The White Cat That Swore Vengeance Was Just Lazing on the Dragon King’s Lap - Volume 4 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Let’s Go to Town

That night after the fight in the hallway, a banquet was held to welcome the guests from the Nation of the Dragon King. It was supposed to be an opportunity to introduce Ruri and make her presence as a Beloved known to everyone. No one, not even Arman, expected that anyone would mistakenly accost her before things could get off the ground.

The women responsible for this mishap were two of Arman’s nineteen wives. Both of them were sent off to the houses of their new husbands. And while they didn’t directly involve themselves, their attendants were sent to work hard labor without pay.

Arman once again apologized to Ruri. As she shyly accepted the apology, Celestine, who was sitting nearby, scolded Arman.

“This is all your fault to begin with for not telling any of your wives, Master Arman.”

“Come on, give me a break. How was I supposed to know they were going to mistake Ruri for a new wife? I swear, who was even spreading that kind of misinformation?”

“From what I’ve heard, since you prepared Lady Ruri’s room close to your own, your wives assumed you were ushering in a main wife, an assumption that ended up spreading to everyone else in the harem.”

Arman had many wives, but they were all part of the harem. He still hadn’t decided on a main wife. Because of that, his queens would brashly knock one another down a peg on a daily basis.

“That’s most likely why they quickly tried to put the woman who might be your main wife in her place.”

Arman let out a deep sigh.

“You never rebuke your wives for their actions, which leads to some of them being quick to fly off the handle like that. I assume they did what they did because they knew you wouldn’t reprimand them, as always.”

“Is this a common occurrence?” asked Ruri.

Celestine looked at Arman with a glare as cold as the tundra. “Quite so. Master Arman here finds the spectacle of his wives vying for his affection fun. Tasteless, if you ask me.”

“Hey, listen, all my wives just so happen to be strong-willed, and they don’t take defeat lying down, so it’s fun to watch them go at it,” Arman explained.

“A source of fun that ended up being quite the inconvenience for Lady Ruri, yes.”

“I know, and I’m sorry for that. Either way, now that we’ve properly introduced her, I doubt anyone will make the same stupid mistake again, so just relax.” Arman’s wives were also in attendance at this banquet. Since Ruri was given a proper introduction, the misinformed rumors would likely cease.

“While you have the opportunity, you should instruct your wives to act in moderation from now on. Otherwise, I don’t want to see you when they end up bullying the woman you eventually do want as your main wife into running away. You will come to regret not acting sooner, I assure you.”

“Oh brother. Okay, okay. I get it. I’ll make sure to talk to them,” Arman replied. It seemed that not even the mighty Beast King could keep face before Celestine.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Some time had passed since Ruri arrived in the Nation of the Beast King, and she had spent all of it hopping around to all the hot springs in the castle—the mineral sand bath, the steam bath, the outdoor bedrock bath, the cascading bath... That combined with the full-body treatments and massages made it feel like a real vacation to Ruri. However, the daily immersion in the hot springs was starting to wear thin for one individual—Chi.

“Say, I’m sick and tired of hot springs now. Let’s go to town!” he said, rolling on the floor and flailing his arms like a spoiled child.

Ruri figured that Chi, being the bundle of curiosity he was, would eventually become bored with the hot springs, and it seemed that time had finally come. She could understand how he felt. Now that she had visited nearly all of the springs in the castle, she was starting to feel the urge to do something else. Like, for example, sightseeing, sightseeing, and most importantly—sightseeing. Chi wasn’t the only one who wanted to go into town. Ruri felt the same. However, as far as safety was concerned, she couldn’t simply go out and about.

“I sympathize, but I don’t think it’ll fly. The business with the Church of God’s Light isn’t wrapped up yet, so it’ll mean big trouble if I go to someplace filled with people and get assaulted, don’t you think?”

“We’ll all be with you, so don’t worry. Wind has got his barrier around you, so no mere human could put even a scratch on you. Wind, Water? You guys are coming, right?” Chi asked.

“Of course!” replied Kotaro and Rin in resounding agreement.

“Hmm, be that as it may, I’m pretty sure the Beast King wouldn’t approve.”

“All you need is permission, right? Alrighty then, time to go and get it!” Chi said, leading the charge.

“Worst-case scenario, we’ll just have to do a little bit of threatening,” Rin said ominously.

“Wait a second! Ah, great...” Ruri trailed off before she had a chance to stop Rin. Both her and Chi promptly left the room. Ruri chased after them in a panic, and Kotaro followed behind.

Chi and Rin quickly disappeared from sight. Ruri looked around while asking Kotaro for directions on their whereabouts. When she finally found them, Rin, with her eyes so red and round, and Chi, with his eyes so mean and sunken, were right in the middle of staring down Arman.

