The Pitiful Mystic Cat
Thanks to the tiny motes of light gathering and easing the strain on his eyes, Ian was able to pick up his pace and walk a little faster.
After wandering for dozens of minutes, something finally snagged at the edge of the wide-spreading yellow waves. Yet before he could feel any joy, the search map inside his head vanished like a mirage. The skill’s duration had run out.
Ian quickly opened his status window to check how much mana remained.
Stamina Total: 226/250
‘So it costs twenty mana per activation.’ The duration was thirty minutes, meaning he had already covered roughly a kilometer while moving for that half hour.
‘All right. Let’s fire it up again!’
Just as he was about to shout Detection, black shadows swarmed out from between the winds that drifted like starlight. The shapes that had looked like black birds soon began hurling sharp, thorn-like projectiles at him.
“Ack! It stings!”
Hard thorns bounced off his face and the nape of his neck. They did not pierce deeply enough to tear flesh, yet the skin they touched burned with a strange, scorching pain.
Ian yanked the leather bag slung over his shoulder in front of his face. Without glancing back, he sprinted into the darkness. Thankfully the white flowers blooming beneath his feet gave off a gentle glow, sparing him from tripping over tree roots.
But the relentless pursuers drove him onward, scattering eerie cackles. Each time the buzzing flap of wings struck his ears, another thorn lodged in his nape and left a stinging ache.
“Ugh!”
The sharp pain was enough to bring tears to his eyes. He ran until his breath scraped the back of his throat. Then, all at once, the noise behind him cut off.
Ian gulped down ragged breaths and cautiously looked back. Not far away, small fairy-like beings with tattered black wings hovered in a cluster. They seemed to find his bedraggled state hilarious; they mocked one another and burst into loud laughter before losing interest and vanishing beyond the forest.
‘Those must be the Dark Fairies listed on the upper-grade request. The notice said to catch them in large numbers because they live in the sea, but they really are nasty little pests.’
It appeared they made their homes not only in the ocean but in dim forests like this one. They would certainly be a major nuisance to fishermen and coastal villagers, so registering the extermination request at the highest rank now made perfect sense.
‘Ugh… I completely lost my sense of direction while I was running for my life.’
Ian hurriedly activated Detection again. Yet the spreading waves of light caught nothing. A sigh slipped out at the wasted effort. Right before the fairies attacked he had definitely sensed the cat’s presence.
‘No time to stand here. I have to find it before the skill expires.’
The frantic search resumed. Ian wandered once more through the galaxy forest that still radiated beautiful light. Even after using Detection two more times, however, he found no trace of the cat Ella. For some reason the creature seemed to have started moving.
‘I have about seventy mana left… but I can’t keep spamming it.’
He had only three chances remaining. Activating the skill recklessly would squander even those. Ian decided to leave the galaxy forest first. He would regroup at its southwestern entrance, reorganize, and re-enter to narrow down the cat’s location.
He recalled the direction of the wind he had felt at the forest’s edge.
‘It was definitely blowing straight at me…’
Now a thin breeze came from the right.
‘If the wind hasn’t shifted, I need to turn left from here.’
After walking for some time among the starlit trees with his bearings set, a very faint, weak cry reached his ears. Ian stopped and focused every sense on the sound.
Mrrrooow—!
It sounded laced with pain.
‘Don’t tell me…’
Had a wild animal attacked it? Was it injured somewhere?
Ian swiftly activated Detection. The magic circle that had glowed blue shifted to pale yellow as it locked onto its target and sent rapid circular waves outward. Soon the creature was caught in the pulse—roughly a hundred and twenty meters to the west.
He ran without hesitation.
“Ella! Wait!”
Startled by his voice, Ella immediately fled farther away.
‘Shoot—I shouldn’t have called her name. She’s running because she’s scared!’
He clamped his mouth shut in frustration, then flinched as a new thought struck him.
‘Could Positive Aurora work on a cat? If I keep talking to her, does that count as conversation?’
Deciding it was worth a try, he activated the skill.
"Positive Aurora, activate!"
A hollow sensation bloomed in his stomach—the familiar feeling of mana depletion. Ignoring it, he called out again.
“Ella! Stop! I’m here to rescue you!”
At first Ella kept running. But as Ian continued speaking in a gentle, coaxing voice, her pace gradually slowed. And at last…
“Whew… found you.”
Ian dropped heavily beside an enormous tree root that jutted from the ground. Nothing was visible beneath the root covered in glittering moss, yet he reached out with absolute certainty.
The soft, chilled touch of fur met his fingers. He carefully lifted the small, trembling body with both hands.
“Mrow…”
“There, there… You were scared all alone, weren’t you? I’ll take you back to your owner now. Don’t worry, Ella.”
Ian stroked the frightened cat gently and kept whispering in a low, soothing voice. Gradually the transparent form hidden in his arms became visible.
