It’S A Cat, Adopted By A Wolf Family? [EN]: Chapter 104

“Kitty, are you hurt anywhere?”

As soon as I stepped out through the magic circle, Jackal approached and asked.

I gently lifted the wilting fox I was holding.

“I’m fine, but the fox beastkins I rescued from inside aren’t in good condition.”

“Move them this way.”

Some of the wolf knights, skilled in medicine, had laid out comfortable blankets on the floor and were waiting.

The fox beastkin in my arms thanked Jackal with a trembling voice before burrowing into the blankets.

The fox beastkins rescued by Ben, Cleed, and Sir Elliot also relaxed into the soft blankets and caught their breath.

“For now, let them rest well; recovering their strength is the top priority,” Sir Elliot said, patting my shoulder, noticing my worry.

I was so relieved that the fox beastkins’ lives weren’t in danger.

‘Now, if we rescue the baby foxes captured by Jerian, Cleed will achieve his goal.’

Hoping the foxes would regain their strength, I covered them with the blankets.

After being examined, they ate the nutritious meal brought by the wolf knights and soon fell asleep. They must have been exhausted from the constant tension.

The wolves vacated the area for the fox beastkins. Cleed gazed at the sleeping fox beastkins with affectionate eyes.

“Thank you, Miss. If you hadn’t come directly to the cat territory, we might not have been able to save them.”

I patted Cleed’s back with my soft paw.

“No, Cleed. You would have done it someday. Everyone was waiting for you, right?”

“……”

Cleed looked at me intently, just as he had looked at the fox beastkins. His red eyes held a multitude of emotions.

He must be overwhelmed with emotions after saving his comrades who were on the verge of losing consciousness.

“Cleed, I’ll talk to Jackal. You should stay with the fox beastkins today and get some rest. Catch up on the stories you haven’t been able to tell.”

“Will you?”

A slight smile appeared on Cleed’s usually stern face. I nodded vigorously and stood up.

Cleed transformed into a very large fox and warmly embraced his people.

‘The foxes are lucky to have such a good leader.’

I ground my teeth, thinking of Jerian, who had abandoned the food storage and disappeared with his close aides.

That unlucky cat. May you suffer from hair loss.

Just then, there was a portrait of Jerian in the hallway, his fur as lush as a raccoon’s. I took out my cat claws and tore the face part before heading toward the place that smelled like wolves.

The wolves were all gathered in the banquet hall that Jerian had built so grandly. The magic devices were so strong that it was warm even though the terrace was wide open.

‘Looks like we’re camping out in the food storage tonight.’

The wolf knights, who had been threatening Jerian by howling around the food storage, were also enjoying drinks and food.

Cats I hadn’t seen before timidly squeezed in among the wolves and began to taste the food.

Jackal came over to me and explained what was happening.

“Kitty, we’ll rest here today and leave for Gridwolf Manor around noon tomorrow. We’ll have a celebration party until late at night.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. Eat your fill with your cat friends and come back.”

It seemed like Jackal emphasized the ‘come back’ part.

“Will you light a bonfire too?”

“Of course. We’ve prepared marshmallows on the marble terrace, so go take a look.”

“Yay―!”

I jumped up and gave Jackal a quick kiss on the cheek before running toward the terrace.

There, my cat friends, who had regained their energy, were sitting around, grilling marshmallows and salmon jerky on skewers.

“Soft Paw, come here!”

I ran over and sat down among my friends. The salmon jerky grilled over the bonfire melted in my mouth.

“Jackal said he’s going to release all the food Jerian had stored,” Camel said.

I felt happy that the skinny cat beastkins would finally have a feast after so long.

“Those were foods that should have been shared with everyone in the first place. It’s a relief that it’s happening now, even if it’s late.”

“It’s all thanks to you, Soft Paw.”

I felt proud of my friends’ compliments, and the corners of my lips turned up. We ate our fill for a while, sharing stories we hadn’t been able to tell.

As the moon brightly illuminated the surroundings, one of my friends stealthily brewed catnip in warm water and shared it with us.

Thanks to that, all the tension melted away, and my whole body felt relaxed.

“Awoong……”

We all turned back into cats and lay down, leaning on each other. It felt like we had become a giant cotton ball.

Just as I was about to fall asleep, Camel nudged me with her tail.

“Kitty, look over there. The leader of the black fur wolves keeps staring at you.”

She must be talking about Ethan. I quickly turned my head in the opposite direction.

“Is there a woman next to him too?”

“Yeah. The woman seems to be watching you even more closely. Are you popular with the wolves?”

“……?”

I looked at her, meaning to ask what she was talking about, and Camel tapped my ear with her blunt front paw.

“Well, it’s no wonder, with ears as perky as yours.”

“No. I saw them together at night. I think they’re in that kind of relationship.”

Camel tilted her head.

“That can’t be. Then there’s no reason for the Weebis family head to offer us bribes, right?”

“Camel, did you receive a bribe from Ethan?”

“Kitty, I’m a weak cat. I can’t refuse a gift from a wolf family head.”

“……”

“Anyway, if you don’t like that woman being with the Weebis family head, scratch her.”

