The cat-eared man called us back into the shade, and I returned to the settlement. Still unsure of where we were headed, I followed the hero as we walked around. Though the hero had immediately rejected it, my dream theory was starting to feel possible.
Mr. Cat Ears, who I’d thought was quite an intense character for the first NPC I’d run into, was actually relatively normal. As I walked around the settlement, I saw that there were strange beings on a whole different level than a middle-aged man with cat ears. There was someone who didn’t just have dog ears but was a complete furry. There was someone who looked like a Buddhist Asura, someone else over five meters tall, and another person with eyes so big that they took up over half of their face. The settlement was full of people who couldn’t exist in the real world. This is definitely a dreamland.
If this wasn’t a dream, then maybe it was an otherworld. There were apparently countless worlds, so it would be possible for a world like this to exist.
But the hero knew of the Kingdom of Valschein, and it’s normal to first assume you’re in the same world... Hm. I still don’t get it.
The hero seemed to be guiding me somewhere, and spoke to me without looking back. “What do you think of Twilight?”
“There are lots of strange people here.”
“There sure are. No matter what someone ends up looking like, the Kingdom of Twilight accepts all. That includes you.”
No one probably cared about my black hair when they were holding a nonhuman’s expo convention here.
Just as the hero said, there was a laid-back, peaceful atmosphere in the settlement. There were very few man-made objects, but there were several raggedy chair-like objects. Even without the chairs, plenty of people found boulders to sit on as they chatted among each other.
Also, just like in the real world, there were stray cats here.
“Kitty!” I exclaimed at the cat. I surprisingly got a response...from the middle-aged catboy.
“Did you call for me, meow?”
I wanted to tell him to shut up in a deep voice and punch the cat-eared man into oblivion, but actual kitties didn’t like deep sounds or violence. I have to hold back. I’m going to endure the presence of the imposter for the sake of the beautiful, adorable, real kitty.
Atop the red sand stood a calico with the perfect distribution of white, brown, and black fur. The kitty’s tail stood up pin straight, and it walked up to me like a model walking a catwalk. Oh, you’re so adorable! Once the kitty got close enough to me and noticed my presence, it would surely run from me. Ever since I’d reincarnated as Yumiella Dolkness, every type of animal including insects were overly terrified of me.
I just want to pet them a little. Why do they all run away? It’s not like there’s any downside to me petting them. It’s fine, though. I can’t force them. I’m happy just watching them from afar.
The great kitty walked elegantly as if it owned the Kingdom of Twilight, and the calico finally noticed me. The kitty took a quick glance at me as if it weren’t interested, then looked away immediately. But then it walked up to my left foot and flopped onto the ground.
“Huh...?”
“I think he wants you to pet him, meow.” That was something I would’ve usually understood, but I only realized it after hearing the cat-eared man say it.
This calico wants to be pet, and by me of all people. The kitty showed no signs of being afraid, and it purred as it relaxed on the ground. Can I pet you, kitty? I won’t hurt you. I’ll be gentle. If we get along, maybe I can take you home with me? Just kidding...unless?
The calico still hadn’t run from me, and he was now grooming himself. I was probably more nervous than the cat. I mean, I haven’t petted a cat since becoming Yumiella. I’m great at imagining creepy scenarios, but my real-life experience hasn’t caught up.
Okay...I’m going to pet it. I’m finally gonna pet you, kitty. I couldn’t prevent a laugh of bliss from escaping my lips.
“Hee hee, hee hee hee.”
“Your laugh is creepy, meow.”
“I’m gonna touch you with my hands now, kitty.”
“There’s something indecent about the way you’re talking too, meow.”
Determined to pet the cat, I extended my left hand, but the calico evaded my touch and got up to walk away.
“Huh?!”
“Cats are fickle. He waited a bit, but it didn’t seem like you were going to pet him, so he got fur-ustrated, meow.”
What...? No way. You’re saying that I missed an opportunity to pet a cat not because of my level or my dark magical energy but because I took too long to make a decision?
“I think I’m going to regret that for the rest of my life.”
“You shouldn’t say things like that so casually,” the hero said, slightly irritated. I was aware that I was exaggerating, but I didn’t think it called for him to react that way.
The air between us had gotten a little tense, but the cat-eared man spoke with no sense of nervousness. “That calico is my only other cat fur-riend here. He’s kind of like my older brother, meow.” I wasn’t sure if he intentionally tried to repair the bad mood, but for the first time I was grateful the middle-aged catboy was here.
“Is that so?” the hero responded. “I think that you’re the older brother, and the calico is the younger brother.”
“You always say that, King. But I have a better sense of these things when it comes to cats, meow.”
Well, I think you’re not brothers at all, just strangers.
I was surprised that the calico was male. For genetic reasons, most calicos were females, and males were so rare that they were sold for high prices.
The calico in question seemed like he was just bored with me after all, and after leaving my side, he was walking around as his tail slowly wiggled from side to side. He’s adorable even from the back.
We tried to watch the cat as it walked off without chasing it, but the middle-aged catboy suddenly ran off as if he’d remembered something.
“Oh no, meow! He might try to use the painter girl’s cat-vas as a scratching board, meow!”
“See?” the hero said, turning to me. “He’s more of the older brother, isn’t he?”
No, they’re complete strangers. I won’t stand for the adorable cat and the weird man being blood relatives. I kept my thoughts to myself and joined the hero to chase after one cat and one human.
“We made it, meow.” The cat-eared man immediately caught the calico, who was obediently being held in the man’s arms. This cat’s okay with being held too?
Led by the cat, we had come all the way to the opposite edge of the settlement. The whole area was filled with unusual things, but there was one thing here that stood out more than everything else.
There was a woman who was painting something. She was frantically dragging her brush along a canvas. That was probably the “cat-vas” that the calico was going to use as a scratching board.
The most notable thing was how her painting looked. It was...incredibly artistic—artistic in the way that Picasso’s works were, where I couldn’t really tell what she was painting.
I couldn’t help but stand still and watch. I didn’t really understand abstract art, but I somehow instinctually felt real art wasn’t like that. Depending on how you looked at the painting, it could look like a person, or a starry sky, or an assortment of skewered and grilled meats—it was a strange piece of art.
I observed her painting that kept drawing me in, and the painter spoke without putting her brush down. “There’s nothing fun about looking at such horrible art.”
“No, you’re wrong. It’s so artistic.”
“I’ve heard that countless times!” she screamed, shaking her head so that her long hair thrashed around. “I want to paint something realistic—something true to life!”