Chapter 41
After finishing with the aircraft ride, Yomi followed Anxius at a leisurely pace to a quieter stretch of lawn to rest. He looked at the blue sky, listened to the sound of the waves, rode an alpaca up and down the little hills, and felt that life was truly pleasant!
Not far away, the man who still had not recovered from the sight of a little lamb flying an aircraft had only just found a moment to slip away toward the restroom when he looked up and saw that strange little lamb riding an alpaca on a distant slope… The man nearly collapsed on the spot. Good heavens, what exactly had happened to this world?!
The alpacas here were fairly large, and Yomi fit perfectly on one. Although riding things was not as convenient as when he had been human, he did not have to walk with his own feet, and he could enjoy the moving scenery along the way, so Yomi was more than happy to stretch all four limbs wide.
From one little hill to another, the riding activity came to an end. Anxius lifted the little lamb down and took him to a restaurant on the island for lunch.
They sat facing each other at a table on the top floor, where they could overlook the distant sea and reefs and enjoy the slightly salty ocean breeze drifting in through the windows.
A server carefully tied a napkin around the little lamb’s neck. Since sheep hooves were not as convenient as monster claws, he smiled and asked, “Would you like me to feed you?”
Yomi shook his head. “I can do it myself, thank you.”
He placed one hoof on the table, lowered his head, and started nudging through the salad to eat.
The server pressed his lips together and walked away reluctantly. To be honest, he really had wanted to spend a little time feeding the little lamb. He was so cute, so tiny, and above all so delicate—who wouldn’t want to hold him and feed him a meal?
After finishing the delicious island lunch, Yomi lay back rubbing his belly and turned his head to admire the view outside.
Anxius came over, untied the napkin from around his neck, wiped his hooves and mouth clean, then carried the little lamb out to rest on a rattan chair on the balcony.
The monster sat in the chair while the little lamb half reclined in his broad embrace. Stretching out his hooves, he gave himself a little stretch and enjoyed the peaceful, carefree afternoon.
By evening, their trip came to an end. Anxius took the little lamb off the island and flew the aircraft back toward the manor.
Yomi lay in the back seat playing on the computer—or more accurately, organizing the photos from this trip.
He had taken many photos on this outing. As for how a little lamb took pictures, it was actually very simple! As long as he used the camera’s countdown timer, picked his scenery in advance, pressed the timer, and then immediately propped the camera on top of his head, that was enough!
As for ending up with many blurry shots, Yomi comforted himself by thinking that as long as one had eyes capable of discovering beauty, even a blurry photo could still have atmosphere…
Anxius had also taken many photos, and every single one was either a solo shot of the little lamb or the little lamb posing with nature…
The little lamb riding an alpaca, the little lamb in the restaurant wearing a beret, the little lamb balancing a camera on his head with a nervous expression, the little lamb in a straw hat bouncing along a garden path, the little lamb lying under a tree half asleep with narrowed eyes, the little lamb nudging flowers with his nose from behind a flowerbed, smiling so sweetly that the sheep looked prettier than the blossoms…
There was also one night scene, of the little lamb in a swing, tilting his head up to gaze at the stars.
Those pitch-black eyes were brighter than the stars themselves.
Anxius looked at it for a very long time, unable to tear his gaze away.
By the time they returned to the private manor, it was already night. Karl had been waiting for a long time. If not for the fact that the crown prince was present, he would have long since wanted to rush over, pick up the little lamb, and vigorously rub his head.
In truth, they had only been apart for two days, yet he had missed him and worried about him this much… Could this be what it meant by “when the sheep travels a thousand miles, I worry”?
Karl quickly shook his head and instructed the servants to unpack the luggage and prepare dinner.
After dinner and a bath, the exhausted Yomi said goodnight to Anxius and returned to the little castle. He had barely gotten into bed when he was bombarded with messages from Brule, asking why he had gone traveling without posting any pictures, making it impossible for Brule to promptly inspect whether the places where the little lamb had been playing were suitable for ability training. As a teacher, he was, of course, concerned about his student’s learning environment at every hour of the day!
