The sound was crisp and pleasant.
Yet it made the yawning Pendragon freeze.
The orange cat slowly closed his mouth and looked toward the source of the sound, trying to appear nonchalant. Four young people-two men and two women-were coming from Jia'er Mountain Town. The young men carried bows on their backs and hunting knives, while the women carried baskets. The exclamation had come from one of the women.
She wore a cloth dress and no jewelry, but there was no trace of weariness or hunger on her face. She clearly came from a well-off farming family, perhaps one that even owned some property.
The three young men beside her were much the same.
Picking wild fruit and hunting in their spare time to help support their families?
Arthur speculated about the group of four before him.
The woman who had spoken was clearly embarrassed. Her face flushed, and she kept bowing apologetically to Arthur. Once Arthur waved it off, she hurried away with her companions-
"Norma, don't be so rude next time."
"Exactly. Luckily, that gentleman didn't blame you."
"Besides, that cat was clearly adorable. How could you call him fat? If anything, he's chubby!"
The four young people walked farther and farther away, but their voices still reached Arthur's ears.
The young Medium confirmed that his orange cat had heard them too, then raised a hand and had the Hand of the Void lift the cat down from the carriage roof.
Then-
"Hahaha!
You really have gotten a lot heavier!
Pan, you need to lose weight!"
The young Medium laughed heartily.
There was no room for that weak-kneed approach of saying, "Don't listen to mean remarks!"
To help his orange cat grow up quickly, a little necessary prodding was the best approach.
Of course, growing quickly meant he