Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 2 - Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

The Ancient Country and the Divine Cat’s Reincarnation

I was crying.

In the middle of the day, when there was still plenty of pedestrian traffic, whizzing down the main avenue of an old city on my broom, I was weeping. The wind on my face swept the tears out of my eyes.

“Wait!”

“Don’t let that witch get away! Catch her!”

“Bring her back alive!”

In hot pursuit were soldiers of this country. There were mages riding on their brooms, trying to catch me.

And those weren’t my only concerns.

“Leave it to me!”

“Damn…! A little more, and I would’ve had her!”

“Don’t let her get away! Chase her! Catch her!”

Every person in town was leaping into the air, trying to pull me off my broom. They were coming at me from all sides.

Until moments ago, these people had been doting on cats, or in the middle of a conversation, or doing their shopping, and even some people who had just left the stores.

I avoided them all.

Right now, this entire country was uniting against me. They thought I was an evil person who was going to bring ruin to their whole civilization.

Unfortunately, that was the truth.

“Gah… Ohhh…”

I wiped away my tears and kept my eyes forward. I was in much worse shape than usual. The trajectory of my broom was incredibly unstable, and I wasn’t flying straight by any means. I felt that if I stopped focusing for even a second, I could crash. I tightened my grip on my broom and forced it back on course.

I pressed onward, doing my best to avoid the angry mob.

From the crook of my left arm, in a voice that only I could hear, she muttered, “I’m starting to feel sick…”

She must have felt unwell from being tossed around by my hectic steering, which made sense.

“Please hold on… I’ve got my own share of problems at the moment.”

I wasn’t able to breathe very well. Every time I inhaled, I had the unpleasant sensation of something hot and heavy in my lungs.

She looked at me with round, blue eyes. “Well, do your best. Look, there’s the gate.”

Then she let out a meow and nuzzled my cheek.

I started crying again. I wonder if they were happy tears or if something else made me weep.

“Give us back the Divine Cat!” rang out a voice from behind me.

As if refusing the request, the one I was holding—the cat—let out another “Meow.”

Let’s backtrack a little bit. About two rotations of the hands of the clock. Or one rotation of the sun and moon.

In other words, this time yesterday.

“Oh? A country with a strange custom?”

“Yes, indeed.”

I was in a village I had stopped by during my travels. I had casually asked a local, “Do you know of any interesting countries?” That was when I learned about this country.

“How is it strange?”

“I know’st not. Alas, of those who have gone yonder from our village, nary a one has returned hence.”

“Um, sorry, but could you speak normally?”

“……I have no way of knowing what makes it strange. Only, I am certain that it is a strange country.”

“Oh-ho.”

Well, then.

How odd.

When I pressed the villager for more details, I was told this village had started a campaign just a few years prior to bring in tourists by marketing itself as “Very quaint!” Apparently, it worked, and many naive city dwellers flocked to the village, falsely believing the boonies would offer them a peaceful life of freedom and harmony. The village raked in their cash, which gave them enough social capital to boss other groups around.

But more recently, a country with a strange reputation had cropped up nearby, and the quaint village had nearly lost all their income. The villagers sent spies to see what the big deal was to copy their scheme that attracted new visitors, but each and every spy had decided to stay in the new country instead. The flustered villagers tried to take it all in stride and decided to draw bigger crowds by “talking in an old-fashioned way,” and they just went with it.

That about sums it up.

……

I wondered just how interesting their competitor could possibly be.

I got curious, you see.

“So how can I get to that country?” I asked, and the villager used many affected, old-timey expressions to explain it carefully to me.

Beneath the afternoon sky, I pointed my broom west from the village and flew off. I proceeded over the plains, crossing a river that had a small bridge and passing over more flat land.

Soon I could make out the figures of some slim conifer trees among the green scenery that stretched across the horizon, and then, right where the plains gradually turned into forest, the country slowly revealed itself.

The large rampart wall was more faded than one would expect for a country that was so recently established, and with ivy growing up the sides, it faded into its surroundings, to which it was well suited.

I approached, avoiding the trees as the forest got more dense, and saw an iron gate that was shut tight. Strangely enough, only the gate was brand-new, as if it had recently been replaced, so it stood out among the rest of the balanced scenery.

When I landed my broom and stood before the gate, a small window that was built into the wall opened. The shiny helmet of a soldier peeked out at me.

“Who goes there?”

“A traveler. A witch. My name is Elaina.”

“What business do you have in this country?”

“I heard that this country was amazing, so I came to see for myself. If it’s all right, I thought I would spend a few days here.”

The soldier nodded slightly. “…Very well. But if you want to enter this country, you’ll have to answer a question.”

And then, “Do you love cats?” He asked me without any preliminaries.

“Um, kitties…?”

“Not kitties. Cats.”

“…What’s the difference?”

“The difference is whether you pay proper respect to cats. Well, how about it? Do you love cats?”

“Um… Well, I like them…I guess?”

In truth, I’ve never even touched one—, but I couldn’t tell him that, no matter what. I mean, I think they look cute, and I have no reason to hate them, so I guess that’s fine.

“…Very well. You may enter. There are no bad people among cat lovers.”

“Um, yeah…”

“But I shall conduct an inspection of your belongings before you enter the country. Come in through the door to the side.”

“Uh, sure…”

And so I easily finished all the necessary immigration procedures and successfully entered the country. I could not have predicted a single thing about the place that lay before me. It was much stranger than I ever could have imagined.

The city looked very old.

