CH 181

Chapter 181 – We Found A Cat!

“It was the swampland over there, wasn’t it? Where you rescued Enna.”

Mette said as she looked at the swampland at the far back of the sandy beach.

I nodded.

“Aye. It’s where the Mad Slime was.”

“We had the kraken poison at that time, thankfully.”

Melk muttered, and Mette chuckled.

“Though, the kraken was scary as well… I wonder if we’ll be attacked again.”

“I don’t think there are a lot of them… At least, I hope.”

I said without much confidence, and then Mette looked around the boat with a worried expression.

Iria saw this and said,

“Regardless of what comes, it will be no threat to Sir Joshua. So calm down, Mette.”

“Ye-yes. You are right. We have Joshua… Yes, it will be fine.”

Mette didn’t say anything else after that, and just nodded.

Iria looked a little puzzled at first, but then she quickly turned towards me.

“That being said, there will likely be strong monsters in the east as well.”

“Ah, well… I suppose you could say that Fendel was also surrounded by dangerous monsters.”

It was easy to forget it, but the Armor Boars and Hell Alligators around Fendel were actually quite powerful.

And if the east was considerably less populated with people, then it was possible that there would be even stronger monsters…

Asuha muttered while sending wind to the sails.

“From what we saw, there were a lot of boars to the east as well. And Shield Shells near the shore.”

According to the information from the Tengus, there had not been any monsters that were particularly different in appearance.

“That being said, we cannot let our guard down. Everyone, try to stick together as much as possible.”

I said, and they all nodded in agreement.

Melk then muttered as she gazed out to the south.

“To the south. What is there?”

“Indeed. If you turn to the west a little and keep going south, then you would eventually see the southern part of the continent, where the Demon King Army is based. However, as far as what is south of that… Even I do not know.”

I said, and then Melk turned her gaze back to the south horizon.

“Do you prefer to go on adventures, rather than staging in the village, Melk?”

“Not at all. But anywhere is fine, if Joshua is there.”

“Me-Melk…”

While Melk said this as if it was nothing, I did feel happy to hear it.

Upon seeing this, Iria also chimed in.

“I would also go to the ends of the earth with you, Sir Joshua… Even to the afterlife!”

“That is one place you should not accompany me to… Well, perhaps one day, we could see how far to the south we can travel.”

“I am also interested in the east and north. Though, it would be nice if there was an easier way to travel.”

I nodded at Iria’s words.

“We could solve that problem, if we could only make an airship.”

We had found plans for a flying ship in the Ymirdia undergrounds. With something like that, we would not have to pass through rivers and seas.

Apparently, the dwarves were trying to build it. And perhaps I could find something in the east that they could use.

Just then, Mette said,

“Is everyone starting to get hungry?”

“Yes, it is already midday. Perhaps we should rest on the shore.”

Mette got seasick easily. And even with the Ent leaves, I did not want her to have to endure it for too long. Besides, I wasn’t immune to seasickness either.

Everyone nodded at my words.

And so we anchored at a nearby beach, and decided to cook there.

I then built a simple cooking area, and started to cook with Mette.

As for Iria, Melk, and Asuha, they went out to make sure that there weren’t any monsters nearby.

Apparently, they encountered a few Shield Shells, but Iria took them out in the blink of an eye.

“It’s ready! The fish that Enna caught earlier!”

Mette placed the food onto the table that I set on the beach.

Fish grilled with herbs, turnip soup, and Grank wheat bread.

With the gentle ocean breeze around us, we sat down to eat.

“It’s delicious…”

“Mette. Your cooking has improved.”

Asuha and Iria praised her, and I nodded in agreement as I tasted the food.

According to Enna, the fish could be eaten raw, but… Well, maybe I will try it next time.

However, we had only had meat and fish to eat before. But now, we had a lot more variety when it came to food.

As I thought of such things, Melk’s ears suddenly stood up.

And then her eyes moved towards some bushes.

“Something targeting. Be careful.

“I will go and look.”

Iria was about to stand up, but I held her hand back.

“No, judging by the shape of the magic energy, it is just a dog or cat. It is too small to be a wolf. So there is nothing to be worried about. Besides, there is only one.”

I said while looking at the magic energy within the bushes.

“In that cast, maybe it will leave if we give it some fish. Here.”

Mette took off a piece of the fish and put it on a plate. And then she placed it in front of the bushes before returning to the table.

A short while later, the bushes began to shake.

And then out came a small black cat with red eyes.

“How cute…”

Asuha couldn’t help but mutter.

While the cat looked at us cautiously, it slowly moved towards the fish. And then it devoured it in no time.

“It must have been hungry. Here, have some soup too.”

Mette put some soup into a plate and let the cat drink it.

The black cat looked very satisfied after that, and it returned into the bushes.

Melk saw it leave and said,

“How unusual for it to be here.”

“Yes, we also rarely see any cats.”

Iria said with a nod.

I had also not seen any wild cats or dogs since coming to Fendel. Perhaps it was because the boars and alligators got them.

“Should we take it with us?”

Asuha asked. ‘Good idea,’ said Melk, as she tried to move closer to the black cat.

However, the cat moved away as if to escape.

“Hmm. It might be difficult.”

“We shouldn’t take it with us by force. Let’s just leave it be for now.”

I said, and the others agreed.

After that, we returned to the boat, and continued our journey to the east while following the coast.

However, Melk then noticed something.

“The black cat is running in the same direction.”

“Is it trying to follow us?”

Asuha wondered, and Mette answered.

“Perhaps it wants dinner. Well, I’m sure it will get bored soon.”

However, the black cat continued to chase after us after that.