Hoss tossed the luggage into the storage shed, and the black cat looked around in surprise.
The black cat seemed annoyed by Dagaa's intense interest, but didn't do anything about it.
Somehow, it was heartwarming. But this black cat — I felt like I'd seen it somewhere before.
Not from the arena ruins, but somewhere before that... Deja vu, maybe.
Once things had settled down, the witch gathered everyone in the observation room.
In the observation room, there was an oval white table.
According to the witch, the dining room was black and the observation room was white.
The witch spread a map across the table and began to explain.
"Well, I know it's sudden, but we're changing plans. We'll be stopping at a town up ahead."
"Huh. Why?"
"That black cat right there. Its owner — the party leader, or rather, the 'Delver Knights' — are staying in that town."
"The Delver Knights... right?"
"The Delver Knights!"
"..."
Anna Kreutzen poured tea.
Their alias was "Delver Fallen-Killer" — a group that hunted former delvers and delvers who had committed crimes.
What fallen delvers feared most of all was the "Delver Knights."
The "Delver Knights" was a party name, but they were officially recognized as a "Knight Order."
Apparently, their classification was listed under a free slot or something.
Since they're recognized as a "Knight Order," they can exercise the rights that come with being "knights."
Those rights are investigation authority, kill authority, and arrest authority.
The difference between them and the "guards" is that they have kill authority. The guards don't.
From what I've heard, the Order's commander, Peony Monkshood, comes from a prestigious noble family of the Empire.
When people say Imperial knights, the name Monkshood carries that much weight.
The Delver Knights, led by that noble-born lady, crack down on crimes committed by delvers.
Delvers committing crimes and falling into darkness happens all the time.
Many of them were rough to begin with—the violent type.
If you wanted to say the soil was already there for anyone to stumble, well, yeah.
So the Delver Knights are a complicated presence for delvers, but they generally have support.
The witch had said we'd be linking up with those Delver Knights.
"So we're handing over that burden, huh."
Mineha spoke up. There is a living burden in the storage shed.
The witch smiled.
"Well, that and that, among other things."
"Wait, there's something else?"
"Are we going to cooperate with the Delver Knights by any chance?"
That was the direction the conversation had been heading, and I'd already half-guessed it.
Cooperating with the Delver Knights meant capturing or slaying a delver who'd gone bad.
The witch looked at the black cat. The black cat meowed.
"Well, well, that's how it'll turn out in the end, I suppose. Young Wof, you're on the opposite side of that, are you? Getting your travel plans thrown off does happen, you know."
The witch spoke with a slightly apologetic and hesitant tone.
"No. We were already planning to wipe them out on our own, so it's not that I'm opposed."
"Oh? Oh? So that's how it was?"
"That's right."
"I see."
"Is that so..."
"As expected!"
"…………"
Anna Kreuzen prepared tea and snacks.
The black cat meowed, utterly exasperated. And just like that, the meeting came to an end.
It was nearly three hours back to town.
After we dispersed, I went back to my room and set the knife aside — I was drenched in sweat, so I decided to take a bath.
Of course. That was after I made sure none of the women were inside.
I told Shardina, who was mopping the hallway, that I was heading to bathe, then made my way to the bathhouse.
In the changing room, I stripped off my clothes and, towel in hand, swung open the bathroom door.
"Hm?"
"Oh."
Our eyes met.
A girl with long black hair, big black cat ears, and a slender black tail, staring at me with half-lidded, indifferent eyes.
She still looked young, but her features were refined and beautiful. Around the same age as Pakira, maybe.
Her cat ears, like her hair, hung limp, and her tail was drooping too.
She looked like a completely soaked cat.
And she was naked. Both of us were — small-framed, with soft white skin.
A modest, gently rounded chest with barely any curve to speak of. But a reasonably plump rear end.
Reflected in her gray, half-lidded cat eyes — with their distinctive diamond-shaped pupils — was me.
"Ah — sorry! I'm so sorry!"
I blurted out an apology and slammed the door shut. That startled me.
I'd been careless. I never thought someone was inside... No, wait, I did check.
And I have absolutely no recollection of her. Seriously, who is that?!
"Wh-who is that?!"
Shocked, flustered, and on guard. An intruder...? Wh-what do I do. Should I open the door?
Or should I call someone? No, they might escape before I can.
Maybe she came to help with the luggage... but then why is she leisurely taking a bath?
There's one other thing that feels off.
In the changing room, there are only my discarded clothes. There's nothing that looks like hers.
Well, I suppose you could argue she hid them somewhere.
But I still don't understand why she'd take a bath.
"Nyaah."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, a cat's meow came from the bath.
Then the doorknob rattled and opened.
A long-tailed, wet black cat walked slowly in.
"Huh? Wait — a cat?"
The black cat — said by the witch to be the pet of the Delver Knights' commander — looked at me with grey, half-lidded eyes.
It gave me that single glance, then calmly walked out while still dripping wet.
Immediately after, Shaldina's shouting and Bid's exasperated voice could be heard.
I tentatively entered the bathroom.
Before going in, I called out just in case, but there was no answer. There wasn't any presence to begin with.
"…Nobody here…"
The bathroom was empty. Only the traces — or rather, the atmosphere — of someone having been there remained.
The black cat hardly seemed like the source of that.
It felt as if someone had been here just a moment ago.
Still unsettled, I sat down in the washing area. I scrubbed my body with soap and washed my hair with shampoo.
After rinsing off and feeling refreshed, I got into the bath.
It was a huge bath at the very end, big enough for ten people, and I used every inch of it from corner to corner.
I sank in leisurely and placed the towel on my head.
"Whew… this feels great…"
The words slipped out before I could stop myself.
"Still, that girl was really…"
Long black hair. Big black cat ears. A long black tail. A slender body. And gray, half-lidded eyes.
The same beastfolk — cat-folk — as Pakira.
But that appearance was practically identical to that black cat.
"Hahahaha! The black cat's true identity is a cat-folk girl? Even in fantasy, that's impossibly — wait, NO, that TOTALLY works!?! There's a transformation Relic!"
I stood up before I knew it. That's right. A transformation Relic. I'd completely forgotten. That's it.
I got out of the bath, changed clothes, and headed to the witch's place before going to look for the black cat.
Her workshop on the second floor.
"Wof. Where are you going?"
"Second floor. The witch's workshop."
"Oh, that's just the right place then. Take this."
Hoss held up a plate.
On it, black-and-white sandwiches were lined up neatly.
"What's this?"
"The witch said she wanted something light to eat, so I made it."
A light snack, huh.
Black and white... Was she using white bread-bean and black bread-bean dough?
He offered me one, so I ate it. This had mustard, cucumber, and shredded ham...
The cucumber was packed in so generously it was practically bursting.
It had a nice crunch — fresh and crisp.
And the softness of the white bread-bean paired perfectly with the firmness of the black bread-bean.
The spread mustard had a nice tang to it, and the amount of sliced ham was minimal.
That told you right away the cucumber was the star of this sandwich.
"It's delicious. Is this a cucumber sandwich?"
"Yep. I used to eat these a lot in Heizen, so I thought I'd try making one from memory."
"Oh nice... I really like these."
What I liked was that the cucumber was front and center.
"Actually, I should've used ale-pickled cucumber. That pairs really well with ale."
"Beer-pickled..."
"Ale-pickled, close enough."
"Ah, right."
It rang a bell from my past life. I'd gone through a phase of being really into beer-pickled cucumber at one point.
So that was it. Heizen had something similar, huh?
Hoss told me to take the cucumber sandwich along, so I headed out with it.
I knocked on the door of his workplace.