Good afternoon~ I feel refreshed. Let's get dressed. Making my way to the Kitchen after getting dressed, I stopped near the pile of clothes and added a few more pieces to it while aiming at level 10 clothes first. I decided that I should try to bulken up the next shipment for Clive by purposely creating clothes of a weaker sturdiness. After adding the 16 new pieces to the pile, I continued on my way to the Kitchen. When I entered, I noticed that Vana was currently being taught by Cetilla about how to use the stove. Yosh! Teach Vana the joys of living here so that I don't need to convince her to stay after the culling!
"Good afternoon. How was your sleep?" [Nero] asked with a smile.
"I slept well, how about you Vana?" [Cetilla] answered with a similar smile.
"I must admit, the bedding was exceptionally comfortable. How did you even construct such a massive home within the Lost Kingdom?" [Vana] replied with a sigh before inquiring about the Wailing Keep with a tilted head.
"Uhhh~ I didn't. The Wailing Keep is my home. I carry it with me wherever I go, unless I decide to place it somewhere like here. I can easily pick it back up whenever. I'm pretty sure that it's something only a Halloween Cat can do though." [Nero] explained with eyes fixated on the cooking Fish.
"Oh? What's the difference between a regular Halloween Cat and a True Halloween Cat?" [Vana] continued to poke into the topic.
"On some worlds there are Halloween Cats, but only one of which may be dubbed the True Halloween Cat per world. If you're the oldest Halloween Cat alive in your world, then you will be dubbed the True Halloween Cat for your world. The True Halloween Cat gains two new abilities as far as I can tell." [Nero] explained without losing eye contact with the cooking Fish.
"So are there other Halloween Cats in this world?" [Vana] asked seemingly enthralled by the entire topic.
"Highly doubt it. I was only born in this world a little over a month ago. Seeing as how immediately after birth I was granted the True Halloween Cat title, and I myself have not attempted to have a child since then… The chances are about as slim as this common Fish." [Nero] said as he finally gave in to temptation and grabbed a cooked Fish off of the frying pan before beginning to eat it.
"My~ Even I who feel alone have my Caterpillars and Butterflies to keep me going, I can't even imagine how it must feel to be born into a world without a single other relative." [Vana] said in a soft tone while looking down.
"Well, it's fine. I have my Clansmen and friends to keep me going. Thank you for worrying though~" [Nero] explained and tried to reassure the troubled Flutterfairy.
"No! It's not fine! You're trying to find a suitable partner for me and all of the other races here knowing full well that you never even stood a chance at finding your own! [Vana]
"I wholeheartedly agree." [Cetilla] jumped in while nodding her head.
"UHM?! I don't think that you understand!" [Nero] exclaimed in a shocked tone of voice.
"Ugghhhh~ What don't we understand then?" [Cetilla] asked as if ready to be mansplained to.
"Halloween Cats are kind of dangerous to the world if I'm being completely honest. As a True Halloween Cat, we gain some frightening abilities. We aren't necessarily strong ourselves, but we can help bestow strength to our Clansmen. To be frank, the method itself is gut wrenching. After I die, there's a high chance of catastrophe. The more Clansmen that I bestow strength to, the worse it will become." [Nero] remarked while averting eye contact.
"How do you figure that?" [Vana] asked while flipping over a Fish.
"How many individuals do you know that could defeat a Crowli?" [Nero] shot back in between bites of his snack.
"There are some, surely a party of A Rank adventurers could handle a Crowli." [Cetilla] chimed in.
"How many lives will Crowli take in order to feed itself after I'm gone before meeting a party of A Rank adventurers?" [Nero] asked while tilting his head.
"Well, Crowli is an intelligent creature; is he not? Who's to say that Crowli will even go on a rampage?" [Cetilla] responded nonchalantly.
