It took me 30 minutes to get from the town where my grandfather's house is located to the big city by train. From there, we took a subway to the station in front of the zoo, our destination for the day, in just over ten minutes.
　Before coming to the city center, they had been enjoying their first train ride, excitedly looking at the scenery and holding onto the straps in the rocking car, but as soon as they changed trains to the subway, the pitch-black tunnels and noise made them look uneasy. Yumina was the only one who watched with interest.

''Running underground, that's an interesting idea. This would not be raided by demonic beasts or bandits, and in a way, it might be the safest way to go. If we have a few dozen earth magic users, we could build it over there as well.

　A subway in another world?　We're still in the process of trying to run a magic train built in Felsen. This princess seems to be absorbing many things from this world.
　Get out of the subway and go up the long stairs to the ground. A few minutes' walk from there, we found the zoo we wanted to visit.
　It's not too big and not too small. It is not too small, not too small, not too modern, but not too old-fashioned either. It was such a zoo.
　By the way, let's buy an admission ticket at the ticket counter. Is it 500 yen for adults and 150 yen for elementary and junior high school students?

Well, five adults and five elementary and junior high school students...?

　Yae, Hilda, Else, and Linse definitely look like high school students. Sakura is also sixteen years old, well, sort of. Is Yumina and Lou a little hard to claim as high school students?　He's fifteen years old, so you could say he's in high school.
　Well, for a zoo, it's better for them to pay the high admission fee, so I wouldn't say no.
　Lean and Sue are junior high school students by all accounts, and I definitely look like an elementary school student.......
　I can't reach my back to the ticket counter, so I give Yae some money and ask her to buy an admission ticket. Along with the admission ticket, I was given a small pamphlet.

'Oh, it's on a map, isn't it?'
Wow, there are all kinds of animals.

　At the sound of the twins' voices, I opened the brochure and found a map of the zoo. There were illustrations of animals scattered here and there. I should follow the map, I thought.
　There are tall trees in the zoo and entered the park, I felt that the zoo was built in nature.
　Because it was a weekday, there were not so many people in the park. Parents and children with small children, and for some reason there were a few junior high school-aged children. They might be on a field trip or an extracurricular lesson.
　In front of the entrance, there were a few pigeons hanging out in a resting place with some benches, but they might not be zoo animals.
　They seemed to have come from somewhere else on their own.

Oh!　There's a pure white bird in there!

　Sue flies out. It's only a bird, you might think, but when you live in a castle, you don't see many big birds. You can see as many as you want if you ask for a red ball, though.
　First of all, a lot of birds greeted us from inside the fenced-in pond. There is a plaque next to the fence that describes the animals.

Whooper Swans, Whooper Swans, Swans, Geese, Ducks...

　Geese and ducks and swans. A few of them are cooing in a small pond built in the fence.
　This is the first time I've actually seen a swan. I'm sure I've seen swans on TV many times, but it's a little exciting to see them in real life.
　When I looked down, I saw the pigeons eating some of the swans' food. I see, so they are here for that.

Fuyao-sama, are these birds too?
'What?　Whoa!　A penguin!

　On the fence next to the swans, which Hilda pointed out to me, were penguins, which I had never seen before. I've never seen one before, either. I was even more excited.
　I'm more excited than the others. I guess it's not so strange to see a child frolicking in the fence.
　The plate says Humboldt penguins. A few penguins were waddling along the side of the small pool.
　Each penguin's name was written on the plate, but I couldn't tell them apart. I wondered if the keeper could tell them apart.

They're so cute.
I'd like to take this one home with me...

　Yumina and Lou are beaten up by the penguin that wanders around. The penguins are cute, but for me, they are even cuter when they are looking at them.
　It's a good thing that you're able to have a good time with your friends. ...What is a llama?
　Check the plate. What the hell ... oh, you're a camel. You must be a humpless camel in the Andes.
　Everyone was frolicking at the llamas that approached us. With a sideways glance, I continued reading the commentary.

'Well, when they are angry or excited, they spit out a very smelly spit (stomach contents) and attack their opponents...?

　My voice read the plate, and everyone stepped back with a smile on their face. I knew there was something stinky about it from earlier, but was it that?
　Llamas are chattering away in a preparatory exercise. We quickly moved away from the llamas.
　Next to him was a Futacobrachio camel. I've never seen this before, but it's huge. It has two humps. It looks like an easy ride.
　I wonder if they used to ride on that to cross the desert or something.... It is said that the camel can move for several days without drinking water. It is said that it was almost impossible for any other service animal to cross the desert except for camels. Humans were able to cross the great desert for the first time by having a camel as a partner.
　But you're staring at us. It hasn't moved a bit. Oh, he's just moving.

"He doesn't move much. Do you think he's just taking it easy?
'It sounds like there's a camel race or something, so I'm sure they're fast. There's not much point in running in this area.

