CH 16

After waiting a while, we arrived at the mansion…

Oh no…what should I do? This is a pretty serious development isn’t it?

My heart is pounding so hard that I am worried about my health. No, if it goes on like this, I’ll be in direct combat with those monsters, right?

That’s how it’s going to go. Yeah, that’s right. That’s probably what I should do anyway.

This is God’s will, isn’t it?

Yes, that has to be it? There’s no way to get out of this anymore.

A stern-looking demon is standing in front of the house. It’s probably a guard, but…there are no human guards like there are at the entrance of town. This is an important place for the demons…isn’t it?

The stern-looking demon came onto the carriage.

He’s here! Someone with a scary face is in here! Oh, that’s not a person, it’s a demon.

While I’m thinking that, he opens the wooden box with the armor in it and checks inside.

Shiiiiit!

Under the cloth-wrapped gauntlet, the kitten’s small body is curled up in a tight ball with [Concealment] activated to eliminate any sign of his presence.

Please don’t let them find me, please don’t let them find me, please don’t let them find me…!!

I make a serious prayer. After all, my life is at stake.

The lid of the crate I’m hiding in is opened.

I close my eyes and clench my teeth tightly to keep my body from trembling.

Don’t let them notice…don’t let them realize…cut down my presence to the bare minimum—Keep avoiding the enemy’s perception—!!

“The skill level of [Concealment Lv.1] has been increased to [Concealment Lv.2].”

My skill level has increased somehow, but I can’t afford to worry about that right now.

The weight I feel when activating [Concealment] also seems to have increased slightly, but that doesn’t matter right now either. I’m not sure if it’s because the demon peeking into the crate is shifting the cloth to check the gauntlets and greaves, but he needs to get the hell away from me…!!

It only lasted a few seconds.

The only thing that matters is that the demon opens the lid and checks what’s inside.

Those few seconds were so long that it felt like an eternity to me.

I can’t help but feel my heart pounding against my chest.

“Okay, no problem.”

A voice came down from above me, the cloth was carefully placed back on the lid and the lid was closed. The crate is once again filled with darkness.

…Was I hidden well enough…?

Stern-face gets off the carriage and walks towards the coachman who was sitting in the coachman’s stand. It seems the escorts also have something to talk about, so they are all called to gather around the two men.

There’s no one behind the carriage anymore!!

Chance!

As the old men say, “Opportunity and chance are very good friends”.

I collect the loaded cargo all together with the wooden box—it takes two seconds.

“[Crate Lv.8]

Category: Material

Size: Medium

Rarity: F

Quantity: 3/30”

“[Cloth Lv.10]

Category: Material

Size: Medium

Rarity: F

Quantity: 3/30”

“Bonus to physical abilities has been added due to the collection of new items (Effect: Minor)”

Ooh, lucky break.

Eh, this is not the time to be talking about it, I need to just get my ass out of here.

While watching the outside with [Bird’s Eye], I turn on [Concealment] to erase my presence and get out of the carriage.

Then, I make a wild dash to the nearby plants!!

Even when running, I have to carefully keep in the demon’s blind spot behind the carriage.

I dive into a bush!

With the momentum of the dive, I roll around in the dirt to obscure myself more.

How’d I do? Did they notice? They haven’t noticed me, have they?

After the demons finished talking, they pulled the carriage into the grounds without checking in the cart.

“Mii!”

Whew…The greatest escape of the century succeeded!

I lost my strength and flopped down on the ground.

Oh, I was so nervous…or rather, it was so hard…I don’t want to do something like this again if I can help it.

Now that we’ve arrived in town, let’s aim for a peaceful and relaxed cat life, shall we? No, what’s a peaceful cat life anyway?

Owners?

Is it a life of munching and purring under someone’s care? That might be nice.

As a former human, I’m not comfortable with the idea of being kept by someone, but in exchange, I don’t have to work, food comes automatically, and I don’t have to do anything dangerous.

Huh? Isn’t that a great idea? Isn’t that the best idea? Think of it as being a live-in companion, and you can accept the fact that you’re being kept.

Okay, okay, okay.

