2.

「Come when I call you..」

「Come and if I tell you to act cute right in front of my nose, act cute, and if I order you to open a bag of potato chips on my behalf, then do it.」

「Of course, you can never lie to me and must always speak the truth.」

「And that’s not all. If I ask you to meow, then meow you shall, and if I grow tired of your meowing and tell you to bark instead, then bark willingly you must.」

3.

The Count looked around.

“There are too many ears around here to have a conversation. Let’s go somewhere else.”

It was a reasonable suggestion. We left the square.

Well, although I say we left, we just moved to a café attached to the edge of the square.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve been here.’

This café was where we first met. It was the place that held the first meeting that recognized me as the vice-guild leader of all of the top five guilds. It can be said to be a place with its own historical significance.

Originally, it was occupied by the most famous franchise in the world, the Green Star Octopus Mermaid Queen. But at some point, it changed into a cat café.

“Ah, come in! Woof! Master!”

More precisely, it changed today.

Definitely, these groups of cats that I remember seeing in Golden Heaven World, no matter how you look at them, seem to be the [The Cat that Bit a Gold Coin], dashed out towards the entrance.

“Woof! All of us are so moved by the arrival of our master that we can’t contain ourselves!”

“Ah, I have already prostrated myself on the ground because I can’t contain myself……!”

“We have composed a ‘Count’s Cheerful Song’ out of devotion for our master, woof!”

The kitties were lined up in a row, neatly prostrated with only their tails fiercely wagging.

The reason why the kitties weren’t meowing but barking instead, was because the Count had ordered them to do so.

“Hmm.”

The Count covered her lower face with a fan. Her eyes were smiling.

“Your hospitality isn’t bad. Well, being the Merchant God, you should at least be capable of such basic tasks. Please, lead the way to our seats.”

“Woof! We will guide you right now!”

The cats sprang up and led the way.

The spot we arrived at was a window seat. Just sitting there seemed enough to compensate for the coffee’s price, truly the most luxurious hotspot in the cafe. And literally a hotspot it was.

“We preheated the seats in anticipation of our master’s arrival! Woof woof!”

Because the cats had been sitting on each chair one by one.

“If we can warm our master’s chilled body even slightly with the temperature of our buttocks, it would be the greatest honor of our three lives! Woof woof!”

“Please have a seat, master. All of us eagerly want to serve you!”

“We’ve chased all the other customers away. Don’t worry! We gave them 10 gold coins each and politely asked them to leave, and they left happily!”

“If they realize that their insignificant lives have contributed to the Count’s comfortable daily life, they will undoubtedly be delighted! Woof woof!”

“What the…….”

I shivered.

“I have never seen nor heard of such a servile existence…”

“I wondered what the best use for these creatures would be. It seems there’s no better punishment for them, who have mocked humans so, than to be petted by them forever. That’s why I bought a café.”

“From what I know, this café’s land is the most expensive in the Tower…….”

“Well. There’s more than enough money to rot.”

We sat at the window seats.

To reiterate, this was a café built in the square. The cats controlled the entry so no one followed us inside, but through the window, pedestrians could still easily see us.

Pedestrians took photos and waved their arms, shouting through the glass window. As I gave a slightly awkward smile and waved back, a burst of cheering exploded, causing even the soundproof glass to tremble.

It’s scary.

“Wouldn’t it be better to sit somewhere more secluded……?”

“No.”

The Black Dragon Master firmly refused.

“Do you know how long you’ve been away from your seat? I won’t say you should spend 90 out of 100 days in Babylon. But you should at least stay for 30 days. You are no different from a king. There’s no worse leader than a king who leaves his throne vacant.”

“So, you came to the café on purpose….”

“Yes. At least when you are on the first floor, you need to be visible to the people. It’s better to allow the citizens to observe rather than hold a meeting in an unknown depth. It reassures them to feel that the highest-ranked hunters are living near them, doesn’t it?”

So this is also a part of image management.

Unlike me, Anastasia waved with a smile so skillful it was flawless. Clatter clatter! The glass shook again.

Truly, the Black Dragon Master is impeccable.

“Now, you might be wondering why I remember the Heaven Floors?”

The Count quickly got to the point.

“…Yes, I am curious. Honestly, I don’t understand.”

“As you know, I made the [The Cat that Bit a Gold Coin] kneel.”

Indeed, beneath the Count’s chair, four cats were neatly kneeling. I recognized that the Count had made a pun, though I didn’t react.

“Tsk.”

The Count flicked her fan.

“I forced absolute obedience on the Merchant God. But in reality, my target was something else. To hide a beast, first you need to create a forest to hide it, and for me, absolute obedience was a kind of forest.”

“Then, what was the beast?”

“The fact that they could never lie to me.”

I recalled those words.

「Of course, you can never lie to me and must always speak the truth.」

That condition was definitely included in the Count’s terms of surrender. Noticing that I had remembered, the Count nodded her head once.

“Seeing the look in your eyes, it seems your brain is still very sharp, Kim Gong-ja. Then, let me ask you.”

Shrrk, the Count’s fan folded.

“Did [The Cat that Bit a Gold Coin] lose its memory?”

I blinked.

“What?”

“A simple question. [The Wand Of Ages] can distort the memories of hunters and constellations. So, simply thinking, [The Cat that Bit a Gold Coin] seemed to have lost its memories of the Heaven Floor and the Pillar. However, I suddenly thought about it after hearing that story.”