　The place where the camel is, surrounded by a fence and moat, is not very large. There are no enemies, and if there's no reason to hurry, there's no reason to take it easy.
　We say goodbye to the motionless Futaco camel and move on to the next location.
　Next to the Futako camel is a red panda. It's surprisingly big. And cute.
　For some reason, it keeps circling around the fence. It occasionally glanced at us, but it didn't stand up on its hind legs like we saw on TV.
　Later, as we walked along the road, we saw Japanese monkeys playing on the playground equipment, black bears tumbling around, and a Japanese wild boar napping in the sun.

'Tiny and cute,'

　Cherry blossoms peeked out, a few oglo prairie dogs were inside the clear acrylic sheeting. The tail is black, so it's 'oglo'.
　They were standing near the burrow and feeding with their small paws. I'm pretty sure that's a sentry, like a sentry, keeping watch.

'Oh, they're hugging each other!

　The two prairie dogs in front of Hilda were hugging each other from the front. Not only that, they were even exchanging kisses. That seems to be the greeting of the prairie dogs. With a somehow heartfelt feeling, we headed to the next area.

The beast house...?　You're a dangerous animal. I mean it doesn't look like much.

　Leanne nods her head at the words on the information board. Well, I know the feeling.
　The Lion, the King of Hundred Beasts, seen from us through the tempered glass, was lying limply on the rocky ground with his whole body lying down.
　How defenseless! Not an ounce of bravado. It's like a big cat.
　The lion remains motionless in his sleep. ...isn't dead, is it?
　When we went to the tiger house next to it, a Sumatran tiger was laying there, just like a lion. A man with a burly camera was taking pictures of the tiger, but the tiger was coasting along, not responding to them at all.

'Just like Amber lounging around in the castle, that it is...'

　Yae blurts out as she looks at the tiger. No, well. Ember's in amber, leading all the animals in town and patrolling the castle. ........maybe.
　Leaving the tiger house, we entered a tunnel built like a cave and found ourselves in a place with tempered glass inlaid all over the walls. On the other side of the glass was a pool of water, the surface of which was taller than Yae's height. The exhibit looks like an aquarium, but what kind of animals are they? What kind of animal is it, maybe a seal?
　Suddenly, a very large white thing jumped into that water. Whoa!

What-what-what are you talking about?
It's a bear!　A pure white bear!

　Else holds a fist against the polar bear that appears on the other side of the glass. Wait, wait!　Don't hit me!　The glass is broken!
　Else must have sensed that, too, and quickly lowered her fist. I don't know how much tempered glass is in this place, but I think it would probably be easy to shatter with a serious blow from her.

''What, it's not a bear........ Don't scare me........

　Look at the plate. Polar bear. Oh, yeah, brutal beast house. It can't be a seal.
　The polar bear is swimming slowly in the water. It's a very skillful swimmer, isn't it?
　Polar bears were standing on the surface of the water, looking at us through the glass.

It reminds me of Paula. It reminds me of Paula. I wonder how she is.

　Leanne put her hand on the glass and looked up at the polar bear. But the polar bear quickly wandered away and swam away.

'Oh my. Does he hate me?

　Leanne chuckled and stared at the polar bears as they left.
　As we passed through the polar bear cave, we found ourselves in front of an area of birds of prey: falcons, owls, and a Steller's sea eagle. They perched on the branches, glowering down at us in the high wire fence. I'm getting used to them looking down at me, perhaps because I'm getting shorter....
　We walked around the east side of the park, and then headed to the west side.
　We walked past the cages containing the ringed lemurs, Siamese macaques, siamese monkeys, chimpanzees and monkeys, and headed up a gentle slope to the top. Is the west side up the hill? The swans we had just visited could be seen below.
　Many of the people we passed seemed to be with children. Or maybe we are with children too. We also saw a few elderly couples here and there. I guess they are relaxing in the neighborhood.

What a beautiful bird!
Indian peacock.

　Sue was drawn to two peacocks walking in a cage. They're colorful blue and green, so these are both males. The female is supposed to be a more subdued color, I'm sure. I can't find a female, maybe she is hiding behind a rock.
　I waited a little while to see them spread their decorative wings, but neither of them did. It is said that they spread their wings during courtship, so it may be natural that they would not spread their wings unless a female is present.

The males might also spread out with each other, right?
'Yeah, well, I've heard that they sometimes spread it out as a check on their opponent.

　I don't know why Linse's words sounded like they had a different meaning.

''Ooh, mister.......Fuyu-dono, there's a place to eat over there, that I know of!

　Yae pointed to a restaurant in the park. There are many terrace seats, and it seems you can eat outside. Since it's not yet noon, there doesn't seem to be that many people in the park.

''It's a little early, but for lunch...''

