"Idiot Sora, let's hurry up and head to the park."
Ruri's small face burned hot, and she hurriedly dispelled the terrifying images from her mind.
"Let's go." Sora nodded. "We can't relax for a moment until we find that lost orange cat."
"..."
The two quickly arrived at a small park nearby.
It was still early, so there were basically no adults in the park, only a few elementary school students playing on the slide and in the sandbox.
"There are two stray cats over there."
Sora had excellent eyesight. With a sweep of his gaze, he spotted two cats napping in a corner of the park.
"Let's quickly go over and sign a contract."
Ruri's eyes rapidly lit up, and she hurriedly trotted over with quick, small steps.
Sensing someone approaching, the two stray cats stood up warily, clearly preparing to flee.
"Don't go..."
Seeing her potential workers about to escape, Ruri instantly became anxious.
"Meow meow~"
"Meow?"
The two stray cats stopped in their tracks together. They turned their heads in confusion, their big, round eyes looking at Ruri curiously.
Sora: "..."
I thought you would speak human language and the cats would speak cat language. I didn't expect you to communicate directly in Meowian!
But he had to admit, Kuroneko-san's meow meow meow sounded super pleasant.
Kuroneko's voice was naturally soft and sweet like cotton candy. Crouching on the ground, holding her skirt, and meowing back and forth with two stray cats—her cuteness level was maxed out.
"Meow meow meow~"
Ruri could naturally sense Sora's odd stare, and a crimson flush quickly surged on her small face.
There was no helping it. Kuroneko was an experienced driver on the internet, but in reality, she was quite pure. Meowing in front of a boy indeed exceeded the limits of her maidenly sense of shame.
(Hold steady!)
(I can't run away!)
(For the 200,000 yen bounty, I must endure it even if I'm embarrassed!)
Ruri secretly clenched her small pink fists, enduring her shyness to cheer herself on.
(Although I have to split it with Sora-kun, 100,000 yen is still a huge sum... Mom works so hard taking care of the family alone. With money, I can buy Mom a better hand cream, buy Hinata the manga she likes, and buy Tamaki delicious snacks... So no matter what, I cannot miss out on this bounty!)
A moment later.
With her small face flushed red, Ruri stood up. She crossed her arms over her chest, tilted up her chin with a blushing face, and struck a chunibyo pose.
"I have already signed an employment contract with them. They said they can rally their friends to help search for the lost contracted beast together. However..."
"However what?"
Sora's expression remained as usual, not teasing the thoroughly embarrassed Kuroneko.
"However, they want an advance on their payment..." Ruri's gaze shifted, and she whispered with a blushing face. "They said foolish humans have previously offered rare delicacies as tribute. Eating them makes them super happy and completely lose themselves."
Sora looked at her speechlessly. "...Please translate that into human language."
"It's actually canned cat food and cat treats," Ruri whispered. "We have to offer tribute first before they're willing to help. After it's done, we have to give them another portion of tribute."
"That's very reasonable." Sora gave a slight nod, expressing his understanding. "Even cats should be paid appropriate compensation for their labor. We can't make them work for free, otherwise we'll end up hanging from the streetlights sooner or later."
Gokou Ruri: "..."
While they were talking, the two stray cats had already run off in different directions, clearly going to call their friends.
"They went to call their little buddies." Ruri pursed her moist pink lips and spoke softly. "...Shall we go to the convenience store to buy some things first?"
"Sure, lead the way, Ruri-san."
Since Ruri lived nearby, she was naturally in charge of leading the way. Sora simply followed obediently behind.
The walk was silent.
Under Kuroneko's lead, the two quickly arrived at a convenience store on a street corner.
"So many cans of cat food." After browsing for a short while, they found the cat food section, which took up half an aisle. Ruri picked up a can of cat food, tilted her small face up, and asked for his opinion. "How many cans should we get?"
"Let's get five for now." Sora pondered for two seconds. "Being bounty hunters isn't a one-time deal; we're preparing for a long-term vegetar—I mean, long-term business. Cat treats and canned food are hard currency. Buying more won't be a waste, we'll always find a use for them. If we buy too few and don't have enough to distribute, we'd have to make an extra trip."
"Sora-kun's words make sense."
Ruri nodded in agreement and grabbed a few more cans of cat food, placing them in the shopping basket.
"Next is buying cat treats..."
Ruri walked in front with her hands behind her back, while Sora pushed the shopping cart behind her. As they slowly grew more familiar, Kuroneko lost her initial restraint and nervousness, and the girl's voice quietly became lighter.
But after walking only a short distance, Ruri suddenly stopped. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed instantly, and her gaze scanned her surroundings warily.
"Why did you stop?"
Sora asked curiously.
Ruri wrapped her left arm across her chest. With her right hand fingers splayed, she pressed it against her face in a rather embarrassing pose.
"I smell the aura of monsters."
Hey, hey, the monsters you're talking about aren't the fish in the seafood section, are they?
"Found it!"
Ruri quickly took half a step back, her right hand abruptly pointing toward a corner.
"The source of the dangerous aura is right there!"
Sora turned his head to look. The corner was clearly completely empty; there was nothing there.
Just as he was about to speak, a tiny pint-sized child with a bowl cut, wearing a yellow bucket hat and carrying a large backpack, suddenly turned the corner of the aisle. Judging by her age, she had clearly just started elementary school.
"Eeehhh?!"
Seeing the little pint-sized child walk out from behind the aisle, Ruri visibly panicked, as if a mouse had encountered its natural predator, a cat.
Is there really a problem?
Sora secretly raised his guard.
Although no matter how you looked at her, she was a cute human cub, the panic on Kuroneko's face wasn't faked. It couldn't hurt to be vigilant.
Under Sora's watchful eye, the human cub suddenly took a deep breath. Her chubby little cheeks puffed up high, clearly the prelude to unleashing a Lion's Roar.
"N-No..."
Ruri hurriedly raised her right hand to stop her, but unfortunately, it was clearly too late. She could only let out a desperate cry of despair.
The next second.
The human cub abruptly turned around, cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, and yelled in a soft, sweet voice:
"Mom, hurry up and come over! Onee-sama is on a date with a boy!"
Sora: "..."
He and Kuroneko were the only two people in this aisle, so without a doubt, 'Onee-sama' referred to Kuroneko.
What happened to the dangerous monster?
What kind of monster calls someone 'Onee-sama' right off the bat! That's clearly Kuroneko's little sister!