People were coming and going along a main avenue that was lined with orderly brick houses, all dull colors and covered in ivy just like the border wall. I was curious about the fact that the door of every house had a low square hole that looked much too small for a person to pass through, even on their knees.

The cobblestones paving the street were covered in moss, and I got the distinct impression that this city itself had been here for a long time.

“……”

With the slightest investigation, I finally understood the purpose of the question I had been asked upon entering the country.

This country was just teeming with cats.

If I looked down even slightly, I’d find the ground was covered with them. Weaving their way through the people, basking in the sun in the middle of the street, playing in the grass—there were cats everywhere. So many that it seemed strange.

I guess the reason they ask visitors if they like cats is because this would be your personal hell if you don’t, I thought as I was enticed by an incredible, yeasty scent drifting over from a food stall.

“Ah, I’d like some bread, please. I’ll take this one and that one and that one and that one.”

“Righto.” The generous-looking man on the other side of the counter nodded. He used tongs to pick up one of each, placed the bread in a paper bag, and then handed it to me.

“That’ll be four coppers.”

“Sure.”

I paid and received my bread. Yay!

Immediately afterward, I heard: “Mister, I’ll have some bread, too, please. This one and that one and that one and that one.”

I hadn’t noticed there a witch who had appeared next to me. She ordered the exact same thing. She was an adult witch, wearing a blue-tinged robe and a pointy hat.

She exchanged four coppers for a paper bag and headed toward me after bowing to the shopkeeper. Her short blue hair fluttered slightly in the breeze. Though it was cut short in the back, her bangs were overly long, and she was looking at me with only one eye.

“Hello. I haven’t seen you before. Would you happen to be a traveler?”

After taking a piece of bread from my paper bag and biting into it, I replied, “Yes, that’s right. And you?”

“I’m a witch. Also, I live here.”

“Oh.”

“Ah, sorry for approaching you out of the blue. I’m the only witch in this country. Even mages are a rarity, so I took the opportunity to talk to you. I hope it’s not a bother.”

“I was just surprised to be spoken to so suddenly.”

She smiled bitterly. “Sorry about that… By the way, have you already had a look around?”

I shook my head after chewing on another mouthful of bread. “I just got here a moment ago,” I admitted.

“Oh, I see! I can give you a tour if you want. This country can be strange, so if you wander around by yourself with no guide, you might get swindled out of your money, or arrested, or something,” she suggested.

……

I was dying to find out what the deal was with all the cats. A tour sounded perfect.

How convenient.

“I’d like to take you up on that. If you promise not to rip me off, that is.”

“Ah-ha-ha, I won’t collect an information fee or anything. Relax. I came from another land, too, so I remember how difficult it was when I first got here! This country has some unusual rules, and if you inadvertently break them, you’ll be sent to jail.”

“Jail…?”

This was the first I’d heard about that.

“Yes. I’ll explain everything so that doesn’t happen to you. After all, there’s a chance that you and I are going to live together in this country from now on—” She smiled.

At that time, I hadn’t yet grasped the meaning behind her words.

We walked through the city side by side, munching on bread.

“Oh, I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I? My name is Lucie. The Fair Weather Witch, Lucie.”

“I’m Elaina. The Ashen Witch.”

She bowed and said “Nice to meet you, Elaina” with a little grin.

My pleasure.

“Please allow me to tell you about this country as I show you around. First, there are three laws you absolutely must obey.”

“Oh?”

“That said, two out of the three are simple rules you would probably never break if you love cats. First off, ‘Under no circumstances should you bring harm to any cat.’”

“What happens if you break the law?”

“Huh? You go to jail, basically.”

“Isn’t that a bit strict…?”

“Only toward people who harm cats. Don’t they deserve it? The second law overlaps with the first one to a certain degree… ‘You must treat all cats with unconditional love.’”

“That’s a little abstract… By the way, what if you break that law?”

“Jail.”

“……” That’s extreme… “Um… Specifically, how do you—? Achoo!”

“Hmm? Are you okay? Do you have a cold?”

“Excuse me. Don’t worry about it. Anyway, how specifically should you attend to the cats?”

“Well…the same way you usually do.”

“So if I treat them like I normally would, it would count as showering them with love…?”

I don’t get it.

“I know! It’ll be easier to understand if I have you see it in action, won’t it? Okay, um—Ah! Look, over there.” Tugging on my sleeve as I stood there in bewilderment, Lucie pointed to the side of the road.

There was a stall selling seafood and a calico cat staring at the rows of fish.

The cat kept its stance low as it approached the stand, trying not to be caught by the shopkeeper, then stretched out suddenly when it got right under the stall. It skillfully snatched one of the fish stretched out on the stall with the tip of its paw and held it in its mouth.

“Ahhh!”

But the shopkeeper spotted the cat as it made the steal. The surprised calico cat glared at the shopkeeper.

Oh dear. He’s gonna be angry, I thought, but…

“Ah, Mr. Cat! Thank you very much! Please take as much as you like!”

For some reason, the shopkeeper was delighted. Moreover, he started throwing all the neatly stacked fish in his vicinity out into the street. Cats immediately swarmed the area and began making off with the goods.

……

Huh?

“What just happened?”

“Love.”

“That doesn’t answer the question…”

I had a feeling we were talking past each other. Maybe this country was known for its unique expressions? That would be a simple answer.

“Ah, look! Over there! That might be easier to understand.”

“……”

At her urging, I let my eyes pass over the scene.

And I was knocked speechless. This one was even worse.

