[https://i.imgur.com/4yzZvCn.jpg]

“What?” we both said in sync. We had so many questions that I could write a list full of them. In fact, I might just do that now!

Cat Questions

* Why is there a cat here?

* How did the cat get here?

* Why does it have a gem on its head?

* Who feeds the cat?

Ahem, the list made my point clear that we were shocked to find such an innocent animal this deep in the dungeon.

“How did it not get eaten by monsters?” Lio asked as he reached down to pet the cat. I still withheld from petting it. There was no way it was a normal cat if it was in a dungeon like this, with a gem stuck on its head nonetheless.

“I don’t know. This cat isn’t normal.”

“Yeah…”

“Meow!”

I looked into the cat’s eyes, and it looked back with the most innocent expression I ever saw on a cat. Its eyes widened and it basically tried to get me to submit to its cuteness.

No! That’s a trap! It’ll draw me in with its cute face, then kill me!

“Mew! Meow!”

Lio scratched under its chin, and it made a satisfied grin as it closed its eyes. “I think it wants you to pet it.”

“Why me? You’re already petting it!” I folded my arms over my chest and clicked my tongue. “This cat already has all the attention it needs.”

“Meow!!” The cat meowed louder. Geez, this cat just really wants to get me, huh? It’ll strike when my guard is low.

“Why don’t you want to pet it?”

“Because that’s not a normal cat. Look at the gem on its forehead and tell me that’s a normal cat.”

“Fair point, but it's harmless. What can it do to us, huh? Bite us? Scratch us? C’mon, that’s like a paper cut injury.”

“Meow!”

“Stay out of this.” I pointed a finger at the stubborn black cat.

Lio’s eyes narrowed and he made a devious grin on his face. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of it.”

“I am not. It’s just that you never know what this dungeon has in store for us. That could be a trap or an enemy.”

“Just pet the cat, or it won’t stop meowing.”

“No!”

“Then prove to me you aren’t scared by at least touching it.”

“I don’t need to prove anything.”

“Okay okay. I’m not going to force you.” Lio released his hand from the cat and stood up straight.

That entire time that Lio took petting the cat, all it did was stare back up at me with cute doll eyes. Although it acknowledged and purred at Lio’s gentle scratches, its sight somehow always ended up glued to me.

After Lio stopped petting the cat, it immediately leaped atop the chest and hopped right off of it. It landed softly on the stone ground right in front of Lio and I. Guess who it went towards?

Me! The cat didn’t even hesitate to stroll over to my side, rubbing itself along my legs and purring in eccentricity.

“The cat’s going to force you, though,” Lio said. His smirk pretty much told me that he was thinking “I got you!”

It was a checkmate. The cat just would not stop rubbing my leg and purring. Every minute that passed, it purred louder and pushed itself against my leg with greater force. This cat was on the chubbier side, despite being locked in this place for who knew how long, so its body had some weight behind it. All of those things were enough to break my resolve.

“Fine! I’ll pet you!” I yelled at the cat, then knelt down to reach out for it. It grinned happily.

The cat’s fur was so soft and silky. It was like running my fingers through delicate strands of silky material. Its slightly plump figure made touching it ever more delightful. If I was closing my eyes, I might even trick myself that I was petting a warm, soft pillow. But no, it was the cat.

“Meow!!” the cat yelped with glee. Then the black fluff ball decided to do the unthinkable and jump as high as it could and latch onto my upper body with its claws.

Its claws stuck to the fabric of my clothes on my upper chest. Here it was, the attack!

“Gah! Get it off me!” I was about to rip the cat off of me, but looked down at it. There was no bloodlust in its eyes. No intent to kill. No malice. Only thing I saw in those eyes was an elated sparkle to them.

Right then and there my heart melted. All it wanted was to be with me. It denied Lio for me. What a truly loyal cat. No matter how I reacted or treated it, it still gave me unconditional love.

It never wanted to harm me. From the beginning, all it ever had was a happy grin and an excited disposition. This wasn’t a monster, it was an angel.

I took the cat off my chest and held it in my arms like a baby. The gem on its head blinded me, but I didn't mind that.

“You sure are stubborn,” I looked the cat in the eyes as I spoke those words.

