Picking Up a Cat

"Not bad."

Standing out front, Karen looked the place over. No matter how he turned it in his mind, it wasn't a bad house. There was even a small pond, and a storage shed besides. Where had this been, again? Guri-si, Gyeonggi-do, if he remembered right. A short trip would take him to Gangbyeon Station in Seoul, and the city connected to the highway as well.

Of course, it was an officially designated government Red City. Red Cities were the regions with the highest probability of Gate outbreaks — which, to put it bluntly, meant house prices had gone to complete shit.

"Funny, though. This house is the only one still standing."

He glanced around. The silhouettes of what had once been villa apartments stood nearby. A detached house in the middle of the city — wasn't that every ordinary person's dream? And yet, unlike the ruins surrounding it, not a single stretch of this house's walls had collapsed.

A low, rolling rumble shuddered up from somewhere below.

"Huh. So there was a reason."

The iron law of cheap real estate. Then or now, a bargain always came with a catch. Weak water pressure, mold behind the wallpaper, or else...

"Terrible floor noise. Or a nasty-tempered neighbor living next door."

Karen started walking at an unhurried pace toward the source of the sound. Beside the detached house lay a large vacant lot, the soil at the center a different color from the edges, as if the whole thing had been turned over once.

The rumble came again, deeper this time.

This was the place. A thunderous snore — sleep-talking, maybe? — slammed against his ears. An ordinary person, or even a typical Awakened, would never have heard it. Just looking at the ground, the source had to be a good several dozen meters underground.

"Alright. Here we go..."

As Karen had told the Demon King, he could use only one kind of magic. The most basic beginner spell there was: Shield Magic. He had no talent for the craft. He'd barely managed to scrape this one together. But mana capacity could be increased artificially, and mana control was a realm that effort, not talent, could conquer.

The result of that effort unfolded before his eyes. A massive, hook-shaped membrane of translucent force, large enough to rival a heavy excavator, scooped earth out in roaring waterfalls. It was so enormous that each pass piled up a staggering volume of dirt, and in no time a small mountain of soil had risen beside the vacant lot.

"So it's this guy."

After punching dozens of meters down in an instant, the identity of the creature snoring with such gusto was laid bare. Karen formed a pair of small translucent shoes around his feet with Shield Magic and hopped into the pit. Contrary to any expectation of a fall, he bobbed in the air and began to descend slowly, for all the world as if he were using Levitation, the intermediate spell that let a mage fly. No — he could move more freely than with Levitation, which made it even more efficient.

"Huge body, but a pretty cute face. Hey. Wake up."

It was a giant cat the size of a mid-sized sedan, with the black, white, and brown fur people commonly called calico. Of course, no real cat grew this large, so it wasn't actually a cat. He poked the creature with his hand and told it to get up.

A rumbling snore was the only answer.

A creature that hadn't stirred even when an enormous racket had gone off right next to it was hardly going to wake from a little poke. It kept snoring, utterly unbothered.

"Ugh. That's loud."

It had been noisy even from a distance; up close, the sound was enough to make the fine hairs on his body tremble. Irritated, Karen struck the empty air with his palm. A translucent hammer materialized and rapped the creature across the head — lightly, in theory.

The blow landed with the crack of stone on stone.

"...Did I hit a bit too hard? It's big. Should be fine."

The noise right in front of his nose must have gotten to him without his realizing it; it had sounded like striking a boulder. The effect, at least, was certain. The creature shot upright at once and started yelling.

"Kkuing, who the hell are you!! I've got a lump!"

"Kkuing... pfft."

It was trying to sound furious, but the voice was that of an adorably cute cat. The mismatch between the enormous body and that tiny sound drew a snort of laughter from Karen.

"Human! I am a Myodusa! Disappear before I make you pay! Kkuing."

Apparently that kkuing came out the way a cat's meow did — from habit. Even now, dropping its voice to sound ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠threatening didn't change the fact that the person in front of it was no ordinary human.

"You're the one who needs to disappear, kitty. Your snoring is way too loud."

"Me, disappear? Who do you think you are? I was here first. You're the one who should get lost, human!"

"Me? I just moved in nearby, and I can't live with this floor noise. So whose fault is that?"