“Aaah! Mr. Cat! Mr. Cat! Thank you! Thank you!”

There was a man with an ecstatic expression lying faceup on the road. On top of him was a cat seated in a comfortable position with its eyes narrowed, kneading the man’s stomach with its front paws.

“What’s going on?”

“Love.”

“……”

I turned my eyes away from this strange and incomprehensible new world. But everywhere I looked, I was astonished by bizarre spectacles.

“Oh, oh, oh! You are just so cute! Meow-meoooow!” cooed a woman in a peculiar voice, holding a cat like she was rocking a baby.

What on earth…?

“And that?”

“Love, of course.”

“What does ‘love’ mean to you, exactly…?”

We continued walking through the city, and I kept being baffled by everything in my line of sight; and as we ventured farther, the number of cats increased, and the behavior of the humans became more peculiar.

People were passing by, going out of their way to avoid a cat that was sleeping in the middle of the road. A devilish cat stole the main dish from a couple having lunch at a restaurant, and the victims looked on as it happened, appearing all too pleased. A group of cats, like a pack of evil gods, swarmed mercilessly around clothes for sale, climbed up them, and ripped them to shreds—and the shopkeeper just smiled through it all.

There was no one to stop the rampant cat attacks, and not a single person stood up to them. The cats were allowed to do anything they pleased.

“This is what we mean by unconditional love,” Lucie told me boastfully. “You look surprised, but the people of this country—no, once you come here, everyone feels that way. Everyone treats the cats with love.”

“Honestly, it looks like they’ve lost any sense of reason and resorted to spoiling the cats.”

“Well, the cats in this country are different from anywhere else in the world. They’re especially cute. We can’t help spoiling them a little bit. You’ll understand soon enough, Elaina.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand…” Maybe it was because I’ve never touched one. “For starters, I don’t really understand how these cats are different from the cats they have anywhere else.”

“Huh? They’re obviously hundreds of times cuter than the cats in other countries! I came here for work, but I was totally taken in by the cuteness of the cats, and I couldn’t bring myself to ever leave!”

“For work, you said?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, reconnaissance work.”

“……”

“I was sent here from my village with instructions to observe the culture here and make note of anything that we could steal.”

I feel like I’ve heard that story somewhere before.

“…You’ve adapted quite well to this place for someone who came on a reconnaissance mission.”

“It’s fine! I’m planning to go back eventually! But I’m going to have my fill of this place first!”

“…Haven’t you lost sight of your goal? Are you all right?”

“Do I seem like I’ve lost sight of it?”

“I think you know what I mean.”

“Ah, look at this little one!”

Somehow, it seemed she had even lost the will to speak to me. Once she saw the figure of a kitten toddling over toward us on unsteady legs, she immediately leaned down and began clicking her tongue, hand outstretched.

I don’t know whether it was intentional, but sure enough, the kitten did finally make its way to her.

And then, it chomped down on her hand.

With a tight hold on Lucie’s index finger, it began gnawing gently.

“Ah…”

Lucie stared in surprise at this state of affairs, then—

“Aaaaaaaaaah! How cuuuuuuuuute!” She looked like she might keel over. She was breathing heavily as the kitten kept biting her finger, like it was trying to drink milk, twisting its little body around.

Isn’t that a little much? Are you all right?

“Ah… Aaahhh! Haaaaaaaaah!”

“……”

This seems hopeless.

I withdrew from her sudden, overwhelming change in personality. I withdrew quite far.

This was the person who, until just a moment ago, had been having a normal conversation with me. She was now blushing and fawning over a kitten. It gave me the creeps, and my entire body immediately felt itchy.

It was enough to make me want to leave already.

“Achoo!”

I sneezed with every step I took.

How many times was that today? Did I catch a cold or something? My body feels very heavy. Come to think of it, the back of my throat seems a little scratchy, too…

I guess I need a good night’s sleep later.

“Does this country have any inns with good amenities?” I asked Lucie, who had been in an excessively good mood since a merciless kitten attack.

“Um… Let’s see, my recommendation would be that place over there. Their rooms are basically heaven, crowded with cats that you can curl up with.”

“Maybe I asked the wrong question. Please show me to a more habitable inn.”

“What about cats?”

“Not necessary.”

“……” After puffing up her cheeks in a sullen expression, she pointed out a different building. “In that case, the inn over there is probably good.”

After that, we continued walking around town totally normally. I got her to show me a good inn, several delicious restaurants (which were all full of cats), and various other things.

We continued our tour of the timeworn townscape, and before I realized it, the sun had set, and the sky had turned red.

I suppose we’ll be heading our own ways? I thought as the tour seemed to be coming to an end, but I remembered that there was one more thing I had to get her to tell me.

“By the way, what is the third law?”

There are three laws I gotta obey, right?

“Oh, sorry. I totally forgot.”

“Please tell me. If you don’t, I can’t go to the inn with any peace of mind.”

And I don’t want to spend the night in jail.

“Ah-ha-ha. But it’s rare to even be confronted with the final law in the first place, so I don’t think it’ll really be a problem. Well, the third law is—”

It happened just as she opened her mouth.

The people walking through town began to stir. Their agitation rippled through the passersby like waves, and from behind me, gasps of astonishment mixed with the evening air.

When I looked around to see what had happened, I found every single resident staring in the same direction.

“Oh… It’s the Divine Cat!”

“The Divine Cat has graced us with her presence!”

“How many days has it been?”

“What a statuesque build…”

“Just incredible…!”

As these comments and more spilled from their mouths, they all, without exception, began to kneel.

