Capítulo 23: Awkward, chase and secret
Chris seemed extremely excited about the new flat judging by how fast she started walking towards it when we left the old lady's shop. If she were just a little bit quicker on her feet I probably would have to start jogging just to keep up with her. But weirdly enough, she didn't say anything until we reached the place.
Using a narrow staircase we got to the door and opened it with the key provided by our new landlady. We came in and started looking around the flat. There were indeed 2 separate, but kinda small rooms, living room, kitchen, and a bathroom. It was fully furnished and didn't seem dusty or dirty at all.
I checked my money pouch once again and felt that the amount taken by the old lady seemed somewhat small. It was definitely cheaper than renting a room in the inn and we even had more space!
Something was weird about this place.
Don't tell me that there was some ghost living in here and the price was so low because of it. I had enough of 'paranormal' nights for now.
Chris assessed the entire flat and finally spoke out to me:
"Which room do you choose?"
The only major difference was the view from the window. One room had a window with a view on the street. The other one was placed directly in front of the other house's window and one could clearly see what was happening on the other side if the curtains weren't in the way.
"Can I take this one?"
"I'm good with either, so sure."
In the end, I chose the one without the street view. I thought it would be easier to fly from the window with fewer people being able to see it.
Chris then went to her new room and started decorating it with her things. She seemed to take all of her fortune charms from the inn.
I thought about starting my own collection of good luck charms as well because right now my own room was devoid of any personal items. I only had my clothes, a bow, a quiver with arrows and a dagger that Chris lent me.
For starters, I put a single Eris coin on the highest shelf. It was one of those coins that Chris had given me so I guessed that it could be considered a lucky item as well.
With that done I sat on the bed and started to wonder about what to do with the rest of my free time. The meeting with Kazuma and the others was scheduled for 4 pm so I was stumped on what to do.
The house didn't need cleaning, the utensils, tableware, etc. were provided as well, the food situation would be resolved by going to the guild's restaurant...
What adventurers do in their free time when they had no quests for a few days?
Train? Laze around the city? Sightsee?
Or maybe I could pick up some quest by myself?
I went to ask Chris, who as a veteran adventurer should know the answer to this question. I knocked on her door and waited for an answer.
There was no answer so I knocked once again and with a questioning tone said:
"Chris, can I come in?"
"Wait a minute... I am b-busy." Chris answered. Her voice came not from her own, new room but a room directly opposite of it.
Ummm… wasn't that… a bathroom?
…
"I just wanted to say that I am going out. See you later!"
I suddenly got an inspiration to do things outside. I didn't run away. Not at all.
When I opened the door outside I was greeted by a startled ball of fur scrutinizing be from head to toe. After staying in guard position for a second or two Chomusuke quickly recognized the guy who fed her yesterday and started walking around my legs. I crouched down and started petting the not-cat creature while thinking about what to do now.
I thought about showing up at Megumin's place to introduce myself as her new neighbor but that would probably lead to her suggesting another 'walk'. The Explosion show the day before was pretty amazing and I wouldn't mind seeing it again, but that would probably mean lugging her to the guild for the meeting afterward. And then I would need to take her home.
Chomusuke was already lazily laying on the doormat while I was blessing her with a head rub. Suddenly a question came to my mind so I switched to my owl form. This seemed to startle Chomusuke but after sniffing me for a second she lied down once again without a care in the world. It seemed like I didn't need to fear attacks from Chomusuke in my bird form.
With that possible danger crossed out, I flew up to the stair's railing and from there I flew high into the air.
While I was petting Chomusuke I realized that I had still a lot of possible things to do. There were thousands of animals and monsters whose forms I didn't have yet. There were also a few different humanoid races I spotted walking around the city like elves or dwarves.
I needed more money as well. Buying clothes and equipment for all my races would be probably really expensive.
There were also things like training archery to get better skills in my Ranger class like Advanced Archery and subsequently Master Archery and the like.
Megumin mentioned that my Crimson Demon form would be able to take on the Archwizard job if I boost my stats by leveling up. And supposedly people try to take the highest tier jobs as fast as they could because skills would cost less, so that was also what I would do. I was currently level three after last-hitting a Giant Toad and four goblins so this stat grind probably would take some more time.
And also if I wanted to take up mage class seriously I would need to find a magic tutor. Somebody else than the Explosion Girl that is.
I was wondering what to do and five minutes later I had no idea what should I do first.
After deciding the next course of action I started scanning the city, looking for something I was searching for yesterday.
Since Chomusuke wasn't a cat I needed to find one.
It didn't take me long to spot a kitten walking down the street near some sort of a park. Deciding that an owl kidnapping a small cat in front of a bunch of children playing in the park wouldn't be nice I descended between some of the park's trees and changed into my human form.
I used the Farsight skill to search for my target since I lost it while landing. Thanks to that skill my eyesight was almost as good as an owl's in my human form. It only took two seconds to once again notice the cat and I started following it as stealthily as possible.
