The First Errand: A Resounding Success!
"Hmm, where's the cat gong's pudding? This body can't find it."
"Meow." (Look a little harder.)
The red-haired girl, Leah, ignored the slightly bustling surroundings and was rummaging through the dairy section for pudding. The cat wanted to help search for the pudding beside the rustling Leah, but "Meow..." (My paws are like this... I can't help.) Its paws were chubbier than expected, so it was afraid it'd knock the whole shelf over if it touched anything carelessly. All it could do was watch.
Puu... a product that says 'Puu'... is this it?" Leah shook a container labeled Prune Juice and asked the cat.
"Meow." (Sigh, no that's not it.)
The cat let out a slight sigh-like meow, signaling to the girl that it wasn't.
"Hmm, this isn't it then. This body still doesn't know letters well."
"Meeeow~"
"Mmph, the cat gong is right. Pudding isn't purple like this—it's yellow."
The girl plunged her upper body back into the shelf and frantically searched for pudding again. After a full 20 minutes of treasure-hunting in the chilly cold, the girl finally realized it.
Another crisis had befallen her!
'Ugh... does this body need Si-hyeon just to find pudding too?'
Leah felt a bit downcast but didn't give up. No, she couldn't give up!
'Like the Knight King stories Si-hyeon told this body, this body will be a steadfast knight pushing forward!'
Even though she'd lost her power, this body was a knight. She couldn't ignore the trial before her eyes and just live on.
"This body will never give up!"
"Meow!" (You can do it!)
Rustle—rustle— The citizens watching the red-haired girl diligently searching and the large cat silently guarding her side began cheering them on inwardly without realizing it.
'Argh! That's the milk and juice shelf—no pudding there! I wanna tell her it's on the next shelf over!'
'But she's such a pretty girl doing her errand all by herself... I can't interfere!'
'B-but maybe just pointing out the shelf would be okay?'
'Aah, her eyes are a little teary but she's holding it in and searching—so cute! My heart's gonna stop!'
People stopped paying attention to the large cat sitting quietly beside Leah. They'd silently agreed it was just a 'well-fed stray cat~.'
If it had looked as sleek and tiger-like as it did in photos, they might've been scared longer...
"MROW~"
—Lick lick.
"S-so... cute...!"
"It's huge... so super cute...!"
"Grooming with those short chubby paws—too cute!"
Cuteness was truly a powerful weapon!
"Hmph, this place doesn't feel right. Cat gong! Let's try over there!"
"Meow." (Be careful not to trip.)
As Leah and the cat wandered the mart here and there on their pudding quest, a fan club was unknowingly forming around them.
'Yeah, just a bit more effort!'
'Aah, not that way...! One shelf back...!'
'Yes, right there!'
And finally, when Leah found the shelf stocked full of pudding.
"Woooah!! The princess finally found the pudding!"
"Princess, you did amazing!!"
"Aah, princess! Look over here!"
Click click!
People shouted and snapped photos of Leah and the white cat nonstop.
And our little knight—
"Mmph, humans know how to revere this body."
"Meow." (Is that so?)
She seemed quite pleased with the cheering humans.
"But this body is a knight, not a princess—why keep calling me princess?"
"Meow."
The cat informed Leah that 'people usually call pretty girls princess.'
"Cat gong, do you think this body is pretty too?"
"Meow~" (Yeah. Super pretty.)
"Hehe, if that's the reason, this body will specially forgive the humans calling me princess."
Leah gave a slight hand wave to the cheering crowd and handed out the prune juice.
"Thanks for welcoming this body! This is the purple drink this body found earlier—it's a gift."
"Kyaa! Even her lispy pronunciation is too cute!"
"Aah, the princess bestowed juice upon us! Everyone, chug it now!"
"We should teach 'thanks' as 'gomao' in school from now on?"
"That's a retarded idea, but let's do it."
And so Leah's stormy Pudding Hunt Operation! came to a triumphant close.
A few hours later, posts like these started flooding SNS.
Even so, no one posted blaming Leah. The cute princess was innocent!
"Phew, every time I say I'm leaving early it's a damn war."
I stretched long toward the sky. The sun had set, and it was pitch dark—later than I'd planned.
'Was gonna head out right away.'
The moment I saw Leah's photos on the community site, I bolted for the mart, but—
—"Hey, dude's broken. You haven't done your daily closeout report or tomorrow's work plan."
