Chapter 311

Chapter 311

The next morning.

Simon was awake several hours earlier than usual, walking across campus.

He had planned to meet with Farahann, the Professor of Defense Against the Holy Arts, to talk about his divine beast before heading to his morning class.

'I wonder how surprised the professor would be when he sees Akalion!'

He was looking forward to it.

Simon puffed out his chest and took a deep breath. The early morning air was fresh and crisp.

However...

Caw! Caw!

Some crows were being oddly loud on the early morning road.

Meeeooow!

Meow!

It was followed by the meows of a cat.

'What's going on?'

When Simon went to the source of the noise, he found the crow and the kittens fighting over a sausage that had fallen to the ground.

'Cami's kittens?'

Upon taking a closer look, it was the kittens that Camibarez was raising. It was impressive to see the tiny kittens, who could be blasted back by just a flap of the crow's wings, stand together and fight against the crow.

Perhaps the crow thought it wouldn't have any chance to beat them, so it flapped its wings and flew away.

Hiss!

The kittens, taking their advantage, made sure it wasn't going to come back. Then, as they turned back to claim their precious spoils of war...

Meow!

They spotted Simon.

The white and black lumps ran toward Simon, not even eating the sausage. They purred, running around Simon's shoes and rubbing their bodies against his legs, demanding to be held.

"Wh-What are you guys doing here?"

Taking a moment to think, Simon remembered that Camibarez had called them Whitey and Blackey.on slowly petted them both, then held them up with both hands and cradled them against his chest. The kittens curled up and snuggled into comfortable crevices in his elbows.

"Let's return to the girls' dormitory."

This place was full of necromancers, and undead roamed the streets. It was a pretty dangerous place for a kitten to move around.

Coincidentally, it was on his way, so he could take them there. Simon walked on, happy to see the kittens' affectionate behavior.

"Whitey!"

This time, he heard a familiar voice.

It was Camibarez in her pajamas, anxiously looking for the kittens.

"Cami!"

"Ah, Simon~!"

She stopped in her tracks, her wings flapping in excitement as she spotted the kittens in Simon's arms.

"Whitey! Blackey! Where were you guys?!"

Simon handed the kittens into Camibarez's arms.

"They were fighting a crow. They aren't hurt, though."

"Oh, thank goodness!"

Camibarez skillfully picked up the kittens. The kittens purred happily.

"These little troublemakers are getting smarter these days. They keep finding a way out."

Simon stared at the kittens as he listened to her.

"Other than that, they barely grew."

One would expect kittens their age to grow bigger by the day, but these ones were still the same size as when they'd first found them months ago.

"Have you already checked if they're monsters?"

"Yes! I've called a professional to have them checked, and..."

She shook her head.

"Even researchers who are knowledgeable with monsters said they've never seen babies of a monster like this..."

"Hmm."

Simon reached out a finger and checked the kittens' foreheads. Perhaps they thought Simon was playing with them, so they playfully batted at his hand with their paws.

"Wait, wait."

He could feel their pointy horns when he gently touched their foreheads with his finger. They didn't seem to be normal cats, after all.

"That's why I've been thinking a lot about them lately."

Camibarez' head sunk down to her chest.

"The warehouse manager also said it's getting too much for them, so..."

"Right, the promise was to keep them for two months, whether they were monsters or not."

"Yeah, as much as I'd like to keep them in my dorm room, I can't because of the school rules... So I've been going around lately, trying to find someone to be their owner! I'm thinking of going to Professor Hong Feng this weekend!"

Simon smiled.

"Then let's all go and try asking her."

"Really? Thank you, Simon!"

It was time for the kittens to return to eat. Sensing that it was time to say goodbye, the kittens struggled, trying to get back into Simon's arms.

Meow! Meowww!

"Y-You shouldn't bother him! He's also busy."

Camibarez hugged the kittens tighter, pulling them closer to her chest.

Simon said in surprise,

"Whitey, Blackey!"

"Do you know them?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. They must've followed me here."

