“Ah…”
The sensation of the soft, snow-white fur beneath her touch was plush and smooth, as if it had been carefully groomed by someone.
The warmth and softness of the fur.
As a noble, I had touched clothes made of silk and animal hides, but this was a texture I had never felt before.
Something I could touch all night long.
I even wanted to pull it into an embrace, but Orca held back that urge.
I had heard that cats disliked being held.
This cat might be different, but she didn’t want to waste her rare opportunity on an uncertain possibility.
“Meow.”
“Does it feel good?”
How long had it been since I last touched an animal?
Five years?
Ten years?
The only thing she knew for certain was that it had been so long ago that it felt like a distant past.
Orca’s gaze grew hazy, as if shrouded in mist.
Because I wasn’t looking at the present, but the past.
[ I want to touch it too… ]
The bloodline of the Linnaeus family.
A naturally violent and sharp temperament.
Whenever she reached out her hand, animals would recoil in fear.
Big or small, that fact never changed.
It was something she no longer cared much about, but as a child, it had wounded her deeply.
The servants had given her dolls as a substitute, as if to console her, but a doll could never replace an animal.
Something alive and something lifeless.
That gap was one even a god could not bridge.
The bloodline of the Linnaeus family.
A naturally violent and sharp temperament.
Whenever she reached out her hand, animals would recoil in fear.
Big or small, that fact never changed.
It was something she no longer cared much about, but as a child, it had wounded her deeply.
The servants had given her dolls as a substitute, as if to console her, but a doll could never replace an animal.
Something alive and something lifeless.
That gap was one even a god could not bridge.
So by nature, she should have been wary, but the eldest daughter of the Linnaeus family—of all people—of a mere cat?
Did she really need to be wary of such a fragile creature, one she could crush with a single squeeze of its tiny head?
Having justified herself, Orca abandoned her principles.
“You’re not running away?”
Her voice was much softer than when she addressed her subordinates.
Yet, she couldn’t completely mask her natural disposition, so her voice carried the chill of the night sea.
However, the mysterious cat seemed utterly unconcerned and calmly responded to her words.
“Meow.”
At the adorable cry, the corners of her lips, which had remained still, trembled slightly.
Then, as if to invite more petting, the cat rubbed its body against the tip of her boot.
Feeling pleased, her touches grew bolder.
At first, she had only scratched under its chin, but now her fingers moved up to stroke its head, then down in a single sweep from crown to tail.
The unknown white cat, rather than shying away from her increasingly assertive touch, instead tilted its head slightly and closed its eyes, as if to say, “Go ahead.”
How long had she been petting it like that?
The cat, as if it had had enough, got up, circled around her feet once, and then leaped onto the carriage.
“Ah…”
I wanted to touch it more.
The unspoken desire sank to the bottom of her chest.
“…Since it keeps getting on the carriage, I suppose there will be another chance.”
It wasn’t heading into the woods where the camp was being set up but instead had leapt onto the roof of the carriage—meaning, at least until they arrived at the academy, she would have more opportunities.
With a faint sense of expectation, Orca stepped into the carriage.
…………………
If there was one thing she had learned since being reincarnated as a cat, it was that as long as a cat maintained cleanliness and behaved well, there were few reasons for people to dislike it.
Especially during the kitten phase, when cuteness was practically a lethal weapon.
The problem was, that sometimes led to being kidnapped and turned into a house cat.
Of course, being a house cat wasn’t necessarily bad.
But house cats had to stay inside.
This wasn’t 21st-century Korea, where cats had plenty of things to play with, nor was there a dedicated veterinary clinic.
They were treated more like livestock for catching mice.
In other words, being a house cat didn’t necessarily mean living a better life.
Sure, he could always escape through an open window or door, but if he had to go through that hassle, he might as well just live as a stray cat.
As long as a stray cat had a steady food source, no one cared whether he danced on two legs or slapped another cat in the face.
I didn’t set my sights on being a stray tiger for no reason.
A stray tiger is the perfect combination of the strengths of both stray and house cats.
There are plenty of people who feed them, they don’t get bothered as long as they tolerate some annoyance, and they can come and go from the academy as they please.
There may be guards preventing people from entering, but there aren’t many who would bother stopping a cat from jumping over the wall.
Of course, I can’t say for sure that no guards will try to chase me away, but that’s a problem easily solved by increasing the number of can openers.
The can openers will take care of the guards themselves.
Especially since this is the Pellisek Academy, attended by nobles and royalty.
No matter how hard the guards try to kick me out, the moment one of those high-ranking kids shouts, “Gah!” they’ll have no choice but to tuck their tails and run like scared dogs.
Anyway, the reason I’m working on Orca right now is to make my stray tiger lifestyle more comfortable.
If it’s Orca—rich, strong, and secretly soft-hearted—he’ll surely become my devoted can opener.
So until we reach the academy, I’ll slowly work on raising his affection.
If I rush things, it’ll backfire.
“…Hello.”
Snapping out of my thoughts, I turned around and looked up at Orca.
A face full of regret.
A cat was being affectionate with him for the first time, but it disappeared before he could even pet it enough. No wonder he looked so disappointed.
But for the sake of playing hard to get—the essential skill of a stray tiger—I had to retreat now.
If I got too close, I’d get kidnapped and turned into a house cat.
“Meow.”
Since I couldn’t speak human language, I let out a normal cat’s cry before slipping away behind the carriage, out of Orca’s sight.
“Miss?”
“Amy.”
“That’s a strange cat. Approaching Orca like that…”
Hearing the distant conversation, I climbed onto the carriage roof and curled up.
There was nothing to do during the day anyway, so I might as well sleep.
The tutorial wouldn’t start for a while.
I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
………………………..
On the fourth day of the journey.
Or was it the fifth?
With nothing but eating, sleeping, and doing my business, my sense of time had gotten all fuzzy.
Especially since things had been so peaceful.
If I remember correctly, there should be a tutorial event around this time—a raid to introduce the game’s mechanics.
When exactly—
The sudden shriek of a horse shattered the calm, and my vision tilted abruptly.
Startled by the unexpected situation, the horses reared up, and soon after, eerie laughter echoed from all around.
Peeking over the roof of the carriage, I glanced in the direction of the voices.
“Captain! It’s goblins!”
“What? Goblins? In a place like this?”
Oh, so it’s finally starting.
The tutorial event that teaches players how to control their character—
A goblin raid.
At last, Academy Chronicle’s original story was truly beginning.
Honestly, I was worried things wouldn’t follow the source material, but thankfully, it was just my imagination.
If things keep going smoothly like this, I can enjoy myself, get my dopamine fix, and live comfortably.
As long as things don’t go off track and lead to a bad ending.
“There are about forty of them, Captain!”
“Everyone, gather around the carriages! We must protect Sir Orca at all costs!”
“I’ll take care of them. You all stand guard.”
“But, Sir Orca—”
“This is the most efficient way.”
His firm response left no room for argument, and the captain reluctantly stepped back.
“…Understood, Sir Orca.”
Finally.
Orca drew his sword.
A longsword adorned with intricate decorations.
At around 160 cm tall, the sword seemed a bit long for him, but with his physical ability surpassing that of most adult men, it didn’t matter in the slightest.
As the knights moved aside, the goblin horde came into full view.
Ugly creatures wielding crude weapons, charging toward the group.
There were more of them than in the game, but that was to be expected—this was reality, after all.
Not that it mattered.
Orca wasn’t the type to lose just because of numbers.
If it were any other protagonist, maybe, but Orca’s base stats were already the strongest.
“I needed a warm-up… and forty should be just right.”
With a voice as sharp as his sword, Orca kicked off the ground.