Yomi had completely forgotten about that. The trip had only lasted two days and one night, so naturally all his attention had been on eating, drinking, and playing.
After seeing Brule’s messages, he carefully selected a few photos and posted them to his feed.
Half were scenic shots taken with his sheep head, and the other half were some of the more handsome sheep selfies he had chosen. In one of them, his nose was practically pressed against the camera lens, which made it rather funny. Yomi had not wanted to choose that one at first, but that close-up had him wearing the special little melon cap given out by the scenic area, so it was very commemorative.
That very night, he received likes and comments from friends.
[Karl: !!! [clutching chest]]
[Brule: That’s it?]
[Lynn: Are you better now?! Is this your original form? So cute!]
Right after that, Lynn sent him a private message: Mimi, is your throat better now?
Yomi raised a hoof and pressed the voice button, sending back a voice message directly: “Lynn, my throat can speak now. The doctor said recovering in my original form would help me heal faster… Once I’m completely better, I’ll come to the main city to see you!”
A few seconds later, Lynn sent back an equally cheerful voice message: “It’s a promise!”
After the two-day-one-night trip, Anxius returned to his busy life once again. Karl sensed that something was off, but did not dare say much. Yomi, who had been focusing wholeheartedly on studying ability-related knowledge, did not notice anything unusual. He was currently at a crucial stage in the growth of his abilities. Brule said that as long as his golden circle grew just a little more, he would basically be able to recover his human form.
Brule had not lied to him.
One week later, in the morning, Yomi had just opened his eyes and was about to stretch with his hooves when he gradually realized that something about his body felt different… He immediately raised a hoof, only for a slender human hand to come into view. He moved his hand upward to touch his face—there was no wool, only soft skin, a human face, human features…
He hurriedly jumped out of bed, not even bothering with shoes, and ran to the mirror.
In the mirror, the boy’s eyes were wide open. His short hair was a little messy. After that moment of stunned silence, he smiled… In short, it was his original appearance!
The little sheep horns were still on his head. Yomi reached up and tugged at them, only to find that they came right off! They were fake! His body had not changed at all.
Yomi immediately opened his communicator and told Teacher Brule the news. Brule laughed. “I told you, it was only a matter of time before you returned to human form. How do you feel now?”
“Very good!” Even though he was no longer a sheep, he still kind of wanted to bounce around.
“That’s good. You’ve only just regained human form, so you definitely consumed a lot of energy. In the short term, don’t try turning back into a sheep.” Brule knew his physical condition well. If Anxius still failed to find a solution, Yomi’s lifespan would not be long. Under such circumstances, wasting energy would do him no good.
“Alright.” Yomi firmly remembered his teacher’s instructions. “I’ll proceed steadily and keep learning step by step.”
Brule smiled on the other end and said nothing. In truth, his heart ached terribly.
Silly little lamb…
For the first time, Brule—who previously had not held out any hope at all—began to pray that Anxius might truly be able to do it.
Anxius was still away handling official business, and Yomi decided not to disturb him.
On the very first day of becoming human again, he went out. Yomi had already arranged a meeting time with Lynn. Considering that Lynn still had to work today, they agreed to meet at a restaurant near his factory and have lunch together.
Yomi had money now, so he picked the best private room available and arrived early to wait.
A server came over and introduced the menu to him. When roast whole lamb was mentioned, Yomi hurriedly shook his head, then promptly ordered several main dishes in one go, deciding they could add more after Lynn arrived.
A few minutes later—
“Mimi!” Lynn was all smiles. The moment he came in, he used his tentacles to lift Yomi up in a tight hold. “We finally get to meet again! You haven’t changed at all!”
“I’ve changed a little,” Yomi said with a smile. “I’ve grown two centimeters taller.”
At that, Lynn laughed so hard he nearly doubled over. The two of them hugged tightly, and as soon as they sat down, he immediately started asking how Yomi had been lately.