"Halloween Clansmen require Candy or Blood. There are no third options. Halloween Cats are able to stop time for their Clansmen so that they only require Candy after fighting, but how much Candy would it take for them to survive without a Halloween Cat? All of the Clansmen I meet in the wild are quite literally starving." [Nero] spat back immediately in a grave tone.
"So what if there were another Halloween Cat to take your place after having died?" [Cetilla] asked, having realized the potential risks.
"Me having a child or running into a younger Halloween Cat and ensuring that they would be present at the time of my death would stave off that catastrophe by being able to claim my Clansmen, but it would only become an even larger catastrophe later on due to my replacement bestowing them even further strength." [Nero] explained in between chewing on a piece of Fish.
"Forgive me~ If I may, what's your plan then? You know full well that your Clansmen can be dangerous, but do you have a strategy to deal with it?" [Vana] asked with a sly smile.
"Ensuring that I don't only aid the Halloween Clansmen towards Evolution, but also the regular races of this Kingdom. If I can ensure that the races among us unrelated to Halloween can reach a strength rivalling or surpassing my Clansmen, then I think it will be safer for me to die." [Nero] replied honestly.
"Yet another reason to stage the cullings." [Cetilla] remarked as if finally understanding.
"Precisely." [Nero] agreed while nodding.
"Well, the Fish seems ready~" [Cetilla] added with a smile.
And so, we served the platter at the table in the Dining Hall. On entry, Budget Dragon, Cyclozard, and Goblin Hunk are already present. They're playing that card game again. I haven't really tried it out yet, but it's become something like a regular activity around here. While eating our Fish at the table, I was creating new pieces of clothing. I'm aiming for level 5 pieces, so I can make them way more often. I'm purposely making weaker parts now for the adventurers just starting out. I say that, but I totally already tried aiming for level 20 and 10 pieces before. Maybe I'll just make it kind of random? Yosh!
I'm still only wearing level 15 pieces myself, so the maximum quality that I can sell to Clive in good faith is level 10 pieces. I'll be willing to stretch up to level 15 pieces if I and my comrades wear level 15~20 pieces. We just need to be a step ahead. I want at least a slight advantage if we're ever facing an enemy army or party after all. I say that, but [10 Minute Makeover] totally has me covered in the slight advantage department. I can become a walking tank with that bad boy!
After finishing my meal, I informed everyone that I would be heading out to the Beastkin Kingdom to finish making a prior deal from a while ago. I need to see Rudou and gain information on potential Cat Crewmen. After explaining myself, Cetilla seemed more confused than ever. It can't be helped. I arranged for this deal mere minutes before meeting her, after all. After fully explaining myself to her, she has decided to join me. I don't really mind, she's my party and unrelated to the Lost Kingdom so it's fine. Having a noble daughter of Reygid with me while I meet with a Merchant of Reygid might even prove beneficial.
Before departing with Cetilla, I gave everyone a new task for the continuation of the census taking in the Lost Kingdom. I assigned Budget Dragon, Weeping Angel, and my Bats to take care of counting the Bears. I assigned Goblin Hunk, Cyclozard, and my Crows to count the Rabbits. I assigned my Scarecrows and White Sheep Lady to count the Foxes. Then, I assigned Crowli and Cloaked Hunk #wassup to count the Deer. I asked Vana to count the Butterflies. Thankfully, this time no one asked me for the reasoning.
Returning to my Treasure Room with Cetilla, I had her help me count out my Coins. She wanted to come with me, so it can't be helped. I was going to count them now anyways, as I can't walk into a deal without knowing exactly how much funds I have. This is mostly all the Coins from the Bandit Camp looting. The result of our count is 7 Gold Coins and 773 Silver Coins. I previously thought that there were roughly 700 Silver Coins, so I'm pleasantly surprised. After we counted, I began hauling 700 Silver Coins into empty Candy buckets. It required 8 buckets. I placed the 7 Gold Coins into my raincoat pocket so that it wouldn't accidentally fall out. That would be embarrassing.
