The White Cat That Swore Vengeance Was Just Lazing on the Dragon King’s Lap - Volume 4 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Bracelet

After Ruri, Arman, and Celestine had finished eating, Joshua and the others finally started their own meals. However, since Ruri’s group enjoyed a leisurely spot of post-meal tea, the servers remained and alternated going to eat.

Chi seemed satisfied after eating his hearty meal; he was lying down and kicking back on Kotaro, using him as a makeshift bed. Ruri thought that sleeping after eating was a surefire way to get fat, but he was probably fine since he was a spirit inhabiting a rodent’s body.

Once everyone had settled, Ruri asked, “So, the Nation of the Beast King has hot springs, right?”

“We sure do. Do you like hot springs?” Arman asked.

“Like them? I love them!” Ruri emphatically responded.

“The baths in the castle draw hot water from the underground springs, so you can enjoy them to your heart’s content morning, noon, or night. A dip in the springs is great, but wait until you try a naturally heated sand bath.”

Sparkles formed in Ruri’s eyes. “I’m so jealous! The Nation of the Dragon King doesn’t even have baths, much less hot springs, so I’m dying to try them!” Her anticipation was growing all the more higher since bathing wasn’t a concept in the Nation of the Dragon King.

“Ah, I see. Yeah, the Nation of the Dragon King does use magic to handle everything.”

“That’s right. Using magic to clean is convenient and easy, but I need to soak in some hot water to take the fatigue away!” Ruri explained fervently.

Arman nodded in agreement. “Yes, I would bet.”

Since it wasn’t in the Nation of the Dragon King’s culture to bathe in warm water, any explanation she gave about the wonders of bathing went in one ear and out the other. Back when she lived with Chelsie, in order to get permission to build a bathhouse in the woods, she tried to explain the benefits of soaking in hot water, but Chelsie simply replied with a halfhearted, “Do whatever you want.”

Chelsie couldn’t quite understand Ruri’s fervor since she used magic to get the job done. That was why Ruri was so thrilled that Arman was agreeing with her.

“Still, if you love baths that much, why not just build one in the Nation of the Dragon King?” Arman asked.

“I would, but do hot springs flow in the Nation of the Dragon King?”

“You have the supreme-level spirits of both earth and water there, so wouldn’t you be able to pull water from deep underground if you employed their help? The Spirit of Earth should easily be able to unearth a hot spring if asked by a Beloved. After all, the capital of the Nation of the Beast King was originally an arid wasteland, but the Beloved at the time implored the spirits and shaped it into an oasis.”

“Oh wow, you’re saying that’s possible?” Ruri tried asking the spirits to be sure. “Hey, Rin, Chi? Can you make hot springs in the Nation of the Dragon King?”

Chi was half asleep, but he apparently had been listening to the conversation. “Yeah, sure can~” he replied in a sleepy, listless tone.

“Sure can!” Rin replied, pumping her tiny wing-like arms in confidence.

“But you want the spring for hot water, right?” Chi asked. “I can pull out the water vein, but it would just be cold water, so you need to warm it up with natural geothermal heat. You’ll need a fire spirit’s help.”

“A fire spirit, huh? It doesn’t necessarily have to be the supreme spirit, right?”

“Well, I won’t say it’s impossible, but a spirit of equal level would have an easier time using their powers in conjunction with ours.”

“Oh, I see. But I assume that a supreme-level spirit isn’t going to just give me their help.”

“For you, he just might. He’s a real flirt.”

“A flirt? What kind of spirit is this?”

“The kind that’s been chasing tail and hitting on women since forever now.”

“Oh my, sounds like he’d get along swimmingly with Master Arman,” Celestine murmured.

“Hey now...” Arman said with a bitter expression.

“Well, even if I tried to employ his help, I wouldn’t know where he is anyway,” Ruri stated.

“Last I heard, he was in the Nation of the Spirit King to visit the Spirit of Trees,” Rin replied. “Well, that was about a millennium ago, but still...”

“Do other spirits know where each other are?”

“I could search if I wanted to. Should I?” Rin asked.

Ruri considered it but shook her head. “No, you don’t have to. The other fire spirits can do it too, right? I’ll just ask them to do it. Can I ask you guys to do that?”

The spirits floating around her all gave motivated responses.

“Sure!”

“Yeah, leave it t’us!”

“We’ll do our best for you, Ruri!”

“I’d like to see the sights of the royal capital once I get to the Nation of the Beast King, but will I be allowed?” Ruri asked, remembering that she said she would buy Jade a souvenir. She wanted to see the sights around town, but the issue with the Church of God’s Light was yet to be completely resolved. Considering that Celestine was assaulted in the Nation of the Beast King, Ruri was hesitant to just go waltzing around town. After all, it was possible that cohorts of the Church of God’s Light were still around.

Arman pondered over Ruri’s question for a moment. “Right, let’s see... Well, I would give you permission right away if the matter with the Church of God’s Light was wrapped up, but...we still don’t even know where their base is. We can’t rule out the possibility that they might attack in our nation either.”

“So, it is still too chancy after all...” Ruri murmured, slumping her shoulders. She was disappointed that her first time in a foreign nation would be so restricted.

During this conversation, Ewan had swapped places with Joshua so he could eat. “How is the security of the castle? I assume they infiltrated your castle the same way they infiltrated the Nation of the Dragon King’s walls. We gained testimony from the raiders themselves that they transformed into rats. We don’t know how many of those magic bracelets exist, but there still might be more out there,” Ewan explained, bringing the situation to Arman’s attention.

