Episode 286
I leave Tamonin and talk to Iria at a nearby restaurant. It is an elegant back room with a good smell of brand-new tatami mats.
"Did you see the report you sent about negotiations with the country of Wa?"
"Yes. Apparently there is no danger, so we're going to send a human council here to show our sincerity."
Ilia is still awkwardly grasping how to use chopsticks.
I'm a fresh woman who usually does everything, so it's somewhat fresh to struggle with Japanese cuisine.
"Ilia, hold the chopsticks like this."
"This is it?"
The intelligent Alia quickly spotted the principle of picking with chopsticks. It is a beautiful way to hold.
However, I have not yet learned how to use the finger.
"Ah?"
I'll take her hand and squeeze it because it will soon collapse.
"This is it."
Ilia's hands were cool and surprisingly small.
I was really surprised at the action I took, but I did not know and lecture how to hold chopsticks.
"If you're Iria, get used to it. Don't worry."
"Yes ... yes"
Ilia is looking down.
Did you do something rude?
After that, Ilia and Ilia have a detailed meeting as councilors.
That said, things are the same as usual.
"We were short of a large diplomat with high authority. Mr. Eilea will negotiate with Tamonin. I would like to work out more detailed conditions."
"I know that, but what will Veit do?"
Iria is picking the tofu awkwardly, shaking the chopstick tip.
"Of course I'm out, because I'm just fine."
"I'm fine ... oh !?"
The moment Iria saw my face, the tofu returned to its original container.
I am an uneducated amateur about diplomacy and politics.
It's better to leave this to an expert, a real nobleman.
Iria looks at me, struggling with the cold, and squeezing the tofu.
"Are you going to negotiate with the cats?"
"Yes, it looks like you're in trouble with the people around you, and I'll just ask you about the situation. It's a stolen livestock, so it should be something."
According to the teacher, cat people are not so dangerous demons.
Wa people seem to fear cats as a kind of youkai change, but they are actually small and harmless beasts like dogs.
"I have to scare me, so ... let's go with Jerikh alone. Wod and Monza will be your guards."
Monza is the same gender, so it's cheap, and Wadd is a veteran of 100 battles.
If you leave them to them, Ilia should have no chance.
But let's come back early.
I came to an arid region northwest of the city with that thought, but was immediately lost.
This is the boundary of the magical barrier created by the people of Wa country.
It's not a buffer zone, but the scenery changes drastically enough to tell you, "Oh, the effect is out here."
Cats are witnessed in the ruins of the Old Dynasty. It was a city where people who fled the desert lived before the country was established.
The surrounding soil has become thin and abandoned, leaving no humans for millennia.
"It's an unfamiliar architectural style, captain."
"It seems to be an old dynasty style"
A wolf, a squad member of Jerilik's squad and carpenter's son, Geor, looks around. Jerik's buddy.
The building here has a rounded design with lots of curved surfaces on both the house and the castle gate. Frankly speaking, it's my aesthetic sense, but at the same time there's a strange sense of security.
There are various architectural styles of the Old Dynasty, but they are quite unique.
I was worried about it, but I haven't come to the archeological site today.
You can see the cats standing upright here and there. No, in fact, they are all lying down and no one is standing upright, so it's not clear if they are.
Anyway, it's like a cat.
But there's no lookout, no guys working.
What about the community?
I stepped into the ruins with the Jerikh squad from the gap in the collapsed city wall.
After all, cats are playing around the cobblestones full of weeds. It's not a world where you can live without working, but what is your daily production activity like securing food?
"I'm sorry, I'm a Milaldia wolf who came from using the country of Wa.
When I say this in the words of the Old Dynasty, the cats look at them all at once.
I slept again.
It doesn't seem to be going to be relayed.
Then, a cat man with a mackerel tiger pattern lying on a nearby stone staircase came to me with a trouble.
"I don't have a head.
Now, didn't you say "Nya"?
I speak to a cat-like cat with a straw hat wearing a straw hat, while suppressing the anxiety of getting stronger.
"If you don't have a head, could you get someone who looks like a face?"
"Oh, no, it's okay. Uh ... yeah, Nerimi is the current caretaker ...
Why do you force it to end with "Nya"?
"What is Nerimi?"
"Hey, over there ... isn't it.
So "Nya" is good.
The Saba-tiger cat just started to fall asleep, so I walked around the village looking for Nerimi.
Finally, a cat named Nerimi was found, but the white cat said unexpectedly.
"No, I'm the current caretaker of Izushi? @ That Sabatiger-patterned guy"
What is that?
To me who came back in a hurry, a saba-tiger cat named Izushi washed her face and told her without feeling bad.
"Speaking of which, I haven't told you yet ... Nya"
"Nya is good"
"I thought everyone would just ask me for my opinion .... Nya."
The caretaker is revolving, and if he gets tired he may throw it to the next guy, but he seems to have forgotten to ask the next Nerimi.
Are they OK?
I'm used to disciplined demons like dragons and obedient and healthy demons like dogs, and I'm just confused by the pace of cats.
"Again, I'm the Werewolf Wolf. This is my fellow Wolfman, but I can't speak."
"I see, meow"
"Nya is good, Nya is"
"Well, it's because Asson-sama said," I'd say good to humans. "
"I'm a werewolf .... No, wait, Ason?"
"Oh, it's human Ason. Nya."
"Because you don't need to wear me, can you explain me a bit?"
It was quite hard to hear from him, but apparently the first metastasis, Ason, had disappeared from the city of Wa and had interacted with the cats.
I don't know why, but he still seems to be worshiped by cats.
I told Jerik about it, but Jerik looked sober.
"Hey, the bad habit of the general has begun."
"Wait, what's a bad habit?"
"When you find an interesting mystery, it's a habit of getting hooked. So every time, you're struggling with the extra head, right?"
I do not think so?
Might be so.
Certainly, solving cat and human troubles is the first step.
I was about to forget my job as new tribes came in from the race I met for the first time.
What you need is a friend.
"Oh, well, that's right ... I'll be careful later."
All four of Jerilik's corps looked up and shrugged.
If you take care
I explain to Izushi about this matter.
"I want you to stop grabbing livestock from nearby towns. Humans have their lives, and are they doing nothing wrong with cats?"
"Well, please wait a minute !?"
I forgot to add "nya" at the end, and I flipped my hair like I was surprised.
"We don't steal livestock !? There is a treasure left by Asson!"
"Treasure?"
"Ah!?"
Izushi hurriedly closed her mouth, lay down and pretended to be a cat.
"Nyan?"
Would you tell me more?
Resistance is meaningless.