The old gardener is slowly starting to take action.
A dark night.
I sat in front of the usual bench, scratching my neck with my hind leg, lost in thought.
The gardener, who had been barely acknowledging us for the past few days, was starting to show some interest in us.
You might say, “What’s the big deal about him showing interest?” But it wasn’t something to brush off so easily.
After all, the most prestigious academy on the continent didn’t have ordinary gardeners.
Just look at his appearance, for starters.
What kind of old man has a face that rivals a seasoned warrior?
His face was so full of stories that just one conversation with him in the demo version would make anyone think he was an NPC with a deep backstory.
“Nine, what should we do?”
“What do you mean, what should we do? We need to negotiate.”
“Negotiate?”
“Just do as I say. But first, let me ask you. Have you ever caused any trouble?”
“Trouble?”
Does he not understand what “trouble” means?
I kindly explained it to him.
“Have you ever scratched trees or benches with your claws? Dug up the ground? Pooped anywhere?”
“No! I did everything you told me, Nine! I only scratched the wooden block you gave me, didn’t dig the ground, and only pooped outside!”
“Good job.”
There’s no way this guy would dare lie to my face, so it’s probably true.
Otherwise, he’d get a beating from me.
“Really?”
“Don’t push your luck just because you did well.”
And stop looking at me with those shiny eyes.
It’s making me uncomfortable.
Ignoring the brown fur staring at me like a needy puppy, I continued to recall information about the gardener in my head.
His name was… Barristan.
I don’t know his last name.
In the game, he was only introduced as Gardener Barristan, with no mention of a surname.
Well, that part isn’t important…
The most notable thing about him was that he was a hidden boss who would appear if you started deliberately damaging the garden.
He’s ridiculously strong.
Even with a fully leveled Orca, you could get knocked out in one hit.
But if you win, you get penalized for attacking an old man, and if you lose, you’re forced to clean the garden as punishment for messing it up.
Because of this unique trait, he was quite well-known among the many NPCs in the Academy Chronicles.
Of course, the chances of him showing his hidden boss side to us were low.
It would be ridiculous for him to use his strength on cats.
We hadn’t caused any trouble, after all.
The reason he gave us a warning after a few days was probably because the food he brought started to smell bad.
It would have been better if we had just kept ignoring each other.
Unfortunately, we had managed to upset the old man, so it was time to start negotiating.
Negotiation, not negotiation.
When necessary, we solve things through negotiation.
That’s business, right?
Of course, if we had done some groundwork beforehand, this wouldn’t have happened… but unfortunately, he was a difficult person to prepare for.
He was on vacation, and he generally didn’t care about cats.
Or rather, he tried not to care.
So, starting tonight, we’ll begin our negotiations.
The kind of negotiations only someone who knows the original story can make.
“Hey, do you know how to catch mice?”
“I, I can catch mice!”
“Really?”
Looking at how clumsy he is, I don’t trust him much.
When I stared at him, signaling him to tell the truth, the brown fur shouted at me, sounding wronged.
“I really can catch them!”
“Good, that’s a relief.”
I’m too lazy to catch them myself.
“But why mice?”
“We need to catch a mouse.”
“But aren’t there no mice in the academy? I’ve never seen one.”
“Not here, but there are plenty in the garbage dump.”
There are so many mice hiding in the garbage dump.
Even with so many cats around, you can still spot mice if you look carefully.
“Go catch one right now. We’ll give it as a gift.”
“A mouse? Don’t humans hate mice?”
The brown fur tilted his head at my words.
“Usually, yes… but just catch one.”
It’s too much trouble to explain the whole story to him.
Even if I did, he probably wouldn’t understand.
There’s too much for his 30g brain to process.
“Okay! I’ll catch a big one!”
The brown fur dashed off into the distance with nimble movements.
…I hope he doesn’t get lost and can’t find his way back.
Although I was a little worried about the brown fur, I saw him off and curled up on the bench.
Occasionally glancing at the gardener’s hut in the corner.
‘If you don’t chase us away, we’ll settle here for good.’
Barristan stroked his beard as he looked out the window at the white cat.
His face was clouded with complex emotions, unable to hide his troubled thoughts.
‘It’s been months since I last saw one…’
It’s not uncommon for cats to visit the garden.
In the ten years since he became a gardener at his friend’s request.
While living a precarious life, barely making ends meet, tending to the garden, he had seen his fair share of cats.
“Let’s see how long these ones last.”
It’s not easy for cats to survive in the academy.
Not just because he might chase them away, but because there’s no food in the garden.
The food the students give isn’t enough to sustain them.
Most stray cats aren’t in a state where students would willingly approach them.
The cats he remembered were mostly like that.
Their tongues couldn’t reach everywhere, so their fur was matted and dirty.
Their noses were discolored, and their movements were weak, as if they were sick.
Their necks were stiff.
They had been mistreated by humans and had come to reject them.
Such cats couldn’t last long in a garden with no food.
They either died from illness, old age, or…
Were eaten by predators.
There were quite a few predators within the academy that preyed on cats.
Until last autumn, when the cats disappeared, dealing with the remains of what used to be cats with an indifferent face was one of his main tasks.
But the cats that appeared after months of absence laughed at his expectations by surviving for a whole week.
And they were doing so quite comfortably.
Watching them devour the food the students gave and lounging around lazily was a bizarre sight for him.
On the other hand, it was also a nostalgic sight.
‘That one used to eat what we gave him too.’
Though it looked much worse… it still reminded him of the past.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve been reminded of the old days.’
He tried to forget his nostalgia by taking a sip of his cure-all.
The hot liquid flowed down his throat.
The alcohol stimulated his liver, warming his body.
“Sigh…”
His breath, filled with regret, fogged up the window.
“I should stop thinking useless thoughts and just sleep. I have a lot to do tomorrow…”
They’ll disappear on their own if I leave them be.
Turning his back, he finished the bottle of alcohol on the table and lay down on the bed, closing his eyes.
“Nine! I caught one!”
“Good job.”
I looked down at the rat the brown fur had placed in front of me.
It seemed he hadn’t killed it in one go, as there were claw and bite marks all over the rat.
Blood was flowing, and its guts were slightly visible through the torn wounds.
It was a sight that would make anyone scream if they saw it.
“Go wash up at the fountain.”
“D-do I really have to wash?”
Even with that disgusted look on your face, my orders won’t change.
“If you don’t wash, you’ll get kicked out? If you don’t want to whine on the roof, go wash up quickly.”
The smell of the garbage dump is so strong it’s making my nose rot.
Cleanliness is one of the most important things in the business of stray cats, and you’re throwing it away?
Do I have to dunk you in the fountain myself to make you listen?
When I raised my front paw, the brown fur dropped the rat and dashed toward the fountain.
Do I really have to raise my paw every time?
Sometimes I think about chasing him away, but having someone to boss around is useful, so I’ll keep him for now.
He’s driven by his cat instincts, but he listens to me pretty well.
Anyway, he brought the rat as I asked, so let’s get to work.
I picked up the rat’s corpse with my mouth and raised my head.
Ugh, it’s disgusting.
After eating so much good food, even rats taste bad now.
But they used to be my number one source of food when I was hungry.
Alright.
Let’s finish this quickly so I can go for a walk or get more sleep.
I carried the limp rat and headed to the corner of the garden.