Wolf and Miche were alone now—or rather, one human and one beast. Wolf scratched the back of his head and let out a breath, then stared blankly at Miche.
Miche, for her part, was curious—no, still clearly on edge, fur standing on end. Looking closer, he noticed her eyes were different colors. Purple and green. Beautiful as gems set in a face.
"No time to stand here looking at her," he said. "Anyway, I guess I'll clean up."
He didn't want to say anything about his client's living situation, but the smell was terrible. Miche's urine had soaked into the wooden floor and walls in several places. Add the basement location with no air flow, and the room was thick with dirt. If this weren't a job, he'd have left already. He even thought the smell was why earlier adventurers had given up.
"How do you even stand being in a room like this? Doesn't it stink to you?"
Casually, he reached out a hand. Leaving aside the dirty room, he'd been wanting to touch Miche's fluffy coat since earlier.
"Would you quit naggin'?" Miche shot back. "It ain't like I choose to live in this dump, y'know!"
"Whoa! You can talk!?"
"Huh? You understand what I'm sayin'?"
Wolf nodded. At this point, he still thought Miche was a phantom beast that could speak human languages.
"Well, ain't that useful. Listen, you got a minute to hear me out?"
"About what?"
"You saw it when you came to the manor, didn't ya? My old lady, gettin' into it with those men..."
Wolf nodded. And Miche went on.
The men arguing with Miranda were government officials. Apparently, they wanted to take Miche into state control. Phantom beasts were rare. And they were a big military asset. So the state was willing to pay Miranda a fortune to get Miche as part of their forces.
"But that old lady won't move. She's fixed on keepin' me here, even if it means pickin' a fight with the whole damn country."
"She must really love her cat."
"Nah."
Miche shook her head. Her face turned oddly sad.
"That old lady don't feel a bit of love for me. Not even a little."
"What makes you say that?"
"'Cause I might as well have killed her old man."
Miranda's husband had been an active beast tamer until just a year ago. Apparently, he was trusted not just by phantom beasts but by people too—traveling from battlefield to battlefield. But age had caught up with him. Miche, long-lived, was in her prime. One who stopped, one who kept going. Their views slowly stopped matching.
"In the end, I ignored the orders and pushed ahead, leavin' my master without protection. A beast tamer without a beast is just a person—basic textbook stuff, and I forgot it." Miche paused. "Hey, you even listenin'?"
Wolf had started cleaning. Carefully, he swept the floor, then got down with a wet cloth, cleaning the dried urine marks.
"I'm listening," he said.
"You sure?"
Wolf worked in silence for a moment. "I ain't smart like my daughter. Long stories ain't my strong point... but even I can tell. What you're sayin' is just guesswork. If she really hated you, she'd have kicked you out long ago."
"Maybe it's guilt. On account of her husband... Maybe she's just stuck with me out of duty. Or maybe she's keepin' me close so she can get her revenge. 'Come at me,' she's thinkin'. 'I'll take you any day.'"
Wolf let out a heavy sigh, cloth still in hand. Miche looked, for all the world, like a kid in the middle of a wild phase.
"Look. You're a phantom beast, ain'tcha? Older'n me, probably. Act your age, for cryin' out loud."
"Shut it, old man."
"Then why don't you just leave?"
"If I could do that, I wouldn't be here..."
Suddenly, Miche dropped the tough act and went into catlike silence, mumbling. Wolf grabbed her by the scruff and lifted her up.
"Hey! Put me down! What're you doin' now?!"
"Bath time."
"Huh!?"
"Just figured out—the smell ain't the room. It's you. So I'm washing you."
"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on! I hate baths! You don't let me go, I'm gonna eat you!"
Miche lashed out with her front paws, trying to scratch Wolf. But he dodged easily. Worse, he grabbed all four of her legs, holding her half-hanging in midair.
"Lemme go, dammit!"
She struggled, but it was no use. A phantom beast lynx was weaker than other phantom beasts—but still stronger than a human. Yet Miche couldn't do a thing against Wolf.
(Just how strong is this guy?!)
This wasn't normal human strength. This was beast-level.
Wolf hummed a little tune as he headed for the bath.
* * *
Reminia opened the window of her lab. She took a deep breath of air, then let it all out in one voice:
"HEEEEEY DADDY-OOOOOOO!!!!"
Her full cry echoed not just through the palace, but all the way to the city below. In the distance, a horse being led down the street was shocked and began tossing its head, much to its owner's annoyance.