“Very well.” Yomi did not want him to worry, so he glossed over the whole “illness” matter in only a few words, then picked up the huge menu and handed it over for him to order.
After ordering, Lynn enthusiastically started talking about the first episode of It’s Okay to Be Different. He said that in the program Yomi had been made to look even smaller by comparison, much smaller than the other guests, and yet he still completed the tasks, which only proved that Yomi’s abilities were even stronger than the others’. It was hard to imagine what amazing feats he would have gone on to accomplish in the later episodes if he had not gotten sick…
Yomi listened with embarrassment, though when he thought about it carefully, now that he had awakened an ability, he really was fairly capable, wasn’t he?
The dishes arrived, and the two of them ate happily together!
During the meal, Yomi also told him about the place he had visited last time. He said that if there was a chance in the future, he would like to go there again with a friend. Lynn listened with obvious longing, then slapped a tentacle against Yomi’s hand in a high-five. “We’ll definitely get the chance to go together!”
Yomi smiled and nodded.
They ended up eating for nearly two hours. It was as if they had endless things to say, and the air was filled with the joy of reunion… But Lynn was very busy with work now and had to head back soon. Yomi reluctantly walked him to the factory entrance. Just as he was about to leave, Lynn suddenly ran back out with a grin and tugged him inside.
Yomi blinked. “What’s wrong?”
“I have my own office now. Since you’re here, I absolutely have to show it to you!”
Yomi’s eyes lit up, and he quickly followed. As he walked into the factory, he even saw several familiar faces. Smiling as he greeted them, he suddenly had the feeling of returning to his alma mater.
Although this was not really his alma mater, it was the first place Yomi had worked after coming to Snar Star. Even though the manager had later dismissed him, deep in his heart Yomi was still grateful that the manager had not rejected him outright from the start because of his obvious size problem… That had given him the confidence later on to keep going to interviews.
The people in the factory were also very happy to see him. A bright new rising star had stepped out from their workplace—something they would never have dared imagine before—and they felt honored by the connection.
Yomi walked into Lynn’s office. It was tall and spacious. Lynn directly lifted him with a tentacle and placed him on the guest sofa, then turned to make tea for him.
Yomi took the oversized teacup and looked around his friend’s office with curiosity. Very good—everything was very good.
He took a sip of tea and exchanged a glance with Lynn. He did not find it bitter at all, only sweet.
That evening, Yomi invited Karl out for dinner as well.
Karl was flattered beyond measure.
Good heavens. If the crown prince found out that the empire’s little treasure had invited him to dinner but not him, wouldn’t he be angry? Ah, well, there was nothing to be done about it. After all, Your Highness, you were busy~
Having dinner with the empire’s little treasure was simply too blissful. Especially when he saw the little one stand up and use the serving chopsticks to try placing food in his bowl, Karl almost screamed… Wuwuwu, please sit down properly, I can do it myself, the chair is too high, our precious one absolutely mustn’t fall off.
And then he tearfully ate down an enormous bowlful.
So this was the kind of life the crown prince had been living before? Envy!
During the meal, the two of them also chatted a little about recent plans. Yomi decided to visit the zoo this week. He wanted to see how that dancing ant who refused to accept a new trainer was doing now.
That very night, Karl contacted the director of the suburban zoo.
The director had gone so long without any news that he had almost assumed there was no hope. The moment he heard that Yomi was coming, he became so excited he could hardly contain himself. He said he would make arrangements tonight so Yomi could come tomorrow—no! He could come anytime!
Yomi decided to go the next day.
After receiving his student Yomi’s leave request, Brule asked the reason. Upon learning that the little lamb—well, former little lamb—was going to the zoo to be a dancing-ant trainer, he ran over early the next morning with a camera in hand. “I’m going too!”
When the baby is performing and dancing, how could grandpa not come and cheer him on?
This was the first time Yomi had faced Brule in his human form, and he was actually a little nervous. Although Brule had seen his human photo when making his ability certificate, this was still their first real face-to-face meeting. Especially since he still had the fake horns on his head that he had bought from Brule’s own shop.
