“Ouch… Of course, all the proper stores are closed… Well, I got this leather collar. And you, can you not claw my hands so much? I have scratches all over now.”

“Meow!”

“...I’ll have to wear thicker clothes. Now, how do I exactly put the stone in this?”

“...Meow…”

“Oh, shut up, I can do it.”

.

.

.

“Haha! Done!”

While spending an entire night, Mixen somehow made a socket for the stone and glued it onto the collar.

“Finally! Whitey, come here.”

“Meow!”

“Hey! Don’t run away now!”

Whitey jumped around the hotel’s room, and Mixen tried to catch her… for 20 minutes. He did not sleep the whole night, so he was pretty tired… Whitey on the other hand slept tightly on his bed.

“You! Little! Ungrateful! Kitty! Ha! Caught you! Now, now, it’s just a collar, it won’t hurt.”

“Meow! Meow! Meeeeow!”

Although with extreme hardship, Mixen managed to put the collar on.

Whitey looked disappointed.

“...Meow.”

“Oh, come on, it looks good on you!”

“...Meow?”

“Really!”

Whitey stood up and jumped on a desk with a mirror. She looked at herself and nodded approvingly.

“I said you were cute.”

“Me~ow… Meow.”

Whitey climbed onto the windowsill and started scratching it.

“Oh, you want to go outside? With the stone in place, I don’t see a reason why not. Here, I’ll find you in the evening… I need to check out what Leon is up to anyway.”

“Meow!? Meow!”

As if changing her mind, the cat clawed its way up to Mixen’s neck and lay on him in a comfortable position.

“Ouch, ouch… You… You want to come with me?”

“Meow!”

“Well… I don’t see a reason not to. But, you’re okay like that?”

“Meow.”

“Cat truly are flexible. Hold tight.”

.

.

.

“General Faheem, may I ask how far are we from our destination?”

“Leon, we are almost there, just an hour or so. But you kids got quite the stamina… Well, that’s to be expected from the Hero’s team.”

“Thank you, sir, your soldiers have a lot of endurance too. I assume they are your elites?”

“Ohoho, no, elites are guarding the King’s palace. Those are rookies, they need some experience so I picked them.”

“That’s…”

“What? Scared? Ohoho, don’t worry, I am here after all.”

“By all means sir, I am not worried… But from the intel you gave us, there will be a few demons equaling that of Grandmaster rank… Will they be alright?”

“Ha~, Leon, I figured you aspire to be a commander. Picking someone like me as your role figure is too high for you, however, I will give you some pointers… You lack insight. The men you worry about are rookies indeed… In my eyes, that is. They are stronger than you think. I don’t take weaklings as my subordinates.”

“...I see.”

.

.

“Look, look, that is the face he makes when he knows something!”

“Meow!”

“Hahaha, I know, he looks so stupid!”

“...Meow?”

“Oh… It’s much more fun saying it out loud… And having a listener, good kitty.”

Hovering above the marching men, Mixen held Whitey and talked to her.

“...It was too boring before… Oh, right, I need to train for a bit. Whitey, want to walk on your two… four legs for a bit? You can look around, and a little physical activity won’t do you any bad.”

“Meow!...Meow?”

“No, I said it before, they won’t notice you… Just don’t go too close, will you?”

“...Meow.”

Whitey nodded and jumped on a nearby tree.

“Now then. Where did I put those bracelets?”

After a few minutes of searching, Mixen took out a pair of bracelets, they looked plain. The only thing weird about them is how shiny they are… And their weight of 250 pounds each.

“How many sets are we doing today? I only have about an hour, so I guess around 5 for each exercise, if I don’t take breaks…”

No sane man could follow such a workout… And it was in mid-air.

Turning Loki’s Veil off was necessary to feel the weight of bracelets. Which is risky, but Mixen was very high up and trusted his Gift.

On top of that, he needed to move the Wind Platform on which he stood… and control the “leash” he put on Whitey.

Such an abomination he was calling “a simple workout”.

It was enough to break both body and brain of those rookies under him.

…He even listens to conversations below him.

.

.

.

After coming to their destination, General Faheem instructed everyone to take a short breather while scouts make sure everything is in place.

And Mixen finally finished his self-destructive activities.

“Phew. This doesn’t work for me anymore. A bit too easy.”

Said a man, putting his sweat-drenched clothes into a ring and changing into spare ones.

 

“It’s a shame that I couldn’t find any more of those bracelets… That blacksmith said that they are actually artefacts and not just made from some rare material… I hope he didn’t lie because I annoyed him a little… Dwarves are exactly like I imagined them to be… easy to anger… I should visit AL and his genius artefact maker, it was me who brought her in after all… When did I start talking to myself? Anyway, Whitey! Come here! Let’s scout a bit too.”