After having secured the Coins, we took off by Broom. I wanted to try being a Cat the next time we flew, but it's not plausible in this situation. We need all the human hands we can get right now. Arriving to Reygid was uneventful. Walking into the Adventurer's Guild Tavern, I was reminded of how busy it was here. There are so many Beastkin around enjoying themselves. Looking further around the establishment for a few minutes, I finally met eyes with Rudou. That familiar grey furred Cat with yellow eyes whom appears more like a Cat than a human. He's still spending time with that Fox lady, huh? Walking up to him, I began to introduce him to Cetilla.
"What a pleasure to meet you again~ I was beginning to think you had forgotten." [Rudou] the Merchant said while greeting Nero.
"Oh~ I remember you!" [Mira] the Fox lady said while pointing at Nero, clearly drunk.
"I wouldn't dare forget after making you go to the lengths of gathering all of that information for me~ I would like you to meet Cetilla, the first member of my Cat Crew. Cetilla, this is Rudou; a Merchant of Reygid. Good to see you again, Mira~" [Nero] laughed before introducing the two.
"You're Roy's daughter, right?" [Rudou] asked while examining Cetilla.
"Yes, that's true. Are you acquainted with my father?" [Cetilla] asked with a dignified expression.
"I sell his produce from time to time." [Rudou] admitted before taking a sip from his cup.
"Anyways~ I have brought with me the 7 Gold Coins as per the agreement, but I also brought 700 Silver Coins as a way to afford information regarding Catkin in distant lands. How have you fared?" [Nero] asked while cutting to the chase.
"I've gathered the list of 20 prominent Catkin in Reygid, and have found information about 2 prominent Catkin outside of Reygid. I'll try to find more information in the future, but you probably won't find much better unless travelling to a distant continent." [Rudou] explained with a sigh.
"Very well, I find that amount suitable anyways. I have 700 Coins split up into 8 different buckets, so it's kind of difficult to tell just how many Coins are in each. To supplement that, I'll just give you 3 buckets. Sound fair?" [Nero] asked while putting three buckets on the table and pulling out 7 Gold Coins from his raincoat to place alongside them as if too tired to count.
"Heh~ I'll accept that." [Rudou] replied without missing a beat, and procuring the Gold Coins immediately. A moment later, he took a set of documents from his coat and handed them to Nero.
"Thank you~ This should suffice. I'll come around next week in case you find any others from outside the Kingdom? Actually, where can I find you if not here?" [Nero] said while skimming the documents.
"That sounds fine. I have a shop just a few buildings down to the right after leaving here called the Ru Trading Company." [Rudou] answered frankly.
"Okay, I thank you for doing business with me. I'll be off to take a closer look at the info, see you around!" [Nero] said while parting and waving goodbye.
"I hope so~" [Rudou] said with a smile.
"Cat Crewmen?" [Cetilla] asked after we parted with Rudou.
"Oh, yeah. Before I first met you, I decided that I wanted to try and gather a crew of talented Catkin to help keep me safe during the day while I'm travelling the world. Like a party of adventurers made up of Catkin, so to speak." [Nero] explained while ordering a few cups of beer from the Bartender.
"Ohhh sounds fun~ But why Cats?" [Cetilla] asked, still unsure of the reasoning.
"There's really no big reason in particular. I just felt like meeting other Catkin at the time and I thought that Catkin would be more likely to party with me." [Nero] said in between sipping his drink.
"Well I suppose there's no helping it. Whims are wins, after all~" [Cetilla] replied while giggling.
"You just think that because that whim led me to run into you." [Nero] said cheekily.
"Hmph~ Maybe so." [Cetilla] said before raising her drink.
