I Became a Cat That Sleeps with an Obsessive Tyrant Every Night - Chapter 32
At that moment, Killian and I locked eyes.
Killian let out an odd chuckle and seemed to guess what I was about to say.
“Ah…”
I swallowed dry saliva and looked at the rats that had gathered in a disgusting way in front of the skinny little Sanua.
Hunter Jack had always been closer to animals than people. But now he wasn’t just a hunter living in the mountains; he was the last descendant of the most powerful priest, Fabian Nelas.
Why would Jack care about animals?
Is it because they were easier to deal with?
But how should I explain this bizarre scene where Sanua had gathered so many rats here?
“By any chance, did you call these rats here?”
When I asked the question, Sanua raised his head to look at me, and I could feel Killian and Baron glancing at each other.
“How am I supposed to call rats?”
Sanua answered with annoyance and then added, looking down at me.
“Aren’t you a bit foolish?”
I opened my mouth in disbelief at being called a fool, but I knew losing my temper wouldn’t get me anywhere.
Now that I had witnessed Sanua gathering all these rats, I couldn’t just let it go.
I smiled gently, suppressing my rising excitement.
“You’re right. I just wanted to say that. How should I…?”
I muttered while looking around, and Sanua spoke up.
“Well… I guess these cookies may not be enough to feed all these rats.”
“So…”
Sanua squinted his eyes and frowned, seemingly unimpressed.
“In that case… If you’re going to give them, the room we were in earlier would be much better.”
“What?”
“There’s much more food there. We left a lot behind. Don’t you think it’s better?”
“But that’s a dining table for people, right? If the rats climb onto the table, and someone from the inn sees it, they’ll go crazy trying to kill them. You’re really lacking something.”
Sanua’s response conveyed that he found me even more foolish, and his gaze was rather mocking.
No matter how much I spoke, it didn’t seem like Sanua would listen.
Killian’s gaze fell upon my hand, and he calmly released it, as if he understood my unspoken request.
“I’ll take responsibility.”
When Sanua heard Killian’s words, he tried to hide his surprise, and his raised eyebrows fluttered.
Killian met my gaze and casually said something like a whisper.
“You can feed them if you want.”
Sanua, who had pretended not to listen, finally rose from his seat with a hint of hesitation.
When I persisted by shaking Killian’s sleeve, Killian turned his gaze toward Sanua.
“You can do it if you want. If not, just leave it.”
As soon as Killian finished talking, Sanua took a brave step forward, although he seemed rather skeptical.
“Is it really okay? I mean, if we feed them there and get caught, won’t people try to kill us?”
“That’s why we have to make them move without being seen!”
As I responded quickly at Sanua, Killian, who had been watching me, finally let out a faint smile.
His expression showed that he had finally understood my intentions.
Just gathering rats in the room we were in earlier wouldn’t be enough to prove Sanua’s power.
There was still enough food left there, and the rats that had smelled the scent might go there.
However, if the rats gathered in this room moved quickly in response to Sanua’s words…
“Really?”
Sanua approached us with a skeptical look. The rats dispersed and formed lines to snatch the remaining crumbs into their mouths.
“Is it really okay?”
Sanua looked at Killian more trustingly than he did at me.
What an annoying guy.
Killian looked at me, and nodded his head.
“If you, can send them to that room without being noticed.”
“But how am I supposed to…”
“Have you seen the ceiling? It has holes, right?”
As I complained with a furrowed brow, Sanua, who was about to retort in annoyance, unconsciously looked up at the ceiling I pointed to.
It was the corner of the ceiling where a board had fallen and created a hole.
“That room we were in earlier also had holes in the ceiling and walls.”
I added, and Sanua scratched his head, lost in thought.
He wore an expression that seemed to question how he was supposed to do it.
Killian, who was watching the ceiling with me, finally turned his gaze to me and spoke.
“When did you see that?”
“When you carried me earlier.”
I didn’t know where to look, I had no choice but to look at the ceiling.
After I answered, he had an expression that seemed to harden for some reason.
But when I looked at his face again, there wasn’t much difference from his usual expression.
I thought I might be overthinking it, attributing it to an aftereffect of his recent embrace. So, I shook my head to dispel my thoughts.
“Oh, right. Harrid.”
I hurried over to Harrid and whispered, keeping my voice low, and I saw Killian glance over at him with frosty eyes before turning back to Sanua.
“Later, if the rats come to the room we were in earlier, can you check the memories of some of them?”
Harrid realized that there wasn’t anything to mark the rats here, and he nodded belatedly.
At that moment, Sanua, who had been gazing at the ceiling, looked down at the rats.
