The Cat's Little Lesson

My companions took one look at the small cup-sized cat and lost their minds, squealing with uncontrollably cute aggression.

"Kyaaaa! It's too adorable!!"

"It's seriously the tiniest thing I've ever seen. Wait, is this really the same monster that was roaring its head off last time?"

"It is. D-don't touch it... It's mine."

"Aww, come on—just one little pet?"

"N-no. Ah—!"

Ham Eun-yeong fought desperately to protect the cat, but she was eventually overwhelmed by the tide of her excited party members and forced to surrender her spot.

Hmm... She used to guard that mirror like it was her own child. Maybe leveling up caused some kind of internal change?

The Ham Eun-yeong I knew would never have brought the creature out in the first place. If someone tried to take the demon-turned-cat away from her, she should have fallen into a complete panic. Yet here she was, somehow keeping her emotions under control. It was fascinating to watch.

The party members who had successfully pushed Eun-yeong aside now surrounded the cat, stroking it with eager hands while chattering nonstop.

"Its fur is incredibly soft~"

"I can't believe you can manifest it like this. Why didn't you do it sooner??"

"But doesn't manifesting make it weaker? Right, unnie? It looks like one tap would send it flying."

"I-it's not that weak... Manifesting is just practice—ah! S-stop that."

(Eeeeeeek! How dare these filthy humans touch my body! And who are you calling weak?!)

I quietly observed the poor little creature being squished and smothered by multiple hands, its face completely distorted. Finally, I couldn't hold back anymore and spoke to it.

You had a trick like this? You've gotten really cute.

I adjusted my voice so only the cat could hear me.

(Silence! This is not my true form! It is merely an ability made possible by Eun-yeong's growth!)

Eun-yeong's ability, huh? Why a cat, of all things?

No need to get mad at me. Though you do look like you're enjoying all the petting.

(Hmph! As if I would enjoy the touch of mere humans! Still... now that I am out in a world filled with mana, I finally feel like I can breathe. Hehe...)

Don't smile like that with that face. It only makes you cuter.

(S-silence!! I said silence! More importantly, I have developed a question for you!)

Since when do you have questions for me?

The fact that this creature, who had never once spoken to me before, was now initiating conversation actually piqued my interest.

(I sense a familiar scent coming from you. What exactly have you been doing lately?)

I had no idea what it was talking about, but the now-adorable demon was spouting random nonsense. Its personality seemed to have grown slightly more talkative along with its new appearance. It was amusing.

Let's see... Most recently, I encountered something called a Great Calamity.

Upon hearing my words, the cat tugged at its flattened whiskers with a paw and replied.

(A Great Calamity... I have heard that those called by that name in this world are quite powerful. What did you do with it?)

Killed it, obviously. Though not by my hand—a stronger ally took care of it.

Just in case, I avoided mentioning that I had been the one to finish it off using my own abilities. The cat's expression immediately fell into deep disappointment.

(Then the Great Calamity you met was not connected to that person's trace...)

What have you been muttering about this whole time? Speak clearly.

The cat had clamped its mouth shut, but I persistently prodded until it finally gave in.

(... There was a supreme being that I followed and served. Very rarely, I would feel a revelation from that person. The scent I sensed then is similar to what I smell on you now. That is why I speak.)

......Huh?

For a moment, I thought of the Fragment of the Great Existence.

Could it be... Is that even possible?

I immediately asked the cat.

What is the name of that supreme being?

(It is ■■■■.)

...What?

(■■■■.)

......What is this now?

Was it because the demon was speaking in its own language? But didn't the System's great power automatically translate unknown languages and convey their meaning? That was supposedly one of the greatest blessings of becoming an awakened—being freed from foreign language barriers.

Anyway, I don't understand. But why did you serve that being?

(What a foolish question. The choice is not mine to make. As you know, we demons are born with the karma of endlessly walking the path of asceticism to reach the end of the world. In doing so, we naturally come to follow those who walk a similar path. Just as the heart beats without conscious thought.)

......?

I shrugged as if I had no idea what it was talking about.

If you're a demon, shouldn't you just serve the Demon King? The supreme being you're talking about isn't the Demon King, is it?

The cat waved its cotton-like paw in clear frustration and spoke again.

(Even those called kings in the place I lived each had their own supreme being to serve. And those supreme beings would, in turn, serve someone else.)

......So it's like 'beyond the heavens'?

(Beyond the heavens... I have heard that phrase somewhere before. Yes, it feels similar. The paths derived from the countless dimensions of this universe eventually converge into one. But that path is endless, and it is said that no one has ever reached its final end. Therefore, we must seek teachings and gain enlightenment from those who walked the path even a little before us.)

......

Honestly, I didn't fully understand what this tiny cat was saying, nor did it particularly resonate with me.

What am I supposed to do with that?

Taking even one step forward was difficult enough right now. Of course, as someone who had stepped onto the path of the King of the Undead, I wasn't really in a position to complain, but reality was reality. Just dealing with the daily disasters that kept exploding was already overwhelming. That whole 'path' thing could wait until after we dealt with the insane dragon and the Blue Eye.

I sent a signal that I roughly understood, and the cat finally looked somewhat satisfied.

As I watched the small cat still being stroked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by beautiful women, I suddenly thought of my subordinate.

My small, cute subordinate, Gori. I should check how much cuter it's gotten.

The body parts of the monsters I had hunted in the Frog Folk dungeon had also been slowly consumed, but no results had emerged yet.

