I walked down the street with Ariya as we headed to the next store, after having bought a gun and a dagger.
“Ari, could you put that dagger away?”
“Why? It’s perfectly normal for adventurers to be equipped with weapons in town.”
“Yeah, sure...but they don’t clutch their weapons lovingly to their chest like that.”
The way she held it, it was like she was cradling a baby. We were obviously getting a lot of looks. I couldn’t take it. Considering there was mithril in the dagger, it also made me pretty nervous.
“I’m doing no such thing!” she snapped, quickly hiding it behind her.
“Uh-huh. Okay.” As she turned red, I glared at her.
I really had no clue what was going through her head. At least now there weren’t as many people staring at us. We were still getting looks, though, but that was most likely because stories of Black Rose had spread across town. Not-so-great rumors had also spread about me.
As we were looking for the next armory to stop at, we passed by a number of regular shops. Our objective today may have been weapon shopping, but I was interested in the other stores around here as well. We’d never really had the opportunity to check them out since Ariya had been incredibly busy with requests and I’d been busy collecting information. Yep. I’ve been a busy bee. Definitely not slacking off whatsoever.
Anyway, after meeting Sister Sensei, I’d begun training with her, so this was probably the first time that I’d been able to leisurely walk the streets with Ariya. It might’ve been a great time to explore other stores too. We’d been working hard. Surely it’d be okay for us to take a break to do some shopping.
That’s enough for excuses. I saw a meat skewer, and I wanted to try it. There was an irresistible smell wafting over from a street stall somewhere. Seriously, it smelled so good. The sizzling fat and the thick glaze combined with the smell of charcoal burning really got my appetite going. I couldn’t hold back anymore.
Maybe I didn’t need to. It’s not like I had to make excuses anymore.
“Hey Ari, wanna try those meat skewers?” I asked.
“Skewers? Oh—from that stall over there? Well, not really—”
“You want to eat them, right?”
“Huh?”
“Of course you do. Right?”
“Uh... Sure. Let’s try them.”
Glad we’re on the same page. I went to the stall and asked for two skewers.
“Oh, you two on a date? I’m jealous!” the guy running the stall said.
It seemed like he didn’t know who we were, or maybe he did and was pretending not to. Either way, he had a nice smile.
“Yeah, great, isn’t it? How about you make one of these a freebie?”
“Shouldn’t you be showing how selfless you are by paying full price?”
“You’re right. On second thought, make hers the freebie.”
“Ha! You’re funny. I’ll give you one extra on the house.”
“So you’re still making me pay for two... Okay, whatever.”
In the end, I got three skewers, and each had five pieces of meat on it. I wasn’t sure what to do with the extra, though. I guess since I technically paid for it, I should eat it. So I put one of them in my mouth and returned to Ariya.
“Hey, I’m back,” I said with my mouth full, but Ariya didn’t react at all. She stayed crouching alongside the nearby alleyway.
I wanted to ask her what she was doing, but my mouth was kind of occupied. I used Conqueror on the skewer in my mouth so that it’d float in the air, allowing me to speak. If anyone saw me from the side, it’d look like I was eating a burnt skewer.
“What are you doing, Ari?”
“Oh, Kiri... Wait, what are you doing? Why don’t you just hold it with your hand?”
Well, it certainly wasn’t because I wanted to emulate characters in manga who talk with cigars in their mouths. “Here. For you.”
“So I get one and you get two? I see how it is.”
“I’ll give you half of this one if you want it. I just finished the first half, so I could give you the rest. Want it?”
“No!”
Suit yourself. “What’re you looking at?”
“This cat,” Ariya said, looking at a small and kinda chubby brown cat that seemed to have collapsed.
“Looks like it’s alive.” Judging from its stats, it was most likely just sleeping. It wasn’t missing that much HP.
“But it doesn’t seem to be sleeping. Cats wouldn’t sleep in the shade like this,” Ariya said, reaching over to the cat with the hand that was holding the skewer.
At this, the cat raised its head slightly and its nose twitched.
“Maybe it’s just hungry,” I pointed out.
