It’S A Cat, Adopted By A Wolf Family? [EN]: Chapter 110

It was quite late when the group arrived at the Gridwolf mansion.

“Kariss!”

As soon as I spotted Kariss, who had come out to greet us, I transformed into a cat and leaped up.

“Oh, my baby.”

Kariss caught me as I bounced up like a spring and kissed me.

As expected, her face was full of fatigue. Suddenly, I remembered my brothers saying that Kariss rested comfortably when I was around.

I rubbed my soft face fur against her, acting cute.

“Kariss… *yawn*.”

“Baby, are you tired?”

“A little. But you look more tired, Kariss.”

Kariss poked my cheek as if she saw my intention to let her rest.

“Now that you’re here, I’ll be able to sleep soundly tonight with sweet dreams. Thank you for your concern.”

Jackal and Kariss led the hardworking wolf knights to the banquet hall.

There, a lavish spread of food and various kinds of alcohol was laid out on the table.

Hugging in Kariss’s arms, I transformed back into my human form and sat down.

“Kitty, you can go in first if you’re tired.”

Jackal said, pouring milk into my glass.

“No. There’s nothing better for boosting morale than letting the knights who returned from the mission eat and drink to their heart’s content. I want to stay here too.”

“Where did you learn that?”

“From Ethan.”

“…”

Jackal’s face, which had been looking at me with pride, hardened instantly.

“Kitty. It’s not good to think about other things when food is in front of you.”

His golden eyes sternly said, ‘Stop thinking about Ethan.’

It seems Jackal really doesn’t like Ethan.

Normally, I would have shrugged it off, but something bothered me.

‘Could he have seen us that day?’

I hid well between the trees so that the wolf knights wouldn’t see what I was doing.

If Jackal had seen Ethan kiss me and then gently bite my cheek, he would have had a fit.

‘He might kick me out too.’

I quietly munched on the salmon jerky, hoping Jackal wouldn’t ask me anything.

The knights became increasingly boisterous as they ate and drank. I could hear my name amidst their somewhat relaxed voices.

“It’s all thanks to the young lady that the leader of the Night Cats agreed to help us.”

“Hashka, it seems like that guy is completely smitten with her soft paws.”

Kariss seemed interested in the stories she was hearing. I munched on the salmon steak that Jackal had cut into small pieces and told them about what had happened in the cat territory.

That Nero, the leader of the Night Cats, was actually my relative. That I met Jerian escaping from the cave in Mount Meow.

“And this is my mother’s keepsake.”

I showed Kariss the blue necklace I was wearing.

“Ever since I got this, I can see the arrows when I hold the Gridwolf bow. I’m planning to practice archery starting tomorrow.”

When I said that my mother was a cat chosen by the goddess, I unconsciously made a proud expression.

When I was young, it broke my heart to hear that my mother had stolen from the Gridwolf family in front of them.

I was glad that I could finally say how amazing and wonderful she was as a cat beastkin [a human with animal features].

“A lot happened in the cat territory, baby.”

“Yes. I wish I could have hit Jerian with an arrow.”

I spoke bravely like a wolf, then took out my mother’s letter from my pocket.

“But I think my mother helped me find another way to get revenge on Jerian… Kariss?”

Kariss was looking at me with a slightly surprised expression.

“Kitty, what did you just say…?”

“Yes?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. You were talking about your mother, right?”

Kariss seemed to react to the word ‘mother’ that I said. Her eyes widened, but I didn’t feel any burden or anything like that.

But it wasn’t like Jackal, whose wolf ears perked up.

‘I thought she would have a hard time hearing me call her ‘mother’ even by accident.’

I said yes and tried to move on to the next topic. It was a very small voice that only Jackal and Kariss could hear.

“As you know, Jerian gained power because he led the evacuation when the panthers invaded the cat territory.”

“That’s right.”

“But, according to my mother’s letter, I think Jerian might have been in cahoots with the panthers.”

As I whispered, Kariss, as well as Jackal, who knew the contents of the letter, hardened their expressions.

“Come to think of it, we couldn’t clearly figure out when the Delta forces joined hands with Jerian. I felt like they were deliberately hiding it…”

“It’s terrible to put the entire clan in danger to gain power, but it wouldn’t be impossible for that vile bastard.”

I thought Jerian was capable of anything.

“I want to confirm whether that assumption is true or not, but where should I investigate?”

“First, I’ll tell the wolf knights remaining in the cat territory to search the food storage again.”

