episode_0025

If I were to summarize my current situation in one word.

“Wow….”

“…It seems like we’ve passed the agreed time.”

“Just bear with me a little.”

Baek Sihyun, who came to Elena’s house, was stroking my tail.

Because a promise is a promise….

“…You must tell Mayor Kwon about it.”

“Okay, okay.”

It was because of the thought of keeping the promise to let her stroke my tail since my body had shrunk and I couldn’t move around anyway.

Since she was the one who made my body like this, Baek Sihyun knew detailed information about my body. Perhaps she knew more about my body than I did.

“…Pervert.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

After watching Baek Sihyun start stroking my tail as she pleased, I turned my head and saw Elena making a sullen face.

“Why are you acting like that again?”

“It was a rare moment for just the two of us….”

“Please don’t make it sound so significant.”

“Tch. I meant it.”

Sure you did.

“Instead of that, can I also stroke your tail?”

“No.”

“You allowed Sihyun to do it? That’s discrimination.”

“Yeah. It is discrimination.”

“……”

“You agreed to let her stroke your tail in exchange for helping her.”

“But I can help too, you know?”

“Still, no.”

“Why not!”

“Your intentions are impure.”

“I have nothing to say.”

Looking at Elena coolly admitting it, I suddenly felt how true she was to her desires.

Anyway, since I had nothing more to say to her, I shifted my gaze to the TV installed in one corner of the room.

Baek Sihyun stroking my tail was somewhat comforting….

‘…It’s not that great, but it’s better than I expected….’

So, I could focus on the TV without paying much attention to it.

The news was airing on TV, naturally covering the recent major turmoil, the Myeonghak-dong Gate incident.

[…As the situation is mostly coming to an end, the estimated death toll has exceeded 50,000….]

50,000. It’s definitely not a small number.

Especially when considering it’s just the number of people who died in the past few days.

“Moreover, it’s not as if the situation is completely over, and considering there may still be unaccounted for casualties… the death toll will likely swell even more than it is now.

But there’s a separate, much bigger issue.

“Astoria has been resurrected.”

That statement essentially meant that the empire, which had been destroyed, had come back to life.

Of course, the current Astoria is unlikely to be in its original state.

We killed one of Astoria’s avatars, and I heard that in some places where the army intervened, they were able to suppress magic itself.

They are probably gathering and consolidating their strength right now.

Furthermore, she wasn’t the type to personally engage in combat from the start. She was the type to send out her created demons or imperial soldiers.

Even if she has been resurrected, she won’t recklessly charge in.

Of course, the military already knows that Astoria has been resurrected. When I asked Baek Sihyun, he said they were already taking action.

He even said that if I needed help, he would consider returning, then patted me on the back, telling me to recover first with a wry smile.

“…Well, I guess the situation isn’t urgent enough for them to call back retired soldiers.”

If it had been confirmed that Astoria had fully resurrected, they would have immediately called for a return to duty.

In fact, it was fortunate for me that the situation wasn’t urgent. With this body, there’s no way I could go charging into battle.

My diminished body is far too fragile compared to usual. If I were to return to the battlefield in this state, I’d be utterly useless and end up getting myself killed.

At that moment, I suddenly felt a tingling sensation on my tail and jumped up, my fur bristling.

“Meow?!”

“Oh… sorry. I didn’t expect you to be so startled.”

When I turned around, Baek Sihyun was standing there, holding my hand firmly with a shameless expression on his face.

“W-what are you doing?!”

“Um… your expression looked really bad, so I thought I’d cheer you up…”

“Cheer me up?”

“I bit you.”

“…What?”

“I bit you. There’s fur stuck in my mouth now, and it’s really uncomfortable. Can I spit it out?”

“…No. Why did you bite me?”

“To cheer you up…”

“What does biting have to do with cheering someone up?”

“Sorry. I just wanted to nibble on it. Isn’t that what everyone does? When something is too cute, you just want to nibble on it, right?”

Instead, she came out confidently, leaving him speechless.

Still, it was a virtual attempt to ease my mind, so please overlook it this time….

“But it’s even softer because it’s inflated. Can I pet it for just one more minute?”

“…No. Besides, every time I speak, I get cat hair in my mouth. Can’t I just go to the bathroom and spit it out?”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes.”

Baek Sihyun nodded cheerfully and went straight into the bathroom.

In the meantime, Elena was looking at Baek Sihyun’s back with an expression that seemed to say she couldn’t stand to watch.