It was a lovely black kitten that had not yet reached full size. The tips of her perked ears sparkled silver, and her eyes shimmered with pure golden light. Ella pressed her face into Ian’s palm and rubbed against it adorably, as if seeking affection. The sight washed away every hardship he had endured.
Yet as Ian smiled and examined her, his expression tightened. Blood was seeping from her hind leg. When he carefully brushed the area, sharp thorn-like stems were tangled there. He disentangled them with the utmost care and tossed them far away.
“Poor thing, that must have hurt terribly. Let’s get you treated right away.”
“Mrow…”
Now that her fear had eased, Ella purred contentedly and fell asleep. Ian tucked her carefully inside the leather bag and left the galaxy forest.
He had thought a long time had passed, but outside the sun still hung high overhead. Only two and a half hours had gone by, so it was only natural.
‘Aigo… I really need to build up my stamina. I’m dead tired just from wandering through a dark forest.’
Sure enough, his stamina gauge was already halved. His mana was even worse.
Stamina Total: 120/250
‘Still… I feel good, so it’s worth it.’ Smiling brightly, he strode forward with renewed energy.
When Ian returned to the Errand Runner Guild, the atmosphere was far livelier than it had been that morning. Adventurers and mercenaries crowded the reception desk.
A one-eyed magician in monocle holding a long staff, a solidly built woman with twin curved blades at her waist, and a bald, muscular man carrying an enormous longsword on his back were chatting animatedly. Then the man who appeared to be their leader quieted the group. He was a handsome figure with red hair tied in a ponytail and striking light-purple eyes.
“Hey! Pipe down, all of you! We can’t talk properly with the receptionist like this!”
“Hehet, got it, Zenon. Just don’t flirt with the lady at the desk.”
“Idiot whose brain is stuffed with nothing but magic formulas. You don’t even know what kind of person the receptionist at the Errand Runner Guild is, yet you run your mouth.”
Watching from a corner table, Ian tilted his head at the man called Zenon.
‘The receptionist… isn’t she just a receptionist? Does she have some special ability?’
Whether Ian wondered or not, Zenon continued speaking with the receptionist in a serious tone.
“I’d like to register several upper-grade requests.”
“Yes. The registration fee is thirty gold per request, and the completion reward can be set starting from a minimum of two hundred fifty gold.”
“Understood. We need at least three resolute herbalists willing to accompany us into the Kaline Beach Labyrinth. We’re heading to the Forest of Verdure on the twentieth floor—roughly five days of exploration.”
“What herbs are you seeking?”
“Every variety of antidote herb that grows naturally in the Forest of Verdure.”
“Where should the errand runners be directed once they accept the request?”
“Ah, we’re staying at the Cozy Grove Inn. Tell them to ask for Zenon Glepian.”
“Understood. How shall we set the completion reward?”
“Set it at three hundred gold per request. We’ll pay in fifty-gold Lapiyan coins.”
“Yes. Request registration is complete. Please check the bulletin board.”
Eavesdropping, Ian narrowed his eyes. They had registered everything verbally without writing a single form, yet they told him to check the board? Did the papers appear by magic? The moment the question formed, the crowd at the reception grew noisy again.
“Whoa, I never get tired of seeing the requests pop onto the board like that. What kind of magic formula do they use?”
“Registration’s done—let’s go eat.”
“Meat! Let’s get meat!”
The boisterous group swept out of the guild with Zenon at its head. Still slightly dazed, Ian approached the reception desk. The receptionist regarded him with the same blank expression she had worn that morning.
“Are you here to cancel a request?”
“…No. I rescued the cat Ella.”
“……I see.”
“Yes.”
Ian set the leather bag on the counter and opened it. Inside, the black kitten was still purring softly in sleep. For the briefest instant the receptionist’s cold eyes seemed to soften, but the change vanished so quickly he wondered if he had imagined it. She spoke again in her calm voice.
“Please hand me the request form.”
“Here it is.”
When the receptionist took the form and stamped it complete, something astonishing happened. The paper turned translucent and faded into the air like a mirage. As Ian stared in astonishment, she added,
“Please wait a moment. The client will arrive shortly to pay the reward.”
“Yes… So the request forms are enchanted?”
“They are a type of magical contract. The moment an errand runner removes one from the board, the contract begins. If it is not completed within the time limit, the form returns to the board automatically and the runner receives a warning.”
“What happens if warnings pile up?”
“After five, your qualification as an errand runner is revoked for one year.”
“I see.”
Ian nodded and returned to his table. Just as Zenon had implied, the receptionist was clearly no ordinary person.
‘She must be using some kind of contract magic skill.’
At that moment a loud growl rolled through his stomach. Only then did he realize how languid his whole body felt and how hungry he was. Curiosity was one thing, but right now he simply hoped the client would arrive quickly—so he could finally eat.