Alright! Looking at my documents, there are indeed 22 Catkin listed. It's a whole mess of information. Thankfully, there are basic characteristics noted for each of the Cat's features. There are even small doodle sketches depicting some of their faces. The sketches are pretty detailed, so I'm thinking that he hired an artist to handle them. It's impressive. Some of the Catkin listed have probable locations to find them, while others are listed as travelers who are well known to frequent Reygid. Some of the Catkin have even been listed as missing. All of them have notes listing what they're influential for. Several are merchants or nobles while others are adventurers and military roles serving Reygid. Cetilla's father was even listed.
Narrowing it down to Catkin who I am likely to be able to find in Reygid at any time, I am left with 16 potential Crewmen. Even then, I don't want some of these Catkin as Crewmen. They just wouldn't be helpful. The ones with military roles are immediately off my list. The merchants and business owners are good to know about, but I don't currently have much need for them. Aside from one, that is. The wealthy farmer nobles are also off my list, as they're too old to be going off on adventures across the world and are clearly trying to retire. Why else would you get a large ranch if not to retire? This leaves me with 4 potential Crewmen who are likely to be easy to find within Reygid at any given time. Yikes. Am I being too picky? NYAHHH! The Cat Crew is far too important to let just anyone in! It's an elite group of Cats who can't be rivaled by those other Cats! Even among the most influential of Cats, only a few can actually be allowed to enlist!
Looking at the results, we have two boys named Milton and Gustav. Other than that, we have two girls named Nyla and Rei. Milton is the one person in business who I think might actually be quite helpful for my Crew. He looks more like a Cat than a human, and his fur is light black and white. He has green eyes, and a somewhat slim build. I can't tell his age very well, but he's probably like 5 years older than my current body looks. He's a Spearmen who wields a Harpoon and is notable for being a great Fisher in Reygid. Apparently he catches the most Fish among anyone in the Beastkin Kingdom, and turns around to sell it in the markets every few days. You can normally find him in the markets or near the Rivers. Sounds familiar to me, whom you can normally find in a Keep or near a Waterfall.
Next, we have Gustav. He's a Shield Master who wields a Great Shield and is notable for being a first rate mercenary who sells his shield in times of war. In times of peace, he acts as a target dummy for budding adventurers. He looks more human than Cat, his hair is blond and his eyes are brown. He looks quite buff and is probably middle aged. If an adventurer can hurt him without his shield on, then the adventurer gets to increase their rank at the guild. It's a specific test for promotions from rank C to rank B adventurers. If he's not even using his shield for them to determine rank B adventurers, then he's probably an A rank adventurer. Sadly, further detailed information regarding the adventurer ranking system is not listed. I've never even heard of the adventurer ranking system until I got a hold of these documents, so I really have no idea what rank I would be. Due to him working here on call, I can likely find him here or nowhere.
Third, we have Nyla. She's a Bow Master who wields a Bow and is notable for being a carriage guard for travelling carriages heading through the lost Kingdom. She looks more Human than Cat, and has brown hair with blue eyes. She seems to be in her late twenties. It's kind of like mercenary work, but she's not intending for the job to cause her to end up taking lives. Usually, she tries to capture the Bandits who attack them. She's technically also labelled as a traveler, but she's most often working between the Human and Beastkin Kingdoms; so you're still likely to find her here at least half of the time.
Lastly, we have Rei. She's a Knuckle Master who wields a pair of Steel Knuckles. She looks more Cat than human, has white fur and light blue eyes. I can't tell her age, but I'm thinking that she's close to the same as Nyla. She's notable for being a great adventurer in Reygid who has recently calmed down and begun to be dedicated to gambling. I don't know how I feel about this one, but if I can swing her off of gambling and back into adventuring, then she might prove to be a fine comrade. Cetilla actually knows this girl, and apparently they were in a party for a while back in the day. Cetilla even knows where she lives.
