Chapter 520

The entrance to the Royal Class camp was protected by guards who were selected from the Temple. They were all carefully chosen only after their identities had been verified.

While the individual combat abilities of the Royal Class students were important, the presence of the renowned hero Ellen Artorius made the camp even more significant.

She attracted the attention of not only ordinary soldiers, but also high-ranking officials and dignitaries from various nations, who all came to catch a glimpse of her.

Ellen’s fame was beyond description, and many of these dignitaries would come up to the guards and demand that they summon Ellen. “Do you know who I am?” they would say, but the gatekeepers of the Royal Class camp were perfectly capable of ignoring such rude remarks from high-ranking officials without batting an eye.

Entry to this part of the camp was strictly prohibited to anyone without prior approval, and any attempt to sneak in or being caught inside would suffer punishment as severe as if they had insulted the imperial emperor himself.

Despite this, people still lingered around the area, even knowing full well the restrictions. The orders were strict: no one except designated “personnel” was allowed. However, this restriction applied only to people.

“... Huh?”

As always, the gatekeepers, who were vigilant against both ordinary people and ignorant officials, were taken aback when they saw a cat trotting towards the garrison entrance.

“A cat...?”

“What’s a cat doing here?”

“Indeed.”

Only one cat was approaching. However, it was carrying a small black kitten in its mouth, which was dangling by the scruff of its neck.

Meow.

The kitten, dangling from its mother’s mouth, let out a pitiful cry. The black cat boldly entered the Royal Class camp without the gatekeepers paying any attention.

“That’s strange... I’ve seen dogs before, but a cat? Was it hidden with the supplies?”

“Impossible. Maybe a stray cat wandered into the camp?”

“Well, there are stray dogs, so why not cats?”

Naturally, since cats were not barred from entry, the gatekeepers merely watched the black cat carrying the kitten as it walked away.

As they looked on, something peculiar happened. The mother cat, having entered the Royal Class garrison with the kitten in its mouth, carefully placed the kitten in the middle of the bustling encampment. Then, it leaped over the fencing surrounding the Royal Class camp and disappeared.

Meow!

The guards watched the baby black kitten wriggling in the dirt with dumbfounded expressions.

“... Did it abandon it?”

“... Seems like it.”

Sarkegar had abandoned Reinhart.

***

Meow!

To all those who heard it, the cry of the angry, wailing black kitten sounded like a small creature’s plea for help.

In truth, it was shouting, “How could you leave me like this, you bastard!” But who could understand that?

Naturally, the sudden sound of a small creature’s cry drew the attention of the people in the camp.

“... What is this? A cat?”

The first to discover the cat was Connor Lint, who had the ability to teleport.

Since many had heard the cat’s cry, people began to gather around one by one.

Everyone except those who were out on missions was soon gathered around the small creature that had emitted that unfamiliar yet familiar cry.

Connor Lint, along with Adelia, Cristina, and Louis Ankton, who were conducting research within the garrison, and some other Royal Class students couldn’t help but be drawn to it. The camp wasn’t just reserved for second-year students; there were also upperclassmen and underclassmen.

Encountering an animal, especially a kitten, in such a place was rare.

“How did a cat end up here?”

“There are other places in the camp that have dogs, so why not cats?”

“I saw a larger cat that looked similar running away earlier. Did it abandon it?”

“How adorable... It’s so cute.”

“Maybe someone was raising it?”

“They said there was a mother cat.”

Meow!

The original plan was to transform into a cat and stealthily roam about the camp, eavesdropping and spying, but having failed to master the controls, Reinhart ended up becoming a spectacle.

Connor Lint, the first to discover it, picked up the wriggling kitten by the scruff of its neck.

“Hey, hey! Be careful!”

“No, it’s just...”

Connor Lint, who had picked up the small creature, tilted his head and examined the black kitten.

“It looks like it’s sick.”

Brrrr...

The black cat, trembling and unable to properly support itself on its four legs, looked very unwell.

Meow!

Of course, no one understood that it was actually shouting, “Put me down, you bastard!”

***

The poor black kitten, abandoned by its mother, was moved to the dining tent.

It wasn’t shivering from the cold, nor was it unable to support itself because of illness.

However, a blanket was placed over it, and students who had access to Divine Power performed the bizarre act of casting healing spells imbued with Divine Power on an animal for the first time.

Naturally, since it wasn’t cold, covering it with a blanket didn’t stop the shivering, and since it wasn’t actually sick, casting healing spells did not help to strengthen its limbs.

“It seems really sick.”

“Why isn’t it getting better?”

“It’s so cute...”

Naturally, the dining tent was crowded with students.

The happiness that they felt from seeing something so cute was far removed from the harshness and desperation of the war. Therefore, all the students gathered around for a glimpse of this unfortunate yet precious guest who had suddenly appeared.

