<Episode 30>
While the wolves were having a heavy conversation, Kitty sensed a sweet smell coming from somewhere.
It was a smell that was clearly different from the food made in the kitchen, something that really got her instincts going.
'Where is this coming from?'
Kitty hopped off Theo's back to stretch. The three wolves were so focused on their serious talk that they didn't notice Kitty slip away.
Kitty trotted along, following the tempting smell. Soon, she came to a bunch of plants.
'Such a good smell from grass...?'
Kitty bent down to take a deep sniff. At that moment.
Poof—!
All the strength drained out of her human form, and she poofed back into her animal shape.
But she didn't have time to feel bad or embarrassed. Buried in catnip, Kitty felt herself getting super relaxed and sleepy.
"Awoo... Gooood."
Kitty mumbled, all mellow, rolling around. Every time her four little paws brushed the catnip, the smell got stronger, and she let out little happy moans.
"This is it!"
Kitty rolled onto her back, showing off her soft, white belly fur, and waved her paws in the air. Just as she was about to take a big bite of the sweet-smelling leaves.
"What's this little wolf cub doing? I looked away for one second!"
Deon yelped and scooped Kitty out of the catnip. When he shook the limp little Kitty, the catnip smell puffed out.
"She's completely wasted."
Eden clicked his tongue. The three wolves moved somewhere away from the catnip, then howled for the mansion's doctor.
"Let's calm Kitty down while we wait."
"Right. If Mom and Dad find out Soft Paw got like this, they'll scold us."
It was lucky Kitty had buried herself in catnip, not something poisonous.
The catnip planted around the edge of the mansion was meant to knock out panthers, so it wasn't actually harmful.
"I'm out."
Theo and Deon grabbed Eden, who was trying to slip away. Eden sighed and looked over the totally wasted Kitty.
"Awoo, just a little more..."
Kitty was flexing her paws with their little pink jelly bean pads, wanting more catnip.
Theo picked some wild grass that would help sober her up and waved it in front of her, but she just showed her tiny, rice-grain fangs and got mad.
"Soft Paw's a total menace when she's high."
"She turns into a goofball when she's high, guess she's a true wolf now."
Deon chuckled and rubbed Kitty's squishy paw. He suddenly remembered a funny story he had heard from Elliot.
"Theo. Elliot said that adults spill their guts when they're drunk."
"Think Kitty will too, if she's high on catnip?"
The two immature wolves' eyes lit up with curiosity. They asked, all sneaky-like.
"Kitty. Do you like Theo or Deon better?"
"Woong... I like both of you because you're both kind."
Smug smiles spread across the two wolves' faces. Eden clicked his tongue at the two of them, totally feeding their egos.
"Dad said this is how you snap someone out of it."
Eden scooped up Kitty. There was a stream nearby, and he was planning to dunk her in and out.
Hearing the water rushing closer, Kitty freaked out and opened her mouth wide.
Nom—!
"...!"
Eden, bitten on the hand by Kitty, just kinda crumpled to the ground. He'd never even been bitten by panthers. Getting chomped by a wasted little fluffball made his mind go blank.
"Ugh."
And Kitty made a face like she'd just tasted something nasty. Theo and Deon, standing behind him, snickered.
A vein popped out on Eden's forehead.
"Kittyah Gridwolf. Are you kidding me?"
"Eden..."
Kitty rubbed her face against his hand with the bite marks, as if she had never bitten Eden. Her soft ears gently touched Eden's hand.
"Be nice to me... Please..."
"Why should I?"
"Because I'm your first student! Yawn... You gotta treat me special."
Kitty rubbed her fluffy little body against Eden's pant leg, then plopped down and sprawled out on his shoes. It was her way of showing him some love.
Because of that, a bunch of pure white fur, not wolf-colored at all, got stuck all over Eden's black pants.
Even so, Eden couldn't bring himself to kick away Kitty, who was sprawled out so comfy-cozy.
"Sorry, Eden. Our little sis is totally out of it."
"I'll clean her up quickly."
Theo and Deon carefully scooped up the sleeping Kitty, wrapped her in a coat, and whispered to each other.
"Kitty can't be allowed to hang out with guys and catnip later."
"We gotta make sure that never happens. Look at that."
The brothers saw Eden, the Eden, staring blankly at his shoes with his lips pressed together.
On his shiny shoes, there was a tiny little paw print from Kitty.
"Geez, how can Kitty be so cute even when she's wasted...?"
"It's because of overwork, really."
The brothers grinned and tickled the sleeping Kitty. Every time Kitty's little pink nose twitched, they felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
"Theo, Deon, Eden."
"Uh oh..."
