Chapter 146
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: Cheshire
"Nyaa! What's with that look, nyaa? You don't remember me, nyaa?"
I do remember.
I know who this one is.
The top informant in the Seven Provinces, the one running the Striped Cat, right?
In this situation, he's someone worth calling a comrade.
But his name... I can't recall it.
"Hmm."
I glanced at Moona and Swungswung, but they were the same.
"Eek. Really, nyaa? I'm --- nyaa!"
Yeah.
This guy's name is...
What was it again?
"Caw? Caw caw..."
The name felt hazy.
No, it wasn't just the name.
This cat's face was starting to blur too.
"Could it be a curse? No, there's no sign of that..."
"What nyaa! What do we do!"
If time kept passing like this, his name, face, and all remaining memories would vanish completely. That was my gut feeling.
Moona the Sage said it wasn't a curse.
He even added that there's no way I wouldn't have noticed if it was.
If not a curse, then there was no real way to treat it.
"Krarrarararak!"
Plus, I couldn't fully focus on this cat right now.
A ferocious roar echoed from the fog.
That was the sound of the land's strongest monster: the snail.
But I couldn't ignore him entirely either.
He was our comrade, after all, and the key to meeting the Rabbit.
So what I had to do...
Was resolve this freak anomaly lightning-fast.
I activated Crow's Eye to check his info.
【--- LV40】
【Skills】
「Cat's Eye LV6」
「Cat's Claw LV6」
「Cat's Sense LV6」
「Cat's Luck LV6」
【Traits】
「Striped Cat」
「Extremely Flexible Bones」
「Space Leap」
「Amnesia's Mucus」
Can steal a feather by defeating the target or meeting conditions.
Stealing a feather weakens or removes the target's trait.
Condition: Learn about ---'s past.
"Caw?"
This guy had one weird trait.
Amnesia's Mucus.
First time I'd seen it.
The moment I clocked it, a gray feather flickered into view on his body.
Obviously, I had to pluck this one, right?
Amnesia's Mucus wasn't something he originally had.
Probably bestowed by that snail.
I'd encountered an enemy pulling this trick before.
The Plague Witch.
She could control others with her plague powers.
Tricky ability, but my beak shattered it.
Just plucking the visible feather neutralized it.
So, maybe this time too?
If I pecked out that visible feather with my beak?
Peck.
"Hii, hiyak! What're you doing! You planning to take my cheek like that...?"
What cheek?
Wasn't even close.
The instant I plucked his feather...
Flash!
Like when we'd first dropped into this space, the world flipped upside down again.
*
The moment I plucked the feather, I fell into some unknowable space.
What I saw: a purple cat.
That is, the Cheshire Cat.
"...Caw!"
Thanks to plucking the feather, I remembered her name.
Plucking it had been the fix, after all.
But now a problem cropped up.
I'd fallen into this unknown space.
Still, the Cheshire Cat ought to know a way out.
I approached her and spoke, but she didn't respond.
"Caw?"
Even pecking her with my beak got nothing.
She acted like I didn't exist.
Like I wasn't the protagonist of this space.
I considered pecking harder with my beak, then thought better of it.
"Alice...!"
The name from her mouth sounded ominous, so I decided to listen quietly.
The Cheshire Cat looked even younger than now.
Smaller size, more childish face overall.
Like peering into her past.
Had I somehow fallen into the past?
Was that why I couldn't intervene?
No, unlikely.
I was probably just witnessing her memory.
"Alice... don't go nyaa!"
The Cheshire Cat pleaded with a sad face.
And her counterpart was none other than Alice.
Alice of Wonderland. The protagonist of that tale, and the Cheshire Cat's comrade.
"Cheshire, you even came to see me off?"
Golden-haired Alice gave the Cheshire Cat a slight smile.
But even seeing that smile didn't change the Cheshire Cat's expression.
"Don't joke nyaa! If you go, I'll really follow you—not just see you off nyaa! So... please don't go nyaa!"
Alice was leaving, and the Cheshire Cat was trying to stop her.