Lio quietly chuckled. “You two are the same. Black hair, stubborn, and over the top. Ha!”

Maybe he was right, this cat and I do have a lot in common. So much so that I was starting to think it wasn’t a coincidence.

I reached over to pet the cat’s head, but accidentally tapped on its gem. The gem fell right off the cat's head and landed on the palm of my hand.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Whoop… Oh no!

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!” I tried stuffing the gem back where it fell off, but it wouldn’t stick back on. What did I just do?! Is the cat going to die?!

Only seconds after that, while my heart attack began developing, a second gem grew back where the last one fell off at. It just suddenly popped up and filled in the vacant spot on the cat’s head.

So it wasn’t going to die…

Do the gems just shed and grow back whenever? That was weird, but I tapped on the gem again to see if it would fall off. The gem stood firm, shinier than its predecessor. I tugged on it this time, and it didn’t come out in the slightest.

Of course, I had to stop that since I didn’t know if it hurt the cat or not. I just stared at it dumbfounded while placing the gem into my pocket.

“Phew! That scared me.” I took my eyes away from the cat at least to look at Lio, but he changed. He was no longer jubilant, but had intensely furrowed brows. He hugged the side of the walls and stared at the parallel ones next to the pile of dead monsters.

“Their reinforcements had arrived,” he murmured to me. He was quiet and still like a statue.

“What reinforcements?”

“The monsters. Listen closely.”

By his advice, I held my breath and listened to the noises around us. I heard Lio’s sporadic breaths, the gentle noises of the cat in my arms, and an ominous scratching noise. It grew more and more aggressive.

What entered the cacophony of noises were the various growls. The growls of hungry monsters. This confirmed that they could smell us. No way could they see us, and I wasn’t even sure if they heard what we were saying. But none of that changed the fact that were were in danger.

We were cornered, nowhere to hide. And both of us were out of magic energy and disarmed. Well, Lio did have his staff, but it was as good as a giant stick in this situation. No magic energy meant no staff usage.

“What do we do? I lowered my voice and stood behind him. He shook his head, meaning he didn’t know. Both of us were caught completely off guard by their sudden appearance.

“I can probably cast one more spell, although it won’t be powerful. When they break in, I’ll shoot off the spell and you make a run for it.”

“But aren’t you out of magic energy?”

“Yes I am. But I most likely have one more spell in me. It’ll knock me out though.”

He was planning a sacrifice scheme. He would draw all the monsters’ attention with his unconscious body, since they couldn’t resist an easy meal. The spell wouldn’t make much of a difference, so I was sure that his sacrifice was the real plan.

“No, don’t.” I said to him, trying to lower the staff that he pointed at the wall. He was tense and ready to fire off a spell at any moment.

“What other choice do we have? Better than both of us getting killed.”

“But didn’t you say you wouldn’t throw your life away for coins?”

He pursed his lips and his body staggered as if frightened. “It’s different. I’m… I’m throwing my life away for you…”

Heh? I don’t understand. Why just for me? I can barely run, so why would he go so far as to sacrifice his life for a lost cause?

His face turned a flushed red, radiated by the gentle light the cat in my arms emitted. I felt my own face get warmer, my cheeks as hot as Lio’s most powerful spell.

I was left speechless. I couldn’t find a single rebuttal to his words. I could have very well said “Don’t just throw your life away for me!” but there was no use in saying that, given how strong his resolve was. No matter how much I tried to get him to lower the staff, he kept it up with all his remaining strength. Who was I to change his mind?

I didn’t have to. If I wasn't able to stop him, then he wouldn’t stop me. I grabbed hold of Lio’s robe, and the cat meowed yet again.

“I’m staying with you.”

“No you’re not, I’m doing this just so you could live.”

“I’m doing this for you too. Odds are I won’t make it too far, anyways.” I said those words with quivering lips. Obviously, I didn’t want to die. But I’d be far more miserable knowing I left friends to die. I’d rather die fighting, which was the true spirit of a dungeon diver.

My melancholic thoughts were cut short by the monsters ripping off a large part of the wall. This was it, they would flood in at any moment. This was our time.

I heard Lio murmur something under his breath, “Mother, protect us.”

