<Episode 25>
‘That totally sounded like a wolf…’ Lord Jackal was coming towards me with two wolf knights.
I quickly turned back into a cat to avoid being seen and curled up as small as possible. But Lord Jackal found me instantly and picked me up.
My body, dangling in the air, swayed back and forth. I glanced up at Lord Jackal. Was he mad that I'd followed him without asking? I couldn't tell what he was thinking.
“Kitty. A fluffy white thing like you stands out, even in the bushes.”
“A fluffy ball…”
My tail and ears drooped.
Theo and Deon found me, rushed over, and grinned like little devils.
“Kitty, were you trying to sneak a peek at your brothers' training and got busted?”
“Aww, our cute little soft-paw.”
Deon started petting me all over. I pouted, feeling like a child.
“Change me back, please.”
“Okay. Father, can I borrow your jacket?”
Deon held me, and Theo draped the jacket over my head.
I focused all my energy on changing, and Deon, feeling me get bigger, pulled back the jacket and said...
“Ta-da! Soft-Paw Enlargement Magic!”
To play along with Deon, I popped out from under the jacket, spreading my arms wide.
I love magic!
The hem of my dress fluttered.
“Ahem…”
Elliot and the wolf knights, who had approached unnoticed, covered their mouths and smiled.
Lord Jackal, also taking the jacket and putting it on, wore a strange expression, but it didn’t look like he was going to scold me.
In that case!
I gave Lord Jackal my best 'please don't be mad' look. Lord Jackal muttered, avoiding my eyes.
“...This is nuts.”
I couldn’t tell exactly what he was thinking, but I knew Lord Jackal wasn’t going to scold me.
We moved to the training grounds. The fox squad, including Cleed whom I had met before, was looking at me.
No, it wasn’t just the fox squad members who were looking at me. Everyone in the training ground was looking my way.
“Wow, she’s really tiny and fluffy.”
“No wonder the boys have been training since the crack of dawn, saying they gotta look tough for their little sister.”
“Everyone, get back to what you were doing.”
Lord Jackal shooed away everyone crowding around us, then crouched down and asked me...
“What brings you to the training grounds?”
“Oh, I came to watch my brothers train!”
“Were you just planning to watch?”
“……”
“From the sound of that... uh, wolf howl, I figured you were trying to copy it.”
I couldn’t deceive Lord Jackal’s sharp eyes. I stammered and confessed the truth.
“I wanted to get a head start on learning how to fight...”
“But you’re still a baby wolf.”
“I know, but I figured if I get ready now, I can leave as soon as I'm grown up.”
“……”
For some reason, there was no reply. Theo and Deon, who always had something to say when things got quiet, just stared at me like I'd lost my mind.
I checked, and Lord Jackal seemed deep in thought too, his eyebrows all scrunched up.
“Um, did I do something wrong…?”
“No, it’s not that.”
Then why?
As I tilted my head slightly, Theo asked in a trembling voice.
“Kitty, you're already thinking about leaving? You've got ages before you're grown up!”
“Well… time flies, you know?”
“Soft-Paw sometimes says the weirdest things, like a little old lady, without even thinking about how we feel.”
For some reason, Deon sulked. Lord Jackal’s expression also darkened. Elliot chuckled softly.
“I thought only Lady Caris could make Lord Jackal freeze like that.”
“Shut up, Elliot.”
Lord Jackal stared into the distance for a long time before asking me.
“You want to learn how to fight?”
“Yes. I want to be able to protect myself.”
It would be nice if I could also cut off Jerian’s beard, but I decided to keep that to myself.
“But you’re so small…”
“Even if I’m small, I have everything I need.”
I stretched out both hands towards Lord Jackal. Showing off my sharp claws, Lord Jackal became even more silent.
“My fangs are sharp too! Ah—”
“……”
He didn't say it, but I could practically see him thinking, 'You're gonna fight with those?' I felt kinda bummed.
“But Theo and Deon also train every morning…”
I guess I sounded like I was begging for a martial arts teacher too, even though I'm just, like, temporarily adopted.
But for some reason, the faces of the three wolves brightened a little.
“Well, Father. Kitty is right, for sure. We should treat her the same; discrimination is bad.”
“Soft-Paw's a Gridwolf too, so she shouldn't just learn from Eden. She should get some martial arts training too.”
“You know what, that's true.”
The three of them started talking things over with Elliot. It seemed they were discussing when it would be good for me to start learning and what I should learn.
A little while later.
“So, Miss, can you get up early tomorrow?”
Elliot asked me with a gentle smile.
Strange, are they giving me a teacher this easily?
I thought they'd be way more against it, but it was surprisingly easy to convince them.
“Are you really going to teach me martial arts from tomorrow?”
“Yes. From tomorrow, Elliot will start teaching you the basics.”
Martial arts, yay!
I clasped my hands together and asked Lord Jackal.
“So, will I be able to do, like, a flying side kick in a few days?!”
Excited as I spoke, my cat ears popped out.
Lord Jackal shifted his gaze elsewhere for a moment before answering.
“…That might take a little longer.”
“Ah.”
“But Elliot will make sure you totally nail the basics. And after that, you can learn how to use magic, too.”
Lord Jackal stroked my ears and smiled wryly.
