Chapter 74: Don't You Dare
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 74: Don't You Dare
“Rin?”
An unexpected situation arose. Rin blocked Persi's approach. She stared at Persi with the kind of wariness one would reserve for an enemy.
The atmosphere turned icy. Persi glanced back and forth between her tail and Rin.
“What do you think you're doing?”
“Don't get close to my master.”
“Why not?”
“You might try to hurt him.”
“Excuse me?”
With that one sentence, Rin had turned Persi, the self-proclaimed princess of the cat café, into a potential criminal.
No one would be pleased to hear such an accusation. Persi’s tail shot up, and she crossed her arms.
“Hurt him? Me? Hah, the nerve.”
The playful air Persi had while wagging her tail at Karami vanished. She might be known as the haughty princess of the cat café now, but she was a battle-hardened veteran who’d seen it all on the backstreets.
To someone like her, the fox girl was nothing more than a trivial nuisance.
“If any trouble starts, it won't be because of me. It'll be because of you, the pink fox.”
“What?”
“The rumors have already spread, haven't they? About you, holding the master while he was bleeding in the middle of the street. He got hurt because of you, right?”
It had caused a huge commotion at the time—rumors that the pink fox had finally turned on her master. Persi had pretended not to know for Rin's sake, but instead of being grateful, the little fox was baring her fangs.
“If you're so worried about the master's safety, you shouldn't be stopping me. You should be the one to stay away.”
“……”
Unable to retort, Rin could only glare at Persi before her head drooped. Rin was still too inexperienced to win an argument against the street-smart Persi.
It was Persi's clear victory by decision—until Rin looked up, her face on the verge of tears.
“Master… is it true? Am I putting you in danger?”
“Huh?”
“Should I stay away from you? If I'm gone, can you live a normal life? If that's the case… then okay, I'll disappear.”
Wiping her tears with her sleeve, Rin turned to leave the café. Karami, who had been enjoying the prime view of this epic catfight, panicked and grabbed Rin's hand.
Rin continued, her expression full of sorrow, looking as if she would burst into tears at any moment.
“Let go, Master. You can't be with me. She said I'll only bring you misfortune.”
“Misfortune? That's absolutely not true.”
“But Auntie Persi said so. That it's all my fault….”
“There must be a misunderstanding. Miss Persi, I know you were angry, but you shouldn't attack someone's weakness like that. You went too far just now.”
“What?”
“Apologize to Rin.”
Persi was stunned. Rin was clearly the one who had started the fight. She had treated a perfectly innocent person like a criminal. If you asked any passing dog tribe member, even they would side with the cat people on this.
But what Persi had overlooked was that their master-slave relationship was far from ordinary, and Rin's cunning charm was beyond imagination.
“Miss Persi. Now.”
She finally realized it, her senses dulled by the peaceful life she'd been leading.
The first to cry wins.
Playing the victim.
This was all part of that little vixen's devious plan. Persi's hands trembled as she clenched them into fists, her indignation making her grip tighten.
“…I'm sorry. I got carried away and misspoke.”
“Sorry, I couldn't hear you very well. Could you say that again?”
Persi gritted her teeth.
“I said I'm sorry.”
“It doesn't sound very sincere… but since you're my master's employee, I'll let it slide this time. Auntie Kitty.”
As she spoke, any trace of gloom had long since vanished from Rin. Moreover, for the briefest of moments, Persi caught it: from an angle Karami couldn't see, the corner of Rin's mouth curled into a smirk.
Rin pressed herself tightly against Karami's arm.
“Let's go, Master. We'll get in the way of the aunties greeting their customers.”
“You're right. Well then, we'll be on our way.”
“Bye-bye, Auntie Kitties~”
Just as the two were about to leave, Rin glanced back. Without making a sound, she moved her lips, using her magic to plant her voice directly into the cat people's minds.
—Don't you dare look at my master. Just focus on wagging your tails for the customers, kitties.
*
“Rin, don't say things like that again.”
I spoke up once we were a good distance away from the café.
Rin, who had been wearing an unreadable smile, fixed her expression. She looked at me with pure innocence, as if she didn't understand.
“Don't say what? What are you talking about?”
“Don't play dumb. Did you think I wouldn't know?”
Rin was the one who started that argument. It was unequivocally her fault. Treating an innocent person like a threat was crossing the line.
I knew that, but my relationship with Rin was my top priority, so I had no choice but to take her side.
“But I was just really worried about you, Master… When I think about what happened before, my chest feels so tight… I was scared you might get hurt again……”
“You need to pick your targets. Miss Persi is an employee I hired. Don't do that again.”
“I was only doing it because I was worried about you. Tsk, fine.”
Rin clicked her tongue, clearly displeased with my scolding. Still, she didn't move away, her body remaining pressed against mine.
That was the reason. As Rin had grown, I could feel something against my arm that hadn't been there a month ago. A soft sensation that would get me locked up the moment I described it out loud.
“Rin, could you maybe walk a little farther away?”
“Why?”
“You're a little too close for comfort.”
“Don't tell me you don't like being close to me anymore.”
