Mr. Quinn

In his haste to try out the invention from his dream, Kraft accidentally lost track of time. It was only when Alice reminded him that the excited Kraft calmed down and let out a huge yawn.

"I'm going back to sleep for a bit then..."

The excitement gone, Kraft's eyelids felt heavy. He listlessly dragged his feet towards his room.

"Wake me up in half... no, an hour."

Ever since he got Alice, Kraft had ditched that screeching alarm clock. Wasn't it better to be woken up by a cute robot girl? Who needed a screeching chicken!

"Got it~"

Alice agreed and went back to the kitchen to continue preparing breakfast.

The nap was uneventful. Kraft was woken up by Alice before he could even dream of those special dreams.

After getting up again and finishing breakfast, Kraft took Alice out to buy pets.

There were quite a few pet shops in Chinatown. Besides the common ones that mainly sold cats and dogs, there was also a very traditional flower and bird market, selling not only various birds but also insect pets like crickets.

However, Alice wasn't interested in insects, and they couldn't wear scarves. So, Kraft decided to head to a more ordinary pet shop.

Following Kraft's usual habit, his first test would involve recreating everything from his dream as closely as possible. Therefore, his first choice was naturally to buy a black kitten. He had even thought of a name for it, a transliteration of Mr. Sakamoto's name from his dream: Sakamoto.

However, as soon as he entered the pet shop, Kraft's gaze was drawn to another creature. He imagined its face with a red scarf and felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity.

Did I own this breed of dog before?

Kraft habitually scratched his hair and then asked the pet shop employee, "Hello, do you have this type of dog in a gray color?"

"I'm sorry, little one. Shiba Inus only come in four coat colors: red, black, sesame, and white. There's no gray variety," the shop assistant said, shaking her head and kindly explaining to Kraft.

"Also, white Shiba Inus are less common, and we don't have any right now. This little guy in the cage is a red Shiba. We also have black and sesame Shiba Inus, but they aren't on display. Would you like me to show you?"

"No gray ones?"

Kraft frowned. He had seen Shiba Inus before, and they were indeed mostly red, or rather, yellowish. He hadn't paid much attention back then, but now, connecting it with the red scarf, he felt it should have been a gray Shiba Inu to be "just right."

"Never mind,"

Kraft shook his head. There was no point in dwelling on things he couldn't figure out. If there were no gray ones, he'd find a similar color.

"Please show me the black Shiba Inus," Kraft said to the shop assistant.

"This way, please."

The shop assistant led Kraft into the back room, where cages filled with pets were neatly stacked. Their arrival disturbed the cats and dogs inside.

Instantly, meows and barks erupted one after another.

"Shhh—quiet down, or I'll dock your food rations," the shop assistant skillfully soothed the noisy pets and led Kraft to a cage.

"This is the black Shiba. The one next to it with the mixed fur color is the sesame Shiba."

"Hmm... it's a bit different from what I imagined..."

The black Shiba's fur distribution was very different from the red Shiba's, and it was also far from the gray Shiba Kraft remembered.

"Then I'll choose the red Shiba outside."

Kraft wasn't one to dither. Comparatively, the red Shiba outside felt closer to the dog from Kraft's memory.

"Okay~"

The shop assistant, happy to have made a sale, led Kraft back out. She put the red Shiba into a portable cage, got Kraft its pedigree certificate, a small bag of dog food, and a chew toy that the dog apparently loved.

"Alice, have you picked one out?"

Kraft, carrying the dog cage, found Alice squatting in a corner, petting cats. He tapped her head and asked.

"Ah! These little ones are too cute, I forgot!"

Alice was squatting on the floor, hugging three kittens of different colors, looking blissful.

As expected, I can't rely on her at all...

Kraft sighed helplessly. He scanned the nearby cats and picked out a Bombay cat that resembled Mr. Sakamoto from his dream by about seventy to eighty percent. After asking the shop assistant to cage it and getting some cat food and pet supplies, they went to the counter to pay.

"Let's go!"

Kraft impatiently tapped Alice's head again, then handed her the cage with the black kitten and a large bag of pet supplies. He picked up the cage with the dog and, grabbing Alice's hand, walked out.

"Ah~~~ Let me pet them for five more minutes—"

Alice was dragged out of the pet shop by Kraft, looking reluctant.

"Don't you have a cat in your hands? Just hold it and pet it all you want when we get back!"

"Oh! Right!" Alice suddenly realized. She then brought the cage in her hands closer, nuzzled it gently with her cheek, and dotingly apologized to the black kitten, "I'm sorry~ I neglected you."