The Count tapped the table with the tip of her fan.

“[That can’t be possible] is what I thought.”

“…….”

The Count did not explain why she thought it was impossible. Instead, the cats lying under the table perked up their ears.

“Woof! What you thought is correct, master. We are in cooperative relationship with [The Wand Of Ages]! When that pillar sends souls, we receive them. Even if other constellations can’t remember about the pillar, we, as collaborators of the Heaven Floor, must remember!”

“…I see.”

I felt like I had grasped the full story.

“Nisha lost her memory, but the Merchant God retained theirs. Then, Nisha asked the cats about what happened to learn the whole truth, since lying was not an option. Nisha realized the whole story of the events.”

“Oh my. Now you two are even calling each other by your real names…”

Anastasia murmured as if amazed next to us. No, she also looked dumbfounded.

The Count shrugged her shoulders and then picked up one of the cats, placing it on her lap.

“Wa, waaah…”

“Hmm. Right. But that alone wasn’t enough to be sure.”

The Count stroked the cat’s head. Shivering. Trembling, the cat was terrified like a mortal who received the petting from a mythical monster.

“For me, I needed a guarantee that no matter what happened, the pillar would not tamper with the Merchant God’s memories. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in a position to force such a guarantee on the pillar. From the pillar’s perspective, I am merely a hunter.”

“Counterintuitive thinking…?”

“It’s simple. If I create a situation where [no matter what happens, the pillar cannot touch the Merchant God’s memories], wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

The Count tapped the top of the cat’s head. The cat trembled.

“Woof…… We, according to the agreement, became the Count’s slaves. That was the decisive blow. The moment we became slaves, [The Wand Of Ages] could no longer distort our memories, no matter what.”

“Why is that?”

“Because that would be a complete mockery of our cat lives.”

The tricolor cat swayed and wriggled its tail.

“If the pillar erased our memories, we would become slaves to the Count overnight without knowing [why this happened] [or having any clue]. Isn’t that unreasonable? Literally in the blink of an eye, we became servants to the most noble person in the world!! Woof! Of course, we are very pleased with this situation and praise the elegance of our master just like now, but objectively, it’s merely an act of extreme violence!”

“That’s right.”

The Count rubbed the cat’s ears, causing the cat to jump in surprise and pathetically protest with “Meow!? Wa, Woof! Bark bark!” but to no avail.

“In essence, a point where memories cannot be rolled back. A definitive starting point where they can neither be erased nor distorted was necessary for me. That’s why I left you to stir things up in Golden Heaven World, subtly pushing the Merchant God until it succumbed.”

“……”

As soon as the she heard the about the summoning for judgment and suspected that manager of the Golden Heaven World might be [The Cat that Bit a Gold Coin], the Count aimed for the Merchant God’s surrender.

I moved my lips after hearing the Count’s grand scheme.

“……Weren’t you worried?”

“Hmm? About what?”

“What if [The Wand Of Ages] had a vicious nature? It might have embraced such irrational violence. How could you trust that pillar?”

The Count’s eyes widened.

She then covered her mouth with the fan, chuckling softly.

“What are you talking about? Kim Gong-ja. I have never trusted [The Wand Of Ages], not even once.”

“What? But……”

“I trusted you, instead.”

The Count looked at me.

“You care about the tower more than anyone. If the pillar managing that tower had been a ruthless tyrant, you would have been the first to crush it, wouldn’t you?”

“……”

“You tolerated the existence of that pillar. It wasn’t a feeling of helpless acceptance. Kim Gong-ja. If you respect a human, then that person must truly possess a worthy character.”

From a distance, the cats waddled over to us. They served us each a cup of coffee. The Count held an Americano in one hand and smiled broadly.

“Just as you trust my abilities, I trust your judgment.”

“……Nisha.”

“You are our leader, and we are your colleagues. I firmly believe that colleagues strive to be equals.”

The Count said.

“What we did, how we approached the stage, what conversations we had— a world remembered only by Kim Gong-ja alone… Oh dear. I would firmly reject such a notion from my side.”

As she said this, the smile that the Count wore was one that could make anyone understand why Patricia, who is almost the complete opposite in personality, had fallen for her.

“I have lost my memories. But when I opened my eyes, there were these cats squirming at my feet. I asked what had happened, and the cats showed me a high-definition hologram of what occurred in the Heavenly Floor. I’d like to boast that everything went exactly as I had planned.”

“Woof Woof.”

The cats that had delivered coffee to the Count now pressed down on the hem of my pants. Three cats were together lifting a tray.

“White Mocha Frappuccino Venti Quad Shot Java Chip Half and Half Chocolate Drizzle!”

I had not ordered it, but the cats brought my custom menu item. I chuckled and looked back at their master.

“It’s a gift.”

I was momentarily speechless.

“Ah. Of course, the real gift is something else.”

“Really.”

“I just wanted to say this to you.”

“Really……”

“Come now, Kim Gong-ja. You have worked hard conquering the heavens. We will always remember the hardships you faced. There’s really only one thing you need to remember.”

“……Really, my colleagues are amazing.”

“Even if you leave us alone, we will never leave you alone.”

Right now, I am probably making a face too embarrassing to show to the pedestrians. To hide my expression, I took a sip of my coffee.

The White Mocha that day was exceptionally sweet.

*****