#412 The Cat Is Immortal

...There’s a cat.

Oh, sorry about that. It’s me, Kidan.

...Anyway, this cat.

On my way home after finishing farm work, I find it licking its hind legs on the wayside.

“That’s a cat, right?”

“Indeed, it is.”

I checked with Gobukichi accompanying me.

No doubt that’s a cat.

So cute.

“Pspspspsps...”

I can’t help but call out to a cat when I see one.

They would always look back in response to the sound. They have a keen sense for everything, I tell you.

I mustn’t approach it carelessly.

Stray cats are very cautious. First, I’ll extend my index finger toward the cat.

Surely, it’ll walk up to me and sniff my finger.

“It’s so cute.”

“Indeed, it is.”

Gobukichi also understands a cat’s charm. 

Once it gets used to the smell, the cat brushes its whiskers against my finger.

By smelling its own scent, it’s recognizing me as not a threat.

Putting such logic aside, seeing a cat rubbing its body against you is...

“Sooooooo cute!!!”

“Indeed, it issss!”

It was enough to take away my sanity!

This is how people have been fascinated by cats since B.C. times in my world!

“It’s the first time I’ve seen this cat, though. I wonder where it came from?”

“I wonder.”

This is quite puzzling.

If this cat lived around here, it would’ve been strange if we hadn’t encountered it earlier.

Even if it had come from somewhere else, it’s still a bit unlikely.

Walking from the farm to the nearest human settlement would take several months.

“Although that doesn’t mean it’s impossible...”

I myself trudged all those months to get here.

I was able to get here by eating herbs or fishing for food along the way.

I, a shabby modern man, managed to do it, so I don’t see why a cat can’t.

“But it unexpectedly still has a nice coat of fur, huh?”

I pick up the cat by its side.

It’s hard to believe this feline is a stray with how docile it is.

It has a shiny coat and doesn’t look emaciated. A beautiful cat with just the right amount of suppleness.

...Ah, and it’s a female.

“Could it be that someone brought her here?”

I agree with Gobukichi’s reasoning.

There has been a lot of coming and going after the expo and Orkubo’s Castle.

It’s likely that she got here by slipping through the waypoints after someone cast the spell.

“Or maybe one of the students brought her in secretly. They’re at that age of wanting to have a pet.”

“I’d rather they make do with Pochi and the others.”

If Gobukichi's prediction is correct, wouldn’t someone be causing an uproar over their lost pet by now?

Pets are like family, so to speak, and I understand the stress of losing them.

“There’s a high chance she’s a pet cat if she’s this affable. Let’s take her with us.”

“And let’s find out if anyone is keeping her secretly.”

We decided to take the cat home.

“My Lord. It must be hard for you to carry the farming tools and the cat at the same time. Allow me to help you.”

“You’re so thoughtful. Here, take my tools.”

“No, I meant the cat, My Lord.”

While competing with Gobukichi on who will carry the cat, she slips out of my grasp. 

“Ah!”

Seriously, cats are like liquids at times.

Wait, now’s not the time to be thinking that.

If the cat runs away somewhere, it will be hard to find her again!

Or so I thought...

The cat didn’t run anywhere; she just walked alongside us.

Ah, she’s so cute.

And the meows she makes get extended into a mreowowowow as she walks.

“SO CUTE...”

Gobukichi and I felt warm and fluffy till we reached home.

***

We have arrived.

The central room of the mansion in the middle of the farm is my sleeping quarters.

“We’re home.”

“Welcome home. Would you like to have a meal? Take a bath?” greets my wife, Platy.

Ever since Junior was born, she had to entrust her brewery work to another mermaid and stay at home, waiting for me.

As usual, she has come to greet me at the entrance with Junior in her arms.

“Hey, listen... Hm? What’s that?”

Even Platy can’t help but notice the strange creature purring beside me.

“It’s like a tiny version of Pochi. Oh? It’s coming toward me...” 

As soon as she sees Platy, the cat leaps at her instantaneously.

The cat then smells Platy all over the place. I can almost hear the sound of her sniffing.

“Wh-What’s going on? Has it taken a liking to me?”

This goes to show that no person ever feels weirded out by a cat getting attached to them.

Platy is a mermaid, so she’s a bit unfamiliar with terrestrial creatures.

I wonder if this is the first time she has seen a cat. 

But is it because she’s a mermaid that the cat is so fond of her?

Cats’ love of fish is so well-known that there’s even a song about a cat being chased with a fish in its mouth.

This cat enthusiastically sniffing Platy means...

“She can smell the sea on her?”

“She can smell the fish on her?”

Gobukichi and I shudder.

“Aww, this little one is so cute! What do you call this creature, Dear? And are we going to keep it?”

Platy was instantly captivated by the cat.

“Well, if she’s this friendly, someone probably owns her already. We’re looking for the cat’s owner right now.” 

For now, we’ll start with the students who seem the most suspicious.

With this in mind, I took the cat to the dorm and...

***

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh! A catttttttttt!!!”

“Catcatcatcatcatcatcatcat!!!”

“Kitty caaaaaaaaaaaat!!!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

The student’s mood lifted up all at once upon seeing the cat.

It’s like those scenarios when a stray dog wanders into the school premises.

Mostly, the girls surround the cat.

“I feel like this is stressing her out...”

However, no student whom we suspected owned this cat came forward. 

Nor did I get the feeling that they were being silent because they didn’t want to be scolded.

It seems this cat’s owner isn’t here.

Moreover...

“I think I’ve seen this cat before.”

“It came to our dorm multiple times, right?”

“We thought it was just a stray cat living around the area.”

It looks like this feline has been on our farm for quite some time, based on the students’ statements.

“Where did it come from, though?”

The cat’s mysterious background is starting to give everyone the heebie-jeebies.

“There you are.”

“Oh. Sensei?”

Sensei the Lifeless King is here.

But his gaze is not meant for us.

...Is he looking at the cat?

“I knew you’d come since I sensed your presence. But I hope you’ll at least say hello. You’re small and hard to find...”

“...What do you mean, Sensei? Actually, who are you talking to?”

“To the cat right there.”

“Huh?”

Sensei... have you perhaps gone senile?!

...No, there’s no way that’d happen to an immortal king like Sensei.

Maybe he’s the owner of this cat?

“I’d say I’m more of an acquaintance than her owner.”

“?”

“It’s hard to think otherwise, given her form right now; I understand that. In terms of longevity, knowledge, and magic, the Professor surpasses all of us Lifeless Kings,” says Sensei to the cat.

And the cat meows in affirmation.