Chapter 25

"Of course not, Detective, you can't just suspect people without reason. But that damned cat."

The man inside gritted his teeth as if the cat had eaten all his possessions, his expression twisted:

"Get that cat out of here, I will never take care of any orange cat again."

"Alright, where is the cat?"

Shade asked. He didn't particularly like cats, but for the generous fee, he wouldn't mind carrying a cat through the streets.

"It's on the roof."

The man pointed upwards, his expression of anger intensifying:

"Ever since that detective brought it here, the cat hasn't let anyone touch it easily. It has scratched my wife and Miss Cindy at least twice. It won't eat cheap cat food and keeps bullying the other pets here. I've been running this place for years, and I've never seen such an aggressive half-year-old kitten. It must be up there sunbathing! Get it out of here, I can't take it anymore."

Shade pretended not to hear the man's complaints, stepping back slightly from the door, then looked up at the three-story building:

"How am I supposed to climb to the roof?"

"There's a ladder in the yard that can be used to climb from the first floor to the roof. I'm not going up; I never want to see that cat again!"

Shade certainly didn't want to climb so high; he took safety very seriously. Just as he was about to try to persuade the middle-aged man with the big nose, the latter handed him a one-shilling note:

"Detective Hamilton gave me one shilling and ten pence to take care of it for two months. Now, I'm giving you this one shilling back. Get it out of here! Don't let that cat show up in this alley again!"

His voice was almost hysterical, causing the children playing in the street and the woman hanging clothes from the opposite building to look over.

It was hard to imagine how much psychological damage that orange cat had caused him.

Following the middle-aged man through the house, they arrived in the backyard, which was filled with empty pet cages. The middle-aged man held the metal ladder, and Shade carefully climbed up to the roof.

The roof was piled with all sorts of garbage and debris. It was unclear how these things had been transported up here, given that the only access was via the ladder. In the southeast corner of the roof, the only relatively clean spot, Shade saw the cat lying lazily on a metal pipe, basking in the morning sun.

It was indeed a young kitten, its body so soft it seemed to be a puddle of water lying on the pipe. Its size was small, even somewhat thin. Its fur glowed slightly in the sunlight filtering through the mist, a sign of good health.

However, it looked more like a white cat wrapped in a warm orange blanket. Only when the cat stood up did Shade realize that the almost blinding orange-yellow color was indeed the cat's fur.

The cat stood on a metal pipe discarded on the roof, one end of which was propped up on a broken sofa cushion, making its position slightly higher than the surrounding items.

It stood up, facing away from the morning sun, its amber eyes looking at Shade, warily examining the stranger. Shade had no experience dealing with such animals and was somewhat worried about the orange cat pouncing, especially after the middle-aged man's words.

But this orange cat, like its owner, named "Mia," didn't seem very aggressive. It was observing Shade, and Shade knew he was being observed. He tried to appear friendly, constantly reminding himself of the cat's value:

"I'll take you to see your owner, Miss Mia Sang Gold."

He found a place to stand among the debris, crouched slightly, and clapped his hands, forcing a smile. As expected, this suspicious gesture did not elicit a response from the cat.

"Miss Mia Gold."

The first time, he used the most standard "Northern Kingdom Common Tongue," also known as Delarion. This time, he used a sentence with a local Tobask accent, a skill he had learned over the past two days:

"I'll take you to see your owner, Miss Mia Gold."

The orange cat's small ears twitched, and it lifted its right front paw to lick it, then put it down and continued to look at Shade intently.

Shade pursed his lips, looked around, and confirmed that there were no taller buildings nearby. He then extended his right index finger:

"Look."

A silver light shone on his index finger, and the orange cat's amber eyes immediately widened. It opened its mouth slightly, standing on the rusty metal pipe, its whiskers trembling as it leaned forward to look at the light:

"Miss Mia Gold."

Shade continued, slowly approaching the orange cat. He slowly extended his left hand, suppressing his worry about "wild animals," and gently picked it up with one hand.

The orange cat wasn't heavy, at least not now.

The cat continued to look at Shade's right finger, but after the light faded, it didn't try to escape from Shade's arms. It leaned against Shade's chest, using its small paws to play with the finger that had glowed, seemingly very interested in the "new toy."

"Very good."

The detective finally breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, and prepared to leave. The young orange cat, Mia, only wriggled slightly but did not struggle excessively.

"Not aggressive at all, even quite well-behaved. It seems I'm also good at making other animals like me."

Shade thought happily. Then he noticed something lying under the pipe where the cat had been lying. He picked it up with his right hand while holding the cat, and saw that it was an old box of Rod cards.

To use Rod cards, a complete set of 54 cards is required. If there are special cards, they can be replaced based on suit and number, as all Rod cards have the same back pattern.

The box in front of him was not a special set of Rod cards, similar to the one used by the three men in the tavern. The card faces were extremely simple, and a box could be bought for a few pence.

Seeing that it wasn't anything important, he put it in his pocket. Then, with one hand holding the cat, he carefully climbed down the ladder and returned to the yard.

The middle-aged man with the big nose almost cried in front of Shade when he saw him really taking the cat away.

Leaving the Purple Iris Alley, Shade didn't wander around with someone else's cat but headed straight for Miss Gold's house. During the journey, the young orange cat, Mia, only made a "purr" sound at the beginning and kept using its paws to play with Shade's sleeves and chest, but did not try to escape from his arms.

Since Miss Gold was willing to pay such a high price to find her cat, she must not be poor. She lived in a quiet residential area in the south of the city, "Sandru Street," where each household had its own small garden, and the gates were marked with their respective nameplates.