“So this is why they say you follow your friends to Gangnam,” I thought to myself.
I gazed down at the city from atop the fortress walls, reminiscing about the port that was as familiar to me as my hometown.
“Of course, it’s on a completely different level from the port tucked away in the corner of the continent,” I mused.
In games, you could just click a warp point and instantly travel to the other end, but this was reality.
It seemed impossible to reach the opposite side even if I walked all day.Â
“So, the academy is ridiculously far,” I concluded.
“It might take two days to get there. Maybe I should have taken the carriage a bit longer?”
Of course, I had gotten off earlier on purpose because I had something to do first…
But how far could I really go with my cat-like steps?
There was also the risk of getting into fights with other cats along the way.
Cats, being territorial animals, are extremely aggressive and hate it when other cats intrude on their turf.
I might have to fight a dozen times before reaching the academy.
Sure, I could try to talk it out, but cats are notoriously sensitive about their territory, so it wouldn’t be easy.
I once tried to persuade a cat as a reincarnated being, only to get swatted and chased away.
Still, this place was one of the wealthiest neighborhoods on the continent, so maybe the cats here would be a bit more generous.
After all, they say wealth breeds generosity.
Or maybe it would be even more cutthroat than the port.
The port was a place where fish rotted in abundance.
If you were good at acting cute, you could easily get fish every day.
Even a kitten could survive on its own if it was clever.
Most cats would let you be as long as you didn’t step on their territory.
But cats from other regions were unnecessarily sensitive and aggressive, leading to many fights…
In the end, I was the one who survived, so I guess I can call it a memory now.
Finishing my reminiscence, I stretched and got up. It was time to move.
The soldiers patrolling the fortress walls were already eyeing me, so it was better to get going before they caught me.
“Shall I head down then?” I thought.
I descended the fortress stairs and jumped onto a nearby roof.
Since I was a cat, not a human, there was no need to stick to the paths people walked.
In fact, it was dangerous for a cat to walk on the sidewalk.
Think about it. This wasn’t the 21st century Earth where animals were generally left alone.
This was a fantasy world filled with rough characters who lived by the sword.
Would there really be no humans who would kick a cat just because it annoyed them?
There were plenty.
A significant portion of cat deaths in this world were due to being kicked, thrown, or eaten by humans.Â
Especially slow cats that went to the slums in search of food often ended up as nothing but fur and bones a few days later.
Surviving as a cat wasn’t easy.
If I hadn’t been a reincarnated being, I might have followed my siblings and gone through a second reincarnation.
Or maybe it would have been the end.
Shaking off the dark thoughts, I moved across the endless red rooftops, occasionally checking the alleys between them.
There were always narrow paths between roofs, and cats often settled in such places.
Cats love tight spaces.
My own nest was in a narrow crevice that could hardly be called an alley.
In any case, these alleys between roofs were perfect for observing the movements of cats.
Three cats.
Two cats.
Four cats.
Hmm.
As I watched the cats sleeping or eating in the gaps between roofs, I felt a gaze and stopped.
A lone cat on the roof was glaring at me.
I had expected to run into other cats at some point, but this was sooner than I thought.
“Should I try talking to it?” I wondered.
As I opened my mouth to speak, a brown-furred cat with a wound on its side bared its teeth and hissed, “Hey, this is my territory. Get lost!”
“I’m just passing through,” I said.
“T-then give me something to eat!” the brown cat demanded, its face filled with fear.
It looked like it was ready to fight if I got any closer, but given its injuries, it didn’t seem much of a threat.
“No,” I replied.
“T-then die!”
Ugh, these kittens are so unnecessarily fierce.
The cat lunged at me with a hiss, springing forward.
It was agile, as cats are, but its movements seemed clumsy to me.
It felt like an overconfident amateur trying to pick a fight.
Sigh.
I sighed and unsheathed my claws.
—————-
“Sorry! I surrender! Spare me!”
The cat cried after I thoroughly beat it and pinned its head to the ground.
It was pathetically weak for picking a fight.
Honestly, I was disappointed.
This is why city cats are no good.
If you live in a place where you can easily become a soccer ball, you learn to bow your head and know your place.
“Open your eyes. You haven’t been hit enough,” I said.
One, two, three, four!
I mercilessly smacked the insolent cat’s head with my paw.
The fur dulled the impact, but seeing the once-hissing cat cower and become docile was satisfying.
“P-please spare me…” it begged.
“If you want to live, tell me everything you know. Anything about the power dynamics in this city,” I demanded.
Cats aren’t pack animals, but they have the intelligence to form groups when necessary.
To survive in the wild, sometimes you have to band together.Â
So, if cats were forming groups, it meant there was a power struggle among the city’s cats.
If I didn’t figure out how the territories were divided before entering the academy, things could get messy.
I might not even set foot in the academy before being chased out by street cat cartels. To prevent that, I needed information.
“The big house! They’re fighting over the big house! One-Eye and Blackie!” the cat blurted out.
“The big house? You mean that one?” I asked.
“Yes!”
Since it couldn’t understand the word “academy,” it called it the big house.
At least I got the information that the cats were fighting over the academy’s interests.
That meant there were two groups standing in the way of my becoming a fat cat.
If I didn’t deal with them, I’d never achieve a comfortable life.
The problem was how to drive them out.
I’d think about that after gathering more information.
“But what are you doing here?” I asked.
“…I was kicked out because I was weak,” it admitted.
“You should’ve fought harder,” I said.
In a group competition, numbers matter, so if you’re careful, they might let you in.
“But… the leader of my group was killed by Blackie. If Blackie sees me again, he’ll kill me,” the cat explained.
What a mess.
So originally, there were three groups, and one was absorbed by Blackie.
“What about One-Eye?” I asked.
“One-Eye’s group attacked us too when we were running away.”
They must have really annoyed them.
In a three-way battle, the third party often prolongs the fight, so you either have to win them over or eliminate them.
“I see… I get the general situation,” I said.
“I-I told you everything, so let me go…” it pleaded.
Hmm.
It did help a bit, so maybe I should let it go.
There was no reason to kill it.
I finally lifted my paw from its head.
The cat slowly got up, crouched, and watched me cautiously.
It was kind of annoying.
“Ow! Why did you hit me…?” it whined.
“Just because,” I said.
“C-can I go now?” it asked, its tail completely down as it looked at me with wide eyes.
I’m not a cat mom, so why is it looking at me like that?
“Where are you going?” I asked.
Do I look like a cat that would let go of a catch?
“Do you know where One-Eye and Blackie are?” I asked.
“N-no, I don’t…” it stammered.
Useless.
I waved my paw to shoo it away.
The cat finally brightened up and started to leave.
But then it came back.
“What? Why are you back?” I asked.
“I… I have nowhere to go…” it said.
“There are places everywhere in the world,” I replied.
“But if Blackie or One-Eye find me, they’ll tear me apart…” it said.
“Then stay here,” I said.
I needed to figure out how to become the ultimate fat cat.
Preferably without any losses.
“C-can you take me with you?” it asked.
“I’m not your mom,” I said.
“I-I’ll find my own food!” it promised.
Sure, it looked like it hadn’t eaten properly in a while.
“…Ugh. Fine. Follow me. I’ll feed you until you’re full,” I said.
“R-really?” it asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
Time to share some life hacks.
“I’ll follow you even if I die!” it declared.
Do whatever you want.
I started walking, whether it followed or not, to find today’s meal.