Short Story: Cat on the Town
“Hey, someone get that guy!”
A man was running alone through the streets of Brunhild Castle Town. There was a stolen wallet in his hands as a fat merchant screamed at him. This man was a thief. He’d been scoping out the area and his eyes had fallen upon the merchant’s coins. When he spotted an opportunity, he took action without delay, swiftly stealing the goods. The man was fast on his feet, so there was nothing the overweight fellow could do to stop him.
The thief was certain he had gotten away with it, but it was at that moment that a small creature jumped out from the shadows.
“You meowlevolent man! Taste my blade!”
“Huh?!”
A veritable Puss in Boots appeared before the man from the shadows. The cat held a rapier in his right hand, which he thrust toward the man’s crotch. In a flash, the thief fell to the ground.
“Auuugh!”
“If a scratch against your pants is all it takes to best you, then mew better be thankful I afforded you the same mercy I would grant to kittens.” The wallet fell to the ground, much like the man’s pants, as he remained on the floor. His hair fluttered in the wind, alongside the tatters of his ripped clothing. He was defeated by a brave and valiant soldier, of course. One of the town guardsmen quickly approached the scene, but his service was no longer needed.
“Enough out of you!” The guard restrained the fallen man, then turned his blade on the cat, Mr. Mittens.
“Stop right there, criminal scum!”
“Who, me?! A crimeownal?!”
“A talking, bipedal cat?! That’s far too strange, I say! You’ll have to come with us!”
As Mr. Mittens raised his paws in defeat, his savior appeared out of nowhere.
“Are you okay, D’Artagnan?”
“V-Venerable Mother!”
“Aren’t you the teacher…?”
It was Fiana, Sakura’s mother and the head teacher at Brunhild’s school. She was carrying a brown paper in her hands. Mr. Mittens had originally come to the marketplace with Fiana, as he had appointed himself her sworn protector. It was then that he heard the merchant calling for help, and gave chase. After that, he gallantly pursued the criminal and made him taste defeat.
“Ah, sorry… This is my daughter’s cat…”
“Ma’am, are you aware that your daughter’s cat can talk? Ah, wait… Forgive me! I didn’t realize who he was…”
The guard came to the sudden realization that Fiana’s daughter was Sakura, and Sakura was the fiancee of Touya. Touya was, of course, the grand duke of Brunhild, so causing trouble for his family-to-be wouldn’t be good. He hurriedly gave the woman a panicked salute, turned away from Fiana, and dragged the criminal away by the seat of his pants.
“It only took one mention of the princess to turn him away tail between his legs… She really is the top cat around here…”
“Don’t worry, D’Artagnan. The town will get used to you soon enough… There are all kinds of people here, after all.”
People from all over the world converged upon Brunhild, so it surely wouldn’t take long for them to accept a talking cat knight.
《Mr. Mittens, where are you? With my mother?》
“Hm…? Did the princess just send me a thought…?” Sakura had summoned him to begin with, so there was a telepathic bond that linked the two. Nobody else but them could tap into that connection.
“Was it Farne? What did she want?”
“Ah, yes. Let me just paws a moment… She sent me a message saying that she and Lady Spica are at the school.”
“Goodness me… We should hurry back, then.”
“Allow me to hold your bags, Milady.”
“Ah… Thank you!” The woman smiled gently, and the valiant cat returned the gesture in kind.
Later on, the people of Brunhild would come to learn of the presence and power of the cat knight that lived in their midst… But that is a story for another day.
