Everyone's a Catgirl! Ch. 336: We All Knead It (Patreon)

Three days’ ride from Ronona, Cailu knew of a village that existed a few hours’ distance from the well-traveled road leading to the Port of Elliot. In his countless journeys between San Island and Nyarlothep, he had heard a number of [Acolyte]s and [Priest]s speak of it, though he had yet to see it himself. He had never had the stomach for it.

Ceres watched outside the window, then canted her head when the carriage turned onto a dirt path littered with stray rocks and weeds. “Sir Cailu, are we not headed to the port?”

“As I mentioned before, I wish to hasten our journey to Shi Island,” Cailu replied. But the uneasiness that had settled in his chest inched into his tone.

Kirti frowned and joined Ceres in peering outside. She sniffed the air, and a knowing smile twisted her lips. “Refrain,” she murmured.

“Hm? What’s Refrain?” Zahra perked up beside Cailu and glanced between them.

Kirti looked at Cailu, and her smile widened. “A conclave of women who reject Saoirse.”

Ceres’s ears twitched, but she maintained her composure. 

Zahra’s ears, however, flattened against her head. “All of Refrain rejects her?”

“Mhm.” Kirti hummed with satisfaction. The tension in the cart seemed only to lift her spirits. “Many begin their training in Falselle before deciding our goddess’s ideals don’t suit them.”

In all his years in Nyarlea, and despite his [Paladin] Class, Cailu had never placed his faith in Saoirse. Even with the magic dominating the world order, what proof did they have that a goddess was the one responsible? However, it was not an opinion he enjoyed debating—he had left his own religion behind with his death.

Regardless, [Dark Priest]s, [Witch Doctor]s, and [Demonologist]s seemed…unorthodox. Unnatural. Classes built on denying the single goddess they revered, using souls as playthings, and drawing pacts with demons. Were such people fit for redemption?

Cailu studied Kirti, drumming his fingers along his thigh. Would I accept a goddess who changed my child into a beast? 

Ceres opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it again. A parade of emotions passed across her face: confusion, disgust, fear. But she held back her tongue. Perhaps there was something to be said for Shi Island’s etiquette training.

“We will not be there for long,” Cailu said. “We either find transportation to the Port of Elliot or Shi Island directly, or we continue our journey as planned.”

Zahra licked her lips, but said nothing. Kirti continued to watch the three of them as a serpent would watch its prey.

“Have you been to Refrain, Kirti?” Ceres asked.

“Of course. It’s where I learned to become a [Witch Doctor].” Kirti’s tail swayed excitedly behind her.

I should have assumed as much. Magni’s journal had said Kirti departed Ichi shortly after losing Muna. She escaped to Refrain. Once more, Cailu found himself wondering what he would have done in her position.

The deeper they traveled into the forest, the thicker the canopy of trees above them. Despite it being early afternoon on a cloudless day, the leaves blotted out the sun until there was barely a dim sparkle on the forest floor. Their coach summoned a fire Spell to the dual lamps on either side of the carriage, adding a much-needed glow to the darkness.

“There is much overgrowth here,” Ceres said, squinting into the darkness. “I saw nothing akin to it near Ronona.”

“Spirits prefer the darkness, Ceres. Much like their masters,” Kirti replied. “No one cuts down the forests of Refrain.”

As if Kirti had summoned them with her statement, glowing globes of white and blue levitated a few feet from the ground, dancing between the thick trunks and wiry branches. Foolish flames. Cailu knew them after finding them in the forests around Kyrenia at night. They would be simple enough to ignore if it weren’t for the eerie, childish giggles they emitted, taunting him at every turn.

One floated into the carriage, and Cailu raised an armored hand in immediate response. “[Holy Force],” he murmured, focusing on his gauntlet. For a moment, his hand glowed even more brightly than the flame. That was before he snatched the flame out of the air.

The flame wailed an ear-piercing cry like a newborn baby. Ceres and Zahra clapped their hands over their ears. Cailu crushed it in his palm, and the Encroacher evaporated into a mist that leaked between his clenched fingers. 

“Brute,” Kirti growled. “They are harmless.”

Cailu ignored her, returning his hand to rest on his thigh.

“Uh, Sir Cailu? There’s a woman approaching,” the coach called.

Kirti’s scowl remained as she threw open the carriage door. “I will speak with her.”

As Kirti vanished into the darkness, Ceres and Zahra lowered their arms and exchanged a wary look. Another foolish flame approached the window, this one a hazy violet, and Zahra quickly batted it away with her hand. It giggled and circled her wrist, but, seeing the worry on Zahra’s face, Cailu withheld his desire to snuff out this one’s flame.

They waited for what seemed like an eternity in silence until Cailu’s patience reached its limit and he exited the carriage. 

“Stay here,” Cailu advised Ceres and Zahra before searching for Kirti. 

