Chapter 241

Chapter 241

Jo was undoubtedly a very thoughtful and competent butler. For today's gathering, he had made all the preparations in advance.

Not only had Blue Star Restaurant and the hotel been fully prepared, but all the trees and landscapes in the backyard had also been meticulously maintained.

Lorant's backyard contained many rare and precious garden trees acquired from all over the world.

Lorant's requirement for these plants wasn't that they be particularly rare, but that they achieve an overall effect. Even common varieties were welcome if they complemented each other, creating unique seasonal beauty.

Now that autumn had arrived, the once-lush trees of summer began to shed their leaves, which gradually fell to the ground.

However, not all the trees were the same. In Lorant's carefully arranged garden, many inconspicuous plants that were originally mixed in began to show their autumn colors at this time of year.

Yellow and red leaves fell to the ground, and along the sides of the path, some autumn-blooming flowers in maple colors added a distinct charm.

Most interesting were the Spitroots planted in the ground. This type of pet seemed to have some plant-like habits. As the weather gradually turned cold, they became less active.

Sometimes, even if you turned them upside down and shook them vigorously, you couldn't get them to spit out a few more flowers.

Following this trend, Nia was quite worried. As an important ingredient in perfume, if Spitroots reduced their flower output in winter, the production of the ointment would inevitably be affected.

As a formally sold product, the price of the perfume couldn't be easily changed, which meant that the profit margin had to decrease.

The profit margin could drop from almost 100 times to just over 90 times! Nia thought sadly.

Of course, none of this concerned the girls who came to visit. The three girls, though young, were well-bred and knew how to behave properly.

So, even when they saw a Spitroot hopping along the path and moving aside to let them pass, the young ladies didn't reach out to touch it.

They just watched with wide-eyed wonder as the tiny creature wobbled off into the distance.

After seeing their first pet, the girls became even more interested, thinking that the magical pet shop was indeed a fascinating place where fun things could be encountered just by walking around.

As with the last time, this banquet was also held in Blue Star Restaurant. The entire morning, the restaurant was exclusively used for this event, as were the surrounding hotels.

Further away, there were no elaborate arrangements. The backyard of the pet shop remained the same as usual.

The girls walked a long way along the path in the backyard when they suddenly found themselves by a lake.

Along one side of the lake were many small wooden houses, but they appeared to be unused. Several Windbreaking Horses and some Glassy Ice Flame Dogs were resting by the lake, keeping a distance from each other and occupying their own territories.

Candy rabbits also liked to hang around the lake, but their purpose wasn't to drink water. Their water needs were fully met by their daily pet food and didn't require additional water sources.

Their purpose here was simple: they were curious to see if they could challenge these large, solitary creatures.

In short, they were eager to provoke a confrontation.

However, all of this was on the other side of the lake, and the girls could only watch from afar as a candy rabbit hopped adorably with its large ears towards the Windbreaking Horses.

Elizabeth looked at the candy rabbit with stars in her eyes, "So cute! Do you think if I ask my father to get me a candy rabbit, he will agree?"

Kate, more rational, said, "Candy rabbits are Class C pets. It is said that the higher the level of these pets, the greater their intelligence. So, if you really want a pet, I suggest you get a Glassy Ice Flame Dog!"

"Besides, Glassy Ice Flame Dogs are the cutest! They're fluffy and look so handsome!" Kate gazed at the distant Glassy Ice Flame Dogs with heart-shaped eyes. "My Glassy Ice Flame Dog will arrive in the next batch, just in time for my birthday. I'm really looking forward to it!"

This made even Lisa cast an envious glance. Kate's aunt was Lady Jaina, and this powerful knight had long reserved a Glassy Ice Flame Dog for her niece, leaving others, who hadn’t thought ahead, feeling envious.

The lakeside was quiet, with only a little girl training near the closest wooden house.

The petite girl swung a massive knight's sword, and with each strike, beads of sweat dripped down.

Of course, that wasn’t what caught their attention.

After all, as noble-born, they were naturally in good physical condition. They all had a solid foundation, and among them, Kate, who had the highest talent and the most interest in the knight profession, was now an official apprentice knight.

As for the other two, they were still ordinary people considering the path of becoming practitioners.

After all, even with their noble birth, in this world, practitioners held the highest regard, and that would never change.

So, naturally, the girls weren’t surprised by a peer in training.

They hadn’t yet witnessed the harsher side of the world, where many people struggled with hunger and cold daily.

In their world, everyone underwent rigorous daily training, much like themselves.

What caught their attention was behind the girl.

There, a bright red scarf fluttered in the air.

Or rather, it must be a scarf, right?

Lisa looked at the object that appeared abruptly in the air, a long scarf-like fabric wrapped around some circular object, and thought.

Apart from imagining it as 'a scarf for an invisible giant,' Lisa couldn’t think of any other way to describe it.

None of the girls had ever seen anything like this before.

If they had encountered this at night, they might have turned and run away in fear.

Even magic should stay far from such strange occurrences—something their families had drilled into them from a young age.

But it was broad daylight, and they were in the safe confines of the Animal Pet Shop. Facing a peer who didn’t seem dangerous at all, the tension in the girls' minds eased a little.

