Bluebird Lady and The White Lion Family

 “Yes, hello.” 

Sophina greeted the sloth quickly.

 

Somehow, she had a feeling that today was going to be a long, dreadfully long day.

 “Whaat are you doing hereee?” “Why are you here?” “Thaat’s riggght.”  

Wow, I didn’t know there were sweet potatoes like this.

 

Sophina scratched the top of her head and sighed, a sigh of exasperation.

 

Then she glanced over at the sloth and blurted out.

 “I have a favor to ask of you, and I’ll pay you as generously as you wish.” “Whaaat favoooor~” 

To the sloth’s continued verbal onslaught, she hastened to defend herself.

 “Now, tell me as much as you know about who owns the watch workshop.” 

The sloth’s eyes narrowed as he listened, then slowly tilted his head sideways.

 

It spat out a short, thick word.

 “Huh?” 

What did it say?

 

Sophina didn’t seem to mind, and continued,

“We all know you used to be the owner of the workshop, and that you sold information.” 

She pretended to place a pouch of gold coins on the table.

 

The sloth nudged against the rims of his frameless glasses and squinted.

 

Sophina untied the ribbon covering the opening to let him get a good look inside.

 

The golden coins spilled out in a slow, steady stream.

 

The sloth’s slithering half-closed eyes opened faster than ever.

 

It clasped its hands together and grinned like a fool.

 “Hi there. Lovely. What do you want to see first, honored guest?” 

What?

 

She asked, her voice trembling at the 180-degree turn in demeanor.

 “You’re suddenly talking fast, aren’t you?” “Money makes people talk, customer.” 

Similar in concept to that dodgy intelligence award.

 

As Sophina’s pupils wandered in embarrassment, the sloth retrieved a briefcase from the next closet.

 

Then, in a voice that could have belonged to a cheetah instead of a sloth, he explained clearly and precisely.

 “This is a bag of important information, and if you look through it, there’s some about the current workshop owner.” 

The sloth smirked, winked, and added

 “This is the contract I drew up when I met the current workshop owner. Customer.” 

The sloth rummaged through his briefcase and pulled out a document.

 

Hmm?

 

Sophina reached for the document without thinking.

 

One, to no avail.

 “You’ll need to make a deposit first, sir.” 

What was that familiar voice?

 

Feeling like she was experiencing déjà vu, she obediently slid some gold coins to the sloth.

 

The sloth then showed her the document and spoke.

 “There’s not much in it, really, just a threat to give over the building, teach her the tricks of the trade, and share some information.” “Aha. I’ll take a look.” 

Sophina read the document, which was filled with dense black script.

 

The contents were not much different from what the sloth had said.

 

‘At least there’s usually some personal information in the contract.’

 

Sophina skimmed it carefully.

 

There was at least one piece of information that could be useful.

 

Name.

 —Mai L Ailli 

‘Is it a pseudonym? She uses a middle name.’

 

I’ve never met anyone in this world with a middle name.

 

And… what’s with the name?

 

There was something about the way it was spelled.

 

Like it had been put together. Sophina pondered for a moment, then asked the Sloth.

 “Is there anything else?” 

Sloth said nothing, but held out his hand. He was asking for more.

 

Sophina clicked her tongue and added a few more gold coins.

 

The sloth then pushed the additional papers over and spoke in a chattering tone.

 “Basic demographics, but I only know this much about her, since she’s so secretive.” 

Secretive?

 

Why would he speak to her as if he were afraid?

 

With some trepidation, she looked at the file.

 

The document now contained information about hobbies, daily routine, personality, and residence.

 

‘Why not something as basic as age or appearance?’

she wondered.

 

The hobbies were the harder part to figure out.

 

Sloth knew a lot of subtle details.

 

‘He seems pretty competent, but I wonder if the sloth was an informant in the original story?’

 

Whatever it was, finding out its intentions had to be a priority now.

 

‘To do that, I’d need to have a card that I could play…’

 

It was hard to do with what the sloth had given me.

 

I wasn’t sure I would get the information I needed, but I had my own reasons for taking out so many gold coins.

 “This bag of gold coins, I’ll finish with that, but I need one more favor.” 

Sophina pulled the item from her bag and placed it on the table.

 

A rare ore, Thenedore, used in business, and capable of containing the power of the beast men.

