9. The Secret the Cat Revealed
Lina couldn’t say a word and simply stared at the cat for a long time.
But Lube only averted his gaze. His pupils, widened by the darkness, narrowed into slits. His eyes rolled restlessly as if they didn’t know where to look.
“Ugh, getting caught like this… what a hassle, now I’ve got to clean up the mess.”
“Huh?”
“No, I didn’t say anything, meow!”
Lube grinned as if nothing had happened.
“Come now, what’s so strange about a cat talking, meow? The unseen must be seen with the heart.”
Tok!
His little staff tapped the table with a crisp sound.
Ding-ling-ling!
The six drawers attached to the table popped open one by one. From within spilled all kinds of candy. They floated up above Lina and Lube’s heads like stars in the night sky.
“Waaah!”
Lina’s hand, which had been rubbing her lump, froze in place. She stared in a daze at the candies drifting in the air. Flowers, fruit, ribbons, jewels… candies of every shape sparkled and danced, flaunting their colors and aromas.
Unconsciously, Lina reached out to grab one. But immediately, Lube smacked her with his staff.
Smack!
“Ow!”
With the precision of a veteran, he struck directly at the candy-sized bump on her head.
“Focus, meow!”
Lina clenched her fists to endure the electric sting spreading from the spot. It hurt so much she trembled into a crouch. Definitely not a dream.
“What do you even want from me?”
“Pay 10 gold, meow!”
“Rip-off! That’s too expensive!”
“R-rip-off, you say? Do you think chances to experience my clan’s great astrology come every day? And at a special limited discount of only 10 gold?”
“Even so, 10 gold is way too much.”
“Hmph! If you knew how much the rent costs to set up this tent, you wouldn’t dare say that!”
Lina couldn’t agree with his talk of a “special discount,” but mentioning rent made it easier to accept.
Right, he had to make some profit. He couldn’t just run a loss.
“Fine. If you cut off just one gold, I’ll do the fortune-telling.”
“Y-you insolent… never…!”
Lube’s face flushed red, then blue, then black again. His yellow eyes gleamed like wet candy.
“…Fine. Ask just one question.”
When he tapped the amethyst jar with his staff, candies flew out from inside. Twice as many as before now whirled above Lina’s head.
“You may ask only one thing, meow. The single thing you’re most curious about in life. A marriage partner? That, I guarantee one hundred percent.”
Several questions flickered in Lina’s mind. Her future husband? Her health? No. The most important was…
“When will I become rich?”
Ding-ling!
The candies that had been spinning so cheerfully froze. Even Lube’s mouth hung open. It was as if someone had pressed pause.
“…?”
When Lina looked at him innocently, Lube asked again to confirm.
“…I told you, only one question, meow?”
“Exactly. I’m nowhere near marriage age, so why bother asking that? Living comfortably and warmly is what I care about most.”
Lube seemed to think she had a point. He quickly recovered.
Ding-ling-ling!
The candies around Lina began spinning again, this time glowing brighter. Their speed increased.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The gust stirred by the candies made Lina flinch back.
“Hehehe…”
Lube rolled his pupils in circles, a mischievous smile creeping onto his face.
And then—
Whack! Whack! Whack!
The jawbreaker-like candies shot forward at full speed, pelting Lina’s head.
“Ahhh! Ow, what the—! Stop! Aaaagh!”
“Endure it, meow! This is the fruit of a thousand years of wisdom!”
Over a hundred hard candies struck her head one after another in rapid succession.
“Aaagh! What kind of wisdom is getting beaten on the head!”
Lina tried shielding her head with her hands. She even tried to block the candies outright. But somehow, they always found the gaps, striking her squarely.
“Arghhh!”
At last, the candies finished their assault, rolling away with a rattling sound. Obediently, they filed back into the amethyst jar.
Clatter.
When the jar was filled again, light burst forth, flooding the tent with brilliance.
The remaining floating candies also rolled back, one by one, to their original drawers.
Ding-ling-ling!
The six drawers snapped shut, just as they had opened.
“……”
The bright light dimmed, leaving only silence. Lina and Lube stared awkwardly at each other.
Lina’s head throbbed, swollen like a beehive, but she couldn’t even cry. She just waited for Lube to speak.
