Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~

Chapter 125.2: Cats In The Courtyard

◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

My consciousness gradually returned from dreamland. That was such a nice sleep.

A mattress with beautiful embroidery was laid on an ebony couch, it was so soft and comfortable. Moreover, the sun had already risen high up in the sky. I felt its warmth seeping through the window, the sunlight only covered by a thin piece of silk.

The liquor I drank last night still lingered in my body, making me feel sluggish.

The liquor recommended by the Goddess of Scorpions, Bruhl, was delicious and easy to drink, but I ended up getting drunk in the middle of the event since I kept drinking it without realizing how strong it was.

By the time I woke up, I was already on this bed.

The golden ornaments on my body that I had borrowed from Ishtar had already been taken off and placed on the desk beside the bed.

Was Reiji the one who moved me to this bed?

That was a bit problematic indeed.

Well, maybe the one who moved me to this bed was a catfolk maid.

As for Reiji, he probably continued to drink with Ishtar even after I passed out.

What happened after that though?

I guess I’ll have to ask him later when I meet him.

After getting up from the bed, I realized that some snacks and a water pitcher were placed on the bedside table. It seems they were prepared to help me with my hangover. The snacks were fruit, goat cheese, and vegetable sandwiches with freshly baked bread.

Even though we were in Gypseal, it seems the diet here was the same.

Since I had no appetite for a heavy meal, I took a fruit for now.

As I took a bite of the fruit, its sweet nectar spread in my mouth.

The texture resembled that of a fig.

「U~hm!! Well then, let’s take a stroll!!」

I stood up and stretched my arms after I ate the fruit.

Let’s try to find Reiji for now.

I changed my clothes and left the room, walking along the corridor and passing by the catfolk maids along the way. Whenever that happened, they opened the way and nodded at me.

It seems they were already busy since early morning.

Was this what they meant as “Being so busy to the point of willing to accept the helping hand of a cat” in this world?

I arrived in a certain courtyard while pondering about such things.

The courtyard was huge, the greenery stretched as far as I could see, and water flowed into the fountain. It was such a surreal spectacle that made me forget about this entire region being a desert.

Okay, let’s walk a bit more.

And then, just when I entered the courtyard.

「Geh!!」

I unintentionally raised a perplexed voice. What I could see in front of me was the figure of Medjed (the mysterious creature) and princess Nelfriti standing in the middle of the courtyard.

Due to a certain incident, I always had a hard time dealing with Medjed.

There were a lot of cats around Medjed’s feet, they were dancing happily.

What were they doing I wonder?

Moreover, Totona wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Well, she might be somewhere else, preoccupied by something. What was she doing right now I wonder? Was she hiding?

Harsesh and the other male Gods who got captivated by her beauty were waiting for Totona to return to the banquet last night.

Could it be that she hid herself since she was aware of that fact?

「Oh my? Aren’t you the hero of light’s comrade meow? What was your nyame again?」

Princess Nelfriti looked at me upon noticing my presence.

「It’s Chiyuki, princess Nelfriti. May you tell me what’s going on right now?」

I introduced myself as I had almost never spoken with princess Nel before this morning.

Thus it couldn’t be helped if she forgot my name.

「It’s just as you see, I’m dancing with Meowdjed in this place.」

After she said so, Medjed started to shake his hips.

The WMD beneath his clothes might be shaking too right now.

… The heck, what was I thinking about just now?

Could it be that I was still drunk and couldn’t think rationally?

Okay, let’s try not to look below.

And the moment I looked up, I saw the things attached on Medjed’s head.

「Cat ears?」

Medjed with cat ears attached on top of his head looked different from yesterday.

I ended up saying “DA FUCK?!!!” inside.

I mean, why cat ears of all things?

Medjed kept dancing as usual.

My head was in utter chaos seeing him dancing like that.

「Is someowthing the matter?」

「E~h. Uhm… excuse me…」

I WANTED TO F*CKING SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THIS WEIRD SITUATION RIGHT NOW!!

But, I swallowed my words.

Nelfriti was the princess of Gypseal. I definitely couldn’t mess with her.

「Ah? I see. I understand meow. You must want one of these.」

As I looked at Medjed’s cat ears, Nelfriti suddenly attached the thing in her hand onto my head.

