It’S A Cat, Adopted By A Wolf Family? [EN]: Chapter 124

<124>

Jerian.

It was definitely Jerian.

To be precise, his men were pushing my brother and father off the cliff.

[“Jerian…! How could you do this to me!”]

Father gritted his teeth and roared. Jerian seemed to hear the sound clearly, as he furrowed his brow slightly.

[“Well, we’ve had a long and twisted relationship since we were kids. That’s why I’m not killing you myself.”]

At Jerian’s gesture, his men drove the two Icaruses [members of the cat clan] to the edge of the cliff.

It was a high and rugged cliff, high enough to kill even a large bear beastkin instantly if they fell.

‘He didn’t kill them directly, he ordered it.’ I had thought about how Jerian obtained immunity to Blue Moon [a deadly magical affliction] several times.

But seeing the scene with my own eyes was more painful than I had imagined.

My father and brother were exhausted, perhaps from several previous attacks. Blood gushed from their mouths each time they gasped for breath.

Puff!

My brother, who had less stamina than my father, turned back into a cat first. It was a familiar sight that I had missed, but his fur was stained with blood.

It meant that his energy had deteriorated to the point where he could no longer maintain his human form.

At this rate, my father would soon turn into a cat and fall as well.

Before I knew it, my vision blurred and a sigh escaped my lips.

“Ah……”

My heart ached as I watched them cling to the cliff, using even their fingernails.

I couldn’t bear to watch any longer and turned my head away. Eden, who had approached sometime, was glaring at Jerian in the mirror with cold eyes.

“Kitty.”

“Soft Paw, are you okay?”

“Yes. I want to see it to the end… to the end.”

Thanks to Theo and Deon, who came close to my side, I was able to calm down and continue watching the scene that was unfolding.

My father and brother, who had turned back into cats, were dangling from the edge of the cliff.

They struggled to climb the cliff until their fingernails cracked and broke, exposing the skin underneath.

In the end, I wished they would just let go of the cliff.

Even with the strength draining from their eyes due to excessive bleeding and their tails drooping, they didn’t give up, and that sight was so painful to watch.

I wished they could have at least had an easy journey, but they didn’t seem to be able to do that.

Jerian’s shadow fell over their battered faces. He, who had only been watching from afar, had approached.

[“Let go.”]

Jerian said. At that, his men, who had been threatening my brother and father with the tips of their long spears, hesitated and stepped back.

However, the two Icaruses could not climb back up the cliff. They seemed exhausted because they had already used all their strength to hold on.

The bleeding was so severe that even if they had climbed up, they probably wouldn’t have been able to walk a few steps before dying. My hands, which were covering my mouth to keep from crying, trembled.

[“You can’t even climb up, yet you’re hanging on.”]

Jerian squatted down with a sneer. It was as if he was trying to capture the moment of their death in his eyes.

Soon, the strength drained from my brother’s body. My father caught my brother, who was about to lose consciousness and fall, and held him inside his coat.

Because he was holding my brother, he only had one hand left to hold onto the cliff.

Seeing that, Jerian frowned as if he was fed up. As if wondering why he was taking care of him until the very end when they were both going to die anyway.

My father chuckled as he held my brother.

[“Jerian, you asked why I’m holding on.”]

[“Yeah. You know, the leopards are holding on behind me.”]

[“I know it well. I also know that you colluded with the leopards and staged a self-deception.”]

My father spoke in a calm voice, as if he really knew everything. It was hard to believe that his lips were stained with blood and his eyes were blurred.

At the same time, my father’s expression became affectionate, as if he was thinking of something he loved.

[“Did you ask why I’m holding on?”]

[“……”]

[“My precious people are still in this world.”]

At that one word, Jerian’s face was horribly distorted as if he had been stabbed in the heart.

[“My wife, and my daughter.”]

The moment my name came out of my father’s mouth, hot tears welled up.

[“If I let go of this hand, I’ll never be able to see her again. So there’s no way I’ll give up.”]

[“Because of that little thing?”]

[“Jerian, you’ll never know as long as you haven’t held her in your arms.”]

My father turned his gaze somewhere. It was as if he was looking at the rock that remembered the situation.

Tears welled up and flowed as if our eyes were meeting.

[“Kitty, how lovely she is. And how precious she is to me.”]

[“……”]

[“You, who betrayed your own kind by joining hands with the leopards, won’t last long. My child will punish you.”]

[“That rat-like thing will do that!”]

