Combat Cat Maid !! Nicole

Chapter 38: Assault in the carriage

The next morning, I got out of bed before the sun had risen.

It was still dark outside.

By all rights, it should probably be quite chilly, but I didn’t feel cold, thanks to the cat Clothes.

When I went downstairs, I found Marie already up and about.

"Good morning, Big Sis Marie."

"Good morning. Where’s Noa?"

"She is still sleeping. I didn’t want to wake her up."

"Then, I’ll be preparing breakfast, so please go wake her up."

I asked Marie to take care of Noa and began preparing the soup and bread that we had eaten for breakfast yesterday.

A drowsy Noa appeared in the dining room.

"Good morning."

"Sleepy."

"That’s because you’re usually still sleeping at this time."

"After we eat breakfast, we’re heading out, okay?"

Today, I mounted Swaying cat before we continued towards the Royal Capital.

There was a village along the way to the Royal Capital.

We left after I purchased some fresh vegetables in the village.

On the third day after we left the town:

"Stop for a moment."

I made Swaying cat and Hugging cat halt.

"What’s wrong?"

"There are people battling against monsters in front of us."

"Really?"

I couldn’t see them from here.

The only reason I was sure was due to the cat’s Skill.

When I defeated the Black Viper, I went up a level. The power of the detection skill also went up, so I could now detect normal people, in addition to dangerous elements like monsters and thieves.

Furthermore, I also became able to differentiate the type and rank of monster.

"How does Noa want to handle this?"

"Me?"

"My job is to be Noa’s bodyguard, which is why I don’t want to go towards dangerous places. Leaving you behind and going ahead is also out of the question. If something dangerous appears while I’m not around, I won’t be able to protect you."

"What if you leave the cats to guard us?"

"It’s impossible for them to fight with you two riding on top."

"Then, what if we go to a place near the monster attack together with you?"

"If the attacking monsters end up attacking you, it will be problematic for me, as your bodyguard."

"Do the people being attacked seem like they can win?"

"Well, even I cannot be sure from here, you know. Although, I can tell when a person or monster dies from the reaction."

In other words, do we go out after people have died, or rush in while knowing that it’s dangerous?

"……"

The 10-year-old Noa was seriously troubled.

"That was a joke. Let’s go save them. I’ll scout from afar. If it looks okay, we’ll leave them be, and if it looks dangerous, we’ll save them. However, if they are dangerous monsters, you must run away. Is this okay?"

"Un."

I made the cats run.

A carriage came into view.

Some adventurers were around it, fighting orcs.

"One, two, three, four, five, six."

There were six orcs.

There were four adventurers.

A magician adventurer had been knocked down by one of the orcs.

A sword-wielding adventurer was fending off another orc next to the carriage.

The remaining two people were surrounded by four orcs a short distance away.

"Swaying cat, Hugging cat! Guard these two!"

I asked the cats to guard the two girls.

I lept off of Swaying cat and started running towards the orcs.

I kicked off the ground and accelerated even more.

A club was swung towards the woman who was knocked down.

This is bad.

Using the magic power gathered in my hand, I released blades of wind towards the orc that was swinging the club at the magician woman.

The orc’s eyes were entirely focused on the woman in front of it. My blades of wind easily sliced through its fat neck and the orc died without noticing me at all.

When I leveled up, did my power increase too?

I ran past the magician and headed toward the adventurer fighting close to the carriage.

If I used wind magic from this position, I would cut the adventurer together with the orc.

I stopped the movement of the orc’s lower body by using earth magic instead.

"What?!"

The swordsman was surprised.

"I’ve sealed his movements, so deal with the rest by yourself somehow!"

After raising my voice, I headed towards the slightly distant location where the four orcs were battling the adventurers.

Wind magic could not be used, just like earlier, since they were fighting while surrounded.

Even if I used earth magic, it was possible that they would still receive an attack from the orcs’ upper halves.

I gathered magic power in my hand.

"Shotgun."

I fired a ball of air towards the orcs.

Four shots at the same time.

When they came into contact with the orcs’ bodies, the orcs were blown backwards.

As for the adventurers, who got caught up with the orcs that were being blown away, it could not be helped.

The orcs, which fell down, stood up again.

The adventurers were also going to stand up.

"It’s dangerous, so stay down!"

I shouted out towards the adventurers.

