Just as the mercenaries were about to start their violent looting, the girls turned away in distress.
To be honest, they found this place beautiful, far beyond anything even the Duke's legendary garden could compare to.
The person who lived here must be kind and patient, someone who carefully crafted all this beauty, and now it was about to be reduced to ashes by a group of thugs.
At that moment, an indescribable pressure suddenly appeared, as if a giant invisible hand had descended from the sky, and all the mercenaries were instantly paralyzed, unable to move.
They seemed stuck in a quagmire, even breathing required all their strength.
"Who's there?" The mercenary leader, seasoned and experienced, was the first to collapse to his knees. "Sorry, we didn't know you lived here, sir. We meant no offense. Please allow us to leave, and we promise never to return."
"Meow~" A lazy cat's meow sounded.
Owen's Siamese cat, Avel, leisurely strolled out.
It walked up to the mercenary leader and stared at him with its large, blue eyes.
The mercenary leader was dumbfounded.
He hesitantly spoke to the Siamese cat, "Meow?"
"How rude!" Avel responded with displeasure. "Where did you learn cat language? Your accent is so heavy, I can't understand a word you're saying."
"The master of this house has gone out for a bit, but he'll be back soon. Don't cause any trouble here. If you damage even a single blade of grass or a flower, my great master will be most displeased."
When Avel finished speaking, a deathly silence fell over the scene.
Everyone was staring, wide-eyed, at the cat.
A talking cat!
And not just talking, but speaking perfect imperial common! Not only were there no grammatical mistakes, but the cat even used complex words and long sentences!
This left the mercenary leader both frightened and feeling inferior.
"Damn it, I'm the most educated one in this mercenary crew, and yet my grammar is worse than a cat's!" The leader suddenly felt immense pressure, sensing that his companions were now looking at him differently. "Being outdone by a cat... They'll definitely think I'm just a crude thug with no culture who's only good for killing, looting, and kidnapping!"
This was something the mercenary leader could not tolerate.
He immediately transformed his feelings of inferiority into anger and shouted at the cute little cat.
"So what if you can talk! I can speak, too! And I'm fluent in my hometown dialect!" The leader roared. "You're just a cat demon, don't act like a professor from the Royal Academy!"
Before he could finish speaking, a huge, fluffy, phantom cat tail swept across them.
It was like brushing away dust, effortlessly passing over the mercenaries' bodies.
The mercenaries froze.
They hadn't even realized what had happened.
But in the next moment, their bodies began to tilt.
First their heads, then their necks, followed by their arms and legs. These brutal thugs, still stained with the blood of their victims, twisted into grotesque shapes like puppets whose strings had been cut.
In the blink of an eye, they crumbled into dust, as if they had been overused and left to bake in the sun, dissolving into the air.
The world fell silent once more.
The harmless, cute little cat licked its paws.
A moment later, it heard a soft "chattering" sound.
Looking up, Avel saw the two girls huddled together, trembling violently.
Their faces were as pale as if they had just seen a ghost—a bald, fat, and naked one.
The "chattering" noise was the sound of their teeth chattering in fear.
"Lord Cat God, we're not tasty. We haven't bathed in days," one of the girls said shakily.
"Really, we truly respect you and your great master," the other added, falling to her knees.
They had thought this band of mercenaries was incredibly powerful, having defeated the skilled guards the Duke had sent to protect them. All the way here, they had encountered no effective resistance, no matter who they robbed or killed.
The girls knew full well that although they were beautiful, they hadn't even awakened their mana core, and falling into the hands of such ruthless men meant a fate too grim to contemplate.
But no matter how much they suffered inside, without the power to protect themselves, they could only endure each terrifying day, hoping for the slightest chance to escape.
Now, that chance had come.
Lord Cat was so powerful.
With just a casual swipe, it had obliterated the mercenaries.
With that in mind, the master behind this cat must be an extraordinary, peerless figure!
"Lord Cat, please, we are not with the mercenaries," the older girl sensed that the cat might not intend to harm them and clung to this hope like it was her last lifeline, begging over and over.
"Oh, beautiful and elegant Cat God, more adorable and perfect than any other feline, please allow us to meet your master. We want to thank him in person," the younger girl sweetened her words, lavishing the Siamese cat with flattery.
"You have good taste and a nice way with words," Avel preened, smoothing down its fur. "My master does like guests, so I suppose meeting him could be arranged."
"However, he's a modest man. Please treat him as an ordinary person."
"No bowing, no trembling, and don't use any honorifics."
The girls' eyes brightened with excitement.
They nodded eagerly in agreement.
At the same time, their hearts filled with growing anticipation.
What kind of figure could the cat's master possibly be?
Was he an elderly wizard with long white hair and beard, wearing a pointed hat and wielding immense magical power?
Or perhaps a brawny warrior with flaming red hair and muscles tougher than granite?
Maybe a graceful, mysterious woman surrounded by starlight?
Avel yawned.
Looking at the mess left behind, the cat shook its head.
Owen was definitely going to freak out when he saw this.
The little cat opened its mouth and breathed out a soft puff of air over the remains of the bodies, which began to decompose and reform before their very eyes. In no time, they condensed into a crimson orb, glowing faintly like a ruby.
The blood orb glimmered as it floated into the cat's mouth.
"Burp~" Avel let out a satisfied belch.
It found a comfortable spot, lay down, and soon drifted off to sleep.
The two girls looked at each other in disbelief.
After a brief discussion, they decided to clean up the area, carefully tending to the flowers and plants the mercenaries had disturbed, hoping to make a good impression on the mysterious master.
...
Meanwhile, Owen, still out exploring, was growing more and more puzzled.
The outside world wasn't just vast, it was also far from safe.
Even after cautiously wandering around for only half a day, he had already come across several burned-down villages. Bloodstained clothes littered the roadsides, and although he hadn't seen any victims, an ominous feeling continued to build inside him.
"This seems dangerous," Owen muttered to himself as the initial euphoria from his newfound freedom began to wear off.
He'd come to a stark realization.
A critical, and life-threatening, realization.
The damn system never taught him any combat or survival skills!
"Great. I'm a sitting duck with no magic and no way to defend myself. My combat ability is basically on par with a refrigerator. If I run into any real trouble, I'll be beaten to a pulp," Owen thought, becoming increasingly nervous. "This isn't like the safe, law-abiding world I used to live in. Wandering around aimlessly could get me killed."
It struck him that if he ever faced bandits, he couldn't exactly use his dazzling bartending skills to confuse them into letting him escape.
"No, I should head home for now."
Owen quickly made up his mind.
"This isn't cowardice, it's caution."
"I'll train in secret, build up some strength, and then slowly explore this world."
Luckily, Owen hadn't ventured too far.
In less than an hour, he was back at his home.
Seeing the familiar flowers and plants, Owen felt a wave of relief and security.
But then he rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
There were people standing at his doorstep.
Two beautiful girls.
Two of them!
They looked quite similar, probably sisters.
The taller one seemed to be the older sister, with soft, golden hair, while the younger one, with her high ponytail of black hair, looked even sweeter.
Owen took one look at them and immediately turned around to leave.
These were the classic heroine types!
Getting involved with them was bound to lead to trouble.
Either he'd be beaten up by a jealous suitor, or he'd get dragged into some weird family feud!
His vast experience reading web novels in his previous life gave Owen an instant sense of danger.
"Ah!" The two girls noticed Owen as well.
"Lor—" The older sister, about to address him with a formal title, quickly remembered the cat's warning and corrected herself. "Lovely brother, please don't leave! We're here to thank you!"