Thinking it might be hungry, they placed a dish of milk obtained from the dining hall in front of it, but the kitten just trembled, unable to bring itself to drink.

“That’s it!” Connor Lint exclaimed and clapped his hands as he watched the scene. “Maybe it’s stressed because too many people are staring at it.”

Both seniors and juniors nodded. Stress was everyone’s enemy, and for such a small creature, it could be a life-threatening enemy. Even if they didn’t know much, they instinctively understood that much.

“Let’s leave it alone for a while.”

Of course, although it wasn’t stressed because it was a small creature, it was

certainly

stressed.

Those who had access to extraordinary talents and superhumans, each remarkable in their own right, were united over a single kitten.

Having gathered in droves, they all dispersed, leaving the black kitten alone and trembling as it watched them leave.

***

It didn’t take long for the small but significant news of a kitten suddenly appearing in the camp to spread.

Naturally, students who were curious about the kitten continued to visit the dining tent.

Of course, not everyone was interested.

“... That’s quite an odd thing,” said Rudina as she inclined her head, but she showed no further interest, as if her own tasks took precedence.

While it was rare for an animal to survive given the current circumstances, it wasn’t unheard of. Rudina’s shoulders were too burdened for her to be swayed by the appearance of such an animal.

Of course, most people showed at least a little interest in the creature.

The battlefield was an excessively harsh place.

Just as some soldiers kept stray dogs, most of the Royal Class students wanted to see the small animal, even if only for a little while, in the desert of emotions that was the battlefield.

Among them was Adriana, who had dropped out of the Temple but ended up serving with the Royal Class.

“Are you hurt....?” she asked.

Meow...

Like all other students who were students of Divine Power, Adriana cautiously approached the kitten and cast a healing spell.

“... It seems to work when Adriana does it.”

The black kitten, which had been trembling and listless, lifted its head and began to rub itself against Adriana’s fingers.

“How did it end up here...? Poor thing.” Adriana gave a sad smile as she watched the small kitten rubbing itself against her fingers.

Whether it was empathy or something else, the kitten clearly seemed to like Adriana.

After petting the kitten for a while, Adriana was called away for a mission and hurriedly left the dining tent.

“Oh, right. I came to eat...”

In the end, Adriana had been so distracted by the kitten that she had to go on her mission on an empty stomach.

***

Whether Adriana’s healing spell was effective or not, the kitten gradually regained its energy under the care of many students.

Of course, the reality of it was different, but it seemed that way to anyone who observed it.

The kitten’s trembling gradually subsided, and it began to regain control of its limbs, which hadn’t been moving properly.

Eventually, after trembling under the blanket for a while, it succeeded in standing on all fours.

—Look, it’s standing up!

The students whispered, afraid of startling the kitten, as if witnessing a miracle.

Though it still seemed unsure of itself, the kitten began to move cautiously, as if taking its first steps, while many students watched.

The kitten began to walk in small circles around the blanket, as if practicing something.

Despite Connor Lint’s suggestion not to bother it, the appearance of this unfamiliar guest brought a unique excitement to everyone.

Adelia and Cristina huddled together, whispering as they watched the kitten, which had just started walking.

“So, did the mother cat abandon it?”

“That’s what they say.”

“Do you think it might be hungry? Here, have some of this.” Cristina offered the animal a dish of milk, but the kitten didn’t even glance at it.

It was truly being ungrateful, considering how milk was a rare commodity in this situation.

“Is it not hungry?”

Hungry or not, the kitten did not want to eat the way a normal animal would, but who would know that?

The kitten occasionally meowed and walked in circles, then suddenly leaped or swung its front paws wildly, as if testing its body’s functions.

***

As night fell, those who had gone on shorter missions began to return. Naturally, since the news of the kitten had spread, more people came to the dining tent to see it.

Though it had considered itself to be on a stealth reconnaissance mission, its body was not cooperating. However, the reconnaissance targets were willingly coming to it instead, and so the mission objective was ultimately achieved.

“A cat...?” said Ludwig with a tilt of his head when he heard that people were gathering there because of a kitten. “That’s strange.”

He continued to eat his dinner.

Indeed, it was strange for a kitten to be in such a place.

Ludwig showed no further interest beyond that simple comment.

Cliffman, too, seemed uninterested despite seeing the crowd, and began to eat his meal alone.

The black kitten, hidden among the crowd, watched them for a long time.

“...”

Scarlett squatted in front of the kitten, her brow furrowing as she hesitated, wondering whether to reach out her hand.

“Can I... pet it a little?” Scarlett cautiously asked Anna de Gerna, who was standing beside her, as if seeking permission.

“I guess it should be fine... right...?”

Encouraged by Anna’s words, Scarlett cautiously reached out to the kitten and successfully petted it once, albeit carefully.

