Goose Is Not That Goose

Oaks wiped his head with a forepaw and finally understood—

This young Chinese man had only just arrived. He had happened to see the poor gathering here at Little Rainforest and thought there was something exciting to watch. Who knew that the moment he went over, he would be taken under control?

The burly Latino man responsible for maintaining order checked his phone and found nothing but Chinese characters he did not recognize. Realizing the young man was probably one of those international students he had been seeing often lately, he had someone throw him out and be done with it.

Now he lay stiffly by the roadside. The poor stared at him like he was an idiot for a while, then went back amid a stream of filthy complaints.

"This guy has some nerve. No ambulance? Looks like he did his homework before coming abroad.

"But doesn't he know that even during the day, a foreign student like him shouldn't casually come to the slums of Brooklyn?"

The bespectacled young man wept and sniveled. After being dizzy for a while, he finally regained consciousness.

Dejected, he walked over to a wall and squatted down. He fumbled through his pockets, shaking out his student ID, meal card, and various other things before finally pulling out a pack of tissues to wipe his face and glasses.

"Columbia University, Environmental Science Department, Zhang Shuren..."

From afar, Oaks could clearly make out the words on the young man's student ID. His cat mouth curled in disdain as he silently jumped down from the wall, ready to enjoy today's birthday lunch.

But then he suddenly shuddered—

"What was that?!"

His animal instincts told him that something unusual was watching him.

"A person? No, a beast... and not an ordinary one!"

Oaks bent his hind legs slightly and arched backward, all his soft orange fur puffing up a little—an instinctive reaction in his orange-cat form.

"Over there!"

He suddenly turned toward the Chinese young man still wiping his glasses. Could this guy really be hiding something?

"No, it's not him..."

He raised his gaze, and in the next instant, an orange figure appeared on top of the wall above Zhang Shuren's head.

"..."

Oaks stared speechlessly at the orange cat, which gave a huge yawn before turning a pair of adorable big eyes toward him. The corner of his mouth twitched furiously.

Have I been single so long that even a female cat looks pretty to me...

This big orange cat had two alertly perked ears, an adorably soft face, and a well-proportioned body. She was not like nine out of ten orange cats—nor was she the tenth.

She was probably a house cat. She even wore a collar with a name tag.

"Hmm, G-O-O-S-E... Goose."

Oaks nodded slightly. She had a name, so naturally she was someone's pet.

Goose. A pretty cute name.

Yeah, Goose. An orange cat.

Yeah, she's got her eyes on me. Should I run? Can I get away? Waiting online, urgently need an answer.

All four of Oaks's paws were sweaty—

This was one of the dangerous targets on Earth that could currently be counted on one hand. How the hell had he run into her?!

Why weren't you off playing with Nick Fury? What were you doing here?!

Could she be after my body?!

Oaks edged backward slightly, while Goose leaned forward.

Oaks slowly took half a step back. Goose's big eyes remained fixed on him as her hind legs bent slightly, ready to leap!

"Ah-ha! Big Orange!"

Oaks's heartbeat nearly stopped. He almost collapsed, but in the next instant, a pair of hands of God appeared beside Goose and grabbed the bewildered cat, carrying her down.

"Hahaha! So cute! Oh~ little darling, are you lost? You're all alone now? I'm all alone too~"

Zhang Shuren hugged the bewildered Goose and gave her an enthusiastic petting, sighing with a satisfied look on his face.

"Alas, perhaps I'm getting old. When I was rushing along alone, I didn't feel much of anything. But now, beneath this wall in a foreign land, one person, one shadow... I've finally tasted loneliness."

Oaks nearly cursed out loud. You idiot, weren't you in the Environmental Science Department?

Are you sure your surname is Zhang and not Zhou?!

What you're holding is a cruel fate, kid!

And Goose had already snapped out of her daze!

There had once been a black-colored guy who had petted her like this too.

"Meowraow!"

Oaks covered his face with a cat paw.

"Aah!!"

Zhang Shuren screamed miserably and fell to the ground. Goose had shown mercy; he only had three claw marks on his face.

But...

"Young man, wounds caused by a Flerken cannot heal naturally..."

Oaks sighed. Just as he was about to take the chance to leave, he heard a trembling voice. His legs went weak, and he failed to get away.

"Big Orange~ I was too abrupt~ When you fall for someone like this, you can't help saying gentle words you never even knew you could say..."

"This idiot!"

Oaks had just tried to get up when a small shadow already covered him.

"You... are you a cat?"

Just as Oaks was about to risk transforming into a leopard, stealthing, and sprinting away from the scene, he heard a curious voice asking him a question.

"Hm?"

Oaks slowly turned his head and stared at Goose, who was curiously looking at him. Only after a moment did he suddenly realize.

"Oh, shit! I can communicate with animals!"

A Druid with Wild Heart could communicate with animals, and Oaks naturally could do so as well.

For one thing, animals were not very intelligent, and Oaks had never intended to become a beast tamer, so he did not often take the initiative to communicate with them.

For another... could a Flerken be the same as an ordinary animal? He had simply been scared senseless just now.

But now that he had recovered, Oaks remembered that a Flerken's habits were no different from those of an ordinary cat.

Moreover, her intelligence was far higher than that of an ordinary cat, so being able to communicate normally made perfect sense.

"Cough... uh, hello. I'm Oaks. Why do you ask?"

Ignoring the cat servant whose eyes lit up again at the sight of another orange cat, Oaks cautiously began communicating with Goose.

"I look like the cats on this planet, but I'm still different. You look different from them too."

Goose's voice sounded like a child's, adorably sweet. To a certain cat servant, the two orange cats were merely meowing at each other. He was even reflecting on how he had probably been scratched because he had stopped them from meeting—

Heh. Being single for too long really gave off that damn sour stink.

"Hmm... I really am different. I'm a Druid. I'm, well, a human who knows a few special spells. I can become a cat, and I can also become some other animals."

Oaks briefly explained what a Druid was to Goose, while he began feeling restless—

Don't misunderstand. It wasn't what you thought.

"Um... Goose, how did you end up here?"

"My master has been gone from this planet for a long time. I just wander around everywhere. Today was the first time I saw someone different. You're very interesting."

"Then... do you want to come to my home? It's not like you have anywhere to go."

"Sure~ I want pure-meat canned cat food and freeze-dried treats. No kibble. It's hard to digest."

"...No problem."

A Flerken had a pocket universe in her stomach and would not get fat no matter how much she ate... Looks like he would have to work hard and make money.

"Um... wait for me here."

Goose sat down and watched Oaks disappear around a corner. Then a red-haired young man came out, picked her up, and walked over to the cat-servant young man, whose face was full of envy.

"Hey, buddy, sorry... Looks like my cat hurt you. Come with me. I have a first-aid kit at home."

"Huh? You speak Chinese?"

The cat-servant young man seemed to glow all over.

"That's great! I suppose I..."

"Stop! Or I'll call an ambulance to drag you away!"

"..."