Published at 19th of January 2020 1:29 am

Volume 7, Extra Chapter: The Young Girl and the Kitty Paradise

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

There existed a famous “cat mansion” in the western district.

One day, Latina heard of the place through Sylvester, a regular of the Dancing Ocelot. The girl was very fond of animals, but she tended to let herself get worked up so much that the cats she ran into around town always ended up running away from her. But in a place like the cat mansion with lots of the little critters, maybe she would finally be able to touch one...

Latina was 10 at the time.

This occurred on a certain day after she and Dale had returned from their trip to Tislow.

The start of it all had been a conversation between Latina and her friend Sylvia in class.

“A cat gathering...?!”

The topic they were discussing sounded too good to be true to the young girl.

“That’s right. The cats all get together at night. I saw them in the central plaza, when the sun was going down.”

“Cats... So there are lots of cats?” “There are. So many it’s crazy.”

Latina started looking more and more excited as the conversation continued on.

“Cats... Cats...!”

“Latina, you’ve just been repeating ‘cats’ for a bit now. Are you alright?” Chloe asked while sweating a bit. Sylvia also gave a laugh, but neither of those seemed to reach Latina.

Lots of cats...! There could be tabbies, and white ones, and black ones too!

And if there are a whole lot, then maybe at least one will let Latina pet it!

Her mind was lost in thoughts of a kitty paradise. Latina was an animal lover.

She had an easy time earning a canine’s affection, and they would even approach her. That was clear from the way she had conquered not only all the dogs in Tislow, but the soaring wolves as well. While large examples like those were rare, pet dogs would often come and nuzzle up against Latina when they were on walks.

Cats, however, seemed to want to keep their distance, and that was something Latina was bad at doing. She’d get too excited about wanting to pet them, and they would always end up running away.

As an aside, there was essentially nothing like a zoo in this world. It couldn’t be said that literally nothing of the sort existed because there were rich collectors who gathered rare flora and fauna, but that wasn’t the sort of thing that the common folk would ever lay eyes upon. As a result, most townsfolk only ever encountered a very limited variety of animals. For the most part, it didn’t go beyond just pets and livestock.

Latina’s way of perceiving certain things was quite surprising. She apparently separated livestock out into their own category, thinking, “Well, they’re cute, but their meat is tasty.”

She could never become a vegetarian, because meat was just too delicious.

Anyway, the thought of the kitty paradise made Latina’s heart dance with joy, but there was a big obstacle in her way: the time.

Latina had permission to walk around on her own, but that was limited to when the sun was out.

Before, she had snuck out during the holy night with her usual group of friends to see magical beings and gotten scolded for it. What seemed to have had a greater effect on her, though, was the realization that she had worried not just Dale, but also Kenneth and Rita. After that, she hadn’t tried to go out and play at night.

“Latina wants to see the cat gathering, but...”

However, the main business hours for the Dancing Ocelot were during the night. Latina couldn’t bring herself to beg Kenneth or Rita to take her to the central plaza in the middle of their busy hours for such a selfish reason.

Meanwhile, the time when Dale returned home each day fluctuated. And he also came back tired, so Latina didn’t want to trouble him unnecessarily. She had always adored him, so she couldn’t ever bring herself to make selfish requests of him.

As a result of all that, Latina’s desire remained buried in her heart. The adults were all confused when they saw her sitting there, looking downhearted as she ate her dinner.

That night, Latina had a dream. She was surrounded all around by all sorts of cats, which were freely stretching and playing around as they pleased.

She felt like this was true paradise.

The instant that she reached out excitedly towards a fluffy tabby cat, her eyes shot open. She laid there in the covers, thinking how it would have been nice if she could have seen just a little more.

Before she realized it, there were tears flowing down onto her pillow.

Afterwards her heart remained completely captured by the thought of that kitty paradise. All the adults around her could tell that something was off.

She would be absentmindedly thinking something and give a sigh. But then when someone asked about the sad look on her face, she would just shake her head and say, “it’s nothing.” And then suddenly a happy expression would shoot across her face while she was sitting there lost in thought.

The adults were left bewildered, having no idea what was going on.

