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Ukogi's message is missing?
A spider jumped from the grass onto Kisaragi Rin's fingertip, and through this medium, Spider Mother transmitted the message to Kisaragi Rin.
Kisaragi Rin pinched his brow. After the monkey that delivered apples, he and Kanroji Mitsuri saw a lion sprawling like a rug, a black bear in a kasaya, a rabbit in a skirt...
The crucial part was that no one around them seemed to find anything wrong; they were still happily checking in and chatting.
When he asked Kanroji Mitsuri, she simply thought the animals were very cute.
The photos Kisaragi Rin personally took were even distorted into their normal appearance.
The lion was full of Domineering, the black bear stood on its front paws begging for food from tourists, and the rabbit lay on the ground quietly eating grass...
If Kisaragi Rin hadn't had the Workshop by his side, he would have really thought his own mind was playing tricks on him.
"I should have gone to the antique coffee shop instead."
Muttering, Kisaragi Rin wasn't in a hurry to leave.
Since he was already here, and nothing particularly unusual had happened apart from not knowing where Ukogi had gone, Kisaragi Rin felt somewhat at ease.
It should just be a normal method used by some organization.
After calming down, he found these animals much more interesting. They stayed inside the fence, observing the tourists, while Kisaragi Rin observed them from outside the fence.
Kisaragi Rin sat to the side drinking cola, while Kanroji Mitsuri, who had been strolling for most of the day, was still full of energy and even had the energy to feed fries to a fat orange cat.
Taking advantage of the orange cat eating fries, Kanroji Mitsuri stealthily tried to pet it from behind, but it dodged with an agility that didn't match its size.
After several attempts, Kanroji Mitsuri paid the price of a box of fries but still couldn't touch it. In the end, Kanroji Mitsuri didn't continue to invest and returned to Kisaragi Rin with only the remaining hamburger.
"The park handbook says this orange cat is a challenge. As long as you touch it and take a photo, you can get a free ticket reward. But even with my skills, I can't catch it. It's so strange," Kanroji Mitsuri said, a bit troubled.
"A so-called challenge is something that businesses almost certainly won't lose money on. Instead of focusing on winning, perhaps you should experience the fun within it."
Kisaragi Rin comforted Kanroji Mitsuri, but in his heart, he was wondering if he could catch this fat cat.
As long as he got a little closer, Destructive Kill's grab should succeed, after all, grabbing is a mechanism, not a skill.
Even with the idea, Kisaragi Rin didn't act on it. In unnecessary situations, he still wanted his life to be a bit more peaceful.
Before entering the park, his goal was to go from Soubu High to Tokyo University for further studies.
The final stop was the Deer Garden, located in the center of the zoo. As the sun gradually set, nearing dusk, the deer herd would gather and parade around the entire zoo along the main road. This was Chiba Zoo's so-called Special attraction—the Great Deer Parade.
To experience it fully, one had to first arrive at the starting point of the parade, the Deer Garden.
Kisaragi Rin arrived early, only to unexpectedly find a familiar figure: a golden-haired beautiful girl wearing a red scarf and a black hat, hiding by herself behind the grass.
This disguise could not be said to be useless; it could only be said to be eye-catching.
Kisaragi Rin quietly walked behind her, patted her shoulder, and softly asked, "Koshi Torako?"
The sudden voice startled Koshi Torako, who turned around in a panic. When she realized it was Kisaragi Rin, she let out a sigh of relief.
She quickly pulled Kisaragi Rin down with her and pointed forward, signaling Kisaragi Rin to observe carefully.
"That Shikanoko Noko's whereabouts are too suspicious," she whispered.
"Shikanoko?" Kisaragi Rin readily pulled Kanroji Mitsuri to squat down with him, and following Koshi Torako's guidance, he indeed saw the unforgettable Shikanoko Noko.
The girl with the strange antlers was lying in the deer exhibit area, on the inside of the fence, being observed by tourists along with other seemingly normal deer.
"Why can this guy stay in there so calmly!"
Ever since she met Shikanoko Noko last time, this fellow had even become her deskmate.
The key was that everyone in the school didn't find anything wrong with the extremely peculiar Shikanoko; only Koshi Torako's mind was gradually breaking down.
Meeting Kisaragi Rin, who could also find Shikanoko's strangeness, Koshi Torako's urge to complain could no longer be suppressed.
Kanroji Mitsuri asked, a little confused, "Is something wrong?"
"I'll tell you later." Seeing Shikanoko Noko, Kisaragi Rin roughly understood what was going on at the zoo.
Since Shikanoko Noko was an exhibit animal at this zoo, it was likely that the entire zoo was permeated with that kind of cognitive rewriting, perhaps with a little something else added, strong enough to distort reality.
The biggest problem was that his identity had already been exposed to Shikanoko, which made Kisaragi Rin unknowingly fall into contemplation.
Under secret observation, a tourist also walked forward and exclaimed after looking, "Wow... so cute, is it a deer?"
