Again and again, it shrieks like an unwanted kitten being burned alive.
"How else could I call you from faraway?" the Lady says when confronted. "You can't expect me to yell 'Klahadore! Klahadore!' like a madwoman! Someday this bell will save my life."
The thought of snatching the bell out of her hands and crushing it under my shoe has crossed my mind on numerous occasions, but given my benefactor's limitless wealth, she can easily acquire a replacement.
Alas, I resign myself to be summoned like a housecat. By someone who belongs to the category of humanity which I despise. The type to have everything served to them on a silver tray… who have never had to make themselves appear larger than their opponents, who have never needed to move faster just to not die.
"Kuro."
I feel a jolt in my chest, as though it has been stabbed. The Lady is looking straight at me.
"Kuro of a Hundred Plans. Interesting choice for the villain in your story, Klahadore."
Hearing both names in one sentence is highly unsettling.
With a smile as innocent as the moon in a treacherous night, she continues, "Known for his careful planning before robbing and plundering, I'm surprised how quickly this Kuro character was captured by the Navy. For someone so cunning, he would've found a way to weasel out of his execution."
It requires all my willpower to keep a neutral face. Why the hell is she bringing this up with me? Unless… unless she knows.
But who in the East Blue does not know of Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates? I've made quite a name for myself… and such infamy came at a great price.
After much deliberation, I arrive at the conclusion that there are detectable threats in this sleepy village. The Lady is not an enemy… but she is not an ally either. She just knows much more than she lets on.
"Why don't you familiarize yourself with your new home?" she says.
I gladly embrace the opportunity of putting as much distance away from her as possible. I make for the highest point in all the island: the roof of the mansion.
To the west is the village. To the east is the glow of an imminent sunset painted above a rainless horizon. In this brief moment of respite, I allow the crisp air to fill my lungs... and for the breeze to carry away all worries with each exhalation.
The rooftop will be my special place throughout the duration of my employment here. As such, I stash my Cat Claws into a hollow tomb beneath the shingles. And a spare pair just in case.
While exploring the estate grounds, I happen upon a scream. A cat dashes away as a girl falls back on her ass. Blossoming on her white sunflower-printed dress is a dark, pungent fluid.
The stench points unmistakably to cat urine.
Upon seeing me, the girl screams again.
"Intruder! Thief!"
The lamb-man materializes into the scene, adds two and two to equal five, and flashes his pistol in my face.
My impression of this man grows less pleasant with each encounter.
Clattering heels announces the presence of the Lady.
"What's happening here?" she exclaims.
"A cat peed on me!" the girl says through tears.
Peed? More like sprayed. Quite forcefully too.
"How could you just stand there and laugh while Miss Kaya was attacked?" Merry barks at me.
Oh, so now it's my fault? The cat only protected itself against this brat's advances. She should consider herself lucky her throat was not clawed out instead.
To the Lady, Merry says, "Those beasts must be put down! They've been defecating on the porch, stealing the chef's ingredients, spreading diseases… "
Our half-lamb friend seems to have forgotten these "beasts" were once revered by humans as gods.
And what doesn't spread filth? There are parts in the East Blue where the sea recedes and leaves behind on the sands rubbish bags, empty cans, and plastic bottles among varying shit. Whereas when cats walked the earth alone, the sea would withdraw and deposit nature's treasures: aromatic algae, giant shells, starfish the color of a dying sun…
And the cats would hold their paws over my hand, guiding my fingers over the smooth shell of a crab, leading me through a world whose contours never held shape…
"Help Kaya change clothes," the Lady orders.
After Merry runs off, she turns to me with an almost apologetic look. Almost.
"That should've gone much better."
