episode_0108

[Episode 108] Misunderstanding

Meowww! Meow meow meow meow!

As soon as the fierce cat sounds were heard from inside my room, I sensed that something was wrong.

Meowww! Meow meow! Meow meow meow!

The quiet surroundings quickly turned chaotic as cats, hidden somewhere, suddenly rushed out and gathered towards my room.

It was clear they seemed to be waiting for us.

I don’t know how they found out, but it seemed like they already knew our purpose.

“It wasn’t a relaxation of vigilance. They pretended to relax and waited for us to come.”

Quickly putting back on the gloves I had taken off, I ran towards the entrance of my room.

“….”

Hiss!

Frost spreading to prevent the cats from approaching recklessly.

Excited cats ready for a fight surrounded the frost.

In sight were the wide-open iron door of my room,

Soldier cats aiming at the window at the entrance of my room,

And a huge cat standing tall on a high platform resembling a cat tower, holding a blue bead and confronting the frost.

“That’s… a Maine Coon?”

I had only seen them in pictures back home; this was the first time seeing one in person.

They were known as the largest cats in the world… Was their breed capable of growing this big?

At first glance, their immense size could make you mistake them for a human child of about ten years old.

It was understandable why the palace of the cat kingdom was so huge.

Well, considering that cat is wearing armor and even holding a greatsword, it’s not surprising they’re quite large…

Anyway, it seems like the frost and the Maine Coon are having some kind of conversation…

Are the cats communicating in their minds? Only the frost seems to be speaking?

“….”

Hiss!

Meow? Meowww! Meowww!

It was a strange sight.

The Maine Coon seemed to be angrily saying something to the frost, shaking its whiskers, and glaring at the frost, who responded with a cute voice, barking back as nearby cats went wild, threatening the frost with equally cute voices.

Uh-oh… This is serious.

It’s clear that they are in a very serious situation, but both the frost and the cats are too cute, so there’s no sense of danger…

Meowwww!

Myaaahhh!

Oh no! I can’t just stand here watching because it’s cute.

The soldier cats are bristling as if they are about to rush at the frost any moment, and the huge cat is fidgeting as if it’s about to swing the sword it holds in its hand…

If left like this, a fight will surely break out.

That’s too dangerous!

The cats other than the frost are getting ready to attack!

“Stop! Let’s resolve this through dialogue instead of fighting for now. I apologize for the intrusion.”

Taking off the gloves, I quickly approach the frost and the Maine Coon, who seem about to collide, and mediate between them.

Meowww!

“(My loyal soldiers, surround the intruder so they cannot escape!)”

As the cat king commanded in a loud voice, the door of my room opened, and in an instant, cat soldiers surrounded the frost.

Hiss!

“(Pathetic cat king! Do you think you can cut down one of my trucks just because a few of your kind have gathered?)”

Meow meow meow. Meowww…

“(Ha, are you truly confident or just good at boasting in such a surrounded situation? Don’t worry. One surplus will be enough to cut your neck. That will be the mercy of the surplus given to you. Do you happen to know? Whether you survive after defeating the surplus… Haha! My beloved sword will taste blood after a long time!)”

Poor things.

Even the frost felt a hint of sympathy towards the cat king who treated him like prey.

Well, maybe they’ve heard a fragment of a story about the surplus being a formidable being.

So, you think you’re stronger, huh?

Tsk tsk… If you were worried about the safety of your people, even if you prostrate yourself flat in front of me right now and beg for mercy, it would not be enough…. Ignorant fool who doesn’t know the wide world.

It seems like you are somewhat proud of being a ruler and boasting about my people,

How can you not understand that if you meet an unexpected force due to your overconfidence and lose your life, then the burden falls on the very people I cherish so much?

Such a person is not fit to be a ruler.

Even the former lover, who was confident in his strength and prowess, did not behave so recklessly….

The cat king, unaware whether what he rules is appropriate, bows his head as if genuinely pitiful, advising with a trembling voice.

“(Rather than a king, you are more of a warrior. You are sitting in a position that does not suit someone who should just be a vanguard. I would like to teach you some manners directly, but that is not what my master desires.. Be grateful for the breadth of my master’s tolerance.)”

Gasp!

Although the advice from the north was given out of pity, did the cat king perceive it as a provocation?

His eyebrows gathered as if displeased, and his distinctive boiling growl began to resonate from deep within his throat.

“(Ha, even though a spear is thrust into my throat… Did I just lose my mind? Such a crude provocation. If I hide behind later because I value my life, who will trust and follow me? I already knew that smelly dogs cannot distinguish between front and back. But you are particularly severe.)”

“(So, you are exactly the kind of person who should just be a vanguard. Starting from the head without even recognizing who you are dealing with…. Tsk, what should we call a vanguard, a meat shield?)”

“(What, what..!?!?)”

Meat shield.

The soldiers, cat warriors who had been enduring under the king’s command until now, their eyes lit up with fire upon hearing this disrespectful remark that crossed the line towards the king.

“Your Majesty! There is no need for Your Majesty to stain your hands with blood for such a disrespectful person! Please give the order! I am willing to offer this dog’s neck to Your Majesty immediately!”

“That’s right. Your Majesty! What value does the blood of one who denies even the pride of a warrior have! Please let us finish him off!)”

The atmosphere becomes ominous.