“Meow!”

.

.

“General Faheem! There is a problem!”

“Speak.”

“We confirmed that there is a hideout nearby. And data that we received seem to be accurate, but… ”

“But?”

“...There are only 3 demons in there. All ranked at an at least Grandmaster rank.”

“...Only?”

“Yes. No additional forces were found.”

“It… Doesn’t make sense.”

Demons of a higher rank usually have considerably more intellect. And to send out your troops without a commander… is just plain stupid.

“May I say something, General Faheem?”

“Leon? Speak your mind.”

“I have seen things similar to this before. This is one of the diversion tactics that demons use. They will now attack nearby villages as a distraction for those 3 demons to do some kind of a job… Or it is also possible that they have a way to replenish their lost troops.”

“Replenish? Can you explain in more detail?”

“...I- We, have encountered a box that was able to transform monsters into mindless demons of an appropriate rank.”

“...We did? *Cough* I-I mean, yes… Of course, we did. I remember.”

Lance clearly did not remember, but judging from the look that Leon gave him, he knew it was something serious.

“...You are quite knowledgeable for your age, Leon. I applaud that.”

“Thank you, sir. It is something a Hero and his team are required to know and research.”

“Can you tell me more about what you discovered? About demons, to be specific… For the greater good of this country, of course… and humanity as a whole.”

Faheem lost the high and might atmosphere for a bit there.

“Ahm… I don’t think I have more knowledge than you, general.”

“Still, this isn’t all you have found, have you?”

‘Hahaha! I can’t! I just can’t!’

“...It is not all indeed…”

“...Well? Tell me.”

“I am afraid we have no time for that. And I am sure that it is something you either know or  find useless.”

“Oh, don’t be like that. You know my title. I am called Wise Sword for a reason. I use knowledge as a weapon… So te-”

“Sir! The enemy has started moving!”

The scout jumped into the conversation.

“What?! Why now?!”

“With all due respect, we wasted too much time, sir!”

“Tch… We’ll finish this talk later, Leon. Now! Rookies! There is a village close by in that direction! Considering the information we have, they must have sent their troops there! Secure it! Scouts! Check the other two villages! One we saw on our way here, and another is in that general direction! In case you find something strange, use the emergency signal! Hero and his team comes with me to exterminate the leaders!”

““Understood!””

‘Knowledge about the geography, quick thinking, proper management of subordinates… He does resemble a good commander… Doesn’t mean he’s a good guy though.’

Leon thought exactly the same at the same time… except for the last part.

.

.

As this time Mixen had no one to protect, he went ahead.

‘...This is obviously a trap.’

Three demons sitting in an unlit room inside of a cave painted a picture for Mixen.

“Hey Whitey, I won the bet.”

“Meow?”

“I did… In my mind at least.”

“...”

“Don’t look at me like that, I’m just having some fun.”

“...Meow?”

“The bet? Ah well, I thought this looked cheesy before, and now seeing that. I don’t have a doubt this is a trap.”

“Meow!?”

“What? Don’t believe me? Look at them. They are smaller than even Leon! I can roughly tell without even looking that they are at best Skilled!”

“Meow!”

“...My god, you’re soo good at being a conversation dummy… Ahem. Through experience obviously, how else?”

Whitey looked at him in confusion, then shook her head.

“Meow-meow! Meow!”

“Now, now. No need to be so excited.”

“Mreow!”

Whitey bit Mixen lightly, as if annoyed.

“Ouch, what is it? Do you need to go to the toilet?”

Whitey shook her head again.

“No? Hm… Oh! How could I be so stupid! Whitey, no need to be scared of demons! They are all weak and retarded! You’ll be fine!”

“Meow!”

Despite Mixen’s tries to calm her down, our little kitty struggled and made an effort to break out of Mixen’s tight embrace.

“...Too hard for you to understand? It’s okay. Here~, here~, I know how to calm you down…”

To make Whitey relax, Mixen rubbed at her favourite spots.

She didn’t concede… but resistance was futile.

After succumbing to pleasure, Whitey gave up.

“You good now?”

“Me~ow.”

“Heh, glad to hear… The show’s about to start… I wonder how the Hero will get out of this one.”

“...meow.”

“Why do you sound down so suddenly? Ha? What are they doing?”

Demons that were previously almost unmoving suddenly went to the middle of the room and started drawing on dirt.

“Meow?”

“...No idea.”

They drew a circle with various weird lines.

It looked like a projection of a magic circle to the ground… of a seven-circle spell.

But it was impossible to tell from just its looks.

