Chapter 457 The African Area, and Some Souvenir
Two elephants were walking leisurely inside of their area.
We saw two elephants in the distance. They both looked down at the ground. Our group watched the elephants from a bridge suspended over a moat. It was a bit more natural to see them without a cage, but it was also a shame they were so far away.
"Those elephants look pretty big. It seems they will be difficult to handle."
"I"m afraid I"m gonna eat it.”
Wait a minute. The eyes of Lu and Yae that are looking at the elephants are different from the rest of us.
What are they saying … huh? It seems that mammoths can definitely be eaten…
When I searched, it seems that elephant meat poached for ivory purposes in Africa is flowing into the market and is being sold.
Perhaps because we hunted or ate dragons in the Different World, they were curious about what it tasted like. …… I wonder if it"s delicious. No, we shouldn’t eat it.
The elephant in front of us left, because it may have seen the looks that Lu and Yae were giving it. It may have thought that it needed to be quick to escape.
We leave the elephant area and move to the ostrich area, next. There were two ostriches standing here as well, before they became very still.
"In Mismede, there is a bird similar to this “Ostrich”.”
Leen mutters such a thing while looking at the ostrich. It seems that there is a bird that looks a lot like this ostrich to the southern area of Mismid. Some beastmen who live in Mismede have tamed that big bird and used it as a vehicle instead of a horse. It seems that carts are also pulled by those birds.
"I"m sure you can eat it at Mismid, right?"
"I know it well. I"ve eaten it, but it tasted light like horse meat, but with less fat."
"It looks delicious …"
Lu and Yae join our conversation. You guys, get away from the ostriches.
Being a long-lived species, Leen eats a lot of things. She’s so curious that she can"t help but eat rare foods.
I also had a friend who was into trying new foods. He made sure to get his hands on the newly released juice by Yabame. After drinking, "It"s bad!” "This is cool", were the reactions of people but I have never heard "good".
The ostriches ran away, perhaps because they felt a crisis may have happened if they stayed, seeing Yae’s eyes that looked like a predator’s. Oops.
"Oh! Zebra!"
Su finds a zebra in the distance and starts running. Following that, everyone quickly headed to the place where the zebras were.
The zebras on the other side of the fence walk leisurely in their area and do not even look at us. There was something like an artificial river flowing between the zebras, which separated us from them.
Beyond the zebras, you can see the elephants. Is it the same area we were in earlier? Although the two animals’ spots are separated by a body of water that looks like a pond.
"Muu. I wanted to ride it."
Sakura leaks out a disappointed voice. No, there seems to be such a zoo, but it"s different from this one. Besides, zebras seem to have a temper.
"Oh, they have kids!"
A small zebra kid popped out from the shade of a rock that Yumina was pointing to. It goes around the adult zebras.
"Is it spoiled by its mother?"
"I wonder if it"s the father who is lying over there."
In front of Linze and Elze"s line of sight was another zebra lying on his stomach. Is it a family member?
…… Wait, the mother is lying over there, and the one that is awaker may be the father. For a moment, I remembered oba-san watching a TV drama while leaving her child to her husband and sleeping. UU. Good luck, zebra dad …
We move on to the next area after looking at the zebras (mainly foals).
"Fluffy …"
"It has a very long neck …"
Yae and Hilda open their mouths and look up at the creature. Behind the tall wire mesh stood a giraffe, the tallest animal on earth. It didn"t move, so I thought it was a fake for a moment. It"s really quiet.
"It doesn"t move at all …"
"Oh, it blinked."
As Elze says, the giraffe slowly closed her eyes and opened them again. She doesn"t move again. Are you alive?
Or are you tired … Even animals have some kind of stress and anxiety.
We wanted the giraffe to move so that we could interact with it, but we quietly left the place so as not to disturb the giraffe’s rest.
In the next area, bodies of water were built everywhere, and something like a river was flowing. Waterside in Africa … What kind of animal lives there?
As soon as I thought so, a creature gently came up to the land from inside the water.
"Is that a hippopotamus?"
I saw it for the first time, but it"s big. Um … Is it the second heaviest animal on land after an elephant? 1.5 tons to 3 tons … That’s heavy.
A hippo’s nature is ferocious, right …? Especially before giving birth, females raising children become particularly rough so as to protect their children. I don"t get that image. Well, the mother looks strong.
I feel like my mother was very strong, as well. Maybe because she was the daughter of Grandpa … I"m scared of her more than my grandpa.
It"s better to go into a lion"s cage than to seriously get your mother angry. I remember that time when …
"What"s wrong?"
"No … just a little something … I was just remembering something I didn’t like …"
Yumina worriedly called out to me as she crouched down.
