“Me, Nine?”
Was that really Nine’s voice coming from his throat?
“I will give up on cats, meowwwww!”
Kazein jumped up, watching Nine stagger around like a drunk person, his eyes wide in shock.
He immediately turned his gaze to Selene.
Selene didn’t respond to his reaction.
She just smiled, clearly amused.
“Huhuhu…”
A genuine smile.
Selene didn’t stop Nine, who was starting to go wild.
Why should I stop such an entertaining spectacle?
Only Kazein, caught in the middle, reached out to Nine.
“Nine, are you okay… Ah!”
Thud.
Suddenly, a hairball shot out of Nine’s mouth and hit Kazein’s cheek before falling to the ground.
It didn’t hurt much, but Kazein, caught off guard by the unexpected situation, stumbled and fell on his backside.
Staring at Nine with a blank expression, Kazein was at a loss for words.
“You damn fools! What’s wrong with letting just one person be the protagonist! Orca’s panties are bear panties! Opanmu Opanmu!”
No one could make sense of the jumbled sentences, but it was clear that Nine was not in his right mind.
“Uh… uh…”
Kazein, now watching Nine start to dance bizarrely, turned his gaze back to Selene.
‘Shouldn’t we stop this?’
Even if it’s just a cat going crazy, isn’t a talking cat dangerous?
And a moment ago, a familiar name was mentioned…
“My, my underwear? What did you say?”
“…Ah.”
A sigh escaped Kazein’s lips.
Nine’s random outburst had drawn the attention of the person in question.
But Orca, as the eldest daughter of the orca family, remained composed.
“What on earth is going on here?”
“Huhu, little orca. Nine is currently lost in a dream!”
“A dream?”
Orca’s gaze turned to Nine, who was standing on two legs and shaking his body wildly.
What am I even supposed to say to this?
Orca was at a loss for words.
The scene before her was too surreal.
“Respected citizens! Our Pelisec Academy is safe! Everyone, please remain seated!”
“Haha…”
What kind of nonsense is that?
The mix of cat meows and human speech made it impossible to understand what was being said.
“…Could you explain what’s going on, senior?”
“Well… you see…”
“He’s undergoing a ritual to become a spirit beast.”
“A spirit beast…?”
Orca looked at Nine in surprise at Selene’s answer.
Nine was barking, “Woof! Woof woof!” as if he had forgotten his own species.
“…Do all spirit beasts have to go through this?”
“…I don’t know.”
Selene had conducted various experiments to create artificial spirit beasts, but she had never heard of them going wild like this during the process.
“RRRRRRRYYYEEEEEEEE!!”
“Should we just leave him like this?”
“Other than some embarrassing memories, there shouldn’t be any harm.”
With Selene, one of the foremost authorities on spirit beasts, confidently assuring them, Orca and Kazein found a spot to sit and watch.
There was nothing else they could do but watch Nine’s spirit beast evolution show until it ended.
“Uh, I’m Orca Linnaeus, senior.”
“I’m Kazein Mascarpone, junior.”
“You can speak casually.”
“Should I?”
The two, who had met a few times but never really talked, exchanged awkward greetings.
‘I never thought I’d see the rumored orca up close like this.’
‘This is the communication from ‘100 Ways to Make Friends’!’
A whole three sentences.
We exchanged three sentences!
Orca bit her lip to keep her twitching mouth still.
It would have been a strange sight for Kazein, but fortunately, all the attention in the area was taken by the crazy cat.
“A cat! I’m a cat!”
‘Is this really okay?’
Nine was holding his head with his front paws and doing backflips, a bizarre sight that made Kazein frown.
How is this even possible?
Even with his professional instincts, Kazein couldn’t find any common thread in Nine’s erratic behavior.
“Iluwait!”
…No matter how others reacted, the white cat was lost in his own world.
‘It’s about time.’
Will he gain a new companion?
Or will he break?
Either way, it wouldn’t be a loss for her, but she secretly hoped for the former.
After all, it had been hundreds of years since she’d encountered such an interesting being.
‘How much help he’ll be, I don’t know—but this is a service.’