"Wh-wh-wh-what are you doing, Reminia?!"
"Well... I thought if I shouted loud enough, Papa might hear me."
She took another deep breath.
"ARE YOOOOU EATING DINNER?!?!"
Another shout. Down below, guards were starting to gather, probably thinking someone was screaming in trouble. Hashiry quickly slammed the window shut.
"Would you cut that out?! This is a problem—not to the neighbors, but to the whole palace! And how far away do you think Nikaras even is? There's no way he can hear you!"
"You don't know that. I think Papa could hear me NOW."
"NOW?! You said 'NOW' just now. Wait—don't tell me—"
"I've got him fully improved. That way he can hear my voice anytime."
Pretty impressive, right? She puffed out her chest proudly—though with her small body, she looked less like a strong mage and more like a kid bragging about the fish she caught. Hashiry cleared her throat, pointedly.
"I'll admit you're a very strong mage."
"Uh-huh!"
"But let me say just one thing."
"What is it, Hashiry?"
"Nikaras is in the opposite direction."
"..."
Today, too, Reminia's lab was peaceful.
* * *
Apparently, Wolf had won Miranda over.
He handled cleaning and washing without issue, and the country dishes he made now and then were surprisingly good. The dusty, messy storage room that had barely been walkable was now organized; since Wolf's arrival, the manor had become noticeably cleaner.
He even handled Miranda's sudden requests without complaint. If there was one bad point, it was that he never seemed to change his underwear.
"So you live apart from your daughter too, do you?"
Miranda had been in clearly good spirits lately. It had been a long time since she'd laughed like that at the dinner table—maybe not since her husband was alive. With an age gap like that between parent and child, they probably had plenty to talk about.
Today, too, she was chatting with Wolf over dinner he'd made, eating every bite. Miche watched the scene through a crack in the door.
She clicked her tongue.
(Laughin' it up, ain't they? Don't they know how I feel...)
She paused in the dark hallway. Turning toward the window, she looked up at Satellite Rek—the moon that legend said held the dead.
"It's fine now, old man. The madam ain't lonely no more—even without you."
She whispered toward Rek. But no answer came. Only darkness lay there.
Miche spun around. She headed straight for the manor entrance, slipped through the cat door, and stepped outside.
(Goodbye... Granny.)
The night wind, thick with the smell of salt, ruffled her thick fur. Slowly, she walked toward the harbor.
She hadn't gone far when something like a stone rolled into her path. One look and she knew: it was a magic-charged stone—magic ore. For a phantom beast like Miche, who needed to take in mana, magic ore was a key source of food.
Grrrr...
She'd eaten just a few hours ago, but the sight of the ore stirred something deep.
She'd been taught not to pick things up, but now that she'd left the manor behind, the pull of freedom clouded her thinking.
Snap!
The moment she touched it, a flash of light burst forth. A strong shock went through her body.
(Damn! A trap...)
Her mind went dark. As her vision blacked out, the grinning faces of strangers burned themselves onto her eyes.
Miranda was the first to notice Miche was gone.
She'd gone to check on her before getting breakfast ready. But Miche was nowhere in the manor. Miranda called for Wolf, and they searched the area, but not a single hair of the cat was found.
"Oh dear. What if she's been taken?"
It wasn't just the state that wanted phantom beasts. There were plenty of brokers working in the underworld, selling them illegally. Miranda's worry was well-founded.
"Please, calm down. I'll find Miche. You have my word."
"Please, Wolf. Save that child. She mustn't be left alone."
Miranda begged beside him, and Wolf breathed a sigh of relief inside.
"Oh, good."
"Good?! What do you mean, 'good'?!"
Her tears turned to anger as she raised her cane. Wolf flinched.
"Forgive me. What I meant was... you really do love her, don't you, Miranda?"
"Of course I do. That child is the only thing my husband left behind."
Miranda's husband had been eaten whole by a magical beast, leaving no bones and no memories. His weapons and armor remained, they said, but the only thing brought back from the battlefield was Miche.
"She's my family. Even if she's a cat. Even if she's a phantom beast."
Wolf understood, painfully and deeply. He, too, had lost someone. A short meeting, but one that still breathed deep within his heart: the strange woman who'd died leaving Reminia behind. And just as Miche was to Miranda, Reminia was Wolf's only connection to her.
Wolf took Miranda's hands in his. He thought he saw the old woman's cheeks turn red.
