“You’re late-arisu…”
Lian Xin sighed and glanced at Reimiru. “Did you not wake them up in the morning?”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “I tried my best to, but unfortunately I woke up pretty late today too.”
“S-sorry, Lian Xin…” Shun and Rya mumbled in unison.
She shook her head while they boarded the tram waiting by the roadside. “It’s fine, I accept your apology. But…” She gave a shrug and smiled. “You might have to explain your circumstances to the individual we will be meeting shortly.”
“Who is this mysterious person that we are meeting anyways?” Rya asked curiously. “And where are we going?”
“Well…you’ve met him once before, so he’s not as mysterious as you think he is,” Lian Xin replied with an enigmatic smile. “He currently lives in the Phoenix district, so we will be going to his residence to meet him-arisu.”
“We’ve met him before?” Shun blinked in surprise. “Who?”
***
“Y-YOUUU?!!”
Neko gave him a sidelong look. “My displeasure to see you again, hooman, especially when it’s way past our appointed time—” he yawned abruptly and licked his whiskers “—but since Lady Shihime personally requested me to oversee you and the girl, I shall refrain from open hostilities-meow.”
Shun opened his mouth to retort, but Neko and the rest had already begun walking forward.
“Wow, so this is your residence…?” Rya commented, letting out an impressive whistle while they entered through the wrought iron gates. A wide paved path led uphill to a wood-and-stone mansion built in the style of an ancient Chinese temple, with a lush bamboo forest surrounding its perimeter. A gentle breeze blew, carrying with it the calming susurration of leaves and mellifluous twinkling of bells.
“I can only accompany you two up to this point. Neko, I’ll take my leave-arisu. Shun and Rya, I shall see you two again after you’re done. I wish you all the best.”
“Sure, see you.”
“Thank you for coming all the way here with us, I hope we haven’t taken up too much of your time today.”
Lian Xin gave a polite bow and turned around to leave, shutting the door behind her. Neko jumped onto a table by the side of the entrance and pressed a button, illuminating the polished oak-floored hallway in front of them with floor lanterns.
“Well then, let’s not waste any more time and get down to business.” The orange tabby cat leaped down on the floor and began trotting down the hallway. Shun and Rya exchanged anxious glances and quickly followed after Neko.
“U-um, I don’t mean to impose on you, Neko, but…” Rya began.
“Hmm, I’m sure you have many questions. Like, how does a cat even know magic? I suppose.” Neko made a chuckling sound and turned his head such that his gleaming eyes met theirs. “Have you ever heard of ‘witches’?”
“I guess,” Shun replied immediately, surprised that he would ask such a weird and sudden question. “Why?”
“Witches?” Rya hesitated and shook her head. “No, I don’t think I’ve heard of them before…Shun, you have?”
“H-huh?” he mumbled. “Uh, I’ve seen them in storybooks, I guess.”
“Storybooks meow, you say?” Neko shifted his narrowed eyes to Shun for a moment before trotting down the hallway again. “Anyway, witches are magical creatures just like the Ancients who used to roam this world. And us cats are their ‘familiars’, a fancy name for their attendants.”
“Ooh…” she murmured.
“So it wouldn’t be weird for the attendants of magical beings to know magic, would it?”
“Y-yeah.”
They reached a sturdy wooden door at the end of the hallway, which split off into a couple of other rooms shrouded in darkness. The door in front of them had a brass door plate that read ‘LIBRARY’.
Well, well, well, this cat owns an actual library in his own house—wait a minute, something’s off here…
Shun paused and frowned. “This…this is written in English?”
There wasn’t any mistaking the familiar English alphabets greeting his sight. And judging by Rya’s puzzled expression as she stared at the door plate, it seemed like she couldn’t understand it.
“Correct,” Neko said, unfazed. “Funny how you are able to understand this particular language, hooman, when you can’t even speak basic Shangrinese.”
“...Neko, you…you are—”
“A boy from a distant world who suddenly became a cat and ended up in this city because of a heavenly force.” He tapped his paw on the door and pushed it open. “Just kidding, I’ve been reading many storybooks recently too.”
“Huh…” Shun was about to ask him a question, but he figured he should do so when Rya wasn’t around, so he kept silent instead.
“You two are talking weirdly,” Rya mumbled.
“Pardon us, milady, we were just getting to know each other better.” Neko made a courteous bow and invited them into the library. “As the saying goes, know thy enemies better than thyself.”
“Excuse me—”
“Welcome to my personal library, where I keep my collection of rare tomes and divine manuscripts amassed from all over the continent,” he continued without a hitch. “I’ve written my own annotations in Shangrinese so that Rya can understand them.” He paused and turned his head to her. “On that note, feel free to borrow any book from here to read in your free time, since we’ll be focusing mainly on practical applications of magic during your time here.”
“O-oh…” Rya’s eyes shifted towards the towering bookshelves that seemed to curve over their heads.
“As for Shun, I’ve heard many…interesting things about you from Lady Shihime, including you dueling with her using a frying pan…” Neko purred. “...what an uncouth style of fighting, I must add. Nevertheless, the weapon in your possession is something else indeed.”
“My weapon?” He blinked. “Wait, I gave Shihime my rifle, then how…”
“Well, well, let’s not sweat about the details here.” Neko strutted over to a rectangular leather box perched on a pedestal in the center of the library. “I’ve tried to modify it to the best of my abilities, but your demands are a little…vague to start with. I can guarantee it goes ‘pew-pew-pew-bang-exaaplosion’, though. Why don’t you take a look at it?”
