The Cat Ears Beneath the Hat

With my money, the hero's party climbed aboard a carriage bound for the Estire Kingdom.

As promised, I was listening to Ser-Aria spin her tales.

"…So I stole every last pair of my sister's panties and hid them! Thanks to me, she had to walk around with nothing underneath that whole day! And of course, that was the day the wind decided to blow like crazy, right?"

Honestly, I had zero interest in Ser-Aria's stories. I hadn't asked her to talk because I wanted to hear her — I'd figured that if I let her ramble long enough, I might pick up a few things about how elves actually lived. But…

"So you think a skirt's just gonna sit still in that? Her whole lower half was on full display! Puhaha!!"

The stories she was telling were absolute disasters. She was dumping her own sister's black history on us without a second thought… I couldn't help wondering what would happen if I ever repeated this to that sister of hers.

She'd probably try to kill her little sibling, right…?

I know I would.

Rattle!

"Ohh?!"

"Kyaa!"

The carriage lurched hard. Letisia, sitting beside me, slammed into my shoulder with a solid thud.

It was a minor bump — nothing that should have been a problem. The problem was the enormous hat on her head, which chose that exact moment to clobber me.

"Aaagh!"

The pointed tip of that cone-shaped hat stabbed straight into my eye. I clutched at it and doubled over.

"A-Allen! Are you all right?"

"……I'm fine…."

I am absolutely not fine, you little—

"Puhuhu♡ Dummy, you should've dodged~♡"

The mesugaki who'd been watching the whole thing wasn't about to let the opportunity slip past.

If I had agility stats like yours and a trait like [Sixth Sense], I would've dodged just fine.

"Still the same loser reaction speed, huh♡"

After teasing me just enough, Erinn looked ahead.

"Looks like something's stuck under the wheels~."

"Aigoo, my apologies! There's a big rock in the road! Looks like we'll need to clear it before we can go on!"

A porter's personal funds weren't exactly overflowing, so the carriage we'd boarded was nothing luxurious. It was closer to a cargo wagon than anything else, with a thin canvas canopy that barely kept out the wind and sun. The one saving grace was the pair of horses pulling it — at least we had some speed.

Still, I was grateful for what we had. Beats a handcart, right? Without my money, we wouldn't have even managed that.

"It'd be faster if someone just went and cleared it."

"Yeah~? Then go clear it real quick~."

"…You go, Erinn."

I'd paid for the ride. As far as I was concerned, the freeloaders could handle the grunt work.

"What~? A grown man won't step up, so he's making a little girl like me do it~? Absolute bottom-tier♡"

"Want me to kick you off, then?"

"…Threatening me like that is so mean~."

What's mean about it, you brat.

Erinn grumbled her way down from the carriage and headed forward. A moment later came a heavy thud — the sound of a rock being hurled into the far distance — and then she was back.

"There was a rock as flat and wide as a loser's face~♡"

"…My face is not flat."

That seemed to be the end of it. The carriage started rolling again almost immediately.

We hadn't gone far before it lurched a second time.

"Kyaaat!"

"Aaaagh!!"

"Huk, Allen, are you okay?!"

"……Not okay…."

This time it was the other eye….

"I'll clear it this time!"

Ser-Aria hopped out of the carriage. Freya pointed at Letisia's hat — the one that kept stabbing me in the eyes — and spoke up.

"Letisia, I think you'd be better off just taking the hat off."

"Ah…."

Freya had a point. That cone tip kept finding my eyeballs with uncanny precision. How did it even manage to hit nothing but the eyes every single time….

"Y-You're right… I'll take it off…."

Letisia fidgeted, then tentatively reached for her hat. She didn't pull it off right away, though — she hesitated, hand hovering.

Why the hesitation? Is she disappointed she didn't get to stab my other eye too?

"It's all right, Letisia. Allen won't look at you strangely."

"…?"

What is she talking about?

"…Don't laugh, Allen."

"At what?"

"You'll know when you see…."

With that, Letisia took off her hat. And I was, for a moment, genuinely surprised. Perched atop her rose-red hair was a pair of small, adorable cat ears, twitching faintly.

"……Cosplay?"

"Of course not!"

"Letisia is a half cat-kin. She doesn't like people knowing if she can help it, so only those of us who share a room with her knew. We just… hadn't told you yet, Allen."

Cat-kin? So that meant….

"A cat?"

"I-It's weird, right? I knew it…."

"No, not really…."

Weren't beastfolk supposed to have animal ears instead of human ones? The reason I'd never suspected Letisia of being a beastfolk was that she had no tail — and a perfectly normal pair of human ears sitting right where they should be.

