The Survival Instinct of a Scruffy Kitten

“Hungry?”

His stomach answered for him. Gurgle.

“Once we’re out, let’s get some food first.”

“…….”

I felt the tension drain from his rigid body. Whether out of exhaustion or sheer disbelief, the boy didn’t say another word and let me do as I pleased for the moment. I hoisted him up slightly as he started to slip.

Startled, the boy dropped his knife. It was a more violent reaction than I expected.

“W-What did you just do?”

“You were slipping, so I was just readjusting my grip.”

Was that really something to be so shocked about? I stopped just before leaving the s*ave trader’s building and looked back, catching a glimpse of his slightly flushed cheeks. Ah, how cute.

“Are you afraid of heights?”

“I’m not afraid.”

It was the classic response of someone who was absolutely terrified.

“Sure.”

“I’m serious! I told you, I’m not scared!”

“Right, right. You aren’t scared.”

The boy shut his mouth and said no more. I slowly exited the building, patting his bottom with my hand as I walked. It was a habit of sorts. Whenever Vanessa used to toss and turn from nightmares, I would carry her on my back like this until she fell asleep.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Your hand! Stop doing that with your hand!”

Vanessa liked it, though.

I felt a bit dejected, but I didn’t stop my trudging pace. It was only later that I thought about the knife the boy had dropped, but that was it. An unimportant object. Those thugs would probably just pick it up and reuse it.

My only thought was that I had to feed this kid. Even when carried by a frail person like me, his body felt as light as a feather, and it made my heart ache.

My physical stamina was even worse than the feather-light child.

Not long after reaching the street, I collapsed right there. With incredible reflexes, the boy leaped off and looked down at me—stretched out long on the ground—with a look of pure absurdity.

“What kind of creature are you?”

I’m sorry for being ‘this kind of creature.’

“Don’t just look at me like that; could you perhaps give me a hand?”

“Sigh.”

Despite the sigh, the boy obediently lent me his shoulder. Using his bony shoulder like a cane, I slowly pushed myself up.

Right on cue, rain began to drizzle down. The streets turned a dark gray, and people who weren’t prepared scrambled this way and that. In an instant, the boy and I looked just as pitiful as the weather.

“If we turn that corner, there should be an inn. Let’s go there.”

I said “should be” because I wasn’t entirely sure. A Sunfish lives longer than the grandson of any shop owner. It was a common occurrence for a thriving bakery or a favorite restaurant to have vanished by the next time I visited.

“Oh.”

However, [The Mermaid’s Grassy Back] was still standing. I nodded, remembering the lasagna that used to be the specialty of the house.

“Establishments with good food really do last a long time.”

“What are you nodding and muttering to yourself for? Hurry up and get inside.”

The boy gave my back a shove, growling again.

“I’ll say it again: don’t even think about trying anything funny. Don’t think for a second you can ask the people inside for help.”

“What are you going to do? You don’t even have a knife in your hand anymore.”

The boy let out a scoffing laugh and lightly stomped his foot. Thump. The ground beneath him cracked like dried tofu.

“A weakling like you would die if I just hit you.”

I immediately adopted a very polite attitude.

“Right this way. Please, after you.”

“…….”

Shaking off the water, I pushed open the door, which looked even more weathered than I remembered. Seeing the clean but worn and discolored interior, the sense of foreboding I’d been ignoring began to stretch its limbs.

That kind of wear isn’t made by just a year or two of storms. …Surely, it hasn’t been decades, has it? I knew quite a bit of time had passed, but still.

Tinkle.

“Welcome!”

A waitress with pigtails carrying a menu froze in her tracks. Her pretty features seemed to lose their alignment as she looked at the combination of the boy and me, wondering what on earth she was seeing.

“Bring us everything soft from your best dishes. As for a room… a large one. And I’d like it to have two beds.”

“Understood!”

She must have had some experience, as she returned to normal functioning the moment I placed the order. We were guided to a corner seat, and I paid upfront. While I was receiving the room key and directions, the boy gripped my arm, scanning every inch of the inn while trying to act like he wasn’t.

“Is this your first time at an inn?”

“I’m just surveying the perimeter and assessing a strange environment.”

So it is your first time.

I turned away without asking further, and the grip on my arm tightened slightly. The glaring look was a bonus. Could you please loosen your grip a bit, though? What you’re holding isn’t just an arm—it’s a sunfish’s arm.

“Do you have any injuries?”

“Why ask that? Planning to target them and run?”

“To heal them.”

“…….”

After a long pause, a small voice drifted back. “Not really.” It was so quiet I wondered if I’d misheard it.

“What did you just—”

“Food is here!”

The food arrived right on time. Because of the large quantity, it wasn’t just the waitress; a man who looked like the owner and a young man from the kitchen were all mobilized.

The boy looked spellbound, unable to take his eyes off the food. Yet, despite swallowing his saliva repeatedly, he hesitated to eat and didn’t easily reach out. It was the habit of someone born into a high status.

“You can eat. There’s nothing weird in it.”

“I was going to eat even if you didn’t say anything.”