Selene’s massive mouth opened, and with a lightning-fast movement, she swallowed Nine whole.
Ensuring no one noticed the faint scent of blood that began to seep out.
——————–
“Huh?”
You, Iluwait!
No, Arrivederci?
My head is spinning.
It feels like my brain is spinning wildly like a top.
Is this what it feels like to have a twisted brain?
I feel like throwing up, but nothing comes out.
Wait, where am I?
I looked around with my lighter body and lowered vision.
“…This is.”
The place where I was reborn.
A damp, cold alley.
The salty sea breeze mixed with the stench of garbage, creating an unpleasant odor in the narrow space between buildings.
But it was warmer and cozier than anywhere else.
Before I could even gather my thoughts, my body floated into the air.
No, this is…
“You little one. I told you it’s dangerous to wander around.”
A gentle voice.
Even without seeing or smelling, I knew who it was.
“Mom?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
As soon as the words ended, I was thrown to the ground.
But it didn’t hurt.
The ground was covered with fluffy white furballs.
“Where have you been?”
“Brother~”
“I’m hungry!”
“I’m sleepy…”
Ugh.
Even in my dreams, I have to have such a miserable one.
Surrounded by soft, fluffy fur, I clicked my tongue.
I don’t know why I’m having this dream, but I want to wake up soon.
I’m alive, and those guys are dead.
…NotI.
Am I dead too?
I’m confused.
I feel like I was supposed to do something, but I can’t remember.
Maybe it’s not so bad to just rest like this.
After all, I was born a cat.
What can I even do?
Lying in this comfortable hell, I close my eyes.
Maybe it’s not so bad to close my eyes like this.
Rather than struggling to survive in this complicated world, maybe it’s better to live without care and then die.
What can I do with a 30-gram walnut brain?
Even if I try to act like a protagonist, I’ll just end up as something neither here nor there.
Maybe it’s better to end my story here.
“Brother, what was it like outside?”
At the question from beside me, I turned my head to look at my sibling.
The one who followed me the most.
The youngest, who was especially pretty.
Her sparkling eyes looked at me.
How did you die again?
Were you trampled by a carriage?
Or bitten by a wild dog?
Or… were you abandoned by your owner?
“It was fun. I got to see the world beyond the window.”
“I want to see it too…”
“But I think this place is better.”
Damp, dirty, and smelly, but there’s no place as cozy as here.
“Why?”
The youngest pouted, not understanding.
I hesitated for a moment, then honestly shared my feelings.
“Everyone acts so stifling, there’s no one to lead, and now I have to do it?”
“But you always wanted to go.”
“…Well, I guess the fantasy shattered when I actually went.”
“Tch, boring.”
“Do you hate living here?”
“It’s stifling. I want to go out too. But I’m already done.”
“…Yeah.”
I remembered.
A rainy day.
You were lying at the end of the alley where we lived, soaked.
You hated getting wet more than anyone, always staying in our nest at the first drop of rain, yet there you were, drenched and collapsed in the alley.
I thought you were living well when that well-dressed child took you away.
“Brother, I want to hear more stories.”
“What story?”
“That… the thing humans wear on their feet… ah! The cat with the gloves!”
“They’re not gloves, they’re boots.”
“Right. Tell me that story one more time.”
“…Once upon a time…”
A fairy tale I can barely remember now.
As I pieced together the fragments, the story ended with “and they lived happily ever after.”
“Your stories are always fun.”
“Yeah, I’ll tell you as much as you want.”
“Enough. I’m bored now!”
“Little one?”
I looked at the youngest again.
She looked at me with her round eyes and approached.
Until there was no space left between us.
“Brother, come back later and tell me a new story.”
“No.”
“You still have eight lives left.”
A tiny paw pushed me away.
If that’s what you want.
“Fine, stop pushing. I’ll go on my own.”
I rolled over and stood on four legs.
Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the gates of Pelisec Academy.
Do I have to say something like the protagonists?
After a moment of thought, I stepped through the gates and uttered the words that came to mind.
“Fear me!”