“S-Should I… should I continue with the dissection?”
Professor Fel cautiously asked , who was still reeling from the uncomfortable truth. The discomfort of going ahead with this was also evident in her expression, so I shook my head.
“No, just leave it be. Instead, besides the missing ribs, are there any other regions that are damaged?”
“No, just the ribs. Normally, extracting bones would cause so damage in other places as well, but there’s nothing like that.”
“…”
“O-one more thing, Professor…”
Professor Fel added while setting down the scalpel in her hand.
“There aren’t any insects on the corpse either. It’s way too clean. Especially considering that you found it in the hill behind, this shouldn’t be possible.”
As she observed, there were no insects on the corpse when I first saw it.
Even if it had died recently, blowflies typically arrive within 24 hours to lay eggs.
[That’s exactly what you ntioned earlier.]
This fact had also bothered when I first saw the cat’s body.
“I plan to investigate that now.”
After asking Professor Fel to keep the cat’s body secure, I left the academy.
Since I was still considered missing officially, I wore a mask to cover my face.
[Are you going to find the cat’s owner?]
“Yes.”
While it would have normally been impossible to find a dead cat’s owner as there was no CCTV or similar technology in this era…
We had sothing others didn’t—the cat itself.
“Even a lowly creature like this should be able to find its owner.”
[You seem to be annoyed by sothing.]
Perhaps sensing it from my tone, Stella asked with a gloomy expression. While it would be reasonable to feel resentnt toward the owner based on what we had learned so far, I still found myself disliking the cat.
“Every animal I have encountered so far has been hostile toward humans.”
[But this cat is clearly a victim.]
“Stella.”
I understood what she was trying to say.
The cat was pitiful, there was no doubt about it.
However, it was still just a cat to .
“You said it yourself, not a single verse in the scriptures speaks for pets.”
[…]
“I too am the sa. The reason I created the Land of Eternal Rest for humans is because it was for humans.”
I wasn’t sentintal enough to care about yokai or animal spirits.
“And as per my general knowledge, that cat should harbor overwhelming hatred toward humans. Only that would make sense.”
[But the cat was friendly.]
“That is…”
I almost uttered sothing but swallowed my words at the last minute. Nothing had been confird yet. Stella didn’t press either, continuing the conversation instead.
[Let’s find the cat and its owner first. Maybe, the cat sacrificed itself, like in the fairy tale I told you earlier.]
“Yes, you are right.”
That seed more likely to as well. This story bore many similarities to the fairy tale, and the scars were strange.
[Exactly. Even if the cat turns out to have been bad, could you give it a chance?]
“You have a lot of affection for everyone.”
Stella gave a wry smile at my response and replied.
[Senior will have a hard ti, you know.]
She wasn’t just thinking about the cat; she was also concerned about the Dark Spiritualist.
It was very much like Stella to think like this.
“Alright then, I will…”
So, as a gesture of respect from to the Saintess who had lived so virtuously…
“…try to see it in a better light for your sake.”
Perhaps having found my answer to her liking, Stella darted closer, planted a kiss on my cheek, and replied.
[Please, look forward to tonight’s massage.]
“…That will not be necessary.”
[But Senior inford about sothing called spectrophilia.]
“Sigh.”
Was this change in the Saintess’ personality only due to having the Dark Spiritualist and Velica around her?
Or was it because of the freedom she had gained after setting aside the duties of a Saintess through her death?
Whatever the reason…
“You should probably spend so ti with Lucia.”
Birds of a feather flock together, and it seed like spending ti with the current Saintess, Lucia, might do Stella so good.
Poke.
Her finger jabbed my cheek with a firm press.
[Don’t talk about another Saintess in my presence.]
***
It wasn’t really difficult to find the Dark Spiritualist and the cat. She was already a step ahead of us, searching for the cat’s forr owner in the city.
[Alright, Fluffy II! Who was it? Who did this to you?!]
If she weren’t a ghost, her fierce shouts would have drawn the gaze of everyone on the street.
However, a few people had already started taking notice of the floating Heralhazard’s staff following her around.
“Dark Spiritualist, tone it down a little.”
As I spoke while grabbing the Heralhazard staff from the air, the Dark Spiritualist finally noticed Stella and as she turned around.
[So? Did you learn anything from Fluffy II’s body?]
The Dark Spiritualist had never liked how the cat’s corpse was carelessly dumped at the hill behind the academy.
Though she seed emotional, I briefly explained what we’d discovered.
[Unforgivable!]
The Dark Spiritualist, who used to toy with human souls back when she was alive, burst into fury.
Ignoring her tirade without even considering her own past, I turned to the cat.
It owed at happily, acting overly friendly.
“Go find your owner.”
The cat tilted its head, seemingly confused.