Lucie joined them.

“Ah…beautiful…!” She spoke in a feverish tone, sighing, and assumed the same respectful posture.

……

…What?

All of the people had turned to face a single cat. It had glossy black fur and blue eyes.

“……?”

But she carried herself in a way that was somehow different than the others.

Walking toward us with graceful steps, that cat had two tails growing from her behind. If I remembered correctly, that was usually not the case with most cats.

Her fur was incredibly luxuriant. She looked like she would be nice to hold.

“Lucie, why does that cat have two tails—?”

“Elaina! What are you doing? Hurry up and follow my lead!”

I didn’t even have time to question it. Lucie yanked on my robe.

“……”

Follow your lead?

You mean kneel down to a cat?

I really don’t want to, but…

If I don’t do what you say, I might end up in jail.

“…Uhhh.” There’s no way around it.

Reluctantly, I put one knee down on the ground and lowered my head reverently, copying those around me.

What on earth am I doing here?

“…Um, Lucie?”

“Be quiet. You’re in front of the Divine Cat. Don’t cause any offense.”

Uh…

Don’t you think that’s a little unreasonable? I don’t understand what I could possibly do to cause offense. And just what is the Divine Cat anyway?

My mind was a storm of troubled thoughts, and I tried to squash my bewilderment and potential complaints before my mouth could get me into any trouble.

Then it happened.

“Meow.”

There was a little cry. It came from pretty close by.

Actually, it came from extremely close by.

“……”

“Meooow.”

I realized the black cat with two tails—the Divine Cat or whatever—was standing before me. The elegant feline was staring straight into my eyes.

“Mrrow.”

And then, right as she swished her two tails back and forth, she suddenly pounced. Claws out, she clung to my robe.

“Huh…?” I was perplexed. What was the right thing to do?

I tried to gauge the reactions of those around me and heard voices of admiration.

“Oh…”

“To have the Divine Cat pounce on you…”

“The Divine Cat must approve of her.”

I also heard Lucie muttering, “I’m so jealous…”

I didn’t really understand what was happening, but it didn’t seem to be bad.

Come to think of it, this is my first time petting a cat, huh? Well, it has two tails, so I’m not sure if I can even call it a cat.

“…Oof.” I tucked in my knees, hunkered down on the ground, and embraced the cat who had clung to me. The cat yielded to me and curled up in my arms.

When I gently petted her head, she made a sleepy expression and gently began to purr. I felt like I heard her say, “Pet me more.”

She certainly is cute.

Well, I supposed it wasn’t impossible to understand why the people of this country became so passionate about cats. That said, I didn’t feel like I was in any danger of losing my grip on logic.

“Wh-what on earth…?!”

“This is…”

“I can’t believe it…”

As I was enjoying petting the Divine Cat or whatever, I could hear the chatter rise up again. The people stood up and slowly walked toward us, swaying, to encircle me and the Divine Cat.

What? I tilted my head to the side in confusion. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lucie stand up beside me. When I looked at her, she was staring down at me with an extremely cold expression.

“…I—I can’t believe this, Elaina… What have you done…?!” she deliriously slurred and took out her wand.

“…Huh? Um…”

That was when I realized that something was amiss.

But it was already too late.

“You insolent girl!”

“To pet the Divine Cat!”

“Take your filthy hands off her!”

“You…! Do you even understand what you’re doing?!”

The people around me were incredibly angry.

“Hang on… Um, wait, please! Just what is—?”

I started to panic, unsure of what I had done wrong. At that point, of all the things I could have done, I raised my hands.

I had let go of the Divine Cat in my arms. She fell into my lap, landing neatly on all four paws. Her claws hurt as they dug into my thighs.

That had major repercussions.

“She tossed the Divine Cat aside! Not only is she totally offensive, that’s an act unworthy of a cat lover! That means capital punishment! She’s guilty!”

The one shrieking was none other than Lucie.

“Lucie. I’m begging you. Explain to them that I didn’t know the situation—”

“There’s no use arguing!”

Uh… She’s not listening…

Instead of explaining the situation, she struck my palms with her wand and cast a spell. My raised hands were yanked down by some unknown force and confined by magical iron shackles. They were pretty well-made, with chains connecting the tips of my fingers to the handcuffs, so I couldn’t close either hand, a feature I really could have done without.

The restraints kept me from gripping my wand.

“…Um?”

When I looked up again, there was Lucie, seething. She handed the keys to the shackles over to a soldier, glaring at me the whole time.

“All right, everyone! Let’s throw this insolent witch in jail!” she shouted, and the surrounding people agreed.

“Um… Could I talk to you for a second…?”

“All right, stand up, Elaina! If you won’t stand, I’ll drag you along with me!” She moved forward, pulling hard on the hand shackles.

“Hey…”

“Honestly…! How did someone this rude slip by when we take precautions to only allow cat lovers in?”

“……”

It seemed that my words weren’t reaching their ears.

Something was very off about the way she was acting. It was like she was a completely different person from the one who had given me a tour of the city.

It was as if she had lost all sense of reason.

Like she was being controlled by some unknown force.

“I finally found you.”

As I was pulled along by Lucie, I imagined I heard such a voice.

I wonder how much time passed after that.

I was in a cold jail cell.

All I could see were the drab gray floor and walls—and the rusty iron bars. The outside world appeared completely submerged in darkness, and through the one small window that opened onto the cell flowed the faint light of the moon and the songs of insects.

I’m sure the moon looks beautiful tonight…but I can’t see it.

