Zana looked at the kitten in her hands. The kitten did the same before yawning.
It was a very weird creature. Instead of possessing fur, it had feathers and wings. Sure, there were other creatures similar to it such as griffins, but at least they had more bird-like features.
“H-Hello.”
She decided to speak. Hinotori had asked her to babysit. Naturally, she had no idea what that meant. However, last night, when the egg hatched and the kitten jumped out of it, she received a notification that the family head had delivered their first child.
It didn’t take a genius to know what that meant. This kitten was the result of Hinotori’s love with a different person.
Zana could feel her heart break in two, although she didn’t know why. Her mood was completely ruined that night and to top it off, some guy came in and beat her up, showing even more of her weak side to Hinotori.
She was hesitant to face her for some reason, but did so using the excuse that it was important to the safety of the forest. Now that she looked at the kitten, there was a feeling she was getting. Like a stick that had pierced her heart and a lump stuck in her throat.
Suddenly, she wasn’t liking the kitten.
‘Pfft. A weakling like you desires my mother’s affection? Amusing~ nyaa~’
A voice spoke in her head. Zana looked around, confused by the sudden interruption to her thoughts.
‘Down here, in your hand, you idiot~’
Zana looked down, only to find the kitten sitting on her palm looking up at her, its tale wagging from side to side slowly. There was something malicious about the way it looked at her.
“Y-You can speak?”
“Meow~”
‘Of course, I can. I just choose who to speak to~’
The kitten continued to speak directly to her head. Zana’s eyes only widened, surprised by the level of ease at with the kitten could communicate.
“How are you so good at speaking?”
‘Hmm? Would you expect any less from mother’s child? Nyaa~’
The kitten stood confidently and boasted of Hinotori’s intelligence. Zana thought over it and, in her eyes, she could sort of understand what the kitten meant.
“Y-Yeah. I guess Hinotori is smart.”
‘Exactly. I like how fast you learn~ Now, take me around mother’s domain~’
“The West? I myself haven’t been here much.”
She did only come here for the meeting. To Zana, this was a completely unfamiliar place and she doubted she’d be able to find her way around easily.
The kitten thought for a moment before speaking once more.
‘You are mother’s first wife~ Commanding a few soldiers to give you directions wouldn’t prove troublesome in the slightest~’
Zana froze for a moment, trying to comprehend the kitten’s statement.
“Eh!? Eh!? Eeeeehhhh!? W-What do you mean I am Hinotori’s first wife!? W-We haven’t even said anything.”
‘Fufufu, you truly are dense, aren’t you?’
The kitten jumped off her palm and onto her shoulder.
‘Come on, even you can see it. You’re the only person who when added to the familia got a different role other than servant or captain~’
There was truth to what the kitten said. Hinotori didn’t add her as some sort of servant. Even she had been informed by Hinotori’s blessing that her position was quite different from the average mob. She originally assumed that it meant her position in the familia was fickle and she could be kicked out at any point, but if what this kitten said was true, that meant Hinotori liked Zana?
The kitten noticed that its taunting had worked. A grin spread across its adorable face as it settled back onto her palm.
‘Yes, yes. Now you get it. Order someone to take us on a tour~’
With that, Zana randomly called for someone. The one to come over was Shiroi who was the closest person. She tilted her head, clearly surprised.
‘Where is Master?’
She asked, but Zana timidly scratched her cheek.
“Um, are you the one I called for?”
‘You called for… me?’ s
“Y-Yes. Sorry to ask this of you, but can you show me around?”
Shiroi took a moment, but nodded. She clearly understood the situation immediately.
“Certainly, Tyrant of the South. Would you like to sit on my back?”
Shiroi offered while growing her size to three times of its normal state. Zana didn’t expect Shiroi to be able to grow so big, but that was most likely to simply accommodate her. She wanted to refuse, but the kitten jumped onto Shiroi’s back first.
‘What are you waiting for? We’re bleeding daylight~’
The kitten edged her on. She then got onto the wolf, hoping that her weight wouldn’t crush the wolf’s back. Contrary to her expectations, Shiroi barely felt a thing. In fact, she found it absurd how Zana was practically weightless, yet so large.
