The clear morning sunlight streamed into the dining hall on the first floor of an inn in Dietum, a frontier town of the Kingdom of Rosetta.

Before I knew it, I had turned three years old.

With the memories of my previous life and the adorable face I’d inherited from my parents, I had already become the inn’s famous little mascot.

The small play area in the corner of the dining hall that my parents had built when I was one was long gone.

These days, my usual spot was beside the front counter.

Greeting guests, handling simple check-ins, and taking orders in the dining hall had become my official duties.

“Welcome!”

“Are you staying the night?”

“Or would you like a meal?”

Well…

I guess stumbling over my words every now and then couldn’t be helped.

Whenever I greeted people with a smile, almost everyone softened their expression.

Even the adventurers preparing to leave at dawn couldn’t resist.

“Good mooorning!”

The moment I cheerfully greeted them, their stern expressions melted into silly grins.

With the golden hair I’d inherited from my innkeeper parents and my especially striking sapphire-blue eyes, my cuteness stood out so much that many regular customers now stopped by just to see me.

“Celia, you’ve grown so much!”

“Here, this is a hair ornament that’s popular in the royal capital.”

“The flower design is adorable, don’t you think?”

“Wow, thank you!”

“It’s so pretty!”

“Does it look good on me?”

After accepting the gift from one of our regular merchant customers, I held the ornament against my hair.

“It suits you perfectly.”

“Celia, you’re really adorable.”

“I’ll have Mommy put it on for me later!”

“Big Brother, do your best at work!”

“Have a safe trip!”

The merchant was probably in his forties.

But ever since I started calling him “Big Brother,” he brought me souvenirs every time he visited.

I supposed that was the wisdom of adults.

Of course, nobody realized that was exactly what I was thinking.

As the inn’s little mascot, I spent my days charming everyone while secretly appraising their belongings.

[Lady Celia, your current Appraisal Skill is Level 4.

Over the past two years, you have appraised an enormous number of items.]

After helping prepare breakfast, I sat on a stool behind the counter watching my parents work when Navi spoke to me.

‘Level 4 already…’

‘I reached Level 4 about six months ago, so things have been going well.’

‘But I still need two more levels before I can learn Camouflage.’

‘And the Ceremony of Appraisal is only three years away.’

‘I’m starting to feel a little anxious.’

The Camouflage skill was absolutely essential if I wanted to keep my identity as a reincarnated person a secret.

[The experience required to raise Appraisal to Level 5 increases dramatically.

To level efficiently, you will need to appraise Rank B or higher weapons, accessories, and rare plants.

The items brought into the inn by guests contain too few Rank B or higher objects, making your current training increasingly inefficient.]

I couldn’t agree more with Navi.

Our guests did include Rank A through Rank C adventurers, so I occasionally had opportunities to appraise high-ranked equipment.

However, the overwhelming majority of items were simply Rank C to Rank E everyday goods and ordinary weapons.

‘So I really need to appraise Rank B or higher items…’

‘I’ve reached the limit of what I can do just by staying inside the inn.’

‘I guess it’s time to ask Mom and Dad if I can start going outside on my own.’

I had begun thinking about asking my parents for permission to play outside the inn so I could create more opportunities to use Appraisal.

Just then, the inn’s front door opened, and the atmosphere inside the dining hall instantly became tense.

A party of four adventurers wearing matching cloaks entered the inn.

“Hey, look!”

“Isn’t that the emblem of an A-Rank party?”

“It’s my first time seeing one!”

While A-Rank adventurers occasionally passed through Dietum, an actual A-Rank party almost never stayed at a frontier inn like ours.

Because of that, even the adventurers and merchants already eating breakfast couldn’t help watching them nervously.

Every piece of equipment they carried looked to be at least Rank B.

My urge to appraise everything they owned grew stronger by the second.

“Welcome!”

“Would you like something to eat?”

As I greeted them with my usual smile, the man who appeared to be their leader smiled gently in return.

“Yes.”

“We’d like meals, and we’ll be staying for about two nights.”

“Meals are served on the first floor.”

“Would each of you like your own room?”

When I stumbled over my words, someone behind the leader quietly chuckled.

“We’ll take four single rooms.”

“Certainly!”

“Each single room costs six silver coins per night.”

“Four rooms for two nights comes to forty-eight silver coins, which is four small gold coins and eight silver coins.”

“Breakfast is included, so you can eat downstairs.”

Ah…

I stumbled again…

Feeling embarrassed, I noticed none of them had replied.

All four adventurers were staring at me with wide eyes.

‘Huh?’

‘Why are they looking at me like that?’

‘Don’t tell me they think I’m just too cute?’

[Lady Celia is certainly adorable.

However, I believe that is not the reason.]

‘Navi…’

“You’re amazing.”

“You’re only two or three years old, right?”

“You speak so well.”

“And your calculations are incredibly fast.”

‘Thanks for not mentioning that I stumbled…’

‘So they were surprised by my mental math.’

“I’ve memorized it because I do this every day.”

In this world, ten silver coins were worth one small gold coin.

Judging by Earth’s standards, one silver coin was probably worth around one thousand yen.

With memories from my previous life, calculations like this were second nature to me.

The adventurer placed five small gold coins on the counter.

I accepted them, immediately set four room keys on the counter, and returned two silver coins in change without hesitation.

“So you really calculated it yourself.”

