I was genuinely glad I had come to this tea party. To think that brushes tailored specifically to individual monsters even existed—it was a total blind spot for me.
Bell's coat was my pride and joy. I never missed a day of bathing him with shampoo and brushing him thoroughly. I took great pride in how fluffy and perfect his fur felt, but the prospect of making it even better made my heart race.
I already had Alice make custom shampoos for him, and I had stocked up on the highest-quality brushes available, but the idea of a bespoke, dedicated brush had never crossed my mind.
I wondered if she could make one for Rin's scales, too. The one I was currently using was decent, but if there was something better out there, I definitely wanted it. I decided I would bring a few of Rin’s scales along next time to see if a custom job was possible.
"I knew you cherished your pets, Kaito-sama, but you certainly are particular about the details," Elis-san murmured.
"Bell-chan's coat is incredible, isn't it?" Kuro added, recalling the Behemoth's fur. "That’s truly professional work. I remember the mana in his fur being so beautiful, not just the shine. Do you custom-order the shampoo, too?"
As expected, Kuro understood the value of such things. It was a given that Bell's coat was the best, but her noticing that the shampoo was a special order was just like her.
"I have Alice make it. Recently, I discovered that processing just a small amount of the Fruit of the World Tree and adding it to the mix makes the coat exceptionally glossy, so I had her adjust the formula."
A collective, sharp intake of breath echoed through the room.
"Heh, if Shaltier is making it, then there’s no mistake," Kuro said with a smile. "Is the food also made by Shaltier?"
"Yeah. I have Rin eat one Fruit of the World Tree every day. I figured she’d get bored of eating them plain, so I have them processed into her meals. As for Bell, I mix Magnawell-san's scale powder into his feed. Since that's also hard to process, I rely on Alice for that, too."
Total, stunned silence followed my explanation.
As I had expected, the Fruit of the World Tree possessed an incredible life force. Because it held the magic power of nature, it had outstanding compatibility with monsters like Bell and Rin, making it indispensable. Part of my supply came from the many fruits I had received from Lilliwood-san, but lately, it seemed Nebula's Fruit of the World Tree could be produced in any quantity, so I had been using those.
According to Nebula, those fruits had been specially modified for Bell and Rin respectively. In fact, it was Nebula who had clued me in on the fact that processing the fruit into shampoo would enhance the luster of their fur.
"Sera wants to eat the Fruit of the World Tree, too, so Sieg-san has Alice prepare her food as well... In Sera's case, I think she sees Rin as a big sister and just wants to copy whatever she does."
"Ah, they're both of the Dragon Species, and Rin-chan is older than Sera-chan, after all," Kuro said. "It’s heartwarming, like they're sisters. Zwei used to want to copy everything Ein did back in the day, too."
Recently, Sieg-san had also been having Alice make custom food. Instead of money, it seemed they were doing a barter exchange, trading Sera's Midnight Diamond for the service. Sieg-san seemed to have more money than she knew what to do with, and since she sent most of it home to Rei-san and Fia-san, having the food prepared was probably more helpful for her anyway.
"W-W-What... stupendous dedication," one of the noblewomen managed to stammer.
"Indeed," another added, her voice trembling. "One can truly feel the depth of Kaito-sama's affection for his pets."
"...Just how many times more luxurious is the lifestyle of Miyama Kaito-sama’s pets than my own...?" Marie muttered, looking like she was having a spiritual crisis.
I realized I had accidentally gotten a bit too enthusiastic about the topic of pets. Since this was a long-awaited tea party, staying on the same subject forever wasn't ideal, so I decided it was time to change the topic.
Still, in any case, I was truly glad I had participated. I felt a surge of sincere gratitude toward Elis-san.
Serious-senpai: He really spends money on his pets without hesitation, and since Kuro is the richest person in the world, she’s chatting as if this is all perfectly normal... but the stomachs of the young noblewomen listening to these outrageous stories must be in knots right now. Also, Marie is definitely being outclassed by a Behemoth and a dragon in terms of her quality of life.