On top of that, there was the matter of her “previous offense.” The adults all had bitter memories of having sensed something was off but deciding to take a wait and see approach, only for her to break her own horn because she had felt so cornered.

They wouldn’t just let this abnormality pass them by.

“Is something wrong, Latina?” Dale suddenly asked with a serious look, acting on the behalf of all of the adults in the Ocelot.

And so, when Latina desperately explained the reason behind her actions, Dale collapsed in relief. So cute...!

“Dale?” Latina called out while looking down at him and shook his shoulders, but Dale wasn’t currently able to respond. He felt bad for Latina when she was being so serious, but he felt confident that he was about to start rolling around laughing. His relief only added to that feeling.

That was when Sylvester chimed in about the cat mansion.

“If you just want to see cats, you don’t have to go out at night. There’s a famous cat mansion next to my place in the western district.”

Latina turned and made a face that seemed to exclaim, “What did you just say?!”

Learning that there was another such paradise out there aside from the cat gathering made Latina sense just how small the world she knew still was.

When Dale finally regained his composure and looked up, he found

Latina’s attention focused on Sylvester.

It was already too late.

He gave his okay because there was no helping it now, but it was still a shame to have missed out on a chance to hear, “Latina really does love you best, Dale!” He felt like he could just bite down onto his handkerchief and tear it apart.

“Can Latina go to the house next to Mr. Syl’s? Is it alright?”

“Well, it’s right next door, so we know each other well enough. I’ll talk things over with him.”

“Really?! Thank you, Mr. Syl!”

Sylvester broke out in a sloppy grin at the way that Latina thanked him with a wide smile. The smile on Sylvester’s intimidating countenance was so powerful that calling it a “grin” didn’t actually cover it, really.

“He’s a single old man who apparently came from an island nation across the sea, by the name of Gojo Ciges. It’s an odd name, isn’t it?”

“Hmm? Sylvester, could you say that old man’s name one more time?” “It’s Gojo Ciges. He’s a former adventurer.”

“...I may actually know him,” Dale blurted out after searching his memories. Both Sylvester and Kenneth looked surprised.

“If you’re talking about Old Man Ciges... A lot of folks from our generation of adventurers owe him one, but by the time you got into the business, Dale, he should’ve been completely retired.”

Kenneth should’ve known, because he himself was the one to teach Dale the ropes of being an adventurer.

“I get the feeling... that an old guy with a name like that came to my grandpa’s funeral. My grandpa was an adventurer before he married into the clan, so maybe they knew each other from back then.”

Dale’s grandfather Reinald had married into the unique culture of Tislow from the outside. He was known as a man of character, and despite the fact that he was originally an outsider, there wasn’t a single person in Dale’s home village who would speak ill of him. Just the statement, “Well, he was generation who didn’t know him of how great of a man he must have been. He excelled with the sword as well as magic, and was also cultured enough to act as the teacher for the village’s children before Master Cornelio arrived.

And that man who seemed like he could do anything and everything had went and married Wendelgard. That was talked about by everyone in the village as one of Tislow’s seven wonders. The paradoxical explanation seemed to be, “Well, we’re talking about Reinald, so I can see it being possible.” All of Wendelgard’s potential suitors, not just in the village but the surrounding region, had shrank in the face of the idea. That fact is what made the statement such a heavy one.

Wendelgard may have been the head of the clan now, but when she was young, she threw herself fully into the role of an adventurer. The primary reason she had undertaken that wandering journey, though, wasn’t for training or to spread her renown, but rather to look for a husband.

†

Thanks to an introduction from his neighbor Sylvester, Dale and Latina got a chance to visit Old Man Ciges’ manor. When the old-timer heard Dale’s background, his reaction was, “You’re Wendelgard’s grandson...?!” There was an intensity there that you wouldn’t generally use with someone you were essentially meeting for the first time.

Faced with that, Dale’s reaction was to immediately break into a splendid, pronounced bow.

“I’m terribly sorry for all of the trouble my grandmother has caused

you!!”

Dale himself had no idea whatsoever what that trouble might have been.

But in his long years as her grandson, Dale had learned that generally in cases like this, his grandmother was the one at fault. And so for the time being, he put his all into apologizing.

