“Seriously? Mana scrambling?” I had glanced at my map to see if I couldn’t just Portal behind the enemies, but what I found resembled the Palace, where my Map couldn’t create a clear picture of the area.

“The underground has plenty of resources. A lot of money coming down here…”

“And yet Alerith is poor…”

“Geh! This was all set up under Demon Lord Aberis’s control! None of this is my fault.”

I let out a sigh as I looked down at the parchment to sign up. It cost a couple of coins to register as a fight contestant. These matches were scheduled on the fly, so I could sign up for tonight and be fighting tonight.

“Will I be able to go against the Catgirl of Doom?” I asked the guy behind the counter.

“The Catgirl of Doom?” He raised an eyebrow. “She’s a regular here. If you want to fight against her, you’ll need to be in the top tier. You’ll need to fight quite a few smaller fish before you’re ready to take on the cat.”

“What is with you and that girl?” Bernice asked, her voice almost sounding jealous. “Do you just chase after any pussy you see?”

“I’m going to pretend you’re referring to the fact she’s a cat.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“What else would I be referring to?” She asked, cocking her head.

“Ah! Nothing.” I gave a fake cough. “Rather, I think that she is Lydia.”

She put on a dubious look. “You know… since you came from Chalm, I didn’t expect I’d need to say this, but not all catgirls look alike-”

“I know that!”

“She’s got black fur.”

“Yeah, and Lord Reign isn’t supposed to have breasts! A lot of things can be changed.” Both of us seemed to look down at her chest at the same time.

I looked away before she could hit me with a glare. When I looked back, she was glowering, her hands over her chest.

“I think Lydia is here in disguise. Once she sees me, she’ll realize I’m still alive and come home immediately.”

“Didn’t you tell me earlier that King Roth said he killed her?”

“I haven’t been able to resurrect her, but… I know she’s okay!”

“Master… I know that you’ve been through a lot… but you can’t get everything back…”

A flash of Terra just as she was being destroyed ran through my mind. It turned out that Terra’s soul was safe inside Sapphire, but she was still basically in a comma. Until I could bring Terra back, I had lost her. Before that happened, I had been racked with so much pain and fear. I couldn’t even allow myself to humor the possibility that Lydia was gone. This black cat was her. They had similar fighting styles, similar jobs, and even similar body types, although this one had her body completely covered.

“R-right. I forgot for a moment that the slave bond was cut.” Her expression turned somewhat sad as she looked at me from the side. “Your slaves, they matter to you? You… care about her, huh?”

“I do,” I responded, turning to look up at the stage. “You’ll see… as soon as she sees me, she’ll come running into my arms.”

“That! Um… about that…” I turned to her just as she lifted something in her hands, a guilty expression on her face. “You’re going to need to wear a mask.”

I let out a sigh. “Of course, I am…”