“That’s impressive.”

“Keep the change as a tip for our clever little mascot.”

‘As expected of an A-Rank adventurer!’

‘A two-silver-coin tip!’

“Thank you, Big Brother!”

I rewarded him with my biggest smile.

After taking their keys, the party headed straight for the dining hall instead of going upstairs.

The moment they removed their cloaks before sitting down—

‘Huh?’

‘N-No way!!’

One of the men looked almost completely human…

Except for the pair of fluffy animal ears on top of his head.

‘Aaaah!!’

‘I want to touch them!!’

‘I want to see his tail too!’

Female beastfolk had stayed at the inn a few times before.

But this was my first time seeing a male beastman.

While I stood at the counter internally freaking out over his fluffy ears, the other adventurers in the inn suddenly became noisy.

“Wait…”

“Isn’t that Land Edge?”

“The Land Edge?”

“I heard they usually stay in the royal capital.”

“What are they doing all the way out here?”

‘As expected.’

‘An A-Rank party really is famous.’

As I looked over at them, the man I’d checked in raised his hand toward me.

“Little lady!”

“Coming!”

I hurried over to their table.

“Can we order?”

“We’ll have three lunch sets and one grilled orc steak.”

“Three lunch seths and one grilled orc steak.”

‘Grr…’

‘I stumbled again…’

I turned toward the kitchen and shouted loudly to Dad.

“Three lunch seths and one grilled orc steak!”

The entire inn suddenly fell silent.

“So adorable.”

“Celia is the highlight of our day.”

“I’m tempted to order another one just to hear her say it again.”

I could hear people whispering.

When I turned around, one of the women from the Land Edge party was beckoning me over.

“Big Sis, would you like to order something else?”

“Kyaaaaa!!”

“She’s too cute!!”

“I can’t take it anymore!!”

Before I knew it, she had pulled me into a tight hug, and I was nearly buried beneath her enormous chest.

“Heeelp…”

I squeaked pitifully.

A hand gently reached over from the side and lifted me free.

“Hey.”

“You’re going to crush her.”

“My apologies, little miss.”

I turned toward the voice.

Standing there was the beastman.

“…!”

His fluffy gray ears stood proudly upright, and his sharp gray eyes made him look incredibly cool.

Seeing me freeze with wide eyes, he seemed to think he’d frightened me and wore an awkward expression.

“You’re so handsome.”

The words slipped out before I realized it.

“Handsome…?”

Well…

There was no point denying it now.

I nodded enthusiastically.

“You’re very handsome!”

“Your ears are wonderful too!”

I was so excited that I stumbled over nearly every word.

“Hahaha!”

“Good for you, Lloyd!”

“She called you handsome!”

The party leader burst into laughter.

So the beastman’s name was Lloyd.

“Lloyd Big Brother…”

“Can I touch your ears?”

The warm atmosphere in the dining hall instantly became tense.

[Lady Celia, touching a beastman’s ears is considered a marriage proposal.]

Navi’s voice carried an unmistakable sense of urgency.

“I’m sorry.”

“A beastman’s ears are very precious.”

“Only their partner is allowed to touch them.”

Learning that I couldn’t touch those fluffy ears was heartbreaking.

But I refused to give up.

“Then…”

“Will you marry me?”

“Hahahahaha!”

“I can’t take this anymore!”

“She’s way too adorable!”

“Congratulations, Lloyd!”

“You’ve got yourself a cute little fiancée!”

“Aww…”

“I wanted to win her over first!”

“Lloyd, that’s not fair!”

Lloyd gently set me back down on the floor.

Then the adventurer who had checked in earlier spoke to me.

“You really are adorable.”

“I’m Kai, leader of Land Edge.”

“Nice to meet you.”

He had brown hair, green eyes, and a bright smile that made him incredibly handsome.

“I’m Celia!”

This time I managed to say my name without stumbling.

I couldn’t help looking a little proud of myself.

“She’s absolutely adorable.”

“I’m Laura.”

“Usually Kai is the one attracting all the ladies.”

“But today we got to see something much more entertaining.”

The woman named Laura, who had hugged me, had bright red hair, crimson eyes, an incredibly large chest, and wore rather revealing clothes.

“Sorry for all the commotion.”

“I’m Liz.”

The woman who had quietly watched everything until now had platinum-blonde hair, green eyes, and a tall, graceful figure.

She was stunningly beautiful.

“Huh?”

“Big Sis Liz, your ears are different from mine.”

Looking more closely, I noticed her ears were slightly pointed.

“Oh?”

“So this is your first time meeting an elf, Celia?”

“An elf!?”

‘Wow!’

‘It’s my first time seeing one!’

‘She’s so beautiful!’

“It’s my first time!”

“Your eyes are so pretty.”

“And your ears are beautiful too!”

Liz blushed slightly.

“Thank you.”

“My name is Lloyd.”

Lloyd introduced himself with only those few words, though he still looked a little flustered.

“Lloyd Big Brother…”

“Will you marry me?”

Still unwilling to give up on touching those fluffy ears, I tilted my head as I asked again.

“I have a feeling your father standing behind you is going to kill me.”

“Huh?”

“Papa?”

When I turned around, I found my father glaring at Lloyd from the kitchen with terrifying intensity.

“Celiaaa!”

“You’re far too young to be talking about marriage!!”

The entire dining hall erupted with laughter.