CH 9

Author’s Note:

It seems like this novel was first place this week…(*^-^*)

Thank you very much.

§(^ω^)§

While crying, cat ears took me out and got on Sig again.

That guy whom cat ears bowed to has silver hair.

That man is probably the king.

Cat ears, who should be in a high position, was kneeling all the time.

The only thing I could think of about that king-like man was “he’s scary” because he looked like an attacking dog to my eyes.

I wasn’t that scared after finding out that Sig seemed to like me.

…in other words, the king was probably a beastman from a race close to a dog.

Did this mean I’d instinctively reject scary things?

For me, who wasn’t good at puppies, seeing a dog ready to fight would only make me feel scared.

As I moved away from the castle, my tears stopped.

Probably because I’m in a position where I couldn’t rebel, cat ears became angry for me.

This was the moment his trust became unwavering to me.

Only he could be trusted.

No matter what, he’s the only one on my side.

As long as he’s with me, there’d be fewer scary things.

…dogs are really scary after all.

When I was finally able to look at the town, I became curious about what we talked about before.

When I conveyed that there are no small people, for some reason, cat ears pointed at an animal.

What did he mean…

Cat ears had animal ears and a tail.

There are others like that, and even those without have scales and wings.

…are children perhaps born in the form of an animal?

In that case, it made sense why there are so many animals.

These animals are clearly different from pet animals.

Except for creatures meant to carry people, can they all transform into a human figure?

(…does that mean that cat ears can also transform into an animal?)

Suddenly, I wanted to see it.

Cat ears should look like his ears.

A tiger, a leopard, a lion…I think he’d be a carnivore since he didn’t look like a “cat”.

If it’s someone that showed its will to attack, I’d be scared, but if his sweet cat ears transform, that won’t happen.

As I looked up, cat ears patted my head.

Cat ears is kinder than usual, probably because I cried.

It’s sweet.

I was so scared of the king that I asked him to hold me.

Even begged him to pick me up…

But, being by cat ears’ side relieved my anxiety.

I’ve never been mistreated by cat ears.

I won’t do anything to make him angry so that he wouldn’t leave me because I’m a “hassle”.

He’s kinder than anyone and thinks of me more than anyone else.

He spent his fortune on my behalf and helped me learn the language, even though he might be busy.

He’s like a parent who gave free love to his child.

…I’ve never been so spoiled by my real parents like this.

What would he do if he knew I’m 18?

Maybe he’s just kind to me because I’m a kid.

…no, I think it’s normal.

There’s no point in being so kind to an 18-year-old stranger.

“I won’t give you up”, he said.

But that’s only because my appearance is young.

If I return to my original form, it won’t be funny if I’m abandoned.

If I can’t go back to Japan, I have no choice but to live here.

With that in mind, I don’t want cat ears to let go of me.

I can’t speak the language completely yet.

Many words don’t make sense.

I know what it means, but I’m sure it’s just my guess.

Therefore, I sometimes feel that I’m not familiar with it.

Now that I still can’t speak the language, I’m not just worried about the loss of cat ears’ protection.

If I live in this world, I’d be alone.

So if I’m considered an adult and cat ears let go of me, I have no choice but to be at a loss.

I understand that cat ears is being too sweet to me.

But can I stay on cat ears’ side even after he knew who I am?

“All right. Go home.”

While looking up and saying those words…cat ears stroked my head.

I knew my presence was only a burden to cat ears.

But I could only rely on cat ears…

There’s still no way to get back to my room where I used to be.

I don’t know how I got here, and I don’t know how I can go home.

Do I have no choice but to live here?

Or will I be able to return to where I used to be someday?

During these days, what’s happening in Japan?

Am I supposed to be dead?

Or am I missing?

How about the University?

What about my parents?

Will my existence remain in Japan if I go back after many years?

Anxiety rushed in at once.

Tears overflowed and cat ears said something in a rush──

I was always anxious.

It’s been a few days but I hadn’t gone back.

I just learned a little of the words of this world.

I’m a useless idler in this world.

Everyone had no idea who or why I came to this world.

What should I do from now on?

But it’s painful to deceive him all the time.

I’ve been in conflict all this time.

At the very least, I had the obligation of telling cat ears the truth.

“Water, drink.”

I was given a bag of water.

Probably because I cried a lot.

I’ve been crying a lot since I came to this world.

I should be 18 already…but I’m still worried about being in a place I don’t know…however, I’m just making excuses.

As expected, I have to talk to cat ears and ask if he will still take care of me.

There’s a high possibility that I’ll be told to “live alone”, but he should understand that there’s no job I could do with my current appearance. So, could he continue spoiling me with kindness?

───

──

I’m back in the town where cat ears’ house is.

I wondered if we’re going to cat ears’ workplace, but cat ears went home.

Maybe because I cried, but it’s just the right time to talk to cat ears.

“Rodo, talk.”

“What?”

I can only speak a few words, but I should be able to do it.