After finishing the drawing they stood around it and took something out of their pockets.

Something looked like a stone, and it was the only source of light in the room.

Each of them swallowed the ‘pill’ and held another’s hands.

Their actions were unanimous. Not even a moment of a delay from one another. As if they were programmed to do so.

“Is that… A ritual?”

A ritual is a magic forgotten by time. Only a small amount of people know of its existence, and even less know how to use it.

“Meow?”

“Sorry Whitey, this is out of my expertise. I have no idea how it works or what it will do… Only that it can combine the spell of multiple people… into one.”

The room was covered in red light. All of it coming from the drawing.

“Their mana is being sucked into the circle… Wow, interesting. Is it perhaps a summoning?”

Demons are known to be the only race who can easily teleport to almost anywhere in large amounts. However, nobody knows the exact method.

“...Will they summon someone strong? Seems likely.”

“Meow!”

“Yeah, I know. Cool as hell.”

“...meow.”

Unlike Mixen’s expectations, after the light dimmed, no one appeared. 

But the demons started to convulse in pain...

“Did it fail?”

…and growing.

Slowly… painfully… grotesquely… 

The three demons became twice, no trice as big as they were.

“This… was unexpected.”

There was almost not enough room to fit those three inside. Mixen had to go into the corner to have some space.

“Oh! I know! They turned their mana into pure strength! I thought the pill was to temporally boost their mana for the ritual to succeed! But it was to get more power!... They won’t live past today thought? Ah, not like they expect to.”

The Hero and others were closing by, so the demons left the hideout.

“Oops, need to follow them… Ho~. Now that they really became ‘Grandmasters’, it seems that I lost the bet… What do you want for it, Whitey?”

“...Meow?”

“Yeah, anything.”

“...meow.”

“You’ll tell me later? Sure, let’s go now.”

.

.

.

Soon after the Hero first saw their enemies.

“Sweet Goddess, they are huge! Can we even beat them?”

Lance tightened the grip on his sword and grinned.

“They shouldn’t be much stronger than us. If we split them, we might have better chances.”

“...I’ll take the middle one, deal with the other two by yourselves.”

General Faheem rushed at the red-skinned demon and successfully took him out of the group.

“Grraaaaa!”

The demon groaned, seemingly unable to use proper speech.

“Lance! Melissa! Take the left one! Terra! You’re with me! Timothy! Provide support to both groups given the chance!”

Everyone acted quickly and the fight started.

“Ohh! The cool part starts! Whitey, isn’t it cool!?”

For a moment Whitey looked at Lance, smiling while taking attacks head-on. And then at Leon, gracefully swinging his sword at the enemy.

“...Meow!”

“Even you can understand the reason why I’m doing this, right? This is countless times better than reading a book! And their fights are so much cooler! So much more exciting!... mine… end quickly…”

“Meow!”

“Yeah!”

“Meow! Meow!”

Whitey was just as excited as Mixen and pointed in General Faheem’s direction.

“You want me to go closer to him? There won’t be much to see though?”

“Meow!”

“Fine, fine. Let’s take a short look.”

When observed from a distance, Faheem’s fight looked no different from Lance’s or Leon’s…

However, even Whitey could tell something was wrong when they came closer.

“...Meow?”

“Oh, you noticed it? Yup. He’s losing.”

“Meow?!”

Even though the demon’s speed was on the slower side, he had enough strength to make his opponent unable to counter-attack, focusing on defence.

Lance and Leon dealt with this issue by having someone attack from the back… Faheem didn’t have such luxury.

The fight would continue for some time, as the demons had thick skin, and even Sword Aura didn’t do much damage to them.

“If Leon used his full power, this would end in a swoop.”

“...Meow?”

“Me?... I’m not sure… Probably depends on which sword I’ll use.”

“Meow.”

“...No idea of what that’s supposed to be.”

Some time has passed, and both sides were breathing heavily. Demons however didn’t seem bothered by that. 

Then, Leon understood something.

“They are protecting only the front of their neck! Try sticking there!”

Everyone heard his scream.

“...Damn you and your versatile Aura.”

“Meow.”

“Who’s jealous? I’m not jealous.”

*Thud*

After figuring out the weak spot of your enemy, it is just a matter of time before he’ll fall.

Timothy took the final blow.

Immediately Leon went to help Lance.

Together, they defeated the foe easily.

“We need to help the General!”

Terra seemed anxious for some reason.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

But when they came to him… The demon was already on the ground.

“Oh? You’re done? Good. You’re better as a team, I see.”

The wind was a bit confused.

“What the hell did he do?”

Right after Leon beat the second demon, Faheem did something.