Luckily, back then he had used the excuse that his horns had broken and so on…
Compared to Yomi’s nervousness, Brule seemed to have completely forgotten that he had ever come to his shop. The moment he saw Yomi, he picked him up and examined him, never touching the fake horns, only saying, “Very good. You look to be in decent condition.”
Yomi felt relieved.
And so, after breakfast, the three of them boarded an aircraft and headed for the suburban zoo.
To show his sincerity, the director personally ran over to wait at the zoo entrance. The moment he saw that small figure, he was so excited he nearly could not speak!
So handsome! In person he looked even better than on the livestream. His facial features and body proportions were practically as perfect as a 3D model… Still, business came first. The director solemnly shook hands with Yomi, introduced himself, and led him inside. Along the way, he talked about the current condition of that dancing ant. It still loved playing dead, and the staff all suspected it was using this tactic to force the director to bring back its previous trainer.
But that trainer was on another planet, impossible to contact. Naturally, the director could not bring him back, so all he could do was keep inviting new trainers over to see whether the ant might accept someone else.
As they walked, the director secretly glanced back at Yomi’s figure. In the end, he did not want to put too much pressure on him. Today was just a trial. If that dancing ant truly had no interest in Yomi, then he could only do everything he could to locate that old employee who was traveling through the stars and bring him back no matter the cost.
Yomi had already done a little homework and had personally seen a dancing ant before, so he was calm as he followed them into the area where the ants lived.
“This is the one. Its name is Big Eyes, because from a young age its eyes were larger than those of its own kind… It knows many high-difficulty dances and even created a dance no one else has ever performed. It’s the little star of our park.”
Yomi followed the direction in which the director pointed.
Behind the glass, on a wooden bed inside, lay a plump, round dancing ant. Its back was turned toward them. It had originally been shaking one leg, but the moment it heard the director’s voice, it froze stiff and motionless.
“It’s playing dead again…” the director whispered. Then, with a hand signal, he instructed the staff to open the door. “If it won’t come over, then we’ll have to go inside. Please don’t worry. Dancing ants never attack humans, and even if they did, they wouldn’t really have any killing power. Come with me.”
Yomi followed the director in and walked softly to the side of the wooden bed.
The director bent down and spoke to the dancing ant in a fawning tone. “Big Eyes, hurry up and look who’s here?”
Big Eyes kept its eyes shut tight, unmoving, body rigid as though it were truly dead.
After several seconds of silence, the director was startled and quickly reached out to touch its body, then rolled his eyes.
From that eye-roll, Yomi understood that the ant was indeed faking it again.
He also let out a quiet sigh of relief. After all, the dancing ants he had seen at the other zoo had all been lively and energetic. This was his first time seeing one lying stiff and unmoving like this, and at first he had thought something might have happened.
The director had no way to force the dancing ant to get up, so he signaled to the staff again. A moment later, pleasant music began playing in the room.
The director said, “This is Big Eyes’s favorite song.”
Sure enough, a few seconds later, several of the ant’s little legs began twitching along to the music.
Yomi: “…”
Playing dead was tiring too, after all. The dancing ant slowly opened its eyes and looked at these foolish Snarians, all being manipulated by its dance steps.
Who could have expected that the single glance would become the most dazzling sight of the ant’s entire life.
Ah, such a beautiful and adorable little human—especially those bright, watery eyes, perfectly matching its tastes… No wonder the director had been so chatty today. Had he spent a fortune to buy it a new doll? Very good. It did not want any of its old dolls anymore. Big Eyes wanted to sleep hugging this one for the rest of its life!
Yomi noticed Big Eyes staring blankly at him and raised a hand in greeting. “Hello, Big Eyes. I’m Yomi.”
The dancing ant froze.
Perhaps it was only his imagination, but a few seconds later, Yomi seemed to catch a flash of shyness in the ant’s eyes.