“Can cats eat this meat?”
“Hm...” Judging from the size of the cat, I doubted it was starving. It probably wasn’t a good idea to give it meat dripping in sauce, though. “Give me your skewer for a sec.”
Ariya nodded and passed it to me. I used Conqueror on it and removed the sauce with Puppet Master, storing it in my Shadow Storage for later. As long as the meat was plain, it was probably okay for the cat to eat.
“Here,” I said, giving it back to her after dispelling Conqueror.
“You really like using your Skills for the most pointless things...”
Ariya took the meat off the skewer and placed it in front of the cat. One might’ve expected it to be a little cautious, but it immediately pounced on the food and ate every last bit of it, leaving absolutely nothing for Ariya. At the very least, though, the cat looked better. It sat and stared at Ariya. Sorry—if you’re looking for more meat, she’s fresh out.
“I think this cat belongs to someone,” Ariya pointed out.
“Oh yeah, it’s got a collar.”
It’d been hard to see when the cat had been lying down because its fur covered it, but a red collar was now clearly visible.
The cat let out a ridiculously loud meow.
“I wonder who he belongs to.”
“Who knows? Probably someone around here, right? It’s pretty normal for outdoor cats to roam around like this.”
Even back in Japan, there were lots of cats who’d wander around outside their family’s house. I was sure that it couldn’t have been that strange for cats to exhibit a similar behavior in this world too. The only caveat was that you saw it less often because there were a lot fewer cats here than in Japan.
“But it was so hungry that it collapsed,” Ariya countered. “Maybe it’s lost.”
“Yeah, maybe. Who knows?”
It wasn’t as if either of us could speak cat, so we couldn’t exactly ask it directly. Ariya suddenly perked up as if she’d had an idea. She put her hands around the cat’s upper body and lifted it up, eliciting a loud meow.
“Where do you live?”
“Meooow!”
“What’s your name?”
This was hard to watch. She was talking to it in a sweet voice as if it could understand her. She was even making sure to speak slowly and clearly enunciate her words. I couldn’t see her face since she was looking in another direction, but I was sure that her expression had softened too.
“Hm?” She tilted her head.
As much as I hated to admit this...I found this kind of cute. It was definitely really awkward, though—it felt like I was looking at something that I wasn’t supposed to see. More importantly, I’d learned something new about Ariya today. Never took you for a cat lover. Is it really that cute to you?
Ariya turned back towards me with a troubled expression. “I’m at a loss. It doesn’t seem as if he understands what I’m saying.”
“If he did understand what you were saying, I’d start doubting your sanity.” And why had she said that with a straight face? Have you snapped? “Anyway,” I continued, “the cat’s owners probably live around here. Maybe the townspeople know something. How about we ask some of the shop owners about the cat as we go? That way we can keep shopping and get it home.”
“Good plan. Let’s do that.” The cat meowed as Ariya held it against her chest but didn’t fight back. “Oh, Kiri. Since I gave the cat my skewer, can I have the extra one?”
“Huh?”
“Why’s it already in your mouth?!” Ariya exclaimed. She was clearly shocked by my selfishness, but hey, I wasn’t the one who’d given their food to a cat. She had nobody but herself to blame.
Still, the way she was looking so longingly at the skewer made me give in. I held out the remainder of the skewer to her. “Want it?”
“No!”
What the hell? You were the one looking at it like you wanted it. “I guess I learned something new about you today, Ari. You like cats, huh?”
“Hm? No, I like dogs too.”
I wasn’t asking if you’re a cat person or a dog person... “Did you ever have a cat?”
“Well, you remember my sister...? She was very impulsive. One day, she’d say she wanted a cat, and then the next, she’d get bored and discard it. I was more or less forced to stop myself from wanting a pet.”
I could picture the first princess doing that—it was just like her. She was hot and then cold about a lot of things.
“What about you, Kiri?”
“What about me?”
“Don’t you think cats are cute? Do you like cats?” She held the cat up to me.
The cat meowed as he was lifted up. “Hm, I’ve never tried one before. Could be tasty,” I said, looking at the cat’s belly.