kscans

Chapter 455 - The Strongest Cat of the Warring States

"This little one's name is decided. It's Trachiyo!"

The day after taming the black cat Bishamonten, Parfait, who had been restless at school, logged in as soon as she got home. She had been thinking of a name the whole time and had decided on Trachiyo.

Benitsuru had a hand in this naming. Parfait had told almost all her acquaintances that she had tamed a black cat, and the news had reached Benitsuru. After a series of word association games like "Speaking of Bishamonten—", the name Trachiyo had come up.

It clicked with Parfait, and although she had a few other candidates, she ultimately decided on that one. Trachiyo also seemed to like the name, meowing "nyannyan." The cuteness of it almost made Parfait collapse, but she held on.

"I see, so you took it from a warlord from the country of Hayato-sama's roots."

Wilne, who had been in the headquarters' dining hall before Parfait arrived, said with understanding. She was petting the newly named Trachiyo. Just that seemed to make her happy, and she was smiling.

"Master Benny said something like that, so I thought it might be, but who was it in the end?"

"I believe it's the childhood name of the strongest warlord of the Warring States period. He was said to have called himself an incarnation of Bishamonten. In other words, he was someone who had one foot in the dark side, like Natsu-san."

"Dark side aside, he was the strongest warlord of the Warring States?"

"That's the story, apparently. There are tales of him sending salt to his enemies, or that he was actually a woman, and he had not just one, but both feet in the dark side. Well, they say that's just a creation of later generations, though."

"Strongest or not, I won't let this little one fall to the dark side...!"

"By the way, is Trachiyo a female?"

"I'll raise her to be a fine lady. She's already the strongest as she is, though!"

She hadn't heard the details from Benitsuru, but Parfait was happy to hear the word "strongest" in Wilne's explanation. She resolved to aim for being the strongest not in strength, but in cuteness.

However, she also had a desire for combat power. Wouldn't it be amazing if they could fight together in this virtual reality? Parfait thought what almost every player thinks.

Basically, pets had their own unique growth system, different from the players'. Skills existed, but they couldn't be chosen at will, and only certain skills would grow. They were mainly combat-related skills, but there were some production skills as well.

Parfait checked Trachiyo's status.

"Is Trachiyo stronger than I thought...?"

It clearly had stats on par with Parfait's. Its skills also had considerable values, and it even had weapon skills. Its Claw Arts, in particular, was close to 100, and it could use the weapon skills Black Claw and Black Tornado.

"I've heard that among pets, Named Monsters and rare monsters are strong. In exchange, the success rate of taming them is said to be quite low, less than 0.1%."

Basically, monsters were divided into normal monsters and rare monsters that could only be encountered under special conditions. Both had higher-ranking, stronger individuals, which were called Named Monsters or unique monsters.

In particular, the higher-ranking rare monsters with the names of gods were said to be unbeatable even with a hundred people, and some still had no subjugation history.

Trachiyo was an event monster, so it was treated as a Named Monster. Therefore, its stats were also considerable.

"Trachiyo was certainly pretty strong when it was an enemy monster."

Skills aside, Rick, who was equipped with the best gear, had his HP chipped away with every attack. There was no doubt it had high attack power.

"It seems the system where an enemy becomes weaker when it joins your side hasn't been applied."

"That's just a common game trope, but I'm fine with it being strong. Besides, if it's this strong, it should be okay to fight together."

"I don't know if it can keep up with your strength, Parfait-san, but for some reason, Trachiyo-san has a gallant look on her face, as if to say, 'I'll do it.'"

Trachiyo threw a series of cat punches. It was probably a display of its strength, but to Parfait, it was nothing more than a cute gesture. She immediately took pictures and videos from the system menu.

"Parfait-san, I understand that you find Trachiyo-san cute, but what are your plans for today?"

"It's not good to just stare at Trachiyo because she's cute, is it... There are no events right now, so I guess I'll just earn some money. I need funds to get passive income, after all."

