Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 54: Cats, Fruit Scents, and Pranks

After more than a year apart, Ethan felt like Lucky was a bit clingy.

He did as before, grabbing two blankets and drawing a line in the middle of the bed. The apartment bed was much larger and softer than the temporary accommodation provided by the Guild, allowing Lucky to romp around freely on it. However, the ragdoll cat was not satisfied with just that. As the gas lamp was extinguished, Lucky raised her paw to scratch his back.

Ethan turned over and saw Lucky holding out her two paws, her reddish cat eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

Needing a cuddle to sleep.

The cat requested from him.

Ethan felt a bit helpless, was Lucky really a "lonely heart"?

Regardless, he obliged.

The cat’s body was so soft, her white furry coat felt a bit cool against his skin until she finally closed her eyes in peace, her eyelids fluttering.

Ethan smelled a strange fruit fragrance. Trying to identify what fruit it was, he brought his nose closer, but Lucky squinted open her eyes, suddenly bumped her head against him.

As Ethan wished, he smelled the scent from the cat’s head, so his lips naturally landed on Lucky’s forehead.

The cat’s mischievous act succeeded, leaving Ethan with a mouthful of fur.

Lucky laughed happily, her body shaking while being held.

In the end, Ethan couldn’t tell what kind of fruit smell it was.

Nevertheless, he had a rare, sound sleep.

Early the next morning, Ethan’s family of three was awakened by noises coming from the living room, followed by a man’s groan, "My back, ouch—!"

Miss Keroy was the first to rush out of the room, immediately spotting Hagrid who had fallen off the couch, clutching his sore back in pain.

For the burly Hagrid, the space on the couch was indeed a bit small.

"Wait a bit, let me catch my breath first. The armor poked my back, oh dear!"

When Ethan stepped out, Hagrid’s brows were furrowing in pain, personally demonstrating the drawbacks of sleeping in armor. Kind-hearted Miss Keroy hurried to the kitchen, holding a hard loaf of bread to comfort Hagrid.

But as they say, misfortune never comes alone; just as Hagrid was nursing a hangover-induced headache and a worn-out back, Ave delivered another piece of bad news.

The Expeditionary Army’s vanguard would arrive in Ximu Town this afternoon. Baron Gledin wanted his Guard Captain and former hopeful Kingdom Army member Hagrid to accompany them throughout. However, given Hagrid’s current state, attending might bring disgrace to the town. Walking whilst clutching his back, wobbly steps, would likely give the Empire’s envoys a horrible impression that the town’s Guard Corps were useless drunkards.

"Ethan buddy—!"

Hagrid shed tears, placing all his hopes on Ethan.

Ethan looked towards Ave.

In theory, they were supposed to go anyway; the Empire’s Elite Knight Order came for members of Nightmare’s Dusk, their role as Reception Bureau investigators was to help them settle into local work.

As for the specifics, they’d have to follow their leader’s directive.

However, today’s leader was behaving oddly.

Since announcing the vanguard’s arrival upon entering, she’d been gazing, enchanted by the ragdoll cat sitting on Ethan’s shoulder, scanning Lucky with her golden hair on top like a radar.

Ave approached Lucky bit by bit, trying to be as gentle and stealthy as possible. Then she slowly raised her hand, reaching towards Lucky’s head while softly mimicking a cat’s meow, "Meow meow, meow meow."

"Slap!"

Just as she was about to touch Lucky, the cat swiftly swatted Ave’s hand with her paw, signalling a "Don’t touch me" warning with a disdainful look.

"Um, Lucky isn’t too fond of others touching her."

He defended Lucky.

Yet Ave wasn’t bothered; observing the red mark on her hand, she seemed eager for more. The golden hair on top, startled, initially wanted to touch Lucky amidst the chaos but decided against it seeing the circumstance.

It turned out Ave liked cats, a fact Ethan unintentionally discovered about his leader’s interest.

"Where did you find this cat?"

"I met her in town before, her name’s Lucky, and her specialty is scavenging."

Lucky proudly wrapped her tail around Ethan’s neck, once again making Ave display a face full of envy. Ethan, meanwhile, had to steer the topic back on track, asking, "Is the reception for the vanguard this afternoon arranged? Are we preparing a banquet?"

Noble wine table etiquette was something Ethan wasn’t familiar with, never having brushed shoulders with the nobility in two lifetimes. Only recently did he manage to get a "public employee" status.

"I’ll go with you. They need someone to explain Ximu Town, Ethan, this is your task."

Ave finally, with difficulty, shifted her gaze away from the cat, starting work arrangements seriously.

Ethan’s political eloquence had left a profound impression on her, leading her to decide all speech-related tasks be handed to Ethan from now on. "You don’t need to attend the banquet. This time the Expeditionary Army’s Commander is an old acquaintance of mine; I have some personal matters to discuss with her."

"Understood."

Ethan expressed promptly, knowing well it concerned the Empire’s dark side banquet, one he had no business attending, being a minor figure. Conveniently, he also needed to visit Fireplace Bay tonight; he was confident in his homemade Ice Arrow scroll. If all went well, he’d soon receive an invitation to enter the town.

On the other hand, he truly hoped the old steward, often seen at nightclubs, remained safe and sound.

To prevent circumstances spiraling out of control, he specifically wrote "keep them alive" on the scroll, monitoring Ice Arrow proficiency the past few days. At least from the proficiency panel, no one had perished by the Ice Arrow.

"Also, pass on a message to the vanguard for me."

Hagrid quietly waited for the two to finish speaking before meekly raising his hand, adding, "Tell them I’m currently recovering at home, once I’m better, I’ll personally take them outside the town for a walk."

"You go back and recover your back without worry."

Ethan waved his hand, "Aren’t you relieved having me? I guarantee your absence won’t make them look down on you."

"I knew I could count on you, Ethan buddy! I’ll treat you to drinks later!"

Ave looked at Hagrid with sympathy; the last person to trust Ethan so completely had been Marshall, whose body should now have been returned to Gear City.

Ignorant of this, Hagrid left clutching his back.

The room fell silent once more.

Ethan said, "Alright, I’ll go get ready then."

"Wait a moment."

Ave suddenly called out to him, still staring fixedly at the ragdoll cat on Ethan’s shoulder, saying, "This breed of cat is quite delicate; it’s one thing if you eat hard bread yourself, but don’t feed her coarse food every day!"

"Meow!"

The cat voiced her discontent, swiftly leaped down from Ethan’s shoulder, ran into the kitchen, and came out with a long piece of hard bread, demonstratively munching on it before Ave.