“It would be nice if something came out, but I don’t think it would be left in the food storage. Jerian must have negotiated with the panthers before moving to the food storage.”

I wondered if he had left it in writing.

If everything that day was fabricated, the panthers wouldn’t want to be exposed either.

If it became known that they had sent fellow panthers who had lost their minds to the cat territory, they would be criticized.

‘Because there must have been quite a few panthers who were injured or killed that day.’

Once they were consumed by madness, their movements became large and rough, making it easy to fall from high places or bump into something.

If the fabrication was true, it would put both Jerian and Delta in trouble.

“Hogwood seems to have captured quite a few panther hostages. I’ll send a letter to probe them to see if they know anything.”

“Will the panthers answer willingly?”

Kariss wore a somewhat chilling smile.

“I’ll make them. Don’t worry, baby.”

“…”

I nodded without asking further.

The best thing would be to catch Jerian or a high-ranking panther and get a confession.

‘Then the cats who were blinded by Jerian as a hero who saved everyone would come to their senses.’

Either way, it didn’t seem like I could confirm the truth at once.

* * *

“Young lady, the combat uniform is prepared here.”

The next morning, Vaniel woke me up with a bright smile. It had been a while since I saw her, and she was still a lively rabbit.

I washed my face in the water with pretty flowers floating in it, then started preparing to go to the training grounds.

While I was putting a dagger on my belt, Vaniel tied my bootlaces and asked slyly.

“Young lady. I heard that Ethan went as the leader of the support unit?”

“Ah.”

“Did you meet him?”

“Yeah. But really, nothing happened. I just misunderstood a little, and it worked out well, didn’t it?”

“Oh my.”

Vaniel looked up at me, pulling the bootlaces tightly.

Her rabbit ears, covered in soft brown fur, popped out as if she was surprised by my words.

“I’m really curious about what you misunderstood and how it worked out so well.”

“…”

I got up from my seat and grabbed my bow. It was because my face was burning when I thought of Ethan coming closer.

“Is it what I think it is?”

“It’s not like that!”

“I haven’t told you what I was thinking yet.”

“Vaniel, you’re saying it all with your ears!”

Vaniel slightly curled her long rabbit ears into a heart shape and asked in a subtle voice.

Even I, a cat, could tell that the question was about skinship [physical intimacy or affection].

“I, I’ll be back.”

“Yes, young lady. A letter from Ethan…”

“Did it come?”

“No. I’ll deliver it if it comes.”

Seeing her giggling, it was clear that Vaniel was teasing me. I cooled my burning cheeks with my soft paws and left the room.

“Shall we go, young lady?”

Cleed, looking a little tired, was waiting in the lobby. I looked at his messy shirt buttons and asked.

“Cleed. Did you drink too much yesterday? You didn’t drink all the alcohol that Jackal and the wolf knights were pouring, did you?”

“Absolutely not. I drank discreetly.”

Well, I’m not in a position to worry about a fox’s tact [skill in dealing with people or situations].

“I couldn’t sleep because of work. The three newly rescued fox beastkins wanted to write a report quickly.”

“Report? They’re not even fully recovered yet.”

“Tell me about it. As if they’re not from the Council of Elders, they don’t even listen to me. I understand that they want to inform everyone as soon as possible about the outrageous things Jerian has done, but…”

“Still, their health comes first. Can I go and ask how they’re doing?”

While we were talking, we had already arrived at the training grounds. I headed to the room where the newly rescued fox beastkins were staying with Cleed.

Knock, knock—

“This is Cleed Foxstein. I’ll go in with the young lady.”

Cleed quickly said and opened the door. There was a fox on each of the three hospital beds.

‘It’s gotten so fluffy in the past few days.’

While I was distracted by the fluffy fox fur, Cleed strode over and rolled one of the foxes to the side.

Then, a vast amount of documents that had been under the fox appeared.

“All three of you, really… I told you to write the report later and rest.”

As Cleed said with a sigh, the foxes, who had been pretending to sleep, sheepishly transformed back into humans.

‘These foxes really don’t listen.’

I thought Cleed was the only one who was slippery and cunning when it came to things he didn’t want to do.

“You all need to rest a little, as Cleed said.”

When I said that, one of the fox beastkins drooped his shoulders and came to me, clasping his hands together and pleading.

His calluses were all stained with ink, showing how focused he had been on writing.

“Young lady, I have a favor to ask. The head of the family doesn’t listen to us at all.”

Their faces were full of guilt and worry. Looking at their expressions, I could roughly guess what they were going to say to me.