As they hesitated, wondering whether to ask the girl what was behind her, Natalie also noticed the three curious onlookers.

She immediately realized that today was the day the guests would come to the shop to take away the Furious Ragdoll Bear.

So, strangers appearing in the backyard at this time were probably those guests!

Natalie, always patient with guests, felt it was her duty to ease her master’s concerns.

She stopped her training, took two steps forward, and called out to them from a distance, "Are you lost? This isn't the gathering spot. Do you need me to guide you back?"

Lisa and the others exchanged glances, and Kate stepped forward as the communicator, "Hello, are you an employee of the Animal Pet Shop?"

Seeing that they might want a longer conversation, Natalie, though a bit helpless, paused her training and walked over, "Yes, I am. Come on, I'll take you back."

Seeing Natalie's friendly attitude, Lisa boldly shook her head and pointed to the high place next to Natalie where the scarf fluttered in the wind, "No, we're not lost. I just want to know what that thing behind you is?"

Natalie turned her head, saw Little Qing tilt its neck, and the red scarf change direction as it curiously stared at them. The girl, recalling Lorant's instructions, smiled and explained, "This is also a type of pet. But what kind of pet it is, that's a secret. I can't tell you!"

Lisa pursed her lips. She really wanted to know what kind of pet it was, but with the girl having said so, her good upbringing wouldn’t allow her to press further.

"Alright, I won't ask then!" Lisa nodded. However, her attention was soon drawn to something else.

"Is that Furious Ragdoll Bear on the table over there yours?" Elizabeth asked in surprise, her eyes wide as her gaze fell on the table next to the red scarf.

There, a fluffy little bear was trying to jump from the table to a chair.

The girl in front of her wasn't dressed in anything particularly expensive, but on the table behind her was clearly the Furious Ragdoll Bear that Elizabeth had been thinking about constantly.

Elizabeth knew that the owner of the Animal Pet Shop did have a younger sister, but that girl had apparently become a priest and was currently in the church in Holland.

It couldn’t possibly be this frail little child in front of her.

Natalie turned her head and glanced at the little one who, thanks to her teachings, avoided jumping directly to the ground to prevent dirt from splashing onto its fur from the lawn. She couldn't help but smile gently.

"Of course, that's my Furious Ragdoll Bear," Natalie said, seeing the longing expressions of the other girls. She thought for a moment and then asked, "Um, would you like to come over and take a look?"

She invited them somewhat shyly. Natalie had grown up in an orphanage and had moved out without any hesitation once she became a follower of Lorant.

Even the orphanage that Pence worked hard to protect wasn’t a place worth reminiscing about for these children.

In the orphanage, she had younger siblings she wanted to take care of, but she didn’t have many close friends. The children there, if they weren’t careful, might end up missing by the next day, and Pence would find out that one of them had secretly run away.

But who would really care about the truth?

So, seeing three peers, she couldn’t help but feel curious.

When Lorant stepped out of the small building, Little Qing and Little Black whispered to him that some people had been wandering around the backyard and had reached the lake.

However, they hadn’t passed through the areas where several beast pets were gathered, nor had they approached the beast storage.

As for the lake, only Natalie and Little Qing and Little Black were usually there.

Lorant wasn’t worried that Natalie would say anything inappropriate. He had told the girl that if anyone asked about Little Qing and Little Black, she should just tell them they were a special kind of beast pet that wasn’t for sale.

If anyone pressed further, she didn’t need to respond. People who were rude didn’t deserve an answer.

Lorant was confident that the girl would be able to handle things as he had instructed.

What was more pressing for him now was dealing with the guests at the banquet. These people were customers of the Animal Pet Shop, and many of them were also considered partners of the shop. Whether for business or personal reasons, Lorant couldn’t afford to be negligent.

Princess Daisy was also among today's guests.

She wasn’t particularly worried about her safety. As the princess of the empire, she knew there was always at least one expert of level ten or above secretly protecting her.

This protection was the result of years of imperial resources and was one of their final trump cards.

However, despite this, she had still purchased a beast pet from the Animal Pet Shop.

Apart from genuinely wanting to see if the doll she loved as a child could, as Lorant claimed, be brought to life, she also wanted to establish more contact with the shop.

Since the exhibition, she had been reflecting on what Lorant had said to her.

His responses to her questions had left a deep impression on her, and she couldn’t forget a single word.

After returning, she even discussed the topic with the teachers who usually gave her lessons.

A self-made merchant, born from humble beginnings, had truly impressed her with his words.

At the same time, it made the princess, who appeared gentle but was actually quite proud, increasingly interested in the legendary shop owner.

"Shop owner," Daisy said, while chatting with others, her attention remained fixed on the back door of the Animal Pet Shop.

The moment Lorant appeared, she tactfully ended her conversation and greeted him with evident delight.

Lorant also had a good first impression of the princess. At least among the many brainless elite in Holland, she was a breath of fresh air.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the wait." Lorant first exchanged pleasantries with a few guests who had come forward to greet him, then turned his head with a smile to look at the others.