Mixen didn’t catch exactly what, but it made the demon stop.

Without the red-skinned demon protecting his vital spot, Faheem ended it in one move.

“...I’ll note that… Speaking of noting, I should write some more in my diary.”

Mixen knew that event has ended, and a boring return home awaited them.

“Oh! Hey, Whitey, shall we introduce you to my family?”

“Meow?”
“Yeah, it’s not far, don’t worry. Just like fifteen minutes of flight at full speed.”

“Meow! Meow-meow!”

Whitey shook her head in refusal.

“You’re still not used to the speed? Don’t worry, eventually, it gets better.”

Mixen tightened his grip around Whitey, signifying that she had no choice.

“Meeeeow!”

The cat hated high speeds.

.

.

.

*Knock* *Knock*

“Coming!”

Valeria… She hangs out at our house way too often.

“Mixen! Where’ve you been?! You weren’t home for a week!”

“... So what?”

“What do you mean “so what”!? You know how worried we were?”

“Pfff, I’m the last person you should be worried about. And you know it.”

“...Tell that to Lara.”

…I ought to apologise.

“...Why are you here anyway?”

“Taking care of Lara’s education. She missed quite a lot… Even forgot how to write properly.”

…Excuses.

“I see… Is Father home?”

Rhetorical question.

“Yes, he’s in the kitchen.”

“...Is he making food?”

“Yes. He said he’ll make a cake for Lara… She relearned how to read.”

“Oo~hh! Hell yeah! I was starting to suffer from withdrawals!”

“...*Sigh*, Don’t you have a key of your own?.”

“Too lazy to take it out.”

Also too lazy to search for it in my mess.

“...Typical Mixen.”

“Hehe, a smile fits you better.”

“Smooth brat, come in already, Lara missed you.”

“Sure…Can a cat eat cake, by the way?”

“Hm? Why do you ask?”

“I want to give some to this girl.”

“...Wait. Is that a real cat?”

“Yes?”

“My Goddess! I thought that was a weird scarf! Why doesn’t she move?”

“Recovering from the trip here.”

“Why wou-”

“Brother!”

“Lara!”

She got heavier…Good.

“Where’ve you been?”

“You know me, here and there.”

“...Did you bring me anything?”

Damn…

“Of course! Give me a moment.”

This is too dangerous… This is an heirloom of some noble family… What’s this even supposed to be?

Oh! A regular ring!

I hope it fits her.

“Here! Might be a bit big for you to wear now, so keep it until you grow up, okay?”

“*Gasp* Yes! Yes, I do! I’ll treasure it until I grow up!”

...You do what?

“...Is that a real diamond? Where did you get it from?”

“Ugh… Haha, of course it's fake, where would I get the mo-”

“It’s fake?”

“N-No! I mean… Grrr! Just take it, Lara. It looks cute on you!”

“...I want a real ring.”

“...You’re too small, take it or leave it.”

“Hmpf!”

She took it, though.

“Mrya~ow.”

Oh, look who woke up.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

Don’t pass out on me again, will you?

“W-What is that?”

“Have you never seen a cat before, Lara?”

“I-I did, but… What is doing here?”

“Let me introduce you. This is Whitey, she’s a new member of our family… I picked her up.”

“...Can I touch it?”

“Be gentle.”

“...Meow.”

No, nobody asked for your opinion.

“...Will it live here?”

“Father!”

“Welcome back.”

…He smells like raspberry… I know what the flavour of the cake is.

“...When’ll the cake be ready?”

“Is that really the first thing you ask?”

“Yes.”

“Ahahah. In 20 minutes… So, will Whitey live here from now on?”

“No, I’ll be taking her with me… It’s lonely sometimes.”

…It is… so lonely…

“...I see… But I hope you understand what it means.”

“...What?”

“You will be responsible for her… For her everything. Including her life…”

“Hahaha, you’re telling me this? Believe me, she wouldn’t die even if she wanted to!”

I won’t let that happen.

“Meow?”

“Oh, by the way, she’s smarter than ordinary cats, be free to talk to her. She understands a lot.”

“Really? Whitey! Paw.”

“Meow.”

“Wow! Good girl! Now sit!”

“...Meow.”

“Ahaha! This is so fun!”

I’m glad Lara’s having fun.

“Brother! Can’t you leave her here?”

“...I might leave her here occasionally.”

“Yey! Let’s go and play together!”

“Lara, didn’t you forget about your lessons?”

“But! Aunty… Pretty please?”

“...Fine. Michael, let’s make a proper meal, as Mixen came.”

“Sure… But your cooking is awful, though?”

“...Give me an apron before I threw a fireball at you.”