“…So, what’s the result?”
“……”
“When will I become rich?”
Lube let out a cute little sigh, folding his arms with his staff still in hand. Then, as if doing her a great favor, he looked straight into her face.
“…Sorry, but no matter how hard you save, it won’t matter.”
“What?”
“Every three months, you’ll lose it all, meow.”
“Y-you scam-cat!”
Lina grabbed his staff and delivered a flurry of smacks, just like the candies had done to her.
“Ow, ow! Stop, I’m dying, meow!”
Lube desperately covered his head with one hand, waving frantically with the other to snatch the staff back.
“You fake fortune-teller! I thought it might be real because of the candy tricks, but you’re just a fraud!”
“I am not, meow! I only deliver the candy’s message. If you take revenge on the fortune-teller just because you don’t like the result, you’ll be cursed, meow!”
“Enough already!”
Fuming, Lina stood up, her head like a beehive. But as she pulled back the tent flap, Lube dashed out and clung to her leg.
“Wait, meow! You can’t just listen to what you want to hear! You must accept the unpleasant, too!”
His pleading yellow eyes were full of cuteness.
“Let go! Ugh, I wasted money and time!”
Lube swished his tail and blinked up adorably.
“It’s not a scam, meow. The fortune clearly said you’ll go bankrupt multiple times.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake…”
When Lube clung like a kitten, Lina couldn’t stay angry.
“But there’s something more important in the fortune, meow.”
“…?”
Could it finally be some good news? Hopeful violet eyes looked down at him.
“You, my dear…”
Lube widened his yellow eyes and whispered like he was revealing a forbidden secret.
“…will be rich in time, meow. An endless, tiresome, overwhelming wealth of time!”
They had already been traveling together for three weeks.
Dante often thought he needed to return soon. But each time he resolved to say farewell, the decision crumbled.
Every time he saw Lina’s face, his mind changed: just a little longer, just a little more.
So, they roamed the forest almost every day. After hunting monsters, the training continued—swordsmanship, dance, etiquette.
“Stab between the ribs. You have to go horizontally to slip between the bones.”
“Hiyaah!”
“Good, deep enough to hit the lungs!”
“Hup!”
“Nice. When you pull it out, twist to worsen the wound!”
Dante insisted that only repetition could hone her senses, drilling her daily until her shoulders ached.
“Again.”
“Okay.”
As Lina prepared to draw her sword, Dante suddenly spun her around and pulled her close against his chest.
“Ah?”
Her back and waist pressed against his solid muscles.
“Weren’t we practicing swordsmanship?”
“We are.”
At some point, a small twig was aimed at her nape. Lina gasped as Dante’s breath grazed her left ear.
“What if the gentleman you thought was noble suddenly went for your life?”
His breath tickled her ear. It felt almost like he was embracing her from behind.
“…!”
Lina’s face flared bright red. Heat rushed across her cheeks. Her heart pounded wildly.
Thump, thump, thump!
The drumming surged through her temples, an alien rhythm that scrambled her thoughts. She worried he might hear the sound of her racing heartbeat.
Breathing in, she caught his scent.
“You—!”
She reached back to snatch the twig from his hand.
“Ah!”
But instead, he twisted her knee, forcing her down.
Dante tapped her shoulder with the twig, clicking his tongue.
“Trying to disarm and counter an opponent is dangerous, even for veterans. One mistake could be fatal. You can’t just charge in blindly.”
“…Okay, I understand.”
“Good. Again.”
Even while stepping, Lina was too busy preparing to counter his next move. Her body stiffened, her feet tangling.
“You think an attacker announces, ‘I’m coming to get you, so be ready’? No—they throw you off first.”
Dante guided her smoothly. Even though it was just dance steps, every motion was graceful. Clearly, he had danced many times before.
Lina, tense at first, gradually loosened up.
“….”
The glow of his odd eyes, the faint smile on his lips, the strong jawline—her gaze kept drifting to his face.
It felt as though a beautiful waltz played somewhere. Her heartbeat matched the rhythm, thump-thump, thumpity-thump-thump.
One of them began to hum. Dante’s eyes warmed like a sunlit sea. He seemed capable of embracing her heart, vast as an ocean.
Would he show her what lay beneath that radiant sea?
