“Ha, hawawa…”
You too.
At this point, I wonder if my very existence isn’t some kind of anomaly.
I tapped Alice’s head with my paw as she clutched her chest and collapsed the moment we met after several days.
I chewed on the shredded jerky she gave me, which was torn into smaller pieces than usual.
Even though I’ve shrunk, it’s only my body that’s smaller.
I haven’t turned into some adorable baby kitten or anything.
Are humans just naturally low on the threshold for cuteness?
Whatever.
“Alice, stop clutching your heart like it hurts and get up.”
“I-it really hurts… gasp…”
“Come on, we’re not having a proper conversation here.”
Should I grow bigger and squash her?
At my threatening gesture to get her to talk properly, Alice nodded vigorously.
“Being squished by Nine would feel nice, I think!”
“Go away.”
“P-please, just once?”
“No.”
“J-just once…”
She’s still young, but her face looks like she’s been through the wringer at some black company and finally found a glimmer of hope.
How did she end up like this?
“Stop talking nonsense and give me the food.”
“Not until you squish me—”
How did she end up like this?
I sighed and delivered a cat punch to Alice’s forehead.
Once.
Twice.
Three, four, five times!
…This is oddly addictive.
Should I hit her a few more times?
“Sniff…”
“Stop sniffling and give me the food. I’ll let you sit on my lap.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah, so hurry up and sit.”
At my words, Alice quickly sat down on the bench, clasping her hands to her chest and looking down at me.
Sigh, this is why raising kids is tough.
I climbed onto Alice’s lap and settled down.
“Food.”
“H-here you go…”
Jerky, huh.
Well, it’s convenient to carry and easy to feed to a cat, so I guess it makes sense.
It’s not like there’s a place around here that sells pet food.
If you want to give them something better, you’d have to make cat treats yourself, like Kazein does.
“It’s soft…”
“Alice, how’s school?”
“I-I don’t know… The other kids still don’t even notice me…”
As expected, just being a little famous doesn’t make you stand out.
It’s not something that could be resolved in Act 1 anyway.
…It’s about time for Act 2 to start.
Or has it already started?
Because Act 1 got so tangled, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact starting point, so it’s probably safe to say it’s already begun.
The problem is that Act 2 doesn’t have a shared route but rather different storylines for each character.
For example, Alice will explore the secret archives of the library.
Alice came to the academy to escape her family and study, but her real goal is to find the magical tome left behind by the founder of the Darkmoon family.
She’s holding onto the hope that the tome might contain a solution to her constitution.
So, Alice has to embark on a three-month journey to obtain the tome.
She’ll need to diligently perform her duties as a student to build up her credentials, earn money by exploring dungeons, and find clues to unlock the secret archives.
…It’s better for her growth if I don’t interfere, but looking at her current state, I’m not sure she can handle it alone.
Which means I’ll have to step in eventually…
But with the size-adjustment technique I learned a few days ago, it shouldn’t be too hard.
I can adjust my size from that of a kitten to something as big as a beast.
“Nine, what are you thinking about?”
“Just that I’ve got a ridiculous amount of work to do.”
“R-really?”
“I’ve been talking a lot with Orca and Irina.”
“Y-yeah… We’ve been having lunch together…”
“Speaking of which, you’re the only one who came to the garden.”
“They said they had things to do…”
Well.
It’s not like we have time to just laze around.
Midterms are coming up soon, and after that, there’s only two months until finals, so we need to study.
It’s not time to think about vacation yet.
For now, we should focus on solving the immediate problems.
“Alice. Bring Orca and Irina here for lunch tomorrow. No, actually, meet me in the forest.”
“The forest…?”
“Yeah, you know, the one in the corner.”
“Ah…”
Alice nodded as if she understood where I meant.
“Tell everyone to wait there. Actually, it might be a good idea to have lunch there. We can buy sandwiches from the cafeteria and have a picnic.”
I’ll have lunch there with Momo too.
Kazein will be here soon, so it’s better if I explain things in advance.
Hmm… What else is there?
“Nine! Where are you going now?”
“Well, I’ve got something to do tomorrow, so I need to go somewhere. You come with me.”
“Okay!”
She’s going to stick to me like gum anyway, so I might as well take her along.
The people meeting tomorrow are all cat lovers, so there’s no risk of Momo getting bullied.
