Chapter 51: Spiritual Gathering (1)

“Nine, you’re banned from the dungeon starting today!”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“What’s with that reaction?”

“Then I just won’t go in.”

It’s not like I absolutely need to level up in the dungeon, after all.

This time, I only went in to protect Alice’s mental state, so I don’t really plan on going back to the dungeon anyway.

“Got anything else to say? I need to go meet Selene.”

“No! Stay a bit longer! I haven’t finished touching you yet!”

“Am I your doll or something?”

Can’t you act your age for once?

I lifted my front paw and repeatedly tapped it on my stomach, feeling an unpleasant sensation.

I want to hit her, but she holds grudges, so I can’t just go ahead and do it.

Besides, she’s helped me a lot… I’m not an ungrateful jerk, so I decided to forgive her with a generous heart.

“Ow!”

“Is my stomach your toy?”

Of course, my front paw doesn’t know the word “forgiveness,” so this was inevitable.

“Ah, you’re so mean—”

“Professor, cats don’t like having their stomachs poked.”

“But how can I resist when I see that belly!”

“Just hold back a little.”

“Haha…”

Kazein, what are you laughing at?

I jumped out of Ruyen’s arms and landed on Kazein’s desk.

Kazein’s desk was, as usual, cluttered with all sorts of documents and books borrowed from the library.

“How’s the research going?”

“Hmm… so-so?”

Kazein’s hand naturally stroked my back. 

I obediently accepted his touch.

He’s my number one can opener, after all. 

No one else touches me as respectfully as Kazein does.

Can openers number 2, 3, and 4 are always trying to hug, pet, and rub their faces against me whenever they get the chance…

“Let’s get back to work. How’s the dungeon situation?”

“Hmm~ No major issues! I guess the wild spirit entering was the variable!”

“Then can I go now?”

“Can’t you stay a bit longer?”

“I have things to discuss with Selene.”

“I know a lot about magic stones too~”

I ignored Ruyen’s whining, took the jerky Kazein handed me, and stood by the door.

“See you later.”

“If you don’t come, I’ll find you!”

Now even Ruyen is showing up in the garden?

I seriously need to consider moving.

If Ruyen comes, my can openers won’t be able to approach me freely.

With a magical dementia girl around, who’s going to come over and give me treats?

Someone who only gets in the way of my business is worse than a rock on the side of the road.

Whether she knew my thoughts or not, Ruyen shouted again.

“See you later!”

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“Oh my, you brought something interesting? Is it a gift?”

“No, it’s mine.”

“There’s no need to be so cold between us, is there?”

What do you mean “between us”… but she has helped me a lot.

I set down the bundle Kazein had made for me and sat at a distance from Selene.

“It’s not something you’d like anyway.”

“Hoho, such chaotic magic isn’t really my taste. But more importantly…”

Her cold eyes turned toward me.

An instinctual urge to flee from the intense killing intent.

But even as I felt my fur bristling, I didn’t move.

“How did you become such a boring child…”

“I’ve always been like this.”

“So, you want to eat this?”

“Is it hard to grow my magic with this?”

“It’s not impossible. The efficiency might be low, but… chaotic magic is as dangerous as it gets. Especially when you’re still weak, you need to be careful.”

The efficiency is bad.

But if I can absorb even half of it, that’s better than nothing.

“Still better than nothing, right?”

“Greedy, aren’t you?”

“You have to be to survive.”

If you’re not greedy, you’ll soon be found as a starved corpse.

Especially for a cat like me, who’s at the bottom of the food chain.

So, I have no intention of sharing my portion unless it’s worth giving up.

Momo, well, the brown fur… what can I say…

She’s my subordinate.

But you have to take care of your subordinates.

You know what’s the biggest reason why those who live recklessly fall?

It’s because they treat their subordinates poorly and get betrayed.

So, if you’ve taken someone as a subordinate, you have to treat them well.

Share food, fulfill some of their requests, and so on.

Anyway, yeah.

“Each of these is a debt. How do you plan to repay it later?”

“Well, I’ll just give you one big gift later.”

I know something this snake would like.

I’ll find it and bring it later.

“Oh my, I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Then I’ll eat this now?”

I unwrapped the bundle and put the magic stone in my mouth.

Crunch.

Normally, it would be too big to swallow in one bite, but strangely, as soon as the magic stone entered my mouth, it melted like cotton candy.

Ugh, it tastes terrible!

Like half-rotten fish?

I suppressed the urge to vomit and firmly closed my mouth.

If I didn’t, it felt like I’d spew breath from my mouth.

“Focus. Take your time consuming it…”

The foreign magic entering my body.

It’s a small amount compared to the magic I already have, but even a drop of soy sauce changes the color of a cup of water.

I carefully began converting the magic stone’s energy into my own.

It’s not something I learned.

Just following the instincts of a spirit beast.

…Whew.

My body feels heavy.

I stretched, feeling the increased magic within me.

“Oh my, if you keep growing like this, you might turn into a tiger.”

“A tiger? Please.”

I might take up an entire bench now.

Is there no way to shrink?

“Is there no way to get smaller?”

“That’s your homework.”

Homework, huh.

Well, it’s not like I can expect Selene to spoon-feed me everything.

As time goes on, I’ll have more things to handle on my own, so relying too much on Selene isn’t good.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

“Alright. Next time, bring an interesting story or two. Oh, and…”

And?

“There’s a gathering tomorrow night.”

A gathering?

That’s unexpected.

“Okay… got it. But is it okay for me to come?”

“You’re part of this place now, aren’t you?”

“Ah, I see. Then I’ll see you there.”

A gathering, huh.

I’ll get to experience something that was only mentioned in quests in the game.

I got up, feeling my heavier body, and headed to the garden.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – 

“Nine…?”

“Why the reaction?”

“It’s Nine… but you’ve gotten bigger?”

Momo, who was sniffing me, looked up at me in surprise.

“Yeah.”

Momo, who had been rubbing against me with a happy face, looked at me in shock.

“Did your fur grow longer?”

“No, my body just got bigger.”

“Did you eat something tasty without me?”

“No.”

“I want to grow bigger too!”

“Being bigger isn’t all that great.”

A weak animal getting bigger doesn’t change the hierarchy.

“But if I get bigger, I can go around with Nine!”

“…No, you’re better off as you are.”

“Why?”

“Being bigger means you stand out more. For cats like us, being small is an advantage.”

I’m a spirit beast, so it’s different, but Momo isn’t.

Couldn’t Momo become a spirit beast too? 

But realistically, that’s hard.

You can’t just become a spirit beast because you want to.

You need talent, qualifications, and all that stuff.

I feel like I became one through a shortcut, so I’m not exactly a full-fledged spirit beast.

“And if you get bigger, humans will be scared of you.”

“I don’t want that!”

Why are you shouting?

“Alright, let’s just sleep. I’m tired.”

I lay down on the bench, curling up… but it’s uncomfortable.

My body has grown to the point where I could take on a large dog, and the bench feels too small.

Guess I need to find a new resting spot.

I looked around, searching for a suitable place.

Somewhere shaded, not in the way, and with enough space to lie down.

…That spot over there should work.

“Hey, you can have the bench to yourself.”

“…Where will Nine sleep?”

“I’ll sleep over there.”

Under a tree a little distance from the bench.

The tree, now lush with spring greenery, provided enough shade for a comfortable nap.

“I want to sleep with you!”

“Do as you please.”

I’m giving up the premium spot, so if you don’t like it, that’s your problem.

I went to the spot under the tree and curled up.

Then Momo jumped into my arms and curled up too.

Being bigger has its perks.

“Nine, good night…”

“Yeah, you too…”