I shot a giant horizontal blade of wind towards the orcs, which had stood up again.

Their bodies were neatly sliced in half, and the orcs fell down.

It’s not my fault that the adventurers who dropped to the ground have been showered in blood!

I approached the adventurers, who had become all bloody from orc blood.

"Are you alright?"

"You are?"

The two who had been surrounded by orcs were also female.

In that case, maybe they were a little pitiful after becoming all bloody from the orc blood.

"Marina!"

The adventurer who had been fighting near the carriage rushed over.

"Are you all right?"

"Eh, I’m alright, since this weird-looking girl helped us. What about you?"

"I, as well as Elle, were also saved by that girl, so we’re okay."

"So Elle is safe as well. Let’s talk about a reward another time. Thank you for helping us."

"You’re welcome. We only happened to pass by, so you don’t need to worry about it."

"I’m the leader of this party, Marina. The guy with the big sword over there is Masurika, and that one is-"

"Euri."

The magician I had helped first seemed to be called Elle.

We left the orcs as they were and returned to the carriage.

Along the way, I called out for the cats.

I don’t know if it’s telepathic communication, but I can issue instructions to the cats even if we are separated.

"Elle, are you okay?"

"Eh, I’m okay, though just a little longer and I would have been killed."

Maybe it was because she had been caught, but her clothes were torn, and her fair skin could be seen.

Although she was covering them, her large breasts spilled out past her hands.

An enemy!

"Thanks to your assistance, I was able to avoid being killed. Thank you."

"You don’t need to worry about it, since it was just a coincidence that I passed by."

While we were having such a conversation,

"What is that?!"

The adventurers saw Swaying cat and Hugging cat, who had arrived, and readied their swords.

"It’s alright, they are my summoned beasts."

"A summoned beast?"

Noa and Marie, who were riding on top of Hugging cat, rushed over.

"Marie-san! Are you okay?"

"I’m perfectly fine, you know."

"Thank goodness."

The two of them dropped down from Hugging cat and embraced me anxiously.

Both of them were just 10-year-old girls, so it could not be helped.

"Did you come to help us?"

When I turned and looked behind me, there was an elderly man and a small girl there.

They weren’t wearing the type of clothing that commoners would wear.

If I had to say, it was closer to the type of clothes Noa wore.

…Which meant they were nobles? Or the kind of people with lots of money.

"If you’re talking about the orcs, though that may be the case-"

"Is that so? It would be bad if we didn’t express our gratitude as well. We are Gran Faren Gramm. We thank you, together with our granddaughter."

"I’m an adventurer, Nicole. I only saved you because I was passing by chance, so don’t worry about it."

"Still, aren’t you dressed in some strange clothing?"

"Don’t mind it."

"However, you sure took down those orcs quite easily. Isn’t that the missus from Cliff’s place over there?"

The old man who introduced himself as Gran looked over at Noa.

"Gran-sama, it has been a long time. It is I, Noire."

Noa gave an aristocratic curtsy and greeting.

She called him Gran-sama. As expected, they were aristocrats.

"I see, it was Noire after all. Has it been a year since we last met? You’ve sure grown up. Is Cliff not with you?"

"Father is busy with work, so he is still in town. I was told to go to the Royal Capital by myself to see mother first."

"You came out here all by yourself?"

"Yes, but my bodyguard Nicole-san is here, so I am alright."

Gran-san looked me over.

"That fellow Cliff seems to have caught a strangely dressed, but competent adventurer."

I wish you would stop calling me strange over and over.

"Misa, long time no see."

Noa approached the girl standing beside Gran-san.

She was a few years younger than even Noa.

"Elder Sister Noire, it has been a while."

"Misa is also going to the Royal Capital?"

"Yes, Father and Mother went to the Royal Capital earlier, so I am heading there with Grandfather."

"I see."

"I’m sorry for interrupting your conversation, but there are some post-battle things I want to talk about."

Marina came over.

"If we leave the orc corpses like this, it’s likely that their companions, or other monsters attracted by the bodies, will come. I want to process the orcs, but what should we do?"

"Process them?"

"I want to divide up our share. Though you were the one who defeated them, you defeated them with a surprise attack from behind while we were engaging them. That’s why we also want a part."

Ah, so you were worried about that.

"That’s fine. I’ll give them all to you. You can deal with them however you want."

