Chapter 37. That F***ing Cat Bastard (2)
The clock tower display showed one o’clock, meaning Michael had already spent five hours inside the artwork.
For nearly an hour, Michael, Absinthe, and Gin had been moving through the alleys.
“This area is done.”
Gin, who finished first, looked around.
Fluff he had scattered was spread everywhere.
Thud!
“Aaaah, I’m tired. Can’t we rest for just a little while?”
Absinthe still had a bag full of fluff, but she sat down with a sulky expression.
“No. We have to finish quickly so we can carry more alcohol.”
Gin remained firm despite Absinthe’s childish whining.
The fluff collected from the rat swarm was bait meant to distract the cat.
The more fluff they scattered, the longer the cat would waste its time eating it, giving them more time to work above ground.
“Tch, I guess there’s no choice. Anything for alcohol!”
The word alcohol alone was enough to make Absinthe straighten her bent legs and stand again.
“Still, I didn’t know you had that kind of power. I was surprised. That means you really do have your memories!”
“Right. Because unlike us, he isn’t bound to the artwork.”
The topic seemed sudden, but Gin immediately understood.
She was talking about the white flame Michael had created before they came to the surface.
The fact that he had entered the artwork himself, together with that sacred white flame none of them had ever seen before, made Michael seem almost like a savior.
Gin remembered what had happened back at the shelter.
“You people want to leave this place too, which is why you’re looking for clues, right? We both want to get out, so cooperate with me in killing that fucking cat bastard.”
After saying that, Michael had taken Tequila away for a while, prepared some fluff, then handed it over to Gin and Absinthe.
“Act like you normally do. But when you use the fluff, use this instead.”
Michael ordered everyone around however he pleased, yet nobody argued.
Their lives had consisted only of searching endlessly for clues.
Now, for the first time, something new had appeared.
Hope.
Naturally, everyone began following Michael’s instructions.
Even now, Michael was waiting for the two of them to finish their work while creating white flame on his finger.
Hmm, it hasn’t completely recovered yet…. I still need more time.
His aura was returning, but compared to normal, the amount was extremely weak.
Michael looked at all the fluff scattered around them.
Still, the preparations are done. Now the only question is when that fucking cat bastard will appear….
While Michael was working through his strategy, Gin approached him.
“We’re heading to the spring now, but there’s one thing you need to know. It’s about the beast.”
Michael tilted his head slightly, telling Gin to continue.
Gin pointed at the display.
The time had steadily counted down and now showed 00:55.
“That beast doesn’t move after one o’clock. Right now is its resting period. Once the timer passes zero and changes to six o’clock, it becomes active again.”
Before leaving for the spring, Gin briefly explained the rule.
He was warning Michael that they did not have much time.
“That’s why we always use this period. Whether we’re searching for clues or collecting alcohol.”
While the people underground maintained the shelter, it seemed Gin’s group gathered supplies on the surface.
“I’ll take this too, and this!”
Absinthe was already stuffing cloth and metal objects into her bag, items Michael had not seen when he first arrived.
All this time, these people had been risking their lives just to obtain things like alcohol for entertainment and metal materials for their home.
Since they can’t damage the damn cat even by ambushing it, they use this golden period instead.
Even though time was limited, Michael did not care.
The preparations for his hunt were already mostly complete.
Until then, they could do whatever they wanted.
“…For today, I’ll assume hunting the cat is our main goal.”
Gin nervously fiddled with the strap of the bag on his shoulder.
Michael nodded.
I told them to behave normally, but….
Anyone, even a three-year-old child, could tell Michael was planning to hunt the cat just by looking at the metal pipe tied firmly at his waist and the other items he had asked Gin to prepare.
Still, Michael had not explained his strategy to anyone.
“Absinthe, let’s go to the spring!”
“Eeeh, alcohol! Alcohol!”
The moment she heard the word spring, Absinthe hurriedly stopped gathering metal and ran over.
Maybe this bastard was the beast all along.
Between her strange ability to detect useful objects and the way she came running like a dog, Absinthe seemed closer to an animal than a person.
After Absinthe joined them, they began moving through the alleys again.
After around ten minutes, Gin finally stopped when they reached a dead end.
“This is the spring.”
Gin confidently stretched out one hand and showed Michael the view.
“…This is the spring?”
The alley was blocked on all sides.
In the middle was a small stone well.
It looked much more like an ordinary well than a spring.
It was also surprisingly tiny considering how proudly Gin had presented it.
Expecting anything special inside the artwork was ridiculous, yet because Gin had treated it like an important place, Michael could not help feeling slightly disappointed.
“Ugh, you people actually drink this?”
Michael frowned as he approached the spring.
There was water pooled inside the well, but it truly looked stagnant, with such a cloudy color that it seemed extremely unsanitary.
Anyone else would immediately refuse if someone offered them water like this.
Whoosh!
Yet Absinthe had already rushed toward the well and begun filling an iron bottle with the mysterious liquid they called alcohol.
Watching her occasionally stick out her tongue to drink some only made the spring seem even more disgusting.
“At this point, I’m starting to feel sorry for you….”
“Haha! It might look like dirty water because it’s inside the well, but once you take it out, it’s actually pretty good sweet liquor! If only you understood how good it tastes…. Tsk.”
“Get lost. I wouldn’t drink that even if I was dying.”
Michael had gone beyond disgust and started feeling pity for people forced to drink something like that.
Meanwhile, Gin seemed to pity Michael for not understanding alcohol.
Gin started following Absinthe to collect some.
At that moment, a shadow appeared over them.
“Meow.”
Gin and Absinthe froze at the sound they should never have heard.
Gin immediately checked the display.
There were still forty minutes left before zero.
“…How? It shouldn’t be active yet.”
Crunch. Crunch.
“Guuuh, guuuh.”
The cat seemed to be eating someone.
The sound of something being thoroughly chewed reached their ears.
Michael recognized the voice of its victim.
That rat bastard. So you finally got eaten. Idiot.
