I am not a returner Episode 301
Sky Mountains (7)
“…What is this again?”
Ha-eun opened her mouth with a bewildered expression.
A talking cat.
Of course, I have encountered many creatures so bizarre in appearance that I could laugh off a talking cat.
The sight of a cat speaking like a human, which is a common sight, felt bizarre beyond just how it looks.
Especially if the place where the talking cat appeared is the Sky Mountains, one of the three major prohibitions in the Demonic Sutra.
“Yes? “Are you saying you can’t hear me?”
“No, I can hear you fine.”
Ojin looked at the black cat and spoke calmly.
I thought for a moment about whether I should use the honorific or not.
I couldn’t speak informally without knowing whether the person in front of me was an enemy or an ally.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Felice.”
“…If it’s Felice.”
“If I say it’s the constellation of the constellation Cat, do you understand?”
Ojin looked at the black cat in front of him in disbelief.
‘A constellation?’
Did he appear in a prosthesis like Vega?
There was no sense of power or presence so great that it could be called a constellation.
“Now it’s your turn to answer my question.”
The black cat approached Ojin at a leisurely pace.
“Who are you?”
“…My name is Kwon Oh-jin.”
“Like a human?”
“yes.”
“Hmm. “It’s been a long time since I saw a human in the demon world.”
Felice circles around Ojin, her eyes shining with interest.
Of course, Isabella and Ha-eun were also there, but they were only interested in Oh-jin.
“You smell nice.”
Felice, who was coming close to Ojin, jumped up onto Ojin’s thigh.
Felice, who was sitting on his thighs, pressed Ojin’s stomach in a motion commonly called a ‘nudge’ and placed his nose near his left chest.
“What are you doing here, Constellation?”
“This mountain range is an area ruled by my Holy Spirit. “Is it strange that I’m here?”
As she said, it was not strange for the constellations to be present where the Holy Spirit was.
But the key question is not why you are here, but why you approached me.
Oh Jin changed his words and asked again.
“What I wanted to know is why you came to see me.”
“Ah. “That’s what I meant.”
Felice nodded and pressed Ojin’s chest.
“I saw a commotion at the entrance to the mountain range earlier.”
Did you fight against spider monsters?
“I didn’t really want to pay attention to it, but it smelled really, really nice, so I decided to give it a try.”
It smells good.
‘Is it black heaven?’
It is said that the Heavenly Demon gave power to the constellations that were downgraded to ‘satellites’ and expelled from the sanctuary, turning them into ‘black stars’.
What if the power given to the constellations at that time was related to the Dark Sky?
It was natural for Felice to show interest in Ojin.
‘Come to think of it, it was like that when I first met Isabella.’
When she first met Oh Jin, she followed him around because he ‘smelled nice’.
The problem now is that the target is not an awakened person, but a constellation.
Even when we decided to cross the Sky Mountains, the owner of the Behemoth that we were most wary of was Felis.
“Sniff. “It smells good, after all!”
Felice continued to smell Ojin in a relaxed voice.
“But why did humans come to the Sky Mountains?”
Felice, who was rolling around on Ojin’s thigh, completely intoxicated with the smell, asked.
“I’m going to the Dragonian Kingdom.”
“Hmm. Like the kingdom of the dragon people?”
“yes.”
“I don’t know why you want to go there, but… it’s going to be hard to see anything good there.”
“What is the reason?”
I was going to ask you if you knew anything about the Dragonian Kingdom.
“It’s annoying to talk about.”
Like a free-spirited cat, he immediately avoided answering.
“I smelled something better than that and I was hungry. “Prepare something to eat.”
“….”
There is no such thing as a real cat.
I was momentarily irritated by the shameless act of suddenly appearing and offering food out of the blue, but I couldn’t say anything bitter towards the Constellation.
“Then would you like to try this?”
Ohjin, who was wondering what the cat might like, took out a can of tuna from his backpack.
“What is this?”
I opened my eyes wide and sniffed, as if it was my first time seeing a can of canned food.
“It doesn’t smell anything. “Is this something to eat?”
“You can open the entrance here like this.”
Ojin opened a can of canned food and held it out to Felice.
Felice twitched her tail and perked up her ears.
“It smells delicious!”
Felice quickly rushed to the can of tuna as if someone was going to steal it and munched on the tuna.
While Felice was eating a can of tuna, Ojin and the others exchanged glances.
-What do you plan to do?
Isabella’s eyes seemed to be asking.
It was a sudden situation, but it didn’t mean I hadn’t thought about it.
Ojin asked Felice, who was greedily devouring a can of tuna, as he opened another can of tuna.
“Felis, are you familiar with the topography of the Sky Mountains?”
“Yes? “Of course I know.”
Felice answers while eating canned tuna.
She ate a can of tuna in an instant and then started eating the new can of tuna Ojin had opened for her.
Ojin narrowed his eyes as he looked down at Felice, who was eating canned tuna with the intention of chewing the entire aluminum can.
‘If I’m good at it, I might be able to use it as a guide.’
Not only did I know the topography of the Sky Mountains intimately, but I didn’t have to worry about being attacked by Behemoth if I went with Felice.
‘The problem is how to coax that unruly cat.’
It didn’t seem like the level of difficulty would be as high as I thought.
