âYou see, I just like traveling and acting. Anywhere there is a circus, and I will join.â
Mary shook her head. âYouâre better as the whole circus act. If you had an animal summon, that would be even better.â
âI have a rock summon, does that count?â
âSince when did you have a rockâ¦â
Mary was cut off by the coughing of the rat man. âEither way, you can make yourselves comfortable here for the time being. If youâre an actress, Iâd like to see you put on a play.â
I saluted the rat. âYes, a play is easily done. For someone of my skill level, I could draw in a big crowd.â
Mary sighed, her hand latching onto my shoulder. âAnd what kind of play are you going to put on exactly?â
âAre you kidding me? With all of these animal people walking around, I could put on tons of plays. Look at that werewolf. I could even do Little Red Riding Hood.â
âI suppose youâre rightâ¦â
âThat settles it, then!â I cheered and grabbed onto Maryâs hand. âWe should look around while weâre here.â
///
Kittenâs eyes blinked open slowly. She stretched her arms with a content sigh. âA library is truly the best place to nyap, nya~â
The cat tilted her head at a golem that hovered next to her. The thing rolled out a pink ball of yarn, and Kitten stared at it. She watched the thing dangle to and fro, her ears twitching at the hypnotic movement. The pupils in her eyes turned into little slits. She tentatively reached her hand out, and the golem pulled the ball of yarn away.
âMeow?â Kitten tilted her head and tried again. Once more, right before her fingers could grasp it, the cat girl had it stripped away.
This time, Kitten waited and watched the dangling pink ropes. She focused all of her senses on the ball, and the moment before the golem could pull away, she leapt from her chair. Using the force of her whole body, Kitten was able to grab the pink ball with her teeth. Her canines latched on in a vicious vice grip.
The cat girl yanked the ball from the golem and fled across the library with her piece of treasure.
âI knew it,â Sumire said, âeven cat girls are weak to yarn.â She looked back at Sine with a smile. âYou know what that means? It means you owe me one favor.â
Sine grumbled underneath her breath and flopped onto a bean bag. âNot fair.â
Riri the priestess chuckled at their interaction. âItâs definitely fair. You already agreed to this arrangement. A good girl would accept the terms and conditions without any arguments.â
âI donât want to.â
âWhat would the witch think?â
Sine piped up and shook her head. âPlease donât tell Eerie about this.â
âNya?â Kitten dropped the ball of yarn and stared at them strangely. âWhat are you all talking about?â
Sumire plugged Sineâs mouth with her hand before the girl could say anything. âIt was nothing in particular. We were just wondering when they would be backâ¦â
Riri averted her gaze from the cat girl. âYes, more importantly, we were wondering how you were feeling.â
âIâm fine, nya. I nyever felt this comfortable before.â
Sine nodded. âWitch never misses.â
Sumire grabbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head at the small girl. âYou and your obsession with witches, especially Eerie. Iâm surprised you didnât try to interrupt them. I half expected you to beg to stay, so that you could stop those two from doing anything.â
Sine sighed. âIâm not stupid, and I love her very differently.â
âNya?â
Riri smiled at the kitten who had her head tilted. The priestess hesitantly reached underneath the white catâs chin and scratched.
Kitten leaned into the sensation and began purring. Her eyes closed in bliss. Kitten had already decided in her mind that these were good people.
âI donât understand how you can be so cute and also be a demon.â
Kitten opened her eyes and tilted her head. The ears on top twitched with the movement. âIâm cute?â
All three girls nodded at the same time.
Sine spread her arms out as far as she could. âYouâre at least this cute.â
Riri pet Kittenâs head. âYouâre like Sine almost. I just want to spoil you every time I look at you.â
Sumire rubbed behind kittenâs ears. âYouâre like a pet...I mean, youâre like very cute. Is there anything that Kitten likes doing?â
Kittenâs body felt so warm. It was vastly different from the frigid cold of her authority. The white cat girl considered Sumireâs question, but only one thing came to her mind. âI like sleeping, nyaâ¦â
âWell, we can definitely see that already. But, you donât have any other interests? Are there any games that Kitten likes?â
Sloth hoisted the pink ball into the air. âI like this thing, nya!â
Sumire struggled to not laugh. She patted the girlâs head and grabbed her own ball of yarn. âWhat about Mary. Do you love her a lot?â
âYes!â
âGood, I was thinking about it, and you could totally make her very happy. Do you know what these balls are used for?â
Sloth shook her head.
âThese can be used for making things. We could work together to make something for Mary and Eerie. That would make them both really happy, I think.â
Riri lightly elbowed Sumire. âI wouldnât have expected you to come up with something like this.â
Sumireâs face flushed with red. âWell, letâs just say I learned it from a kind priestess. I was thinking that if all four of us teamed up, we could make them something really special. Just picture how happy they will look when they get back.â
âYeah, but knowing Eerie, sheâs bound to show up when we least expect it. We need to hurry if weâre going to do this.â
Sumire clenched her hand into a fist. âYouâre right!â
âHeh, you really are a tsundere. Every time youâre around Eerie, you act like you have some spiked outer shell, but your real heart is more like sweet chocolate.â
âShut up!â Sumire avoided Ririâs gaze and met Kittenâs eyes instead. âWhat do you say? You want to help us?â
âYes, Kitten wants to help, nya!â