The boy glared at me fiercely before finally grabbing a piece of bread. He practically drank the thick soup and tore at the slow-cooked meat with one hand.

He’d be able to eat much more comfortably if he let go of the hand he used to hold me, but I didn’t say that out loud.

I took off my robe and picked up a piece of bread myself. In the meantime, the food in front of him was vanishing rapidly. He ate so heartily that every eye in the inn was drawn to us.

I wondered where all that food could possibly fit in such a small body, but seeing him eat well was a heartwarming sight.

I stood up to push the dishes that were out of his reach closer to him. I couldn’t reach them while sitting down. But then, I felt an extraordinary pressure on my captured wrist.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

With two different colored sauces smeared on his face, the boy bared his teeth.

“I’m not going anywhere. There’s just something delicious over there I wanted to bring to you. And you have sauce on you.”

I pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth. He stayed still while I did it, only getting angry belatedly after I had finished.

“Don’t do unnecessary things.”

“Fine, I get it. Now will you let go of my arm? I’ll clear the empty plates and give you new ones.”

“…….”

The boy didn’t let go. Even when I tried speaking to him soothingly again, it was the same.

Nothing for it, then. I moved my mana to slowly rotate the table. A mercenary who happened to be looking our way spilled his beer on his chest in shock at the sight of the rotating table. I played it cool and acted like I didn’t notice.

“T-T-That! Over there! That table!”

“What are you talking about? Are you drunk already?”

“No, I’m serious!”

“Honestly, a lightweight like you always bothers people to drink and then gets drunk first.”

“…What did you say, you bastard?”

Even as the table turned on its own. Even as the mercenaries in the corner grabbed each other by the collars. The boy just kept eating. I was starting to get worried.

“Are you not full? I’m not nagging you for eating a lot… but exactly how much are you going to eat?”

“I’m going to eat all of it.”

I suspected as much, but did he really mean it? For the first time since meeting the boy, I became serious.

“All of this? You’ll pop and die at this rate.”

At my sincere advice, the boy only snorted.

“Just watch.”

I have lived as a sunfish for two thousand years.

I’ve seen it all, and most miracles don’t even surprise me anymore. But I had never seen anything like this.

I stared at the boy’s stomach, furrowing my brow. It had only puffed out a tiny bit; it was hardly different from when he started. Is there a sub-space inside him? Was a fragment of a dimension planted there? Otherwise, this shouldn’t be physically possible.

“What?”

Without taking my eyes off his stomach, I replied, “I’m observing a miracle I’ve never seen before.”

The boy’s face instantly turned fierce. He turned his body irritably and hissed.

“Don’t get cocky. Do you think I can’t kill you?”

The air in the room became as heavy as water-soaked cotton.

A murderous intent rolled off his sharp eyes. It was of a different quality than the bluster of some village thug holding a sword. Those were the eyes of someone who had actually killed.

Knowing his background, I knew it was only natural, but it still didn’t sit right with me. Vanessa had been just as venomous at that age, but not to this extent.

Out of pity, I reached out and stroked the boy’s head. Dust and dried blood were matted everywhere, but I didn’t find it dirty.

At first, the boy didn’t understand what was happening. Then his eyes widened in surprise, and finally, he shoved my hand away roughly.

Thwack!

“Ugh.”

Because he was flustered, it was an unrefined blow unlike his previous ones. My arm broke instantly. No matter how frail my body is, surely a scrawny kid—no, wait. He did break through a 4th-Class magic barrier with pure physical force. Well. I suppose I’m lucky it ended with just a break.

The boy was quite shaken. His pretty black pupils trembled violently. And yet, when our eyes met, he got angry instead.

“S-See? If you don’t want to die, behave yourself!”

Why don’t you take your eyes off my arm before saying that?

A hollow laugh escaped me. When I stepped closer, the horrified boy leaped away to the opposite wall of the room.

It felt different from his usual wariness. To anyone watching, it was a move made out of fear that he might hurt me more. For some reason, my throat felt tight and my lips felt dry. You really do resemble Vanessa—not just in appearance, but in your heart as well.

“It’s okay. I can fix this right away.”

I nudged the Heart of the Perpetual Engine awake and made it do its job. Mana gushed out clearly, wrapping around my arm and turning into golden formulas.

Flash!

The formulas that completed the magic turned into gold dust and scattered. I raised my healed hand and gave it a little wave.

“See? No need to worry.”

“Worry? What nonsense.”

His hissing had calmed down considerably. Even so, he didn’t try to close the distance he’d put between us.

Had my magic made him wary all over again? I knew it was the right attitude to have, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit hurt.

“Now that I think about it, we don’t even know each other’s names yet.”

I decided to think of the child before me not as a human boy, but as a young beast. A young predator that had been locked in a cage, dragged to a strange place, and abused. Thinking that way gave me a bit of a lead on how to act.

First, I relaxed my body as much as possible. Loosening my tension, I sat on the edge of the bed, trying to project a lazy atmosphere.

“My name is Jay.”

“…Jay?”

“Yes. Jay.”

Just Jay. Just Jay.

How about yours? What’s your name?