Chapter 40
“Meow!”
From somewhere above the basement, where there had been no sign of life, a cat’s cry rang out.
And it was a very familiar cry.
“C-cat? Are you really a cat?”
“Meow!”
It seemed that Sophia’s voice had reached him, as the sound of claws scratching at the basement door came through.
Fortunately, the basement door didn’t seem to be locked, because soon, along with an unpleasant metallic clatter, faint light poured down from the stairs.
Footsteps trudged down the stairs, and soon a small figure came into Sophia’s view.
“Meow!”
“……Cat! So you really are a cat!”
Sophia recognized him instantly.
Her beloved friend, whom she had searched for so desperately.
Seeing Sophia, Lunatis ran up to the front of the iron cage.
The moment Lunatis saw Sophia’s face, he felt all his past wounds vanish.
Whether she had abandoned him or not no longer mattered.
Just being able to see Sophia smiling at him again, as she had the first day they met, was enough.
Separated by a thick iron cage, Sophia and Lunatis were reunited.
“Cat… you’re safe. I’m really, really relieved.”
“Meow……”
Lunatis’s gaze fell on the small scratch on Sophia’s cheek.
“Hmm? This? It’s okay… it doesn’t hurt at all.”
Sophia lightly rubbed her cheek with her fingers, as if it meant nothing.
Seeing this, Lunatis’s eyes gleamed intensely.
‘Gerald… I won’t forgive you.’
Lunatis tried to scratch the iron bars with his sharp claws, but they didn’t budge.
There was no key to open the cage in sight either.
“Cat, I’m okay. My paw’s hurt.”
Worried about injuring his claws, Sophia withdrew her hand from between the bars, and Lunatis gently placed his paw over her hand.
‘…Sophia’s body… it’s so hot.’
The touch of Sophia’s hand burned him, and he quickly checked her condition. Her face and hands were covered in cold sweat.
Seeing Sophia in such a serious state, he was about to call Zoe and check the basement door when Sophia struggled to speak.
“I’m really glad… haah… I was so scared… I thought I might freeze to death here before even finding you.”
“Meow……”
“Actually… I came back to this village because of you, cat. I kept wondering why you didn’t come out that day—maybe something had happened.”
Exhausted from the fever, Sophia turned and leaned weakly against the cage door.
“To be honest, I was a little hurt. I thought I knew you better than anyone in the world… Sometimes I wish I could understand what you’re saying.”
“Meow!”
Lunatis gently tapped Sophia’s back with his paw, and she turned her head to look at him.
Then, the crescent moon symbol on Lunatis’s forehead began to glow.
“Uh… why am I so sleepy… I can’t fall asleep…”
Soon, Sophia’s body collapsed onto the floor, and Lunatis entered her dream.
“I’ve missed you… cat……”
A bright smile spread across Sophia’s face as she mumbled in her sleep, dreaming a happy dream.
At that moment, a voice came from outside the dream.
“Luan, there’s a staircase over there!”
“It seems to be the basement. Let’s go down.”
It was time to resolve all the lingering resentment.
Before leaving the dream entrance, Lunatis looked at Sophia and said,
“I’ll never leave your side again.”
“Sophia! Sophia, wake up!”
“Zoe, just a moment.”
Clang!
Luan swung his sword at the padlock on the cage door, and a blue aura-like energy emitted from the blade.
The firmly locked padlock fell off effortlessly.
“Wow… Luan, you can use aura too?”
“Any swordsman can do this to some degree.”
Of course, it was still a game world.
Luan was a swordsman character who could use aura, apparently.
But the admiration didn’t last long—Sophia’s face, collapsed on the cold basement floor, was extremely pale.
Her whole body was burning with fever.
“Luan, Sophia’s condition is bad. We need to take her to a healer!”
“She must have been trapped in this cold basement all night. I’ve put her to sleep with my ability for now.”
Lunatis looked down at Sophia, asleep, with a face ten times more worried than mine.
Geez, just a while ago he didn’t even want to see her. If we hadn’t brought her to the village, it would’ve been a disaster.
“I know a healer well. Let’s go there.”
Luan said, carrying the limp Sophia.
By the way… where was that insane psycho Gerald?
I scanned the basement with a murderous glare.
Before coming to the basement, I had searched the house thoroughly, but Gerald wasn’t there.
Then, stepping into a storage room to find the source of a foul, rotting smell, I was overcome with rage.
The storage room was filled with the corpses of all sorts of animals.
Apparently, Gerald had been the kidnapper and killer of animals that Lunatis had mentioned.
Seeing the horrifying scene, I felt a deep sense of unease.
Judging by the way the bodies were mutilated, it was clear Sophia’s safety could not be guaranteed.
I thought he might be harming Sophia here, but my assumption had been wrong.
‘In situations like this, the villain always seems to show up at the last minute…’ I thought, just then.
Click.
“Sh*t. What are you guys doing here?”
As expected, Gerald, the troublemaker, illuminated the basement with a candle in his hand, cursing.
“That guy… haaaak. This time, I’ll tear him to pieces!”
“Wait… you! You’re the guy who ran off after I kicked you! Do you know who you’re messing with? Unlike filthy commoners like you, I’m a noble of high status! Got it? You’re screwed now.”
“It seems the so-called noble doesn’t even know who he’s facing right in front of him.”
Luan muttered in a low, flat voice in response to Gerald’s cheap provocation.
“How would a noble like me care about a commoner like you? Hmph.”
Geez, every other word is “noble, noble.” I could die from hearing it.
I wanted to punch Gerald in the head with full force, but being in this foal’s body, I couldn’t, and it frustrated me.
“Why did you kidnap and kill the animals the villagers were raising?”
“Oh, that? Did you see? Heh heh. At first, I killed them to take out my anger on that damn cat. But, as I kept killing, it became quite fun. At first, they’d be wary of me, but once I gave them food, they’d wag their tails and act cute. Dumb creatures. Then—bam! Cut off their breath, their eyes slowly die, and their bodies shiver—it was so amusing.”
The crazy bastard. I wanted nothing more than to tear him apart.
I was filled with the urge to make him experience exactly what he did to the animals.
“Zoe, calm down. We need to take Sophia to the healer first. Afterwards, he will definitely pay for his crimes.”
Seeing me so worked up and breathless, Luan spoke calmly and looked up at Gerald, who was standing atop the basement stairs with a sneer.
“Talking to you any further is a waste of time. Move now.”
“Ha! You think you’re some kind of knight of justice? You won’t be leaving here. Want to know why? Heh heh.”
Gerald scattered some mysterious liquid from a bottle he was holding throughout the basement.
Soon, the smell of oil filled the room.
One corner of Gerald’s mouth curled up as he held a lit candle.
“You’re all going to die here today. And that damn cat is here too, so I can take you all out at once. I’m so lucky! Mwahaha!”
Whoosh.
When Gerald dropped the candle to the floor, a blazing fire quickly engulfed the basement.
“Zoe! Don’t breathe in!”
“Heh heh, let’s see how you handle this~”