Finishing off our cups as we finally finished going over the four potential candidates to join our Cat crew, Cetilla and I started off to go find these Cats. I say that, but after we looked closely at the pictures for each of the Crewmen; we were able to discern that Gustav is currently in the same bar. He's actually five seats over to us and we can fully hear him talking. Abruptly rolling up the documents and securing them in my coat pockets before grabbing our leftover Coins and bar stools, we made our way directly beside him on both sides before plopping our stools down and bringing out Coins up onto the bar table. Then, after ordering another round for the three of us; we began to get to know our candidate.
"Who are you?" [Gustav] the Shield Master asked with a husky tone of voice.
"Well, I am called Nero." [Nero] answered with a smile before bringing his cup to his mouth.
"I'm Cetilla Vellisroi." [Cetilla] answered while giggling.
"Vellisroi, huh? What's a noble doing in a place like this?" [Gustav] the Shield Master asked and began to accept the drink.
"I'm here accompanying Nero~" [Cetilla] replied while sighing.
"Nero… I don't think I've heard the name. Aren't you two a little young to be drinking?" [Gustav] the Shield Master said while visibly thinking and looking at Nero.
"Probably not. Also, no." [Nero] replied coldly before continuing.
"You couldn't take my alcohol from me if you tried~ Frankly, I need it to bathe comfortably." [Nero] continued while laughing.
"I agree. The water in that Lake is far too cold to bathe in without liquid courage." [Cetilla] replied with a sour face as if remembering a dreadful experience.
"Gustav~ Why do you help the war efforts?" [Nero] asked with a casual smile.
"The war efforts? Isn't it obvious? It's for Coin, lad. You seem to have plenty but the rest of us don't. Also, why are you forcing a noble to bathe in a Lake? You have plenty of Coin, so why not upgrade to a tub?" [Gustav] replied while patting Nero's head before whispering to him about renovations.
"Hrmm? What was that now?" [Cetilla] asked with a grin.
"He's wondering why I would dare to let a noble bathe in a Lake. Honestly, Cetilla's a Sorceress before she's a noble. Her words, not mine~ I have more pressing matters to deal with right now than plumbing anyways. I'm not forcing her either, she could probably figure out a way to return here without my help so that she can properly bathe at her family estate. If it's just for Coin though, what do you really need Coin for?" [Nero] explained before asking with a troubled look.
"Eh? I need Coin for food, clothes, shield repairs, armor repairs, a place to stay, this cup of beer, and my daughter." [Gustav] replied casually.
"Right. But what if I told you that I could handle all of that except for the shield repairs and the armor repairs which I would instead pay Coin for? I'd probably be asking you to do less work than you currently do now, but there is the issue about the plumbing... Or lack thereof. Would you take the offer and leave this place with your daughter?" [Nero] asked seriously before drinking.
"Hmmmm… What kind of work is it?" [Gustav] asked after a long silence.
"It's very similar to what you do now. I won't be using you as a target dummy though. Rather, the biggest difference is that instead of attacking foreign lands; you're defending one place. If you want to help out more so that you can actually earn your Hooch, you can always take up Fishing. I can teach you how. Otherwise, we only all drink every few nights." [Nero] replied without shaking eye contact.
"You know about that? It sounds fine and all, but how is the housing?" [Gustav] replied coldly as if expecting something to be awry.
"I can assure you that the only aspects which fall behind Reygid's noble level of living are bathing and toiletry. The Kitchen and bedding however are of a much higher standard than Reygid." [Cetilla] replied quite frankly.
"The Kitchen? Are we all living in the same home?" [Gustav] asked while tilting his head to the side.
"I live in a Castle Keep. It's excessively large, and has a total of 50 guest bedrooms each with a double bed. The Dining Hall is fit to serve around 150 guests, while the Kitchen is fit to accommodate that due to magic cooking appliances. Be that as it may, I don't have proper staff for my Kitchen so I just teach anyone living within the Keep how to make their own meals if they are hungry. There are 50 guest bedrooms, but under 10 of them are even being occupied at the current moment. You and your daughter can each have your own separate rooms next to each other if you should desire." [Nero] replied with a smile.
