Sun, Cat, and Light

"Of course it isn't lost, Detective. You can't accuse people without cause. But that damned cat—"

The man inside the door spoke through gritted teeth, as though the cat had eaten his entire fortune. His expression twisted as he said:

"Get that cat out of here. I'll never help look after another orange cat again."

"Alright. Where is the cat?"

Shade asked. He did not particularly like cats, but for such a generous commission fee, he would not object even if he had to carry one through every street and alley.

"On the roof."

The man pointed upward, his gritted expression growing even fiercer.

"Ever since that detective brought it here for boarding, this cat hasn't let anyone touch it easily. It scratched my wife and Miss Cindy at least twice. It refuses to eat cheap cat food and keeps bullying the other pets here. I've run this place for years, and I've never seen such a combative half-year-old kitten. At this hour, it must be up there basking in the sun! Get it out of here. I can't take it anymore."

Shade pretended not to hear the man's complaints. He stepped back slightly from the doorway, then looked up at the three-story building.

"How do you expect me to climb onto the roof?"

"There's a ladder in the courtyard that goes from the 1st floor to the roof. I'm not going up there. I never want to see that cat again!"

Shade naturally had no desire to climb so high. He took safety very seriously. Just as he was about to persuade the big-nosed middle-aged man, the latter stuffed a one-shilling note into his hand.

"Hamilton Detective gave me one shilling and Ten Pence to care for it for two months. Here, take this shilling back and get it out of here! Never let that cat show up in this lane again!"

His voice was nearly hysterical, to the extent that the children playing chase in the street and the woman across the way leaning out to hang laundry both looked over.

It was hard to imagine just how much psychological damage that orange cat had inflicted on him.

Following the middle-aged man through the house, Shade arrived at a backyard piled up with empty pet cages. The man held the long metal ladder steady while Shade cautiously climbed up to the rooftop.

The rooftop was piled up with all sorts of trash and miscellaneous objects. It was unclear how all of it had been brought up when the only way up was by ladder. In the southeast corner of the roof, on the only patch of ground that could be called clean, Shade saw a cat lying lazily atop a metal pipe, facing the summer morning sun.

It was indeed a young kitten, its body so soft that it lay sprawled across the pipe like a puddle of water. It was not large, and could even be called small and thin. Its fur gleamed faintly under the sunlight filtering through the mist, a sign of good health.

Still, rather than an orange cat, it looked more like a white cat draped in a warm orange blanket. Only when it stood up did Shade realize that the almost dazzling orange hue truly was the color of its fur.

The cat stood on a discarded metal pipe on the rooftop. One end of the pipe rested on a torn sofa cushion, placing the cat slightly higher than the objects around it.

It rose to its feet with its back to the morning sun, its amber eyes turning to Shade as it warily sized up the stranger. Shade had no experience dealing with such animals, and the big-nosed middle-aged man's words made him somewhat worried that the orange cat might pounce on him.

But this orange cat, which shared the name "Mia" with its owner, did not look particularly fierce. It was observing Shade, and Shade knew he was being observed, so he tried to appear friendly while constantly reminding himself of the cat's value.

"I'm taking you to see your owner, Miss Mia San Gaode."

He found a place to stand amid the discarded junk, crouched slightly, and clapped his hands. A deliberate smile appeared on his face, but just as expected, that suspicious display earned no response from the cat.

"Miss Mia Goode."

The first sentence had been in the most standard Northern Kingdom Human Common Language, namely Delarion Language. This time, he spoke with a Tobesk local accent, a New Ability Shade had learned over the past two days.

"I'm taking you to find your owner, Miss Mia Goode."

The orange cat's small ears twitched. It raised its right forepaw and licked it, then lowered it and continued staring brightly at Shade.

Shade pursed his lips and looked around, confirming that there were no taller buildings nearby. Then he extended the index finger of his right hand.

"Look."

Silver Light appeared on his fingertip. The orange cat's amber eyes immediately widened. Its mouth opened slightly, and as it stood on the rusty metal pipe, its whiskers trembled while it craned its head toward the light.

"Miss Mia Goode."

Shade continued, slowly approaching the orange cat. He slowly extended his left hand, suppressing his concern about the "wild animal," and gently picked it up with one hand.

The orange cat was not heavy. At least, not yet.

The cat still tilted its head at Shade's right index finger, but after the light on it went out, it did not flee from his arms. With its back against Shade's chest, it waved its two little paws with just the right amount of force, pawing at the finger that had just glowed, seemingly very interested in its "new toy."

"Good."

Only then did the Detective let out a long breath of relief. He stood up, preparing to leave, while the young orange cat, Orange Cat Miya, merely squirmed uneasily without struggling too much.

"Not fierce at all. It's even very well-behaved. Looks like I'm quite good at making other animals like me too."

Shade thought happily. Then he noticed something lying beneath the pipe where the orange cat had been resting. Holding the cat in one arm, he bent down and picked it up with his right hand, only to find that it was a somewhat old box of Rhodes Cards.

When Rhodes Cards were used, a complete set of fifty-four cards was required. If there were special cards, they could be substituted according to suit and number, because all Rhodes Cards had the same pattern on their backs.

The box before him was not any kind of special Rhodes Cards. It was similar to the set Shade had seen the three men using in the tavern. The designs on the faces were extremely simple, and a box probably cost only a few dozen pence.

Seeing that it was nothing important, he casually slipped it into his pocket. Then, carrying the cat in one arm, he carefully climbed down the ladder into the courtyard.

"I took an old set of Rhodes Cards from the rooftop. How much do I owe you?"

The old cards looked like trash, but Shade did not forget to mention them. Such old cards were worthless. He had only slipped them into his pocket because he wanted to make a complete deck together with that Origin · Silver Moon card.

When the big-nosed middle-aged man saw that Shade was really taking the cat away, he nearly cried in front of him. As for the trash on the rooftop, he did not care in the slightest.

Afterward, Shade left Purple Iris Lane. But rather than wandering around while carrying someone else's cat, he headed straight for Miss Goode's Home. Aside from making a round of "purr purr" sounds at the beginning, Orange Cat Miya only kept pawing at Shade's sleeves and the clothes on his chest. It made no attempt to escape from his arms.

Since Miss Goode was willing to pay such a high price to find her cat, she was certainly not poor. She lived on Sandrew Street, a quiet residential district in the south of the city. Every household there had its own little garden, and each fence gate bore its own nameplate.