Mori Tsukisa was happy for about three seconds.
No more than that.
Three seconds, and then she became depressed again... "This is a Dragon?"
The girl looked disdainfully at the cage—inside, flocks of reddish-brown Rock-Skinned Fire Dragons circled in mid-air like flying birds, occasionally playfully flying close to the people near the cage, opening their pointed mouths, and spitting out a few sparks.
Mori Tsukisa clearly saw a mischievous gentleman using them to light a cigar.
The sound of their flapping wings was almost indistinguishable from a flock of birds flying together. Aside from the many hideous spikes growing on their heads and bodies, these creatures, the so-called 'Baby Fire Dragons,' were no different from pigeons or young hawks.
They were only the size of a palm!
The fuming Mori Tsukisa picked Bastet up and put her back on her shoulder. The black cat, having been held in her arms for a short while, was slightly hypoxic. She lay listlessly on the girl's shoulder, her tail drooping.
"These are 'Baby Fire Dragons,' what did you expect?" Bastet's voice was weak. "They aren't true Dragons. What circus would lock a true Dragon in such a small cage?"
"Dragons are very dangerous creatures, whether they are Hungarian Horntails or Norwegian Ridgebacks," Dumbledore added. "Circuses are not qualified to keep them."
The flock of small Dragons continued to circle and call out in the iron cage, flying low and then spinning, prompting continuous cheers from the surrounding audience.
Bored, Mori Tsukisa turned to face Dumbledore, curiously asking what a 'true Dragon' looked like.
"Hmm..." Dumbledore suppressed a smile, gripping his wand with his leather glove, and lightly drew a circle—a few stick-figure-like Dragon Shadows flew out of the circle. Like the Baby Fire Dragons in the cage, they swiftly circled Mori Tsukisa twice before flying back into the ring of fire at the wand tip, disappearing.
"These are true Dragons. They are about two or three stories tall, and their sharp teeth can instantly kill any creature on land. Furthermore, some special Dragons can breathe fire, spray potent venom, and their skin is as hard as rock."
Dumbledore narrated slowly, but Mori Tsukisa grew increasingly disappointed. Finally, the girl shook her head listlessly, her thick black hair sprawling out like vines: "Dumbledore... Sir, is that all?"
"All?" Dumbledore blinked. "Dragons... have always been like this."
The girl, disillusioned by the ugly creatures, ignored him, instead casting an angry glare at the black cat breathing heavily on her shoulder.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"The Dragons you talked about weren't like this! Egyptian Gods are big liars!"
"I wasn't talking about these kinds of Dragons... dear Sphere Mage." The black cat covered her face resignedly and whispered close to the girl's ear: "He's talking about Wyverns, the common kind."
"I wasn't talking about that."
Mori Tsukisa responded with a heavily distrustful eye-roll.
Inside the iron cage, the second act was about to begin.
After the flock of Baby Fire Dragons returned, a huge bathtub was pushed out—covered with a white cloth. Gurgling black water overflowed from the white porcelain tub, flowing all the way until it stopped right in the center of the cage.
The assistant pushing the bathtub was the flamboyant male who Mori Tsukisa had seen promoting business outside the circus tent.
His face was painted even whiter than before. He disdainfully picked up a corner of the white cloth with his fingers, yanked it hard, and ran away without looking back before the cloth could fall completely.
Whoosh.
The white cloth was ripped away—
"Oh..."
"That's disgusting!"
"What is that? Mr. Skender?"
Curses and complaints rose and fell. Mori Tsukisa even smelled a strong, fishy odor of sludge.
She knew what it was, or rather, the legends of the creature before them still circulated in the place where she grew up.
"Kappa." Dumbledore's gentle voice sounded promptly by Mori Tsukisa's ear. He seemed determined to act as a commentator for this lovely girl: "They can be found in shallow rivers."
"Do you see its webbed hands? That's right, they are very strong. If you encounter one in the wild, be very careful; it will choke you and suck your blood," Dumbledore said. "The water held on its head is its source of power. If you could cast a small spell to empty the water inside..."
Reaching this point, the man looked at Mori Tsukisa expectantly, seemingly wanting the correct answer—the name of a certain spell—from the girl's mouth. It was, admittedly, a bit of an occupational habit.
Mori Tsukisa knew nothing about spells.
"Wouldn't decapitation be simpler?" The girl gestured with a smile, her slightly downturned eyes making her look overly delicate: "This scaly monkey is truly ugly."
Dumbledore's smiling expression twitched for a moment... "Ahem. Generally speaking, we don't recommend directly killing Magical Creatures..."
"But it would hurt me, wouldn't it?" Mori Tsukisa was much shorter than Dumbledore, so when they spoke face-to-face, the girl had to look up at him.
Looking down from this angle, his eyes met the girl's precisely.
In Dumbledore's eyes, this girl, whose personality resembled his sister's, was truly excessively beautiful—from her misty eyes, Dumbledore saw a landscape of fog and sea.
Above the sea was a dreamlike fog, and beneath the fog was the indifferent sea.
He hadn't seen such a beautiful person in many years. Accustomed to naughty children and troublemakers, this gentle and lovely girl greatly appealed to the heart of the middle-aged teacher.
Bastet was completely unaware of the man's internal thoughts, otherwise, the black cat would surely have had something to say.
—Ha, the second victim.
There was no need to mention who the first one was.
The man stared at Mori Tsukisa in thought. The girl, having acted cute for a while, grew bored. Her pitiful expression instantly reverted to a blank face, and she pouted as she turned away.
"What an animal-loving gentleman."
Bastet lay sprawled on her shoulder, too lazy to bother with this two-faced lunatic.
"Love? No, certainly not." Dumbledore was momentarily distracted, using his leather glove to rub the corner of his eye. "I am not. It seems you haven't met someone who truly 'loves' them."
"It's just that not all problems can be crudely solved by 'killing'; that is a very dangerous mindset." Dumbledore believed the young girl was simply going through a rebellious phase and didn't take it seriously: "Would you really do that? Such cute creatures, gone from this World forever with a single spell."
His response was the black cat's scornful gaze: You really should meet Mr. Abdullah.
Mori Tsukisa ignored the man's gentle inquiry and looked at the iron cage.
The bathtub had been awkwardly pushed back by the embarrassed circus staff a few minutes ago—these adult wizards had spent a lot of money, clearly not to see foul-smelling sewer creatures.
So, was there anything new?
"Something new?"
"I'm afraid this will make your jaws drop, Children!"
Skender leaned against the cage, shaking his head. Mori Tsukisa noticed that a ruby ring had appeared on his thick index finger.
"Let me show you the new find I've got!"
"A future blockbuster exhibit for the old Skender's Monster Show!"
"Come on! Roll out and let everyone see you!"
"Inferior Female Beast!"
Amidst the roaring cheers of the crowd, the beast cage was pushed open by a pair of woman's hands.
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