My fur… the fur I’ve been diligently caring for three years…
“Nine, are you okay?”
“I don’t know… just forget it…”
Even though the patchy spots can be hidden because I have so much fur, this empty feeling won’t go away.
Is this love?
Is this…
“Nine?”
“Shut up. Can’t you see I’m upset right now?”
“Scary…”
Ignoring the brown fur curled up in the corner, I sank back into my thoughts.
Damn, I didn’t expect to fail like this.
I never thought I’d fail because of a strength control issue.
Was it really such a big deal for me to sit on his lap?
I’m not even a human, I’m a cat.
If a human had sat on him, he might have been okay with it, even if it meant getting a hole in his stomach or being stuck to the ceiling as an object, but I’m a cat.
Don’t people usually like it when a cat sits on them?
I never thought one of my signature moves would fail.
It probably won’t affect my business much, but it’s still disappointing that I couldn’t resolve Orca’s botch in one go.
I was hoping to create a big debt to make him agree to some unreasonable requests for future developments.
Oh well, I’ll just have to look for the next opportunity.
The ending of Academy Chronicles is three years later at the graduation ceremony.
There’s still plenty of time, and in terms of the game, we’re still in the very early stages.
Maybe I was too hasty.
The first episode ends about a month and a half after the semester starts, so I could have taken another week to prepare.
I thought I’d wrap it up quickly, but I didn’t expect it to end with my fur being pulled out.
When Orca comes back, I’ll use this as an excuse to get some food out of him.
This is a legitimate claim for damages.
If he refuses, he loses the right to pet me from now on!
Orca would never give that up, so the moment he comes back, I’ll make him pay dearly for pulling out my fur.
“Nine. Why, why are you like this? Why are you raising your paw… are you going to hit me?”
“I’m not hitting you.”
I just raised my paw instead of a fist as a gesture of determination.
And saying it like that makes it sound like I hit you all the time, doesn’t it?
“Did, did I do something wrong…?”
“No, I said no, right?”
“Really?”
“Do I look like a cat who would lie?”
…I’m kind of annoyed, should I just hit him once?
As I was seriously contemplating while looking down at my paw, a familiar voice reached my ears.
“Hello, kitty, you don’t seem to be in a good mood today?”
“…Meow.”
And there it was.
As always, I greeted the purple-haired girl who had brought me food.
Seeing my greeting, she seemed worried and crouched down in front of me, placing her hand on my head.
“Are you hurt somewhere?”
“Meow…”
How am I supposed to explain that I lost my fur while executing Orca’s plan to escape his loneliness?
It’s already a stretch to even speak human words.
Orca is tight-lipped and has no one to tell secrets to, so it’s fine, but this grad student whose face I can barely see even when I tilt my head all the way back is a no-go.
I don’t even know what kind of person she is.
She rambles on in front of me, but she doesn’t really reveal much about herself.
At most, she talks about whether the little elf professor, Ruen, is a kid or an adult, or the rumors circulating around the academy, or her poor financial situation…
She subtly avoided talking about herself, so I still don’t even know her name.
Well, it doesn’t affect my business, so it’s fine…
“…Kitty, why is your fur…”
“Meow…”
“Did someone bully you?”
She noticed.
The purple-haired girl looked at me with a cold gaze I’d never seen before and asked.
Her eyes looked like she’d throw the culprit in jail on the spot.
“How could someone do this…!”
“Meow.”
It was an unavoidable accident during business.
But I can’t defend myself with my own words, so I just nonchalantly licked my paw.
Even though half my body is fur, losing a chunk of it is noticeable.
I licked the angry purple-haired girl’s palm to calm her down as she glared at the patch.
“I’ll make sure to punish them!”
You’re just a grad student.
If it were a noble’s child, could you really punish them?
Although, this purple-haired grad student might also be the child of someone important… but given how she always complains about her food expenses, that seems unlikely.
In this pseudo-medieval world, nobles wouldn’t whine about such trivial things.
Even though I’m a cat and more relaxed, I know that much.
“But how do we find the culprit…?”
Forget the culprit, just give me the food.
When I tapped her cheek with my paw, the grad student handed me today’s ration as if she understood.
“I’m not sure if it’s to your taste.”
It doesn’t matter if it’s to my taste or not.