‘Wow, this fur is so soft. It’s like a cloud.’
Zana thought while feeling out Shiroi’s back. This was a simple trait of the faerie wolf species, but Shiroi did not boast about it. Rather, she begun their journey.
The first place she took Zana to was the obviously the mansion Hinotori stayed in. She didn’t think the other attractions would really get to Zana like that. Besides, she was still busy with patrolling and turf expansion. She wanted to hurry it up and resume her work.
While on the way there, several creatures that saw them bow. Shiroi was used to such treatment since she was a king, but for Zana, this was a first. No one other than her personal aide had ever shown her this much respect in her life.
She had to admit that ever since evolving, she could tell that the creatures were more conscious of her presence and did to some extent show their respect, but that didn’t stop them from acting like they used to.
It was a very weird scene in her eyes. The kitten noticed this and spoke to her.
‘Oi, oi. You are mother’s first wife. No need to act so humbly~ Show them that you are the boss~’
“Hmm? That doesn’t sound very nice.”
‘Tsk, tsk. How do you think mother became the leader of so many creatures? Might makes right~’
The kitten stood up and started to speak proudly.
‘Mother demonstrated her magnificent power before them. She punished those who disobeyed her and she gave strict commands to them, and now they love her for it~’
Zana wasn’t so sure about that. Hinotori didn’t seem like the kind of person to force herself on someone else. If anything, Zana could see the reciprocal of that happening.
“Um, Shiroi. How did you start following lady Hinotori?”
The white wolf was caught off-guard by the sudden question, but she took a moment to organise her thoughts before responding.
“At first, we only chose to serve her because she led us into war against the Tyrant Krull and we won. At the time, I felt like it was best to put the safety of my people in someone else’s hand as I wasn’t worthy of inheriting my father’s title. If anything, my little brother should have been the one who became the new leader, yet…”
Shiroi’s pace slowed down drastically.
“It felt nice being free once more. I could act childishly again. Hinotori was organising everyone better, though we still had to get our own food. That was no issue. Then came the time she asked me to explore with her. Of course, I’ve always wanted to go out to see new places, so I excitedly accepted. It was during this trip that my pride was first questioned. I wasn’t exactly sure how to respond, but she gave me time to think about it. Then came the time of despair, where I proved useless to Hinotori’s plead. I had no particular reason for denying her request, but I did so with an excuse. Of course, I was punished for it.”
While saying that, she took in a large gulp and shook like her neck felt uncomfortable. The memories from that one-time Hinotori punished her were still vivid and it had even left a scar that was hidden by her fur.
“I decided after then that I would honour the master with everything that I had. I would do my very best so the next time she required my help, I wouldn’t back down with a flimsy excuse. I chose to devote our very being to her and my clan members follow their clan head without question. I guess it’s different for everyone else, but this is why the timber wolves and I follow Hinotori. We believe she is the one to lead us to a much more comfortable future.”
‘Huh? Mother inspired the devotion rather than commanded it? Impossible. This one is clearly delusional~’
The kitten refused to accept that what he said was wrong. In his eyes, Shiroi was merely a blind dog that had been brainwashed.
“I see."
For some reason, that made Zana happy to hear. She smiled a smile so angelic even the kitten couldn’t help but be stunned by her radiance. It looked away from her, towards the mansion which they’d arrived at.
Shiroi let both of them down then bowed.
“I have more tasks to attend to, so please do feel free to explore the mansion. You can even call for a kobold to help you out.”
She left afterwards. Zana held the kitten up, then looked at the mansion. Its entrance was clearly way too small for the Naga Lord, so they were currently in a dilemma.
Just then, someone popped up behind her. An ogress with grey skin and violet hair turning red at its tips. The ogress carried a bucket of water in one hand and tilted when she saw the giant Zana.
“Um, h-hello. Y-You are the t-tyrant of the south, right? Zana the T-Terrible Witch.”
She addressed Zana, stammering cutely. She wasn’t even capable of meeting Zana in the eye, constantly looking around.
“Oh, yes. Hello.”
Zana didn’t know why, but this ogress felt like a rival of sorts.
