It was a pouch containing catnip that cats go crazy for.

Called ‘gaebakha,’ surprisingly, it existed in this world too.

I discovered this fact while wandering through various shops in town when I noticed cats gathering ,particularly around a shop that dealt with herbs.

When I walked around town wearing a pouch full of it on my waist, cats followed me, and eventually, even Nero proposed to me.

Not satisfied with just proposing, Nero followed me to the branch and clung to me.

I gave Nero the pouch containing catnip, and it hugged it tightly while rolling around on the sofa.

Right now, I was sitting beside it, stroking Nero’s soft fur.

I thought that now that I’d recruited the boss cat, dealing with them wouldn’t be difficult.

“Things are going too smoothly, aren’t they?”

―Meooow?

‘Are you accepting my proposal?’

Nero, who had been rolling around with the catnip pouch, suddenly responded.

“Nero, you fell for my scent, but I haven’t fallen for you. So what should you do?”

Nero looked up at me with sparkling eyes. I could see its slightly darker pupils in those eyes becoming noticeably narrower.

―Meow, Meow

‘Then I’ll make you fall for me too.’

“As expected, you’re smart because you’re the boss! Actually, I have something I want to ask of you cats. If you do that well, I might fall for you.”

Nero pounded its cotton-like paws as if saying ‘just tell me.’

I told Nero about the work I wanted to do at the branch.

“…If you help with the transportation work, in return, I’ll provide you with high-quality fish. Then you won’t be a nuisance to merchants, and you’ll have plenty of food, won’t you?”

Nero, still clutching the catnip pouch tightly, thought for a while before answering.

―Meow! Meooow!

‘I’ll have to talk to the other cats, but I approve.’

Nero said it would try the work first, and if safety was guaranteed, would give orders to other cats.

“Don’t worry too much. My friends in the forest will guarantee your safety.”

The identity of my friends in the forest were the Pteros.

I was planning to ask the Pteros to watch over the cats’ safety from the sky.

The view from the sky would be better than from the ground. It would be better to detect danger from the air.

It was a perfect plan, hehe.

Now that preparations were almost complete, I just needed to get Count Scott’s approval after successful trial operations.

Then, I’d get praised by the Guildmaster for solving problems on my own.

“Marco, by the way, did Honey come looking for me while I was away?”

“No! Master’s Honey didn’t come!”

The Guildmaster, who seemed like he would come here right away, saying he missed me, remained quiet even after a day had passed.

I hope nothing’s wrong with him.

I quickly turned on my watch and pressed the communication button. But there was only a dial tone; the Guildmaster wasn’t receiving my call.

Is he busy?

Or did something really happen?

At that moment, I heard Nero’s meow nearby.

―Meow? Meooow? Meoooow

‘Honey? Hooooney? Human, are you married?’

A seemingly confused Nero jumped slightly in place, trying to get my attention. That heavy body surprisingly bounced lightly with a thump!

While doing so, it playfully moved its paw but apparently had its claws out.

Those claws brushed against the bracelet I was wearing on my wrist.

The couple bracelet that the Guildmaster and I shared.

The thin thread bracelet helplessly snapped and fell to the floor.

“….”

An even more flustered Nero, with round eyes, didn’t know what to do.

It made a timid apology, saying ‘Sorry…’ and hid under the sofa. Of course, due to its massive size, only its face was hidden.

I tightly held the broken bracelet in both hands, feeling somehow ominous.

The watch still only emitted a dial tone.

‘Honey, you’re okay, right?’

I desperately hoped that this ominous feeling, this absence, wasn’t indicating that something negative had happened to the Guildmaster.

***

At that time, Duncan was unable to leave the Chelsea Center.

It was because of the otherworld monsters that appeared near the Chelsea Center last night.

In the deep night when everyone was asleep, monsters appeared and began attacking the Chelsea Center without any gate appearance alarm.

The center was placed in a state of emergency due to the sudden attack.

Fortunately, the monsters that barged in unexpectedly were only C-rank.

Although it took time to deal with them since there were five of them, there were no casualties.

Besides some damage to the Chelsea Center building, there wasn’t any other significant damage.

By the time they had slaughtered all the monsters, dawn was breaking. Only after the situation was contained did Duncan begin to question this incident.

Monsters appear without a gate, like a bolt from the blue.

‘It feels exactly like someone brought the monsters here.’

It wasn’t a baseless speculation. In the empire’s capital, there were places where one could buy low-rank monsters with money.

C-rank monsters weren’t large and couldn’t make threatening attacks, so even ordinary knights could handle them.

That’s why some mercenaries would illegally capture C-rank monsters and sell them in the black market.

Monsters traded in the black market usually went to illegal fighting arenas. There, they became entertainment, fighting until death.

The Imperial Palace knew about this but turned a blind eye to the arenas, citing that they didn’t cause significant harm to people and that there was no reason to protect otherworld monsters.

‘The ones that attacked Chelsea Center seem to have been bought from there.’

But who would do such a thing?

For what reason…

His head throbbed with questions he couldn’t answer.

At that moment, Evans approached to report the current situation.

“Sir Duncan! Regarding the damage to Chelsea Center…”

Duncan decided to repair the damaged Chelsea Center first.

Chelsea Center not only oversaw all work related to otherworld monsters, but also served as a home for guides and espers who had nowhere else to go.

He wanted to at least promise a comfortable home to those who risked their lives fighting.

Even if he had no ambition for the position of Center Director, this much felt necessary.

Duncan completely forgot his promise to go to the Philia Islands with Yerena and focused on the center’s affairs.

He planned to investigate the perpetrator and their motives after completing some of the repairs.

Meanwhile, there was someone watching Duncan’s actions with interest.

Benjamin was precariously perched on the Chelsea Center’s rooftop railing, looking down below.

“Oh my, Duncan’s feet are tied.”

His tone wasn’t sympathetic at all.

He was rather welcoming this sudden disaster.

Purple energy rose around his pupils, intoxicated with pleasure.

Benjamin was certain that now was his time to move. He then left Chelsea Center and began crossing the Pandora Forest.

His destination was the Philia Islands, located on the empire’s frontier.

If Yerena was alive, he thought she would likely be hiding there.

Of course, he wasn’t completely certain that Yerena was in the Philia Islands.

But a few days ago, when he discovered evidence that Duncan had hidden Yerena in the log cabin, Benjamin found the intersection of all the suspicious things he’d noticed.

Duncan, Potato, Hot Potato Guild, Yerena…

Things that seemed unrelated had a strange connection.

The first connection was that right after Yerena’s disappearance, an organization called “Jinjijo Transportation” appeared, and he learned it was connected to the Hot Potato Guild.

The second connection was discovering that Duncan frequently went toward that guild.

Although he’d never seen Duncan enter the guild, he always disappeared around that area while walking through town. As if he had some connection to the guild.

And the third connection, he learned unintentionally while staying at the center thanks to Olivia.

“The master of Jinjijo Transportation. Isn’t it that hooded person who appeared on the day the Ptero first showed up? They were small, looked just like a woman.”

While Benjamin wasn’t interested in the transportation company, the center had great curiosity about it.

There was still talk about who the master might be.

For this reason, Benjamin happened to overhear one esper whispering to another.

Benjamin asked that Esper to tell him more details about that day.

“That day, a hooded woman rode away on a Ptero. She didn’t look like a guide or an esper.”

But Benjamin had a feeling that the woman might be Yerena.