Latina’s grey eyes went wide with surprise at his sudden actions. And apparently Ciges hadn’t foreseen Dale acting like that, either. He smoothed things over by clearing his throat, then began speaking of that nostalgic name in a way that said he had regained his composure.

“That’s right. If you’re Wendelgard’s grandson... Then that also means that Reinald is your grandfather.”

His shoulders drooped and he looked somehow exhausted as he said that.

Old Man Ciges lived in one of the upper-class residences of Kreuz’s western district. It was a splendid manor, to such a degree that one wondered if it wasn’t too much for an old man living on his own. The garden in front of the house was full of carefully maintained, unfamiliar flowers and used a form of landscaping from some foreign nation.

The interior of the manor also had a foreign feel about it. However, it wasn’t entirely in a foreign style. Dale could understand that, perhaps because he had been born to the unique culture of the Tislow clan. For example, leaving the reception room where visitors were greeted in a

Labandese style just made things easier in a variety of ways. Though it could be said that was only possible to do because this was a splendid enough manor that it had the room to spare.

And though the reception room the servant had led them to was in a Labandese style, there were still some foreign touches to its ornamentation.

“Woooooooow!”

Latina completely forgot herself at the sight of the numerous cats present there. Though she valued manners highly, Latina forgot to even greet the lord of the house, instead voicing her glee and bouncing up and down. On top of that, she did a full turn while in that state. Even Dale was surprised by how worked up she was.

“Dale, cats, there are cats! A lot of them! They’re so cute!” Latina exclaimed, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at Dale.

“Y-Yeah...”

She was just so openly overjoyed that Dale ended up missing his chance to reproach her.

And unfortunately, Dale wasn’t the only one affected by the way Latina was acting. The cats in the room all reacted with a start, judging the young girl as dangerous.

Fortunately, Old Man Ciges didn’t show himself in the reception room until Latina had more or less calmed down. That was when Dale had given his self-introduction, and “that” happened.

“Reinalt really was a capable man. He was skilled not only with a blade but also with magic, yet thanks to his affinities he couldn’t use healing magic. And so, he sought out someone who was skilled with it...”

“Ah...” Dale let slip in a strange voice upon hearing of the start of his grandparents’ romance.

You would never guess it from her personality, but his grandmother Wendelgard possessed Holy, Water, and Earth affinities, and was an expert in defensive and healing magics.

“Apparently he was a real lady-killer, so he should have had countless partners to choose from... So why did he choose Wendelgard?”

“Even as their grandson, I’ve got no idea.”

Dale wasn’t the only one, as most of the people in his home village had the same question.

As the Tislow clan were hunters, the techniques they had developed mostly used the bow. That was Dale’s specialty as well, though he had also studied swordsmanship to a fair degree. He had received that instruction from his grandfather when he was alive, as well as from his father Randolph, who had also studied under the man. It was a style meant for real combat, but it wasn’t an entirely self-taught one.

This old man who had once been one of his grandfather’s allies also praised the man’s swordsmanship.

“Well, he was also a bit of an eccentric. He didn’t seek fame or fortune, and seemed like his goals were a bit different than those of most. Perhaps his ability to handle any problem he was faced with was, in a way, a problem of its own,” the old man muttered, seemingly lost in reminiscence. He slowly reached out his bony hand and grabbed his tobacco tray from atop his desk. In a practiced motion he stuffed tobacco into the head of the pipe, which had a dragon engraving, then smoothly moved on to smoking. A single strand of smoke ran up into the air.

Dale didn’t even need to stop and think about why the old man’s actions felt unusual. Old Man Ciges’ pipe was of a type you didn’t see in Laband.

Dale, however, had seen a similar one often. After all, it was the same shape as his grandmother’s favorite one. “That’s...”

“Hmm?”

Old Man Ciges was confused as to what Dale was questioning, but then he noticed that the younger man was looking at his pipe. Using his wrist, he lightly swayed it up and down.

“What about it? Is it that unusual?”

“No, it’s just... My grandmother uses the same sort of pipe. I figured it was from a foreign nation, but...” Dale replied.