His face was full of frustration, as if he really didn’t know what to do, but he reluctantly stood up to try.
“They say we can feed them more if we go there.”
It was clear who he was speaking to.
Sanua focused on the rats, took a deep breath, and his pupils rapidly expanded.
He might not know what to do, but instinctively, it seemed like he was using his power.
* * *
It was a series of unbelievable events.
The rats began to pass through the holes in the ceiling in a line, seemingly heading somewhere, not moving fast, and not making the slightest sound of footsteps that could be heard over the flimsy boards.
After a while, Baron and Harrid rushed to check the other room, reporting that the rats were in the process of occupying the table and eating. When Harrid picked out a few rats to check their memories, he explained that it was difficult for everyone to understand how organized and swiftly the rats were moving as they went to the other room to eat.
“Can you explain how you did this?”
Baron asked calmly, restraining his excitement.
But Sanua seemed uncomfortable under everyone’s gaze, and he wrinkled his brows.
“I don’t know.”
Sanua replied dryly and sat back in his chair.
“Has something like this happened before?”
Harrid, unable to contain his curiosity, quickly asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you think about it properly?”
When Harrid pressed for an answer, Baron, who had been lost in thought, suddenly looked at me.
With a thoughtful expression, he turned to Sanua and questioned him again.
“Sanua Nelas. What you did was truly remarkable. Since animals can’t speak, there will be plenty of times when they need human help, right?”
“…….”
Sanua remained silent.
“Have you ever helped other animals like this?”
“No.”
Sanua responded curtly, tilting his head slightly to look at the corner of Baron’s cloak. Then he gestured toward the empty table once more.
Baron exchanged glances with me and Killian, then approached Sanua once more.
“It’s a shame because if it wasn’t a coincidence, you could have helped more animals.”
“More animals?”
“Yes, in a place with many more animals. If you went there, you would find many animals that need your help, and some rare and unique creatures too.”
Sanua’s eyes narrowed as he contemplated Baron’s words.
“Rare and unique creatures?”
“You’ll find animals you’ve never seen in your life.”
“Where is this place?”
“Winston. It’s where I am.”
Sanua looked at Baron in astonishment.
“You’re on hold for the priesthood.”
Killian, who had been observing the surprised Sanua, spoke in a low voice.
“Of course, you can enroll whenever you want, but for the time being, it would be better to stay at the Court’s estate and develop your abilities.”
Sanua’s ability, even in a situation where he didn’t know how to harness and use his power, was said to be extraordinary.
Having outstanding abilities can make you a target in any profession, so they decided to postpone his enrollment at the seminary.
Also, while Sanua was still learning to detect and control his abilities, they needed to arrange for ways to protect him, according to Killian’s opinion.
Even though the reputation of the Nelas family has been tarnished for a long time, if the downfall of the once-great priest Fabian Nelas was caused by a force, Sanua’s existence should remain hidden, Winston, a place filled with the opposite of divine power.
Winston had been neglected by the royal family and the nobility for a long time, and it was not an area worth paying much attention to. The plan to simply clean Sanua’s background and enroll him in the seminary, to find out about his magical abilities, had shifted its focus to how they could develop his abilities further, now that his power had already been demonstrated.
“So, there are many animals in Winston…?”
Sanua asked Baron, his voice shaking slightly as he pondered the words about seeing more animals.
“You can expect it.”
Baron nodded, and Sanua nervously licked his dry lips and showed signs of tension.
“If there are really animals I’ve never seen there… then…”
Sanua was about to continue speaking, but he suddenly trailed off, bowing his head deeply.
His ragged breathing was unnerving, and I quickly looked over at him.
“Sanua… are you okay?”
“Jack.”
Sanua squeezed his fluttering eyelids shut as he nervously asked if he wanted to be called Jack even if he was about to die.
“Bringing him there would be a good idea.”
Upon hearing Killian’s words, Baron nodded and directed Harrid to support him.
“Why are you doing this?”
I asked, watching Sanua slowly raise his foot with the support of Baron and Harrid.
“In the beginning, when young Master Sanua first showed his magical ability, it was a phenomenon caused by shock, and what he displayed earlier was a hasty manifestation in an unstable state, which would have inevitably drained his energy. Of course, it is currently unclear what he is capable of, and also, with your return to human form through Sanua’s magic, there is no way to exclude the possibility of his energy being drained. However, if Sanua learns to control and distribute his magic, there is no need to worry about such occurrences.”
I felt a mix of emotions, wondering if it was my fault that Sanua was feeling so weak.
“Sanua…”
With a heavy heart, I tried to approach him and support him, but I suddenly felt the ground beneath my feet giving way.
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