“Understood.”

Their chemistry is quite good.

“Lara, let’s go to the backyard.”

“Okay!”

.

.

Ah, playing with Lara is similar to petting Whitey… Makes me forget about the things I’ve done.

“Brother… Can I… Ask you for a favour?”

…Her tone became a bit more serious.

“What is it?”

“Can we visit Mister Rob? Oh, and Mister Koma too… I’d like to hear miss Xing sing properly…”

…Is she talking about people she met… in there?

Right.

I did think about this.

She is too cheerful and jolly for a kid who went through… a lot.

Even my pupils were affected more, and they certainly didn’t suffer as much.

…Those people were the ones who kept her sanity in check.

I should thank them.

“Sure… But I don’t think it’s right to just barge into someone’s home. How about we write a letter to them first? You do know how to write, right?”

I’ll need to locate them first.

“I-I do!”

“Great!... Can you tell me more about them? I want to hear it.”

“...Well… Mister Koma is a court magician in the Silver Kingdom. He told me a lot about his feats!... I miss his jokes.”

…I think he exaggerated most facts about himself… How can a court magician go missing? Though I think he didn’t lie about being a Titled mage.

“Miss Xing is from another continent! It’s so much different out there! The people look different, the cities look different, everything is different! She said that even dragons aren’t extinct there!... She liked to sing… But I couldn’t hear her do it…”

…There are very few ships that sail to another continent. Only trade ships sailed there for the past five years… She might’ve been an entertainer on one of those ships.

“And what about Mister Robert?”

“That… He had a hard time talking… So I don’t know much about him.”

That’s a pity.

He’s the one who was there with Lara from day one… Must’ve made the most impact.

The other 2 probably didn’t interact with her… If they even could.

“Kids! The meal is ready!”

Finally! Father’s cooking!

“Oh, and Lara, don’t forget that you should write the letters by.your.self.”

“What?! That’s unfair! You can-”

“Comi~ng! The food is going cold, Lara, let’s go.”

“uuu… You’re a meany.”

“And you need to start studying properly.”

“Grr, don’t wanna.”

.

.

.

After having a meal… In which he didn’t eat each dish, Mixen went to an old friend.

He climbed up to the fourth floor of a big building and opened a window.

“Is that you, Mixen?”

“Wow, you’re good at this.”

“Who else would go unnoticed past my guards?”

“Heh, true. I happen to be in the city, so I thought I’d come by.”

“...Nice joke, what is it.”

“Hey! Can’t I visit a friend?”

“...”

AL’s expression spoke for itself.

“...Well, fine, you know me well. I came to ask for a favour.”

“Sure, tell me.”

“I need to find these people. Time isn’t of importance, but I’d appreciate it if you’d hurry.”

“Who are they?”

“Just some acquaintances.”

“Shouldn’t be hard…”

‘Oh, how wrong you are.’

“...Man, I feel bad about just asking for favours from you. Do you have anything I can do for you? And why didn’t you write to me via a Magic Letter?”

“...Did you ever check it?”

“...Did you ever write to me?”

“Yes.”

“...Oops? Was it important?”

“No, don’t worry. Luthor is good at his job… A bit too good for a kid. So there is no need for you to step in.”

“Oh, that’s good… that’s good…”

“...Something else?”

“Hehe, how’s the artefact maker that I brought in doing?”

“She’s good? Her inventions made us a lot of money… And the profession is called a magic engineer.”

“Cool! Can you bring her these and ask her to appraise them?”

“Are those bracelets artefacts?”

“Yeah, for training purposes. They weigh a lot… But not enough for me. I want her to try and make them heavier.”

“That can be arranged. Place them on that table.”

“Okay.”

*Crack*

“Hm?”

The moment Mixen placed them on the table, it cracked… And the next moment it broke in half and the bracelets fell with a heavy thud.

“...How much exactly do they weigh?”

“About 200 kilograms together? Oop. The guards are coming. Well, I’ll come sometime in the future. Bye-bye!”

Just like that, he disappeared.

The guards indeed came soon after, and AL was forced to make excuses. Fortunately, AL is second only to Mixen in making excuses.

.

.

.

Mixen spent the rest of the day with his family. Whitey adapted very quickly, and became the favourite toy of Lara… Though the kitty didn’t like it all that much…The art of giving pets is a hard one to master. 

After a few days, Mixen and Whitey returned to the Hero and his party.

The atmosphere there was really good. They were pretty close to the city, so there was no need to be tense anymore.

Everyone circled around Leon. Talking, playing... flirting. Mixen really didn't like this sight...

It was quiet.

Too quiet. 

Just like calm...

.

.

Before the storm.