Looking up from my seated position, all I could see was a stake driven into the wall and the shackles around my hands connected to it.

I hadn’t been able to move from the wall since I’d been put in here. I had already lost all feeling in my hands.

“What’s the meaning of all this…?”

My muttered question echoed pointlessly, then dissolved into the silence.

Of course, there was no one there to answer me.

Actually, there was no one around at all. Not a soul. I had been abandoned in a jail without a single other prisoner.

Is this really happening to me? This is too much.

“…”

Well, there’s no use crying over something I can’t change.

For now, let’s try to think of a way out of this mess.

First step is getting a handle on the reality of the situation.

I can’t bend my fingers, so there’s no way I can grip a wand. My body is shackled to the wall, so I doubt I’ll be able to ride my broom. And even supposing I could ride it, I would definitely be discovered as soon as I escaped. Plus, it would be incredibly dangerous since my hands are bound. Can’t use my wand. Can’t use my broom. In other words, I can’t rely on magic. I’m unreliable.

Oh, it’s totally over for me.

Hee-hee-hee.

“……What should I do?”

I was deep in despair.

It would be nice if I could solve this with money, huh? I wonder how that would go. I guess it would depend on negotiations. That said, I should have run away the moment I was surrounded.

For some reason, even after I had started to suspect they wanted to throw me in jail, I hadn’t been able to deal with the situation with my usual cool demeanor.

I wonder why? I’m really not doing so hot today.

Did I catch a cold?

My throat hurts, my eyes burn, and I keep sneezing. My body is kind of itchy all over. I don’t get it. What in the world is going on?

I don’t seem to have a fever, though.

I suspected that the real reason I had lost my composure was whatever strange illness I had contracted.

Well, knowing that now doesn’t exactly do me a lot of good.

“…Sigh.”

That’s when it happened.

Something obscured the moonlight.

“Well, Madam Witch. How’s jail treating you?” called out a voice in the cell that was now even darker than before. It was calming and feminine—one that may or may not have been familiar.

I looked around but couldn’t see anyone.

“Over here, Madam Witch.”

Just when I thought I heard the voice again, the moonlight returned. From above—from the window, something dropped down, and then…

“Meow.”

The cat approached, meowing cutely as she swished her two tails back and forth.

“You’re…”

“Good evening.”

There in front of me was the being who the people of this country revered above all others.

The Divine Cat, or whatever they called her.

And she was talking.

……

This cat could talk, even though she was quietly purring in my arms when I needed her most.

She was looking like a cat that swallowed the canary.

The cat looked up at me.

“I finally found you. I was waiting desperately for a human like you.” Then she tilted her head. “You don’t feel like discussing this with me?”

In this situation, you mean?

“You say ‘discuss’… I take it to mean there is some reason why I would want to listen to anything you have to say. Is there a considerable benefit you might be able to offer?”

“Naturally. I shall get you out of this place. That is the benefit to you. In exchange, you shall accept my one demand.”

“Oh-ho! And that would be?”

“I want you to get me out of this country.”

“Achoo! …So my benefit is a side effect of your demand?”

“I am the only one who can rescue you from this place.”

“……”

“Likewise, you are the only one who can rescue me from this land. In other words, our interests align.”

I didn’t understand what she was saying at all. “Um… Would you explain it from the beginning?”

“Oh. So you’re willing to help?”

“Depends on the reasons,” I said. “Carrying the most sacred creature in the country out of said country without knowing anything isn’t exactly something I want to do.”

I’d like to avoid making any more enemies than I have already.

“…Hmm,” the Divine Cat said, casting her eyes downward as if giving it a bit of thought. “Very well, as you wish. I shall tell you the story from the very beginning. The history of this country before the great collapse is long, several hundred years—”

“If you could summarize just the parts that’re relevant to me, that would be great.”

“Hmph… You’re a whiny one.” The cat sighed and began to speak like she was recounting a great legend.

“Then I shall tell you. Well, to put it simply, this country came into being because of me.”

This was the story of the archaic country.

Apparently, elderly cats with lingering attachments to this world could be reborn as magical spirit cats with two tails on rare occasions.

And she was one of them.

About forty years earlier, she had been born in this country as a house cat. That was back when the place still had contact with the outside world. The cat spent her whole life there, loved by people.

However, after about fifteen years, that all ended.

An epidemic spread through the country.

The people of the city died. Her owner was no exception and succumbed to this illness.

In just a few years, the prosperous land was almost uninhabited.

In that country, now desolate and forgotten, she had continued living quietly with her fellow cats.

They had no desire to go explore the outside. They couldn’t help but feel as though their home would disappear forever into the forest if they left.

She waited, hoping with all her heart that new people would come and that the country would flourish again. She waited and waited.

Under excruciatingly rare situations, someone would visit their domain, but they would just kidnap a few of her fellow strays or stay only a few days and then leave. There was no one who seemed likely to settle down here.

She continued to hold out, hoping for new arrivals.

After about twenty years had passed since her birth, she lost the ability to move.

It seemed her time had come at last—and she understood this somehow.

At the very least, she had wanted to feel the love of a human one last time.

Humbly, with that one regret in mind, she resigned herself to death.

Or so she thought.

The following day, she awoke as usual. She hadn’t died. And stranger than that, her body felt light, as if it had never suffered under the cruel hand of aging.

What on earth had happened?

When she got up, she realized that her tail had split into two. And the mouth that until then had only been able to issue meows had suddenly gained the ability to speak words—human words.