When I was in middle school, my mother got angry, and even more angry when I retorted back a few things. I still don"t feel like I can forget that moment …
After pa.s.sing the land animals area, a wooden bridge appeared over the place where the ponds were built. Many flamingos are resting in the pond. …… There is only one dark-colored one. That"s flashy. It stands out.
"They’re as beautiful as Sakura"s hair."
"Hmm."
Linze smiles while looking at the flamingos and touches Sakura’s hair.
"Why do they have such an unusual color?"
"I"m sure they’re eating food that contains red pigment, so I wonder if that’s the cause of this color."
"Oh."
Elze nodded as if impressed. I believe that what I said should be true.
I go to the flamingo explanation board and check if it is correct. Yeah, it’s right. Oh, these are European flamingos?
Ah. There was only one very red flamingo, so I thought it was a glutton like Yae, but it seems that it was a different species called American flamingo. Sorry, American flamingo.
Next, we all went to the gorilla area, but unfortunately the gorilla was in the back room of the breeding house, probably because it was sick. We were able to see it through the tempered gla.s.s, but it was still not feeling well. I hope you get well.
By the way, we’ve almost already traveled all around this zoo, and there is just one more place to go to.
"So this is the Reptile Museum …"
On both sides of the entrance, a large snake and a dragon were carved. People on Earth know the snake, but the dragon is a fairytale. In the Different World, this would be much more different, since there are dragons.
"Ayi."
When I pushed the heavy door open and went inside, a sweltering heat struck me. The indoor temperature is higher than the outside. I wonder if this is a temperature setting suitable for reptiles.
Behind the wall, which is blocked by a transparent acrylic board, there are various types of snakes.
Striped snake, rat snake, python, anaconda …
Wow … I am used to Kokuyou, but I can"t wipe out the eeriness of other snakes. Probably because I can"t communicate with them like I can with Kokuyou.
"None of these are active or exciting to see."
"Well, they don"t have any prey they need to catch, and they don"t have to move fast so as to run away from predators."
Hilda looks into the container of the rat snake and tilts her head. Certainly, the snakes didn"t move much since a while ago, and were all just in their places being wrapped around one another.
As expected, the girls, who fight against the demon beasts, have no fear of snakes. However, snakes didn"t seem to be "cute" and they didn’t act with them like how they did with the other animals.
I peek into the containers of the reptiles on the wall one by one while walking along the aisle.
Snakes, snakes, turtles, turtles … oh, crocodile. Smooth-fronted caiman. The second smallest crocodile in the world, is it?
"There was something similar to that in Mismede, though it was mainly edible."
As soon as Leen said that, the two girls jumped at her.
"Hoho. Is it delicious?"
"How do you cook it?Did the tribe that eat it roast it?"
"The taste was similar to chicken. It was quite elastic but delicious. I don"t know how to cook it, but it was baked."
Good grief. Leen who answers the two people in a calm manner is also nice. Surprisingly, she can be a bit of a tease, but she likes to take care of others. I don’t have a problem with your teases that you usually do, but just don"t do them too openly.
When I turned to the bottom of the fence in front of me, a big turtle was walking alongside it.
African spurred tortoise? It is a bit easier to look at it than the snakes. When I thought something like this, Kokuyou probably said, "That’s discrimination!” I"m likely to be cursed at.
Besides snakes and turtles, there are also lizards. j.a.panese lizard, Chinese crocodile lizard, leopard gecko … Those ones don"t move much, either.
There are several benches in the hall, so that visitors can rest. Looking at the snakes and crocodiles makes me feel uncomfortable, but I think they look cute to those who like them.
Well, if I take a closer look like this, it"s interesting to see that the snakes have different patterns and colors. A particular snake has black on black. It"s s.h.i.+ny like obsidian, and it"s beautiful.
When we exit the Reptiles Museum from an exit different from the one we entered from, a cool breeze welcomes us. Oh, it feels good. I finally got out of the hot and humid environment.
While I was enjoying the pleasant breeze, Yumina, who was next to me, pointed to something that was in front of us that was on my right. There was a relatively new two-story building there.
"Touya-sama, what"s over there?"
"Hmm? Well … it"s like an exhibition hall and rest area … It"s like a place where stuffed animals, skeleton specimens, and materials are on display. Oh, there are souvenir shops.”
I answer Yumina while looking at the pamphlet.
"Souvenirs? I definitely want to buy one or two things."
"Don"t go crazy and buy everything there.”
"C’mon, Touya-san! Let"s go!"
"Hey, don"t pull me so hard! I understand! Please be gentler!"