「Eh, is this?」

I touched the thing attached to my head.

Yes, it seems to be a hairband that is made to resemble cat ears.

「Chiyuki is no longer envious of Medjed’s cat ears nyaow, right? With this, you two are matching meow.」

Said Nelfriti.

… I was envious of Medjed’s cat ears indeed.

But I have my own cat ears now.

Fufufu, take a look Medjed, you’re not the only one with cat ears.

「HAH!! YOU ARE MISTAKE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N!!!」

I, I was not envious of Medjed’s adorable looking cat ears at all!!!!

I continued retorting inside.

I sat down with a completely perplexed look on my face.

Dammit, I had too many retorts to the point that they were jammed in my throat.

Nelfriti and the cats were tilting their heads in confusion seeing my one man show.

「Why are you suddenly sitting like that, Chiyuki?」

「No… It’s nothing. Thank you for the cat ears.」

I somehow managed to get back on my feet.

It was tiring.

「What’s the matter?!! I heard a loud scream just now!!」

Apparently, someone came running after hearing my scream.

When I turned around, I saw Reiji’s figure.

Behind him were Ishtar, Bruhl, and the beastfolk maid led by the beautiful sphinx.

Ishtar and co seemed to have been with Reiji till a while ago.

He brought along a group of women with him again.

「What’s matter, Chiyu— Eh, CAT EARS?!!!」

Reiji couldn’t hide his shock upon looking at my cat ears.

He even had this “Seriously, what are you doing?” look on his face.

「E~h, actually there’s nothing at all.」

I coughed to clear my thoughts and replied so.

Both Ishtar and Bruhl were smiling as they looked at me.

「Fufufu, it looks surprisingly good on you, Chiyuki. It must have been put on by Nel I presume.」

「Nel-sama, I think you should stop attaching cat ears to everyone like this. Although I have to say that it matches Chiyuki very well, some people don’t look good when wearing them.」

「I understand meow. But nyeow Medjed and Chiyuki can get along.」

Nelfriti spoke while puffing her chest.

Wait, did that mean this princess had actually attached cat ears to EVERYONE?

Reiji was looking around restless.

「Princess Nel, where is Goddess Totona? I haven’t seen her figure here.」

Seriously, are you actually waiting for Totona too?

I retorted to Reiji in my mind.

「After doing her best yesterday, Totonyan is currently resting in her room.」

Though I had no idea what she meant by “Doing her best”, Totona wasn’t here right now.

Too bad for you, Reiji.

I laughed at Reiji in my heart.

「Reiji-kun, where did you go with Ishtar and Bruhl?」

I asked so, glaring at Reiji.

I’m curious, where in the world was he with these two Goddesses until a while ago?

Just curious, it’s not like I’m jealous of them.

「Ah, we went into the golden pyramid.」

Said Reiji while looking at Ishtar and Bruhl.

「Golden pyramid? Why did you go there?」

「To bind a pact with a high rank spirit of light, Chiyuki. Reiji is looking for a way to become stronger. After hearing that, Sekhmetra told him that a high rank spirit of light appeared in the golden pyramid. Since he’s the holder of the power of light, he might be able to make a pact with that spirit.」

Ishtar explained in Reiji’s place.

In this world, spirits were divided into earth, water, fire, wind, light, and darkness.

One needs inborn talent in each attribute to be able to summon the respective spirit of that attribute.

Even Rino, who could get along with many spirits, couldn’t summon a high rank spirit of light.

「Yeah, it’s surprisingly easier than I thought, Chiyuki.」

Reiji flashed his refreshing smile as he spoke.

Properly speaking, Reiji couldn’t summon the spirits of earth, water, fire, and wind.

But, it seems he had the aptitude for summoning the high rank spirit of light.

「NYAAA?! Not even Hal-kun can do that meow!!」

Nelfriti was equally surprised.

Though both Harsesh and Reiji had the light attribute, the former doesn’t seem to be capable of summoning a high rank spirit of light.

I could imagine his anguished expression when he heard this news.

Suddenly, the figure of Medjed who stood behind Nelfriti caught my attention.

Medjed’s eyes were… Looking at Reiji.