Yomi: ?
The director said with relief, “Just as expected—Big Eyes doesn’t reject you!”
The moment he said that, Big Eyes suddenly climbed down from the bed and began circling around Yomi in an intimate manner.
Yomi was a little overwhelmed by the warmth. Just as he turned toward the director, about to ask what was going on, the dancing ant before him actually stood upright—
It started dancing! And not just any dance—it was dancing the cha-cha!
And while dancing, it kept moving closer to him.
Brule and Karl, watching from outside: “…”
Yomi stared in amazement. It danced incredibly well.
It took the director quite a while to recover. Tears of joy welled up in his eyes. “It accepts you! From now on, you can guide it!”
The new trainer who had come along had not expected it to go this smoothly either. At first, he had only come with the mindset of giving it a last-ditch try. Even he, a professional, had failed to win Big Eyes’s favor—could an amateur really succeed where he had not?
Facts proved that yes, it really could!
Seeing how promising this was, the trainer feared that if they dragged things out any longer, the dancing ant might throw another tantrum. So he hurriedly suggested, “Big Eyes is in excellent condition right now! Mr. Yomi, would you like to come with me to change into the trainer’s uniform?”
Putting on the trainer’s clothes was the true beginning of building a relationship with the dancing ant.
Yomi nodded. After Big Eyes finished dancing, he applauded for it, then told Karl and Brule outside to wait for him in the rest area while he followed the trainer away to the changing room.
Along the way, after stealing glances at Yomi for quite a while, the trainer sighed emotionally and rubbed at his eyes. “Good thing the director had someone make your uniform in advance last night. Good thing… Big Eyes has become so lively, it feels like a dream. You have no idea—actually, I’ve always been a little fan of it myself. I even came to this zoo because of it… Mr. Yomi, thank you so much for being willing to come.”
Yomi shook his head. He felt he really had not done anything. Just as he was about to say so, the other man seemed to read his mind and smiled. “Your appearance alone is already the best gift Big Eyes could have received. I know that with your size, you must have encountered a lot of setbacks in life because of your build. So the fact that the director noticed you and invited you here despite that is already something very remarkable!”
“…Thank you.”
“With you here, I suddenly feel full of confidence in the future for both me and Big Eyes!” The trainer made a little cheering gesture for himself.
When they reached the changing room, Yomi followed the trainer’s guidance and took the uniform inside to change.
When he came out again, the little human with horns had turned into a dancing-ant trainer wearing a plump black-and-white mascot suit.
One large and one small figure, both in dancing-ant mascot outfits, stepped out of the changing room. At that moment, the staff on the director’s side suddenly called to say that Big Eyes was in a highly excited state and had gone on its own to the public exhibition area, so they were told to go straight there by sightseeing cart.
Visitors loved watching trainers interact with dancing ants in the exhibition area anyway.
Yomi followed the trainer onto the zoo sightseeing cart. Halfway there, Yomi spotted a little roadside shop and suddenly had an idea.
He remembered how Big Eyes had started dancing for him the moment they met, so he decided to buy that friendly dancing ant a little first-meeting gift. Thinking so, he asked the trainer about it, and the trainer smiled. “Of course! Dancing ants love doll gifts. Whether humanoid dolls or animal dolls, they love them all. But Big Eyes especially likes humanoid ones.”
Yomi took note of that and asked the driver to wait a moment before hopping down and heading to the nearby shop.
It was a little store selling various stuffed-animal merchandise based on the zoo’s animals. Besides the official merchandise, there were also some more common toys. Yomi picked out a plump, silly-smiling little doll, paid for it, and turned to head back.
Over by the sightseeing cart, that stretch of road happened to be crowded with visitors, so the place where the driver had temporarily stopped was not ideal. Since he assumed Yomi would take at least a little time choosing something, and wanting to avoid complaints from visitors, he decided to drive the cart a short distance ahead to a wider part of the road, planning to park properly there and then go back to the shop to pick Yomi up.