"...Floor noise?"

"Noise coming up from below counts as floor noise too. Kitty, you need to show some consideration for your neighbors. Either sleep quietly or move somewhere else."

The Myodusa couldn't make sense of a single word this suddenly appeared human was saying. A huge lump had risen on its head and still throbbed, and its mind was hazy from just waking up. In the end, it decided to resolve the situation with force.

"Get lost before I really make you pay!"

It lifted a massive forepaw and stiffened its enormous tail straight up. The boulder-sized paw looked ready to come flying at any moment, but the man didn't so much as flinch, let alone look frightened.

What is this human?

The senses of a Spiritual Beast, which surpassed those of ordinary animals, were keenly attuned to human emotion. And the feeling coming off the man in front of it was no bluff. Just... interest? And this odd emotion directed at it — what was that?

"...Are you thinking I'm cute? Kkuing?"

"You're not?"

Karen was, in this very moment, discovering what it felt like when a cat got bigger. Simple: the bigger it got, the cuter it was. The voice was cute, too. And though his senses weren't as sharp as the cat's in front of him, he had lived long enough to be certain of one thing.

There's not a shred of malice in this creature's actions.

"I am cute, sure. Kkuing. But human, no amount of flattery is getting me to leave this place."

"Oh? Even if I do this?"

Cute or not, floor noise was a serious problem that could even lead to violent crime. He couldn't just let it slide. Karen released his vast mana as a threat, and a Myodusa already so sensitive had no chance of withstanding it.

"Kkuing..."

Like a frightened cat, it dropped its belly, bristled its fur, lowered its tail, and flicked the tip in a rapid twitch. It did not, however, hiss — afraid of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠provoking the not-quite-human human in front of it.

"I won't kill you. Leave."

He had come to Earth, met a human named Chaerin, and had no particular desire to kill the creature in front of him. But under that crushing pressure, the creature only trembled and did not move.

"Kkuing. If I leave here, I die anyway. I'd rather die here."

"Huh? What are you talking about..."

It had been hard to see underground, but now that he looked, wounds covered the creature's body. Several were so severe that bone showed through, and patches of fur were still stained with blood. The discolored skin told him it had been poisoned with a vicious toxin as well.

"This is the only place I found with abundant mana. If I leave, the wounds will kill me. Kkuing."

"How did you get hurt that badly?"

"Evil things appeared all of a sudden and I fought them. I won, but it hurt."

That jogged his memory of what the government official had said. Strangely, most of the buildings in Guri-si had been severely destroyed, yet casualties had been remarkably low. The cat in front of him was probably ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠responsible.

"...You're a good one, aren't you."

"That's right! I punished the bad ones. But then humans showed up and attacked me. I wanted to kill them, but I hid instead. Kkuing."

Already wounded from fighting monsters, the Myodusa had been no match for the Hunters who appeared afterward. Naturally, the Hunters had assumed it was a type of monster and attacked without mercy, and the Myodusa, unwilling to kill humans, had fled underground with nothing but its wounds.

"What to do about this..."

His mood wasn't bad, and the creature in front of him wasn't particularly bothersome, so Karen fell into thought. While he pondered, the Myodusa — certain the man was going to kill it — gave up on everything and simply lay there, accepting death.

"Here. Take this."

"Just kill me without pain... what is this, kkuing?"

Having abandoned even resistance and resigned itself to dying, the Myodusa instinctively snatched with a massive forepaw at something that came flying toward it. It was a small glass bottle, and the golden liquid inside shone as brilliantly as the sun even in the darkness.

"It's an Elixir."

"Elixir?"

"I don't feel like explaining. Just drink it and don't argue."

The Myodusa briefly wondered if it was poison, but it was prepared to die anyway, so it closed its eyes and swallowed the liquid in the bottle. An astonishing change began to take place in its body.

"This is..."

Wounds that anyone could see were critical began to close in an instant. Even the poisoned patches returned to their original color, and the fur that had fallen out from the injuries grew back as a glossy new coat.

"Done? That's precious stuff. Go sleep somewhere else now."

Having watched the Myodusa recover, Karen left those words behind and floated back up out of the hole. If he left, the creature would feel free to go as well.