As long as it’s not poison, I’ll eat whatever I’m given.
I chewed and swallowed the jerky that had been soaked in water to make it easier to eat.
“Me too!”
“Haha, you can have some too.”
“Yummy!”
The jerky is tasty.
It’s a bit salty, but the water washes away some of the salt, making it bearable, and the fact that it’s meat gives it big points.
Not bad.
“I wish I could give you more, but…”
Her hand, filled with regret, stroked my head.
I chewed the jerky and looked up at the grad student.
Her face was complex.
“My wallet is barely hanging on… sorry.”
What’s there to be sorry about?
This is just charity, after all.
“Recently, some suspicious person showed up saying they’re interested in my research and offered to sponsor me… but anyway, I can’t use the research funds to buy your food…”
Ah.
Sponsorship.
It’s not appropriate to use sponsorship money for my food.
A normal cat would gobble it up without a second thought, but as a dignified and principled chimera, I can’t do that.
Besides, I don’t have to worry about food, so there’s no need.
“Once my research is done, I’ll have a lot of money, so I’ll bring you better food then. Or do you want to come with me? Once my research is complete, you’ll be able to live a long life without any illnesses.”
Sorry, but I’m not interested in being a house cat.
I deliberately yawned to show my lack of interest, and she smiled bitterly and withdrew her hand.
“…What am I even doing? I haven’t even succeeded yet.”
The self-deprecation that reached my ears.
It seems the life of a grad student is tough, whether here or there.
“Next time.”
“Kazein-senpai! The professor is calling you!”
“Got it! I’ll be right there! Kitty, I have to go. Take care, okay?”
“…Meow.”
Kazein?
It sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it.
I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere, maybe in a game or something, but I can’t remember.
What is it?
Did my 30g brain fabricate a memory?
No, my walnut-sized brain probably doesn’t have that kind of capacity…
I kept pondering over the name Kazein, but even as the sky turned crimson, I couldn’t recall its significance.
After Kazein left and some time passed, as if waiting for her to leave, Orca appeared and bowed his head to me.
“Nine, I’m sorry…”
It’s not like you’re the only one in the garden!
I glanced at the students whispering in the distance and then spoke.
“Don’t bow your head, people are staring.”
“But…”
“No buts. It was just an unfortunate accident, so there’s no need to feel guilty.”
I thought I was going to die from shock when my fur was pulled out, but I’m not the type to sulk over it.
Turning this into a business opportunity is the true way of a chimera.
“You know the terms of the deal, right?”
“I know. Even though I failed, it was my fault, so I’ll fulfill the agreement as is.”
My terms were simple.
Come every evening and provide food.
“So I prepared this for today… how is it?”
Orca carefully pulled out a small box from his pocket.
As soon as he opened the box, a faint scent of the sea wafted out.
Wow, you actually thought of getting this?
“I read in a book that cats like fish, so I brought this.”
“Smells delicious!”
Ugh, this glutton.
She came running as soon as she smelled something tasty.
I smacked the brown fur’s head with my paw and waited for Orca to open the box.
Orca smiled at my reaction and opened the box…
“Student, don’t feed the cats too much.”
Ugh.
“Ah, but…”
“This is a place where other students come and go. Bringing smelly food here will make the smell linger, so if you really want to feed them, take them home and raise them.”
A fair point.
Orca’s poor social skills meant he couldn’t argue against such a reasonable statement, so he reluctantly closed the lid.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s getting late, so head back. Even a young orca needs to sleep at night.”
His words carried an undeniable authority.
If I were a normal human, my heart would be pounding and I’d be running away in a panic.
But knowing his true identity, and Orca, who’s good at everything except making friends, we weren’t intimidated.
After Orca left, naturally, his attention turned to us.
His expression was stoic.
A scar running across his face, and a lifeless left eye.
The only eye that held any light scanned me and the brown fur.
As if looking at troublesome objects.
“You two have been causing quite a stir in the garden since you arrived… I’ve been watching until now, but it’s about time…”
He trailed off and reached out toward me.
Then, as if there was an invisible wall, he stopped his hand, turned his back, and muttered.
“I must be getting senile.”
He walked toward the gardener’s hut, his back to the crimson sky.
Without ever looking back.
I stared at his retreating figure until he disappeared behind the hut.