I wasn't very sneaky as human but I sure as hell wasn't about to start following the cat with my mouse form. I kept following it quietly, steadily reducing the distance without alarming it until it turned and went into an alley.
It didn't seem to mind me trailing behind out in the open street but suddenly was very wary when I followed it into the alley and started running away.
And it was super fast! After the second turn, I could barely spot the cat's tail before it disappeared in the next intersection so I transformed and once again took flight. A cat would easily outrun a human, but not an owl!
This time, without the fear of scaring little kids I swooped down and landed on an unsuspecting kitten which howled in surprise. I wasn't that much bigger than a cat in my owl form so I transformed back into a human and I quickly caught the little runner with my hand.
It only took a few seconds for me to hear the characteristical *DING* in my consciousness meaning that I acquired a cat form. Meanwhile, I already had that kitten in my arms trying to calm it down. I had a soft spot for cats since I had one in the past and I didn't want to leave it half scared to death.
When the cat calmed down sufficiently I started walking down, what I deemed to be, the fastest way to some food stalls. I turned the corner while keeping an eye on the cat now calmly lying in my arms enjoying some petting.
When I finally looked in front of me, halfway down the alley, I noticed two familiar faces staring at me.
"..." x3
My teammate Kazuma and the blonde adventurer Dust had very shocked faces while they looked at me. Out of force of habit, I checked if I was wearing the mask on my face. It was there so I started to wonder why their expressions were so weird.
Then I noticed that Kazuma's hand was almost touching the handle of a door in front of him. Dust moved his hand up and whispered something into Kazuma's ear which I couldn't hear at all. Kazuma answered with a quick nod and a whisper of his own. Soon they have stopped looking in my direction at all and started having a full-blown conversation in silent voices.
The kitten in my arms seemed to be equally as weirded out at their behavior as me and we just silently stared at them together.
When they seemed to have finished their secret conversation Kazuma turned around and with a wide smile loudly exclaimed:
"Kazuki, fancy seeing you here!"
Dust also followed the same scenario.
"Oh, it's the rookie adventurer. Long-time no see."
They started moving towards me in an overly friendly manner. The kitten in my arms started to freak out but I planned to feed it as recompensation for scaring him so I held it back firmly but carefully.
"Ummm… hello." I answered awkwardly to their suspicious behavior.
Kazuma and Dust didn't seem to have any bad intentions so I didn't transform immediately. I was pretty sure I could somehow escape with my mouse or newly acquired cat form even if they suddenly rushed at me. But they just came up to me and they both put their arms around my neck like we were the best of buddies.
"My favorite teammate, Kazuki-kun, can you keep a secret?"
"Ummm, sure?" I answered awkwardly. It wasn't that frequent that I was put under the spotlight so suddenly.
This time Dust pitched in another line:
"I was against it, but my man Kazuma is vouching for you. You are about to learn the biggest secret in this city. You must never let it out, no matter how drunk, no matter the cost, no matter the tortures you are under. You can only tell it to trustworthy males, but be super careful of who you choose."
What was going on here? Kazuma vouched for me for what?
"Don't make me regret that, my friend. Men's lives and dreams are on the line here." Kazuma said with a very profound sounding voice.
Afterward, they led me forward the door, while also keeping their arms around my neck as if I were about to run, and Kazuma opened it.
"WELCOME TO THE HELL'S GATE!!!"
A big, muscular and scary-looking guy with a red mohawk on his head suddenly yelled when we entered the shop. It didn't look like a regular occurrence since Kazuma and Dust were equally scared as me by this sudden wild roar.
"Mister, I told you to stop yelling at our customers!" a woman's voice sounded from the back door and soon a very stunningly beautiful woman in maid outfit and with long, pink hair showed up.
When I managed to calm myself and the cat in my arms I looked around and saw that the yelling guy was holding multiple packages in his arms. He seemed to be a worker moving stuff around. The room was almost empty besides a few random pieces of furniture and a few dozen boxes.
When Dust settled down, he asked the lady in a surprised tone with a hint of worry:
"Receptionist-san, what is going on?"
"Ah, if it isn't Dust-san and Kazuma-san! You didn't know about us moving to another location?" The lady sounded surprised but then proceeded to explain where their establishment will be opened again in a short few days.
Kazuma and Dust were extremely relieved upon hearing this news. They seemed extremely shaken after seeing the shop in such a state. I wondered why they would care so much about -what seemed to be- a maid cafe being closed.
"Oh, you even brought someone new. Thank you very much!" The lady continued, this time looking directly at me."Be sure to visit us again when we will be open! We will be sure to provide the best service, as always! Now, if you will excuse me, we still got a lot of stuff to prepare."
I felt a shiver going down my spine when she looked in my eyes but she quickly turned around and disappeared in the back of the shop.
'My buddies' while still being torn between feeling relieved and sad because of some reason led me outside of the shop, abruptly said their goodbyes to me and each went in a different direction.
I stood in the street extremely confused. What was that about?
"Meow?" the only one to answer my internal confusion was the kitten.
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