She had the cow Michelangelo and the chicken Leonardo, and she had added more, for a total of two cows and two chickens. However, the amount of milk and eggs they could get was still minimal. The feed cost could be covered with cucumbers, but she felt sorry for them eating only cucumbers, so she needed to prepare different feed.

She could also earn money by selling the vegetables from her fields, but it still couldn't be automated, so it couldn't be called passive income yet.

Moreover, the view count for the video of Parfait fighting a ranker was slightly declining, and she couldn't earn as much money as before. This month's fees were covered, but she still couldn't pay the land fees just by playing, so she had no choice but to earn money.

"I'm not sure if everyone will be here today, so shall we go hunting somewhere together?"

"I would be delighted. Being able to see your combat up close, Parfait-san, is very educational for me."

Wilne looked at Parfait with sparkling eyes. Parfait wondered what she would do with that knowledge, but she figured it was fine and started thinking about where to go.

"Wilne-chan, is there anywhere you want to go?"

"I don't know many hunting grounds, but considering our strength, Parfait-san, and Trachiyo-san's, I'd say... around Takamagahara First Station?"

In this virtual reality, Takamagahara referred to a high mountain in the Eastern Country. At its summit was one of the Four Divine Beasts called Suzaku, and it was said that defeating the other divine beasts would break a certain seal.

The higher you climbed the mountain, the stronger the monsters, but the first station wasn't that tough. However, Parfait didn't know if there were any valuable item drops there.

Since it was just the two of them and one cat, they decided to focus on skill grinding today and went with Wilne's suggestion to hunt at Takamagahara First Station.

Takamagahara First Station had many reptile-type monsters. There were Yokai Giant Frogs, Giant Geckos, and Giant Serpents, and it was said that the abundance of reptiles was due to the monster Yamata no Orochi, a higher-ranking version of a giant snake, living midway up the mountain.

The two of them and one cat arrived at such a place, but the visibility was poor due to the unexpectedly large number of trees. The trees gradually thinned out as they climbed the mountain, but from the first to the third station, there were a massive number of trees, and it was even known as a sacred place for leveling up the Logging Skill.

"Parfait-san, we've arrived, so please come back to us now."

"...Hah! Sorry, Trachiyo hopped on my shoulder and I lost consciousness... But I remember I was happy."

Maris sometimes came to the shop with the calico cat Siegfried on her shoulder, and in the same way, Trachiyo had climbed onto Parfait's shoulder. Parfait's memory of what happened after that was hazy.

Trachiyo jumped down from Parfait's shoulder, twitched her nose, and then beckoned to Parfait and the others with a paw. Naturally, Parfait captured it on video, but not wanting to keep Trachiyo waiting, she moved quickly.

In the direction Trachiyo was heading, there was a large frog.

"It seems Trachiyo-san can use Search."

At Wilne's words, Parfait nodded with a broad smile. Indeed, there was a skill called "Search" among Trachiyo's skills. Pets could also gain skill experience and improve their performance just like players, so Parfait thought she had to train this.

Alright, time for battle. Just as Parfait thought that, Trachiyo leaped at the Yokai Giant Frog.

The Yokai Giant Frog was a must-have when role-playing as a ninja. It was quite large, but Trachiyo seemed to think size didn't matter and immediately began its attack.

And it was fast. It jumped between the trees, attacking the Yokai Frog like a black flash of light. The sight of it made both Parfait and Wilne freeze in their tracks.

Trachiyo repeatedly attacked, shouting "Nyananyanyanya!", and quickly defeated the Yokai Frog. Then it looked at Parfait and the others with a smug face, letting out a "Nyafuu."

"Trachiyo-san is strong. Actually, isn't she too strong? Is it that thing? I've heard that pets take after their owners."

"Take after? We've only been together for two days..."

But she understood one thing for sure. It would definitely be a valuable asset in battle. Perhaps this was the result of her hard work in taming it, Parfait quickly accepted, and began searching for the next target to defeat.