It hadn't taken this long before. This was probably the effect of Essence Devour increasing in rank.

For now, I need to focus on meeting the minimum requirements for Meteor. There are several more hidden spaces in the Dire Wolf dungeon and other gates...

While I was lost in my own thoughts, my companions were chatting about yesterday's events.

"Seriously, I don't remember anything and it's driving me crazy. The moment Jo Giman and that monster got up close and personal! I closed my eyes, then opened them, and my head was spinning like I'd downed ten bottles of soju. Everything was a blur, and when I came to, the monster had just vanished!"

"Wait, did we all get hit with some kind of mass hallucination? I can't make sense of it at all..."

"I'm seeing on the internet that this level of memory loss phenomenon has no precedent."

"Can we even call it memory loss...? It was such a short time."

"Well, the important thing is that we killed it, right?"

"Yeah. Let's put together a formation for tomorrow."

"That sounds good. Since Hayun and Yeonhee have experience, could you explain it to us?"

"Sure! I'll start."

No Hayun, who always loved taking the lead, began explaining the dungeon. As I watched the group I had grown somewhat fond of, I also felt a twinge of worry.

Sigh... I've dragged a whole bunch of bugs into this.

The tail that had been following Baek A-rin had now increased to three—adding Bae Jua and Ham Eun-yeong as well. I tossed a single sheet of paper toward my chatting companions.

"Huh?"

"What's this?"

The moment they saw the crudely drawn picture on the note, they instantly sharpened their senses. Then, acting as if nothing was wrong, they lowered their voices.

(We're sorry. We forgot to mention the most important thing.)

(What is it exactly?)

(What is this?)

The fact that Hyeon Woo-seok of the Ilseom Guild had placed one watcher on each of our party members. Bae Jua and Ham Eun-yeong had no idea, so they were shocked. Interestingly, no one had been assigned to watch No Hayun.

"You know, right? That I have security personnel protecting me."

"Oh, right."

"Still, if they were really determined, they could've done it, no?"

No matter the reason, it seems they've been selective about who they put under surveillance...

No Hayun smirked, lifting one corner of her mouth as she whispered.

"The Ilseom Guild gets high praise because of Jung-gil and Il-hwan, but a group made up only of swordsmen has its limits. Causing trouble with our guild must have been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too burdensome for them."

The rest of the party smiled bitterly at her words.

"This is why being unaffiliated is so annoying. We should probably start looking for a place to settle down..."

"We can just go back to Bijeon."

"It's only been a short while since we left."

So Jua is thinking about returning to the guild.

"But doesn't Yeonhee know the White Knight Guild? Why not there?"

"Yeonhee, you haven't registered your guild with the Association yet?"

"N-no... Not yet."

"Affiliation is judged by that, so it might be best to register first..."

"They actually made an offer, but... it felt a bit burdensome, so I told them I'd do it in April."

"Aigoo..."

No Hayun rested her chin on her hand in thought, then suddenly spoke loudly.

"I'll talk to the vice guild master."

"That... feels like I'm constantly borrowing other people's hands. Besides, they didn't put a tail on you."

"Hmm... Just wait a bit."

Bae Jua pointed out that last time they had already caused a big scene by asking Eun-yeong's grandmother for help, and doing it again would be problematic. Ham Eun-yeong was surprisingly calm about herself and her grandmother becoming targets, but she agreed with Jua's opinion.

"No, if we know someone's watching us, are we just going to sit still? Doesn't it feel gross?"

"......"

No Hayun pounded her chest in frustration a few times, then suddenly made a phone call.

"Yes, yes—I'm telling you, our party member was harassed first. They even got forcibly expelled because of it—"

"It wasn't exactly a forced expulsion..."

A-rin spoke up with a slightly wronged tone, but No Hayun signaled her to stay quiet, as if that wasn't the important part. After several calls, explanations, and hang-ups where she laid out the entire story in detail, Hayun finally ended the last call with a satisfied smile.

"Perfect! It's taken care of."

"Huh? What? How?"

Jua couldn't contain her curiosity and asked immediately. No Hayun smiled brightly and answered.

"It was decided that we'll just settle it with a fight."

"......A fight... What do you mean by that, Hayun?"

Bae Jua thought she had misheard and dug at her ear before asking again.

"I don't know. If you don't want to keep dragging around this annoying baggage, just fight Hyeon Woo-seok and win!"

"Wait... We're fighting Hyeon Woo-seok?"

"Yes."

"How did it come to that?"

"It just did?"

"Haa... No, how are we supposed to beat that insane monster Hyeon Woo-seok? And why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would he even agree to those conditions?"

"He did attach watchers, but maybe he was also wondering what to do about it. And they'll balance the sparring match! You don't think our guild would fail to consider that much, do you?"

No Hayun spoke with absolute confidence. And surprisingly, just as she predicted, it was decided that we would spar with a C-rank Ilseom Guild member designated by Hyeon Woo-seok.

Why is this going so smoothly? It's like they were waiting for it.

If this sparring match was completed and Hyeon Woo-seok did something to Ham Eun-yeong, it would drag out her enraged grandmother as well. If attaching the tail that would eventually be discovered was all part of a calculated plan...?

Am I overthinking this?

Even if that was the case, they probably never expected us to notice the surveillance this quickly. That must be why they gave us a week.

Well, the Ilseom Guild's faction is much larger anyway. If it comes down to it, they're saying they're fine with an all-out faction war... This is ridiculous.