“While you’re staying in Gridwolf, the leopards will attack at least once. They’re the kind of guys who could attack at any time. They might bring Blue Moon and drive the beastmen crazy.”
His voice was heavy.
I had always thought that if the wolves lost their minds, they might attack me too.
Wolves, sensitive to hierarchy, wouldn’t harm me, a member of Gridwolf, even if they became beasts, but in a real battle, you never know.
Even if the wolves didn’t touch me, the leopards might target me, the weakest one here.
“So I’ll teach you enough to protect yourself by then, so study hard.”
I looked him right in the eye and answered, all serious.
“Yes, Lord Jackal!”
It was already morning. Caris stared anxiously at the sun rising beyond the horizon.
“Lord Jackal, I’m still not sure if it’s okay for Kitty to start learning martial arts.”
Lord Jackal, who was putting on his shirt next to Caris, looked at the gift boxes piled up on the floor.
“You don’t sound sure, but you’ve prepared quite a lot.”
“Well… I always want to support her when she starts something.”
“She wants to learn it herself, so we can’t stop her. She needs to know how to protect herself too.”
“……”
Caris and Lord Jackal recalled the employee who had tried to sell fake jewels to Kitty when they called the Weila couple to tailor clothes and was caught on the spot.
She had committed suicide in the Gridwolf dungeon not long ago. She had bitten off her own tongue to avoid confessing.
‘To think someone connected to those leopard bastards would boldly come to the mansion.’
At first, they thought she was just trying to scam the adopted daughter of Gridwolf to make a profit, but when they investigated further, there were more than one or two suspicious points.
When they examined her belongings, gold coins issued in the leopard territory were found, and the employee was startled and bit off her tongue right there.
‘Is dying better than revealing the leopard bastards’ tracks?’
The leopard bastards were meticulous and cunning, so it was highly likely that they had taken the employee’s family hostage.
Investigation revealed that the jewelry the employee had tried to sell to Kitty was enchanted with location tracking and eavesdropping magic.
It was magic so subtle that even wolves had difficulty distinguishing it, so they even called Cleed, a fox beastman sensitive to magic, to confirm it repeatedly.
“If Kitty had bought the hat without suspicion, someone would be watching and listening to her daily life by now.”
“Those troublesome leopard bastards.”
Caris rubbed her throbbing head with her fingertips.
When sufficient strength and odds of victory are secured, they will tear apart the leopard bastards and occupy their territory. And bury their daughter in the cold ground…
“Haa.”
Just thinking about it made her head spin.
“Are they targeting Kitty simply because she became our daughter and they think she’s the weakness of the wolf family?”
“We’ll look into that further.”
Lord Jackal pressed his lips firmly on the back of Caris’s hand. It was something he had been doing every day since they got married.
Caris accepted his kiss with satisfaction, but she couldn’t shake off her worries.
“I hope Kitty doesn’t get hurt during martial arts lessons. Cats are weaker than wolves after all…”
Kitty seemed to feel more stable when treated as a wolf, so she had told all the wolves in the territory to treat Kitty as a wolf, but the difference in strength between species was not something that could be overcome with treatment.
However, she couldn’t tell Kitty, ‘I know you’re a cat.’
“If we told her we knew her true identity, Kitty would feel heavily guilty for lying to us.”
“I’d be lucky if she didn’t leave out of guilt.”
“I wish there would be a good opportunity to tell her it’s okay to be a cat…”
Just as Caris was feeling regretful, a cute sound came from the door.
Tap, tap, tap—
“Um, Lady Caris. I heard you were looking for me.”
When she knocked on the door with her soft little hands, it made the cutest sound. Caris smiled warmly and opened the door.
“Come in, Kitty. You woke up much earlier than Theo and Deon?”
“Because it’s my first lesson today! Good morning, you two!”
Kitty, greeting them, was more energetic than usual. Her emerald eyes sparkled brightly with anticipation for the martial arts lesson.
Caris curled up the corners of her mouth and led Kitty into the room.
“I’ve prepared some humble gifts to celebrate the start of your martial arts lessons today.”
“Humble…?”
Kitty wondered if she had misunderstood the meaning of ‘humble.’ Because at the end of Caris’s gaze, there were more than ten gift boxes piled up.
“Go ahead and open them. Just pull one side of the ribbon to untie it.”
Moreover, Caris looked even more excited than she was, who was about to start her first lesson.
“Thank you, Lady Caris!”
Kitty carefully walked over and pulled the ribbons. Each box contained items that would be needed for martial arts lessons.
“Wow, this is a really pretty wooden sword!”
Caris didn’t bother to mention that six Gridwolf master craftsmen had stayed up all night to make that wooden sword.
“These are boots that look very sturdy!”
Lord Jackal kept secret the fact that ten Gridwolf leather craftsmen had put their heads together to make combat boots with soft soles.
Kitty tried on the gifts one by one. As she took on the appearance of a dignified little soldier, Lord Jackal and Caris couldn’t help but wear proud smiles.
“Um, I didn’t prepare anything…”
Caris was about to say that she didn’t need to feel burdened. But Kitty asked in a small voice first.
“Can I give you guys a kiss?”
“……!”
In that instant, wolf ears appeared between Caris’s neatly styled hair.