—"C'mon team leader, please! My kid's out riding a tiger right now!"
—"Kids play with animals all the time. Quit bullshitting and write it."
—"Just this once, please!"
—"Wanna get hit first then write, or just write?"
Damn team leader forced me to finish everything before letting me go.
"At least public reaction's good. If opinion on Leah sucked, I'd have ditched work team leader or not."
From checking internet and community responses, people saw Leah as a 'pretty girl riding a big cat.'
"Civilians' safety negligence shines here."
Obviously, normals don't know Leah claims to be a mengmang-grade ghost story. Guilds tightly controlled info, knowing the trauma from ghost stories and mengmang-grade would cause panic.
"Didn't expect a fan club that quick tho. Haha."
Started with the big cat, but attention shifted to Leah ultimately.
"Leah's a total beauty like Luna, so yeah... but no more grocery runs with her now."
I sighed shortly, unlocked the door, and entered.
—Click.
The house felt eerily quiet. Normally Leah'd bounce over yelling 'Welcome back! Si-hyeon!' all happy.
"Huh...?"
Too quiet. Like it'd been empty forever.
My heart dropped. Was Leah still out? It was dark outside—did she get lost?
"Si, Si-hyeon... where are you...? This body is so cold and hungry..."
I swear I heard Leah's shivering, teary phantom voice.
'Did that big cat snatch her?'
Totally possible. Like warnings in Gangwon about eagles snatching babies, big animals grabbing little girls is easy.
—Tap tap!
Anxious, I rushed inside and checked the living room first.
'She likes napping on the living room floor, maybe there.'
Empty. Just the fridge humming through the silence.
"Please be in the bedroom..."
With trembling hands, I opened the door.
"Mmnya... Si-hyeon... this body succeeded in the errand..."
There was Leah, sleep-talking softly on the bed.
"Haa... nearly scared me to death."
Relief washed over me. Leah was sprawled on the bed as-is. Still in daytime clothes, dusty here and there, sleeve ends muddy. Clear she'd struggled hard on her errand.
Not her usual big-starfish sprawl—she was curled deep asleep under the covers. My nose tingled a bit.
"...Must've been really tough."
I fixed her messy blanket and smoothed her bangs.
Then, "Uuum..." Leah curled tighter, mumbling in sleep.
"Si-hyeon... the way is hard..."
Worried about the errand even asleep. Her pure innocence made me chuckle unwittingly.
"Guess our knight's got no talent for directions."
I could vividly picture her struggling alone, lost.
'Better not disturb.'
I quietly turned to the living room.
First thing: massive shopping bag on the table.
"Haha, figured, but she really bought this much pudding?"
Some packages torn—Leah must've snuck tastes on the way home.
"Guess guardian duty includes cleanup."
I opened the bag and loaded the fridge with her haul: vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, banana, etc. She'd swept every pudding in the store. Her obsession was unreal.
"Phew, all in. Good thing I upgraded the fridge with that bonus."
As I slotted the last one,
"Meow."
A cat meow from behind.
"Huh? You're the cat from earlier... with Leah?"
"Meow."
"But smaller than in photos?"
Looked tiger-sized carrying Leah, but now normal cat size. Could resize freely? In a ghost story world, no big deal. Maybe it beat a ghost story and got powers.
'No point overthinking. Seems harmless.'
I approached the sitting cat and gently petted its head.
—Purr purr.
"Haha, been a while. Real purr machine."
"Meeeow~"
"Yeah yeah. You watched over Leah all day? Thanks."
The white cat enjoyed my hand a moment, then bit my collar, gesturing to follow.
"What? Going somewhere?"
"Meeeow."
It tugged me to the living room table. There sat the word puzzle box I'd bought for Leah. Unopened, new.
—Scratch scratch.
It pawed the box, tore the plastic, dumped pieces on the table.
"Living to see a cat unbox."
Felt like I shouldn't interfere, so I just watched blankly.
It alternated mouth and paws, clearing unneeded pieces.
—Click click.
"Got something to say to me?"
"Meow."
The cat deftly pushed and arranged pieces.
After a bit, only three word puzzles remained on the table.
[Watch] [Over] [Me]
"Watch over me...? What the...?"
I looked up quick, but the cat had vanished like smoke.
Leaving only the cryptic word 'Watch over me.'