The kitten allowed Scarlett to touch it, though it did not seem to welcome it as much as it had Adriana’s.

“It’s so, so... cute...”

Scarlett, who rarely showed intense reactions, was at a loss for words, stamping her feet in excitement.

After Scarlett’s success, Anna reached out with a mischievous smile, causing the black kitten to slowly back away as if a trauma switch had been activated, leaving Anna disappointed.

Only the kitten knew the reason.

If the kitten had truly been a kitten, being handled by so many people might have been a problem, but since it wasn’t actually a kitten or a cat, it didn’t matter.

Finally tired of all the attention, the kitten curled itself up in the blanket, observing the comings and goings.

“Shouldn’t we give it a name?” asked Connor Lint, suddenly bringing up the topic with the other students, as if they had already decided to keep the kitten in the Royal Class camp.

“Yeah, it needs a name,” Delphine said, nodding vigorously in agreement.

Connor Lint wasn’t the only one who had already decided that they would keep the kitten, which had appeared less than a day ago.

“Since it’s black, how about Black?” Connor Lint suggested.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“I-is it... lame?” Connor Lint said weakly, breaking into a cold sweat as the others stared at him silently.

“It’s not just lame, it’s too insincere,” Scarlett reprimanded him. She rarely spoke so harshly, which spoke volumes.

“R-right...”

“Oh, I know,” said Erhi de Raffaeli, who had been looking on.

Everyone’s attention turned to Erhi, curious about what he had come up with.

“They say if you give it an ugly name, it’ll live long. Let’s call it Dog Poop.”

Meow!

“It doesn’t seem to like it.”

“Indeed.”

“Does it understand what we’re saying?”

“And why Dog Poop when it’s not even a dog?”

“Well, I heard it would live long if—”

“Quiet.”

“O-okay...”

Erhi’s suggestion was met with criticism from all sides, leaving him deflated.

“How about Lily?”

Cristina’s rather cute suggestion drew an “Oh?” from everyone as they began to consider it.

Meow!

But the black kitten protested, as if it didn’t like either Dog Poop or Lily.

Of course, the students thought it was just a coincidence, not that it understood their words.

“Hmm... Lily... Lily...” Connor Lint said thoughtfully with his arms crossed. “Wait a minute.”

Lint approached the kitten, which was sitting quietly by itself, and unceremoniously lifted one of its hind legs.

“It’s male.”

Hiss!

“Whoa, whoa!”

The black kitten had somehow learned to hiss.

***

Too many cooks spoil the broth.

But with an overflowing abundance of cooks, the broth doesn’t even get spoiled; it just doesn’t get made.

The Royal Class was like a kitchen with too many cooks, and they were getting nowhere.

An avalanche of other possible cat names beyond Black, Dog Poop, and Lily were offered, and so the kitten’s name remained undecided, as everything seemed right yet nothing seemed right.

In the end, what was just a small creature had caused a strange excitement to stir within the Royal Class camp, overshadowing many sorrows and feelings of despair.

Perhaps it didn’t take grand hopes to quell despair.

It was the small things.

Protecting and appreciating the small things that remained could bring hope.

Wrapped up in that strange excitement, the students felt various emotions.

The more important the mission, the farther it took place from the garrison. Therefore, Ellen Artorius returned to the camp quite late.

Naturally, Ellen, who went to the dining hall for a late dinner, had heard about the sudden appearance of the kitten.

Everyone had a vague sense that Ellen had been worn out with fatigue lately. Therefore, after Ellen had finished her meal, the other students led her over to stand before the kitten. They hoped she might find the same comfort the others had found, in the presence of that small creature.

“They say a mother cat came and left it here today.”

“Maybe it wanted us to take care of it?”

“What do you think? Isn’t it cute?”

“...”

Ellen, her vision blurry, looked at the small animal in front of her.

A cat...

Ellen felt as though both the words of the people around her and the presence of the small animal in front of her were very distant. They seemed to be fading away and disappearing.

At Ellen’s appearance, the kitten lifted its head and looked directly at her, as if trying to confirm something.

Ellen, as if entranced, crouched down and brought her hand under the kitten’s chin.

“Oh, it’s licking her.”

The onlookers watched as the small kitten licked Ellen’s hand.

Ellen felt her foggy mind clearing somewhat as she felt the unfamiliar sensation of the kitten licking her hand.

“...”

The kitten licked her fingers endlessly.

Ellen felt as if the small gesture was awakening the feeling along the skin of her extremities, which had been fading away.

The kitten’s low, plaintive cry brought life to her dimming gaze.

Only then did Ellen truly see what was in front of her.

A small, black animal.

Ellen opened her mouth and spoke softly.

“A cat...”

Everyone watched the strange communion in silence.