“Hey, c’mon, and cough it up!” said Chi.

“Quit complaining and give us permission,” said Rin.

“Well, I get that, but, uh...” Arman trailed off, grimacing. He was somewhat pale from the spirits’ insistence.

There was a group of people around Arman who seemed to be his aides, but they simply stood in a state of bewilderment, not interjecting in the slightest. Once they spotted Ruri, they threw her a pleading look, practically begging her to alleviate the situation.

Both Rin and Chi menacingly inched closer and closer to Arman—now a hair’s breadth from his face.

Ruri sighed in exasperation. “Rin, Chi, don’t inconvenience the Beast King.”

Though Rin and Chi seemed to have noticed Ruri’s presence, their glares remained focused on Arman.

“But, Ruri, he just won’t give us permission. He keeps grumbling about it being ‘dangerous’ and whatnot,” Rin explained.

“We’re telling ya it’ll be fine since we’ll be with her, so give us the okay. C’mon, out with it.”

“Yes, but, Ruri would be going to town with you, wouldn’t she?” Arman pleaded.

“Well, of course she would,” stated Rin. “You said it yourself that the matter with the Church of God’s Light isn’t resolved yet, so there’s no way we’d leave Ruri unattended when danger could be looming at every corner. If we go, so does Ruri.”

“In the interest of avoiding any danger the Church of God’s Light might pose, we’d like it if Ruri stayed safe behind the castle walls,” offered Arman.

The Church of God’s Light was after Beloveds. There was no real problem with the spirits taking a leisurely stroll around town, but Ruri going out seemed to be an issue.

“What are you talking about?” Rin refuted. “That raider infiltrated this very castle and assaulted your Beloved, didn’t they? In that case, it doesn’t make a big difference if she’s behind the castle walls or out and about in town.”

Arman’s face twitched at Rin’s comment. It seemed that hit him where it hurt. However, it was true that a raider not only descended upon the castle but made it all the way to Celestine, the person with the heaviest security detail. While their means of entering the castle was uncovered and dealt with, it was still unknown as to how much that helped circumvent. The thing that provided the most definite protection for both Ruri and Celestine was the sturdy barrier Kotaro put in place.

“The safest place for Ruri isn’t in the castle, it’s with us,” Rin said.

“Hear, hear. Also, Wind’s got his barrier in place, so goin’ into town should be absolutely A-OK. So, we can go out, right? Right~?” Chi said, agreeing with Rin.

Arman silently contemplated this for a bit. Then he scratched his head and let out a long sigh of resignation. “Fine, then. But I want to assign soldiers to protect Ruri as well, so give me about an hour, please.”

“Sure thing. We can wait,” said Chi.

“Hooray!” exclaimed Rin.

As Ruri watched Chi and Rin practically jump for joy, she worriedly asked Arman, “Are you positively sure about this?”

“My hands are tied. A free spirit is the only kind of spirit. They aren’t worried about human affairs nor can they be bound by anyone. That’s simply how spirits operate. They only had enough consideration to come here and get my permission.”

“True. ‘Freedom’ does seem to be everyone’s middle name.”

Spirits were self-centered and acted to satisfy their own interests. They were very clear about their preferences and never concerned themselves with human matters. The only person a spirit cared about was a Beloved or their contract-bearer. Chi and Rin only came to Arman because Ruri said she couldn’t leave the castle without his permission. It was out of consideration for Ruri, not Arman.

“Perhaps I should disguise myself, just in case? If I just bring Rin, Chi, and Kotaro and leave the other obvious-looking spirits here, then no one should realize that I’m a Beloved. That might lessen concerns about me being targeted a little.”

“Right,” agreed Arman. “But if we go with hiding the fact that you’re a Beloved, then I’d like it if Lord Kotaro could stay behind, if possible. With all due respect, he does stand out in both size and appearance. It doesn’t seem like many in the Nation of the Beast King know that the Beloved of the Nation of the Dragon King keeps a large white wolf—nor many in the Nation of the Dragon King itself, for that matter. So, based on that, I think it should be fine, but...”

“I refuse to be the only one left behind!” Kotaro interjected promptly, not wanting to be abandoned.

Ruri and Arman both looked as if they expected this reaction.

“I’ll try to make it so that you can walk through town as safe as possible. Granted, I doubt you’d have any issues with that many supreme-level spirits attending you,” said Arman.

“Of course we won’t. No danger shall befall Ruri while I am around,” Kotaro said, his head held high.

Ruri had confidence in Kotaro in that regard, but the uncertain element here was actually Chi. He had a habit of following where his curiosity took him and ending up lost. Regardless of whether Kotaro was there, searching for him in a completely unfamiliar place was going to be extremely difficult. Ruri decided to pay careful attention to him—very careful attention.