"Then what about the ears…."

"I-It's because I'm a half. I inherited traits from both humans and cat-kin… that's why I don't have a tail, either."

So she has four ears, then…?

"Must be great ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for hearing."

"These ears are basically decorative… I didn't fully inherit the cat-kin advantages. That's why covering them with a hat doesn't affect my hearing at all."

"…So how is that any different from cosplay?"

"Would you be quiet…!! This is exactly why I didn't want to say anything!"

"Ah, okay, okay. I'll stop teasing."

So that was why Letisia's agility was so high relative to her power. I'd wondered how a rear-line mage ended up with an agility stat approaching two hundred… turns out there was a reason.

It was still a strange sight, though. Letisia was pretty enough on her own, but if you isolated just the cat ears — no tail, otherwise a pure-blooded human in every other respect — it really did look like she was just wearing a pair of cat-ear headbands.

Except they kept twitching, which rather spoiled the headband theory. The way they moved seemed to shift with her mood, too….

"But do you really need to hide them? They don't look weird at all."

"……What?"

"I mean, they just look like accessories to me. I was curious whether there was actually a reason to hide them. I'm not trying to make fun of you."

Letisia looked at me with faintly startled eyes.

"…Allen, you're a pure-blooded human, right?"

"Uh, yeah…? Why?"

"And you still don't find it strange? I have four ears. And two of them are cat ears sitting right on top of my head…."

……Ah.

Given the time period of Dungeon in Evil, "beastfolk cosplay" wasn't exactly a thing that existed. The kids' slang and terminology might have been modernized for the game, but the underlying values of the setting hadn't been updated to match.

Who in a medieval world would cosplay as a cat-eared girl? From their perspective, Letisia's appearance might look less cute and more… wrong.

…So if I make it clear that I, at least, don't think that way, maybe I can build up a little goodwill. And if I do that, the odds of staying in the party until I've found every hidden piece go up.

Having reached that conclusion, I decided to compliment her.

"They just look cute to me."

"Cute? You don't have to say something that ridiculous just to make me feel better, you know…?"

Huh. Wrong approach?

"I'd rather you just say they're weird… Don't say things that don't make any sense."

"…No."

This was dangerous. I'd been trying to stack affinity points and was about to stack negative ones instead. I scrambled for an excuse, turning the problem over in my head, and finally decided the best move was to just brazen it out with a straight face.

"They really are cute. I even feel like petting them."

"W-Wha… What are you saying…!?"

Letisia's face went scarlet. Oh — that actually seemed to work. With any luck, I'd dodged the negative affinity stack.

"Wow, that line was awful~♡ Are you trying to hit on Letisia with cheap pickup lines like that, Allen~? Your lines are trash~♡"

I'm not hitting on anyone, you brat….

Letisia averted her eyes from me, but she didn't get any angrier. I'd thought I'd messed up, so this was a relief.

And thanks to that, I'd learned something useful: compliments from a modern perspective don't always land….

Just then, Ser-Aria vaulted back onto the carriage and announced herself with full confidence.

"This Noonim has returned!"

"What was stuck under the wheels this time?"

"Hm? A broken sword!"

"Aha……."

……A sword?

"…A broken sword?"

"A sword? Was it an old one?"

"Eeh? It didn't look that old… it was pretty new, actually."

Ser-Aria's report made me tense up slightly. Because according to the map I'd checked before we left….

"……There's a village coming up soon."

"…A sword that was broken not long ago, near a village."

Freya had caught on just as quickly. She looked at Erinn.

"Something may have happened to the village."

"Hmmm…."

"We're passing through anyway, so wouldn't it be better to look into it and help if we can?"

Freya said something very saintess-like. Her outfit, of course, was anything but.

"As long as it doesn't delay us too much, I think it should be fine."

Letisia offered a mild agreement of her own. After all, there was no guarantee something bad had actually happened.

Of course, in situations like this, there was almost always… a ninety-nine percent chance that something had happened. How many good reasons could there be for a freshly broken sword to be lying near a village?

Still, Erinn was hesitating. I couldn't blame her. We were in a hurry to reach the northeastern reaches of the Estire Kingdom.

"Let's go take a look first and then decide. Whether we pass straight ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through, or try to deal with whatever's going on."

At my suggestion, Erinn glanced at me, then gave a light nod.

"Fine by me~."

The party leader had given her blessing. I moved up front to speak with the coachman.

"Please take us as far as the village outskirts. I'd appreciate it if you could stop there for a bit."