The cats around me, regardless of age or gender, agreed. I was a little surprised.

‘That’s right. Cats have this kind of personality.’

I had forgotten because I grew up in the wolf mansion, so I felt like I needed to be re-educated on cat behavior.

Right now, I was in a state where I didn’t even know how to meow while leaving a donut [a cat’s way of marking territory by rubbing against something].

“Kitty, you have to know how to seduce the person you want to be a cat. Don’t forget that you’re a cat with soft paws that can get both the Fostein family head and the Weebis family head.”

“Seduce? How?”

When I asked back, the cats lounging by the fire blinked their eyes. They looked like they were asking how I didn’t know that.

“Of course, you have to do the adult meow dance.”

“The adult meow dance……?”

* * *

Nero arrived at the food storage much earlier than the time she had replied in her letter.

Originally, she was planning to leave after completely clearing the traces of her stay upstream of the Meow River, but she couldn’t because her desire to see her granddaughter even a little more was too great.

“Nero, you’ve come earlier than I thought,” Jackal greeted her. His attitude showed respect for Nero, the leader of the black cats. Hashuka next to him was the same.

“I left the cleanup to my subordinates and left early. Is that mine?”

“Yes.”

Nero took a sip of the catnip cocktail that Jackal handed her and smiled.

“It’s delicious. It looks like you’ve emptied the food storage.”

“Even using only half of the ingredients he had stored, we can feed all the cats and wolf knights in the vicinity,” Hashuka replied in a bitter voice.

Most of the cats crowded around, scattered everywhere, looked malnourished because Jerian had secured plenty of food but hadn’t released it.

Except for the youngest daughter of Gridwolf, who was swaying in the form of a cat far away.

Nero chuckled as she watched the cotton ball, intoxicated by the catnip she had somehow obtained, doing the meow dance wildly.

“Now that Jerian is gone, I’m seeing things like this. Are the wolves planning to continue stationing in the cat territory?”

“Doing such a thing would only create resistance. I would like the night cats to take charge of the security around here for the time being.”

It was definitely a troublesome task for Nero, who preferred to move without being bound by anything. But she crossed her arms and replied.

“If that child wants it.”

“Then I’ll ask you. The Gray Sleigh Merchant Guild and the Welsh Merchant Guild will take care of the supplies for the time being.”

“Okay.”

Nero was now wearing a subtle smile.

“Jackal, I want to thank you for raising my granddaughter well all this time.”

“You’re not hiding from me that you’re Kitty’s grandmother?”

“With your intelligence, you would have found out anyway.”

Nero leisurely finished her catnip cocktail. However, Jackal’s face noticeably stiffened afterward.

“Nero, I will continue to take care of her well.”

“……”

Nero chewed on the olive in her cocktail and looked at Jackal.

It wasn’t that she was trying to act like Kitty’s grandmother now, but Jackal’s firm tone somehow bothered her.

“Jackal, when the temporary adoption period ends, Kitty may choose to stay in the cat territory.”

“She wouldn’t do that, leaving Gridwolf behind.”

“But look over there.”

Kitty seemed to be having a very happy time with cats of similar size. Jackal became anxious and started showing off unnecessarily.

“There’s a lot of catnip in Gridwolf.”

“I thought that was to stop the panthers.”

“When winter comes, heavy snow will fall, and Kitty can make snow meows to her heart’s content.”

“There are real cats here, not cats made of snow.”

Hashuka cleared his throat and cautiously interjected.

“If the young lady becomes a member of the Merchant Guild, she can go wherever she wants at any time. Of course, we plan to scout her as a manager, so there will be no difficult tasks.”

Then, a fire ignited in Jackal and Nero’s eyes.

Hashuka belatedly displayed the keen intuition of a merchant and cautiously stepped back.

It seemed that their battle of nerves to win Kitty would continue for quite some time.

* * *

“Umm……”

In the deep dawn, when everyone except the guards was asleep, Kitty woke up alone.

Perhaps because she had fallen asleep buried among her cat friends, she had a dream of laughing in her familiar and cozy mother’s arms.

Feeling empty, she was about to go for a walk when she was startled by something long next to her.

‘What is this……! Oh, it’s my tail.’

Swish―

Relieved, Kitty walked on her four soft paws to the end of the terrace.

The wolf guards bowed their heads to the youngest lady, who was scattering white fur.

“Young lady, it’s dangerous late at night.”

“I’m just going to look at the scenery below from here and go back in.”

Poof!

Kitty transformed into her human form and leaned against the wall. Because it was a bright moonlit night, the forest below the food storage was clearly visible.

‘The cat beastkins under Jerian’s orders threw me and Mom around here.’

Coming back here after growing up so much made me feel all sorts of emotions.

Now I’ve grown enough to wrap my body around Mom so she doesn’t get hurt.

I can use my magic to catch Mom and the little ones even if Jerian throws them.

“……”

Thinking those thoughts made me feel like I was about to cry.

Kitty blinked away the tears and slowly shifted her gaze, trying to figure out where she had buried her mom.

But.

‘Huh? Why is he there…….’

At the end of her gaze, a familiar man appeared, holding a bouquet of white flowers.