65
Ch.65 It’s a Familiar Taste
W-City’s greatest hero, Starlight, grilled the meat inside the box without pause and patted my head.
“Hey… Um, sorry? You know I’m apologizing, right?”
“Grrrrrr…”
“Are we good now…?”
What’s there to be sorry about? The meat’s this delicious.
Good terms? Did we even fight? Isn’t it natural for heroes and monsters to clash?
With a large chunk of meat in one hand, I tossed it up, caught it, and flipped it with practiced ease.
Every time I opened my mouth for more, happiness took shape and melted inside.
“Is it that good?”
“Woooooong~!”
I was certain—I must have lived just to eat this meat.
After devouring every last morsel, I savored the lingering taste and licked my lips.
Beside me, Starlight pulled out something strange and started talking.
“Black Cat…? Can we talk for a bit?”
“Meow?”
“Uh… I definitely told you before, right? That you can speak?”
“Owawong.”
“Are you still mad? You don’t want to talk to me…?”
[Talking makes me hungry.]
I let out a whine and eventually used my ability to move the air.
When in monster form, my speech isn’t physical—it’s powered by my ability.
And the more I use my ability, the hungrier I get.
So unless it’s absolutely necessary, I don’t like speaking in monster form.
“So you can talk… A monster capable of conversation…”
“Wooong?”
“Great, the possibility of resolving this through words just got a lot higher.”
Starlight seemed both surprised and slightly relieved that I could speak.
At the same time, she kept squeezing something onto a disposable plate.
What is that?
It smells incredibly delicious.
“Black Cat, as long as you don’t go on a rampage, no S-rank hero will come after you. In return, can you try not to reach Annihilation-class?”
A strange request.
Monsters naturally evolve to the next stage by consuming other monsters and humans.
As long as I keep filling my stomach, I’ll eventually reach Annihilation-class whether I want to or not.
Not eating humans might delay it, but that’s all.
Is she asking me not to eat humans?
The whispers of instinct from my monster core tell me Starlight probably doesn’t know the exact conditions for me to reach Annihilation-class.
Besides, telling a monster to suppress its instincts? That’s not something a hero should say.
“If you promise, I’ll give you this.”
“Oooong…?”
Then, Starlight held out a small plate filled with that delicious-smelling stuff.
What is this scent…?
Sniff, sniff—instinctively, my tongue flicked out.
“Ah, no! I’ll give it to you if you promise. Promise me.”
“Waoow…?”
What is this taste…? This rich, sweet, savory flavor.
It’s not comparable to premium 1++ beef, but… It’s good.
Like comparing gourmet cuisine to cola.
An intense, almost violent taste lingers in my mouth.
“Promise, promise me—no more devouring random monster cores, and try not to reach Annihilation-class… I’ll give it to you if you promise!”
Lick, lick. After two more licks, the plate was empty. Starlight stared at it blankly.
Hmm… Not bad.
It might not taste like much to human palates, but in this monster form, the flavor is intensely addictive.
…I want more.
[What is this? I’ve never tasted it before.]
“It’s called churu. A puree made from meat and oil that cats love… Um, cat treats?”
[I’m not a cat.]
Sniff, sniff. Catching the scent of the churu, I clamped my teeth onto Starlight’s bag.
She grabbed the other end and yanked, preventing me from running off with it.
“W-Wait! I’ll give you more if you promise!”
“Grrrr…”
“Ugh, seriously—no! Listen, I’ll give it to you if you listen!”
Riiip. As the bag tore, Starlight pulled out a large tub from inside.
With the empty bag still in my mouth, I eyed the tub full of churu and licked my lips.
“Okay, okay! Just listen to a few things, alright? Then I’ll give it to you.”
“Wong.”
“…Lift your head. If you try to steal it, I won’t give it to you.”
Tch. I clicked my tongue and raised my head, abandoning my attempt to snatch the tub.
As soon as I sat properly, Starlight proudly squeezed more churu onto the plate.
“Good. Churu is for well-behaved cats who listen. Got it?”
At this point, I was too tired to correct her about not being a cat.
Starlight kept squeezing the churu onto the plate as I licked it and continued talking.
“Listen carefully. There are weird people lately who might target you. If someone suspicious offers you food, don’t follow them, okay? Even if they seem pitiful or hurt, don’t go with them. Got it?”
“Wongawongawong.”
“I’m really grateful for all the people you’ve saved so far, but some might try to take advantage of you. Be careful. Especially if anyone calls you a ‘god’ or asks you to ‘save’ them… Are you even listening? Huh!”
So noisy. Can’t she let me eat in peace?
When the plate emptied, I chomped on Starlight’s hand. She let out a sticky, emotional sound and patted my head.
“I-Is this affection? I heard cats bite gently when they’re happy…”
[Squeeze more. The plate’s empty.]
“Ah, okay…”
It wasn’t a gentle bite—her hand was just tough.
Disappointed, Starlight kept refilling the plate like a sushi chef.
“Anyway… The heroes will give you meat, so just follow their instructions a little, okay? If you fill your stomach with beef and pork, you won’t need to eat monsters or humans, right?”
“Nyanyanyang.”
