"Meow~"
After Little Mia came ashore, it swiftly shook its body twice, flinging away all the wet seawater. Still somewhat disgusted by Shade's drenched state, it avoided touching him. Instead, it looked up at the Moon, then stood atop a dry reef and began meowing at him.
Moonlight fell over the cat. For a cat that rarely went outside, tonight had already been exciting enough. It was urging Shade to go home with it.
"Are you all right?"
Shade helped Miss Reinhart to her feet and summoned flames to evaporate the seawater from both of them.
They still felt quite uncomfortable, however. It seemed they would need a bath before they could be completely clean.
The witch shook her head. She had no talent for space, and that long-distance teleportation had made her feel somewhat nauseated:
"I'm fine for now. Sorry, huff... huff... Do you know those Mermaids from earlier?"
"Of course not."
Shade supported her as they walked toward the shore, casually scooping up the cat and placing it on his shoulder.
"Then why were they so... Hmph, I never thought Mermaids would be the kind of creatures that judged by looks too. I mean, it's fortunate they were able to send us back. Seeing the Snow Mountain puts me at ease. The Mermaid race's thaumaturgic secret arts differ greatly from those of humans. In the sea, they can do many things human Ring Arcanists cannot."
She lightly patted her face to wake herself up a little.
"Let's not talk about Mermaids anymore. It's good that we made it back safely. Come back into the city with me and take another look. I wonder what happened to that alley."
The two traveled by flight. Their current position was on the island's South Shore, not far from the City of