kscans

Chapter 506 - Samurai Cat

About two weeks after the Spirit Festival event ended, AFO returned to its usual state. However, the video view counts were still increasing, and the in-game currency that came with it was flowing into Parfait's clan.

Parfait decided to lay low for a while, and instead of going on adventures, she focused on expanding her base. Thanks to her efforts, the land for her base was now about twice as large as before. Many tasks had been automated, and she was earning enough passive income that she didn't have to worry about taxes.

Her dairy herd had grown to about ten cows, including Michelangelo, and her poultry flock numbered about twenty chickens, including Leonardo. The spirits summoned by Ginny were automatically collecting and processing milk, eggs, cheese, butter, and cream. The skeletons summoned by Natsu were gathering wood and stone, and materials were piling up at the base day by day.

After confirming there were no problems with the base, Parfait finally took a break. She prepared a strawberry parfait for herself and added a slightly sweet coffee. As she ate, she vaguely thought about her upcoming school tests, but then pushed those extraneous thoughts from her mind and began to think about something else.

Lately, things had been busy in the real world.

Cynthia was studying design at Rosalie's company, Black Rose.

Her parents, who worked at the same place, were happy about it, and Ginny was happy too. In the school classroom, she was apparently the same as ever, erasing her presence, but at work, she was giving it her all as her true self. One of the executives at Black Rose was said to be of a similar disposition, so they got along well.

Kazatoki had joined Ambrosia, Lunaria's direct guard unit.

For now, she was only doing chores within the organization and undergoing training, but she was working hard because she was getting paid. Her recent worries was that she sometimes let out a "boku" or a "no ja." She also mentioned that she had started to like fried tofu.

Lion had joined Dragon Soul.

She wanted to study acting more than singing or dancing, so she was attending a training school while still going to her regular school. Her unlucky constitution hadn't changed, but she was apparently doing her best. Abel mentioned that she sometimes says lines you'd only hear in horror movies, so maybe she wants to star in one. Parfait thought that was probably not it.

Both Kazatoki and Lion had arranged to remain enrolled in Fight☆Club. They both wanted to continue playing AFO and streaming videos, and every organization had agreed to it. Unfortunately, their real-world lives had gotten busier, so they couldn't play the game as much, but they told Parfait they would participate in any events.

Blake, the leader of Fight☆Club, had also been through a lot with this incident. The last time Parfait saw him, he looked quite tired. Still, he had said with a laugh, "It's a pain, but what can you do?" He had also started a service to handle video streaming for clans other than Fight☆Club. Recently, a video introducing cute cats in collaboration with Cats are God had been released. Parfait thought he must be doing pretty well.

With everyone around her moving forward, Parfait felt a little anxious, but she had been thinking about her future.

She wasn't sure if it would work out, but as practice, she planned to open a cafe in AFO. A cat cafe, to be specific. She already had a contract with Siegfried's children, so she was debating whether to take over her father's cafe and turn it into a cat cafe, or to go independent.

Either way, she needed money, she thought, as she took another bite of strawberry parfait.

Just then, she heard a cat's meow from outside.

Is there a difference in cat meows in virtual reality? Without a shred of doubt, Parfait went outside with conviction. And then her eyes widened at the sight of a black cat sitting there primly.

"Trachiyo!"

"Nyaan!"

Trachiyo immediately jumped toward Parfait. And Parfait caught Trachiyo in her arms.

"Your training took so long!"

"Nyaa..."

Because she had met a special condition on Cat Island, Trachiyo had gone on a training journey. Parfait had heard from Orion of Cats are God that his return would be delayed due to the difference in strength with his master, but she hadn't expected him to be gone for the entire duration of the next event. She had been so worried she had almost asked Diite if he was really okay, but she had managed to hold back.

But now, that Trachiyo was back. Parfait resolved that for today, she would do nothing but brush him.

Just as Parfait was about to go get a brush, she remembered. There was an item she had exchanged for with the points she earned in the Cat Island event. Parfait immediately went back inside the base's cafe and took out the "Melampus" from her item box in her room.

The Melampus was a necklace-type piece of equipment, but it was a special item that allowed you to talk with your pets. Orion had said with a serious face that it was "a must-have for animal lovers."

Parfait equipped the Melampus and immediately spoke to Trachiyo.

"Trachiyo, can you understand my words?"

With a slightly pounding heart, she asked, and Trachiyo nodded.

"My lord, I understand your words well, de gozaru."

"...Trachiyo?"

She heard Trachiyo's words. But for some reason, they reminded her of Natsu or an excited Cynthia. Parfait took off the Melampus, slapped it a few times, and put it back on.

"Um, can you understand my words?"

"Sessha understands my lord's words perfectly, de gozaru."

