"It'd be more accurate to call it a fairy tale."
"The protagonist met a magical leopard..."
"The magical leopard saved the protagonist in a moment of danger..."
"Oh!"
Xie Chuchu froze.
"Now that you mention it..."
"It really does sound like that..."
"Xue Jiamin..."
"Did he really become the protagonist of a fairy tale?"
"What are you talking about..."
Xie Chuchu shook her head hard.
"Master Xiao."
"I'm so confused right now."
"Please tell me seriously."
"What exactly is going on?"
"Xue Jiamin saw a leopard."
That much was certain.
"But the leopard he saw wasn't an ordinary one."
"Ordinary people can't see that leopard?"
"I've got that right, haven't I?"
"That's right."
Xiao Xiao's eyes curved with a smile.
"You've got it right."
"You're very perceptive."
Xie Chuchu: ...
Should she say thank you?
"No, but..."
Her gaze swept back and forth between Xiuxiu and Master Xiao.
"Why are you both so calm?"
"I can understand Master Xiao."
"But Xiuxiu, you're not even a little surprised?"
She'd thought that a leopard appearing in the city was already an unusual occurrence.
After all, throughout history, not many animals had escaped from zoos.
And an animal that escaped being a leopard—a creature that could threaten people's safety—was even rarer.
But...
Now she was being told...
That a leopard appearing in the city wasn't unusual.
What was even more unusual was that ordinary people couldn't see it.
Ha.
"That's absurd."
"Xiuxiu."
Unable to help herself, Xie Chuchu grabbed her friend by the shoulders and shook her.
"Listen to yourself. Doesn't this sound like complete nonsense?"
"How could there possibly be a leopard that some people can see and others can't?!"
"It's that most people can't see it."
Chi Xiuke corrected her friend.
"If I could, I'd like to