 “Imbue these ores with your power.” 

Sophina had also taken the time to learn about sloths.

 

The sloth’s power was observation.

 

It was the perfect ability to learn about someone.

 

‘I’m going to use it to dig up information about them.’

 

I didn’t want to feel like I was playing in the palm of someone’s hand.

 

It was the least I could do in self-defense.

 “Huh?” 

The sloth’s eyes widened as if he had realized Sophina’s intentions.

 

She smirked, folding the corners of her eyes to drive a wedge.

 “If you’re capable, you know who I am, don’t you?” 

He’d better play along.

 “Oh, I’m sure I can give you some, any number of them.” 

The sloth affirmed, patting my hand.

 

Sophina’s lips tilted up at the corners, her last words perfect.

 “You do realize that what happened today must remain a secret, don’t you?” “Of course I do. What happened today, honored guest?” 

The sloth smirked in innocence.

 

He’s easier to talk to than I thought.

 

The deal was sealed. Sophina would receive a Thenedore infused with observational powers.

 

Before she left, having fulfilled her purpose.

 

She blurted out a question,

“So, I take it you have some information about what happens next?’ “Well, it’s just that…” 

He’s rambling again, right?

 

Sophina’s eyes narrowed.

 

“Other than that?”

 

The sloth answered dutifully, shivering slightly.

 “I’m afraid there’s some kind of power.” “Power?” 

I’d never heard of the concept before.

 

Sophina asked curiously.

 “What powers?” 

The sloth responded to her innocent question with another unintelligible answer.

 “It means awakening.” 

The sloth sped up its pace.

 

I felt a chill run down my spine.

 

Just as I was about to take the words out of my mouth, feeling strangely creeped out, the sloth said its goodbyes.

 “Love and passion to my guests. Farewell.” 

And a few days later,

 “Little lady, the Thenedore was left in the workshop without the master’s knowledge.” 

Jane posted a report that she had succeeded in disguising herself as a customer and setting up the Thenedore.

 

Eventually, the bait was cast.

  

The bait had done its job.

 

Sophina locked herself in the office and marveled at the results.

 “That’s quite the trick.” 

Observation.

 

And it was an amazing ability.

 

The ability to gather information about anything within a 100-meter radius.

 

It had evolved to help slow sloths avoid being eaten by predators on their infrequent descents from trees.

 

Sloths could also share their observations of each other audibly.

 

‘I got a bunch of thenedores in advance, just in case.’ 

 

The Thenedore are inherently capable of being used by other beings.

 

So even if I didn’t pick up the Thenedore I’d left in the watchmaker’s shop, I’d still be able to communicate with them.

 

‘I’d be like a makeshift sloth if I had Thenedore.’

 

Sophina grabbed a Thenedore to see what the real harvest was.

 

Then she spilled the thalithe.

 

And then, something astounding happened.

 [Crackle…crackle…] 

The Thenedore magically began to produce sounds.

 

Sophina hissed, clamped her mouth shut, and focused all her attention on her ears.

 

But…

 [Observation subject ate salmon sashimi for breakfast today…. Salmon steak for lunch…salmon salad and aglio olio for dinner…] 

Huh?

 

Are you kidding me?

 

And for the record, she lives in the polar regions?

 

Why do you only eat salmon?

 

Are you a bear?

 

Sophina pondered seriously.

 

Then she stared at Thenedore with wide, dull eyes, as if she were listening to a boring academic lecture.

 

‘Be patient. Let’s just listen.’

 

She sank into the overstuffed armchair and closed her eyes.

 

The sound pierced her ears even more clearly.

 

She listened for ten minutes.

 

Finally, she heard something worthwhile.

 […The subject observed was a deer. The subject had cuts on her fingers while reading today and used a mild healing ability.]  

“The intel says it’s a deer, so it’s a deer, but it only eats salmon?”

 

What a horrible hybrid.

 

Sophina muttered for a moment, then frowned.

 

She wondered,

‘So the subject wasn’t psychic?’

 

Could it have something to do with the power the sloth was talking about at the end?

 

Ability, power.

 

It’s kind of unifying because it has the same meaning. Then I suddenly realized something important.

 

‘The original heroine was also a deer.’ 

 

I wondered if this was related to the original female lead.