Simon was sure he saw them being taken away by Camibarez. How did they get out?

Simon approached to rescue the kittens.

"W-Wait a minute!"

Farahann's mouth dropped open in disbelief. His head turned to the kittens, who were licking the divine net.

"Th-Those are divine beasts!"

Simon's eyes widened, too.

"Divine beasts?!"

* * *

Simon entered Farahann's new home.

It was like a watercolor painting. A modest house on a hill surrounded by trees.

Simon exclaimed in admiration and said,

"You built this house in such a short time?"

"Not really built, more like magically transported it."

And in the grass of the yard, the kittens and Akalion—in its tiny plushie form—were playing around.

The aggressive kittens, able to fight crows on equal terms, lunged forward with their claws. Akalion fell on its back, unable to defeat them. It was so cute that just watching them would make even the coldest heart melt.

"How surprising. To think a divine beast owned by a priest would follow you."

Simon had explained what had happened with Akalion to Farahann as they were walking. Simon scratched his head.

"I feel a little... sorry to that priest."

"There's nothing to feel sorry about. No one can say anything about the divine beast picking their master. Even if you had abandoned Akalion there, it wouldn't have returned to that Efnel student."

Farahann also discussed how it was rare for a divine beast to choose its master. So, the study of divine beasts taught students how to lead and nurture divine beasts even before they are chosen as their master.

[Woof! Bwooof!]

Akalion, still a plushie, hid behind Simon's leg to escape the kittens' relentless assault.

The kittens followed after it, wanting to continue playing.

"Stop it, you two. You should get along."

Simon scooped Akalion up into his arms. The kittens meowed and tried to climb up his legs.

"Such precious kids."

Said Farahann, stroking the kittens' heads. The kittens bit Farahann's finger in rebellion.

"I have seen a few divine beasts born in the Dark Territory. But I never expected one, not to mention two, on Roke Island."

"But are they really divine beasts? I can't feel any divinity from them, and they even got along with Cami, who's a necromancer."

"Divine beasts can be categorized into two types."

The most well known was the 'perfect' type, existing as a complete entity with divinity since birth.

However, the 'shapeshifter' type look like animals or monsters on the outside amd change their form when infused with divinity.

Rete's baby dragon, Ran, was the perfect type, while Simon's Akalion was an example of a shapeshifter.

"It is only expected for any divine beasts in the Dark Territory to be the shapeshifter type. Any perfect-type ones, emitting divinity at birth, would have been killed on sight by any roaming necromancers or natural-type undead."

"Th-That's true."

"Shapeshifters have a much better chance of survival in the Dark Territory. In fact, it is likely a product of evolution that these kittens don't mind the jet-black and will only emit divinity once they transform."

Simon looked at the kittens with a serious face.

"Th-Then, if I infuse divinity into these kittens..."

"Yes. They'll recognize themselves and awaken as true divine beasts."

Simon gulped. He wondered what these kittens would become.

At that moment, Farahann stroked his beard and said,

"You said a girl named Camibarez was looking for the kittens' owners, am I right?"

"Yes."

"These divine beasts won't last long in the wild. I want you to be their owner. Because students aren't allowed to bring cats into their dorms, I am able to look after them on ordinary days.

Simon's eyes shone with joy.

"Will you really do that?"

"Haha! Of course."

It was perfect. If he could entrust the divine beasts to a professor who had studied divine beasts, the kittens would almost certainly be safe.

"Well then, would you like to infuse them with divinity and transform them into their true forms?"

"Yes, I'll try."

Simon nodded and slowly squatted down in place. Then, he put his hand on the head of 'Whitey', who was clinging to his leg.

'Wh-Why am I the one getting nervous?'

He felt the tingling horn on his palm.

Whitey, who normally couldn't keep still for even a moment, sat as still as a statue for some reason.

Its round eyes looked up at Simon as if expecting something.

"I'll begin."

Simon took a small breath before letting his divinity flow into the kitten.

——