"Wow. Where is this Keep?" [Gustav] replied with eyes wide.
"That depends. I have the ability to move it wherever I see fit. Currently, it is located in the Lost Kingdom and I don't intend on moving it any time soon." [Nero] replied while removing his glasses.
"Haaaah? You can move a castle?!" [Gustav] replied, seemingly flabbergasted.
"He can do much more than that." [Cetilla] laughed.
"Not your everyday Cat, huh? Must be why the Vellisroi heir is following you around…" [Gustav] replied while taking another drink of his cup.
"Well? Will you join us?" [Nero] asked while tilting his head.
"Nah. Sorry kiddo, I've got a feeling that I might just die if I take your offer. I need to keep my daughter safe, you know? If I were younger, maybe." [Gustav] apologized while patting Nero's back.
"I understand. If it's for your daughter, then I'll give you one word of advice. I wouldn't accept any mercenary jobs that involve marching into the Lost Kingdom again. I won't be able to ensure that you survive." [Nero] replied with a smile.
"Yikes. I'll try to stay out of them, but sometimes they just don't really give you a choice. If you happen to find my body amidst the corpses, please adopt my daughter. They'll probably take her to the orphanage at the church. Ask for Kelly, that's my girl." [Gustav] said with a tearful eye.
"I promise. Goodnight, Gustav." [Nero] replied before leaving with his Coins.
"It was nice meeting you~" [Cetilla] called.
"You too. Careful, kids!" [Gustav]
"You really should try to hold back more information~" [Cetilla] mocked me after we had left.
"It would have been troublesome to convince him to join us through deceit." [Nero] admitted as the two left the Tavern.
"But he didn't join us either way~" [Cetilla] continued.
"But he wanted to. Besides, he still might change his mind when the time comes that they ask him to march." [Nero] replied with a smile.
Walking away from the Tavern, I decided that we should try checking on the River for Milton. It's the dead of night, but he might still be Fishing because Cats can see at night! The thing about the River is that it travels through the majority of the Kingdom and leads in from a waterfall coming from the Elven City forest. We decided to start at the Lake where all the water gathers to, and then work our way north following along the River. The Elven City forest has extremely tall trees. It's surreal. Nothing nearby is anything like it. I can't even imagine how old the trees are, and they're relatively close together. There's no way all of the trees are getting adequate sunlight, so I'm thinking that they might absorb some kind of magic instead.
By the time that we were almost near the waterfall, we finally saw him. There's a black and white furred Cat beastkin standing in the River somewhat near the waterfall while holding a Harpoon. It seems that he also found out the waterfall trick. Oi! Why does the waterfall trick work here too?! Are there secretly monsters beneath this Lake who need vast numbers of Fish to survive as well?!
"Hello~ I'm called Nero. I would like to offer you a place to live comfortably and Fish to your heart's content." [Nero] said bluntly.
"Huh?" [Milton] the Fisher replied.
"Geez, Nero. You have a way with words." [Cetilla] mocked.
"I know~I'm fantastic. What's there to be confused about, Milton?" [Nero] said while smiling.
"Why do you want me to come with you?" [Milton] asked while tilting his head and slightly raising his Harpoon.
"Woah~ Calm down there, buddy! We're just a pair of friendly Cats hoping to start a Cat Crew is all. Honestly, I feel like I spend most of my time Fishing as a means of feeding all my comrades. So, I was hoping that you might be able to help lighten the weight on my shoulders." [Nero] explains while raising his hands as if to say he's unarmed after putting his Candy, Lantern, and Broom down.
"Don't forget that the place you're offering him to stay at is totally awesome and more than he could ever afford off of just selling Fish~" [Cetilla] chimed in while giggling.
"I'm in. The pay is too bad here, so if you're offering me a place to stay that's comfortable; it's really no question." [Milton] confessed while lifting his shoulders.