"Sorry, Cheshire. But I have no choice. If we can't stop that woman, the world ends."
"Doesn't matter nyaa! Didn't she say to come with her nyaa! So... Alice can live nyaa!"
"Cheshire, that kind of life would be meaningless. And I don't want to survive while abandoning you and the Rabbit."
"We can live our own way nyaa! The Rabbit Hole is safe nyaa!"
"The Eternal Night must not come here. So, Cheshire... don't try to stop me."
I couldn't grasp the full context, but instinct told me who they meant.
The "she" they spoke of was Dorothy.
"...Don't say stupid things nyaa! How could you possibly stop her now nyaa! You'd just die like a dog nyaa!"
"Yeah, probably. But buying some time? That much I can do."
"Alice... you... youuu..."
Tears welled up in the Cheshire Cat's big eyes.
Alice had resolved herself to death.
"Don't cry, Cheshire. Even if I fail to stop her, there'll be a next time."
"Why... why do you always do this nyaa... So stupidly..."
"Sorry, Cheshire. You do what you have to. If the 'next one' I mentioned shows up, help that being."
They exchanged a few more words, then at some point, Alice vanished.
She had left.
And that was likely the last image of Alice the Cheshire Cat remembered.
"...Stupid nyaa. Really stupid nyaa. You'll regret it nyaa."
I understood why the Cheshire Cat got into buying and selling stories.
To help the next person Alice had spoken of.
"I'll make sure to see you begging to know all those love stories you like so much nyaa..."
Tears fell from the Cheshire Cat's eyes.
She was alone in this space.
With just one crow watching over her.
"Hic... stupid... really stupid nyaa..."
I slowly walked up behind her.
And delivered a chicken-foot kick to the endlessly sobbing Cheshire Cat's back.
Thwack!
"Hiyaaak! Wha-what nyaa!"
What else?
Flashback-cutter kick.
"Caw, caw caw."
Sorry, but I'm not the patient type.
The Cheshire Cat stared at me in disbelief.
"This... well, yeah. Old stuff. Ahem, that snail... showed me something unpleasant nyaa... Thanks to you, I snapped out nyaa. Would've dragged on longer without you nyaa..."
Good, she was back to herself.
The Cheshire Cat was strong.
Not trapped in the past.
She'd just mistaken the past for the present, thanks to the snail's power.
"Still, what an unromantic crow nyaa!"
She said that, but the Cheshire Cat was smiling.
"Hmph. Anyway, that's like you stealing my story nyaa?"
"Caw caw."
Yeah, kinda?
"So, you got my story for free nyaa?"
Huh?
That how it works?
"You're the first to read my past nyaa."
[Condition fulfilled.]
...Condition fulfilled?
A question mark popped up in my head, but I soon realized what happened.
Can steal a feather by defeating the target or meeting conditions.
Stealing a feather weakens or removes the target's trait.
Condition: Learn about the Cheshire Cat's past.
I could steal other people's feathers.
Low chance on defeat, but certain if condition met.
Conditions varied per target, and the Cheshire Cat's was especially tough.
And now. I'd met it.
Snap.
One hand on my waist, the other stretched out with index finger pointing at me.
Her face was a bit red, and at my fingertip's end shimmered a beautiful feather.
"The price for my story's gonna be steep nyaa!"
[The Cheshire Cat permits 「Space Leap」.]
"Caaaaw!"
Space Leap?
No way she could just give me such a busted trait?
Others maybe, but "permits" was right there.
Meaning not stolen.
[「Space Leap」 grade too high.]
"Caw..."
Grade too high?
Yeah, no way they'd hand over a cheat skill easy.
And if I snatched it, the Cheshire Cat would just be a normal cat with good intel.
Didn't want to steal from an ally.
[「Space Leap」 grade temporarily lowered.]
[Acquired 「Blink」.]
"Hmph, never done this for anyone, so feel honored nyaa."
Slightly bashful Cheshire Cat.
Her flushed face...
"Caw caw."
Move over a bit.
Lemme see my beloved Blink's description!
"Wha-what're you doing nyaa! Don't shove me nyaa!"