She had two of the things her fellow cats all had only one of. And she could talk. It was incredible. Even as she tilted her head in confusion at this curious turn, she boasted to her fellow cats right away.

Ever since that day, the environment surrounding her had been considerably changed.

The people who came to visit stopped leaving.

For example, there were merchants who had planned to stay just a few days to rest, the travelers who lost their way and finally ended up here, the immigrants who had been chased from their homes.

Slowly but surely, the number of people grew, and none seemed inclined to leave the country. And they showered her and the other cats with more love than any of the previous visitors had.

Indeed, this turn of events seemed to be due to her second tail.

Both she and her fellow cats realized that. In fact, just by lightly stroking her, most people became inclined to pour out an excess of love onto the cats.

And there was no way they wouldn’t use this to their advantage. There was no need to hold back. If the country was to flourish again, there would be nothing to regret, they thought.

After her life as an ordinary cat ended, the human population steadily increased. Most of the people who visited the country by chance ended up settling down there.

In exceedingly uncommon cases, there were people who did not fall for the Divine Cat’s new powers. From her observations, it seemed that she had no effect on people who naturally disliked cats.

A long time passed, and the people who were captivated by her gradually restored the country. They built a new gate and, before she knew it, had begun to worship her—the cat with two tails—as the Divine Cat.

Basking in the love of so many people, she continued to live in the country.

Twenty years had passed since her rebirth.

“The human population has grown too large. If it continues at this pace, the country is going to burst. Everything will fall to ruin again. And that’s why I must leave,” she said.

That was the main reason she had to exit the country.

“Do you understand the situation now?” the Divine Cat asked, tilting her head.

“……” I remained there in front of her, tears pooling in my eyes.

“Oh, are you crying for my sake? What a sweet girl.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to cry, but the tears just won’t stop.”

“Hmph. I was joking anyway. I knew that. Because, you see, that is the mark of someone who is not suited to cats. You’ve been out of sorts ever since you arrived in this country, right? For example, your body is itchy, your eyes burn, your nose is running, your throat hurts, and you’re generally not feeling well. And—”

“Achoo!”

“…And you’re sneezing. Like that.”

“That’s right.” I nodded and sniffled. Because I had never come into direct contact with cats, or rather, because I had never touched a cat in the first place, I myself hadn’t known that I had such a nature.

I guess I’ll be avoiding cats from now on, huh?

“Well, how about it? Would you like to cooperate with me?”

She pressed me a second time. Her blue eyes peering into mine. I got the sense that she was making an appeal with her eyes—I told you the circumstances, so cooperate already.

“……” I looked up, trying to escape her piercing gaze, and caught a glimpse of my shackles. “You are a cat, right? How do you plan to get these off me?”

At these words, she opened her eyes wide for a moment.

“Hmm-hmm. I have an idea for those. Wait right here,” she said in excitement, immediately turning and slipping between the iron bars of the jail to leave.

I didn’t have anything to do while I waited, so I stretched out my legs and killed time by tapping my heels on the floor. I had been in the same position this whole time, so it was just the right amount of stretch.

“Can’t you wait quietly?”

After a short while, she returned. She was holding a key ring in her mouth.

When she had suggested that she had an idea, I’d suspected she must have some extraordinary secret plan in motion, but it seemed she had simply stolen the keys. It was a bit anticlimactic, to be honest.

She passed through the bars exactly the way she had gone out, then walked over to me, jumped, and began to claw her way up my body.

She had her claws out, as usual, so it was moderately painful.

“We’ll carry out the plan tomorrow afternoon. I want you take me out of the country while kicking up a big fuss.”

Having arrived at my shoulders, she leaped onto my pointy hat, jangling the bunch of keys. I could feel her weight pressing down on me from above.

“Shouldn’t we go now? I think if we leave at this moment, it’d be easier to make a clean getaway.”

“We can’t. We must spread the word that I have left the country. If we don’t, there will be people who would continue to believe in me, not knowing I had gone. We need to make sure they all know I’m gone for good and, on top of that, that I am bequeathing the country to those who stay. That’s why I need you to make a scene.”

“…But I’ll be a criminal if I do that.”

“You’re already a criminal. What a silly thing to say.”

“Don’t you know? Not all crimes are the same.”

“If you make a run for it, then it’ll be fine.”

“That’s a criminal’s way of thinking…”

As the iron keys knocked each other on top of my head to make an unpleasant jangling noise, she let out a bored snort.

“Then I suppose I am a criminal, having tricked a great many humans. Do the same rules apply to cats, I wonder?”

“…” I smiled at her self-deprecating response. “I know a dumb person who once said that committing a crime isn’t your problem as long as you run away.”

“……They must be a very strange individual.”

“Yeah, they’re pretty strange.”

Clank! From atop my head came the sound of opening locks.

I passed the time one way or another.

I spent the night in jail and waited until the afternoon before forcefully busting out and emerging outside. I was meant to kick up a big fuss, to make a really memorable scene, but I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. I purposely flew low and slow so it would be easy for soldiers and civilians to chase me down.

There were tears spilling from my eyes, swept away by the wind. This long chase must have triggered my body’s sensitivity further.

“Crap…! I can’t catch up with her at all!”

“Hey! Close the gate! Under no circumstances should she be let out!”

“Rescue the Divine Cat, no matter what!”

As we zoomed through the city that was roiling with chaos, we heard the shouts of the people as they leaped at us, but of course, none could catch me.