"Great! I'll be trying to find two more Catkin in town before I return home, but if you want then I can send you there immediately and have one of my companions show you around?" [Nero] excitedly explained before offering.
"Sounds good! How are you going to send me there immediately if it's out of town though?" [Milton] asked while tilting his head.
"Hallowed Gate! Crowli! Come forth and show this boy around the Wailing Keep by traversing through the Hallowed Gate. Find him a room to stay in, and teach him how to cook. After that, please show him to the waterfall and teach him my method of Fishing. If you have not already finished the counting of Deer with Cloaked Hunk #wassup, then return to help him after showing Milton around." [Nero] called after picking his Lantern back up without responding to Milton.
Crowli appeared immediately, before he took the shocked and obviously afraid Milton by the shoulder to drag him into the Hallowed Gate. Around a minute later, I closed the Gate assuming that Crowli had the time to get him into the Wailing Keep. Crewman: Got! I'm excited! I finally won't be Fishing every single day anymore~ I'll be thankful if he has the determination to even handle just half of the Fishing. None of my other comrades really seem to want to. Picking my Candy back up, Cetilla and I got back onto the Broom. I think I might spend more time with Cetilla than anyone else these days. She's no doubt the closest female companion that I have. We get along well together with our slightly warped personalities. I personally think her personality is probably more warped than mine, but then again; I'm the one currently playing th*nos of the ecosystem.
You can't say that she's not a conspirator at this point, though! She's totally involved at this point, at least by affiliation! Yep. If we go down as world criminals, we're going to go down together. I will probably have the much more drastic execution though. As of yet, she's left her home to join me in my travels, she's watched me cause the wreckage of numerous farm lands, incite a massacre, introduced me to her father-even asked for him to aide me, stood by my side facing a business deal as one of my associates, stood by my side facing the upper echelons of Witch society as my associate, commit a massacre, helped me gather intelligence to incite yet another massacre, stood by my side facing another business deal as my associate, and is even currently aiding me at finding more comrades. She's invested at this point, too. One might say that she's been there through a vast majority of the more crucial parts of my life in this world as of yet.
While I was thinking of such things, we arrived back at the city of Reygid and began walking the streets physically. Cetilla is currently showing me the way to Rei's home. It took us quite a few minutes to reach it, as it's near the outskirts of the city. We should have just flown. The house is kind of small, but it looks to be nicely made. It's built from a combination of wood and stone, and has wooden shutter windows. It has a chimney, and a small flower garden built around the house. Because it's near the outskirts of town, the next house over isn't directly beside it. There's a few feet of grass separating them. Looking towards the window, it seems that the light of the house is on. She's probably home.
"Just a second~ Who is it?" [Rei] called after Nero had knocked on the door.
"It's Cetilla and my friend, Nero!" [Cetilla] yelled back while waiting patiently.
"Cetilla?! I haven't seen you in so long! Come on in already!" [Rei] yelled happily.
"Okay!" [Cetilla] responded while opening the door and inviting Nero in.
"You must be Nero, I'm Rei. Sorry for the mess!" [Rei] said while sweeping with a Broom.
"Nice to meet you. It's quite alright." [Nero] replied with a smile.
"So, Cetilla? How have you been? What brings ya~" [Rei] happily asked.
"I'm great! I've recently been living with Nero in his Castle and we've been searching for some cool Catkin to come live with us, so I thought that we might as well invite you?" [Cetilla] exclaimed before asking with a smile.
"Cetilla!" [Rei] snapped her neck repeatedly to observe the facial expressions of both Nero and Cetilla while shouting.
"..." [Nero] pokerfaced.
"What?" [Cetilla] asked while tilting her head.
"You wouldn't happen to be… settling down with this boy, are you? I understand that he's a favorable prospect with your standing, but still!" [Rei] gasped as if in disbelief.