Jerian shouted as if he was scolding. But my father was sure with a firm voice.

[“I believe in my daughter. She is a stronger and more special being than anyone else.”]

[“Shut up!”]

Jerian spat out vulgar words and stepped on my father’s hand. The ice shards pressed down on my father’s hand, causing him to lose his strength.

With that, my father fell to the ground, holding my brother in his arms.

Until the last moment, he made eye contact with me outside the mirror, and even smiled slightly when he completely let go of his hand.

Perhaps, perhaps my father knew that I, who had grown up in the distant future, would come to the bear’s territory and find his traces.

‘…Father always knew everything.’ Fortunately or unfortunately, I couldn’t see what my father looked like after he fell off the cliff.

Because the rock was fixed on the upper side of the cliff.

Instead, I clearly saw Jerian smiling as he accepted the mysterious magic into his body.

His ability was transferred to him after my father lost his life and launched his last attack.

‘…He’s gone.’

Even though it was a story I already knew the ending to, I felt like all the strength in my body was draining away.

Even though the world was silent as if mourning someone’s death, Jerian, who had successfully secured immunity to Blue Moon, smiled with a twisted grin.

Even the subordinates he brought were momentarily speechless at that eerie smile.

I didn’t take my eyes off him and watched until the end to see how long Jerian would laugh.

The lives of the people I love.

The clans and families of my precious friends.

To compare how broken he would be when he was gripped by fear because of me, after taking all of them as chess pieces to gain his own advantage.

[“Shall we go back.”]

Jerian didn’t even glance at the bottom of the cliff. He just smiled as if he felt relieved that they were dead and left the scene.

Clean snow fell on the ground that my father and brother had scratched.

Everything, including the bloodstains left by my precious people and the footprints of Jerian’s group, disappeared under the white snow.

“I think this is the end. I don’t know why I’m crying even though I knew what would happen.”

I wiped away my tears with the back of my hand and then smiled. It wasn’t a bright smile, but I wanted to show everyone that I was okay.

However, perhaps because my smile wasn’t clear, Theo gently stroked my shoulder.

“Kitty, it’s okay to cry if you want to.”

“Shall I get you a box [of tissues]?”

Deon also looked at me with worried eyes. I had shown so many tears in front of them that it wasn’t unfamiliar to receive such concern.

But it was different now.

My brother and father held on until the very end, thinking of me, and I am Kitty, who received their faith and love.

“I’m okay.”

I put magic back into the mirror with a calm face. By delicately adjusting the magic with my fingertips, it was possible to continue watching the desired scene again and again.

It meant that if I used the holy relic, I could show anyone how my father and brother died, and what kind of face Jerian had at that time.

“Mr. Polly, Mrs. Polly, and Katrina. Thank you for your consideration.”

I greeted the three of them politely. Perhaps because it was a different reaction than they had expected, the three of them looked at me with worried faces.

“Kitty, is there anything we can do for you?”

Mrs. Polly asked. If it had been before, I would have asked for something to cheer me up, but now I knew what to do.

“No, I think it’s more important to talk to the leopards we’ve taken hostage first. I’ve got some new information.”

The scene I just saw didn’t just give me the information that Jerian killed my father directly.

There was a lot of information that my father let slip and Jerian acknowledged.

That he evacuated all the cats in collusion with the leopards, and that he gained immunity by killing his hometown friend.

I couldn’t just sit around eating sweet snacks when I could tell everyone.

“I’ll get it ready, Kitty.”

Eden said, gently stroking the corners of my eyes. Perhaps because we had spent so much time together, or because he was the teacher who taught me, he seemed to have read my mind.

Some of Wyvis’ elite knights, who had received his signal, quickly headed somewhere.

I also knew where they were going, so I moved my heavy steps.

At the end of my path was the temporary prison where the leopards captured by the wolf knights were being held.

What to do with them was entirely up to the wolves. I said to my brothers, who were talking to the knights.

“Any leopard taken hostage will do.”

“Yeah, it’s better to check quickly.”

Soon, a leopard was dragged out. The wolves were glaring at him from all directions, so he seemed to feel quite threatened and trembled.

I stared at him for a moment and then approached him a little. Eden exuded murderous intent to prevent the leopard from doing anything reckless.

“Shall I show you something interesting?”

It would have been nice if it was Sigma, but she was still unable to wake up, so there was no other way.

“A lot of leopards died because of Blue Moon. Especially during the process of attacking the cats.”

I held the mirror in front of the resisting leopard’s eyes.