But the Myodusa, which he had expected to leave, stared blankly at where the man had vanished, then, with a look of resolve, unsheathed its claws and nimbly scaled the wall.

"Alright! Time to do a little cleaning, maybe."

"Human!"

He had just come up from underground, stretching out a body stiff from the damp, and was heading toward the house when the creature called to him from behind. Was it going to say hello?

"Yeah? Don't bother thanking me. Just go. I'm letting you off because you were a good kid."

But from the mouth of the creature he had expected only a greeting came something unexpected.

"...No. I don't like keeping pets. Too much hassle. Besides, you're huge — feeding you would cost a fortune."

Pets should only be kept with thorough preparation, and only when you could take responsibility until they died. That was a personal conviction he had formed watching a puppy he had raised as a child cross the rainbow bridge.

"F-feeding? No. I can get smaller."

Sure enough, the mid-sized-sedan bulk shrank to the size of a tiger. Still not enough to change his mind.

"Bathing you would be a pain, and... you know... I'd have to clean up after you when you poop."

"I am a Spiritual Beast, human! I can take care of my own business and wash myself just fine."

Being treated like an actual cat made the Myodusa bristle for a moment, but it couldn't beat the human in front of it, so what could it do? It had to endure.

"Still..."

"I'm good at cleaning, too."

"Oh..."

Now that was tempting.

"I'll guard the house well, too."

"Forget that... you're good at cleaning, you said?"

The house... he didn't care who came or didn't. But from the brief look he'd gotten, the place had been abandoned so long it was covered in dust, and honestly, he couldn't be bothered to clean it.

"Be honest. Why do you want to come with me? We just met."

"I have nowhere to go. I used to just live in the mountains, but these days humans keep finding me with some kind of machine, so I can't wander around. You're strong, so I think it'll be okay. Kkuing."

Advances in technology for detecting monsters seemed to have found even the Spiritual Beasts that had lived on this land since ancient times. To human eyes, monsters and Spiritual Beasts were no different — both were targets to be hunted.

Karen narrowed his eyes and studied the Myodusa, but there was no lie in it. If it could deceive him with that innocent face, it wouldn't be a Spiritual Beast — it would be a fiend.

"Fine. But if I keep you for a while and don't like you, I'm kicking you out. From now on, your name is Samsaek."

Its name had been changed in an instant, but being accepted at all was something. Samsaek wagged its tail happily and rubbed its body against Karen's leg. Cute, after all.

"Kkuing! Thank you, human. This is what you people call picking up a stray."

"...And what is that supposed to mean."

Samsaek's claim of being good at cleaning turned out to be no lie. It seemed able to use a simple form of telekinesis as well; it tidied the scattered furniture, then used the abundant fur on its tail in place of a broom to sweep up the dust in an instant, dampened the tail with water to mop, and finally took a bath in the garden pond, shook its fur dry with telekinesis, and fell asleep in a corner, purring.

"...Guess I need to get this guy some food. Cat food, maybe?"

Looking at the house, now spotless in no time, Karen nodded in satisfaction and tapped the smartwatch attached to his left wrist. A hologram unfolded in the air from the watch, bringing up an internet window. He'd only been gone thirty years, but the appearance of Gates had been both a crisis and an opportunity for technological progress.

"The name was Myodusa, right? If it's a Spiritual Beast, is it Korean in origin?"

Clumsily operating the smartwatch the government had issued as returnee support, Karen searched for Myodusa.

"They must have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mistaken the body for a snake, and this guy had healing abilities too? I'll have to ask when it wakes up. Still — shot dead with an arrow? That's ridiculous."

Compared to himself, maybe, but this creature was at a level that could crush most monsters without breaking a sweat. It wouldn't die from a gun, let alone an arrow. It had probably just run away because some lunatic attacked it out of nowhere and it didn't want to get involved.

"This guy's been through a lot, looks aside. At least the snoring's quiet now. That's a relief."

A low, contented rumble filled the room.

With Samsaek's snoring as background noise, Karen covered the house in a translucent barrier in case anyone tried to find Samsaek with a detector, then started shopping for the cat food and other supplies he'd been thinking about.