That is, until they heard Caris's stern voice.
Caris passed the doctor who was climbing the hill with her and sat down next to Theo and Deon.
When she saw the limp Kitty, the color drained from her face.
"What... What happened?"
"Ah, Mother. This is just..."
"Soft Paw got high on catnip."
"What?"
Caris, who had looked like she was about to lose it a second ago, glared at her sons.
She'd howled for a doctor, thinking Kitty had been bitten by a poisonous snake or something.
"Eden, you come here too."
"...Yes."
Just as Caris, holding Kitty, was about to give the three little wolves a piece of her mind.
"Meow—!"
Kitty woke up with a loud meow. Realizing she was in Caris's arms, the little cat's eyes filled with pure happiness.
"Caris!"
"Yes."
"Would you like to see my meow dance?"
"...?"
"Eucha!"
Kitty stepped on Caris's lap and stood up on her hind legs. She started doing some weird dance, wiggling her ears, tail, and both squishy paws.
The sight was like white dough floating on water.
"Hoi, hoicha!"
For the whole six seconds that Kitty did her meow dance with funny little shouts, Caris's stern face totally softened.
Kitty giggled and rubbed her pink nose against Caris's face.
"I get happy too when you smile, Caris."
"Oh my, baby..."
Caris kissed Kitty's little pink nose and then hugged her tight. Only then did Kitty close her eyes tight and drift off to sleep.
The doctors examined Kitty in Caris's arms and frowned.
"Ma'am, something's not right. If she'd gotten a whiff of the catnip we planted on the hill, she shouldn't be this alert."
"She should be totally limp by now. But she..."
Of course the doctors were confused; they'd just seen Kitty stand on her hind legs and do her meow dance for a whole six seconds.
Caris, holding Kitty, stood up and ordered.
"Let's go back to the mansion for now. And you three."
Caris unconsciously straightened up and spoke like she used to when she was a knight commander. Theo, Deon, and Eden froze at her tone.
"You three, write me a letter of apology by tomorrow night."
"Yes, ma'am..."
The shoulders of the three little wolves slumped.
* * *
"This is the report on the super-strong catnip we planted, and this is the doctor's report on Kitty."
Late that night, Elliot came into Jackal's office to report.
The vibe was serious, even though it was just a report on the catnip incident from earlier.
Jackal's golden eyes scanned every sentence.
"My youngest daughter's healing power is surprisingly fast."
"It is. The doctors first thought she'd only gotten a tiny bit of catnip. But..."
Jackal looked at the report attached below. The catnip was engineered to be extra strong, since it was a trap to stop those panther jerks from invading the mansion.
Even a tiny whiff should have them knocked out for four days.
"She was exposed to the catnip for only half a day, and she's almost completely recovered?"
This wasn't something you could just write off as good recovery.
Jackal narrowed his eyes, thinking through all the possibilities, then ordered Elliot.
"Elliot. Go get Cleed Foxstain from the Fox Squad."
"Got it."
Soon, Cleed arrived. The boy, who'd been dozing off, snapped awake when he saw Jackal's serious face.
"You called for me, Jackal?"
"Ah, yes. I have a question for you. I hear you've taken an interest in my daughter lately."
Cleed was stunned for a second. He'd been woken up and dragged here just to be asked that, a growing boy who needed his sleep?
'Temporary adoption, but the wolves are obsessive.'
But since he was mooching off them, he needed to stay on the homeowner's good side. His smooth fox-like charm came out.
"She's just so cute."
"Is your only reason for getting close to my daughter because you have a crush?"
"......"
"Cleed. You're the most sensitive to magic among the foxes, you must have picked up on something and acted on it."
"Well, I wouldn't say I noticed anything for sure, I'm just going with a hunch. Didn't you know something when you adopted her, Jackal?"
"I want to ask if your ancestors left anything related to this."
Cleed quietly closed and opened his eyes. Red magic swirled in his eyes like mist.
The ability passed down through generations to the heads of the Fox family, the Mana Record.
Foxes who'd become the family heir, like Cleed, could peek at records the previous heads had magically etched into their minds.
This was why Jackal had called Cleed, a ten-year-old kid, for a serious talk.
"Haven't used this in a while, so not sure if it'll work... Oh."
Cleed moved his eyes left and right, like he was reading something Jackal couldn't see.
A moment later, the red flames in his eyes faded, and Cleed's eyes narrowed.
He'd found a record about people recovering quickly from stuff like poison or curses.
[Magic commonly used by beastkins cannot quickly detoxify poison or curses. However, beastkins who guarded the goddess's relics had surprisingly increased healing power. We believe the reason is...]
"Jackal, I think you adopted someone really special.”