Pulled by Hilda, Yae, and Elze, we ran to the exhibition hall. Please be more thoughtful since my steps are shorter while in this child-like body of mine …
When we pa.s.sed through the automatic door of the exhibition hall, the stuffed polar bear I saw earlier was displayed right next to me. Oh, it"s larger than I expected.
What … hey. Is the polar bear"s hair transparent rather than white? The light reflected on the black skin below and the sunlight are diffusely reflected and appear white.
Furthermore, the polar bear hair has no core like macaroni, and this cavity creates a heat insulating effect and prevents heat from escaping. It"s evolving to suit the environment.
"There are various things here, right?"
As Linze says, stuffed animals and skeleton specimens are also exhibited in a narrow hall. The walls are covered with the peeled skin of the zebra that was making noise earlier, which makes me feel uncomfortable.
"If you look at it like this, you can see a lot of differences. It"s interesting."
Leen was comparing skeleton specimens of herbivores and carnivores. Well, is this an elephant skeleton specimen? After all there is no bone in the trunk. If there was none, its image would change … Oh, there is also a stuffed nose made out of fabric.
In addition, stuffed animals such as black bears, antelopes, and wild boars were lined up, and bird models were forming a formation on the ceiling. This place is elaborate in various ways.
"Nyhaa~ I still like living animals …"
"I agree. Though, these will be useful for studying."
Apparently Su and Sakura aren"t very interested in this area. On the contrary, Leen, Linze, and Yumina are impressed by the explanation of the exhibits.
Oh? Surprisingly, Yae and Elze are enthusiastically looking at the skeleton specimen.
"So don"t just crush the bones here to deal the maximum damage …"
"That"s right. If you turn it from this side and twist it, it will suddenly bounce …"
Yup. Different. They’re talking about something completely different.
"Oh, this is giraffe-san!"
A giraffe skeleton stood in front of Linze"s view. Looking at it from this distance, it"s still quite large. Or do I feel that because my height has shrunk? It is about four or five meters tall …
"Where do they sell souvenirs …?”
Kyoro Kyoro. Hilda and I look around, but can"t find any of those shops.
Oh, there is an arrow on the wall. This is it.
Following the arrow, there was a large shop at the end of the automatic gla.s.s door.
The walls are painted with warm colors, and bright lighting illuminates the inside of the store. The wood floorboard created a natural atmosphere.
Various animal goods are still lined up on the shelves and low tables. There were also animal print cus.h.i.+ons and tableware, small animal figures, stuffed animals, and animal-shaped backpacks.
"Yumina-san, Yumina-san! Don"t you think this is cute?”
"It"s really cute! Oh, Lu, this one is also cute!"
"Nee, what about this backpack?”
"Wow, that"s really nice. I want one, too …"
As soon as we entered the store, everyone rushed to the corner they were interested in. Well, it"s okay because they are not as spread out as they were in the shopping center.
However, there are various things that they can buy. Key chains, place mats, lunch boxes … I wonder if I should buy souvenirs for everyone in the castle. How about a tie for Liam-san? Some have sheep printed on them … butlers and sheep … no.
A hoodie with animal ears, paws, and slippers. This will be very destructive to me if everyone wears it. …… Should I buy one for everyone? Yeah, they will be memorials of this honeymoon. I have no other intentions.
There are many kinds of animal figures. It seems difficult to collect them all. Plush toys are available in various sizes and types of large, medium, and small.
"I want to take this zebra stuffed animal as a souvenir."
"Do you want it?"
"Um! I’ll give it to Ed!"
Su answers with a big smile. Is it a souvenir for her younger brother Edward? That baby will get a gift from his sister. I"m sure that they will be good siblings.
Yumina also seems to want to buy a stuffed animal for her younger brother, Prince Yamato. Is that a lion? I wonder if the king of beasts will be presented to the future king.
Then we bought a surprising amount of souvenirs from the other side of the shop. Most of them were stuffed animals and sweets.
If you have ten people in a group, there is nothing you can"t do. If we go out of the park, I can secretly put everything in [Storage] under the protection of everyone.
This was basically a zoo tour, but it was fun. I don"t think that the zoo is the best place for a honeymoon, but it"s only the second day.
Well, the biggest mission is awaiting us tonight. The mission that can be said to be the purpose of this trip is to introduce everyone to my parents.
When it comes to that moment, I"m going to use magic to make myself look like my real age, again. Both Father and Mother can recognize me in this figure, but for the time being, it is better to transform into my original figure with [Mirage].
Even if they think it"s a dream, I want to tell them that I am doing well.
I feel that my parents will be amazed by my nine wives… Will they be surprised?
Well, let’s wait until it actually happens.