[back at the splitting point]
“So, how did it go?”
The Pleiades reported dismissively to Beta’s question, along the lines of ‘Nothing here.’, ‘Negative!’, or ‘Nuh-uh!’.
Narberal didn’t even want to talk about it.
Lupusregina sighed, then channelled her strength and proposed:
“Alright, one last door! All of us!”
(...)
[Pleiades]
Knock-knock!
A bald man opened the creaking door. His pupils were white and his eyes were each looking in different directions, however none of them looked at the Pleiades.
Beta tried positioning herself to be in the man’s sight, however, each time she moved, his eyes moved as well, and she wouldn’t manage to move into his view no matter how she stepped.
She eventually gave up and simply put on a wide smile.
“Hello old-man! May I borrow a moment of your time?”
“Are we promoting a religion now?” - commented Narberal in the back.
The man replied in a stereotypically ‘old man’s voice’:
“What do you, youngsters, want at this hour?”
As the two of them were talking, a cat was insistently meowing in the background, as if it was in heat.
“I just want to ask you a few question-”
“Meow!”
“Eh? Are you detectives or something?”
“No, no, we are uh, well, I suppose you could call us-”
“Meowww!”
Each meow was stepping harder and harder on Lupusregina’s nerves, who was smiling wider and wider in response, up to the point where the corners of her lips were trembling next to her ears.
“Eh? I couldn’t hear you!”
The old man leaned forward, pointing his hairy ear towards Lupi.
She tried her best to maintain her temper.
“S-sorry, what I was trying to say was-”
“Meeeeooooowwww!”
Finally, she snapped:
“Oh, can someone please take care of that cat!!!”
“Ookayy!”
“Thank you!” - Beta replied instinctively, without realising that Entoma had offered.
She was immediately calmed down by this, and tried once more.
“As I was saying, I-”
Suddenly, a back chilling screech came from the right.
“MEEEEEEEOWW!”
Realising what just happened and expecting the worst, Beta’s hair curled up and her spine straightened like a plank.
Everyone’s heads slowly turned to Entoma, who was just in the middle of slurping up the tail as if it were spaghetti.
Amongst them, the old man exclaimed:
“Fufuu!!!!”
“Fufu?”
“My cat!!!”
“EEEEH?”
Everyone stood still, until eventually Solution was first to break the ice and ask:
Uh… Entoma-san, where is the old man’s cat?”
Entoma’s head trembled, without giving a response. She seemed to be struggling in some way.
“A-are you alright-su?”
Her head shook more, as she raised her arms to her neck. Then, one moment later:
Ahchyoo!
A massive furball dropped out from her chin onto her arms which she was holding out to catch it. Along with it came a long drool.
Seeing this, Shizu reflexively giggled, then immediately covered her mouth.
Her data entry read ‘CZ2128 Delta appears emotionless and has a silent nature.’
This would indicate she didn’t show emotions, which would have been true at all times, if not for a specific word: ‘appears’.
This meant that CZ2128 was, in fact, in complete control, and was able to understand feelings and language as well as anybody else. However, she had to act according to her character.
Inevitably, an angry shout followed:
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY CAT???”
Lupi jumped between them to try and loosen the tension.
“Calm down! Calm down! I…I’m sure she didn’t mean to!”
She then turned towards Zeta with her hands on her hips, like a mother scolding her child.
“Entoma… what do we do when we eat someone’s cat?”
Entoma tilted her head in confusion and made a long “Eeeeeeeeh”. Then, she figured it out through an eureka moment, and stretched her arms forward to offer the furball to the old man.
Unfortunately, the furball fell through the gap between her sleeves, making a “pflosh!” sound on the ground, leaving Entoma looking down, puzzled and saddened.
“Pfff-ch % haha! M…. ### bwahahaha!” - Shizu was trying her best to laugh into her scarf, which she was holding up with her hand.
*Stay in character, stay in character!*
Beta, who was not so amused, placed her hand on her forehead in a facepalm position, then shook ‘no’ with the index of her other hand.
“No, no, no!! What do we SAY??”
Once again, Entoma was puzzled, but this time the answer was much more straight forward.
She raised her hands way up:
“E-to… TASTYYY!”
“I’ll show you tasty, you little brat! Arrrrgh!!” - he growled, somewhat like a dog and a pirate at the same time.
With one last desperate attempt to calm down the waters, Lupusregina gestured him to stop.
“N-no! What Entoma meant to say was-”
“Thank. You. For. The. Dinner!” - Shizu couldn’t help herself from a golden chance at a punchline, after she managed to stop her chin from trembling due to the laughter.
She also took full advantage of this opportunity to press on each of her words and sound completely robotic, hoping to cover up for her previous mishap.
“You disrespectful rascals - I’ll teach you some manners!”
The old man pulled out a half-broken cane. To any trained warrior such as the Pleiades, this was a clear sign of battle damage.
As suggested by Ainz, such a critical situation as combat required precise synchronization, which meant someone had to give an order.
Analysing the threat, Lupusregina stepped into the position of leadership, and commanded:
“Pleiades! RUN!”
Used to not question orders much, the rest followed.
The old man also began walking towards them at a snail’s speed, every now and then growling: ‘Arrrrrgh!’
“Why are we running? Any one of us could easily take him on!”
“I know that, Narberal, but we mustn’t attract any more unwanted attention, plus…”
“Old. Men. Scarry.”
“Exactly right, Shizu!”
“I should have bought more apples - I apologise, everyone!”
“Arrrrrrrgh!”
“What is that growl though? Is it a troglodyte? Ugh… repulsive creature! You were indeed right in your judgement, Lupusregina-san. Retreat was the best option.”
“By the way, did you guys hear Shizu laughing earlier?”
“Negative! It. Was. Your imaginatiooon!”
“Achyooo! - More fuuuur!”
(...)
[end of chapter 9]
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