“You get it, right? Black Cat, as long as you don’t do anything bad, the citizens and heroes will keep giving you meat and treats. So don’t do bad things, okay?”
Here, bad things probably means eating humans.
I don’t plan to, but Starlight’s definition of human might differ from mine.
If she’s telling me not to eat trash humans, then no deal.
Unless she gives me that 1++ beef every day.
[If I listen to you, will you give me that beef every day?]
“Huh? That’s… Not possible… It’s not about money, but supply. At most, I can give you that amount once a month.”
“Waoow… Oong…?”
Hearing that, disappointment at only eating it once a month was quickly replaced by excitement that I’d get to eat it at all.
“But… I’ll give you churu every time, with the meat. How’s that?”
Churu as a snack too… Still, unless I can eat it until I’m full, it’s not enough.
Can’t I eat freely, like at a free food stand?
Now that I think about it… Starlight funds those too, right?
And the meat the heroes give me…
If I get premium 1++ beef once a month, it might not be so bad.
Not much different from what I’ve been doing.
“Got it? Don’t follow suspicious people.”
Then, the plate was completely empty.
I stared silently at Starlight, waiting for more.
“Aowong.”
“More churu? There’s none left today.”
What, no more?
Beef and dessert… Not quite full, but satisfied, I yawned and groomed my fur.
Well, time to go now that I’ve eaten.
“W-Wait! You’re leaving after eating?! What about your answer?!”
Whoosh. I leaped off the rooftop, passing through the murmuring crowd below.
As I sank into the shadows and fled, Starlight shouted after me.
“Black Cat! Don’t follow anyone suspicious, no matter what they offer! Got it?!”
Listening to her fading voice, I thought,
As if a monster would follow someone just because they offer food.
What do they even take me for?
***
Electress’s ability synergized perfectly with spatial manipulation.
Her electromagnetic field detection was far more precise and long-ranged than monster core wavelength tracking.
Once a monster was located, spatial manipulation crushed it remotely.
Spatial manipulation bypassed the usual limitation where abilities weaken with distance from the core.
My range covers half a district—by linking spaces, I could project my ability farther.
Unfortunately, spatial linking requires precise control, so only one connection at a time.
The only downside is how long it takes to hunt distant monsters one by one.
Lately, I’d been enjoying preemptively eliminating monsters before alarms sounded.
After clearing an area, no monsters appeared there for a while.
I called this ‘Monster Extermination Picnic’.
“Haven’t monsters decreased lately?”
“Monster damage? That’s thanks to the Black Cat…”
“No, I mean monster appearances themselves.”
“Huh? Now that you mention it… Weird…”
As the pattern continued, heroes noticed monsters avoided where I napped.
Eventually, they realized: No monsters spawn where the Black Cat sleeps.
“Maybe it’s spatial manipulation.”
“Bad cats’ ability—he might be hunting remotely.”
“So when he ‘naps,’ he’s sniping monsters from afar?”
“Ah! Did you feel it? The ability’s wavelength…”
“Wow, his ability’s getting stealthier… Scary.”
“At this point, isn’t he W-City’s guardian deity?”
Soon, rumors spread among citizens too
“Where the Black Cat naps is safe.”
People napped leisurely near me, enjoying unnatural peace in this monster-ridden era.
And day by day, more expressed gratitude.
“The Black Cat is no longer just the Black Cat. He is Lord Black Cat.”
“Those who dare disrespect Lord Black Cat shall be deemed enemies.”
“Thank you, Lord Black Cat.”
“Ooooh… Lord Black Cat~ Please grace us daily and make our real estate prices soar!”
To citizens, praising me was lighthearted fun.
Their exaggerated worship didn’t feel entirely sincere, so I dismissed it.
But the heroes reacted extremely sensitively.
“Addressing him as ‘Lord Black Cat’ is prohibited.”
“Sorry, but may I see your W-City resident card?”
“This is District 8, requesting backup.”
“C’mon, it’s just a joke!”
Their overreaction seemed unnecessary—until I tasted their unease.
Then Starlight’s warning echoed,
“Beware of those who call you a god.”
Haven’t met any yet, though.
After another underground monster hunt, I paused mid-sprint atop a building.
My core sensed something odd.
A swarm of Terror-class flying monsters—a lot of them.
Insect-types clustered together, moving en masse.
Monsters approaching from beyond detection range like this were impossible to preempt.
“Krooo!”
Boom! I unleashed lightning into the sky, incinerating most.
But a few evaded and dove toward the city.
Alarms blared as the swarm descended into a dark alley.
Crush. Every time I swallowed space whole, their numbers dwindled.
The remnants fled—until they targeted a lone human.
The man flailed as the insects swarmed him.
Whoom! I blasted them away with a shockwave, then burned the rest.
“Ah… Th-thank you… O Lord Black Cat…”
Huh? A strange, unfamiliar emotional scent wafted from him.
Like others, he fished out a sausage from his pocket.
“Please… Accept this.”
As I opened my mouth, he carefully placed it in.
The sweet, sticky flavor made my mouth water instantly.
Chew. It was the tastiest meat I’d had in a while.
This flavor… I know this taste.
Human.
This is human sausage.