After Su Shijun left the leather chair behind her desk, she walked over to Doggy.
A blue-covered spellbook floated beside her. Several finger-wide ribbons of light streamed from it, falling to the floor before curling back up, splashing into clusters of blue flowers around Doggy.
Zheng Qing vaguely sensed that those blue flowers were reinforcing the structure of this space.
Doggy uneasily twitched its ears—the few parts of its body it could still move. Its head drew back slightly as it timidly glanced at Zheng Qing.
It's only an examination, the young publicly funded student muttered to himself, though for some reason, looking into Doggy's eyes made him feel a little guilty.
"Now I can confirm that it bears no hostility toward you."
Su Shijun's voice sounded beside the boy's ear, full of certainty. "Dogs and foxes belong to the same family within a rather broad classification... much like wizards and Duoh People. They are far apart, but that does not prevent them from having some simple mutual understanding. Su Ya..."
"Yes, Miss!" The Little Fox Girl, who had been squatting nearby and staring blankly at Doggy, instinctively sprang to her feet when she heard her name and shouted, startling the young wizard.
Su Shijun, on the other hand, was used to her little maid's flighty behavior. She raised a hand in a calming gesture, indicating that she had no task for her and telling her to be quieter. The Little Fox Girl sighed in relief, then squatted back down and resumed staring at Doggy.
"...This Doggy did not avoid her before. Perhaps it mistook Su Ya for a distant relative, another Magical Creature and a member of the canine family."
Zheng Qing found the explanation completely convincing.
"Then why did it avoid..." Zheng Qing cautiously chose his words. In