"Uh... There have been no talks or even inclinations towards marriage between us. I'm honestly still chasing my dreams of being a great Sorceress, so I think that you've been mistaken." [Cetilla] responded very quickly.
"So, do you intend to chase my sweet little Cetilla?" [Rei] asked sternly while fixated on Nero.
"Uhm… I think you might be overestimating my spare time right meow...Chasing… Cetilla? No offense Cetilla, but I honestly haven't even thought about it once. I'm far too busy for that right now." [Nero] replied flatly while looking at Cetilla.
"I'm well aware of that!" [Cetilla] snapped while visibly blushing.
"...Okay, but what about after you're no longer busy?" [Rei] repeated the question as if bent up over the semantics.
"You still don't understand. At this rate, I'll probably be busy until the day that I die." [Nero] replied coldly.
"...Oh." [Rei] nervously replied after several seconds.
"Anyways~ You want to come with us?" [Cetilla] asked as if nothing even happened.
"Fine. I'm joining you, but only to make sure that you don't try anything funny with my Cetilla!" [Rei] declared with a voice filled with determination.
"Kay? Have all your things? We're leaving right now because I'm far too tired to try searching for the other one." [Nero] asked as if exasperated.
"Uhm... Give me a minute!" [Rei] said while beginning to frantically shuffle about her home for a few minutes.
Taking the time, Cetilla and I stepped outside. Thankfully, there's a yard behind these houses. The land seems flat enough, so I decided to teleport us back directly from here. Rei left her house with a large sac seemingly made from a type of cloth. I guess adventurers can come prepared in a moment's notice. She might be expecting some kind of journey. Technically it's a journey through worlds, though it will only require around a few minutes to complete even if we decide to smell the roses.
After opening the Hallowed Gate in her backyard, Rei's jaw dropped considerably. I ended up needing to forcibly push her through the gate as well. It seems that no one would ever walk through this without proper warning first. It truly is like that. To be fair, the Gate is over 3 times the size of her house. I don't think that the cataclypse level monsters in Halloween would fit through the Gate though. They probably wouldn't even fit in my Throne Room. I don't know. After entering Halloween, Rei is much more frantic. It's probably the allegedly trick blood fountain. Sorry! I don't choose the decorations~
Her reaction is even worse after seeing the Throne Room. Yikes. I didn't ask to have a demon king theme home, okay?! It just happened! I decided to ditch her and have Cetilla explain life in the Wailing Keep. After closing the Hallowed Gate, I returned our Coins to the Treasure Room and am now cooking Fish~ After making a decently sized platter, I carried it out to the Dining Hall to find that no one was there. So, I instead decided to bring it out to the fireplace. Turns out that everyone is outside right now. Serving the Fish and grabbing some for myself, I joined the nightly meet and feast. It was a pain, as the platter totally disintegrated as soon as I left the Wailing Keep... Leaving me with a whole lot of Fish to go lightly rinse off before bringing out through a different means. Stick stabbing.
While sitting around the fire, I learned the results of the census gathering earlier. The Rabbits apparently number out up to 32 Tier 2 Rabbits and 125 Tier 1 Rabbits. The Foxes apparently number up to 4 Tier 3 Foxes, 47 Tier 2 Foxes, and 164 Tier 1 Foxes. The Bears apparently number up to 8 Tier 3 Bears, 17 Tier 2 Bears, and 26 Tier 1 Bears. The Butterflies apparently number up to 54. They're all Tier 2. Apparently the Deer results were inconclusive. I think we should just nab a dozen of them and hope for the best. It's not our fault that they're stupid for never choosing a place to live.
After being told all of the results, Dawn was approaching so I decided to use [Daily Candy] before returning to my Treasure Room. Reverting back to my Cat form after putting the new Candy down to join the others, I remembered that Clive's shipment is coming up. So, I quickly spent all of my MP aiming for level 20 pieces of clothes. 8 new pieces are laying around my bed. Good morning~