"Of course I didn't lose it, Detective, you shouldn't make baseless accusations about people. But that damn cat…"
The man inside clenched his teeth as he spoke, as if the cat had devoured his entire possessions, his expression contorting:
"Get that cat out of here, I'm never helping to look after an orange tabby again."
"Alright, where is the cat?"
Shard asked, not particularly fond of cats, but for a hefty commission, he wouldn't mind carrying one through the streets and alleys.
"On the rooftop."
The man pointed upwards, his teeth-grinding expression intensifying:
"Ever since that Detective brought it here for foster care, this cat hasn't let anyone touch it easily, and it's scratched my wife and Miss Cindy at least twice. It won't eat cheap cat food and keeps bullying the other pets here. I've been running this place for so many years, and I've never seen such a combative six-month-old kitten… It must be up there basking in the sun right now! Just take it away, I can't stand it anymore."
Shard pretended not to hear the man's complaints and stepped back slightly from the doorway, then looked up at the three-story building:
"How do you expect me to climb up to the rooftop?"
"In the house's yard, there's a staircase you can use to climb from the first floor to the roof. I'm not going to do it; I don't want to see that cat ever again!"
Shard certainly didn't want to climb that high; he cared greatly about safety. He was thinking of convincing the man, who had a big nose and was middle-aged when the latter simply handed him a one-shilling banknote:
"Hamilton Detective gave me one shilling and ten pence to take care of it for two months. Here's one shilling back, just take it away! And never let that cat appear in this alley again!"
The voice was almost hysterical, so much so that the children playing in the street and a woman opposite hanging out clothes all turned to look.
It was hard to imagine the psychological trauma that orange cat had caused him.
Following the middle-aged man through the house, they arrived at a backyard filled with empty pet cages. The middle-aged man steadied the long metal ladder, and Shard carefully climbed to the rooftop.
The roof was cluttered with various trash and miscellaneous items, and it was a mystery how these ended up here, considering one could only reach this spot via a ladder. In the southeast corner of the roof, the only area that seemed clean, Shard saw a cat sprawled lazily on a metallic pipe, facing the morning sun of early summer.
It was indeed a young kitten, lying limp as a puddle on the pipe. It wasn't particularly large, actually quite skinny. Its fur shimmered slightly in the sunlight filtering through the mist—a sign of good health.
However, instead of an orange tabby, it looked more like a white cat wrapped in a warm orange blanket—only when the cat stood up did Shard realize the striking orange-yellow hue was indeed its fur color.
The cat stood on a metal pipe discarded on the rooftop, one end propped on a broken sofa cushion, elevating it slightly above the surrounding debris.
With its back to the morning sun, its amber eyes fixated on Shard, sizing up this stranger. Shard had no experience with such animals, and given the big-nosed middle-aged man's words, he was somewhat worried the orange tabby might pounce.
But this orange tabby, also named Mia, didn't appear aggressive. It observed Shard, who knew he was under scrutiny; thus, he tried to appear friendly, constantly reminding himself of the cat's value:
"I'm taking you to meet your owner, Miss Mia Sun Gold."
He found a stable footing amid the debris, crouched slightly, and clapped his hands with a forced smile. Then, unsurprisingly, his suspicious demeanor did not elicit a response from the cat.
"Miss Mia Gold."
It was the standard "Common Language of Human in the Northern Kingdom," also known as Draleon. This time, however, it was phrased with a slight Tobesk local accent, a skill Shard had picked up over the past few days:
"I'll take you to your owner, Miss Mia Gold."
The orange cat's delicate ears twitched, it lifted its right front paw to lick it, and after putting it down, it continued to gaze intensely at Shard.
Shard pursed his lips, looked around, and after confirming there were no taller buildings nearby, he extended his right index finger:
"Look."
Silver Light gleamed upon his finger, and the orange cat's amber eyes instantly widened. With a slight open mouth, standing on a rusty metal pipe, its whiskers trembling, it leaned forward to gaze at the light:
"Miss Mia Gold."
Shard continued, then slowly approached the orange cat. Gradually extending his left hand and suppressing his own worries about "wild animals," he gently scooped it up with one hand.
The orange cat wasn't heavy, at least not right now.
The cat was still tilting its head to look at Shard's right hand finger, but when the light on the finger extinguished, it did not attempt to escape from Shard's embrace. It leaned against Shard's chest and with the right amount of force, it swiped its two little paws at Shard's previously glowing finger, seemingly very interested in the "new toy."
"Good."
The detective then let out a long sigh of relief, stood up, and prepared to leave the place. While young orange Mia just squirmed uncomfortably but did not struggle excessively.
"Not fierce at all, even quite well-behaved. It seems I also have a knack for making other animals fond of me."
Shard thought to himself cheerfully, then noticed that under the pipe where the orange cat had been laying, there lay something. Holding the cat with one hand, he bent down to pick up the object with his right hand, and it turned out to be a box of somewhat old Roder Cards.
The Roder Cards could only be used when a complete set of 54 cards was gathered, and if there was a special card, it could be substituted based on suit and number since all Roder Cards had the same pattern on their backs.
The box in front of him wasn't anything special, similar to the set he saw the three men using in the tavern, with extremely simple card faces that could be bought for a few dozen pence.
Seeing it was not something important, he casually placed it in his pocket. Then carefully, with one hand holding the cat, he climbed back down the ladder into the courtyard.
"I picked up an old set of Roder Cards from the rooftop, how much do I owe you?"
Though the old cards looked like trash, Shard still mentioned it. The old cards weren't worth much; Shard had nonchalantly put them in his pocket because he wanted to complete a full set with the "Genesis: Silver Moon."
And the middle-aged man with a large nose nearly cried in front of Shard upon realizing he was indeed taking the cat. As for the rooftop junk, he didn't care at all.
He then left Purple Iris Alley, but Shard didn't aimlessly wander with someone else's cat. Instead, he headed straight to Ms. Gawder's house. During this time, little orange Mia aside from initially making a "purring" sound, kept clawing at Shard's sleeves and the front of his shirt without trying to escape his embrace.
Miss Gawder, willing to pay such a high price for her cat, must definitely not be a poor person. She lived in a quiet residential neighborhood on Sandru Street to the south side of the city, where each household boasted its own private small garden, marked with their names on the gate fences.