Old Man Ciges frowned and let loose an “Ah,” then continued on, “It comes from my old home. Reinalt had me sell him a number of them because he was fond of unusual things, but he himself didn’t smoke, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Wendelgard must have received it from Reinalt.”

“I see,” Dale responded, thinking back on the pipe his grandmother used. “The pipe my grandmother always uses has a flower engraving on that metal portion...”

Old Man Ciges knitted his brows.

“There shouldn’t have been any like that among the ones he got from me.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I ordered them from my old home, but it would be difficult to do so without assistance...”

At some point in the midst of that conversation, Latina had appeared by their side. The cat toy she was waving in one hand swayed back and forth.

“Are you talking about granny’s smoking?” the young girl suddenly interjected.

“Yeah,” Dale replied, looking surprised.

Latina tilted her head just a bit, then nonchalantly stated, “Granny said that Dale’s grandpa made her smoking pipe.”

Apparently Granny Wen had doted on the young girl so much that the older woman had told her stories even her own grandson hadn’t heard. Immediately after being left dumbfounded for a moment, though, he accepted that as making sense.

For a while now, Latina had been repeatedly coming at the cats with the cat toy, only for them to run away. With this many cats around though, she didn’t get discouraged, and her sights were now locked on a white one atop a shelf that was higher than she was tall.

“Now that I think of it, I heard that my grandfather came and went to the village’s workshop a long time ago, saying he wanted to learn about the details behind the craftsmen’s work...” Dale said, recalling something he had heard from the old folks back home. As an outsider who married into the clan, Dale’s grandfather knew nothing of Tislow’s techniques for making magical devices. And so, he actively negotiated with the craftsmen to gain access to their workplace. While he may not have gone so far as to touch on the secret techniques of the clan, there was no doubt that he at least learned of their tools and materials.

While Dale was reminiscing on his grandfather, Old Man Ciges wore a look of hesitation, like he was refraining from saying something.

“He really was skilled, able to handle anything and everything...”

“Granny said that Dale’s grandpa wasn’t strong, but he was very handy,”

Latina said, conveying a statement she had heard from Granny Wen. “No, she only said that because she’s so abnormal.” “Wendelgard is simply an exceptional individual.”

Both men negated that claim at the same time.

“Hmm?”

Granny Wen’s standards diverged greatly from those of the world at large.

“Well, even putting aside Reinalt, there’s a certain degree of demand for foreign goods amongst dilettantes. After I retired as an adventurer, I used my connections to start an import business. If you have any needs, I can make some arrangements.”

“I see...” Dale muttered, remembering that Old Man Ciges was born in an island nation overseas. The countries that employed Eastern Regional, the second most prolific language behind Western Continental (which was the official language of Laband), primarily consisted of islands. Each island had its own unique culture, and the ways they were governed also differed greatly from how things were done on the continent.

Dale assumed Old Man Ciges came from one such island.

“It’s outside of my field of expertise so I don’t know the details, but I hear the religious rituals vary too.”

“Yeah... I think I get that. I mean, there are even differences between my home village and Laband at large.”

“The death rate for children was comparatively high back where I came from. So rituals to pray for children to grow up healthy were very common.” “Is that so?”

“The common tradition is that once children reach a certain age, nice clothing is ordered for them and a service is held at the temple. Yes...” Old Man Ciges suddenly shifted his pipe. “When they’re just about the age of that girl now.”

His pipe pointed towards Latina, who was getting all worked up over a kitten. It had only been for a little bit, but Latina had gotten to stare at it, and it seemed to be getting slightly used to her presence, too. In fact, apparently the little bundle of curiosity had actually been the one to start staring at her first.

Latina desperately held back the urge to pet it (apparently she was learning) and instead offered the cat teaser to the kitten. The grey-striped little critter was poised to pounce, and when Latina moved the toy with perfect timing, the kitten leapt for it. The young girl’s expression absolutely sparkled at the sight. She was awash in the joy brought about by accomplishing her goal of playing with a kitten.

Seeing that sight, Dale broke out in a grin himself.

And for Old Man Ciges, it was blindingly apparent that his old friend’s grandson doted greatly on his adopted daughter.