“Right after we learned of their infiltration method, I had the castle interior combed, but, honestly speaking, defending the castle against extremely small beings is sort of an uphill battle. And we don’t have the time either.”

A small room was one thing, but a place as expansive as a castle was a whole different story. Even the act of combing the entire castle for blind spots took time. Add even further countermeasures to the mix and it wasn’t going to be something completed overnight. It would be easier just to demolish the castle and rebuild it from scratch, like the partially destroyed castle back in the Nation of the Dragon King. It might have saved them time as well.

“I don’t plan on leaving your side for even a second while in the Nation of the Beast King, and I’ll have a barrier around you at all times. Even if any raiders do show up, they won’t be abducting or hurting you like last time, so fear not,” Kotaro said. He sounded rather frustrated over the fact that the fake Reapers managed to get to her before.

Ever since Ruri was rescued, Kotaro hadn’t left her side. He even went with her in the bedroom and Jade’s office, places he normally stayed away from, out of concern. Ruri knew that she’d made Kotaro worry, so she didn’t refuse him from following her, but it was actually making her worried for Kotaro. After all, being so high-strung all the time had to be a tiring experience. However, it was doubtful that Kotaro would listen even if she tried to convince him otherwise—at least, not until the situation with the Church of God’s Light was completely resolved.

“Say, Kotaro? Do you think you could place that barrier onto Celestine-san as well until the Church of God’s Light stuff is taken care of?” So long as Beloveds were being targeted, Celestine was also in danger.

“Yes, I could.”

“Then I’d appreciate it if you did.”

Kotaro nodded, and a soft wind blew around Celestine, forming an invisible barrier around her.

Surprised, Arman bowed his head to Ruri. “Appreciated.”

“Yes, thank you very much,” Celestine said in gratitude.

“You’re in just as much danger as I am, after all. Please, don’t worry about it. The more pressing issue here is that bracelet that turns people into rats. If they didn’t have that, they’d neither have a way to break into the castle nor a means to assassinate a Beloved.”

Ruri pulled out two bracelets from her pocket space. One of them was the bracelet she used to turn into a cat, and the other was a bracelet she got off the fake Reapers. The more you looked at the two bracelets, the harder it was to tell them apart.

“That’s the bracelet that turns you into a rat, huh?” Arman asked.

“Yes, this is the one,” Ruri replied, handing the item over to him.

He turned it around in his hands and even put it on his arm to check, but since it had expended its number of usages, it had turned into just another bracelet.

After Arman was done with his check, he turned his attention to the other bracelet she was holding. “And that one?”

“This is the bracelet I own that turns you into a cat. It originally belonged to the First Dragon King, though. You’ve noticed that it’s pretty similar to that bracelet, yes?” They looked almost identical, but performance-wise, Ruri’s bracelet was far better. Since it didn’t have a usage limit, she used it practically all the time.

“Give us a demonstration,” Arman demanded, looking somewhat excited. Since he never saw the raiders actually transform, he was probably interested in seeing how it worked.

Left with no choice, Ruri placed the bracelet on her wrist and instantly transformed into a white cat.

Arman was absolutely delighted with what he saw. “Ooh! You really did turn into a cat!”

“May I turn back now?”

“No, wait, come over here for a second,” Arman said, scooping Ruri up into his arms. He proceeded to fuss over her, petting her kitty head and touching the plump undersides of her paws. He was having a blast with the fact that she was a cat. “Who would have thought humans could become beasts like demi-humans. And anyone can become one? That is mighty interesting, to say the least.”

“You’re messing up my hair~”

“What a fine coat of hair it is.”

Ruri’s soft, shiny fur was probably thanks in part to Jade’s frequent brushing. He used a variety of specialized brushes to carefully groom her. Jade’s love for the soft and cuddly ran deep.

Ruri knew that Arman wanted to keep touching her fluffy and well-groomed coat, but his touch showed zero restraint. The dragonkin, especially Jade, would pet her gently and somewhat timidly out of consideration for her, but Arman’s big, thick hands were mercilessly kneading the surface of her body. After he finished petting her and let her go, Ruri felt worn out. She turned back into human form before he had a chance to touch her again.

“Perhaps we might be able to figure something out if we were to find out where the bracelets were made,” Ruri suggested.

She had meant to ask Lydia about the bracelets, but she forgot with everything else going on. However, that was when she caught a glimpse of Chi. Chi also had a spirit contract with the First Dragon King, meaning he might have information about the bracelet.

“Hey, Chi, do you know anything about these bracelets?”

“No clue on the rat one, but I know about the one you’ve got. Weidt got that from a witch.”

“A witch?”

“Yeah. They don’t use spirit magic; they use their own brand of sorcery. A lot prefer to conduct research on magic, and that leads to a whole bunch of magic tools being brought into the world. That bracelet is one of them.”

Ruri looked down at the bracelets as she listened to Chi’s explanation. “So, if the cat bracelet was made by a witch, then does that also go for this rat one?”

“It’s possible,” Arman declared.

“Meaning the Church of God’s Light might be linked to a witch as well, right?” Celestine added.

“In that case, we’re in for a lot of trouble,” Ewan said. “There’s also a chance they’ve got magic tools aside from the rat bracelet. After all, it seems witches are adept at making them.”

Arman furrowed his brow as he listened. Then he muttered, “I should probably tell Jade about this as well, just to be safe.” It would have been faster to have the spirits tell him instead, but with their rather childlike speech, there was a chance they would flub some of the nuance. Instead, he decided to write Jade a letter once they reached the kingdom.