"There's nothing dangerous waiting, is there…?"

"It'll be fine."

The people in this carriage could protect your life and then some, mister.

We left the carriage parked near the village entrance. Ser-Aria and the thief — both highly mobile — went in to scout the interior. Before long, the two of them came back shaking their heads.

"There's nobody. And it's not that small a village."

"……There are a lot of signs that people were dragged off somewhere."

I'd have thought we were due to dodge a cliché like this for once, but of course something was always going on.

"Judging by the fact that the Left General didn't know about it, this must have happened just today."

"Looking at how completely empty it is, I'd say around dawn. No corpses, either."

Hearing Freya and Ser-Aria's exchange, Erinn raised her arms and stretched with a long yawn.

"Pretty obvious this was monsters' work~♡ If they cleaned out a whole village, that means they're moving ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in a pack…."

Erinn suddenly looked at me.

"If they took every last corpse and person without leaving anything behind, maybe orcs that look like a loser~? Or goblins~?"

"…I don't look like either of those, thanks."

"We really can't just ignore this. But getting delayed on the way to the Estire Kingdom would be a problem too~♡"

She said that, then shot me a sidelong glance.

"If we end up late, let's just say it was because Allen tried to jump Letisia~♡"

"What kind of—"

"D-Don't say weird things, Erinn!"

"Puhu♡"

The way she tossed it out so casually genuinely threw me. For a second I'd wondered if a so-called hero was really going to walk past something like this… but no. Even a damn mesugaki was still a hero when it counted.

"Still, we can't all go. We can't just leave the carriage~."

"Khh, right! So who stays behind?"

…No wonder she never had any money left, the way she kept drinking.

Ser-Aria, who once again hadn't been able to stop herself from guzzling booze, asked the question. Erinn answered.

"Letisia."

"Understood."

"And the loser stays too, obviously♡"

"……And?"

"Just the two of you should be enough, right~?"

I tilted my head at Erinn's answer. Excluding me, the porter, there were five party members — and she wanted to leave only one of them behind while the other four went ahead?

Normally you'd split three and two, wouldn't you?

I didn't know if that meant she trusted Letisia that much, or what. But then Erinn looked at me with a meaningful glint in her eye.

"This is your chance, isn't it~?"

"……Ah."

The party member with the finest control over mana was none other than Letisia. Erinn had more raw mana, sure — but Letisia had spent far more of her life living with it than a girl who'd spent half hers as an ordinary country maiden. Of course her technique was superior.

For Erinn to say something like that meant she'd left Letisia behind on purpose….

This brat….

She talked a big game, but she was actually helping me out! Buoyed by the thought, I spoke up cheerfully.

"Got it. I'll stay and hold down the fort with Letisia. You all take care!"

"Fufu. Allen, aren't you a little too happy about not going?"

"That wasn't what I meant…."

Freya laughed as if it were a joke.

"Be careful. If our guess is right and it's orcs or goblins, they might still be watching this village. Looking for extra prey."

"…Yeah, I know."

"Everyone move fast~ If you drag your feet like a bunch of grubs, we'll be late~♡"

"Puhaha, calling us grubs is too much, Erinn!"

The mesugaki, the alcoholic, the exhibitionist, and the thief climbed down from the carriage. Three of them started walking right away — but for some reason, the thief didn't follow. They looked at me instead.

"What?"

"……Take this."

The thief held something out. I took it — a bone of some kind.

"…A bone?"

The thief nodded. Then they spun around and quickly caught up with Erinn.

……Why give me a bone all of a sudden? Was this supposed to be a preview of my future?

"You're imagining something weird again, Allen. That's not what it means."

"Huh?"

Letisia explained.

"If you break that, the thief will know through a curse placed on the bone. It won't split easily by force, so throw it against ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a rock or something."

"Ah…."

So they'd come running if we got into trouble. But why put a curse on a bone of all things….

"You've gotten pretty close with the thief, Allen. Before we cleared the dungeon, you had them in tears all the time."

"…If that's how it looks, then good."

We had gotten closer, yeah. For reasons I still didn't fully understand, the thief had been the one to approach me first, and we'd managed a decent amount of back-and-forth since. We'd even agreed I'd give them a proper name, so that said plenty.

"There were times I found it annoying how they cried at every little thing I said… but I also felt kind of bad for them. So I've been trying to treat them well."

At my answer, her cat ears gave a small twitch. She glanced at me, then looked slightly away as she spoke.

"That's a commendable attitude. I think it's a good thing."

Having said that, Letisia put her hat back on. I asked about it.

