Leif: Hey, Thorn . . . what’s going to happen to you when Tiernan . . . dies? Will you lose part of your soul?

Thorn: No, nothing like that!

Soulbonds don’t damage or diminish a human’s soul. What they do is strengthen the soulbonded animal.

We still don’t know if animals can reincarnate in general, right? But in soulbond cases, they do. As long as the human is still alive, then after the animal dies . . .

. . . the bond will transfer. To a newly-born animal, usually not far away. Then all you have to do is — almost literally — follow your heart.

(If there are complications, you can ask the nearest magical girl for help.)

If there’s an owner, usually they see how happy the animal is to be reunited with you, and they’ll give it to you for free. In cases where they don’t . . . like, a couple decades ago there was this lawsuit over an expensive purebred, where the breeders still wanted full price for it . . . The Ceannic NHS covers that now.

Leif: Could she come back as a completely different species?

Thorn: No. Just like how humans can’t reincarnate as Tamaputians. Tiernan will only ever come back as a cat.

Tiernan (thinking): And thank goodness for that.