My chest was burning, my eyes were swollen, and at some point, the itchiness had turned into pain. However, even in my debilitated state, I was still a witch.

There was no way they were going to catch me.

“Good, good. Keep going, but a little more carefully if you can.” From where she sat in my arms, the Divine Cat could not help but add a little unwarranted criticism to her words of praise.

“They’ll catch us if I fly safely, you know!”

“What are you saying? We’ll be at the gate soon, right? Just try to hold out until then.”

“It’s just hard, you know. I mean—” I broke off midsentence.

“Elaina! I misjudged you! Though I felt a lot of contempt for you yesterday!”

Lucie had come after us. She zoomed down from above.

Straddling her broom and gripping her wand, she blocked my way forward. As if to protect the closed gate.

“……”

So you finally showed up, huh? I just knew you’d come to get in my way. There’s no reason you wouldn’t come for the country’s most important resident.

She turned her wand on me. “Being insolent to the Divine Cat and breaking out of jail? What were you thinking?! I will never forgive you! This calls for capital punishment! You’re guilty as charged!”

Then she waved her wand.

As if responding to her words and movements, the ground directly below Lucie shone bright white. The light around her feet formed a circle, making an unpleasant rumbling noise as if it was boiling, and then, from directly behind her, seven pillars of water flew toward me.

“…!”

I swerved on my broom to avoid them, when I realized that they were not just waterspouts. Like seven living creatures, the water pillars writhed and twisted—and began to chase after me.

Just like snakes.

The more I dodged, the more they moved to surround me. If I flew my broom upward, the barrage came from all directions. If I snaked along the ground, they would coil themselves around and chase after me.

I darted around, like a small bug, and looked at Lucie. Operating her wand from atop her broom, she was glaring at me intensely.

The attacks will stop if I take her wand away, right? I mean, without it, a witch is just an ordinary person. Nothing to fear. Well, I guess that goes for me, too.

“Um, Lucie? I’m holding the Divine Cat, you know. Are you sure you should be attacking me?”

“Shut up! Die!”

“……”

I glanced down at the Divine Cat. “She doesn’t seem to be one for conversation,” she said in a carefree tone.

I ignored her and continued dodging Lucie’s attacks, when she spoke to me again.

“Are you really just going to keep defending?”

“Both of my hands are occupied, you know! But don’t worry. I have an idea.” I took my broom higher. High enough that we could look down on Lucie, but not so high up that we would die if we fell.

“Oh? From the way you’re talking, I suppose you have quite the secret plan.”

“Yes. Very much so.”

While flying around and around, dodging the water serpents that continued to pursue us, I made my preparations.

Well, I mostly mean that I grabbed the Divine Cat with one hand.

“Please don’t claw at me.”

It’ll hurt.

“…Huh?” Her eyes opened wide, and she stretched all four legs all the way out.

By the time the Divine Cat realized what I was planning, the plan was already under way.

“Aaaaaaaaaaah!” She left my arms and slowly fell, screaming the whole way.

What I had done was very simple.

I’m not sure if I could really call this a secret plan since all I did was throw her overboard.

And if you thought it was anticlimactic, think again. The effect on the people of the country was astounding.

“What? A-ah! The Divine Cat!”

In that instant, Lucie eased up her attacks in a panic below me.

That is exactly what I had hoped would happen. I immediately sent my broom into a nosedive. I pulled out my wand with my free hand and, brandishing it in Lucie’s direction, fired off several spells in an instant before putting away the wand.

I had shot blasts of powerful wind magic. They flew directly for Lucie, spinning and looping like tornados and churning up the earth below.

“Divine Ca—Huh?”

Her hand, outstretched to grab hold of the falling Divine Cat, missed the falling feline, just as the full force of my counterattack slammed into her.

Tossed about in the wild vortex of wind, spinning ’round and ’round, Lucie was blown away. Bang! The solid iron gate brought her to a stop.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

I flew below the Divine Cat, who was flailing her legs in the air while screaming. The straw head of my broom brushed the ground as I grasped the falling deity tightly in one arm.

Her small heart was pounding very fast.

“…I—I thought I was going to die!”

“But it all worked out, right?”

“In hindsight!”

“That’s true for most everything.”

After casting a glance toward the gate and confirming that Lucie was unconscious—her eyes were rolled back—I landed my broom.

The people of the country crowded around us, either wearing dumbfounded expressions or still showing hostility.

I made my best attempt at a villainous expression. “Well, everyone, the strongest witch in your country lost to me easily. Are there any other challengers?”

A commotion spread through the crowd, but not a single person stepped forward. Prudent, very prudent.

“I think I’ll be taking my leave now. Go ahead and open the gate. Otherwise, I do something to this cute cat—Well, you understand, right?”

I shot a glare at the gatekeeper, whose shoulders hitched in surprise in a way that was perceptible even beneath his exaggerated armor, and he began to open the gate in a panic.

Slowly, I began to see the world outside.

“Hey, what is this? I’m going outside, too. There’s no sense in using me as a hostage.” From where she sat in my hand, the Divine Cat raised her objections.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got a secret plan this time, too.”

“I no longer trust those.”

“I won’t throw you or anything this time. Relax.”

When the gate was completely open, I started walking. On high alert to everything around me, I moved carefully, one step at a time.

In the end, the people didn’t do anything to me, allowing me to step over Lucie and exit the country.

When I turned around, I saw them wearing expressions of grief. There were people screaming abuse at me—“Demon!” and “You can’t be serious!” Other people were bawling their eyes out.

“……”

After staring at them for a moment—

“Well then, we’ll be taking our leave.”

