Free Web Novel“Mm...”
Helcat bit at her finger, thinking for a moment. Her blood-red eyes stayed fixed on Ye Chi, but her posture clearly relaxed.
“A name I have never heard before.”
Normally, if a human could instantly sense her strength and discern her identity, it would mean that person either knew her or held considerable rank among humans...
Not to mention that faint, almost imperceptible aura of danger.
Had they met before?
Helcat widened her pretty eyes, trying to see straight through this human girl called Vieya.
Sensing the cat-girl’s intrusive stare, Ye Chi put her hands on her hips and met the gaze head-on, unwilling to be outdone.
Indeed, no recognition.
In the end, the human intelligence network really was terrifying!
Having reached her conclusion, the cat-eared girl abandoned her deep thoughts. She leapt lightly down from the table, hands behind her back, strolling toward Ye Chi in a carefree sway.
Moonlight spread across the ground; shards of glass from a shattered goblet, still wet with wine, gleamed faintly.
The black-haired, red-eyed cat-girl bent low, narrowing her eyes, and sniffed at the white-haired little girl before her, who was almost a head shorter.
Ye Chi did not move aside.
To her, Helcat’s probing, curious behavior looked like a kitten meeting a tiny fish for the first time.
What is this? Sniff sniff.
What is that? Pat pat.
An unfamiliar fragrance drifted in as Helcat leaned closer, but Ye Chi held fast to her most practiced expression:
No words, no feelings, no expression. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Cold as ice, dull as wood.
It was not that she disdained laughing and chattering, but the “expressionless set” had too much value for its cost.
“Vieya... are you truly human?”
Unable to resist, the cat-girl reached out and pinched the plush cheeks of the doll-like human girl before her.
It felt just like a human—soft and springy.
“Mm.”
Ye Chi answered flatly, not bothering with the cat-girl’s wandering hands.
“Incredible. That I can see such vigorous life-force in a human.”
The more Helcat looked, the more shaken she felt. She added, “Even that strongest human Hero of the past did not have life-force as immense as yours!”
“Is that so?”
“Why are you not surprised at all? I am a great demon who has seen the highest Heroes of your kind with my own eyes.”
The cat-girl drew back her pale claws, doubtful. “Shouldn’t you humans all revere and worship those exalted, bright, righteous Heroes? Especially the greatest one of them all?”
“I do admire them. Every day I dream about that greatest Hero.”
“But you have no expression!”
“Facial paralysis is like this.”
“....”
“What method do you plan to use to attack this city?” Ye Chi pulled the conversation back on track at just the right time.
“Eh?”
Helcat tilted her head, and her pretty, lively face curved into a smile laced with malice. “Why would I tell a human my battle plan?”
She had enjoyed this chat with the human, even felt an urge to break her rule and take this cold girl as a pet.
To chain her, to force her to fight against those she cherished, to imprison her in her palace for play and conversation.
The only regret was that humans, even Heroes with terrifying strength, lived far too short.
Once they broke, they lost their life-force quickly.
Otherwise, she really would like to see what this human looked like once that icy mask fell away.
“I see.”
Ye Chi was not surprised. She sighed. She had beaten this damned cat before, but Helcat had uncanny skill in escape and concealment, along with a racial gift like a “lock-blood” survival trait.
The only troublesome part was her pets—very annoying.
Perhaps her role was like a summoner? Or a beast tamer?
“Do not be discouraged. Maybe, if I am in a good mood, I will tell you, nya~” Helcat chuckled as she leaned closer again. She did like things that overflowed with vitality.
“I really do want to raise a human. I have tried a few times before. But even though I fed them well, those humans still died mysteriously, not lasting even three days.”
At that memory, Helcat grew visibly sullen.
Long ago, as a great demon with intelligence, she realized something: the magical beasts at her side, though powerful, had only destructive instinct and the ability to obey her commands.
Like human children with toys, once the novelty wore off, she sought something fresher, more interesting.
Thus arose her idea: to find a pet as clever as she was.
So she wandered alone across wilderness, swamps, mountain ranges, and desert wastes for a long time.
She saw countless magical beasts, but not one with true intelligence.
Then, one year, crossing a desert, she found a human settlement.
It was a tiny village, and Helcat was thrilled. But she discovered she could not give commands to humans the way she did to beasts. She could not order them to come and play dog for her.
After watching the village for a time, she reached a curious conclusion: creatures with intelligence like hers did not like being dogs.
Soon, by observing humans, she learned their social habits and tribal structures.
Later, she realized the world was far larger than /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ she had imagined; the roads she had traveled might be only a speck of this vast land.
In words she had stolen from human speech, it was like... one ladle from the sea.
Though to this day, she had never seen the sea.
Ton ton ton—
“...What sound is that?”
Helcat rubbed her furry ears and looked back.
The human who seemed even younger than her was holding a bottle of wine, gulping it down in two or three swallows.
“Want to drink a little?” Ye Chi asked. “Drink with me, and I will tell you how to raise humans~”
“Nya nya nya?”
“Of course there is a price.” Ye Chi had understood her demonic tongue. “In exchange, you will need to help me with one thing.”