Though the cat king considered the dog’s words as a vile provocation, he could not contain the rising sense of humiliation within him.

However, at this moment, he could not rush towards the dog with drawn sword…

Is it anxiety? Or is it a sense of danger?

Because a subtle intuition kept stimulating him.

He could never ignore this.

Thanks to this intuition, he had survived countless life-and-death crises in the many wars he had experienced.

To overcome the limits of his species, he must suppress the instincts of a beast, but paradoxically, he must also hone and sharpen his feline instincts for the sake of those cat warriors, the nation’s defenders.

They looked up to him.

His feline instincts, honed through countless battles as a natural-born warrior, were warning him of an unpleasant truth he did not want to acknowledge.

To engage would be a fight to the death. He would surely die.

It was at this desperate moment that the cat king tried to restrain the excited soldiers.

“Stop! Let’s resolve this through dialogue before they start fighting. We regret the intrusion.”

Suddenly, a human male appeared to mediate between his subjects and the dog!

Meow? Meow meow!

“(What, what is this? Where did this person suddenly appear from! This is some kind of sorcery…! It’s an ability beyond mere skill!)”

Meow meow meow meownyao!

“(It must be the human you mentioned at the princess’s house! Probably the owner of that dog! Well done. It seems we should also hold the author accountable for their sins! Even if humans have abilities stronger and more mysterious than cats, ultimately we outnumber them and are elite! Whether it’s that dog or a human, they should both just have their throats cut off!)”

Meow meow meow!

“Your Highness! Please give your orders!”

The cat soldiers, momentarily taken aback by the appearance of the human, once again exude a menacing air in anticipation of their proud king’s command.

“(….)”

It was a strange occurrence.

Without issuing attack orders against the enemy or even resisting, the cat king remained silent as if struck dumb by his subjects’ words.

“Your Highness…?”

Thud..! Clang…!

And… a greatsword falling powerlessly from the king’s hand.

“My lord, are you alright? Your Highness!”

Startled by the sudden actions of the cat king, the courtiers and soldiers all look towards the king in surprise…

There, their king, with a despairing expression, kneels as if his legs had given out, despite the shocked cries of his followers.

“My lord…? Why…! Your Highness!”

Even amidst the alarmed cries of his subjects, the cat king only gazes at the human man with a crumbling expression, seemingly deaf to their words, focusing solely on the man’s arm.

Or rather, he was looking at the man’s arm.

The gaze of the cats naturally follows the king’s gaze towards the man’s arm.

Something faintly visible on the man’s arm.

It was the princess of Cat Kingdom!

Wise, beautiful, and beloved by the people more than anyone else, she was revered and loved by all the cats of the kingdom… referred to as the treasure of Cat Kingdom!

As the realization of the princess being kidnapped spreads among the cat soldiers, the sense of unease felt by the cat king seems to infect his subjects as well. Everyone calls out for the princess.

And what makes them even more horrified is…

Swish swish…!

– Purr purr purr…!

“Master! Please keep petting me! Ahh…! Oh, please stroke my back like before…! Huhu…! Will you give me that thing again if I do something cute? My name is Jyur? Right? Hehehe…”

A heart-sinking feeling.

No matter how you look at it, the state of the princess seemed strange… It was odd.

As if brainwashed, she rubs her body against the kidnapper in a vulgar manner, swaying her tail gently… It was definitely not the dignified princess they knew…

It was clear that the author had done something vile to the princess!

“Princess…! How can you be held captive by that wicked human…! Come here quickly…! No, it’s dangerous, so this father will go down immediately to rescue you… Princess…!”

Despite the despair of knowing his cherished daughter is in the enemy’s hands, the cat king, driven by the determination to save his daughter, tries to call her back, but her response, always concerned about her father’s safety, has changed completely.

“Why? Why do I have to go there? The embrace of my master is so happy… I don’t want to go, Mama! I… I finally understand what happiness is, what the meaning of life is, right?”

“Princess…?”

“Yes…! We cats were born to be loved by humans! That’s the fate of cats…! Any other value is garbage! Oh… How wrong we’ve been all this time… We shouldn’t have gone against the instincts of cats…”

“(What nonsense is that, Princess..! Haven’t we been striving together for so long not to become mere beasts acting on instinct… How could you…)”

The Cat King tries to persuade the fallen princess with a heart full of despair.

“(No! We have been forgetting too many things. Ah.. the affectionate and warm touch of our master.. and that exhilarating.. hunting game, was it? It was so much fun, like a child getting overly excited… What about the heavenly taste of the food… Why should we endure and live without these joys, Your Highness?)”

Instead, the princess denies the king’s words and drives a stake into his heart.

“(I’m sorry. Father, no.. I should call you father now. From now on, my only king is you… So I… hereby renounce my title as the princess of the Cat Kingdom!)”

“(Meowther Princess!)”

“(Hoo.. hoo… Princess.. How could you do this to your father..)”

“(Father, in truth, being a princess meant nothing to me? Born as a cat feeling trapped in a cage.. What an ironic… Oh.. how disrespectful it was to defy fate! So from now on, I will also live according to fate as your pet cat!)”

“(Cough, cough..!)”

Gol gol gol gol..

Seeing the princess repeating vulgar acts while writhing in the arms of humans…

The Cat King’s mind drifted far away.