Chapter 81: S#14. Pet Shop (1)

S#14.

“Summer. The voice in your head has returned.”

Ishikawa Reiko said, gently caressing a clear crystal ball as she made an accurate diagnosis.

I was impressed.

“How did you know?”

“I can sense things like this. It’s my job, after all.”

As expected of a gifted spiritualist.

I decided to ask a bit more while I had the chance.

“Reiko, what is the identity of this ‘voice’?”

“There are several possibilities. Some people I’ve seen in the past heard hallucinations due to schizophrenia, while others, with strong spiritual power, heard the voices of the deceased.”

“Which one am I?”

“Neither. Summer, you have a strong mental fortitude, so it’s not hallucinations. And you don’t fit the latter either. Usually, women have strong spiritual powers.”

Reiko stroked the smooth surface of the crystal ball. Her movements exuded a mysterious energy.

“I can’t say for sure yet. I’m sorry I can’t give you a clear answer.”

I nodded in understanding.

Even though Reiko was talented, she probably didn’t have much experience yet. She was still young.

Suddenly, I noticed Reiko’s necklace. A thin chain with a pendant shaped like a ‘W.’

W.

Was it the initial for ‘Wes’? She mentioned it was a group of spiritualists.

If there was someone in that group more skilled than Reiko… maybe they could help.

At that moment, someone strode towards our outdoor table.

It was Nancy Strode.

Nancy glanced between Reiko and me. She seemed somewhat displeased.

“…Am I interrupting, Asareko?”

“It’s Ishikawa Reiko.”

Reiko said with a smile.

“What brings you to my yard, Nancy?”

“I’m here to get something I left behind.”

Nancy casually linked her arm with mine.

She pulled me up from the chair and took me away.

—
Raei  Translations
—

“Let’s go quickly, Summer!”

“I get it, but can you let go of my arm…”

Nancy’s chest kept pressing against my arm as she linked it.

With every step, my elbow sank into her soft, elastic chest.

When I tried to pull my arm away, Nancy pressed closer. I could see her white cleavage.

Sometimes, Nancy’s impressive figure led to awkward situations like this.

To dispel the lustful thoughts towards my friend, I played a remix of the Heart Sutra in my head.

Nancy led me to a newly opened pet shop in the village.

She seemed eager to look at the cute animals.

“There must be puppies and kittens! Which do you prefer, Summer?”

“Cats.”

“Why?”

“I was bitten by a stray dog when I was young.”

Since then, I haven’t really liked dogs.

Nancy made a ‘meow~’ sound, playfully mimicking a cat with her raised paws. It was so silly and cute that I smiled.

We arrived in front of the shop.

The place looked so shabby it seemed like it might collapse any moment.

Was it really newly opened? It looked older than the pyramids…

The front of the building was a large glass display filled with metal cages. But there were no puppies or kittens.

All the cages were empty.

I had a bad feeling.

“Is this place even open? All the lights are off.”

“Let’s just go in and check.”

Nancy held my hand.

As we opened the door and entered, a strange stench hit us.

In the darkness, we saw square metal cages. There were animals inside.

But something was wrong with them.

A dog missing a leg. A monkey without eyes. A rabbit without ears.

They all lay there, bandaged.

The sad eyes of the animals turned towards us.

“Nancy… is this really a pet shop?”

“Yes.”

“It looks more like an animal hospital.”

These creatures might have been precious lives, but as products, they were worthless.

As we slowly entered the shop, I made eye contact with a parrot inside a cage.

Its beak was broken. I felt a pang of pity.

“Look, Summer! What kind of animal is this?”

Nancy approached a slightly larger cage on the floor.

She squatted down and peered inside.

What could be inside…

…A human face suddenly popped out from behind the bars.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Nancy screamed and fell back.

Inside the cage was a middle-aged man, crammed into the narrow space.

It was incredibly bizarre.

“Who… are you?”

“My name is Littleman. I am the owner of this shop.”

The man replied in a creepy voice.

He wore a black suit. His balding head and fierce nose stood out, with one eye squinting.

He had a terrifying appearance.

“Why are you in a cage?”

“Look at the animals I sell. They are all confined in cages, aren’t they? I wanted to share their pain, so I confined myself.”

Littleman smiled, twitching an eyebrow. He had an unusual philosophy.

From inside the cage, he twisted his neck grotesquely to look up at Nancy.

“Are you two a couple?”