“It’s a ritual to pray for the child’s healthy growth. It would be nice to see such a custom spread in this country too, wouldn’t it?” “Well... yeah.”

“By the way, the differences in our cultures show in terms of clothing, too. I have much attire that could serve as a sample of such things here in this manor... Right, just like this.”

The clothing that the servant had carried in with suspiciously impeccable timing was of a sort not seen at all in Laband. The complex, subtle flower pattern must have required a unique dying method. It used not only vivid colors but also complex shading, giving it the impression of a high-class good that was gorgeous but not overly flashy. That was reinforced further by the smooth, silky feeling of the material.

“They wear clothing like this and pay a visit to the temple.” Dale didn’t respond.

“But with that said, since it’s a foreign garb, I suppose you wouldn’t know how to put it on, right? Well, since I already have it out, how about having her try it on?”

Dale still remained silent.

Old Man Ciges had amassed a fortune by becoming an importer after he retired as an adventurer. There was no way he’d let a sucker who seemed like he’d go and buy expensive goods on a whim slip on by, even if he was the grandson of an old friend.

Dale, naturally, was able to see through the old man’s plot. After all, he was a man who had learned to conduct himself properly in the den of demons known as “high society.”

However, Dale didn’t care about anything so trivial as that.

“I feel like a lighter color would be cuter on Latina,” Dale said, wearing a completely serious expression.

“Is that so? Don’t you think that the little lady would be better suited to a slightly bolder color?”

“Latina would look cute in anything! That’s only natural! But I believe that as her guardian, it’s my duty to make sure she looks as cute as possible!” Dale passionately declared. As always, he remained completely unshaken on such matters.

“Hmm?”

Latina tilted her head at the way that her “guardian” had suddenly gotten all heated up, but she didn’t stop petting the purring grey-striped kitten.

“Dale... Wasteful spending is bad, right?”

She was well aware that her “guardian” pampered her far more than most people would.

“Anything spent on you could never be a waste, Latina,” Dale said, looking completely serious. Old Man Ciges, meanwhile, started questioning a bit if he really needed to be pushing for more opportunities to get rich quick.

“Latina will get bigger soon, so... She doesn’t need lots of expensive clothes.”

Plus, seeing the young girl lecture her guardian with a wisdom beyond her years tugged a tad at the conscience of the importer.

The way both her arms flapped up and down as she moved looked absolutely adorable and drew attention to her. But with that said, such an innocent and sweet statement from the young girl only had the opposite effect on the this complete and utter doting idiot.

“That’s true. You’re going to get bigger bit by bit, Latina. So we need something special just for now, when you’re this adorable little size.”

The second she heard that statement Latina seemed to sense something and a troubled look crossed her face. The sort of actions Dale would take in this state were limited.

“Dale... The kitty Latina’s hugging will end up running away, so just a little longer...”

Latina had finally, finally managed to touch a kitten. She was used to being hugged by Dale every day and adored doing that, but it wasn’t what she wanted now. He had both arms held out and was moving to scoop her up, only to suddenly stop midway through. He actually halted himself rather skillfully.

As Latina moved on from the grey-striped kitten to a fluffy black one, Dale and Old Man Ciges moved to discussing the financial details of their transaction.

Latina may have still been learning, but she did receive wages at the Ocelot and had a basic understanding of the value of money. As such, she realized that the prices they were discussing were in a bit of a different league compared to what most people thought of as the price for clothing, but she ultimately decided to pretend she hadn’t heard their conversation. Instead, she immersed herself in waggling the cat toy in front of the kitten. After all, she got the feeling that the conversation was so completely divorced from the sensibilities of responsible townsfolk like herself that she was better off just tuning it out.

By the time Latina came back to her senses, she realized she was being escorted by a servant to a separate area in the back of the reception room.

“Wah?”

In a strangely practiced manner, the servants there stripped off her clothing and garbed her in an unfamiliar outfit. She was conflicted by the excitement of such radiantly beautiful clothing, but the thought that ultimately crossed her mind was, If Latina gets cat fur on this, it would be really tough to clean...

There really was a limit to how practical one should be.