Its innocent expression made sigh helplessly.
“Fine. I will listen to your story.”
I wasn’t planning to entertain the whims of an animal, but I acquiesced since Stella had made the request.
As if understanding, the cat wriggled out of the Dark Spiritualist’s arms and…
[Fluffy II?]
The previously passive cat darted through the city at an impressive speed.
Its destination was a hospital.
[A-all it did was yawn like it didn’t understand when I asked it the sa question before.]
The Dark Spiritualist seed bewildered by Fluffy’s sudden burst of energy, but I ignored her and entered the hospital.
There was no need to go up high.
It was in the cheapest 8-person room.
Inside, there were many patients gathered there.
And the cat…
[T-this is…]
[Deus…]
Surprisingly, the cat fur scattered around the hospital room seed to suggest that each patient had a cat.
While pets wouldn’t be allowed in hospital rooms under normal circumstances, neither the nurses nor the doctors seed to care. They just left cats as they were, while the patients tended to them with great care.
“Who are you here to see?”
The elderly man closest to the entrance asked cautiously as he looked at .
His tone conveyed a sense of dignity and politeness, showing the grace that ca with age.
“Oh my, a handso gentleman has arrived.”
“How could you tell when he is wearing a mask?”
“It’s obvious he’s good-looking.”
It didn’t seem like they recognized as they greeted with light-hearted laughter.
The cats owed loudly, seemingly welcoming as well. Seeing that every patient had a cat, it must have been a trend in the hospital.
[They’re all terminally ill.]
Closing her eyes, Stella sighed. As a Saintess who had sent many souls to their rest, her words carried weight.
The fact that they were in an eight-person room despite being terminal could only an one thing: they couldn’t afford better.
Even though the shadow of death lood over them, the room radiated a sense of determination and passion to live
And I threw a stone into their peaceful existence.
“Who abandoned the black cat at the hill behind the Loberne Academy?”
The room fell silent in an instant.
They all stared at with shocked expressions but couldn’t bring themselves to speak up.
I waited calmly, letting them think things through for as long as they wanted, but…
“Excuse , who are you?”
A young man in a white coat approached from behind. He looked like a doctor, and I could sense that he felt sowhat uneasy around .
[owww!]
The cat let out a long cry.
“I see.”
Turning my gaze from the patients to the doctor, I spoke.
“You must be the owner of the black cat.”
***
Inside the hospital break room.
The hospital wasn’t a particularly large one, so with only a single desk between and the doctor, we faced each other in the cramped space.
“Firstly… my na is Martin. I’m a doctor at this hospital. And you are?”
“It is better if you do not know.”
“…If you barge in like this without identifying yourself, I can’t help but call security.”
You will regret it, though.
Saying so, I removed my mask.
“Deus Verdi, the Kingdom’s Soul Whisperer.”
“The… the Soul Whisperer!?”
Martin, who had been acting hostile just monts ago, now stood up with haste and knelt.
“I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t recognize you, sir! I-I heard that you were missing, but it’s a relief to see you’ve returned!”
“The soul of your cat ca to find .”
To be precise, it was the Dark Spiritualist who brought it to , but I condensed the story for the sake of brevity.
As soon as I ntioned the cat, his expression turned grim.
Seeing him trembling, I let out a sigh and spoke.
“I do not intend to bla you. I am rely curious as to why your cat did not have a single rib left.”
“…!”
“Just explain what happened.”
Slowly rising to his feet, Martin began recounting his story.
“The cat’s na was Nabi. She was the cat I had personally raised.”
Fluffy II’s original na was quickly revealed.
Martin had raised Nabi with utmost care. To him, she wasn’t just a pet but family.
“My father was chronically ill, he didn’t have much ti left. That day, after I had just finished examining him…”
“…”
“Nabi ca to , holding a bone in her mouth. Seeing that, the fairy tale about a cat repaying kindness suddenly crossed my mind! The one where grinding and drinking a cat’s bone could heal illnesses!”
That was how much he wished to save his father. Desperate as he was, even while chastising himself for being foolish, he boiled the bone and made his father drink it, hoping against all hopes.
“My father’s condition began to improve noticeably. He wasn’t completely cured yet, but he gradually started getting better.”
It beca a pattern after that.
Whenever his father’s health took a turn for the worse, Nabi would bring a bone in her mouth.
Drinking the boiled bone broth would help him recover.
“Twenty-five. That was the number of bones I had boiled and given my father to drink, and eventually, he was completely cured.”
Twenty-five.
One less than the total number of ribs a cat naturally had.
“But all her ribs were missing. So, what about the last one?”
“…I have it. Nabi gave it to before she disappeared.”
Disappeared.
It was such a aningful word.
“I-I also searched everywhere for Nabi! I didn’t know she’d end up dying all alone on the hill behind!”
