CH 19

Good morning everyone…It’s already night, so I should say good evening.

Let’s start over…Good evening everyone, this is the cat you’ve all come to know and love.

It’s been two days since I stole the cargo from the demons.

Since that day, the demons seem to be in a flurry of activity, and they are gathering near the exits of the town and walking around with scary faces…

This town…Oh yeah, I heard that this town’s name is Kulga. The biggest house in the town…which was the small castle where they were trying to take the cargo…seems to be particularly noisy. The gates are closed, and even going in and out is done through a small gap in the gate…

I’m pretty sure all the commotion is because I stole their cargo, isn’t it?

Apparently, the demon tribe is desperate to find the culprit, or rather me, no matter what, but judging from how many times I’ve been spotted around town and in front of the mansion and ignored, it seems they don’t actually realize that a cat is the one who did it.

The people in the town are either happy or tilt their heads saying, “The demons are no longer involved more than necessary,” and it seems to create a lot of confusion among the humans. Considering how bad it was before, the air does seem a bit brighter.

I don’t really know what it was like before this, but intuition tells me that it was rough for them.

“Heh heh heh, husband, you made good profits again today.”

I glance to the side with a slightly disgusted expression on my face, and there is a black cat with a slight paunch walking around with a “my partner” look on his face.

Yes, this is the boss cat I beat up.

Well, to be more precise, he’s the “former” boss cat…

After I beat him up in front of the other cats two days ago, I became the current boss cat of this town.

…Just for my honor though. I didn’t want to be the top cat, and I’m not convinced that I’m the boss. It’s just that it’s a rule in animal society that the person who topples the leader becomes the next leader, so I’m just following the rules.

But, I’ll say that the life of a beast without the hassle of dealing with humans is pretty comfortable.

Age, status, money, friendship and human society as a whole are all cumbersome. In contrast, animal society is simple and straightforward.

The only rule is that the strongest is best, no matter how small they are.

Even if they say boss, it’s mostly just a title. I don’t have anything special that I have to do. If I have to list something, I’d say that I threaten and scare off dogs and cats that are bothering people. Oh, and if someone is dying of lack of food, I’ll share it with them…We don’t have that much food either though, but I heard that demon meat is fine for dogs and cats.

No, the demon meat itself is fine for everyone. According to the information in the Collection Box, humans also eat it.

The problem is the condition of the meat that I put in the Collection Box.

…It’s completely covered with blood…

I know why. It’s because I used the Collection Box to automatically sort that demon.

Apparently, the automatic sorting of materials forced the demon’s fur and claws to be removed, and when I took out the meat, I was horrified by the warm blood pouring out of it.

All of the animals seem to be fine with it and just continue munching…ignoring that it was a bit mushy…okay, a lot mushy…Thanks to that, I don’t have to worry about food for them, though.

So, I’m living the boss cat life like that…I’m not sure why, but…for some reason the previous boss cat keeps calling me his partner(?).[1] It’s a little depressing that the former boss cat, a big black cat, comes with me everywhere I go like a minion or maybe my first protégé(?). However, when he leaves, the other cats start screaming, “Boss!” “Boss!” “Boss!” “Boss!”, so I have no choice but to drag him around with me.

“That’s right. There are no incidents and the town is peaceful.”

The two of us trotted through the streets at night, headed for bed.

For the time being, my bed is the open back alley of the former boss’s room. It’s the same no matter where you sleep, but it’s mentally reassuring to say you have a fixed place to sleep.

“Oh, by the way, partner, I heard that the cat on the east side is trying to kill you. Are you okay with that?”

“No…I’m not worried about…”

“You’re right, partner! No matter what kind of bastard comes, you’ll be able to take him down, won’t you?”

No, I’m not.

I’m not the least bit attached to being a boss cat, so if someone wants to take it, be my guest.

As the two of us walked along, a figure hurried past us.

…? I don’t know what that was, but I’m curious.

It’s not that the people are disappearing from the streets yet, and it’s not that they’re wearing something strange or have weird behavior, but…the mood is…urgent?

I told the black cat, “Go home.” first and followed the figure down the street.

It’s too dark to make out a face, but it’s probably a man. He’s tall and his head is slightly perky. His hair is slightly curly like chili peppers…The way he walks is kind of flawless too. He looks like a warrior, soldier or something like that.

I follow him as he exits onto East Street.

When I come to a small restaurant at the corner of the street, I make slight movements to see inside.

The fire is already out and the restaurant is pitch black, so it’s closed for business.

…I’m not sure why, but I suddenly become vigilant. No, I’ve always been cautious, but I guess I normally try not to show it.

After a short period of wariness, I knock on the gate.

There is no answer.

I knock twice.

No answer.

I knock again, twice.

I hear the gate unlock with a clang and slip in through the slight opening.

Now, what should I do…? It’s possible to invade the store if I want to, but if someone were to ask me if there is a reason to go that far to chase him, I wouldn’t have one.

…You know what?…Something is bugging me about this…

It can’t be helped.

As a modern Japanese man, I’m very reluctant to break into a person’s house, but…well, I’m a cat now.

Cat’s do sneak into people’s homes. In my parents’ house, if the window is left open, some cat will be relaxing in the living room before you know it.

I look around for a place that I can use to break in and find the skylight slightly open. I’m not sure if they forgot to close it or if it’s just a little broken.

With a gap like that, there’s no need to worry about a person getting in, but…I’m definitely going to get in through there.

Let’s…go!

I jump to the window frame below it, catch the ledge with my feet and stretch, jumping as far as I can.

I slip into the store through the skylight.

I’m getting better at my cat-like movements, aren’t I? After receiving that strong physical enhancement from the carriage, I’m feeling really good about my condition.

I’ve been secretly practicing triangle jumps up walls. No, it isn’t pretty, but I could probably market it as a ninja dog technique instead of a ninja cat.

I don’t have time to think about that right now. Before I go to look for the shadow person that I was talking about…I’m trespassing. I’ll have to use [Concealment] to block out any sign of myself. It’s not like they’ll just laugh and say, “It’s fine because it’s a cat.”

I land on the table, then hop to the floor and look around.

It is almost completely void of light, but my eyes are accustomed to the darkness and cats are good at seeing at night, so I don’t really have to worry about it.

The smell of leftover food wafts around the restaurant making me hungry…

It smells so good. I wonder if I would be blessed with a little something if I came during business hours? I’ll come back next time…Oh no, I’m totally thinking like a cat…But what can I really do? I don’t have the option of paying for it myself.

No, this is seriously not the time to be thinking with my stomach.

He’s not in the seating area…

I head towards the kitchen, paying attention to the sound of footsteps.

He’s not in there either.

Only the second floor is left. Just as I am about to head up the stairs, I feel something strange and stop in my tracks.

These floorboards are misaligned…?

The grain of the floorboards doesn’t match, and there’s an unnatural break in the grain here.

Also, when I push them with my weight, I can see that they are lifting up a little.

Could it be?

I send my vision under the floor with [Bird’s Eye]. There’s a staircase there, and I can see lights at the bottom.

This is a secret basement…

I guess there’s a good story behind this.

I’m not going to be a full on gossip reporter searching for people’s secrets, but I’m curious, so I’ll be quick.