He found her standing just outside the edge of the carriage’s lantern light. Across from her was a taller, robed catgirl with braided green hair and a staff in her left hand. As she turned to face Cailu, bells chimed on her weapon.

Cailu suppressed a shiver. I’d hoped to be rid of these creatures. “Why have we stopped?”

The stranger took his measure and frowned. “We don’t allow outsiders.”

“Your refusal of a man’s Party aside,” Cailu said sharply, “we are here seeking transportation. I will pay handsomely for an [Eldritch Void].”

“Thank you for joining me just to repeat what I’ve said.” Kirti sighed. “Misa has concerns.”

“Kirti says you’re a [Paladin]. You wouldn’t be the first to try and ‘cleanse’ Refrain in Saoirse’s name.”

“If I had any such intention, you would be dead at my feet,” Cailu growled.

“No. I wouldn’t,”  Misa murmured.

A faint vibration echoed into the metal of Cailu’s sabatons. He unsheathed his sword and shield, then dropped into a defensive stance, facing the sound of cracking trees to his right. Bristling copper fur covered the leathery body of a monster nearly twice Cailu’s height. It let its arms fall to the side, the knuckles dragging along the dirt. It gritted its teeth and growled, narrowing glowing yellow eyes.

Misa held up a hand and looked up at the beast with affection. “Steady, Wuzhiqi.”

A [Demonologist]. The sight of the gargantuan hellspawn sent a chill through his veins, but it was no matter. He would cut it down first, then—

“Put your weapon away,” Kirti hissed at Cailu. “They aren’t here to attack us.”

They? Before he could reply, at least a dozen more glowing eyes flickered to life inside the pitch-black forest. From high and low, they surrounded Cailu, Kirti, and the carriage. Was this a clever Spell to make it seem like they had additional reinforcements? Or would sheathing his weapon provoke an ambush?

Ceres and Zahra were moments away in the cart. But then he’d be demanding they slaughter catgirls protecting their village. 

Not so long ago, I would have cut them down without a second thought. 

Cailu slowly returned his sword to its sheath and the shield to his back, never taking his eyes off the demon.

“Just give us the portal, and you will be rid of us,” Cailu said.

Kirti shook her head and crossed her arms like a disappointed tutor with his charge. 

“You threaten Wuzhiqi and still demand our assistance?” Misa laughed incredulously. “I see Saoirse’s devout never change.”

Cleansing Refrain suddenly had a very alluring appeal. Cailu inhaled deeply, counted to three, then exhaled. “What do you want, Misa?”

“An additional ‘handsome’ tithe of Bells, as you so put it, would certainly help my village continue to practice in peace.” Misa curled her fingers into her palm and examined her fingernails.

“Do you have someone who can send us to Shi Island?” It was impossible to hide the anger in his voice.

Misa smiled. “I do.”

“Five hundred Bells, then.” Cailu watched as the copper-furred demon plucked a scurrying Encroacher from the dirt and tossed it into his mouth.

“One thousand.” Misa turned her smile on her summon. Blood trickled between the demon’s teeth while it chewed. 

“Done.” Cailu reached into his [Cat Pack] and pulled a pouch of one thousand Bells free. “Fetch the girl first. Then you’ll have your money.”

Disdain returned to Misa’s gaze. “Do you really expect me to trust you?”

“Enough, Misa,” Kirti interrupted before Cailu could retort. “As I’ve told you twice, if you give my name to Nyarai, she will let us in. Or do you prefer to extort travelers in secret?”

“How dare you—?” Misa began.

“Bring her to us, and he will pay both of you,” Kirti snapped. 

Misa looked between them, lips parted for her exasperated breaths. Cailu’s hand still rested on the hilt of his sword, ready to charge should Misa’s demon take one more step in their direction.

“Stay here,” Misa said finally. “Hina, come with me.”

All of the glowing gazes around them flickered out until one pair of red eyes remained. They blinked and bounced through the underbrush until a petite young woman with matching green hair found her path to the dirt. 

Hina clutched her staff, nervously looked between Misa and Cailu, then bowed to the latter before skittering off into the darkness with Misa. The demon snorted and wandered with heavy, sluggish steps back into the trees, continuing to watch Cailu and Kirti as he moved. A foolish flame lit his flat nose and starving eyes, and then he was gone.

Cailu and Kirti stood together in silence for some time. Light giggling wove in and out of earshot with the foolish flame’s light, and Ceres and Zahra whispered an inaudible conversation inside the carriage.

“Refrain wasn’t always like this,” Kirti murmured.

“I find it difficult to picture it any other way,” Cailu replied, finally releasing the hilt of his sword and stretching his hand. It seemed the demon had left them in peace.

“Why?”

“I assumed I’d be met with mindless riddles and convoluted card games.” Cailu looked at Kirti, and for the first time in days, a smile turned the corner of his mouth. “You’ve set certain expectations, Kirti.”

And for the first time in days, Kirti laughed.

It made paying several thousand Bells for passage to Venicia marginally less irritating.