Kate had once been attracted by the dreamlike animals shown in movies, but when she actually encountered them face-to-face, she only had one feeling.
Overwhelmed.
With two or three Bowtruckles still perched on her fingers, the Galleons and Sickles in her pocket were being snatched away by some Niffler or other.
She wanted to chase after them, but that Heini at her feet was rubbing against her and refused to leave.
There was even a nest of Fwoopers in their birdhouse waiting for her to feed them.
Occasionally, a few milky-yellow little Fluffballs—supposedly called Puffskeins—floated and hovered before her eyes.
In contrast to Newt next to her, who was also surrounded by several kinds of animals just like her, he was able to handle them with ease.
He even had the leisure to teach her what food to feed the Fwoopers.
It turns out being too popular is also quite troubling.
Especially after the crappy System issued a belated notification.
[Host, please note: influenced by this System, the Host’s Affinity toward male animals remains unchanged, while Affinity toward female animals is doubled.]
[The Host may turn off this status at any time.]
So, all these animals surrounding her… are female?
Kate looked at the large group of animals surrounding her with an indescribable complexity in her heart.
However, maintaining the status quo seemed fine; abruptly turning off the buff status would attract Newt’s attention.
If it were just these smaller animals, it would be fine, but clearly, the range of the Affinity influenced by the System radiated to all animals.
After finally finishing feeding the small animals Newt had assigned to her, Kate felt like her small frame was about to give out.
While moving a few Puffskeins that were still clinging to her out of her line of sight, Kate struggled to walk out of the bamboo forest.
A dark shadow suddenly loomed over her.
Immediately after, a roar sounded right next to her, blowing away the Puffskeins blocking her view.
A foul stench hit her face!
How long has this guy gone without rinsing its mouth!
Kate frowned and finally managed to open her eyes, only to find a creature similar to a leopard in front of her.
But unlike a normal leopard, this ‘leopard’s’ mane was standing on end, and its neck was inflated like spikes.
It’s a Manticore!
According to ‘fantastic beasts and where to find them’ written by Newt, the Manticore is one of the most dangerous creatures existing in the world today.
Huge in size and moving silently, its breath is even so toxic that it can cause fatal diseases, enough to destroy an entire village!
In the movies, there seemed to be scenes of Newt keeping a Manticore…
Kate’s face changed drastically, and she wanted to retreat and run away immediately.
But alas, with her small frame, she hadn’t even started learning formal magic, and her body was incredibly weak.
How could she outrun a Manticore, known as the world’s most dangerous creature?
Before she could run even a few steps, she was picked up by a mouth from behind and tossed into the air.
It’s over, it’s over, it’s over!
Is she going to die here today like this?
System!
System!
Help me!
Kate screamed frantically for the System in her mind.
The feeling of weightlessness made her heart almost stop for a moment.
[Ding, it is detected that the Host is currently in no life-threatening danger.]
The familiar mechanical female voice in her head announced heartlessly.
This doesn’t count as life-threatening danger?
Damn System, are you lagging again!
Just as Kate was falling in despair, her body suddenly felt light, and the feeling of weightlessness vanished instantly.
Sensing the abnormality, Kate opened her eyes in a daze, only to find herself as if she had no weight, floating and drifting down like a feather.
What’s the situation?
Before she could react, her body landed first on the back of that Manticore.
‘Kate, it likes you very much!’ Newt shouted at her from the edge of the bamboo forest, his wand not yet put away.
A Levitation Charm?
She immediately understood her previous abnormality and looked down with lingering fear.
The leopard beneath her had already retracted its standing mane, and its originally swollen neck gradually shrank, looking no different from a normal cheetah.
‘Te-Teacher…’ Her voice couldn’t stop trembling.
She sat on the leopard’s back, not daring to move an inch.
‘What’s going on?
Can I come down first?’
Forget about a Child; even as an adult, she would be afraid of such a dangerous creature!
Newt walked over quickly.
‘I brought this Manticore back when it was a cub, so it’s very obedient and won’t proactively hurt you.’
You’re lying; it was just playing ‘toss the human’ just now.
Since she was still on top of it, Kate held back for a long time and didn’t dare to say those words out loud.
In case this Manticore could understand human speech and got angry, shaking her off and then stepping on her a few times…
Scaring herself into a cold sweat with her own imagination, Kate maintained a look as if she were about to cry: ‘Teacher, can I come down first?’
Newt hesitated at his little disciple who was almost scared to tears, and tentatively patted the Manticore’s head again.
‘Aow!’ The creature, clearly a female leopard, shook its head unhappily.
It almost gave Kate on its back a heart attack.
Fortunately, although this ‘leopard-cute’ little thing on its back was very attractive to it, Newt had after all accompanied it for decades.
Finally willing to let the person on its back down, the Manticore turned around and roared twice at Kate, who was still frozen in place due to nervousness.
Only then did it turn and gallop toward the distant desert area.
And then…
Kate’s limbs went soft, and she almost fell to the ground.
Fortunately, Heini rushed up extremely loyally to protect her, its forked tail wagging happily.
‘Ahem!
I didn’t expect the Manticore to suddenly appear here either.’
Newt also had an expression of wanting to laugh but holding it back, trying to explain to her, ‘It’s probably because the scent on your body attracted its attention too much.’
Scent?
Subconsciously raising her hand to sniff her own scent, Kate looked up with a face full of question marks.
She didn’t smell any scent.
[Host, please note: given the Host’s age, Affinity toward magical animals is mainly reflected in parent-Child relationships.]
[When the Host matures, the affinity for magical creatures will transform into an indescribable relationship. The Host is advised to use this state with caution.]
Still sitting on the ground, Kate heard the system’s delayed reminder yet again, and her eyelid twitched violently once more.
In other words, the Manticore currently saw her as a cub.
But once she reached adulthood, magical creatures would all come running to court her?
And they’re all females?!
“Little Kate, are you alright? Did you get hurt from the fall?” Newt asked with concern, seeing her unusually pale expression.
“…I’m fine,” Kate said, struggling to get up from the ground.
She just wanted to chop the system into pieces.