I Picked Up a Black Cat
SMACK! The sound of a request form slamming onto the round wooden table echoed through the guild hall.
Estella, the slender young witch with long black hair cascading down her back, wearing that signature pointed black witch's hat perched on her head, was the one who had delivered the blow.
She grinned up at Lahan, her violet eyes sparkling with playful mischief.
“Whoa! I never expected to meet someone with hair as black as mine! This city really is something else!”
Estella’s expression shifted from sharp and cutting to wonderfully relaxed and carefree, the very opposite of her initial sharp demeanor. She sat across from Lahan, regarding him with what felt like genuine warmth.
It wasn’t just any coincidence. Lahan himself had inherited his jet-black hair from his mother—descended, perhaps, from ancestors with Eastern features. He knew the feeling of seeing someone with the same hair color for the first time.
“I never imagined I’d run into another black-haired person in this world either,” Lahan replied, his tone straightforward and a little blunt.
“See? That’s why I did the right thing coming to the city!”
Estella could barely contain her excitement, bouncing in her seat as if she’d struck gold. Lahan tilted his head, genuinely surprised.
“You’re that excited about just meeting someone with the same hair color?”
Lahan was surprised, but not nearly as much as Estella seemed to be. She suddenly looked up at him with wide, startled rabbit eyes, as if the question were completely baffling.
“Of course I am! Black hair has been the universal symbol of misfortune since ancient times! People with black hair are all treated like witches—same as how people steer clear of black cats!”
“But I’m a man, though.”
Lahan pointed at his own black hair, and Estella scratched her cheek awkwardly.
“Well… I don’t really know either! But anyway!!”
She waved the thought away and got straight to the point, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
“I just started adventuring, right? So I should be F-rank, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Estella’s eyes lit up with sudden, brilliant sparkle as she leaned forward.
“Then how about we team up for now? I’m already D-rank, you know!”
“Why would I want to party up with someone who just became an adventurer?” Lahan asked, raising an eyebrow. The question felt almost instinctive—why go out of her way to approach a complete stranger over something so trivial?
It was almost unnatural how little suspicion he felt. His cautious nature should have screamed red flags, yet here he was, listening.
“Ah! I was too hasty… Actually…”
Estella’s face twisted into something sly, leaning in close until her breath brushed his cheek as she whispered darkly.
“I’m a real witch, you know.”
“…!”
Lahan jolted, startled. But the shock faded quickly, replaced by a new flicker of curiosity. So what if she’s a witch?
“So? What does that have to do with anything? I don’t see why you suddenly want to travel with me over that.”
Estella’s eyes widened even more in exaggerated surprise.
“You don’t know what a witch is?”
“I do. But so what?”
“…That’s it? No sudden curses, no sudden urges to run away because you’re scared of being hexed? Nothing like that?”
“Nothing.”
Lahan’s firm answer made Estella press her lips together tightly, as if tasting something bitter.
For a reincarnated Lahan, witches had always been the cartoonish image of a hunched old crone in a pointed hat, stirring a huge cauldron with a wooden ladle, muttering ominous words in a graveyard voice. In games they were adorable, in novels they were tragic, but in the 21st century he knew better. Black cats were just animals. Witches were just… people.
Estella scratched her cheek again, looking almost embarrassed.
“You’re such an odd one…”
“I’m not an odd one. I’m legally an adult under the empire’s laws.”
“That’s not what I meant… Ugh, fine. Let’s drop it. End of discussion!”
Estella pouted, then immediately shook her head left and right as if the entire conversation had exhausted her. Lahan blinked in confusion.
“So, why did you bring it up with me? That weird look you gave me earlier… and now suddenly revealing your ‘true identity’ to me feels even more suspicious.”
She waved her hands frantically, eyes wide and panicked.
“It’s not like that at all! I have no intention of harming you! Stop looking at me like that!”
“You’re frustrating. Just tell me already. What’s the real reason you’re suddenly so interested in me?”
Frustrated by Lahan’s blunt question, Estella gave him a look that said this isn’t it, then cleared her throat dramatically twice with “Ahem… Ahem…” before looking him dead in the eye.
“Actually… I want to explore every corner of this world.”
“And?”
“More precisely, the unexplored territories…”
“Where exactly is that?”
“…Please don’t interrupt when someone is speaking. I’m in the middle of explaining.”
“Just say it faster. Time’s wasting.”
“You were like this back then? You’re so different from how people usually treat me.”
“Well… it gets tiring dealing with people sometimes.”
Lahan felt his irritation rising. The woman in front of him was starting to feel like nothing but trouble. He didn’t do this kind of thing. His whole life had been about honing his knightly ideals, not babysitting random adventurers.
Estella sighed, then continued at double speed, half-defeated.
“Anyway, I was looking for a party member. See? People just run away the moment they hear my hair color. I’m trying to find someone who won’t mind.”
“…”
Lahan simply crossed his arms and stared back, expression unchanged. Estella looked genuinely wounded.
“That’s too mean! If I knew you’d treat me like this, I never would have approached you in the first place!”
“Then can I go?”
“Wait—!”
“I never thought someone would drag out a completely ordinary story for an entire hour.”
“U-um…”
“I’m leaving now. I won’t even mention that I’m a witch.”
“P-please, don’t go!”
“Fine, I’ll leave. I personally don’t care whether you’re a witch or not. I only sat here because you offered me the request form. That’s all.”
Estella’s hands clamped onto his pants legs, tears streaming down her face in pathetic, hiccupping sobs.
“Please! Even once is fine! I’ll prove I’m a useful witch!”
“Just once…!”
The two were sitting at the first-floor guild counter of the adventurer’s guild that also doubled as a restaurant. The sight of a beautiful young woman desperately clinging to the leg of a handsome young man was enough to draw every eye in the hall.
Lahan looked genuinely flustered.
“Hey… let go…”
“No way! I’ll never let go until you say yes!”
“…You’re insane.”
This was the first time Lahan had ever cursed out loud since reincarnating. He realized how much he’d been holding back. The automatic swearing really was real.
After a long, tense struggle, Lahan finally gave in.
“Hah, damn it…”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered. Estella was still clutching his pants, eyes squeezed shut on the floor, looking utterly pathetic. A sigh of surrender escaped him despite himself.
“Okay, okay, I’ll say yes. Just let go already.”
“Really? Really?!”
“Yeah.”
“We’re really adventuring together?!”
“Yes, already said so!”
“This is going to be a pain in the ass…”
Lahan sighed again, but Estella suddenly burst out laughing, tears and all, then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and beamed up at him with a bright, radiant smile.
Like the moment someone had just picked up a black cat they absolutely shouldn’t have.