Half an hour passed before Cyrene slowly woke.
She straightened up and stretched as naturally as could be.
Noticing Yan Huan crouched nearby, poking at some cured meat with a stick, she smiled and said:
"Mm... I must have slept pretty soundly."
"Were you waiting for me? Why didn't you say something? You could've just woken me."
"It's fine." Yan Huan looked up. "That hunter gave me some food earlier. Want some?"
"Oh? It's meat?"
Cyrene nodded, looking pleased.
"Why don't we give it to the Little Fairies in the Lost Illusionary Realm? They hardly ever get to eat meat."
"They'll be delighted."
"Huh? The Lost Illusionary Realm?" Yan Huan paused.
"Isn't that place basically a forest? How could they not have meat?"
"Because the Little Fairies only eat vegetables," Cyrene said with a smile.
"Come on. We can visit them while we're at it."
At her invitation, Yan Huan went with her to the tree hollow that led to the Lost Illusionary Realm.
Cyrene gazed at the hollow and sighed.
"Oh, the entrance to the Lost Illusionary Realm feels magical no matter how many times I see it."
"Do you feel it too, partner? Just standing here makes it feel like we're about to set off on a fantastical adventure."
"Yeah. Like you could take a bite out of the weeds on the ground and somehow not catch anything..."
They ducked down and crawled into the tree hollow.
After crawling for a while, they emerged into an open space.
The air grew fresh and damp.
Yan Huan looked up and saw plenty of Little Fairies not far away.
"So how exactly did you become Mimi?"
"I don't know." Cyrene shook her head gently.
"Maybe the Cyrene of the past experienced something in the Mystic Realm, but my memories are