The high-class silk fabric drew gentle contours. The wide sleeves swung alongside her movements, making the beautiful patterns drawn on them stand out all the more. The base color was a deep red just like Old Man Ciges had suggested, but the more lightly colored floral pattern following the curves seemed to call to mind flowing water, giving the outfit a generally soft, gentle impression. A wide sash with gleaming golden thread woven into it was tied around her waist, making it seem like she had a big butterfly behind her back.

Her platinum hair was done up in two tails as usual, but in addition to the red ribbons tying it up, she also had a hairpin in the same flower shape as the patterns on the outfit.

“Latina! You’re soooooo cute!!” Dale yelled out, scooping up Latina and spinning her around the second she stepped out of the changing room.

“Gwaaaah!” Latina let out a shriek like a small kitten.

“She so carefully dressed... so you don’t want to mess it up, right?” Old

Man Ciges said, unable to hide his astonishment even after coming this far.

“Man, but you sure are cute, Latina! I mean, you’re always cute, but today you’re like one whole extra step cuter! You’re just too super cute!”

Dale was overusing “cute” to the point that it felt in danger of losing any weight it had. That was nothing new, though.

Still, it was hardly an unpleasant thing to hear. His words left Latina with a wide grin on her face, despite having just been spun around so much.

“It doesn’t look weird?”

“Of course not. You look super cute.”

Latina gave a shy smile, and both her platinum hair with the light flower ornament and the sleeves of her outfit swayed along with her movement.

She just looked so adorable that everyone there, not just Dale, couldn’t help but feel warm and fuzzy inside.

“What do you think? Not bad, wouldn’t you say?” the old man asked with a somewhat sly smile on his face. Still, Dale and Latina were both accustomed to being around people whose faces gave an impression that was less than heroic.

“So if you only had such a custom in this country...”

“Getting the temple to do something new, huh...? That’d be pretty tough for me to manage...”

As the temple was no small organization, this was an issue that would butt heads with plenty of conflicting interests and factions. And besides, Dale found dealing with that group to be a real pain and would rather have avoided it as much as humanly possible.

As someone with the rare power of a hero and connections to the influential duke, Dale may have been able to leverage his influence with the temple, but he didn’t want to push his luck. To be blunt, just because he could do something, didn’t mean he actually wanted to.

“I’m not asking that it be right away,” the old man said with a laugh, sounding almost as if he was scorning the thought that he may not have long left. “I don’t mind if it doesn’t happen until you’re just a bit more famous.

But I’d appreciate it if you remembered this old man’s foolish request when you’re powerful enough to easily make a temple in a single town do as you please.”

Latina looked up with a tilted head at Dale, who wore a strained smile that said he seemed to be having trouble figuring out how to respond. Dale looked back at the girl, and figured that even if it wouldn’t be possible to make it a tradition, he could at least take her to the temple for the first time in a while.

“Right, well... In 10 years or so, you’ll probably get your hands on at least a bit of authority.”

Dale wanted to ask the old man why he seemed so confident, but decided it must have been owing to Dale’s extraordinary grandparents. And while he didn’t want to be compared to the two of them, to be honest, Dale himself was pretty exceptional by the standards of the world at large.

“10 years, huh...?” “Hmm?”

Thinking on how much this girl would have grown in that time caused some complex emotions to well up in Dale. She would have to be a full- grown woman by then, right? He was probably just being selfish, feeling forlorn over that thought...

“I can’t make any promises, but...”

“Well, for now, this exchange alone is enough for me,” the old man chuckled, reminding Dale of his own grandmother’s craftiness. Voicing that thought would probably ruin the man’s mood, though.

Dale said his farewells as he mulled over his thoughts. Old Man Ciges, meanwhile, saw them off with a bright smile, having received the unexpected good fortune of a customer who paid in full for such an expensive outfit.

10 years... The old man may have thrown that out there without much deep thought behind it, but in less time than that, Dale’s fame as the Platinum Hero had spread the world over. He was marrying the sister of a neighboring country’s ruler, so the nation itself would find it difficult to turn him down. As such, exerting authority over a single town would be far from a pipe dream for him.

At the time, Dale had no idea just how accurate the old man’s estimate would turn out to be.

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