I dusted off my paws and leaped onto the man’s thigh.

Truthfully, there had been something I’d had my eye on from the beginning.

The pocket watch that had been peeking out of his inner pocket.

Naturally, there was no way to get a clock while living in the mountains.

Those born in the wild could instinctively tell the time as if it were engraved into their genes.

I, however, could not.

I may look like this now, but I used to be a noble lady.

The best I could do was estimate the time based on the position of the sun.

If it happened to be cloudy, I was practically blind.

There had even been one time when I was the only one who showed up late for a meeting…

I had nearly ruined an operation that only happened once every couple of months.

As the gang leader, I got scolded endlessly for having no sense of time.

[Boss, are you out of your mind? The sun’s already high in the sky!]

“B-But it was cloudy today, so I couldn’t see the sun…”

[You call that an excuse?!]

“…So I was a little late. What’s the big deal? You tiny little brats…”

[What?! You’re the smallest one here, Boss!]

The memory made my little fists tremble with indignation.

Which was exactly why I needed that watch!

You understand, don’t you?

I looked at the man with pleading eyes.

“…”

Naturally, he didn’t answer.

Still, I decided to interpret his silence as unspoken permission.

“Chii…”

Carefully watching his expression, I slowly reached toward his inner pocket.

Pretending to admire the gold trim of the watch for a moment…

I suddenly clamped my teeth onto the top of it.

Then I bolted.

“Chi… chii…”

Heh… Hehehe…

I couldn’t stop grinning.

Completely unaware of the danger that awaited me.

---

“Chit… Chii…”

Huff… Huff…

Terrified that the man might chase after me, I didn’t finally catch my breath until I reached my sanctuary.

It was my little cabin, hidden in the deepest part of Fire Bear Mountain.

I’d spent two whole years repairing an abandoned shack that looked ready to collapse at any moment.

Thanks to that, it finally feels like a proper home.

It wasn’t fancy, but it had a desk.

A bed.

Everything I needed.

Grunting with effort, I hoisted the pocket watch onto the desk.

Even though it was only about the size of my body, it was unbelievably heavy.

By the time I set it down, I was drenched in sweat.

Still…

A clock! An actual clock!

Now I could finally keep an accurate schedule like a civilized person!

Tomorrow I’d gather everyone from the Fire Squirrel Gang for tea time.

Exactly at one o’clock in the afternoon!

As I swayed happily to the ticking of the second hand—

Something felt strange.

Cold sweat trickled down my body.

My vision spun.

It felt as if my heart had moved beside my ears, pounding deafeningly.

Did I overdo it today…?

The world continued to whirl.

Then everything went black.

---

“Aah!”

When I regained consciousness, it was already past midnight.

I passed out around ten o’clock…

I’d been unconscious for over two hours.

To think I could calculate the time so precisely.

Having a clock really was wonderful.

Emotion welled up inside me once again.

…Huh?

Wait.

Wasn’t something strange?

Instead of my usual “chit” and “chee,” actual human words had come out of my mouth.

“I… turned back into a human…?!”

Well, I’d always been human.

But after three whole years, I’d finally regained my human form.

I stared blankly at my own hands.

Watching my fingers bend at each joint felt oddly fascinating.

My hair, which had once reached my waist, now flowed all the way to the floor.

Only then did I truly realize how much time had passed.

But…

“Why…? Why now?”

Back when I’d desperately struggled, nothing had happened.

So why now?

I was happy.

Yet at the same time, anxious.

I had no idea when I might turn back into a squirrel and be forced to wait years again.

“First… I should put something on.”

Wrapping a bedsheet around myself, I sat down at the desk for the first time in years.

I started reviewing everything that had happened today.

It had been an ordinary day.

Jjorongi had informed me that a merchant caravan had entered Fire Bear Mountain.

I’d hurriedly gathered my subordinates.

Then I’d helped the wealthy-looking merchant leader.

“Was he… the person Mom said I would meet?”

Hmm…

It didn’t really feel like it.

Then again…

There was someone else I’d met today.

My eyes fell to the pocket watch lying on the desk.

Its owner came to mind.

That man…

There had definitely been something unusual about him.

After growing up surrounded by nothing but pale herbivorous beastfolk, he’d left quite an impression on me.