　Before I could say, "Shall we?", Yae, Lou, Sue, and Sakura began to lead the way at a fast pace. Foodie banzai.
　We walked through the automatic door of the shop after them. ''Welcome!'' A cheerful shopkeeper's voice came flying in.

''Wow..... It's a nice shop, right?

　Linze looked around the store and let out a happy sound. The wooden interior of the restaurant was bright and stylish, giving it a spacious and open feel. The warm sunshine poured down on the terrace beyond the glass doors, which seemed to be very pleasant.
　Hilda turns her attention to the machine next to the entrance. It's a ticket machine.

''Fuyu-sama, is this a 'Jidohambaiki'?
A ticket machine. You put money in the machine and buy a ticket to eat. See, there's a picture of it over there.

　Apparently, there is a ticket vending machine here to select the food. There are pictures of various dishes on an acrylic panel on the opposite side. So this is the menu.

Oh, it's so cute.
Oh, yeah.

　Else and Leanne look at the food in the photo and smile. It's definitely a cute dish.
　The hamburger steak is shaped like a deformed bear's hand with a cheese ball on top of it. The rice on the side is also in the shape of a bear's head.
　There were various other dishes with animals scattered around, such as curry with rice in the silhouette of an elephant, and parfait with goat and rabbit cookies on top. Of course, there were also ordinary spaghetti, pizza, and omelette rice.
　We each decided what to eat and bought a ticket from the ticketing machine and took it to the counter.
　After receiving our food, we decided to have it on the terrace. The sun was warm and it was a nice day for a picnic.
　As expected, there was no room on the terrace for ten people, so we were divided into five people. ........wait a minute, Yae. We don't need those chairs for children.

Hm. That's not so bad. Very good.
It's cute and tasty. I'll get Claire to make it for you over there.

　Sakura and Suh had ordered the same dish called "Kuma-Kuma Plate". It's the one with that bear hamburger steak and rice on top. It was also served with fried shrimp, salad and potatoes. It's quite gorgeous.
　I think Lou and Claire, the head cook, would be able to make this dish. I think the kids will be happy and this kind of food will be necessary. There's going to be nine more of us eventually....
　At our seats were Suu, Sakura, and Yae with Lou sitting on the floor. Perhaps that's why there were so many dishes lined up on the table. The other customers also passed by with a grimace on their faces.

Hmmm..... The dough is thick and chunky, isn't it? The tartness and sweetness of the tomatoes and the richness of the cheese make another perfect combination...''

　Lou mumbled and ate the pizza. Most of the food on this table was what she ordered, but it was Yae who was eating the majority of it. Three of the pizzas are also disappearing into Yae's stomach while Lou eats a slice. Are you sharing?

Hmmm!　Oh, it's delicious, that it is!

　Lou can eat all kinds of food, and Yae can eat a lot of food, so it's a win-win for both of us....... Well, we're both happy, so it's fine.
　I'll have the bolognese in front of me, too. Yes, it's delicious.

"Where are you going afterwards, Your Majesty?
I've gone around to the east side, so I guess I'll go to the west side. Well, you can see elephants and gorillas and rhinos and zebras and things like that.
Oh, zebras!　That will be fun!

　There are also ostriches, giraffes and flamingos. The area ahead seems to be an African area.

But the animals here are very docile, that they are. Since I heard they were kept in cages, I thought they would be more ferocious, that they are.
No, because tigers and lions are usually so dangerous, you know?　You can't use amber or any other standard.

　Well, the tigers and lions here didn't feel dangerous, either, as they stayed asleep the whole time. Still, the beasts of prey are still beasts of prey.
　Maybe we could have seen more of the wildlife if it was like a safari park, where you let them loose and watch them from the safety of a car.

But it's amazing that you can't see the animals unless they are kept like this. "But we can't see the animals without this kind of arrangement, can we?
Well, there aren't many large animals in Japan. There are only bears, if there are any. It's not something you can see easily. It's dangerous.

　There are other animals that are dangerous, like wild boar and other dangerous animals. There are also wild monkeys and other annoying animals.
　It's not like there's a high encounter rate with wolves in the forest, like in the other world. Even stray dogs aren't seen very often, you know.
　It may be a good world for humans to live in, but I wonder what it is like for the animals.
　In the other world, there are huge beasts, dragons and other creatures that humans can't beat. We have no choice but to live in harmony with them.
　If there were normal dragons and such here too, would we have seen them in the zoo? When it comes to a big dragon cage like Ruri's, I feel like it's quite a challenge. And it flies.
　Or maybe it's dangerous because it spits fire. There's no dragon zoo on earth. No, there isn't.

Well, let's get going.

　We ate our dessert well, and after finishing our meal, we started walking around the park again.
　Pulling a brochure out of my pocket, I looked at the map. The African area and ... the Reptile House?