“Ah, it’s already time… Nine, I’ll get going…”
“Alright, take care.”
I carefully placed myself on the grass and watched Alice disappear before curling up.
The sunlight felt nice, so I thought I’d take a nap.
“Is Nine sleeping?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll sleep with you…”
I felt Momo’s warm body snuggle into mine as I closed my eyes.
—————
Is this the third time I’ve been to this forest?
Even after becoming a spirit beast, my 30-gram walnut brain hasn’t improved much, so my memory’s a bit fuzzy.
“Nine! Look at that! It’s a bird I’ve never seen before!”
“Don’t climb the tree to catch it just because it’s interesting. It’s dangerous.”
“Okay!”
I wonder if this troublemaker will actually listen.
I occasionally checked to make sure Momo was following me as we ventured deeper into the forest.
The meeting spot was deep in the forest, near where Irina had set up camp.
Even though she’d been assigned a dorm room, Irina insisted on living here, saying it felt more familiar.
A place filled with the atmosphere of a girl’s daily life…
If I were human, my mind would probably be filled with all sorts of fantasies by now.
But unfortunately, I’m a cat.
Thinking like that about a human would just be plain weird.
Not that I feel any sexual desire toward humans anyway.
…Cats don’t really have much of a sex drive unless it’s mating season.
Wait, what happens to a spirit beast’s mating season?
I doubt asking other spirit beasts would help, since they’re all different species.
…Well, it’s not an issue right now, so I’ll let it slide.
“Nine! There’s a human over there!”
“Nine!”
“Over here!”
Ah, we’re here.
I saw a group of girls sitting on a large picnic blanket—big enough to comfortably seat five or six people.
Kazein, Orca, Alice, Irina.
Exactly four.
The girls who, whether by choice or circumstance, have formed a bond with me.
Saying it like that makes it sound like I’m the protagonist of a harem story, but really, it just means I’ve got four can openers.
“You’re right on time! Hi, Momo!”
Irina quickly scooped up Momo and hugged her.
Momo’s eyes widened in surprise as Irina suddenly hugged her, but she soon started purring as Irina scratched her chin.
“Ah…”
“You beat me to it.”
“Too bad…”
“What’s with those reactions.”
Why does it feel like they’re more excited to see Momo than me?
“But Nine isn’t as affectionate as Momo…”
“Momo’s so cute…”
“Y-yeah…”
I didn’t expect this.
It’s not like it’ll affect my business, but… it’s kind of annoying.
“I was planning to give you all a little service today, but…”
“N-nine, do you want to eat this?”
Oh, boiled chicken today?
I’ll eat it since you went through the trouble.
I devoured the boiled chicken Alice handed me.
Ah, delicious.
Meat is always better fresh than dried.
“Nine, there’s also fish jerky.”
Good, things are getting back to normal.
I ate all the food the group handed me and rolled around on the corner of the blanket.
The weather’s so nice, I’m getting sleepy.
I’ll just take a nap… or not.
I stretched, worried I might fall into a food coma, and announced to the group peacefully finishing their lunch.
“Ahem! The reason I called you all here today is because I have something important to say!”
“Something important…?”
“Nine, really?”
“What is it? Did you have kittens or something?”
Can you not phrase it like that?
At Irina’s words, the group looked at me with curious eyes.
“Stop talking nonsense. What I’m about to say isn’t something trivial.”
“Aw, why is that trivial? If Nine has kittens, we’ll get cute little baby cats!”
“Irina, please refrain from using such explicit words…”
“Want to get hit?”
“Ah, sorry sorry~”
Sigh.
“The reason I called you all here today is… because a very important decision was made at the spirit beast gathering.”
“Spirit beast… gathering? What’s that? I’ve never heard of such a thing! I’ve looked through all the pet food—”
“Kazein, calm down. I’m not done yet.”
“Sorry.”
Ahem.
“What? What’s going on? Don’t tell me—”
Irina’s face tensed up.
Did she figure something out?
Well, even if she did, it’s probably wrong, so it doesn’t matter.
“From now on, the ownership of this forest—”
I deliberately paused to gauge their reactions.
Since I brought up the ownership of the forest, Irina’s face showed rare tension.
“S-so what? What happened?”
“It’s mine!”
Let’s get started.
Act 2.