Nyaaow—
A coy, cloying cry rang out. Lamenting the cruel reality that I couldn’t even cover my ears with my own hands, I bristled all my fur. The white cat in front of me took a step closer. In the end, I couldn’t hold back and launched a clawed punch straight at the bastard.
Kyaong!
The thing that got hit flattened its ears tight against its head and staggered backward. I lashed out again, swinging my claws threateningly to keep it at bay.
Kyaaak—kak—
Don’t come any closer! Get lost!
“Looks like he doesn’t like it.”
The maid muttered in a disappointed voice. I glared back and forth between the maid holding the white cat and Simon standing beside her, hissing a sharp kyaak—! in warning.
What the hell is the reason you’re shoving that orc in my face? You trash bastards!
For some reason, today had felt ominous right from the start.
It began the moment I opened my eyes. While stretching, I rolled right off my patron’s chest-bed. Sure, I landed on the soft mattress, but it scared the hell out of me. I figured it was just bad luck blown off and tried to brush it aside—but as always, misfortune tends to come in clusters.
The second incident happened during grooming. I picked out one of the necklaces Julia held out to me with my front paw and waited for her to put it around my neck, but the chain got tangled in my fur. Flustered, Julia tried to pull it free—and ended up yanking out a whole clump of fur at once. It hurt so badly I jumped straight up into the air and let out an utterly undignified nyaaow of a scream. Julia’s eyes welled up with tears as she apologized over and over, and since I couldn’t very well reject an apology from a beauty, I had no choice but to tremble all over while pretending I was totally fine.
Even after that, a series of minor misfortunes kept piling up, but I didn’t make a big deal out of them. Just as bad luck tends to strike all at once, if you endure it long enough, it eventually passes. But there’s one most important rule when it comes to misfortune. The biggest disaster always comes last. And judging by the situation, I’d just run smack into that biggest disaster.
“Look here. Nabi. Ta-da! A new friend’s arrived.”
The maid came in shoulder to shoulder with Simon, humming through her nose as she held something out toward me. The moment I saw Simon’s smiling face, I had a bad feeling that something unpleasant was about to happen. And at the same time, I was fully prepared to ignore it and shoot him a crooked grin in return. But the attack Simon had been quietly sharpening in the shadows was far beyond anything I’d imagined.
Nyaaow—
At the saccharine cry of the white fluff the maid set down on the floor, every hair on my body stood on end. That thing with its snow-white fur was definitely a cat. But that face…
The moment I saw it clearly, I almost blacked out on the spot. Its nose was so completely squashed that its face was practically flat, and tears and snot were streaming down nonstop. That crushed nose could only make me think of one thing.
Ack! An orc!
As if completely unaware of my feelings, the white-furred orc cat shot me a sly, lingering look. I barely managed to steady my body, which felt like it might collapse any second. But the bastard didn’t care and took another step toward me. In the end, I snapped and delivered a claw punch straight to its skull.
“Nabi, don’t fight—try to get along. Look, you’ve got such a pretty new friend.”
The maid babbled on while holding the orc cat, completely oblivious to my inner turmoil, but I couldn’t hear a word of it. All my focus was on increasing the distance between myself and that white furball. Relieved that it was trapped in the maid’s arms, I shot a vicious glare at Simon standing beside her.
This was your doing, wasn’t it?
Seeing the resentment blazing in my eyes, Simon slowly curled up the corner of his lips. That was all the confirmation I needed. This hellish reality was absolutely the result of one of Simon’s schemes.
Swearing vengeance against Simon, I lunged straight at the orc cat crying coyly in the maid’s arms.
I’ll start by beating the crap out of you first. You orc cat bastard!
Kyaaak—!!
After getting thoroughly pummeled, the thing scrambled under the bed and started hissing from its hiding spot. I shook off the clumps of white fur stuck all over my claws and strode toward the bed. The orc cat was making a big racket with its kak-kak noises, but its body was trembling like crazy. Even so, I had zero intention of stopping here. Once a fight starts, you see it through to the bitter end. That way, the other side won’t ever dare to get uppity later. I paused to catch my breath, then charged under the bed again.
Kyaak!
Today, one of us is dying—and it won’t be me, you piece of trash!
I pummeled its head over and over with my front paws, and it fled while crying aong, aong. Riding the momentum, I clamped down hard on the back of its neck with my teeth. I kicked its ass repeatedly with my hind legs and smashed its head again and again with my front paws. Flying clumps of white fur filled my vision, but I never once let up. My grandpa always said it. In a fight, always strike first. And once you start fighting, you absolutely have to finish it. He even drilled it into me that when you beat someone, you beat them to the brink of death—and then hit them one more time. He probably said that because he was worried I was smaller than other kids, but I don’t care. Whenever I did exactly what Grandpa said, I won every single time.