I just hoped that his smiles for me wouldn’t disappear.

“Kou, 10, 8.”

I told him I’m not a child.

“Small, different.”

However, he just tilted his head to imply that cat ears didn’t understand.

(How can I tell him?)

I know too few words and I don’t know how to convey them.

As expected, should I have learned more words before saying it?

Suddenly, I saw the paper I used for writing so that I can always remember the letters.

(Even if I don’t understand the letters, I should be able to convey them through pictures, right?)

I went to the place where the paper was placed and easily drew a picture.

If I draw the characteristics of the other party, he should be able to understand who I drew somehow.

First, draw cat ears.

The tool I always used to write letters was something like the Conte sticks on Earth.

It has various colors like crayons.

I don’t really like drawing and I wasn’t interested, so I hadn’t drawn anything since I came to this world…

Cat ears praised me, but I don’t care about my drawing ability for now.

“Rodo.”

I pointed to the drawing and said cat ears’ name.

By the way, I hadn’t learned the characters (spelling) of cat ears’ name yet.

…it should be very long, but this should be fine for now, right?

I drew a picture again.

This time, it’s me.

I’ve seen it several times aside from when I saw myself in the spring.

There’s no mirror in this world, but there are things that could reflect one’s figure like a sword’s blade which was a substitute for a mirror.

After drawing it, I also drew my original figure.

“****?”

Cat ears said something, but unfortunately, I don’t know what it means.

“Kou.”

When I pointed at both figures while saying so, cat ears had a surprised expression.

…did he understand?

“I’m sorry.”

I have to tell him this.

I’ve been fooling cat ears all this time.

“Kou, small, different.”

Since I hadn’t been taught the words for “adult” and “child” yet, I can’t say that I’m already an adult nearing my second decade.

No matter what, I can’t make excuses.

“****, ****? *********. ********?”

Cat ears was talking excitedly.

But I don’t know what he’s saying.

“Big, can you do it?”

“…?”

After tilting my head…I somehow understood what that meant.

I guess he’s asking if I could return to my original shape.

“Can do it, no.”

Then I shook my head.

If possible, I would have done it.

Besides, I don’t even know why I shrunk.

“Rodo, *****.”

He said something but he’s pointing at himself. What does cat ears mean?

He picked up the paper and drew something.

“*******!”

I was stunned when I was shown the paper when he finished drawing.

…cat ears’ artistic sense is too miserable.

I can’t understand what he drew.

I only know that it’s something that looked like an animal.

…what did he want to say?

Cat ears suddenly took off his clothes.

After one big exhale──

There was a strange sound like a bone popping from his back.

Black hair grew from his body, and my hair floated even though there’s no wind.

The next moment, he transformed into a creature with a reddish-brown lion’s mane on a black panther covered with black hair.

A carnivore by every sense of the word.

Is his height about 1.5 meters?

He’s walking on four legs, so is he about 3m to 4m long?

However, his eyes were the same as when he was humanoid.

Did he not seem like a “predator” because I knew that the creature in front of me is cat ears?

To me, he just looked like a big, cool cat.

Perhaps he misunderstood that I’m scared, so cat ears backed away and laid down.

This is…

Maybe he meant I could touch him!?

I approached and reached out.

Maybe I’m too excited that my breathing became disorderly.

But my favorite cat was lying down and saying that it’s okay to touch.

As a cat lover, I can’t stand it.

There’s even no sign of him running away.

“Fuooooo…! Amazing! Touching is dangerous!!”

The furs other than the mane were short, but it felt very good to the touch.

The fluffy hair was packed together densely.

He swayed back and winced at my actions, but I ignored that.

I stroked his body, which I knew to be muscular, and rubbed my face against it.

“Haa~…this is bliss.”

I can’t do this with a normal carnivore.

However, the other person is cat ears who can understand the language (isn’t this misleading?), so there’s no danger.

“…Kou, scary, different?”

As I rubbed my face against his flank, my cheeks loosened then I heard the voice of cat ears.

He seemed able to speak even if his appearance changed.

Rather than that…”scary”?

“There’s no such thing!”

I wanted to say thank you for the blissful time.

(…cat ears won’t understand even if I speak in Japanese.)

“Scary, wrong. Like.”

So let me stroke you once a day!

Cat ears laid down around me.

Moreover, he licked my cheek.

(Somehow, he’s happy…?)

Maybe everyone was scared of him?

What a punishment for such a cute creature!

…I will monopolize him from now on.

I also stroked his face.

Cat ears even lowered his head to the floor so that I could reach it.

Not many cats would be so quiet while being petted.

So I enjoyed it to my heart’s content.

I don’t know if I should ask cat ears first, but he didn’t seem angry, so is it okay to stay like this?

Perhaps he meant that I might be able to transform like cat ears…?

I want to do it if I could.

Adults would be able to do more work.

…though my childish appearance would have been a chance to be protected by cat ears.

Author’s Note:

Overall rating exceeded 5000P!

Thank you very much (*^▽^*)