"Are you serious?! It’s six orc bodies, you know!"

If it was orcs, I had a lot in the cat Box, so it wasn’t necessary to forcibly acquire more here.

"We’re going to go on ahead to the Royal Capital first, so it’s fine."

I walked to and got on top of Hugging cat.

"Noa, Marie, we’re leaving!"

"Please wait a moment!"

Gran hailed us.

"Since we’re both headed to the same place, why don’t we travel together?"

After thinking about it for a bit,

"There’s no merit for us, so I decline."

"I’ll pay you an escort fee."

"If it’s guards, don’t you have those girls? That’s rather rude to them, don’t you think?"

I said it loud enough for the adventurers nearby to hear.

If we talked about employing me, it would be like telling them that they weren’t trusted anymore.

"It’s not that I don’t particularly trust these girls’ power. Please believe me when I say that it is for my granddaughter, Misa’s, sake."

"Misa’s sake?"

"Ah, during the journey here, it has only been the two of us in the carriage, so Misa has been bored. Which is why I was thinking that, if her acquaintance Noire was there, our journey would become more interesting."

Hmm. I wanted to decline somehow.

It had absolutely no merit.

I couldn’t use the cat House if we traveled together.

If it became unusable, neither the bed nor the bath could be used.

Our speed would definitely drop if we traveled together.

However, I couldn’t make a decision based on my judgement alone.

If Cliff were here, I would just abide by his instructions.

There was no point in naming someone who wasn’t here, though.

For now, I’ll ask the person being guarded, Noa, for her opinion.

"Noa, what do you want to do?"

"Me?"

I called Noa over and whispered quietly into her ear.

"By the way, if we travel together, the cat House cannot be used, okay?"

I didn’t have any intention of bringing out the cat House in front of a stranger.

Noa was mumbling “a bath, a bed, a bath, a bed…” under her breath.

Right now, in Noa’s head, a 『Bed and Bath VS Misa』battle was probably occurring.

After a few “unn, unn” groans, the battle seemed to have come to a conclusion.

"Nicole-san, I’m worried about Misa, so I was thinking of travelling together. Is that okay?"

In the cat House vs Misa battle, Misa seemed to have been the victor.

"If Noa has decided, then it’s fine, but there are a few conditions."

"What conditions?"

"The cat House is a secret, of course, but if we run into an undefeatable monster, you must leave everyone behind and run away. You just have to promise me this."

"I-I understand."

I turned towards Gran-san.

"Has the consultation finished?"

"It was decided that we will travel with you."

"Is that so? You’ve saved me some trouble."

"Marie, please go help those girls with dismantling so we can depart quickly."

"I understand."

Marie ran off towards the adventurers, who were in the middle of dismantling.

After a short while, the adventurers returned to us, having finished the dismantlement.

"That child is really good at dismantlement. It was a big help. So, are you really okay with this, giving all the orcs to us?"

"It’s fine. Since we’ll be travelling together to the Royal Capital, I’ll have you listen to one of my requests in return. It’s not a big deal, of course, so don’t worry about it too much."

"I-I got it."

If our selfishness was compared to the orc’s raw materials, the orcs should be heavier.

Having decided to travel together with Gran-san’s group, we departed for the Royal Capital.

Noa rode in the carriage with Misa.

At that time, she had made a point of pointing at Marie with her finger.

"I’ll hand over cat-san this time, but that is my reserved seat, okay?!"

After firing off that declaration, Noa climbed aboard the carriage.

Swaying cat and Hugging cat still belong to me, you know.

Marina and the attendant, who took the reins, sat in the front of the carriage.

There was an attendant there all along?

Did you hide somewhere?

It was a man in his late thirties.

There was enough space for six people to sit in a commonly seen seating arrangement.

Elle, Masurika, and Euri sat inside the carriage, scanning to the left, right, and rear of the carriage. They sat in the spots next to Gran-san, Misa, and Noa, who had just boarded.

The bodyguards weren’t the type to walk outside?

That’s what I was thinking, but, as expected, asking them to keep up with the carriage’s pace on foot for a long time, while carrying weapons and armor, was impossible.

When I thought of having to walk for about ten hours a day, I was suddenly grateful to Swaying and Hugging cat.

The coachman was checking the condition of the horses pulling the carriage.

Fortunately, the horses were safe, so we would be able to depart immediately.