Kyaaong—!
Every now and then, the bastard managed a counterattack, scratching and smacking my head and sides, but I didn’t give a damn. Holding back because something hurts during a fight is idiotic. You just keep hitting. Over and over. This thing might just be an ugly cat with zero situational awareness, but it invaded my territory—so it deserves everything it gets. There’s no forgiveness in the wild.
Kyaak—!
Shut up and take it, you trash bastard.
After throwing punches for a long while, my jaw gave out and I lost my grip on its neck. Seizing the opening, the bastard flailed away and escaped. I stared at its hiding place, panting hard. Clever little shit—it whimpered its way into the skirts of the maids standing in a circle around the room and hid there. Ugly and cowardly to boot.
“N-Nabi… hic…”
I could see Julia plastered against the wall, crying as she looked at me. Her face was pale as a sheet—she looked terrified. Instead of comforting her, I hissed—haak! hak!—at the trash trembling inside the skirts.
You bastard. Get out here right now.
I threatened it over and over, but of course it didn’t come out. Well, yeah. I wouldn’t either. If it came out, it’d just get beaten senseless again. Hmph!
Kyaaak!
Hey, asshole. If you ever invade my territory again, you’re really dead. I’ll beat you to within an inch of your life, hit you one more time, and then rip out every last hair you’ve got—so keep that in mind!
After delivering one final vicious warning, I turned my head away. When I shot Simon a murderous glare, the corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. I began to approach him at a slow, deliberate pace.
I’m always with my patron. It’s rare for us to be apart. Occasionally, we’re separated for a few hours—but that only happens when my patron goes to see the Emperor. Whenever he visits the Emperor, who’s said to be bedridden, my patron leaves me behind in the bedroom and goes alone. Simon, who’s never liked me much, used that opportunity to attack me.
Instead of slashing or punching Simon, I began to slowly circle around him. He’s a knight with a huge, bear-like build, so no matter how much I hit him, it wouldn’t even faze him. Against this guy, mental attacks would be far more effective than anything physical. Confident in that, I circled him again and again, occasionally tapping his calf with my tail.
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what Simon’s intended attack even was.
Was he trying to provoke a fight by shoving another cat at me under the excuse of finding me a friend? Did he hope my patron’s affection would shift from me to another cat? Or did he want me to be so shocked by that white furball’s looks that I’d faint—or die of a heart attack? I’d like to ask, but since we can’t exactly communicate, I have no choice but to let that one go.
Either way, I was honestly a little disappointed. I’d actually grown somewhat fond of Simon. All the times I teased him every day, sticking out my tongue or flashing him a shit-eating grin—it wasn’t because I hated him. It was just messing around. You bastard. Cheap bastard! I’ll really get my revenge!
I was glaring at Simon, vowing revenge, when the door suddenly opened and my patron walked in. It wasn’t time for him to be back yet, so I wondered why he’d returned so early—but only for a moment. With a drained, pitiful voice, I let out a nyaaang— and hobbled toward him. I made sure to limp extra obviously as I approached, and I could feel my patron’s golden eyes raking over me from head to toe. I cried out weakly, nyaa— one more time, then collapsed dramatically onto my side.
“……”
My patron bent his knees and carefully examined me. I looked up at him with feeble eyes and whimpered, kkiing—, appealing to my pain. When I glanced sideways, I saw Simon snorting through his nose. His eyes were clearly saying, Why is this guy suddenly collapsing when he was rampaging just a second ago? But I have absolutely nothing to feel guilty about. While beating up that white furball, I took plenty of hits myself. On top of that, the bastard scratched me so badly that chunks of my beautiful fur got ripped out. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up walking around with bald patches—so how could I not collapse after that?
As my patron cautiously checked my body, his eyes hardened. He looked angry. Seeing my gentle, kind patron get angry because I was hurt actually moved me a little. So he really does care about me that much. Well, yeah—if someone beat up my patron, I’d be furious too. If that ever happened, I’d rush over immediately and claw that bastard’s face to shreds until it looked like a torn, filthy rag.
I was watching my patron’s face stiffen as I whimpered pitifully, when something suddenly felt… off. The back of my neck felt oddly chilly, like I was cold… my body started trembling, goosebumps prickling all over…. Maybe getting hit a few times by that orc furball left me with an actual fever. If I’d known, I should’ve hit it a few more times.
Hmph.
