On the road.
As they traveled, Richard naturally learned the names of the cat people's group.
The male swordsman was called Lusi, the female swordsman Ellie, the Rat Person Heitu, and the little fox boy Paike. All were fairly common names—nothing in that regard seemed different from the Wizard World.
What surprised Richard slightly were the names of the young Tiger Person and the elderly Orange Cat Person.
The Tiger Person was called Tyson, pronounced similarly to the name of a famous boxer from Earth.
As for the Orange Cat Person, his name was even more unusual. It was... Husky.
Yes, Husky.
A cat—a cat person—named Husky.
Richard could not help finding it rather amusing.
Beyond the amusement, though, was a deep curiosity.
He had seen images of the Ancient Wizard Civilization in Heaven and knew that many kinds of humanoid intelligent life had existed there. After the White Light Cataclysm appeared, it was only natural that these humanoid intelligent beings had survived across the various sealed planes.
But the Wizard World—that was, the Tester Plane—had no beastfolk. Now, seeing the Orange Cat Person Husky, the Tiger Person Tyson, the Rat Person Heitu, and the little fox boy Paike, all wearing animal exteriors yet behaving almost exactly like ordinary humans, Richard could not help wanting to investigate.
After all, human behavior was closely tied to physiological structure. Since these beastfolk moved so similarly to humans, were their physiological structures similar as well? Or were they different, hiding some other mystery?
More than once, Richard had felt the urge to "friendly" and "thoroughly" study their bodies, but considering that such matters were mere trivialities and could not compare with the great task at hand, he suppressed the thought.
But suppressing that thought did not earn him any kinder treatment. Whether they