But the place that I’m kept will also be important. If I’m picked up by a poor family that can’t even afford food for the day, I might end up taking care of the food too. I don’t want to be rich, but I want a place where I can at least eat properly. A warm place to sleep, rare items and a pretty girl would be even better.

No, but wait? Humans in this world are treated like slaves of the demons, aren’t they? They wouldn’t be able to keep a cat would they? Would the demons keep me?…I can only see a future where I’m going to be killed after some brutal animal cruelty if I go to them…

Hmm…I wonder if I could live carefree as a stray…

I get back on my feet with a regained spirit.

It’s about dawn…I’m tired from waking up at an odd hour of the night and being on edge for the whole trip. I need to take a nap somewhere, but I can’t.

I’ve made it to town, and if I can’t find a decent place to sleep…well, I can at least find a place more comfortable than a tree.

I walk along the road paved with stones.

It’s hard underfoot…To be honest, it’s much easier to walk on dirt. It reminded me of cats walking on asphalt in my original world, and I remember how hard it was.

It didn’t bother me that much in the forest, but as soon as I got to this town, I was reminded of how small I am.

My gaze is low.

Everything I see is so big.

It takes a tremendous number of steps to walk past a single house.

I thought I’d completely accepted it, but the fact that I’m a kitten makes me feel a bit defeated…

“Mya mii”

I shouldn’t be depressed right now. Depression time is over!

I cheerfully start walking again on my little journey to find a place to sleep…and just as I do, something comes whizzing out from behind the street.

Out of habit, for a moment, I thought “Monster?” But there isn’t anything like that walking around in the town, and what appears in front of me now, is a dog.

A skinny, scrawny dog.

Its fur, blackened by the mud and dust, had hardened and clung to its body as it absorbed rain and body fluids. His eyes are lifeless and he’s drooling for his prey, just wanting to be free from the pain of starvation.

For a moment, it is giving off such dangerous vibes that I really thought it was a monster of some kind.

As soon as he spots me, he starts drooling.

…Am I being targeted? I’m not just targeted by demons and monsters, but also hungry dogs?

While I was wondering whether I should run away or just get rid of it, the dog attacked me—!

I was startled, but…

—Slow

It’s a laughable situation, too.

It’s not that the dog’s movements are bad. In spite of its skinny body, the supple, flexible muscle function of the beast isn’t compromised.

It’s spirit was pushing its body’s physical capabilities to the limit…maybe! It was a wonderful run.

But—it feels so weak and dull to me.

My cat body has been enhanced by continuously collecting items. Physical ability is not just about simple power and speed. It’s also about enhanced sensory capabilities, reflexes, dynamic vision and so on…

I think that it’s especially significant that I got moderate and major physical enhancements in the carriage. There is a clear difference in the lightness of my body and the accuracy in which I can pick up sounds and smells before and after the carriage ride.

Feeling a little bewildered by the changes in my body, I focused my attention on the dog coming at me.

If I shoot a stone, I can defeat it as a counterattack. I feel like it’ll be too powerful and mess up the dog’s face. If I’m not careful, I could even kill it with a single blow.

Although he was aiming for my life, this dog is probably just hungry and can’t stop.

Unlike monsters, I still feel a sense of reluctance to kill a familiar animal.

That’s why.

I lowered my stance and stepped on my left, front leg. Then—

—Cat Punch (Strong)!!

I avoid the dog’s claws that come at me, then slam my right front leg into the dog’s nose in a counter.

“Myaa!!!!”

It was a cat punch that I imagined would do enough damage to make the dog go “Ouch…”, but instead it made a heavy gurgling sound and the dog’s head was blown off to the side as if I’d hit it with a baseball bat.

Blood drained out of the dog as it rolled around on the ground with a gasp sound, spraying blood from its nose and mouth.

Ehhhh!?

I thought cat punches were supposed to be more adorable…?

Even if I say my physical abilities are improving, I’m still just a kitten!?

The dog staggers to his feet, takes one look at me with frightened eyes, then I silently watch him run away with an unstable gait.

Well…that was too unexpected. I’m sorry, dog.