "Right! How about we search for its owner?"

"Its owner threw it away into a trash can." Rose shook her head.

"Maybe there is some misunderstanding here? We don't know what really happened..." Reasoned Myra.

"We could search for its owner; nothing wrong with that," supported her Cyril.

Who knew maybe there was really some story behind this incident? Besides, if the owner really did throw it away, it would still be worthwhile to find them.

"To make sure they never do anything like this again!" Rhamn agreed with an eager smile.

Cyril looked at Morpho on his shoulder. "Can you try feeling if there is any trace on the fox?"

With him confirming he won't be taking it in, Morpho grew relaxed and curious again.

She calmly landed on the fox's head, moving her antennae for a while.

Ammy stared at her own forehead with intrigue and wanted to clap the butterfly with its paws.

Myra, who was close at the moment, thankfully prevented it from doing that, holding the animal with her hands.

Otherwise, who knew how Morpho would've reacted?

A few minutes later, the butterfly flew back on Cyril's shoulder, bringing with her the results.

Unfortunately, they were negative. No trace of any owner was discernible from the collar.

"Nothing," Cyril announced to everyone.

Myra stood with a troubled face, not knowing what to do.

Cyril won't force her to adopt a pet, but being in close proximity with a cute animal helped with stress. At least that was what he thought.

"Alright, just carry Ammy for now. We'll search for other magic creatures while you are thinking about it," he voiced his idea.

Myra slowly nodded and picked up the confused fox.

Ammy didn't struggle at all, ready to go with these people to somewhere unknown.

...

They walked around the city, letting Morpho check for any traces at certain places.

Unfortunately, it was all fruitless. Occasionally Morpho would pick up a scent, but it didn't lead anywhere either.

In the city plenty of people had magic creatures as pets. That was somewhat of a trend currently.

Sadly they couldn't research these ones, but at least they went for a pat, if the owner didn't mind.

Overall, this turned into a normal trip. They walked around, visited some stores, parks, and any interesting place around.

Ammy tried a few times to nibble on Cyril's mana, only to be reprimanded by Myra. After that, the fox stopped.

Myra tried to offer her own mana instead, which the fox didn't refuse.

However, it seems Ammy preferred Cyril's mana, as she occasionally would shoot him a hungry look.

Eventually they found a cafe where animals were allowed and ordered some food.

Despite their failure to find anyone, the mood was high, and they were relaxed.

Though Rose sighed a few times from helplessness. She really wanted to find something exotic.

Cyril used this time to sketch out Ammy.

He grabbed the stationery offered by Rose and began drawing while occasionally sipping on his tea.

Morpho and Tigris were seated on chairs by his side, looking at what he was doing with interest.

Myra and Rose would adjust the fox's position so that it would look more photogenic.

Ammy had to keep itself steady, bravely posing for Cyril, while occasionally nibbling on a snack placed in front of it.

By the time everyone finished eating, Cyril also managed to make something presentable.

With a satisfied face, he flipped the sketchbook to show the results.

"Oh, this is better than I thought it would be... You clearly can draw more than 'a little.'" Rose said with a smile.

Myra's face didn't show any surprise, only nodding with a weirdly proud face.

On the paper was drawn a very realistic depiction of Ammy. There wasn't that much time, so there were a few flaws Cyril wasn't happy about, but it was good enough for now.

"You should draw more. It's very impressive!" Rhamn applauded with a radiant smile.

The fox stared at the sketchbook with shining eyes and pawed at the familiar-looking creature.

Having gotten an idea, Cyril attempted to cast a spell that he had learned recently.

Soon a transparent, jittery image of a fox stood up from the painting, walking like a real one would.

Ammy's face grew shocked, its little mouth almost touching the floor.

The group stared at this in amusement. Cyril already told them he was learning illusion magic before.

After recovering, the fox jumped a little, even forgetting its still aching leg.

It yipped in the air, and another figure rose up on the table. This time Cyril saw the illusion with no issues.

The projection was in the exact same style as the fox conjured up by Cyril. It was like Ammy copied the way he cast it.

A miniature Cyril rose up from nothing, awkwardly walked up to the fox, took a seat, and leaned against it.

"Oh, that's so cute," Rose whispered in excitement at the sight of this mini Cyril sitting against the fox.

Myra, too, had stars in her eyes as she watched with interest.

So did every other customer in the cafe. The group was attracting attention, whether because of the animals or the spells.

No matter how thick-skinned Cyril was, such a display made his skin crawl a little, especially with Rhamn laughing in his ear.

He had to resist moving with all his strength.

"I am starting to like this little fox!"