Hinako's stomach rumbled with a great sound as she tried to cover it. Hinako and I decided to get some food as we walked inside the mansion.

"Pardon the intrusion…" Hinako said softly.

As I already understood the layout of the mansion, I took the lead to show Hinako around the place. She followed me in silence as she looked around, until her leg suddenly collapsed as she fell.

"My head…" Hinako muttered in pain.

I panicked and dropped the railgun I was carrying as I touched Hinako's forehead with mine. Her temperature seemed normal.

"I'm… fine… it's just a headache," Hinako said with a heavy expression.

I carried her to the living room as I laid her down on a giant sofa. I rushed towards the medicine box and grabbed some simple pain nullifier for headache. I grabbed a cup of water as I ran towards Hinako.

I gave the medicine to Hinako as she gulped it with a bitter expression. She didn't seem to be prepared for the bitterness of the medicine as I gave her the cup of water. Hinako finished the water with a sigh.

"Stay here, I'll cook you something."

Hinako seemed hesitant, however she couldn't voice out her complaint. Her eyes were fixed at the picture frame of a cat with a healthy attitude.

I dashed towards the kitchen in a hurry as I took out every ingredient I could find to make a simple porridge. However, just before I could finish making it, Hinako appeared in front of the kitchen.

"What are you doing here? You need to rest."

Hinako's eyes were starting to darkened as she stared at me. She pointed her fingers into the scenery outside of the window. A looming portal appeared, however no creatures have exited the portal, yet.

Hinako tried to walk towards me, until she finally collapsed. Her expression was unconscious as she closed her eyes. I grabbed Hinako and put her down onto the giant bed inside the bedroom. Her eyes opened up as she saw me trying to leave the room.

[https://i.imgur.io/jWQAg3o_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium]

"Rest well," I muttered.

I ran and activated all of the mansion security features to defend Hinako. Kitten robots like Chloe appeared out of nowhere from the hallway as they guard the room Hinako was in. They barricaded Hinako with pure metal walls that even grenades couldn't penetrate while still having oxygen ventilation and different kinds of emergency foods.

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I searched and grabbed my railgun as I ran outside the mansion. A familiar looking floating shark wearing a tiara appeared from the portal as its eyes looked at me with contempt.

It opened its mouth as a ray of light concentrated into one spot in front of its mouth, the light continued to grow until it finally shot out a laser beam towards my direction. I ran with a terrified expression as I saw the beam hit the mansion.

However, the mansion remained intact without a single damage visible from the shark attack. I grew furious at the shark's attack as I prepared to activate my railgun.

With even more intensity compared to the shark's laser, I shot my railgun while aiming towards the shark's belly. However, the shark saw it coming as it barely managed to fly sideways, avoiding my railgun.

"Stop this, Emily! Hinako is inside the mansion! Aren't you and Hinako a family?!" I shouted towards the floating shark on top of my lungs as I tried to remember the conversation between Hinako and the shark.

Like a broken record, a screeching sound appeared inside my head, "you are my family, you are my family," Over and over again.

Every time its telepathic voice pierced me, I grew more and more disturbed. Another beam of light appeared as the shark aimed its mouth towards me. However, right before the shark could release the light from its mouth, its eyes shifted towards the mansion as it tried to shoot the mansion instead.

"Emily, Stop it!!" I shouted as I pulled the trigger from my railgun, allowing its course to stop the ray of light from the shark.

A faint voice coming from my mind could be heard with a small remorseful tone, "I'm sorry, Sayoko."

Our light clashed with enormous sound as it vibrated through the entire city. I kept on holding my railgun with a shocked expression as I stared at the eyes of the shark in front of me.

"It's been too long, Sayoko, do you still remember me?" The voice in my head asked.

I still held onto my railgun with dear life as I watched the shark's pained expression with a strange cursed mark on its gill. The shark's eyes looked empty as it kept on shooting rays of beam.

"I was reincarnated into this weird body of mine, I searched many ways so that I could meet you again. So many goblins were sacrificed for this moment that I could finally meet you again," The voice rang once more in my mind.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I screamed.

"Perhaps. However, I understand you. I know what type of shampoo you'd like to use, what food you find lovely, and your gentle pat washing me away with worries. After all, the name Emily rang a bell to you, didn't it?"

I stared at the shark, no, Emily with a strange conviction. I found a weird sense of comfort from the interaction we were having, despite us trying to kill each other.

"Unfortunately, the demon lord found out about this world, and tried to curse me into letting him enter this world. I ran away with this curse on my gill as it's trying to eat my soul alive. My time is limited, please, kill me," Emily telepathically said.

Hearing that, Emily's ray of doom suddenly grew weaker, as my heavy railgun was able to penetrate the light coming from Emily's mouth. With an instant, I aimed my railgun into Emily's fin as it led into the falling of a gigantic shark towards the ground.

I rushed towards the falling Emily as I threw away my railgun and grabbed my knife. I stared at the dying shark with its grazed fin with a saddened expression. Emily's eyes stared at me as her gill was moving slowly.

"Thank you, Sayoko," Emily said telepathically.

I touched her gill with a frustrated expression, "I won't let you die."

Emily's shark teeth smiled at me with a warm feeling as she closed her eyes, "You can't use magic, only she can use it."

I screamed on top of my lungs, hoping my voice reached the mansion, "Chloe, help!!!"

An army of kitten robots exited the mansion as they rushed into our directions. It didn't take long for them to reach Emily as I stabbed a knife onto her gill, creating a strange light that removed the cursed mark from Emily.

"Chloe, please save Emily!" I yelled.

With an instant, the Chloe army went to work as its robotic feet patched Emily's bleeding from the fin and gill with technology I couldn't even imagine ever creating.

"These kittens… They look just like my younger self," said Emily.

I mentioned, "of course, they were supposed to be you after all."

"I see, maybe being kicked by a random drunk person wasn't so bad after all," Emily continued.

I smiled bitterly as Emily's wounds were being treated by a ton of Chloe. The only thing I could do was helplessly watch the tiny army of Chloe saving Emily. A piece of nostalgic memory suddenly appeared with Akemi trying to save a dying cat after it was being kicked by a random drunk person, while I could only stand and watch.

"Chloe… What a cute name, what does it mean?" Emily said.

"Collection House Library of Emily, each of the tiny kittens were filled with memories containing pictures, stories and videos of you," I answered.