"The custom orders you entrusted to me have all been completed," Lorant said to the crowd. "Our staff will soon bring your personalized animal pets here, so please be patient."

Those who received invitations to this place were not necessarily the luckiest of guests, but those five fortunate ones were definitely the unluckiest.

The owners of the five orders that required further waiting also received letters from the Animal Pet Shop, but the content informed them that their customizations had failed this time and would require additional waiting. They were asked if they could accept this.

If they refused, the Animal Pet Shop would only charge a small deposit and return the dolls quickly.

Though the five unfortunate souls gained a new perspective on their luck, they all stubbornly chose to let Lorant continue working on their animal pets.

One can't be unlucky forever, right? Each of them thought.

As for any extra charges or waiting times, they had no choice but to accept it with a pinch of the nose.

Before long, four floating octopuses appeared in the restaurant, each carrying twenty-four bamboo baskets swinging through the air.

They drifted to each guest's face, using their somewhat hazy large eyes to carefully identify the bipeds before them, matching them with the faces stored in their memories.

Then, under the somewhat surprised gazes of the guests, they glided up to them, solemnly using two tentacles to hand over the ferocious plush bears, which were curiously experiencing low-altitude flight, from the bamboo baskets.

What were once ordinary dolls now had true life, a feeling that was quite extraordinary.

At least, the expressions on the faces of every guest who received their ferocious plush bear were quite vivid.

Lisa and her companions had also been found and brought back, along with Natasha, their newly acquainted friend.

Kuuhaku slowly floated to Lisa and the Grand Duke Harp's side, his misty, widely spaced eyes carefully examining them for a while.

Then its eight tentacles began to wriggle, and six of them, each holding a basket, moved slightly, causing the berserk plush bears inside to shake their heads in delight.

For these berserk plush bears, whose appearance was far removed from that of actual bears, the floating octopus was one of the most familiar creatures they knew.

Since they had come to life, the floating octopus had been diligently taking care of them.

Apart from feeding them on schedule and reinforcing their bodies with special medicinal liquids, it would also play with these curious newborns.

It was a devoted and responsible ‘mother’.

The little ones' favorite activity was the floating octopus's version of a ‘carousel,’ where they would be held by the octopus’s tentacles and spun around at high speed.

Centrifugal force would send the little ones and the octopus’s tentacles flying outward involuntarily, and they always found this thrilling.

However, today the floating octopus seemed unusually reserved; it rotated its tentacles much more slowly, and the flight speed was not as fast as usual. Despite this, the little ones were still filled with joy.

This game was different from their usual play, but the experience of slow, low-altitude flight was still quite enjoyable.

Kongyi selected one of the baskets from behind and brought it to the front, then picked up the human-shaped doll inside and carried it directly to Lisa.

Lisa looked at her long-lost Wendy in surprise and let out a soft cheer as she hugged the somewhat ugly large doll.

Only in the presence of the Harp Duke did she reveal her most innocent side.

Lisa gazed at her favorite doll with delight. It was a doll the Harp Duke had made for her shortly after her birth.

Though it now appeared rather crude, with a roughly painted face and loosely stitched fur, Lisa loved it dearly, so much so that she had to hug it every night to fall asleep.

When she played alone, Wendy was her best companion.

This wooden puppet had already become part of her family.

Lisa was eager to see how her Wendy had changed, and she was amazed when Wendy blinked at her and then used her wooden arm to gently push herself up from Lisa's lap.

The already unsettling wooden puppet now looked even more eerie. Despite having seen its odd movements many times before, Lorant, who had been observing the puppet from a distance, couldn't help but shudder.

The little girl, however, didn't seem bothered at all. She happily hugged the puppet, eager to show it off to her father.

Lorant admired how the Grand Duke of Harp remained completely unfazed. Anyone who could remain so calm around that wooden puppet must be a true warrior.

While he might not have shared their taste, Lorant was pleased to see how much these dolls were cherished by their owners.

It even made him feel like chatting more with them.

Daisy had been looking for a chance during the banquet to talk to Lorant about the spinning machine.

Since the exhibition, this highly efficient machine has been gaining popularity throughout the empire.

As far as she knew, ninety percent of merchants involved in the textile industry were deeply intrigued by this miraculous machine, and many had already taken action, negotiating with the Animal Pet Shop to purchase it.

However, the Animal Pet Shop hadn't yet decided on the form of cooperation regarding the spinning machine, so no contracts had been officially signed.

Daisy wanted to come up with a suitable solution during this time to ease the growing pains of an industry that Lorant had spoken about.

As a princess of this empire, she naturally had to consider the well-being of her people. Even though the royal family was now essentially powerless, it remained the same.

Lorant had always placed great importance on the spinning machine. In his yet-to-be-completed territory of Kamkuo, the first factory to become operational was a spinning machine manufacturing plant. To date, the Animal Pet Shop had stockpiled approximately a thousand spinning machines.

A device capable of sparking an industrial revolution was waiting in the wings, and no one understood its potential better than Lorant.

The Furious Ragdoll Bear banquet soon came to an end, and all the guests happily took their custom pets with them, purchasing a large number of Furious Ragdoll Bear-related items from the shop before leaving.