NOVPUBSnow Bear Palace, seventh floor.
Lanci and Siegler’s apartment-style suite was spacious and comfortable. The living room’s wooden furniture emitted a fresh, natural scent, while the bedroom boasted soft beds covered in thick wool blankets. Lanci opened the door, took a glance, and felt rather good about this Beastmen City-States.
"Deserving of the trading city-state closest to the Palante Empire."
Lanci sighed and returned to the living room he shared with Siegler.
Siegler had left the larger bedroom for him, and his luggage had already been placed inside, while she herself took the smaller one.
"She was warning you just now, meow, your likability has dropped."
Cat Boss emerged from the shadows, leaping onto Lanci’s shoulder.
Heavy curtains hung over the floor-to-ceiling windows, keeping out the cold from outside; drawing them back revealed the beautiful nighttime scenery of Small Stone City, its lights twinkling alongside the starry sky.
Siegler had gone out to shop, and Lanci didn’t have much work left for the day, so he stood leisurely at the window in the living room, looking out over the city-state.
"No worries, she probably didn’t deduct much."
Lanci said with a laugh.
What might have been an otherwise dull journey had become quite interesting because of Siegler.
"Is that so, meow."
Cat Boss eyed Lanci.
Although the likability might have dropped, their relationship seemed to have warmed up a bit.
It listened to the two’s trivial chatter all along the way.
Cat Boss knew that Lanci wasn’t much of a talker, but he could be quite chatty if he gelled with his travel companion.
Now Siegler still kept her cool distance, but Cat Boss felt that she had warmed up a bit to Lanci.
At least she wasn’t as dismissive as before they had started their journey.
Thus, the man and the cat stood by the window, chatting.
After ten minutes or so.
"May I come in?"
A knock came from the direction of the door.
"Come in."
Lanci turned and responded.
The door opened and Siegler returned from the market, holding a bag filled with food ingredients as she stepped into the living room.
"Hm?"
She noticed the little black cat on Lanci’s shoulder.
Siegler remembered they didn’t have such a cat when they set off.
"Let me introduce you; this is my Servitor, Little Black Coal."
Lanci indicated Cat Boss and introduced him to Siegler.
Carrying a cat was too much hassle on the road, and it was also very cold, so it had shrunk in the shadows until now.
Having become somewhat familiar with Siegler, Lanci thought it was time to introduce Cat Boss to her.
What was crucial, though, was that cooking had to be done by Cat Boss himself.
"Meow meow meow, who is calling himself Little Black Coal, don’t go picking names for me, meow!"
Cat Boss chastised Lanci.
Although Lanci had called it Little Black Coal before, it hadn’t expected that he would actually go as far as to give it such a nickname.
"So how about Pure Black Sugar-Free Whole Wheat Bread?"
Lanci pondered seriously for a moment before asking again, turning his head.
"...Forget it; call me whatever you want."
Cat Boss gave up, jumped down from Lanci’s shoulder, and walked elegantly towards the grocery bag that Siegler had placed on the ground.
Siegler watched the talking cat with a bit of surprise in her gaze, yet her expression remained unchanged.
It wasn’t something extraordinary for a wealthy noble to afford a Servitor, and this cat didn’t seem very powerful, probably just of Fourth-Order.
It didn’t seem particularly clever, either.
"…"
Cat Boss looked up at Siegler.
It kept feeling that this young girl seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Lanci, thinking rather impolite things inside her head.
"It’s our chef for the journey, just leave the ingredients with it, and you can rest now. I’ll call you when dinner is ready," 𝓃ℴ𝓋𝓹𝓊𝓫.𝒸𝓸𝓂
Lanci told Siegler.
Siegler nodded and walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
Then, the little black cat got busy on the marble countertop, its small form exhibiting remarkably agile and skilled movements as it deftly manipulated various cooking utensils with telekinesis magic, creating a harmony of sounds between pots and pans.
On the living room sofa, Lanci flipped through the translated copy of Genesis Record from the Blood Moon Bad World Era that he carried with him.
No matter how much time had passed, this book alone had traversed tens of thousands of years.
The current era’s interpretation of "Genesis" was much less compared to the present world, and even the Divine Era’s script was something few could understand.
Of course, there were also some magical translation methods that did not exist in the present world.
While Lanci was unable to learn the Divine Arts of "Genesis," many parts of the book were described in Divine Era verses, heroic poetry, and it would help him get more acquainted with the deity he was supposed to mend the statue of in Small Stone City tomorrow, if he read the Chapter of Rock and Shelter a little.
For his part, he was more familiar with the Chapter of Storm and Freedom, which related somewhat to the remnants of the [Original Stone Tablet-Wind].
He also had some interpretation of the Chapter of Sealing and Imprisonment, as he currently held the [Original Slabstone-Sealing] in his hands, yet being of Fourth-Order, he was not yet capable of Soul Binding with it.
As he browsed through the book, a cup of tea that had gone cold sat beside Lanci; time passed without notice.
Occasionally, he would look up at the scenery outside the window before continuing his reading.
Until fragrant smells wafted from the kitchen.
The dinner meticulously prepared by the little black cat was ready.
"Meow meow meow, dinner’s ready,"
It patted lightly on Siegler’s bedroom door with its paw and meowed at Lanci, waking him from his immersion in the book.
