章 9: Priorities

A missing leader...

She did not hear anything while stealing food but if Tarou's intel is correct, something major is bound to happen.

'Did the boss run into another gang and got killed? What about the young lady? What does it have to do with her?'

While she ruminated, Tarou continued, "The bandit camp is temporary. The group planned to return to their main hideout today, but their leader is still away. Everyone is worried that the emperor's men caught him."

Mina looked at the mouse. "What do you mean? Was that young lady kidnapped? Why will the emperor chase after her? Is she the emperor's woman."

'The plot thickens! I feel like I have been sucked into an ancient story. This is interesting.'

The mouse looked at her. Remembering that Boss knew nothing, not even its ability to communicate with other animals, he sighed. A reminder of the morning's event fleeted through his mind, making him shudder. Boss didn't even know how if it's male or female. Sigh.

"Don't you have any idea of who that young woman was?" this time he asked trying as hard as he can not to berate the cat for being ignorant.

Tarou bit the cheese on his hand, chewing it slowly while looking at the cat as if she is some dumb animal. It was too late to mask his expression since the cat's sharp vision already caught on what he was implying.

Feeling the need to defend her intelligence, she hissed back, "I'm a special cat, of course, the affairs of the emperor is not important to me. I'm curious that's all"

Not willing to yield to her underling, her tail held out straight and stiff, the pupils on her eyes narrowing as her gaze focused on each movement of the mouse feasting on cheese.

At the moment, all the mouse saw was a black cat on the brink of pouncing on him for being disrespectful. The feral look put him in place. He swallowed the large chunk of cheese in his hand in shock, almost choking as the soft lump lodged on his throat.

'So, this look does work!'

Without diverting her gaze, she maintained her serious tone.

"So what exactly happened? Tell me."

The mouse was still reeling from swallowing the whole cheese in one go. But the cat's tone meant serious business, prodding him to speak up.

"The lady in the tent is some kind of princess."

Mina became thankful she's a cat after hearing the word "princess." She may be from a modern era, but she knows that people in the past were fond of beheading, torturing, and killing anyone for petty reasons.

If she was a person, that woman would have her head after what she did. Although she wouldn't be slobbering saliva all over someone else's food if she was a person! Maybe she would have had to spit on her meal if she was totally irritated with her.

"She was supposed to marry a prince from another Kingdom."

Looking at the cat whose whiskers are ears pricked towards him, he continued.

"The bandits' boss took her away before the fire."

The mouse's whiskers wiggled, his eyes went from the cat to his home. Looking to the left, the mouse lifted a paw to scratch his head before offering more information hesitantly under the intense gaze of Boss.

"The house I lived in... the princess stayed there."

His wife who loved drama snuck out of their hideout that day as the bandits took the princess forcefully. He happened to be on his way back when it happened, so he accompanied wifey to watch the scene. Who would have thought...

"Shortly after she left, the village burned down."

"Hmmm… smells like a conspiracy to me."

Curious about the young woman, she egged on the mouse for more information. Tarou seems to be more than eager to tell her what happened to the village and volunteer more details.

"There was a big commotion that day. The people who burned down the village seems to have another purpose. That's everything I know. When the fire broke out, the place was too chaotic. I'm not sure anyone survived."

Completely immersed in what she heard, the cat lowered her guard.

'Interesting. The ancients had it rough.'

She circled back to her main point after threatening the mouse to share some gossip with her. Right now, her greatest concern is their food source. These affairs are none of her business. Dismissing her curiosity she went on to ask another question.

"Is there any other place to get food?"

Tarou who has been waiting excitedly on what the cat boss wants to ask next. So, this cat was just like any other animal. The cat was acting like a magistrate, he almost thought he was under interrogation.

Human affairs are truly human affairs, they have to deal with theirs, we have to deal with ours. He chuckled. Then his jaw moved back and forth in excitement while thinking about food. Yes, food was important to him too.

"There are edible plants in this forest."

Mina's tail puffed up, her face crumpled. Plant food. She is not a big fan of it. After she transformed into a cat, she didn't get the urge to eat plants either.

"A cat needs her meat. Are there houses nearby?"

The mouse was about to blurt out something along the lines of, 'You're a cat, can't you hunt?' but he stopped himself before he could say anything. Instead, he offered a reply that won't get him hunted down like prey.

"From the village where I lived, the closest town will take hours on paw."

"That's too troublesome. Let's cross the bridge when we get there."

It was troublesome to look for food but at least she can just steal. The perks of being a cat. She'll eat plants if she has to. She can also hunt.

At this thought, she eyed the mouse who was slowly inching his way back to his hideout.

She can't imagine eating him whole.

Feeling the intense stare of the cat, the mouse looked away and made a run for it. Right now his greatest concern was not getting eaten by the cat but in having the cat fall in love with him.

Having no idea what was troubling the mouse, Mina was lost in her own thoughts while filling her stomach with the grilled fish. This era is truly interesting. It would be great to see how things unfold but for now, food is her main priority.

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