"So you've always worn the hat to hide those ears?"

"Why else would I wear it? It's a hassle every single time. And it messes up my hair."

…I'd just assumed wide-brimmed hats were mandatory for mage characters, so of course she wore one.

"They really don't look that strange."

"That's because you're the strange one for thinking that, Allen. Most humans find my ears weird, and cat-kin look at me strangely for not having a tail. Even other half-bloods usually have tails, at least…."

Letisia rested her chin lightly on her knees.

"This party is the only place where no one thought I looked strange."

"……."

So there was a bit of a sad story behind it.

Though that still didn't explain why someone like her turned into a sadist the moment she picked up a whip….

"Who cares what other people say."

"…What?"

"As long as I'm fine with myself, that's enough. Did any of those people help me become who I am? The only ones who did that are my parents and me. Do your parents hate the way you look?"

"Of course not…."

"Exactly. So it doesn't matter. These are people who have nothing to do with you — people whose faces you'll never even see."

The lunatics in this party hadn't found Letisia's appearance strange. Wasn't that enough?

"As long as the people you'll keep seeing and living alongside like you for who you are, that should be plenty. Don't worry so much about the stares of people who don't."

"…Allen."

"What?"

"I didn't know you could say things like that."

This brat….

Faced with Letisia's openly surprised reaction, I just nodded.

"I'm a porter who can say things like that, too."

"…Pfft. What is that supposed to mean."

"You're the one who asked."

Maybe it was because I was so used to seeing her with the hat on, but her current look felt familiar. And the one from earlier… it had only felt novel, not strange. Cute, if anything.

Probably because I'm looking at her through modern eyes, though.

I'd spent enough time on idle chatter. The mood was decent enough now — time to bring it up.

"Hey, Letisia."

"Yes?"

"How do you handle mana?"

"…What? What did you just say?"

Letisia looked at me like I'd asked something completely out of character. Well — fair enough.

"Mana. How do you work with it."

"Why would you be curious about that, Allen?"

"Just because…?"

Telling Letisia that I'd acquired mana of my own felt a bit premature. Erinn was a hero more sensitive to mana than most mages, so she'd caught on — but there was no reason to tell people who wouldn't notice unless I said something….

"Hmm, well… I'm bored anyway, so I'll show you."

"Really?"

"It's not like there's anything else to do."

Letisia sat up straight as she said it. She spread both hands, palms facing up, and drew out her mana in an instant.

No preparation process or anything.

A lot of steps had clearly been skipped — but even so, any information I could get was valuable. Watching this closely while she simply moved her mana around, I could make out a few things.

Where in the body mana originated.

How internal mana was drawn out into the open.

How externalized mana was kept from scattering.

"…Thanks."

"Hm?"

"Ah, nothing. Just — thanks for doing it even though it was a bother."

"Oh, is that what you meant?"

Letisia replied,

"It's nothing special. You don't need to thank me. But why did you want me to show you?"

"…Really just because."

"Hmm. All right."

Letisia didn't press any further. She was clearly curious, but she seemed to be respecting the fact that I didn't want to answer.

As expected, under normal circumstances she was the most normal, easiest person in the party to talk to. If only she wouldn't pick up that damn whip….

"…Hold on a moment."

"Hm?"

Suddenly Letisia withdrew her mana. She peered around outside the carriage, scanning for something.

"Ah. Just as I thought…."

"What is it?"

"Goblins."

Goblins. The lowest-tier monsters, the kind even an ordinary adult man could beat to death. That was only true one or two at a time, though — and goblins, by nature, traveled in enormous numbers, which made them a threat all on their own.

"So this village was cleaned out by a goblin pack, then."

"It could also be a goblin pack under an orc's command, so I wouldn't draw any conclusions yet."

Having said that, Letisia began to chant.

Along with the status message, Letisia stepped out of the carriage. She left me with a firm warning as she went.

"Don't come out of there!"

"You're doing this alone?"

"Of course I'm doing it alone!"

With that, Letisia climbed down from the carriage. I didn't follow her the way she'd told me not to — I just poked my head out for a look.

"…Oh."

Over the village hill, a seething mass of green dwarfs was swarming into view.

There's a ton of them. Can Letisia handle that by herself…?

"All right, then."

Crack!!

I had to revise my thinking almost immediately. At that bright, meaty crack of a whip, the goblins that had been boiling toward us flinched to a halt — and the spirits' power surged.

"Everyone ready? Ufufufufu♥"

Standing before a goblin horde large enough to blanket the hillside, Letisia was smiling in a way that was unsettling for several different reasons.