The cat treat seemed to be a hit. I moved the tube away after feeding Carbuncle for a while, then it grabbed on to me and stretched its neck out. Whether it be mana or Churu, this little critter was a fiend when it came to eating.
“It can’t get enough of that stuff,” said Ashley.
“Seems so,” I said. “Okay, I’ll give you the rest. Calm down, will ya?”
“Mew! Mew!”
I fed it the rest of the Churu, and it licked the empty tube like a regular cat.
“Ashlay,” said a voice out of nowhere.
“What’s up, Nem?” asked Ashley.
The receptionist with a cat-ear hat on her head had called out from the next counter over. I assumed she had business with Ashley, and I was preparing to leave when Nem looked at me.
“Oh, hello, Nem,” I said.
“Hi... That smells, like, really good,” said Nem.
“Th-This?” I asked.
Nem was full of vigor in stark contrast to her usual sleepy, unmotivated self when she was doing reception work. Her eyes were glued to the empty Churu bag, and drool was running down her mouth.
“Um, this is a snack for cats!” I said. “It isn’t for humans!”
“That’s okay. Like, no problem,” she said, then she slurped her dribbling drool.
It was then that I realized she was a cat-type Tail. Upon closer inspection, there was a cat tail extending out from just above her butt.
“S-Still, you’re a person,” I protested.
“Just a taste. Come, lemme just have a little taste.”
“I don’t think I should—”
“Please. This is totally a once-in-a-lifetime request,” she pressed.
“It probably won’t hurt, but still...”
Nem looked just about ready to get on the ground and beg. I mean, there were some odd people out there who ate some of this stuff and called it a taste test. I really hadn’t expected her to be so adamant about it. This world was full of surprises. It was as if the people here were living in the year 3000.
Resigned, I ripped open another tube and handed it to her. Nem squeezed its contents out a bit and licked it. She then closed her eyes and tilted her head back as if her mind were immersed in some faraway land.
“When I put this paste in my mouth, I first felt the rich fragrance of fish. Then came a wave of deliciousness rushing in. It had a complex fishy flavor I’ve never tasted before. I close my eyes, and I see big fish swimming through the ocean,” she said.
“I see...”
“Amazing. Whoever made this, like, really gets cats.”
Ashley unexpectedly joined the conversation with a crazy request. “Nem, is that stuff really that good? Can I try some?”
“Ashley?! What are you saying?!” I said.
“She made it sound so good...” she said enviously.
“Like I said, it’s cat food! As in food for cats!”
“But everything you bring tastes good,” she protested.
“Maybe, but still!”
“No, this is mine now. I can’t give you any, Ashlay,” said Nem.
“Don’t be stingy, Nem! I just want a little taste!” argued Ashley.
What was happening? Why were humans fighting over a snack made for cats? Everyone from Do-Melta was such a glutton.
Meanwhile, Carbuncle had opened my bag of cat food and started digging into the pellets. It really was in its own world.
Things settled down after some time, then Ashley asked, “Is that all you need for today, Akira?”
“Actually, I’m also reporting in to go for a dive,” I said.
Ashley shook her head, then she gave me a grim look.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Listen, I just have a bad feeling about this.”
It wasn’t like her to say something like that. Usually, I’d tell her I was going to the dungeon, and she’d simply wish me luck, so this had completely come out of left field. The only times she’d insinuated that she didn’t want me to go to the dungeon were in the early days of my joining the guild.
“Hmm, but I’m feeling completely fine. I don’t have a cold, and I didn’t pull an all-nighter or anything. Scrael’s also going with me, and she’s fully healthy too,” I explained.
“I get that, but still... Where are you planning to go today, by the way?” she asked.
“Just my usual spot. I’ll be hunting Blood Bats in the Dark Corridors like always.”
“I see. I guess there’s no need to worry then,” she said, though she still didn’t sound fully convinced.
“I’m sure it’s gonna be a walk in the park, especially with Scrael there. Even if I get swarmed by bats, I’ve learned a move that can send them flying away.”
Still, I had to consider Ashley’s concern. There was a chance that she’d subconsciously sensed something from my demeanor or something. It was definitely something I couldn’t ignore.
“Do you think something bad has been building up?” I asked.
“I don’t think that’s it,” she replied.
“Then maybe it’s like a sixth sense kind of thing?”
“A what?”
“Oh, it’s like a premonition, I guess.”
Some phrases didn’t seem to translate well in Do-Melta. God’s translation power wasn’t always perfect.
“Anyway, I’ll remember to be careful,” I said.
“Good. Make sure you come back right away if something is off,” said Ashley.
“Will do.”
I always listened to Ashley whenever she spoke with that serious tone. As far as I knew, forty-six people across seven teams had never returned from the dungeon because they hadn’t heeded her warnings. Ashley’s intuition and perception were really like precognitive superpowers when it came to this sort of thing, so I trusted them wholeheartedly.
As I turned to leave, Carbuncle hopped onto my backpack with a “Mew.” It seemed to have decided it was tagging along for today’s adventure.
“Okay then, let’s go,” I said.
“Mew!”
I returned to Scrael with Carbuncle accompanying me and asked, “Ready to go, Scrael?”
“Yep,” she replied, then she noticed Carbuncle. She cocked her head inquisitively. “That’s the strange creature that has been hanging around the main hall lately.”
“This is a Carbuncle. Supposedly, it’s like a creature that’s somewhere between a monster and an animal. I guess it’s kind of like a monster impostor,” I said.
“I don’t get it,” said Scrael.
“Mew, mew,” said Carbuncle.
“I don’t know much about it either. I recently found it in the dungeon, and it followed me here. It tags along with me every once in a while,” I explained.
“Hmm. Well, it’s cute,” said Scrael.
I handed Carbuncle to Scrael, and she held it in her arms. Her expression had softened into a smile. Fluffy was justice, after all.
“I’ll name it Carlburg the First,” she said, giving it a name out of nowhere. A rather eccentric one too.
I looked at her, saying nothing. I couldn’t really argue considering I hadn’t even given it a real name, but Ashley, Sensei, and now Scrael all addressed it differently.
“Anyway, this will be our group for today,” I said.
“Okay.”
“Mew!”
As we started walking toward the dungeon, I overheard a rather unpleasant conversation.
“Hey, check out that Long-Ears over there.”
“She sure is fine. Nice body too.”
“Man, what I’d give to make her mine!”