Shikanoko Noko, who was lying there, also responded to them, "Welcome to Chiba Zoo."
"It spoke."
"So smart."
"Should deer talk?!"
If it weren't for Kisaragi Rin, Koshi Torako would have started to doubt that her own understanding of deer was false.
Normal deer should be able to talk, and go to school...
Just then, Shikanoko Noko also started to move, walking in front of the tourists who were observing, and then pulled out a deer cracker?
"In the deer exhibit area, you can experience feeding deer. It's three hundred yen per person per time."
"Hey~ Do you want to buy deer crackers? You can feed them to the deer."
"Sounds interesting, I'll buy two portions."
She had no idea she was buying deer crackers from the very deer she had just been observing.
Only Koshi Torako was shaking Kisaragi Rin, unable to contain her exasperation.
Money for goods, the woman got the deer crackers and started to lure the fawns in the Deer Garden.
"Do you eat deer crackers?"
The effect was quite significant; a fawn quickly came over, opening and closing its mouth to bite the deer cracker.
Just as the tourist was enjoying the fun of feeding the deer, Shikanoko Noko suddenly pounced with gleaming eyes, biting the deer cracker the woman held in her other hand.
This action not only stunned the woman but also stunned Kisaragi Rin and the others.
"What is this deer doing?! It bit me!"
"Hungry..."
"What is this? It's selling deer crackers and eating them itself."
The panicked woman even directly flung Shikanoko away, who flew in a parabola and landed in the deer exhibit area.
"This is... too wild."
Compared to watching Shikanoko Noko here, Kisaragi Rin would rather go back to the park and continue fighting to the death.
Fortunately, the Great Deer Parade started soon. After accompanying Kanroji Mitsuri to complete this trip, he could go back to the apartment and lie down.
The sun gradually set, and the orange and red sunset glow intertwined, painting the sky into a magnificent and colorful picture.
The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled over the zoo, casting a warm golden glow over everything.
It wasn't an illusion; every single deer glowed with golden light, and leading the way was Shikanoko Noko, riding on the back of the lead deer.
If one ignored its previous actions, the golden-glowing Shikanoko Noko also had a hint of sacredness.
Kisaragi Rin stood among the crowd, observing the deer herd that converged from all directions into a golden torrent.
Kanroji Mitsuri leaned closer to Kisaragi Rin, her face flushed, "The park handbook says that if someone is chosen by a deer to participate in the Great Deer Parade, they will gain lifelong happiness."
"Huh?" Koshi Torako watched from the side, realizing that their relationship was a bit unusual. She quietly moved aside a bit, lest any potential plot developments harm her, who had never had a boyfriend.
"How does that park handbook have everything?"
Kisaragi Rin remembered that it came with the ticket.
Just as the parade was about to set off, several deer broke away from the herd, their eyes gleaming with wisdom, and walked towards the three of them.
Under the envious gazes of the tourists, they lifted the flustered Koshi Torako onto their backs and returned to the deer herd.
As for Kisaragi Rin and Kanroji Mitsuri, after a try, the deer couldn't lift them. These two deer looked up in confusion, gazing at the deer herd about to depart, appearing somewhat anxious.
Kanroji Mitsuri was eager to try, looking at Kisaragi Rin expectantly: "We've been chosen, do you want to participate?"
"Of course." Anyway, she already knew of his existence, so Kisaragi Rin accepted this invitation from Shikanoko frankly.
Facing the envious gazes from both sides of the road, the deer carried Kisaragi Rin and Kanroji Mitsuri quickly to catch up with the deer herd.
They continuously surpassed one after another, stopping only when they reached a position second only to the leader.
Shikanoko Noko, still wearing her Hinominami High School uniform, crossed her arms. Her body had transformed into a Chibi, and her facial features combined into an expression full of wisdom.
Wide eyes, a flat nose, drooling—a mental asylum would mistake her for an escaped patient.
"Koshi-chan, Gecko Man, and the woman emitting mating bubbles, those chosen by the deer will gain lifelong happiness."
"Really?"
"I don't know, it's written in the park handbook."
Sure enough, it was still that strange Shikanoko Noko.
Kisaragi Rin put his mind at ease and paraded alongside Kanroji Mitsuri. The feeling of riding a deer was quite good; its fur was smooth, and it wasn't bumpy.
"Mating bubbles and such, how can this deer say such things?" Kanroji Mitsuri felt a little embarrassed by what was said, but the joy of the parade quickly washed it away.
Responding to Kanroji Mitsuri in twos and threes, Kisaragi Rin thought today was already magical enough, until a deer with unique antlers walked beside them.
A pink hat with a white X drawn on the front.
"There's cotton candy ahead."
"Cotton candy, where? Where?"
Hearing the keyword, the fawn, worth as much as one hundred yen, looked left and right, trying to find the cotton candy that was even more expensive than it.
Kisaragi Rin looked ahead blankly; this world was, after all, a bit too crazy...
[You participated in a ritual]
[Your Luck attribute permanently +1]
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