Considering that she wasn’t even buried, I assud it was possible that her owner had simply abandoned her.
But it turned out that the cat had moved on her own to find a place to die.
The abandoned-looking corpse now made sense.
“So, the reason you had all the patients in that ward keep cats is…”
I trailed off intentionally, waiting for him to explain.
And Martin responded with a guilt-ridden expression.
“They are all patients with very little ti left. They have no money, and even with treatnt, their chances of survival are slim.”
“…”
“I…I told them my story. I even let them et my now-healthy father! Isn’t this worth trying, even out of desperation? I feel sorry for the cats, but… shouldn’t people be the priority?”
“The chances of these cats turning out like yours are negligible.”
Giving affection to any random cat wouldn’t make them bring you their bones. If they did, it would have to be considered a real phenonon.
Not just a fairy tale or ghost story.
“I know that…”
Martin hung his head low.
Even so, he clenched his fists tightly and shouted.
“Still… isn’t this the only way to save them? As a doctor, I will not hesitate to do anything to save a life!”
A doctor’s resolve.
A firm determination to save his patients.
Perceiving the full weight of his conviction, I simply watched as Martin let out a heavy sigh.
“To tell you the truth, I still have the last rib Nabi gave . After all, my father is already cured.”
“…”
“I thought of keeping it as a final nto of Nabi at first, but now, I plan to boil it and share it with the patients instead.”
To let them live for just a bit longer, clinging to the faint hope as they wished for a miracle. It was the only desperate act the dying could make.
“Did you not see? There was even a child among them. The gods have cruelly given an incurable disease to a child!”
[…]
[…]
Neither the Dark Spiritualist nor Stella, standing behind , were able to utter a word.
They, too, understood that it wasn’t a situation where the cat’s owner could be condemned blindly.
After all, Nabi herself had handed over the bones, so it was hard to bla the doctor for this.
In fact…
[ow.]
Nabi flailed her paws as if to say it didn’t matter. On the contrary, she seed to be urging us to hurry up and give her remaining bone to the patients.
And so, I responded.
“If it were , I would not make that choice.”
“What…?”
Martin wasn’t the only one surprised by my words. I could clearly feel the Dark Spiritualist, Stella, and even Nabi turning their gazes toward .
“In fairy tales or legends, whenever the dying or the sick are healed, there is always a price to pay.”
Most tales didn’t just offer sothing without limits; there was always a condition or cost.
“Do not do it. Be content that you managed to save your father. As tragic as their deaths may be, I will be the one to console and embrace them on their final journey.”
“That is truly a statent befitting the title of Soul Whisperer.”
Peeking out from behind the hands covering his face, Martin’s eyes glared at with a cold, piercing intensity.
“But I cannot do that. If your duty as the Soul Whisperer is to console the dead, then mine is to heal and save the wounded and the sick. That is my oath.”
Martin stood abruptly and bowed politely to .
“Please leave.”
“…”
Without any further comnt, I stepped outside.
No matter what I said, he would fulfill his duty and ultimately arrive at the sa outco.
[F-Fluffy II!]
And before I knew it, the cat had darted out the door and settled at the center of the ward.
That sight…
She almost looked like a guardian deity.
In reality, she did possess that much power within her body.
She was guarding this place.
That was Nabi’s resolve.
With my thoughts in a tangled ss, I stepped outside. The heavy knot in my chest refused to loosen, though I knew it never would.
Because no matter what I said, Martin and the patients would not give up on their desperate struggle to survive.
That was human instinct after all.
[F-Fluffy II!]
Unable to leave the cat behind after hearing her tragic story, the Dark Spiritualist buried her face in Stella’s arms and wept.
Holding the Dark Spiritualist gently, Stella cautiously asked .
[Do you believe that doctor was telling the truth?]
“He was.”
That much I was certain.
“There is no way he took the cat’s ribs by force.”
Because there were exactly twenty-six wounds.
“If he had done it by force, there would have been no need to cut the abdon every single ti.”
Had he done it against Nabi’s will, he would’ve extracted all the ribs in one go when he first opened her up.
[Ah, I see.]
Stella nodded in understanding. While she could comprehend their desperate struggles to survive, honestly, it didn’t seem like sothing she could praise.
[A virtuous animal and humans bound by duty.]
Stella clasped her hands together tightly and prayed in the direction of the hospital.
[I truly hope this leads to a happy ending.]
I felt sorry for her, who quietly prayed for them. However…
“…”
Knowing how this would ultimately end, I couldn’t bring myself to agree with her.
In the end, all that remained was a feeling of helplessness, knowing there was nothing I could do.
A few days later,
All eight patients and Martin, the doctor, were found dead.
***
sko-fi/genesisforsaken
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