Chapter 6 : Chapter 6
Chapter 6: A Brand-New Cat Head
“So you can see the traces, but you need reaction time, correct?”
Fia asked Arius while Yuna, the cat girl who was equally drenched in sweat, stood beside her.
They had just finished a round of hand-to-hand sparring. Do not misunderstand—Fia had simply engaged in a friendly exchange of professional skills on the spacious training grounds with a rookie Shadow Walker. They had not been conducting any passionate exploration of life and enthusiasm in some enclosed location.
At Level 8, Yuna had just mastered the ability of basic stealth. In unarmed combat, her physical strength was not much higher than that of the Saintess. She was a suitable practice opponent. Thanks to her, Fia now had a clear understanding of the upper and lower limits of abilities at this level.
Simply put, against opponents of similar strength—or even slightly stronger ones—the brief invisibility effect could allow someone to maneuver for a short period of time.
However, when facing a high-level professional like Arius, the effect would shrink to only a fleeting moment. It could essentially be used like a brief invincibility frame.
Not bad.
It was usable.
Although it differed somewhat from her expectations, with the assistance of the personal guard unit, the success rate of Fia’s original risky plan had increased by several layers.
“Your Holiness, I still believe this is far too dangerous. I think we should—”
“Report it to the Pontiff, correct?”
Fia rubbed Yuna’s cat ears, sending the little girl off to play by herself, and finished the sentence Arius had been about to say.
“If such a force truly exists within the Church, then it certainly did not form overnight. Its network of influence must extend far beyond what we have currently seen.”
“The Church does not belong solely to His Holiness the Pontiff. He cannot—and should not—arrest people without evidence, especially within the Central Council, where representatives from many nations gather and political relations are complicated.”
Arius understood this perfectly well.
Strictly speaking, the Central Council symbolized cooperation between the various nations and the Church. Unlike other institutions subordinate to the Church, even the Pontiff only served there as the council’s chairman.
One wrong move could escalate into a diplomatic conflict between the Church and other nations.
But the plan Fia had described to him during their training was far too dangerous. It completely violated the core duty of the personal guard unit—to protect the Saintess.
She actually intended to personally lure out the possible assassin, exposing the assassination attempt in front of a large public audience in order to capture clues about the mastermind behind it.
“If we already know there may be an assassin, then why not cancel the ceremony or postpone it?”
He could not understand.
On one side was a vague prophecy about the end of the world with no concrete trace. On the other side was the divinely chosen Saintess risking her own life.
Between the two, should the latter not take priority?
You seem to be asking a bit too many questions.
Fia glanced at the tall knight, but considering that he was genuinely worried about her safety—and that most Holy Knights were somewhat single-minded—she patiently explained.
“It is not that the ceremony will attract an assassin. Rather, the assassin needs the ceremony.”
“If they cannot directly harm me or the Pontiff, they must create an event large enough to draw everyone’s attention elsewhere, thereby creating the conditions they need.”
“Besides, there is no such thing as guarding against thieves forever. The sooner we catch a glimpse of their tails, the sooner we can rest easy.”
But… isn’t stealth exactly the kind of ability thieves learn?
Arius swallowed the thought before speaking it aloud. It was not merely the instinct of a high-level professional—just the caution of a mid-level commander.
Fia waved for Yuna, who had not wandered far, to return.
Finally, she said to Arius,
“When that time comes, my safety will be entrusted to you.”
“Arius will defend Your Holiness’s honor with his life. I will never allow a villain to harm even a single hair on your head.”
The Saintess buff applied.
Arius has been strengthened.
***
Add water.
Heat it.
Add soapberries.
Rub the head.
Rub the back.
Rub the tail.
Then dry and blow-dry.
And just like that, a freshly cleaned cat girl appeared before Fia.
After saying goodbye to Arius, Fia brought Yuna back to the inner palace. She had claimed she would arrange a maid’s room for the girl, but in reality she brought her directly to her own room.
Compared with the grotesque adult beastwoman from the CG scene—who wore a manic expression while shouting for Fia to die and slicing her body apart before cooking it—the younger Yuna was small and almost cute.
During training, she had tried to ambush Arius using stealth.
Arius had stopped her with a single finger pressed against her forehead, preventing her from advancing even a step.
Fia carefully stored that scene in her memory.
“Your… Holiness?”
Small cat-like hands waved in front of her face, pulling her wandering thoughts back into her body.
“What is it? Do the clothes not fit?”
Fia examined her.
The clothes Yuna had previously worn were children’s garments that the knights had found somewhere. Because of her tail, they had been crudely cut open and were full of ragged tears.
The girl also liked to mix with the training squads, leaving her constantly covered in dust like a stray kitten.
After returning, Fia had taken several outfits from her own childhood wardrobe for Yuna to try.
In the end, they discovered that a dress was the simplest solution. If the fabric was loosened slightly, there was no need to cut an additional hole for the tail.
“No… it’s just… these clothes look very expensive. I cannot afford them…”
It is fine.
Expensive clothes are merely consumables used to unlock CG scenes.
Of course, Fia would never say something like that aloud. She simply admired the adorable creature that seemed completely mesmerized by a ball of yarn.
“Did your adoptive father never take you shopping for clothes?”
Church knights received excellent treatment and enjoyed extremely high prestige in many regions. Someone who had served as a deputy commander surely possessed a certain sense of refinement. There was no reason he would neglect a child like this.
“No. My dad donated all his money to the orphanage where he found me.”
As if afraid Fia might misunderstand her respected father, Yuna hurried to explain. Her accent became slightly muddled as she spoke.
“I’m not like the other children. They didn’t want to play with me. So Dad kept me by his side.”
Beastfolk indeed had difficulty integrating into ordinary human society.
In some extreme nations, that race was equated directly with monsters. They possessed no normal rights and could be treated as slaves or expendable tools.
The atmosphere became slightly heavy.
Fia clapped her hands.
When Yuna looked up again, Fia pointed toward the statue beside the bed.
“This is the statue of the God of Love and Justice. It is also the god your father worshipped. You may pray to Him for your father.”
Seeing the girl’s nervous expression, Fia comforted her.
“Just treat Him like our big sister. Like family. There is no need to be afraid. Even if you do not know the formal prayers, simply praise Him a little. He will be pleased.”
Praying to gods was something she was quite skilled at.
In her previous life, when she failed exams, she prayed to Confucius. When she could not earn money, she prayed to the God of Wealth.
Over the course of a year, she had prayed to both Eastern and Western deities.
And eventually obtained a grand reward: transmigration.
Once the little girl began praying, Fia realized she had worried unnecessarily.
As the adopted daughter of a Holy Knight, even if Yuna did not have many clothes, reverence toward the gods had always been part of her education. She recited the prayers far more fluently than Fia herself.
Fia still had to consciously piece together fragments of remembered scripture.