The Village of the Great Tree.
I was lounging in my room after lunch when Jewel, the Jewel Cat, paid me a rare visit. Not only did she walk in, she actually climbed onto my lap.
"There, there. Good girl."
I petted her, wondering what brought this on.
Wait, what? You’re rolling over? You trust me enough to show your belly?
"Heh heh heh."
This was getting a bit suspicious. When she started acting this sweet, I couldn't help but feel like something was up.
"Did you do something?"
No, Jewel wouldn't cause trouble herself. I trusted her on that. If the Father Cat, Raigiel, had done something, Jewel would usually wait for me to finish scolding him before stepping in to soothe things over.
In other words, your daughters did something they shouldn't have.
Was it the Older Sister Cats? Or the Younger Sister Cats? Or perhaps both?
Jewel looked away guiltily, so I just gave her a fluffy petting and tried not to think too much about it.
Eventually, one of the High Ogre maids called for me. When I arrived at the room she indicated, I found it in a state of utter ruin. It looked like someone—or many someones—had gone on a massive rampage.
Actually, there was no need to be vague. The culprits were the Older Sister Cats and the Younger Sister Cats. All eight of them had clearly been tearing through the place together.
The older and younger sisters were currently lined up in front of the High Ogre maid, hanging their heads in shame. Sorry, girls. No matter how pitifully you meow at me, I'm not bailing you out this time.
"What happened? Did the younger ones try to pick a fight with the tiger? Or did the older ones start something?"
Every single one of them looked away at the same time. They were the spitting image of their mother.
The High Ogre maid explained the situation to me.
"Is this it? A wooden block about the size of a juice can?"
I picked it up, and the block suddenly shifted, sprouting arms, legs, and even a tail. It started thrashing its limbs about in my hand. What in the world was this? Was someone controlling it remotely? Or was it autonomous? Was it some kind of new magic lifeform?
"It is a children's toy," the maid explained.
"This is a toy?"
I was surprised. I wondered what the power source was, but it was impressive how it moved on its own.
"I do not know the specifics of the mechanism, but it apparently moves in response to surrounding magic power. Lu-sama designed the internal mechanism, and Ya-sama and her team crafted the exterior shell into this shape."
"I see. Is it popular with the children?"
"Very. However, there is a problem..."
"A problem?"
"Yes. It reacts too strongly to magic power. If it detects high levels of magic, it goes into a stampede."
"High levels of magic... so you mean..."
"The children of Lady Hakuren and Rusty-sama."
Ah, the dragon children. Since it would be dangerous to let the toy near them, it had been hidden away in this room. But the cats had sniffed it out, chased the runaway toy, and the room had ended up like this.
"Yes, that is exactly what happened," the maid confirmed.
As if on cue with the maid's explanation, the cats meowed in a chorus that seemed to say, "We couldn't help it, right?"
I suppose their hunting instincts had been triggered. The toy did look quite a bit like a mouse... maybe it really couldn't be helped?
"Since you cats went out of your way to find where the toy was hidden, it most certainly could have been helped," the maid said sternly. "Please continue reflecting on your actions."
"Y-yeah, she's right. Keep reflecting."
"Now then, Village Head. Regarding the repairs for this room... there is damage to the floor and walls, and even the built-in shelves and tables have been hit."
This was going to be a major project. The pillars looked alright, but I should double-check them just in case.
"I understand. I'll handle the repairs."
"My apologies. We are counting on you."
"Don't worry about it. It was my cats that caused the mess, after all... Hey, you cats! Don't protest that you aren't being 'kept.' We’ll never get through this if you keep arguing. Come on, back into your reflection pose."
"I will go call for anyone who is free to come and help," the maid said.
"Thanks. Oh, wait, can I ask one more thing before you go?"
"What is it?"
"If it goes into a stampede whenever it detects magic power, how did Lu manage to build the thing?"
"It does not seem to react to just any magic power."
"Is that so?"
"The theory is that it reacts specifically to magic power that is not being fully controlled. Or so I have heard, at least. I am not an expert on the details."
"That makes sense."
"So," I summarized, "it works normally when an adult holds it, but it goes haywire if a child touches it?"
"Actually, it won't move for an adult at all. It only reacts when held by someone whose magic control is still immature, like a child."
"Wait. It moved when I held it, though?"
"Er..."
Well, I never claimed to have perfect control over my magic power. Still, it seemed to react to the cats' magic power as well.
"Normally, it does not react to them," the maid said.
She brought the toy close to one of the cats, but it remained motionless. That was strange. Then why did it go on a rampage earlier?
"It appears these girls were deliberately feeding it magic to force a stampede."
"......"
I looked at the line of cats.
"Hold that reflection pose for a while longer, everyone."