CH 183

Chapter 183 – It could talk!?

“Why talk?”

Melk questioned the puzzled black cat.

“Meow? Is it so strange that I can talk, meow?”

“Cats do not usually talk.”

Melk answered, but the black cat had a troubled expression.

Monsters who spoke human language…was one thing. But I had never heard of a beast being able to talk.

Or could this black cat be a demihuman?

Iria was curious as well, and opened her mouth.

“In any case, let us introduce ourselves. I am Iria. And this…”

Iria then introduced everyone, and talked about demihumans and Fendel.

“Meow? Demihumans? I think that I’ve heard that word before…”

The black cat muttered. In other words, it did not know much about demihumans.

“I am Rona of the Nowa tribe.”

“Nowa tribe? So you have friends?”

I asked, and Rona nodded.

“Yes, meow. Would you like to meet them? We would welcome you for all of your help! Meow! If you offered some fish, then you could even stay the night, meow.”

“Just wants to eat fish.”

Melk muttered. Rona then retorted.

“Y-you can come without fish as well! We are very magnanimous, meow!”

“Well, in any case… We were looking for people that we could talk to. You see, we want friends in these territories as well.”

I said, and Rona tilted its head questioningly.

“We are of the Fendel Alliance… Where many different tribes live together. And we would like to have more people.”

“I see… We would also be interested in that, meow.”

Our clothes and tools must have been unusual, as Rona was staring at them with great interest.

“Really?”

“Meow. But some of them would prefer to stay here, meow.”

“You don’t have to live with us in the village. We could just trade food.”

“Meow. That sounds interesting. But there are so many snakes around here, meow. Trading would be difficult.”

“You can leave that to us. In any case, will you lead us to your house? I would like to get a grasp of the area.”

“Very well, meow!”

And so we decided to head over to the house where Rona lived. I put the boat into storage, and followed after Rona.

Mette cut down that tall grass and bushes in front of us as we made our way inland.

Rona looked at Mette’s sword and said,

“You all carry such interesting things, meow. What is it?”

“It’s a weapon, well, a tool. Called a sword.”

I answered, and then Rona’s expression changed as if suddenly remembering something.

“Meow-meow. Tool. We also have a treasure, meow.”

“Huh. Are you collecting them?”

“We inherited it from our ancestors, meow. I will show it to you later!”

As the grass started to become shorter, a vast prairie with scattered boulders came into view.

There were fewer trees here than in Fendel. All I could see was a forest in the far distance.

And when I turned to the west, I saw the mountains where Ymir and the dwarves lived.

In fact, there were a lot of boars here as well.

I even felt a little nostalgic as I felt the ground shake, and heard the echoes of the boars as they ran through the grass.

…It had been like this around Fendel at first.

“This is what it’s like beyond the mountains.”

Melk said as she looked around.

“While I could not tell while looking from the sky, the grass seems to be much shorter here compared to Fendel.”

However, Mette was searching for something carefully.

“Where would one live in such a place? It doesn’t look promising.”

“If it was a place you could spot immediately, then the boars and snakes would find us, meow. It’s underneath that great boulder, meow. Follow me!”

And so we followed after Rona once again.

In the meantime, Iria seemed to be wondering about something as she asked,

“By the way, Rona. Are there any others here who can talk as well?”

“Aside from the Nowa tribe, meow? There are. Like that Melk over there, and the turtles I often meet on the eastern beach, meow.”

Upon hearing this, Melk asked eagerly.

“Looks like Melk?”

“Meow. They have fur like dead grass. I think you should be able to meet them if you head north from here… But I don’t see them often. We used to fight when I was small.”

“Can they turn human?”

Melk said as she pointed her nose towards us. So that Rona would know what she meant by that.

Rona shook its head.

“No, meow. My ancestors were able to take human form, meow. I heard they stood on two legs. But they stopped doing it, because it was dangerous, meow.”

“I see. Indeed, you would run slower on two legs. And it will be easier for other beasts to see you.”

Melk nodded understandingly.

In other words, Rona and the others used to be demihumans.

However, as humanoids without tools, they could not defend themselves against bears, or wild beasts and monsters like boars.

And so they started to live just in their beast form.

However, they could still talk.

In that case, it was possible that these tribes that resembled Melk, or the turtles, were demihumans.

And there may also be others in the east, who are living while pretending to be beasts.

Just then, Rona’s ears perked up.

Melk also stopped and looked around.

“Muffled voices.”

“Meow… This is where we live, meow! Someone is being attacked!”

Rona said, and then immediately started to run towards the large boulder.