"Sessha... your speech has turned into a samurai's!? Is it because I named you Trachiyo!?"

Trachiyo was the childhood name of a famous warlord. Parfait was confused, wondering if that had something to do with it.

Trachiyo looked up at the confused Parfait with a puzzled expression. He tilted his head, as if he didn't understand what she was saying.

"Sessha has always spoken this way, has he not? Though I imagine it only sounded like 'nyaa' to my lord."

"...I'm going to call Diite-oneechan, just wait a minute."

Somehow not convinced, Parfait decided to call Diite. It was unlikely, but she couldn't rule out the possibility that there was a bug with the Melampus. In fact, she hoped there was a bug.

Called by Parfait, Diite arrived immediately.

"Parfait-kun, it's rare for you to call me directly. Is something wrong? Oh, has Trachiyo-kun returned? It seems he had quite a time. It's a great help that you discovered a rare event. It's sad when there are programs that never see the light of day."

"Diite-oneechan, I used the Melampus to hear Trachiyo's voice, but..."

"Ah, you can communicate, right? This is a masterpiece that I realized in virtual reality based on Maris-kun's research..."

"He's talking like a samurai. Is this a bug?"

Diite, who had been speaking cheerfully, froze for a moment. But she immediately shook her head with a serious expression.

"Parfait-kun, there are no bugs in this AFO. There can't be."

Diite answered with great confidence, but Parfait couldn't back down and explained the situation clearly. In response, Diite nodded, saying, "I see."

"That's not a bug. Trachiyo-kun just happened to adopt that manner of speech. To put it simply, it's a coincidence."

"A coincidence... But a samurai style, huh? It's not bad, but Trachiyo's a girl."

"It's not so much a samurai style as it is a Simon-kun style. There are several patterns for pet speech, but this one uses 'Type: Simon.' Well, if you say it's a samurai style, I suppose it is."

"...You don't mean Simon-sensei?"

"Yes, that Simon-kun."

"Simon-sensei doesn't say things like 'de gozaru'!"

She wouldn't want a teacher who said things like that. An excited Cynthia was something she could give up on, but if Simon started saying it during normal times or during study sessions, it would be quite a problem, in Parfait's opinion.

"That's true, but when we turned Simon-kun's old speech patterns into an AI and implemented it, this is how it turned out. Since you are Trachiyo-kun's master, it might be different, but to those of equal or lower status, I think he'll say things like, 'You're pretty good,' or, 'You fool.'"

Parfait slowly turned her gaze to Trachiyo, and Trachiyo nodded.

"Simon-sensei, what were you doing back then...?"

"She was a girl who admired bushi. She had no talent for fighting, but she became that strong through effort alone. There's also the fact that she was young and reckless. She said she's finally calmed down recently, but from my perspective, it doesn't seem that way."

If you could get that strong without talent, what would happen if you had talent? That was probably Benitsuru and Lunaria, but somehow Parfait wasn't convinced.

To begin with, Xenobia and Cecil's fight was on a level beyond talent. As Wilnel had said, it was so incredible it was rude to monsters. It was quite rude, but it felt like they were just that kind of creature. In other words, unique individuals. But on the other hand, it made her wonder if you could become as strong as Simon through effort alone.

As she was lost in thought, Diite had started playing with Trachiyo with a cat teaser before she knew it. Trachiyo seemed to be attacking it with full force, though.

Seeing this, Parfait took a deep breath and calmed down a little. On second thought, it wasn't like she wanted to be able to fight like Simon. What she wanted to be was the manager of a cat cafe.

Parfait shook her head, realizing her thoughts had strayed. She forced herself to accept that this was just Trachiyo's way of speaking. It was probably better than him talking with a weird verbal tic like "nyan" or "nyau," she thought positively.

"Parfait-kun, if you dislike it that much, shall I change his speech to 'Type: Diite'? There's no system for that, but for you, Parfait-kun, I can make a special..."

"It would be a problem if Trachiyo started talking like you, Diite-oneechan. You're not planning to put yourself inside Trachiyo, are you?"

Diite averted her eyes.

"Of course I wouldn't do something like that."

Suspicious. But without pressing further, Parfait urged Diite to sit in a chair.

"Diite-oneechan is fine just the way you are. I called you out of the blue, but do you have time? I'm having a party to celebrate Trachiyo's return, so please join us."

"In that case, I'll take you up on your offer. I'm happy to be entertained by you, Parfait-kun. Then, could I have a strawberry parfait and a coffee?"

"Of course. Then, I'll make Nekomanma Deluxe for Trachiyo."

"I am grateful, de gozaru. If possible, I would also request some salt-grilled saury...!"

She wondered if salt-grilled fish was okay for a cat, but then remembered this was a virtual world. Parfait cheerfully began to make what the two of them had requested.