“It's not that….”
“Just kidding. I'm sticking close so I can react immediately if anything happens.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than a gust of wind blew an outdoor sign right at me. Just before it could hit me, Rin kicked the sign high into the air.
BAM!
The sign flew in a high arc before landing somewhere in the city.
“See?”
“……”
“It's all for your safety, Master. This is one thing I won't compromise on.”
Rin stated her case with a resolute expression. The day I got hurt must have become a major trauma for her, seeing how obsessed she was.
Her tails had definitely increased to five. Now that she was past the halfway mark, the intensity of the misfortune she caused would have grown stronger. I'd nearly died when she was just a three-tailed fox.
To me, Rin was a paradoxical being: a dangerous creature who threatened my life while simultaneously protecting me from harm.
“Hah, fine.”
I have to stick close if I want to live. What choice do I have?
As soon as I gave my permission, Rin grinned as if she'd been waiting for it and pulled my arm closer to her. I let out a heavy sigh and headed for Seira's workplace.
The border area was bustling with various races. And just as I expected, I found Seira handling immigration inspections. Pleased to see her, I waved and called out.
“Miss Seira.”
Hearing my voice, Seira's ears perked up. Her head snapped in my direction. The moment our eyes met, her pupils dilated.
She passed her duties to a coworker and strode toward us.
“You…! Where on earth have you been all this time?”
It was too much of a hassle to explain everything one by one, so I just briefly showed her the scar on my stomach. I gave Seira a summary of what had happened a month ago.
“So you were at the Celestial Pavilion this whole time? You didn't secretly run away?”
“Why would I run away? You won't find anyone with a cleaner record than me. I was at the Celestial Pavilion with Rin, and I came to find you as soon as I woke up.”
Seira blinked.
“Miss Rin?”
Registering Rin's presence a beat late, Seira's eyes widened even more than when she had first seen me.
“…Miss Rin?”
“Hi, Seira~ Have you been well?”
“This is Miss Rin…? But her height…?”
Rin glanced around to see if anyone was watching, then fanned out her five tails like a peacock.
“Ta-da~ Seira, my tails grew.”
“Five tails?”
“Kids just have growth spurts around this age, you know.”
I tried to preemptively gloss over it, but it seemed my attempt was futile. Seira's head whipped around to glare at me.
“Don't give me that nonsense. You clearly said she was a three-tailed fox last time! This is completely…!”
“Wow~ Who would've thought Rin was born a gumiho? I never would have dreamed.”
“I know, Master~ I was surprised too.”
Hah. Take that. Before, it was just me, but now I have Rin, who's learned a thing or two about being shameless.
No, she was always shameless, but this was different. It wasn't the audacity of an innocent child, but the sly craftiness of a fox girl.
As expected, Seira was still reeling. I took the opportunity to change the subject.
“Do you have any idea how shocked I was to come back after a month and find my house gone? I heard you were the one who broke it, Miss Seira.”
“Who told you that?”
“Rin did.”
Seira pressed a hand to her forehead as if the memory gave her a headache. Then, unable to hold it in any longer, she yelled, her voice booming.
“Wasn't it because of you two?! I specifically told you not to come up to the second floor, and you showed up bleeding all over the place!”
“Hey, Seira~ That's a hurtful thing to say. We almost died because of you, you know?”
“It happened because you two caused trouble! I lost my house overnight! I can't even get government aid because I was housing a pink fox! I'm still living in the on-duty room at my department!”
“……”
Seira poured out her unfiltered anger and sorrow. I'd never seen her so emotional. I could keenly feel the sorrow of a civil servant struggling to get by day to day.
The atmosphere was too tense to say anything carelessly. Rin met my gaze, nodded as if she'd made a decision, and transformed into her younger, one-tailed form.
“Seira, Rin is sorry. It was Rin's fault. Can't you forgive me for my sake?”
The clever little thing.
She knew perfectly well that people have a soft spot for small children.
“No. Go away. I'm not in the mood for that right now.”
But even baby Rin's cuteness wasn't enough to quell Seira's anger. It was a stark reminder of how important homeownership is, whether in modern times or the middle ages.
Rin looked at me and shook her head, as if to say, This isn't working.
The slave had caused trouble, so it was time for the master to step in.
“The cat café's income has been quite high recently. It's all thanks to everyone working so hard while I was away.”
“So what? Are you bragging about being rich?”
“The problem is, even with money, we have nowhere to stay. The inns won't take us, and no one will sell us a house. I thought about buying a house in someone else's name, but I don't have many acquaintances around here. It's really just Mr. Bolt and you, Miss Seira.”
“…So what?”
“I hear the third district is quite popular, isn't it? Lots of popular shops nearby. Oh, and look at that, it's close to your workplace, Miss Seira.”
By the time I said that, Seira had stopped talking and was just listening quietly. Then, I delivered the final blow.
“How about we look for a house in the third district in your name, Miss Seira? It would be a place for us to live and an apology to you. Ah, but you're working, so it might be hard to go look at houses….”
“I'll take a half-day off.”
We signed a contract for a new house that very day.