"When Miche comes back... tell her that."
"Hm?"
"I think it'd make her really happy."
"I-I see. But how do you plan to find her?"
Wolf raised a finger to his lips. He signaled for quiet, then listened carefully.
He'd known for a while that if he focused, he could pick up sounds from a wide area. He knew exactly who to thank for that: likely Reminia, improving his ears so he could find magical beasts faster.
(That girl... she really thinks of everything.)
Thanks to her, finding the target wouldn't take long. Miche was a phantom beast, with a cry unlike any human or animal. He had no trouble finding her.
Wolf straightened up.
"I'll be back soon. Miranda, why don't you make breakfast while you wait?"
"Wha—hold on!"
But Wolf was already out the door, running across the stones like the wind.
Summary:
Wolf listens to Miche's sad account of Miranda's husband's death, then forcefully bathes the unwilling phantom beast. Reminia's funny scene shows her shouting for her father across impossible distances, only to be told she's facing the wrong way. Miranda panics when Miche disappears, telling her deep love for the creature, and Wolf runs off to find her.
Trivia:
Miche has different colored eyes: one purple eye and one green eye.
Miche blames herself for Miranda's husband's death because she ignored his orders.
Miche speaks with a Northern English working-class dialect.
Wolf's daughter Reminia is a mage who improves his abilities.
Wolf has superhuman strength that Miche calls "beast-level."
Reminia's lab is in a palace.
Hashiry is Reminia's easily-worried helper.
Nikaras is the place where Reminia's father Wolf currently is.
Satellite Rek is a moon that legend says holds the dead.
Miche left the manor through a cat door.
The trap used magic ore to catch Miche.
Miranda's husband was eaten whole by a magical beast, leaving only Miche as a memory.
Wolf also lost someone: a strange woman who left him Reminia.
Miranda and Wolf share a similar loss: each has only their child/creature connection left.
Notes:
• Miche - A magical cat-beast called the Thunder King. Friend to Wolf. Playful, takes fun revenge on the receptionist. Famous phantom beast known as the [Thunder King] (Regulus). Different colored eyes. Former familiar to Rocalo Visto. Feels guilt over Rocalo's death. Can speak human language and is understood by Wolf. Fluffy fur. Howls like a dog when emotional. Phantom beast in the form of a Persian cat. True form is a huge white beast called Eregil, the Thunder King. Served her late master for over fifty years before being taken in by Miranda. Struggles with sadness and guilt over her master's death. Uses rough, casual speech with cat-like sounds. Phantom beast looking like a white cat with nine tails. A lynx or nekomata type creature. Has long fur, short legs, and a scary presence. Was owned by Miranda's late husband and is very bad-tempered. Phantom beast lynx with different colored eyes (purple and green). Long-lived but emotionally young. Speaks with a rough, country dialect. Conflict with Miranda comes from guilt over her husband's death. Tsundere nature.
• Wolf - A 42-year-old former A-rank adventurer now operating at SSS-rank levels, he retired to Nicalas Village to raise his daughter, Reminia, as a humble farmer and craftsman. Though soot-stained and calm, this protective, curly-haired father possesses immense, beyond-human strength. A pragmatic, understated mentor, he leads by example, balancing quiet devotion with the quiet authority of a seasoned guardian.
• Miranda - Older widow and Mike's owner. Former beast tamer's wife. First strict but shows deep love for Mike. Sees Mike as family and the only remaining link to her dead husband. Older wife of the famous thunder beast tamer Rocalo Visto. Lives alone in a big house. Uses a cane. Stern face that softens around Mike. Grandchildren have built a big house and are coming to take her in tomorrow. Owner of the manor where Mike lives. Mike's master's daughter. Appears only through others' words and memory.
• Reminia - Fifteen-year-old Great Hero of Straval and researcher of the Double World Theory, this willful, intelligent girl sports striking red hair, amethyst eyes, and a slender build. A dedicated protector of her father, Wolf, she balances a tomboyish exterior with immense, limited-use magic—including holy relics and teleportation. Her speech shifts between analytical precision and deep devotion to him.
• Hashiry - A 24-year-old A-class mage and researcher at the Royal Magical Research Institute, she is Reminia’s tall, slender, white-haired advisor and secretary. Sporting a white and gold jacket, boyish features, and pale blue eyes, she balances professional, patient service with a playful, teasing dynamic. Often exasperated by Reminia’s overprotectiveness, she observes her superior's magical feats with disbelief.