Still…

I had no real connection to him.

The chances that he was the person Mother meant were extremely low.

Thinking I’d ended up back where I’d started, I let out a deep sigh.

“There must have been some trigger that turned me human again… What was the condition?”

As I paced anxiously around the room, the books scattered across my desk caught my eye.

Every time I had business in the capital, I’d borrowed them from the library.

Sneaking into the cargo compartment of a wagon in my squirrel form made getting to the library easy.

All I had to do was sneak inside after the staff went home and take whichever books I wanted.

Of course, getting back to Fire Bear Mountain meant paying a wandering horse an entire sack of carrots as transportation fare.

Ahem… Anyway.

Most of the books were encyclopedias filled with survival knowledge.

I needed to know which plants and mushrooms were edible.

I also needed to learn how to use medicinal herbs.

The rest were books like Introduction to Beastfolk Studies and The History of Beastfolk.

Perhaps another beastfolk somewhere had experienced the same strange phenomenon I had.

One book became two.

Then three.

Before I knew it, they’d covered the entire desk.

“…I’ll definitely return them next time.”

After apologizing to someone who wasn’t even there, I opened Introduction to Beastfolk Studies.

Mm.

No matter how many times I read it, it was still difficult.

Not because I’d dropped out of the Academy.

It genuinely was a hard book.

The author had randomly mixed ancient languages that nobody even used anymore without offering any explanations.

That’s why I’d had to “borrow” an ancient language dictionary too.

“Ahem. I’ll return that one too.”

Anyway.

To summarize, the book said this:

Beastfolk who inherited the power of divine beasts possessed latent mana.

They awakened their unique abilities through that mana.

And—

“Each family possesses its own unique ability…”

My voice unconsciously grew quieter as I read the final sentence of the first chapter.

House Aymond’s inherited ability was mental magic.

According to the records, the first head of House Aymond had used that power to unite carnivorous and herbivorous beastfolk.

Father had desperately hoped that ability would awaken within me.

After all, my mother’s Laflen bloodline also carried prophetic powers.

And…

The first family head had also been a mutant like me.

Since ancient times, mutants had been said to possess extraordinary powers to match their unusual appearances.

Our ancestors called it the qualification of an heir.

One member of the deer clan had grown larger, stronger antlers.

A member of the tiger clan had possessed uniquely colored fur.

I belonged to the latter.

Perhaps because of that, Marquis Aymond had often sat me down as a child and drilled into me that I had to restore our family’s glory.

But by the age of fifteen…

I had awakened neither power nor ability.

And now, at eighteen, I can’t even transform into a human whenever I want…

Why…

Why was I always the one left behind?

Without realizing it, I crumpled the corner of the book.

Rustle.

A sound came from outside.

…Who’s there?

I perked up my ears.

The footsteps became clearer.

It was definitely someone walking on two legs.

My cabin lay hidden in the deepest part of Fire Bear Mountain.

Fire bears stood guard along every approach.

No one should have been able to get anywhere near it.

So who?

How?

Heart pounding, I pulled aside the old newspaper covering the window.

“…!”

A pair of glowing eyes stared back at me from the darkness.

The eyes of an apex predator.

Don’t tell me… they’ve come to capture me again?

I couldn’t tell whether the predator outside had been sent by the Imperial Family.

But the fear buried deep inside me was enough to turn me back into the frightened girl I had been three years ago.

Could I run again?

Leave Fire Bear Mountain…

Leave all my friends…

Disappear somewhere no one knew.

How much longer am I supposed to spend my life running away?

Fear and despair crashed over me until I couldn’t move.

No matter how hard I tried to stay calm, my body shook uncontrollably, and my breathing became ragged.

It felt as though I’d been dragged back to that cliff three years ago—

Back to the day I lost my mother.

Perhaps that was why.

Thump. Thump.

My heart pounded violently.

My vision blurred.

The book that had seemed normal only moments ago now appeared to grow larger and larger before my eyes.

“N-No…”

This was really bad.

I’d transformed back into a squirrel.

But I had no time to despair.

The mysterious intruder was steadily approaching my cabin.

At last…

The footsteps stopped right outside the window.

Then—

Crash!

Something smashed straight through the already cracked window, shattering the remaining glass.

That was the last thing I remembered.