Then, in a trice, the monsters forced their way in with slobbering mouths. Their red eyes sparkled, much like the gem on the cat’s head. Their black fur stood up as they charged, just like the cat’s. But the cat was as calm as ever.

Light seeped out of Lio’s staff as he prepared to conjure up a spell, he was still determined to make a last stand. I wish I was that composed.

I dropped to my knees and curled up into a ball. That wouldn’t do anything when the monsters would eat me flesh to bone, but I wasn’t thinking. Survival instincts took over. Out of fight, flight, or freeze responses, I opted to freeze in my fetal position, the cat still sitting atop my quivering lap.

My eyes were closed shut, since I was expecting to be eaten up at any moment. Lio’s spell hadn’t finished charging up yet, so there was no safety net to save me.

“Meow! Meow! Mew! Mew!” The cat on my lap all of a sudden started going off at the monsters in its own cat language. Despite how small the cat was compared to the giant monsters, it still meowed back with power.

The monsters stopped in their tracks, all of them were frozen in place. What did the cat tell them? That cat was still meowing back at the monsters like a boss berating their employees.

Then the unthinkable happened. All the monsters went prone and lowered their heads, a pose reminiscent of groveling. That cat stood on my lap in a triumphant pose. What kind of cat was this, that even the devilish monsters listened to its commands?

The monsters listened to the cat, they really did. Lio was so stupefied that he dropped the spell entirely. “What kind of cat is that?” His mouth was wide open.

That cat turned to me and purred. It leaned its head against my chest, shifting softly on my lap.

We had somehow found the most mysterious yet interesting creature in history.

X X X

It turned out that whatever command the cat had given to the monsters, it affected every single monster in this dungeon.

We decided not to take advantage of this to explore, since both of us were tired and injured. Besides, who knows when these fiends may start to disobey the cat. So we headed right out into the area with all the stone structures yet again to look for our comrades and go home.

Every single monster was prone and as still as a statue. The only thing that moved were their eyes, which followed the cat whom I was holding in my arms.

Then we finally found Fiar and Kueler. They were both sitting on the ground and leaning against a wall. Dozens of corpses were scattered around them. They clearly weren’t messing around. So we helped them up, and Kueler once again carried Fiar on his back.

They were shocked to see a cat in my arms, asking “Where did you get that from?” and “Is that the treasure you were looking for?”

I told them that the only bit of treasure we saw was gone, with this cat as the only significant thing in there. Honestly, though, I didn’t know what this cat was. All these questions that I had in my little Cat Questions list were still yet to have answers. Well, in time we’ll figure something out.

As hectic as this journey inside the dungeon was, and how relatively fruitless it was, we all were ecstatic to head home and finally sleep well in a soft bed and eat good food.

I might head to the Soaran Bull Head again! Those were my thoughts as we stumbled out of this perilous place. But I didn't have much money. Still, this gem the cat dropped might be worth a sum. If I was lucky, then it would be well over a hundred gold coins. That's if I was lucky, though.

I never was lucky.

X X X

Fiar had been carried home with the help of Kueler and Lio. He’d been previously patched up by a healer, the only thing left for him to do was sleep and recover. That was no issue for him, because all he was waiting for was to go home. To finally speak with his wife again.

He was dropped off at his doorstep, since he insisted on coming home himself. With one hand he held the crutches under his arm. With his other hand he turned the knob. He had a jolly smile on his face.

“Isla! I’m home!” He slammed the door shut and ambled over to the couch.

His house was cozy, from what every visitor would say. It had an aromatic cinnamon smell in the air from the candles Fiar often lit, and the walls were decorated with cute little paintings. Some of cows, some of flowers, but a majority were of a woman with light brown hair and emerald eyes.

It was a small wooden house, but it was all the Doniz family needed.

“This adventure was very tiring, this time,” he sunk into the cushions of the couch as he said those words.

“Yeah, I’m fine! Don’t worry.” Fiar turned to look down the hall.

“So how was your day?” Fiar asked. “Ah, that’s cool! Wish I could be there with you.”

Fiar began laughing uncontrollably. “Pfft! You’ve been waiting to tell me that joke, huh?”

The only thing that responded to Fiar was the whistles of the air.

Nobody was there.