He called out to the person next to him as he walked lazily down the well-sunny afternoon street.

'Here, Belle. Be careful of the carriages and stuff.
Gawd!

　I am currently walking Belle, and I was walking with Belle through the streets of the royal capital.
　Belle, who was allowed to be kept at Lilia-san's mansion, is mainly being taken care of by Zeke-san.
　It's not that Lilia-san appointed him or that I asked him to do so, but Zeke-san seems to really like animals, and he often visits Belle to take care of her.
　Belle has become completely attached to Zeke, and I've seen her playing happily with him from time to time.

　However, I was the one who said I would keep Belle, and even though Sieg is taking care of her because he likes her, I can't rely on him to take care of her.
　So I'm walking with her, at least on a daily basis.

　She may be happy to go out with me, but she is always in a good mood when we go out for a walk, and she frequently rubs her face against mine.
　I smiled at her adorable movements and continued walking while patting her head.

　At first, there were a lot of strange stares, but people are creatures that get used to it, and after a few days, I didn't see that kind of reaction anymore.

''Hmmm. Shall we go in a different direction today?
Gah!

　I tell Belle that and turn into a different street than usual.
　Well, even though it's a different street, it's a main street because of Belle's size to begin with, and Black's necklace, so there's no need to worry about getting lost.
　However, when you walk on a different path than usual, it's easy to be exposed to strange gazes.

''........It's a behemoth.
Oh, my God I've never seen that before.
...Miyama-san?

　It was a line I used to hear all the time when I first went for a walk, so I didn't really pay attention to it... yeah?
　Huh?　I think I just heard a different line of dialogue at the end...

　Curious, I turned around and saw a familiar figure standing there.

''........Huh?　Kusunoki-san?
'It's odd. How nice to see you here...is this a walk for you, Belle?
'Yeah. I came down a different path than usual, but........Kusunoki-san, are you in a magic school?
Yes. I'm just leaving the lecture.

　Apparently, this place seems to be the street from Lilia-san's mansion to the magic school, and I seem to have bumped into Kusunoki-san on my way home from school.
　I'm not sure if it's the school's uniform or not, but Kusunoki-san was wearing a brown robe, and combined with her glossy black hair, she looked like a true wizard.
　She looked at Belle and I for a moment, and after a moment of silence as if she were thinking about something, she opened her mouth.

''Um........Miyama-san.
Yeah?
If you don't mind, may I follow Belle on her walk?
Yeah. I don't mind.

　I had no particular reason to refuse, so I nodded, and Kusunoki-san followed me and Belle with a faint smile on her face.

''Come to think of it, I've never heard of you before, but... what kind of things do you study at the magic school, Kusunoki-san?''
''Well the only thing I'm allowed to lecture on is earth magic and magic tool generation. Today, I've been studying 'Basic Construction Theory of Semi-independent Golem Generation Technique Using Earth Magic'.
Oh... it's making me want to sleep just listening to it...
...Miyama-san, you're a college student, right?
I'm not happy about it.
"Mmm-hmm.

　Kusunoki-san is a solid kid who is hardly 17 years old, and although she's just as I imagined, she's also very smart.
　I'm sure you're already smarter than I was when I was hissing at the university entrance examinations, at least at the moment.

But why did you suddenly start going to study at a magic school?
Wouldn't you ... uh ... laugh at that?
'What?　Yeah, I'm not laughing, but?
You may think it's childish, but I, you know, when I was little, I wanted to be a wizard. And when I heard that there is magic in this world, I was, well, I was so happy...

　Hearing Kusunoki-san's words as she muttered with her face down in embarrassment, I felt somehow smiling.
　

I'm sure I know how it feels. It's a good idea to have a good time with your friends.
Well, I guess you're right, aren't you?
Well I'm not as good as Kusunoki-san and Yuzuki-san, though.
...Miyama-san, your magic power is less than ours, right?
Ggh.....
Oh, s-sorry, sir!

　The words that told me the frank truth without malice stabbed me.
　In fact, Kusunoki-san is right, my magic power level is lower than the two of them, and aside from sensory magic, I can't use too much magic.

''Mmm, I envy the two of you.''
'But Miyama-san has sensory magic!　 And if you can distract them for a moment, then you can use a knife or something like that.......
Ms. Kusunoki, you have some crazy ideas.
What?
...surprisingly aggressive?
Hey, hey!

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to use the offensive use of the sensorium magic that I hadn't thought of, Kusunoki-san, yes, she has a pretty merciless idea.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot of good reasons for this.
　Well, I don't plan to use it that way but.....

No, yeah, yeah, that was really helpful. Thanks.
...Miyama-san, he's a tease.
'Sorry, sorry... oh, and speaking of which, if you wanted to change the subject, did you use a magician's job in the MMO if you had a crush on a wizard?'
........Yes. But I didn't know it well at first, and I allocated points to earth magic, so I had a lot of trouble.
Oh, I see, it's true that earth magic was a bit of a disappointment.

　It's a good thing to say that the earth attribute magic is unfortunate for the MMO we were in, and it is recommended not to take it because of the skill points.
　It's a good thing that we have a lot of enemies whose weaknesses are the earth attribute and whose magic defenses are high, so it's not a good idea to fight them with a magician's job to begin with. .
　But as I thought, due to the skill points, the beginning of the game is really tough, so it's not suitable for solo play.

Speaking of which, the 'boy' I was friends with was also a magician with a mainly earth attribute.
'Really?　If I may say so, it's an unusual type.
'Yeah. She was a beginner, but she was a hard worker and had a knack for it... and by the time I retired, she'd soloed the boss monster, the Tempest Dragon.
...the Tempest Dragon?
I know. I told him it wasn't a monster to take on with magic, but I thought if I could get a handle on it, I could make it work... and I was surprised when I actually defeated it...

　When I was playing an MMO, I made friends with one boy who was a beginner, and I taught him a lot.
　He was a light player who only connected with me for about an hour a day, but he was a really hard worker and got stronger and stronger by the minute.

　I'm pretty sure he was 14 when I retired, so I wonder if he's as old as Kusunoki now?　Yeah, it's kind of nostalgic when I think about it...

Miyama-san!
Yeah?
''Well, well, you know, the magic profession was a.... male character!　Look, look!
'What?　Let's see, it looked like you didn't mess with it from the default, but you always wore that black pointy hat I gave you in the beginning.
Huh?

　For some reason, Kusunoki-san came over to me at a terrific pace, and I told him about the characteristics of Hibis, which I remember.
　Then Mr. Kusunoki's eyes widened and he stiffened, and he stopped in his tracks.
　Then she looks at me with trembling eyes and whispers in a voice as if she is crying.

'Kusunoki-san?'
.........as I thought.......Miyama-san......Shell........
...What?

　The name Kusunoki-san told me was a character name I used to use in an MMO.
　That name, which was a twist on my real name, is a slightly embarrassing memory, and I'm sure I never told anyone about it... but why?

　Dear Mom and Dad - I ran into Kusunoki-san and we decided to take a walk together. We had a great conversation about an MMO I used to play, and for some reason, Kusunoki-san knew my character's name back then - he knew my character's name.