But Yomi, who had picked out the gift very quickly, came back outside just in time to see the sightseeing cart’s retreating rear end.
…
In front of a zoo map sign, Linda looked at her son’s dejected face and quietly persuaded him, “Arlo, I know you don’t want to be separated from your old friends, but the living conditions on Snar Star are far better than on Junk Star. Not everyone gets the chance to live in the main city of Snar Star. If your father’s medical skill hadn’t been recognized by His Highness the Crown Prince, we might never have been able to return to Snar Star in our entire lives. This is clearly a good thing. You can’t go on being like this all the time…”
These were not exaggerated words from Linda. As one of the clans exiled decades ago, if not for permission from the royal family, they would have had to spend their entire lives toiling away on Junk Star.
Back then, their clan had been exiled to Junk Star because of political struggles. Her husband, Yesi, might have been the son of a minister, but he had never been obsessed with officialdom. His lifelong dream had been to become a doctor. Tragically, it was only after settling on Junk Star that Yesi awakened the healing ability suited to doctors.
Perhaps because all his talent had nowhere to be used, over the past decades Yesi had begun conducting experiments on all sorts of organisms on Junk Star. He had reached the point of obsession—he would not even spare his own body, and he often said things that sounded deranged… Only when facing her and their child did he show any warmth belonging to a normal person.
Linda had once been in great pain. There was already no way for her and her husband to change their own fate, but she could not bear to let their child spend generation after generation living there too…
Thankfully, that endless life finally saw a turning point because of the appearance of an honored guest.
Some time ago, the imperial crown prince Anxius had come looking for her husband, Yesi.
Linda did not know what they talked about, but the result was that the crown prince brought their whole family back to Snar Star and arranged a residence for them.
Aside from their son Arlo, both she and Yesi were very happy. Linda could actually understand what Arlo was feeling. He had been born on Junk Star, so it was perfectly natural for him to have developed feelings of hometown attachment there. Linda did not expect him to accept his new life immediately, but neither did she want him to spend every day so gloomy and dispirited.
That was why she had brought Arlo to the zoo today as well—to let him see the dancing ants from Junk Star and hopefully help him rediscover some familiar feeling here.
But Arlo clearly had no interest at all. “What’s there to look at? You can see dancing ants every day on Junk Star… Mom, I want to go back.”
“No, the dancing ants here are friendlier than the wild ones on Junk Star. Their performances are really fun and cute…”
The teenage boy, deep in the middle of his rebellious phase, did not care at all for those words. He only let out a perfunctory hum.
Not the slightest bit interested, he was just about to turn away when a sudden cry of alarm broke out from the crowd up ahead.
Arlo and Linda both jumped in fright and turned to look at the same time.
On the busy path, countless people were at that moment seeing an unbelievably adorable dancing ant dash out from beside a shop!
The visitors were stunned. Some covered their mouths, some hurried out of the way, and the quick-reacting ones had already taken out their cameras and started snapping pictures. “Oh my god! One of the zoo’s dancing ants escaped!”
Arlo was already dumbstruck. This dancing ant racing along looked very different from the ones in his memory.
Was it a mutated variety specially bred on Snar Star?
As the round, adorable little creature came closer and closer, Arlo’s eyes slowly widened, and his face turned red in an instant—this had to be a joke, right? They were both dancing ants, so how could this one be so much cuter than the ones on Junk Star?!
In the next second, Arlo discovered in horror that this dancing ant actually spoke human language: “S-stop the cart… I haven’t gotten back on yet…”
“…”
Damn it, had this zoo been experimenting on dancing ants? Had they mutated it, and that was why it escaped?
Arlo clenched his fists. Sinister Snarians!
Just then, with a glance from the corner of his eye, the teenager saw that the sightseeing cart that had just driven toward the fork in the road had stopped. The driver and another large figure wearing a dancing-ant mascot suit were both running this way toward the “super-cute-type dancing ant”:
“Sorry, Yomi! We were only moving the cart a little!”
Arlo: “…”
