“Meow, meow, meow…”
(I’m so thirsty…)
The cat trudged along the edge of the Divine Road. Each step felt like its paws were weighed down with lead.
“Meow…”
(I never thought… There’s been plenty of food along the way, but I forgot about water…)
The cat had filled its belly before setting out, and the girl had even given it some dried fish while they were riding in the carriage. But it hadn’t occurred to the cat that it might have to walk all this way. On top of that, the dried fish had been far too salty. Now it felt like it was about to dehydrate.
“Meow…”
(I can’t go on, meow…)
The Divine Road was flat and safe all the way along, but there wasn’t a source of water anywhere nearby. Leaving the road to look for water would be extremely dangerous for a weak little creature like the cat. It didn’t dare take that chance.
At last, utterly exhausted, the cat collapsed beside one of the lamps on the Divine Road. It weakly raised its eyes toward the seemingly endless road, then fell unconscious.
………………………………………………
“Search this whole area carefully. If you don’t find anything, we’ll keep moving!”
“Yes, sir!”
Itefeil was now leading two members of the search party out from the Divine Road, one on each side, to search the surrounding area. They followed the standard search procedure: each person took three-foot steps, carefully controlling their movements and checking the ground around each step. Each step let them search about thirty feet in a chosen direction. They walked ten steps straight ahead, then thirty steps to the side, then turned and walked ten steps back toward the Divine Road. That let them search an area of about three hundred square feet fairly thoroughly. Itefeil would personally check the gaps they left behind.
By now, the three of them were quite a distance from the crime scene. Since the people they were looking for might have been riding horses during the pursuit or the fight, Itefeil had set the initial search area far away. If they still found nothing as they searched along the road, then the bodies were probably further ahead. Before setting out, Itefeil had told the rest of the team to carefully search the roads around their route back, just to make sure nothing was missed.
“Ah, this is exhausting…”
As the two searchers cautiously checked every inch of ground, step by step, Itefeil helped by clearing the blind spots they couldn’t reach.
“Seriously, do we really have to search every inch for two bodies…?”
She casually checked the blind spots. Once she was sure there were no bodies, she ran back to the road, crouched by the side, and watched the two searchers.
“Man, it must be nice to know how to search like that. If I had that skill, I’d find things I’d lost in my room in no time.”
Itefeil sighed.
“……”
One of the searchers, who was closer to Itefeil, accidentally overheard her and quietly quickened his pace.
This inspector had once been exposed for keeping her room in a terrible state during an inspection at the district headquarters. The chief superintendent had even called her out by name and criticized her in front of the whole team.
Still, she stuck to her usual approach: bravely admitting her mistakes, then stubbornly refusing to change. The chief superintendent had a real headache dealing with her. But she was diligent and efficient when it came to solving cases. Without that going for her, she probably would’ve been demoted ages ago. Then again, if she weren’t so bad at keeping her own affairs in order, maybe she’d have been promoted to chief inspector by now.
Now she was stuck in the middle as a senior inspector. She didn’t seem to care, so her superiors had simply stopped bothering with it.
What a shame. How could such a nice young woman not even know how to tidy her room?
The searcher felt utterly helpless about his direct superior, though he also felt a little sorry for her. Keeping your room in order… didn’t that have very little to do with solving cases?
While one searcher carefully searched and the other let his mind wander, Itefeil suddenly noticed a cat lying right beside the lamp she was crouching next to.
“Oh! What a cute cat!”
Itefeil gently poked the cat’s belly with a finger. The cat’s eyes cracked open, and it looked at her. Then it struggled toward her with all its might—but with its body so badly dehydrated, the effort came off more like a cute little plea for attention.
“Meow, meow…”
(Water…)
“Aww, you’re so adorable!”
Overjoyed, Itefeil picked the cat up, rummaged through her pockets, and pulled out two pieces of ration to offer it.
“Here, big sis has some food for you. How about coming home with me? (・ω・)⊃-[==]”
To her surprise, the cat glanced at the ration, then haughtily turned its head away.
“Huh? You’re not hungry…?”
“Meow, meow!”
(Come on, I’m dying of thirst here! Give me some water!)
“Haha, you clingy little thing.”
Itefeil watched the cat paw at her sleeve, and it made her heart melt.
The cat stared at the giggling woman with a deadpan look. Then it spotted the waterskin at her waist and got an idea.
“Meow~”
It let out a coquettish meow, then pointed at the waterskin on Itefeil’s waist.
“Oh, this? It’s a waterskin. Do you want some water?”
“Meow, meow, meow!!”
(Yes, yes, yes! This stupid human finally gets it!)
Itefeil took the waterskin from her waist and poured a little water into her hand. The cat stared at the water flowing from the mouth of the skin. As soon as Itefeil held her hand out, the cat eagerly plunged its face into it and drank its fill.
“Meow!”
(Ha! I’m back in fighting shape!)
After drinking, the cat perked right up. Even its dull fur had regained a little sheen.
“Aww, you’re such a cute little thing!!!”
Itefeil scooped the cat up and held it so close that her face was almost touching its. She gazed into its eyes.
“Make a contract with me—no, come live at my house!! I’ll feed you and give you a place to stay!!”
The cat stared into the woman’s sparkling eyes. Hmm… for some reason, it suddenly remembered a line from its previous life.
“Beastmen are never slaves!!”
(Unless they get free room and board.)
“Meow~”
(Damn, I’ve finally found somewhere I can settle down…)
The cat licked Itefeil’s face and flicked its tail.
“Does that mean you agree?? You agree, right!!”
Itefeil excitedly lifted the cat high above her head and spun around once.
“Haha! At last, Lady Itefeil has a cat of her own!”
“Meow…”
(This human’s got something wrong with her, meow…)
