Curse of the Kat – ch 71

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Chapter 71 – The cat is a ghost?

“Hello, twins of justice.”

“W-what might you be talking about, miss?”
“A-are you trying to say we are THE twins of justice? The p-phantom heroes? Ahahaha…”
Dang, they are cute.
I bet this is the first time someone found their true identity.
Well, then, what shall we do with this?

“Hey Nina. Someone you know?”
Mable and the others come to us.

“Found them. It’s those two.”

“Those two…? Oh, you mean THOSE two?”

“N-no! We aren’t ‘those two’!”
“A-also, we have no idea what you are talking about!”
Forget what I said about being good actors.
Seems like they didn’t have a script ready for when this happens.

“Haha, come on now. You don’t have to be embarrassed about it.”
Mable goes in to pat their heads.
But the boy suddenly stands up, points to the ceiling and shouts.

“Tactical escape!”
And then both of them disappear again.

“… whoa. They really vanished.”
“I thought you were exaggerating…”
Yep.
They are gone.
Their scent as well.
I can’t track them at all.
…
They sure know how to overreact.
Sigh…
I don’t think this is the last time I met them.
They will want to figure out how I saw through their ‘disguise’, no doubt about it.

“So, Nina? What are you gonna do about them?”
Well, nothing.
I mean…
They aren’t bad people.
They DID save a defenseless little catgirl (me) from kidnappers, after all.
Their enthusiasm is just a tad too high, that’s all.

“Well? Aren’t you gonna track them down?”

“… nah.”
I’m sure they will come to me naturally.
‘Accidentally’ bumping into me later and whatnot.

“Well alright…”
We silently went back to our table and waited for breakfast.
While we ate, Mable spoke up again.

“Oh, by the way! I’m visiting one of dad’s friends today, wanna come with?”
More of your parent’s friends?
Who could it be?
Michryan no. 3?

“Hmm? Another friend? Who is it?”
Ignis posed the question I had on my mind.
As always, good work, my loyal mouthpiece.

“Weeell, he owns a magic tool shop. It’s the one I showed you in the tour, remember?”
Magic tool shop…?
Umm…
Uhhhh….
Suuuure, I remember what you mean!
Totally!

“A magic shop? Hmm, do we need any magic tools?”
Well, I certainly don’t.
The last item I obtained now has ‘god-slayer’ in its name.
I don’t feel like I need any more.

“Haha, well I don’t plan on buying anything. I just want to visit her.”
Well, sure.
Why not?
There’s not much I planned to do anyway.
Hmm?
Go to the beach again?
Hahaha…
No.

And so, having decided that, we finished our food and headed straight to this magic tool shop.
On our way, we walked past the cosplay store.
I saw the owner through the window flinch as I looked at him.
Since now I knew he wasn’t a bad guy, I waved my hand and smiled at him.
But forced smile and robotic hand wave told me he was traumatized.
Eh…
I kinda feel bad now…
Well, it’s fine!
He’ll get over it!

At the destination.
The sign above the door has a picture of a crystal ball next to a wand.
Not waiting for anything, Mable boldly grabs the door handle and opens the door as the bell rings.

“Heyo! Matty!”
The old lady sitting in the chair behind the counter put aside the book she has been reading and greeted us.

“Oh, Mable! It’s been a wh-…”
But as soon as she noticed me, she completely froze.
For a good two whole seconds or so, she stared at my face.

“… Nina?”
Huh?
What?

“A-ah, sorry young lady. You just reminded me of someone, hahaha…”
She tried to brush it off, but everyone in our group looked at her in confusion.

“Eh? You two know each other? I had no idea!”
Only Mable kept her cheery attitude.
However, her response brought the serious expression back to the woman.

“What…? Y-you really are Nina? No way. How? This is…”

“Err… Matty? What’s wrong?”
I would also like an explanation…
I have never met this woman before.
But for some reason, she acts as if we’re old friends…

“Even the way you communicate with just your expression… it’s really you…”
Well, sorry that I don’t like talking!
Now, explain yourself!

“… w-wait… I see now… you’re a ghost, aren’t you? A vengeful spirit. A-are you here to punish me?”
What’s up with that?!
You are the second person to tell me this…!
…
Wait.
That’s right.
The Kalamas’ guildmaster had a similar reaction!
Explanations please!

“Hey, calm down Matty! As you can see, Nina here is made of pure flesh and blood!”
There’s no need to put your arm around me and pull on my cheek, Mable.

“S-so, a zombie?”
Enough of that!

“So, you aren’t the Nina that I know?”
Pretty sure I’m not.
Or rather, how come me and this other Nina have so much in common?
The same face, same habits, same personality…
It’s… kinda creepy, to be honest.

“But didn’t you say the Nina you know went missing ages ago?”
Right, that.
She went missing twenty years ago.
Even if I count my days on earth, I would have been a baby at the time.

“You are probably just misremembering! It’s been so long, after all.”
That’s the most likely scenario.
But, the guildmaster also misremembered…
Is that a coincidence?

“I guess so… Nina never wore anything like that, after all.”
Well, excuse you!
You don’t need to look at me as if I’m the most bizarre thing in history!

“Still… the resemblance is astounding… a-actually, wait a moment here.”
The woman, ran to the back of the store, leaving us waiting.

“Well, I sure didn’t expect that! Who would have known Nina is a body-stealing ghost!”
You!
Your jokes are not-
…
Body…
Stealing?

“I’m back!”
She suddenly returns, carrying a set of leather armor too small to fit her.
Rather… I think that’s something that would fit ME.

“Can you… try this on? It was Nina’s old adventurer armor. It’s all that’s left of her.”
‘All that’s left of her’?
That’s sounds kinda disturbing!
What even happened to her?!

“Oho! More dressing up!”
What?
No, I don’t really wanna wear that!

“Come on, come on! You’re the only one who didn’t try an outfit back in that store!”
And for a good reason!
Ughhhh!
What’s with those four pairs of puppy eyes?!
This kind of warfare isn’t fair!

It fit perfectly.
And not only that.
I have never worn this in my life…
Yet, it feels like this belongs to me.
As if it was made for me.

“… Nina…”
And she’s even crying.
I don’t get this at all!

“By the way, what was Nina like? The one you knew, I mean.”

“Well… about twenty years ago…”
And thus, her extensive backstory began.

All those years ago, her, the man who is now Kalamas’ guildmaster and ‘Nina’, created an adventurer party.
They already knew each other from the village where they grew up, so it was only natural.
Gerrud, the guildmaster, was the frontliner with a sword, while Matilda, or Matty, as Mable calls her, worked as a mage.
Nina though…
She couldn’t use any magic whatsoever…
And her skill with the sword was clearly inferior to Gerrud as well.
The one thing she excelled was speed.
…
So far, this sounds disturbingly a lot like me.
Continuing…
One day, an injury to her lower leg tendon crippled her for a few days.
And although she recovered, she never regained her former speed.
She became a hindrance to the team.
Dead weight.
But her teammates kept encouraging her.
And it seemed like the pressure made her do something drastic.
One day, when the rest of her party woke up in their inn room, Nina was gone.
A letter left by her read ‘I’m going to train myself. I’ll return soon.’
Mixed feelings welled up in the two.
They were happy for Nina’s determination, but also felt quite worried.
And their worries were spot on.
A few days later, a nameless adventurer came to guild carrying Nina’s armor covered in blood.
He found it lying in the forest near the city.
…
A city…
Called Buanna.

…

She vanished at the same place where I first woke up.
This…
This is not a coincidence anymore!
Kat!
You hear me?!
What is the meaning of this?!
Just who…!
Who AM I?!

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