“Uh… we’re not married yet…”

“Hehe. I see. Are you looking for any particular animal?”

“We’re just here to look around.”

“Browsing! Very good.”

Littleman extended a finger to point at a cage in the corner.

“Do you see that crocodile over there? It ate a two-year-old baby. Crocodiles digest very slowly. The baby is probably still inside its stomach, though only partially by now.”

…

“How about the monkey? That gibbon has no spine. A poacher split its back open and removed it. Gibbon spines are used as lucky charms. That monkey is incredibly lucky to be alive even after losing its charm.”

The unsettling explanations continued.

I didn’t want to hear any more. I hurriedly changed the subject.

“But Littleman, there seem to be a lot of injured animals here.”

“Only injured animals are here. They are all dying.”

“Uh… why?”

“This shop only deals with animals that are near death.”

He explained that the goal was to allow animals on the brink of death to spend their last days in the care of a loving owner.

The intention was good. But the animals in the cages all looked like they were in agony.

They might as well be dead already.

Rather than prolonging their meaningless suffering, it would be better to euthanize them humanely.

“You shouldn’t take death lightly, customer.”

Littleman said, as if seeing through me, and pointed towards the inside of the shop.

There were countless cages lined up along the aisle.

“Let’s go, Summer.”

Nancy naturally took my hand and walked.

We saw the animals inside the cages. They were practically corpses.

Skinned or with twisted joints. The air was filled with excruciating pain.

The deeper we went, the darker it got, and the stronger the stench of decay became.

The injuries of the animals in the cages became more severe.

It was like the place was changing from a shop to a hospital, then to a cemetery…

Seeing animals that were hard to tell if they were dead or alive was not a pleasant experience.

Nancy was sweating cold and trembling.

I had a chilling feeling that the last cage at the end of the shop might contain animal bones.

I wanted to get out of this nightmare as soon as possible.

We turned to leave.

Just as we were about to exit the shop, Nancy stopped in her tracks.

Her gaze was fixed on a small cage on the shelf. A meowing sound came from it.

It was a black cat.

“Hehe. It seems that cat has caught your eye.”

Littleman, crouching in the cage, said.

“The cat was in a car accident. It got run over by a truck and its intestines burst. It won’t live much longer.”

“Poor thing…”

“What do you think, ma’am? Would you like to take the cat?”

The black cat meowed mournfully. Nancy’s eyes grew moist as she looked closely at it.

“It’s so pitiful… How much is the adoption fee?”

“I don’t charge money for dying cats. Instead, you must make a bet with me.”

“A bet…?”

“If that cat survives for more than a week, I will give you ten thousand dollars.”

Ten thousand dollars?

I couldn’t believe my ears.

That’s over twelve million won when converted. Even without considering inflation, it’s a significant amount of money.

The reward for keeping a dying cat alive for a week seemed excessive.

I asked Littleman.

“What if the cat doesn’t survive the week? Do we have to pay you ten thousand dollars?”

“No. You just need to bring the cat’s corpse back here. No payment is necessary.”

It was a bizarre wager.

Nancy asked cautiously.

“Why make such a bet…?”

“A cat that severely injured surviving more than a week would be proof of the love it received. Love is worth ten thousand dollars.”

“…”

“But if the cat dies before the week is up, it means it didn’t receive enough love. In that case, I want to bury it myself.”

If the cat survives for a week, we get ten thousand dollars.

If it dies before the week is up, we bring its body back to the shop…

Nancy opened the cage door. She reached in and gently stroked the cat’s black fur.

“Alright. Your name is ‘Pluto’ now!”

“Nancy, are you serious? Are you really going to take it?”

“Yes. I’m going to do it.”

Nancy said in a tearful voice.

I wasn’t thrilled about taking a dying black cat home.

Littleman’s strange bet was hard to understand, and the cat looked like it wouldn’t last seven hours, let alone a week.

But we couldn’t just leave it behind.

The cat looked so pitiful.

Its sunken abdomen and the lumpy bulges all over its body suggested that its intestines were herniated and torn.

“I’ll be with you, even if it’s just for your last days…”

Nancy murmured as she peered into the cage. The black cat wheezed with labored breaths.

As we left the shop, the narration echoed.

-They brought the black cat home.

The flame of life in the cage was quickly dwindling.

The axe murderer had not yet realized.

If the cat didn’t survive the week, he would end up buried in its place.

—