I got on my broom just like that.

As far as my secret plan, I had simply chosen to lie.

I hadn’t decided on any particular destination. I just flew off to wherever I felt like, at full speed, holding a black cat under my arm.

Fast enough that no one could follow.

Behind me, the agonizing cries of the people lamenting their stolen deity grew faint.

And so we had managed to escape.

I can’t really remember how long we flew.

We made our way through thick woods, over plains blanketed in green, and finally arrived at a gloomy forest.

There were no humans in sight and no civilization nearby.

“We should be all right, coming this far out.”

We had traveled quite a distance.

When I looked up, I could just barely make out the sky, stained red by the sunset.

“You saved me.”

Jumping down from my arms, the Divine Cat stood on the ground.

I rubbed my tingling, aching arm and wiped my eyes. “What are you planning to do now?”

“Nothing. I’m just going to live a quiet life. Without human contact.”

“……”

“And what will you do, Elaina?”

“I plan to quietly continue my travels. Without feline contact.”

“That’s a good idea. Please do so.” She snorted, and I turned around abruptly and perched on my broom.

“I hope we’ll meet again—Oh, you know, I never asked for your name.”

“I have no name.”

“Even though you were a pet?”

“Remember, I’ve died once, so I have no name,” she said.

“…In that case, would you let me hear your old one?”

“……”

After hesitating for a moment, she quietly opened her mouth and spoke a single word, giving me her name.

It was completely unremarkable, a common name, and yet very lovely.

I grinned at her. “It’s a nice name.”

“But there will never be anyone who will call me that again.”

Then she smiled and turned her two tails toward me, looking back at me over her shoulder.

“I’m off. I’m glad you are the one I met at the end.” She darted off, deep into the forest.

And I flew away on my broom.

Wiping my itchy eyes and rubbing my scratchy throat, I flew toward the setting sun.

Once I was free of the forest, a meadow painted by the light of the setting sun greeted me. The wind blew over the rippling blades of grass.

Let’s talk about what happened one month and a few days after that.

I had received a summons from a certain country…and because I had been foolish enough to promise to return, I had come back to the region.

It wasn’t for any major reason, but since I was in the area, I made my way to the village where I had first learned about the country overrun with cats.

Well, I could have done without another visit, that’s for sure.

“Hello there! Meow!”

“……”

“Miss Traveler! Welcomeow! This is the village where cats and country folk live in harmony! Take your time and enjoy! Meow!”

“……”

There was something strange about her voice. The village itself had changed a bit. Where before there had been not a single cat or other animal, now I could see cats scattered about.

…Wait.

More importantly, first of all…

“What are you doing, Lucie?”

“……Don’t ask. Please.”

The person who had come out to greet me in front of the village was none other than the Fair Weather Witch herself. She was clad in a robe, exactly as when I had encountered her in the other country, but this time, in place of her pointy hat, she had on a headband decorated with cat ears. It was amazing how poorly the getup suited her. To be honest, it was pitiful. I couldn’t hold back tears in the face of this tragic reality.

Lucie stroked her head lightly.

“Elaina, I wanted to thank you for what you did a month ago. It really opened my eyes. It seems that, for some reason, I was acting strange while I was in that country.”

“Is that so?” You’re acting pretty strange now, too, but… I did her the favor of not saying that. “What happened after I left?”

“Everyone left. Weirdly enough, everyone’s love of cats just kind of evaporated after the Divine Cat was kidnapped, you know. There were even some people who came out wondering whether their souls might have been manipulated by the cat with two tails.”

Which means…

“So now that country doesn’t exist anymore?”

She shook her head slowly at my inquiry. “No. There were plenty of cat lovers and people who truly didn’t have any other place to live, and they’ve got things working again now. I’ve even heard they’re marketing themselves as a country where you can live together with cats, and the tourist traffic is gradually picking up again.”

“So you decided to imitate that country, and now this place is like that, too?”

“……They were cute, so I brought several cats back with me. But the villagers were extremely taken with their cuteness…”

“Enough to affect their sense of reason, huh?”

“Seriously…” And then, after a brief silence, Lucie clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Oh, wait here for a minute, Elaina.”

“Huh? Oh, sure.”

She dashed off in a hurry and went into a house somewhere. Not even a minute passed before she came back out, carefully carrying a wooden box in both hands.

“Elaina! Look at this; look!”

With extreme excitement, she tilted it toward me.

When I peered inside, I saw several cats. A mother cat with pure-white fur. Three kittens with mixed black-and-white fur. And one kitten that was jet-black.

……

“Not even a month has passed since these darlings were born. Aren’t they so cute?”

Most of the cats in the box looked at me for just a moment, as if they were annoyed with the disturbance, and went back to sleep right away. But one was very lively, much more than the others.

It was the kitten with blue eyes and black fur that looked like it would be nice to hold. It got up and stretched its legs, trying to get out of the box.

“This one is very lively, isn’t it?”

I praised it half-heartedly, and Lucie smiled, looking very happy. “Right? Would you like to pet it?”

“No, I’m fine.” It’s not in my nature, you see. “Have you given them names?”

“The kittens don’t have names yet. That’s why I’d like you to name them, Elaina.”

“……” I stared at the newborn black cat. “I’ll do it, but I’ll only name one.”

“Which one?”

“This one.”

The black cat cried, “Meow.”

“Its name will be—”

Then I told her the perfect name for the black cat in front of me.

It was completely unremarkable, a common name, and yet very lovely.