Delicious.

I didn’t think we could get any decent food this late at night.

But surprisingly, we found a nice night bar to eat at.

There were many drunkards trying to approach us, but most of them scrammed after facing cat soul.

And since cigarettes don’t exist in this world, we didn’t have to deal with smoke either!

It’s perfect!

With that said…

Why have you two barely touched your food?

Are you still sick from Nina express?

Come on now…

It wasn’t that bad, was it?

Surely, modern bullet trains go faster than that, right?

Well, I guess with those, wind isn’t constantly smacking your face…

…

Anyway!

“Do you know a place we could spend the night…?”

Since it’s so late, I worry that we won’t be able to find an empty inn.

“Er, no… not really… I’ve always slept at the base…”

‘The’ base?

You mean, that guy’s base?

Hmm…

Speaking of which…

You know where his base is…

Maybe we could plot some sort of surprise attack…

…

Nah.

Since Ignis is free from the charm, she has no reason to not tell where their base is.

They must have realized this fact.

There's no way they stayed in that base.

Well, back to our problem…

“I guess we will have to look around… and hope we find an inn…”

Therefore, you better finish eating so we can begin searching.

“Meow!”

“Hmm? What is it, Kuro…?”

“Meorw! Meeeeow!”

“Indeed, you are a cat.”

“MEOW!!!”

Calm down, it was just a joke.

But still, I don’t understand what you are saying…

Ugh…

What must one do to get a skill or a magical item to translate cat speech?

Kuro, annoyed his ‘words’ aren’t getting through, jumped off of my head and sprinted out of the bar.

“Ah, hey…!”

And got out of my sight before I could stop him.

“I think he hates you now.”

“Wha-”

For a stupid non-joke like that?!

…

No, wait…

He might actually be really sensitive to the fact that he is a cat.

Ah, crap!

Did I accidentally make some sort of insensitive remark?!

What have I done?!

“H-hey… I’m joking. I’m sure he will come back. It’s a cat, after all.”

No, it’s a man in a cat’s body.

You don’t know that since I didn’t tell you but still…

Argh…

Well…!

Worst case scenario, my blessing will make him love me again!

…

W-wait a second.

That’s wrong!

How is this different from the guy who charms girls?!

Aren’t I the same villain as him?!

…

Nonono!

I’m different!

Totally different!

I don’t curse anyone!

And since it’s a passive effect, I can’t help it!

Yes, that’s right!

It’s not my fault, therefore it’s okay!

Once we finished our meals, we left the bar and began searching.

Both, for the inn we could spend the night at, as well as Kuro.

And unfortunately, we didn’t find either.

Most inns were already closed, so we couldn’t even get to ask whether there were any free rooms or not.

And those that still had their doors open were all filled.

…

“What now…?”

Not a single inn we could stay at.

We’re homeless now.

This is really…

…

What’s up with this?!

Do we really have to sleep on the streets?!

Despite what I look like, I’m not a stray cat!

Argh!

…

Speaking of cats…

Where Kuro go…?

I thought I could simply track his scent and find him…

But that was naive thinking…

The scent disappeared in some alleyway between buildings.

He really must be a ninja or something…

Ah, what to do now…

Just as I began to despair, Kuro’s scent reappeared.

I stood up from the cold unpaved ground and looked into the distance.

Before long, the black cat appeared in front of us again.

“Meow!”

“Oh, there you are!”

Strangely enough, he doesn’t seem to be angry…

Was I mistaken, after all?

“Meow…”

He turned around again and looked back at us.

Umm, huh?

Is he telling us to follow him?

I looked at Ignis and we nodded to each other before following after Kuro.

It got a little suspicious when he brought us to the same alleyway where his scent disappeared, but what happened next shocked me.

He knocked on some barrel with his claws while meowing and a tiny door opened from it, as if the barrel was a house.

A secret hideout?!

Seriously!

Who ARE you, Kuro?!

Kuro beckoned us to enter the tunnel.

Once again, I exchanged looks with Ignis.

This time, neither one of us felt enthusiastic about it.

“After you…”

Urg!

A low blow!

Fine…

Here I go…

I got on all fours and crawled inside.

I heard Ignis and Kuro following me after closing the barrel door behind them.

The tunnel wasn’t very long.

After a minute or so, we reached an open area big enough for us to stand upright.

But it wasn’t empty…

“Cats…”

That was my reaction to the sight in fromt of me.

Something I could only refer to as a legion of cats.

Small cats, big cats, long-tailed ones, triple tailed ones, even some with horns…

What in the world?!

This is crazy!

Is this some underground cat society?!

Kuro stepped forward and sat in front of all the cats, as if he was their representative.

And then, he meowed.

Following after him, a massive choir of meows from everyone else shook the room.

It almost made me faint, but I removed the headband just in time.

I’m getting pretty good at that, huh?

“W-what is this?!”

Oh, the initial shock passed.

Welcome back Ignis.

As for what this is…

…

I think someone took my joke literally.

No, seriously.

I didn’t think Kuro actually WAS some kind of mafia leader!

After the grand welcome, the cats dispersed, leaving behind only Kuro and one other cat who had a scar on its face.

I felt like he kept throwing hostile looks toward Ignis, but that might have been just because I can’t read cat expressions.

For some reason, they blindfolded Ignis to prevent her from seeing things…

Just like real mafia, I guess?

Well, not really.

Real mafia would blindfold you before you even entered their base.

But anyway…

I wonder why they didn’t do the same to me?

I guess boss himself introducing me must be pretty significant…

And also, there’s the blessing at work.

Either way, at some point, Kuro left us after meowing a goodbye and the scarred cat lead us through the hideout into a room with a double bed in it.

Oh, and…

Absolutely nothing happened on our way there.

That’s right.

I didn’t see any cages with various cats, people or cat people imprisoned inside.

Nope.

That was just my imagination.

Indeed.

That couldn’t have been real.

No way at all.

“Ugh… can I take this off already?”

Seems like the blindfold isn’t exactly comfortable for Ignis.

How come?

I could have used a blindfold when we walked through there.

That way, I wouldn’t have to see all those crazy hallucinations!

“Meow.”

Is that a yes or no?

Well, it seems like Ignis interpreted it as yes as she took of the blindfold.

She looked around in wonder and her gaze ended up on the bed.

“We’re… supposed to sleep here?”

“I guess so.”

Better than sleeping on the streets.

That way, there’s no danger of pickpockets.

…

But I feel like there is a different kind of danger in this underground base…

“Well, alright then… Good night.”

“Good night. Don’t try to kiss me while I’m asleep.”

“I won’t!”