What’s your true identity? (2)

What’s your true identity? (2)

I felt a headache coming on as I watched Luna licking the back of my hand with a nonchalant expression.

It would be problematic even if she were dressed in normal clothes.

Not only did she have cat ears and a cat tail… but doing such things while naked, it’s no wonder I’m getting a headache.

‘If you’re going to transform, at least hide properly.’

I don’t understand the psychology of hiding under the desk, especially in a place where Espin can see clearly.

Thinking that she might have really experienced a decrease in intelligence due to overconsumption, I was wondering what to do.

Espin glanced at Luna again and spoke in a disgruntled voice.

“… I thought you were joking when you kept talking about animals. I didn’t think you really had that kind of taste… Well, everyone has their own preferences.”

The situation itself was so unfair that I almost shouted that it wasn’t true.

But from the moment I refute, it would be like admitting that this situation is real.

I deliberately kept my mouth shut and looked at Espin with a contemptuous expression.

A silent indication that I had nothing to do with it.

It seemed that the perceptive Espin realized that I wasn’t involved.

But not wanting to let go of the conversation’s initiative, he spoke to me with a mischievous expression.

“So why is that person doing that?”

I wondered what would be the best answer in this situation.

As I was contemplating what the most ideal response would be in this situation.

Luna, who was dozing under the desk, crawled out and spoke to me with a long yawn.

“… Master… fed me… too many… seeds. I’m full.”

“……”

At those words, Espin, who was in front of me, looked at me with eyes as if looking at trash.

Then he spoke to me in a very disgruntled voice.

“What on earth… have you been doing?”

Until just now, he had been taking it as a joke or a misunderstanding.

But with that one sentence, he seems to have judged that it was neither a joke nor a misunderstanding.

I sighed and spoke to Espin, who was looking at me with a rather serious expression.

“It’s a terrible prank.”

“… A prank? Well, I suppose it could be called a prank. That… um. I guess such acts can be described as pranks too.”

This must be what it feels like when a sigh escapes.

I kept my mouth shut for a moment in this frustratingly incomprehensible situation.

Then I hit Luna on the head once and said.

“Return to your original form.”

“No way.”

“If you don’t go back, I won’t pet you anymore.”

At the mention of not petting, Espin watches us with an intrigued expression from the side.

To clear up Espin’s misunderstanding, I urged Luna.

Luna looked at me with a sulky expression, then finally returned to her cat form and said.

[Is this good enough!?]

I don’t understand why she sends mana waves that only I can hear when she speaks in cat form.

I thought the misunderstanding must have been cleared up anyway, so I looked at Espin.

Espin spoke to me in a somewhat reluctant voice, with a calmer expression than before.

“Ah… so that’s what it was.”

I wanted to hear more details about what “that” was.

But I felt that if I said anything more, my sense of shame wouldn’t be able to handle it, so I decided to kick Espin out to the guest room and regain my composure.

“Well, it’s late, so you should go.”

“Oh… okay.”

Espin nodded and looked at me.

As he stepped out of the room, he added.

“… Should I tell the others about your preference?”

At those words, I immediately got up to try and grab Espin.

But Espin ran down the corridor with a mischievous laugh.

Thinking this was nothing but a headache, I sprawled on the sofa, and Luna jumped onto my thigh and said.

[I like Master…]

As I patted Luna’s back as she clung to me, I decided to educate her on human thought processes later.

* * *

The next day.

As promised, Espin handed me a detailed report for the Inspection Department.

“It felt a bit like betrayal while I was writing it, which made me feel weird… but when you think about it, I’m more on your team now than the Inspection Department’s. So I was able to compromise to some extent.”

I nodded vaguely and skimmed through the detailed contents about the inspectors.

‘Originally, there would be no reason or need to bother with these people.’

If they hold me back, I might need to deal with all of them.

I decided to first capture the head of the Inspection Department, who has the strongest influence, and deal with those without influence later.

‘Then, I need to first locate the head of the Inspection Department.’

According to Espin, for security reasons, they constantly change their location, so it’s impossible to know exactly where they are.

‘But they said there are places they frequently visit.’

It seemed like a good idea to quietly search those places first.

I held Luna, who was sleeping in my arms, and continued speaking.

“I need your tracking ability.”

[Mmm…]

Luna, still sleepy, nodded with a drowsy face and mumbled.

Then, waving its front paws, the cat spoke to me.

[Who do you want me to find?]

At that, I gave Luna the information about the head of the Inspection Department, and Luna nodded, saying it would do so.

[Okay… I’ll find them for you.]

Thanks to feeding it many seeds of negation before, its tracking ability had been greatly enhanced.

Thinking it wouldn’t be too difficult to find them, I decided to visit the places the head of the Inspection Department frequently goes to.

*

There were three places where the head of the Inspection Department often stays:

The basement of a bar in the center of the shopping district, a cabin near the Academy, and the basement of the central government building.

Among these, the central government building was relatively difficult to approach, so I decided to visit the other two places first.

I compromised with the professors appropriately.

I immediately left the Academy during lunch time and visited these two places to find the head of the Inspection Department.

Unfortunately, Luna repeatedly said that she couldn’t find anything, as if he hadn’t come to these two places.

‘Then the only place left is the central government.’

Even for someone like me, since I haven’t fully matured yet, it’s difficult to barge in recklessly.

While I was contemplating how to handle this.

Luna provided one solution.

[The boss cat said that when looking for an enemy, don’t go searching for them, but make them come to you.]

“Make them come to me?”

[Yes. If you dangle something they want or a shame they don’t want to show, they’ll appear.]

At those words, an interesting idea came to mind, and I patted Luna’s head to show my appreciation while thinking.

‘It’s time to use the contract.’

This contract itself is probably something the head of the Inspection Department doesn’t want others to see.

It would be good to subtly spread the word that I have it.

Once I made this decision, I turned around, deciding to return to my family home to prepare for this.

*

The preparation method was simple.

I just needed to cut out a part of the contract and a mark subtly revealing that it belongs to the head of the Inspection Department.

Then copy it and prepare it so that it could be posted all around the central government.

However, since it was too much work to do alone.

I was working on this with the help of Espin and Rumi.

The problem is that Rumi’s condition has significantly deteriorated.

“… What are you looking at?”

In the original novel, Rumi starts using words she would never use and begins to berate me repeatedly.

Although I knew it was all an act, seeing her trembling hands and restlessness while showing such blatant malice towards me…

‘The intensity is gradually increasing.’

I ignored Rumi’s words, thinking that perhaps she was genuinely expressing some dissatisfaction with being made to work.

‘For now, it’s probably best to maintain this kind of relationship.’

At least until I know exactly what my future holds.

Thinking that maintaining this ambiguous relationship would be better for both of us, I manifested my mana.

‘Once these are roughly completed, I’ll use spatial compression magic to attach them.’

I decided to make the Head of the Inspection Department take the bait and search for us.

As I was thinking about this and moving my hands…

Espin seemed to realize that the atmosphere between Rumi and me had become quite tense, and he cautiously spoke up.

“… Rumi?”

“Yes?”

“How’s the maid work? Is it manageable?”

“Yes. Everyone’s been very helpful, so I’m grateful to be working.”

“… That’s good.”

I suppose it’s a natural conclusion, given that I had asked the maids to take good care of Rumi.

Feeling indifferent, I picked up a piece of parchment lying below.

Espin glanced around and, perhaps to break the atmosphere, said something quite shocking to Rumi.

“… Come to think of it, did you know that cat can turn into a human? When I saw her last time, she was incredibly beautiful.”

At those words, Rumi paused her hand and narrowed her eyes as she spoke.

“… A human?”