“You really do love us, don’t you? I appreciate that, nya.”
Taichi thought the cat god might be annoyed and dismiss his idea altogether, but it seemed perfectly fine with his choice. He sagged with relief as he met the feline’s eyes.
“However,” said the cat god, “I cannot directly give you an animal in this new world. What I can do is offer you special powers and items, here and now. Meow.”
“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.” Now that he thought about it, maybe it wasn’t reasonable to expect the cat god to give him the cats he needed for this café idea. He would have to figure out how to acquire the requisite felines himself once he arrived in this new world. In Japan, one could easily purchase a cat at a pet shop. He wondered how things would work in this new world.
“Instead, what do you think about becoming a Tamer, nya?” offered the cat god.
“A Tamer? As in, the kind in video games where your character can make friends with and command various monsters?”
“Precisely. Although you will only be able to tame monsters specifically, you’ll find that there are some who bear a resemblance to cats. There are also other equally fluffy and adorable creatures available, nya.”
Taichi sucked in a breath. I can befriend all sorts of fluffy creatures? Sign me up!
“Yes! That’s exactly what I want! Please!”
“Very well,” said the cat god. “Then I will bestow upon you all the relevant skills for the Tamer job. If you recite the words ‘Open Status,’ you will be able to review your available skills, nya.”
“Thank you!”
“Next...I will give you this.” The cat god dragged out a leather bag with a cat imprinted on it from beneath the kotatsu blanket, holding it out for Taichi. He noted the straps on the back of it for easy belt-attachment. This was, apparently, the cat god’s farewell gift for him.
“Much appreciated,” said Taichi. “And what’s insi—whoa! What’s with this bag?!” When he opened it, he found it held a separate dimension inside, much like an abyss. He couldn’t even begin to guess what was hidden within. What is this, a black hole? He shivered.
The cat god snickered. “That’s a Bottomless Bag.”
“Bottomless...like the kind in video games that can hold all kinds of things within?”
“Purr-cisely. As the name implies, there’s no limit to what you can stow inside. Time is stopped within the bag’s dimension. Please use that to your advantage. I have already stowed food supplies, money, and other essentials for you inside, nya.”
Wow. This other world has some serious conveniences.
A hologram suddenly appeared directly in front of Taichi, catching him by surprise.
“Whoa!” he squeaked.
“That screen will display everything contained inside your Bottomless Bag, nya.”
“Oh, okay.” He was a little startled, but ultimately this feature impressed him. He couldn’t tell what was inside simply by looking; he had to check the screen. Let’s see... According to this list, there’s jerky, water, rye bread, and...emergency food?
“Hey, um...”
“Yes? Meow.”
“What kind of food does this new world have?” Taichi asked anxiously.
“The flavors aren’t much different from what you’re familiar with in Japan. Some cooking requires ingredients from monsters. Admittedly, this world has more variation than your new one will, nya.” The feline hesitated, meowing to itself as it contemplated this new conundrum.
Judging by its choice of words, the food in this new world was perfectly edible, but the cat god didn’t want Taichi to face any culinary troubles after how much he’d sacrificed to save it. Japan had cheap, delicious food, which made it popular among cats, while this new world had far fewer options. Taichi might find himself more limited there.
After a pensive silence, the cat god’s ears pricked. “There’s a great personal skill I can give you which should help. Meow!” The cat god assured him that with this, Taichi would have no trouble acquiring whatever he needed.
“Thank you!”
“No, no, this is nothing compared to what you did for me.” There was a short pause before the cat god went on. “All right, I think it’s about time for me to send you off. Thank you once again for saving me, nya.”
It was Taichi’s turn to shake his head and smile. “Not at all. I’m glad I was able to save you.”
His consciousness slowly faded.