I wondered why they didn’t decide to run away when the orcs attacked.

They were going to run away at first, but the orcs showed up in front of them when the horses began to tire, catching them in a pincer attack.

Since orcs were approaching from the rear, Marina and Euri went to engage them first, leaving only Elle and Masurika to deal with the orcs that came later. In the end, it turned into the situation from earlier.

We departed after having confirmed the status of the horses and the carriage.

Marie and I followed behind the carriage.

Clop, clop. Clop, clop.

Umu, our pace sure is slow.

At this rate, how long will it take to reach the Royal Capital?

We decided to go together though, so it couldn’t be helped.

I left the monster detection to the cats and decided to take a nap atop Hugging cat.

The weather was good, and Hugging cat’s warmth was luring me to dreamland.

The carriage advanced without incident until the sun set after our departure.

The leader, Marina, called the carriage to a halt.

It looked like they planned to sleep outdoors, right here.

The carriage stopped beside the empty road that lead to the Royal Capital.

Marina directed the adventurers as they began to prepare meals and bedding.

I wanted to take out the cat House, but I endured.

For now, I called out to Marie and Noa and began to prepare dinner.

Misa looked like she would be eating over there.

Well, even if I said preparing dinner, I took out some simple foodstuffs from the cat Box, and finished with just that.

The adventurers over there also took out and ate portable meals from an item bag.

The difference was that my bread was still freshly baked, so it was soft and warm.

I ate while enjoying just a small feeling of superiority.

Soon, the time to sleep arrived.

It seemed like we would be heading out when the sun rose tomorrow.

When I started to prepare to sleep, Marina came over.

"I want to decide on a rotation for night watch. Is that okay?"

When camping outdoors, there existed an enemy of sleep called the night-watch.

Which is why, I would use the favor from the deal regarding the orc materials here!

"If it’s about the watch, these children are here, so it is alright."

I gestured towards Swaying cat and Hugging cat.

"If a monster or person approaches, these children will let me know."

"Is that so?"

"Which is why there isn’t a need for a watch. If you’re still worried, can you handle it yourselves? Consider it as the exchange for the share of the orcs."

If I bring up the point of the orc materials, the other party has no choice but to relent.

"Can those cats really be trusted?"

"Feel free to."

There was nothing else that I could say.

Whether they chose to believe me or not was up to them.

"I understand."

Marina headed back towards the carriage.

"Noa, where do you plan to sleep?"

"What do you mean by where?"

"Do you want to sleep together with Misa, or sleep together with the cats?"

"W-What do you mean, sleeping together with the cats?"

She asked me in a shaky voice.

"At night, it’ll be cold and dangerous, right? Hugging cat, Swaying cat, come here."

I called Hugging cat and Swaying cat over, and had both of them sit down.

Next, I called Marie over as an experimental subject, and wrapped her in a blanket.

I laid the wrapped Marie next to where the cats were sitting so that she was leaning against Hugging cat’s stomach, and tucked her in.

With the left and right arms hugging Marie, yes, this work titled, 『Together with cat-san』, was complete.

"W-What is this, this wonderful way of sleeping?!"

"This way, it won’t be cold, right?"

"I’ll go tell Misa that I will sleep here. Marie! That’s my spot, so please vacate it, okay?"

Noa went to where Misa was, and soon returned.

However, why did you come back with Misa?

"Nicole-san, Misa also wants to sleep together with cat-san."

"May I also sleep together with cat-san? Today, I heard a lot about the wonderfulness of the cats from Elder Sister Noa. I also want to sleep together with cat-san. Please!"

She gazed at me straightforwardly, with pure eyes.

As expected, there was no way I could say no to Misa’s pleas when she was even smaller than Noa.

"It’s fine. The two of you can use Kurone. I’ll sleep together with Marie."

"Thank you, Nicole-san."

"Thank you very much."

Misa also expressed her thanks.

"Swaying cat, unless danger approaches, you can’t wake these two up, okay? As for Hugging cat, if a monster or person approaches, let me know. Sorry about this, Marie, but you’ll be sleeping with me."

"Okay."

"I might wake you up though, so sorry."

"It’s alright."

I conceded half of Hugging cat’s stomach.

Umu, it was warm.

I went to sleep while hugging one of Shirone's arms.

"Marie, good night."

"Yes, good night."