Murakan and Quikantel knew of the cat.
"No wonder you took so long. I didn't think you'd bring this thing with you. It's Helluram's pet. I haven't seen it in a long time. Seeing its immense size, it seems it got cursed."
"…Damn, how did we miss it? That isn't a monster but a sacred animal. Helluram's little kitty, Shurry. A famous one two thousand years ago."
A present that Beast King Orgal gave to Helluram.
"He probably gave it as a mount. Helluram couldn't ride horses, and there was a limit to flying around with a broom."
As they mentioned, Shurry looked comfortable with people on its back. Jin had been riding it as they returned to the group.
It didn't mean much, though. Since Jin now owned the cat, it acted upon its own volition.
He also wanted to ride the large beast.
Meeoow.
"So why is it a Crimson?"
No matter how he looked at the black cat, it had black fur with white spots and amber eyes. In no way did 'crimson' fit its description.
"Oh, you haven't seen this thing's Crimson Gem? Didn't it accept you as its new owner?"
"Nope. Also, I just found out."
"Then you're not its owner yet."
"Huh?"
Shurry glanced around then dropped something from its mouth.
A shiny red orb—a Crimson Gem. There was not a single drop of saliva on the orb, and it glimmered under the dark sky.
"Whoa."
"You have to fill the orb with your mana to become its owner. Only the permitted person can do it."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Meow…
Jin glared at Shurry, who only averted its eyes in return and rolled the gem towards him.
Jin picked it up and smiled.
Applying mana into it, the gem shone, and simultaneously, Shurry's eyes glowed red. Then, both of them began to glow.
"Huh?"
Shurry's huge body turned into a blob of red energy, then spiraled into the gem. Not a single fur in sight.
"Now lick the gem like a cat."
"…Do I have to?"
Quikantel nodded. Jin unwillingly let out his tongue.
"And that ends the contracting process. Now you can summon it whenever you want. You won't need to use excessive amounts of mana, unlike summoning Tess."
"I like that a lot."
Summoning Shurry was simple. He just needed to exert a minimal amount of mana into the gem and Shurry would appear.
Whoooosh!
Verifying that it worked, Jin felt something strange.
"Is it just me or… is this guy a little smaller?"
As big as it was, it didn't look much larger than Murakan now.
It was around the size of a carriage. Jin walked around the large cat and looked at Murakan, as if to ask for an explanation.
"The size changes based on the contractor. An ownerless one would be as large as a house. Then it'd be comfortable with the owner for living purposes."
"Congratulations, Young Master! I don't know too well, but you've made an amazing acquisition. It's a great successor to Nabi Runcandel—"
"Who're you calling 'Nabi Runcandel'? Hey, Runt, aren't you gonna manage this guy?"
"I apologize, Sir Murakan. Young Master, may I also ride the— Never mind!"
Hiss!
As soon as Kashimir approached, Shurry bared its claws.
"But how do you know about it so well, Murakan?"
"I've contracted with a Crimson Gem before. It was around two thousand years ago, back when I ruled the skies. They weren't all that common then either. You could only meet them if you have something with the beasts."
Murakan's favorite transformation, a black cat, was inspired by the Crimson Gem he saw in the past.
Currently, as the beasts slowly decreased in numbers, Crimson Gems had also become endangered. There were very few historical records of them left in human society, yet many empires had documents on Shurry as Helluram's pet.
Cyron was only able to identify Shurry because he had stolen the Zipfels' capture logs with the former Dark Knights.
"It was left behind for Eldest Sister Luna."
"I see. It's probably for the successor. This means your father believes you're the one."
"There was also a bottle of Royal Wine in there. I could hear the message that my father left for her, and I could tell how much he loved her. I would've never known that Father had that kind of emotion in him."
A father who attained Royal Wine for his child… Jin couldn't believe it.
"But now, you're the one who made a contract with it, not your sister."
"Which is why he was devastated when she gave up on the succession. The wine he created twenty years ago for his daughter now became destined to be mine. I can't fail him now."
"You worrywart. Who can stand in your way now?"
"Don't know. Gotta go back to find out."
Jin continued to describe the curse, and Murakan's and Quikantel's expressions darkened.
"What a witch, putting such a horrid curse on it. Just as its name suggests, it's the Immortality Curse. The only ones who can cast it are the God of the Moon's Contractor and the Witch Helluram."
"They would need a million human sacrifices to cast the curse. I think Helluram went on a genocide to curse Shurry."
"Hah! That's one crazy woman! Killing a million people just to keep a cat immortal? I know I've been a bad person, but she's just pure evil!"
Quikantel frowned.
"The Immortality Curse isn't for a loved one. Think about how horrible it is to live forever, without any means of death."
"Helluram definitely knew that. She's the type of woman who would do that for fun."
"And the curse is still active, which means that Helluram is still alive. If she really loves Shurry, then would she really leave her immortal in the Black Sea? Even to the point of undoing their contract?"
"If what you're saying is true, then it means that the witch is still alive. My arm's getting covered in goosebumps."
Shurry looked at the ground and purred. Murakan and Quikantel cleared their throats.
"The kid will be a million times better than the Witch. Don't be so sad. Hey! Stop crying! It changes nothing. Yeah, I'm sorry about that."
"Good job. Miss Quikantel, that was too harsh. I don't think that was necessary."
"Shit, I guess I shouldn't say anything. Hey, kid. Call Tess or something. They're pretty good at consoling these things."
Fwoosh!
Tess appeared and flapped their wings as if elated to see Shurry.
"All hail the Lord of the Fire Dimension!"
Quikantel bowed down, and Tess took turns looking at Shurry and Murakan.
"Yeah, yeah. It's been a while. How'd we bring such a pretty one? Well, the little kid did— Yeah, yeah, of course. 'I didn't bow down,' whatever. It's not me, it's her, Quikantel!"
Tess pecked Murakan's head. Quikantel silently kneeled on the side, safely staying out of Tess's attack range.
Meow!
Murakan's word on Tess's consolation was true. Shurry purred in happiness under Tess's wing.
And their conversation looked fruitful.
After a while, Tess ripped open a portal and left. Before they left, they scratched Murakan to ensure that he would treat Shurry well in the future.
"Tess said that they'd break the curse if we bring Shurry to the Fire Dimension."
Quikantel wiped off her cold sweat. To her, Tess was still her greatest fear.
"Damn that guy. By the time we even get there, we could've killed Helluram three times over."
Nya—!
Thankfully, Shurry instantly got over her depression. That was how she coped for centuries in the forest.
"Well, let's go back. Introduce her to our family."
* * *
They were able to get out of Black Sea very quickly as they rode Shurry. They had no problems with their low food supply.
Once they reached civilization, Jin immediately withdrew her.
"Young Master, although I am not questioning Lord Cyron… I don't think the lord patriarch really hated the cat."
Gilly spoke as soon as she heard about Shurry.
"Why do you think so?"
"This cat is cursed with immortality. Even if Lady Luna received the map, she wouldn't have killed it either. What would he even do against it then? I'm sure the lord took good care of it through the years?"
Jin remembered the visions from the Royal Wine, and Cyron's smile definitely implied something like that.
"Well, it's true that it was treated well even after Luna gave up the throne."
Jin and Gilly continued to discuss the cat. Since they couldn't really tell what Cyron was thinking, it was quite the conversation.
"Oh, and I have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"The Compass acted strangely the other day. One Contractor has constantly been traversing the Huphester Alliance and an island in the northern sea. To our knowledge, a Runcandel knight's family resides on that island."
"A Runcandel knight's family?"
"One of Lord Joshua's people. It's probable that he possesses the island."