“Ew… gives me the creeps.”

“Why’s that?”

“Don’t you know, Unnie? They say when she’s not around, she’s a real lunatic.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes! Being shameless is a given, and she’s also a bit off in the head, wanting to experiment with all sorts of things on her sick body.”

Is that true? Baek Sihyun has always been kind to me, so I’ve never seen her like that.

The Baek Sihyun in my head is a pervert who constantly tries to touch ears and tails…. As I was thinking that, Elena seemed to suddenly remember something and whispered to me.

“Oh, by the way… there’s a rumor that she’s obsessed with good-looking people.”

“Obsessed?”

“Yes. She only treats pretty and handsome people well….”

“That’s not true, though?”

“What?”

The Commander is good-looking, but Baek Sihyun always avoids him. If he confesses, she acts like she’s going to faint and have a seizure right then and there….

Still, considering that helping with getting a camera in exchange for petting the tail, maybe she doesn’t hate the Commander that much?

“Oh, right, Elena.”

“Yes?”

“I’m going to do a broadcast.”

“Really?!”

Elena jumps up excitedly.

“When? When are you going to do it? I want to be your first fan.”

“I don’t know yet… I’m planning to borrow a stealth camera from the Commander and try it with that.”

“A stealth camera? Oh… the one used for reconnaissance?”

“Yeah. I heard that superheroes use that kind of thing for broadcasts….”

“Well, it’s not a bad idea. But why suddenly decide to do a broadcast? Last time, you said you wouldn’t do it even if you died.”

“I have something to say about that. I don’t intend to make a streamer my profession, as Elena suggested.”

“Yeah… I’m trying to become a problem solver, but I need a way to promote myself.”

“Hmm… for promotional purposes. So, are you going to broadcast the cases you solve?”

“Only with the client’s permission…”

“I see. Not bad. The broadcast of a cute cat-like problem solver.”

Elena, who seemed to like the idea, nods with a smile and crosses her arms.

“But how did you plan to use broadcasting as a promotional tool?”

“Well, that wasn’t my idea, it was from a friend of mine…”

“…A friend?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“A friend? Who is this person? How dare they speak to my precious Ye-rin without my permission?”

“You don’t know her.”

“A civilian?”

“Yes.”

“Ugh. Then I can’t really scold her.”

“Who are you to scold my friend? Ridiculous.”

Frustrated, I glance at Elena and shrug my shoulders.

“Well, I can’t interfere even with your friend.”

“Why do you act as if it’s okay to allow such obvious things?”

“But can I ask a question?”

“Why are you questioning when you didn’t even get permission?”

“Well… we’ve known each other for a long time, and she’s much younger than me now.”

“She’s only physically younger. Don’t use informal speech.”

“No, I will. I’ll use informal speech.”

“If you’re going to, why did you bother asking if it’s okay?”

“It’s just a matter of politeness.”

Seriously, what a brat. Making a habit of being disrespectful!

Well, forcing someone just one year younger to use formal language is a bit much.

“…I’ll specially allow it.”

“What? But then it’s not fun… I’ll just use formal language.”

“Is this really me?”

“That’s just who I am.”

“You’re weird.”

“That’s how love starts, you know.”

“You’re really weird…”

Scary… Why is the story assuming that I’m starting to like Elena?

I have no intention of dating either women or men.

As I mutter to myself, Elena suddenly grabs my arm.

“Oh, right!”

“Yeah, yeah!”

“Park… Cheol? Was that his name? Anyway, a hunter asked me to let him know when someone wakes up. We only exchanged a few words, so I don’t really know his name.”

Park Cheol? Ah… he’s Dasul’s older brother.

“A call? Why? No, more importantly, why grab my tail without permission?”

“I don’t know? He said he wanted to express gratitude. If I didn’t grab your tail now while your response time is slowed due to the difficulty, there might not be another chance.”

“You know it well. When my body returns to normal, you’re dead.”

“Well, then I better do a lot in advance so I won’t feel unfairly treated even if I die.”

Elena started vigorously stroking my tail without permission. Will she really kill me?

However, with my current young body, that’s impossible, so for now, I decided to let her stroke my tail and go about my business.

“I guess I’ll just call Dasul and ask her to switch it, right?”

I took out my phone and made the call.

Ring-ring—ring-ring—

Before the signal even had a chance to sound a few times, someone picked up the phone with a clunk.