Twilight seemed startled by Richie's casual remark and nodded a little stiffly.
"Ah... ah... yes, yes. Those psychiatric patients get agitated from time to time. Special circumstances call for special treatment."
Richie stared at him with wide, innocent eyes, looking so guileless that Twilight thought he was just an easy-to-placate little child.
With everything taken care of, Twilight was ready to take Richie away.
Twilight wrapped a strong arm around Richie and swept him into his embrace.
But Richie suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Father, there's a kitty here. Richie wants to find a kitty. Put Richie down, quick, Father..."
Richie squirmed in Twilight's arms. Puzzled, Twilight set him down.
The moment Richie's feet touched the ground, he pattered off in one direction and disappeared from sight.
Twilight reacted a moment later. Worried that Richie might run into danger, he hurried after him.
"Hey, Richie! Where are you going? Slow down-"
Richie ran into a dim area deep inside the building.
A long, narrow passage ran down the middle, with tall cages on either side.
The little animals inside the cages trembled, letting out whimpers now and then.
Richie walked among them, smelling the waves of foul odor wafting from both sides.
Twilight looked to either side. These were all experimental subjects. He had no idea what Richie was looking for, or whether Richie wanted one of the cats here.
Twilight had guessed right.
From the moment Richie entered this area, he had spread his powerful psychic energy over it, carefully listening to every cat's inner monologue.
Their thoughts were a chaotic jumble.
"I'm so hungry!"
"So cold, so cold, so cold..."
"Stupid humans, dreaming of controlling us cats."
*"... "*
Richie listened to them one by one but found no cats behaving strangely.
He couldn't help sinking into thought.