“I liked you! “Be my butler!”
Felice, who had eaten all of the canned tuna, jumped on Ojin’s thighs with bright eyes.
Oh Jin lightly stroked Felice, who was sitting on his thigh, with the friendly smile he had on his face during his days as a conman.
“You have grease on your mouth.”
“Yes? “Like that?”
“yes. Please wait a moment.”
He took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped Felice’s mouth.
Felice purred as if she was happy and curled up on Ojin’s thigh.
“I’m full… and it smells good. “I’m happy.”
“Have you been alone here all this time, Felice?”
“I was with Behring.”
Does Bechring refer to Behemoth?
“Well, even though we were together, it wasn’t long before we actually started living in the Sky Mountains.”
“Not long ago?”
“In the past, you couldn’t manifest like this even in a prosthetic state.”
ah.
Now that I think about it, before the restrictions of the law were weakened, Vega was the only one who was able to appear in a prosthetic body.
‘Then, are other Black Star constellations now able to manifest in a prosthetic form like Felis?’
It was quite a troubling situation.
There was a high possibility that the Black Star Constellations were following the Heavenly Demon who gave them power.
‘First of all, I think it’s clear that he can’t exert much power in his prosthesis like Vega.’
Still, I couldn’t let down my guard.
Because the Holy Spirit, not the constellation, is relatively less restricted by the law.
“Ugh! “I had a good rest for the first time in a while!”
Did he roll on Ojin’s thighs for about 30 more minutes?
Felice jumped down as if she was satisfied.
“Did you say you were going to the Dragonian Kingdom?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Then I will guide you.”
I didn’t even ask you first, but I told you that I would guide you on your own.
I wondered if there was such a windfall.
“Yes? Don’t look at me with those eyes. “It’s not a lie.”
“…I didn’t doubt you, Felice.”
Actually, I doubted it.
Suddenly, a constellation I had never met appeared and offered to show me the way, but I couldn’t just nod my head.
“I swear in the name of the cat that I will guide you out of the mountains.”
Felice said, looking back at Ha-eun, Isabella Riak, and finally Poppy.
Ohjin is well aware of how important the oath in the name of the star is to the constellations.
The nagging doubts that remained in my mind disappeared to some extent.
“thank you.”
“Hehe. “I can do this much for my butler.”
Felice walked ahead, wagging her tail as if she was happy.
Ojin and the others, who watched Felice walking ahead for a moment, slowly followed behind her.
“bantling.”
Riak carefully followed Ojin next to him.
“Memorize your return route. “I will check to see if there is an ambush along the way.”
“okay.”
No matter how much he swore in the name of the star, Felice’s words could not be completely trusted.
Ohjin nodded and left traces that only he could recognize along the way.
But was it just a coincidence?
Felice took Ojin and his party across the lowest peak of the mountain range and guided them to where the Dragonian Kingdom was located.
“Can you see the road beyond the fog over there?”
“Oh yeah. “I can see it.”
Even though it was a low peak, once I got up to the high point, I could see a path below that was not covered in fog.
“If you go straight there, you can reach the kingdom of the dragon people.”
“…thank you.”
I never thought he would lead the way so obediently.
I felt a little guilty for continuing to doubt Felice.
“If you go, I won’t be able to enjoy a happy time with peace of mind.”
Was the time spent with Behemoth that happy?
I wanted to ask a variety of questions, including information about the Dragonian Kingdom and the Heavenly Demon, but I didn’t know when Felice’s mood would change randomly again.
‘From here, let’s just quietly get out of the mountains.’
With Felice’s help, we were able to break through the Sky Mountains much faster than expected, so it would be better to go to the Dragonian Kingdom and obtain the necessary information directly.
“Go quickly.”
“Then we’ll just leave.”
When Ojin nodded and turned around.
“huh?”
Felice raised her claws and grabbed Ojin’s pants.
“Where are you?”
Where are you going?
Are you saying that the person who guided you here is asking that?
“…Didn’t you say you were going to the Dragonian Kingdom?”
“You are no longer my butler. Let’s send the other kids away and come play with me quickly!”
“….”
okay.
Somehow, I felt like things were going to be resolved too easily.
“Didn’t you swear in the name of the star earlier?”
“huh! I swore! “I swore to my wife that I would guide the children who came with me out of the mountains!”
Felice looked back at Ha-eun and Isabella Riak Poppy as if looking at an intrusive intruder.
“…under.”
A laugh that comes out of nowhere.
‘So, the reason he offered to show me the way in the first place was because he wanted to get me and the other kids away as quickly as possible.’
Now I felt like I could understand why the unruly cat obediently led the way.
“You will now receive the stigmata of the cat and become my butler!”
Felice shouted in a voice full of anticipation.
Before Ojin could say anything.
[That won’t work.]
Vega, who was hiding in Ojin’s pocket, flew up and glared sharply at Felis.
[This child is the original daughter’s child who has already inherited the stigmata of Lyra.]
Vega said, sitting casually on Ojin’s shoulder.
and.
“Lyra…?”
Felice’s face is distorted fiercely.
The black cat glared at Vega and revealed its sharp teeth.
The emotions engraved in the wide-open cat’s eyes.
“Why is the North Star constellation here?”
It was an extremely disgusting jealousy.