"Oh, right, Brother, we need to name them," Alice reminded him, walking a few steps ahead to Kraft.

"Hmm, let's call him Mr. Quinn then."

Kraft raised the cage in his hand and blurted out the name that had suddenly popped into his head without hesitation.

"And this one?"

Alice held up the cat carrier, gesturing.

"Emmm..." With Mr. Quinn already chosen, the Sakamoto he'd thought of earlier didn't seem quite right. "How about Mr. Bane?"

"But... this one's a girl."

"Uh... then let's call her Bear."

Kraft hastily pulled out Quinn's pedigree certificate and, after checking the marked gender, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It was a male dog.

He wouldn't have to change the name, which was a relief for Kraft's obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

The two brought Mr. Quinn and Miss Bear to Kraft's private workshop. After handing the two pets over to Alice to look after, Kraft dove headfirst into his studio.

Unlike when he made Alice, Kraft couldn't understand any of the technology used to create the [Talking Scarf]. So, he didn't try anything fancy and mechanically replicated the steps Dr. Shinonome had shown him in his dream.

Since the creation process wasn't difficult and didn't require much thought from Kraft, the scarves were made quickly. By the time Alice had lunch ready, Kraft had finished making both scarves.

"Can they really talk?"

Alice stared expectantly at Quinn and Bear, who were still unaware of what was happening.

"Probably..."

Kraft wasn't very confident either. Compared to Alice, who was a robot, the scarf that made animals talk felt more like a mystical item than a scientific product. So far, none of the mystical creations Kraft had replicated had been successful.

"Let's try it anyway. It's just a scarf, it won't hurt them."

As Kraft spoke, he handed one scarf to Alice, and together they tied them onto the two pets.

"Can, can you talk now? Bear-chan~"

After tying the scarf onto the little black cat, Alice eagerly asked.

The little black cat, Bear, first pawed at the scarf around her neck, then shook her head vigorously.

"You tied it too tight, dummy!"

A slightly sharp female voice came from Bear's mouth.

"Ah, s-sorry! I'll loosen it for you right away!"

Alice flusteredly adjusted Bear's scarf.

"Is this better?"

"Mmm, much more comfortable~"

Bear stretched, her tail swaying, and her previously sharp voice became lazy.

"Whoa!"

Quinn, who had been staring blankly at Alice and Bear's conversation, suddenly jumped up.

"You can talk!"

Then, a moment later, he jumped again, as if realizing something.

"Whoa! I can talk too!"

"Uh... it feels like the dog's IQ isn't that high..."

Kraft rubbed his nose and quickly pulled out his phone to start searching.

"Dog intelligence ranking... Shiba Inu... outside the top 79... even lower than the 'three Siberian idiots'..."

"Slander! This is blatant slander!"

Quinn shoved his nose against Kraft's phone screen, wrinkling his snout and baring his sharp white teeth.

"Hahaha, stupid dog."

Bear burst into laughter upon hearing Kraft's broadcast.

"Do you want to fight?!"

Quinn quickly shifted his angry gaze to Bear.

"Don't bully Bear! She's a girl!"

Alice immediately ran to Bear's defense.

"Big brother! They're bullying me!"

Quinn's speed in finding backup was hardly that of a dog ranked 79th in intelligence.

Looking at the dog wagging its tail furiously at him, Kraft twitched his lips. Still, it was the dog he had chosen, and it was asking for his help, so he had to assist.

Kraft tapped a few more times on his phone.

"Bombay cat intelligence... one of the three dumbest cat breeds..."

Kraft's lips twitched again. His pet-choosing skills were truly something else, having picked up two creatures with questionable intelligence.

"What?! That's impossible! This young lady is very smart!"

Bear also took offense, shrieking as she lunged for the phone in Kraft's hand.

"Stop messing around!"

Kraft quickly raised his hand, dodging Bear's pounce.

"Hahahaha! Didn't see that coming, did you? You're even dumber than me!"

Quinn stuck out his tongue and laughed gloatingly, only to be smacked on the nose by Bear, who had turned around.

"You dare attack me! You beast!"

Assaulted, Quinn naturally wouldn't back down and turned to bite Bear.

"Take this! RUA!"

"Aaaah! Fighting isn't allowed! Please stop fighting!"

Alice tried to break up the scuffle, flustered.

I have a feeling... this household is going to be very lively from now on...

Watching the chaotic scene before him, Kraft's lips twitched uncontrollably.