The days spent in this country were peaceful yet boring. But the problem was that Wridra didn’t mind spending all day just relaxing and doing nothing at all. It was time for a blissful nap after returning home and enjoying the sweet oranges. Mariabelle’s lap was the perfect place for a nap, and Wridra had made a habit out of lying there even if the elf was in the middle of studying. Fortunately, Mariabelle didn’t seem to mind it either and constantly patted some part of the cat’s body as she worked. As a cat, the familiar couldn’t help but purr from the warmth and comfort.
A fresh coffee aroma filled the room, and the pleasant sound of music lulled the cat to sleep. The elf girl continued to look up difficult kanji in her dictionary to learn how to read them, their meaning, and how to use them. Wridra wished the thickheaded Kitase would realize why this girl had worked so hard to acclimate to life in this country.
It seemed Mariabelle had found a good stopping point. She was dressed in warm knits and leaned back for a big stretch. Her back made an audible crack, having been in one position for so long.
“Ahh, that was a good study session. It must be nice for you. It’s not fair that you can just lie around all day, then learn this country’s language with your skill,” she complained, rubbing the familiar around its mouth. Mariabelle often spoke to the cat like this, but it wasn’t always listening. The main Wridra in the other world was busy raising her whelps and couldn’t always allocate her focus to the familiar. That was why it acted like an ordinary cat for the most part and lazed about unless something interesting like food caught her attention.
The cat finally awakened as the autumn sun was waning. Study time was over, and Mariabelle was now sitting in front of the TV, watching anime in more comfortable loungewear. The tablet in her hand emitted an electronic noise, which seemed to be the culprit that had interrupted the cat’s sleep. The familiar leaped onto the elf’s lap and peeked at the screen to find she had been messaging Kitase.
“Oh, sorry to wake you,” apologized Mariabelle. “He just got off of work. I need to ask him what we’ll do for dinner.” She spoke rather calmly with a hint of giddiness in her voice. Her toes swayed as she sat in her chair, showing she was in a good mood.
Mariabelle glanced at the cat. The color of her eyes was reminiscent of amethyst, and many would find them breathtaking. Even Kitase often got surprised by them despite living with her, meaning they would be quite a shock for any man seeing them for the first time.
“Can you connect me to him, Wridra?” asked Mariabelle.
The black cat meowed as if to say it was no problem. It yawned, then activated the Magic Tool in its collar. It was an item for long-distance communication and worked by recreating the Mind Link Chat from the dream world. The conversation between the elf and human soon began, and they talked about mundane things, such as how work had gone and what time he would be home. Suddenly, the cat’s ears perked up when the topic changed to what they would have for dinner. It had been lying around just a moment ago but was now wide awake.
“Yeah, I thought we could have some Chinese food tonight.”
An excited gleam arose in the cat’s eyes when it heard the words “Chinese food.” Wridra had tried gyoza and braised pork before, and the ramen she had eaten after going to the pool was so good that she had an epiphany that it was the flavor she had been seeking all along. The idea of having Chinese food for dinner was so appealing that she was drooling.
“We haven’t been to a Chinese restaurant in so long! But wait, did you get paid today?” asked Mariabelle.
“No, but I ran into Toru in front of the station. He wants to have a little get-together and treat us out,” said Kitase.
The Ichijos were a married couple who lived on the upper floor of their building. Kitase had randomly run into the husband, Toru, on the way home from work. But Wridra was hardly paying attention, as she became preoccupied with daydreaming about going to an authentic Chinese restaurant. The greatest thing about Chinese cuisine was its exquisite seasoning with the variety of spices and how they cooked the meats so deliciously. All the flavors created were a form of art and seemed thoroughly calculated throughout their four-thousand-year history. Then, the cat’s face loosened into a sloppy smile as Wridra remembered the delectable, tender braised pork.
Now fully alert, the familiar’s eyes shone eagerly. Wridra had set aside caring for her whelps, managing the labyrinth hall, and keeping an eye over the war to focus on the cat’s taste buds. She told herself experiencing new flavors would help improve her mansion and the cooking in the other world. While Wridra didn’t cook, she conveniently ignored that fact.
The cat got up as soon their conversation ended and meowed repeatedly. It ran around Mariabelle’s feet as if to say, “I want Chinese food! I can’t wait!”
“That tickles!” said Mariabelle, giggling. “Oh no, I need to get ready! I think he said we’re meeting up with Kaoruko on the first floor.”
The cat waved as if to say, “Okay, go get ready!” It then lazily sprawled out on the floor. The Chinese cuisine they had eaten before was incredible already, and eating dishes cooked by a seasoned professional was like a dream come true. The familiar rolled around on the floor like Wridra couldn’t contain her excitement. It was terrifying how such a major event could suddenly change her leisurely day. The black-haired beauty controlling the familiar couldn’t help her face from loosening up into a wide smile of immeasurable happiness. Someone could have pinched her cheeks, and she would have laughed and forgiven them. She might have even agreed to add “meow” to the end of every sentence if someone asked. However, her emotions would soon go into free fall.
Upon changing into an outfit for going out, the elf girl said, “I’m sorry, we can’t bring cats into the restaurant.”
That simple sentence was enough to cause the cat to stagger despite having four legs for support. Wridra could laugh off a barrage of magic attacks. But a single sentence had pierced her through the heart and inflicted catastrophic damage. The creature trembled, then looked up with a look of shock. Wridra was so confused that she thought, What did you just say, meow? I dare you to say that again, meow. The cat tilted its head in confusion, and the elf put her hands together apologetically.
“I have to go now. I’ll be sure to bring a gift home for you, so be good and stay home, okay?”
“Wait! Wait just a minute!” uttered Wridra through her cat form. “Bring that sleepy fool Kitase, meow. I’ll prepare a bed in the other world right away, so make him go to sleep and pick me up, meow! Then I’ll be able to go with you!” But her desperate pleas only sounded like meows when spoken out loud. The cat jumped up and down, no longer concerned with the rules of this world, but Marie couldn’t understand its intentions.
Wridra was certain that food tasted best when freshly cooked. Even if Marie brought home leftovers, their quality would be drastically inferior and unacceptable. Not to mention, she couldn’t hold out any longer. Her stomach was already anticipating Chinese food, and something terrible would happen if she didn’t get to the restaurant. Marie didn’t seem to understand just how dangerous an appetite could get if left unchecked.
The cat explained this to the elf, but Marie simply turned to leave out of the front door. Yet the cat was so shocked that all its fur stood on end. It cried out and demanded that Mariabelle bring Kitase, only to hear the cruel sound of the door closing behind her. The Arkdragon was flabbergasted and rendered speechless for some time. While the familiar clawed at the door, the sad truth was that its fate had been sealed.
Wridra cried. Even the great Arkdragon was not immune to sorrow. The cat yowled, meowed, and ran in circles on the bed, but the sadness didn’t subside. It buried its upper body under the futon and cried some more.
Autumn was the season of eating, and it was terrifying. No one in the labyrinth’s second-floor hall would believe that the legendary Arkdragon was crying with her head under the futon in the same position as her familiar. But someone walked by at that moment—Shirley, the woman who lived with Wridra at the mansion. She blinked her sky-blue eyes and cocked her head in confusion, unable to comprehend what was happening.
§
I exited the bus as a night of light, drizzling rain awaited me. We had been getting a different kind of rain since we entered autumn, no longer the continuous ones. The air seemed to get chillier each time the weather got rainy. I felt lonelier when it rained during this time of year. As I exhaled, the wind carried my faintly white breath away.