4
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Since he couldn’t play the new game he’d downloaded, Ling PingAn turned on the television to pass the time.
As soon as the television was turned on, a news report appeared.
Ling PingAn was about to switch channels. He picked up the remote control, but halted immediately.
Because the news that was being broadcast was from Jiangcheng City.
“According to a report we’ve just received…half an hour ago, a building collapsed in the northern suburbs of Jiangcheng City…
“A private apartment building collapsed for still unknown reasons…
“At present, firefighters from Jiangcheng City’s Fire Department are conducting an emergency rescue at the scene.”
The female announcer who was dressed in formal clothes reported in a sweet voice, “According to our sources from the Jiangcheng City Federal Rescue Center, this collapsed apartment belongs to Zhang Yu, Deputy Director of the Jiangcheng City Federal Bureau of Natural Disaster Management…
“It can also be confirmed that Zhang Yu was unfortunately killed in this accident…”
A picture of a man who seemed a little bit too young for the title he had achieved appeared on the screen.
As he looked at it, Ling PingAn couldn’t help menting, “This Zhang Yu guy is at most one or two years older than I am, and he’s already a Deputy Director in Jiangcheng City..?!”
However, the next second, he stopped menting.
Because the biography of Deputy Director Zhang appeared on the screen.
The title Natural Disaster and Rescue Expert appeared in bold type with a large font size.
The Federal Empire valued knowledge highly and was especially respectful toward its experts.
There was a famous saying from the founder of the Federal Empire that was often flung around: Let the experts do things.
This very sentence had bee the fundamental foundation of the Federal Empire’s national policies for the past 300 years.
From the top of society to the bottom, there was a national consensus about respecting professionalism and various experts.
So, of course, Ling PingAn’s previous skeptical ments naturally became more sympathetic. “What a pity, he was so young. How very unfortunate!”
However, this matter didn’t occupy too much of Ling PingAn’s thoughts.
Because his stomach had started rumbling.
Grabbing his phone and swiping into the takeaway app, Ling PingAn ordered a beef donburi as usual.
Half an hour later, the beautiful girl in traditional Fusang clothes once again arrived at his store on her electric bike.
“Ling-san, your beef donburi!” As soon as Chiba Michiko entered, she bowed politely as usual and then placed the food box that was in a plastic bag on the counter.
“All right, thank you.” Ling PingAn nodded. Then he remembered that this young girl from Fusang seemed to be addicted to cosplay.
That tail behind her hip was so cute.
“She is really brave!” Ling PingAn gasped to himself in admiration.
He felt that if it were him, no matter how much he might want to, he wouldn’t have dared to openly exhibit his hobbies to the public’s pointing fingers.
Chiba Michiko placed the takeaway food box neatly, before she saw the black kitten lying prone on the counter.
Tiny kittens were a deadly enticement for all girls.
What’s more, this kitten was a petite and adorable one.
Chiba Michiko fell in love with this kitten instantly.
“Ling-san!” With big curious eyes, she asked, “Is this your new pet?”
“Yeah!” Ling PingAn took the food box, opened it, and the aroma of beef immediately filled his mouth and nose, pelling him to grab the chopsticks and dig in. “This little fella has gone through quite a lot…”
He briefly explained about what had happened last night, leaving Chiba Michiko a little teary.
She cautiously walked up to the counter, looked at the kitten sleeping next to the puter, and couldn’t help reaching out her hand to touch its fur.
But before she could touch her, the kitten suddenly raised her head.
Its eyes were a magnificent amber color that was surpassingly beautiful.
Chiba Michiko took her hand away immediately, and she backed away as if she had been shocked by electricity. A look of fear and terror cropped up on her face.
Seeming to hesitate, she finally mustered up her courage and spoke, “Ling-san, your cat…”
She looked at the kitten that had once again placed its head down and asked courageously, “Is it…obedient?”
“Yeah, very.” Ling PingAn was eating his beef donburi as he replied, “I even gave her a name.
“Bastet.
“What do you think? It’s a great name, isn’t it?” Ling PingAn asked.
“Yes…” Chiba Michiko’s voice seemed to tremble, and, at that moment, the kitten who had just put its head down raised its head again. Its black fur stood up. Its tiny mouth opened slightly, exposing her pink tongue and her mouthful of teeth.
As if she had encountered her natural enemy, Chiba Michiko started shaking all over.
Exerting all her strength, she nodded forcefully. “Yes, it’s a really nice name.”
She was afraid to say any different.
Because she knew that if she was bold enough to do so…she would die.
“Ling-san, good-bye…” Chiba Michiko dared not linger any longer. She bowed and said, “Enjoy your meal!”
Then she walked out of the bookstore in a way that seemed as if she was running for her life.
Ling PingAn was busy inhaling the beef donburi so he didn’t look up. He just nodded and said, “Thanks for your hard work, Chiba-chan! I’ll remember to give you five stars.”
…
After escaping the bookstore, Chiba Michiko patted herself on the chest.
“That was scary…that was too scary…” She couldn’t help but keep repeating that phrase.
She turned back to look at the bookstore.
At the counter behind the glass door, the young owner of the bookstore was gorging on his food as if he had no idea of what was going on.
And sitting on the counter, a pair of amber cat eyes was following her.
As if in a trance, Chiba Michiko seemed to catch sight of a pyramid’s image reflected behind the kitten.
Chiba Michiko abruptly shuddered.
That was a warning that couldn’t get any more obvious.
But…
Ling-san is a good person!
Thinking about the encounters she had had with this young man from the Federal Empire over the past two years or so, Chiba Michiko was reluctant to not trust him.
She took out her phone and was about to dial the emergency number that had been left behind by the Federal Blackguard.
But the next second, she stopped.
Because she saw the kitten lowering her head once again and curling up on the counter.
“It doesn’t seem to bear any ill intention toward Ling-san…,” Chiba Michiko thought. “Maybe like Bai Suzhen on television, it is here to repay its debt of gratitude?”
Perhaps only this explanation would make any sense.
Chiba Michiko doesn’t want to be Fahai[1].
And she couldn’t be, even if she wished to.
She was just a little Fox Demon, a poor little Fox Demon who had e to the Federal Empire from Fusang in order to make a living.
She understood that the kitten was very, very powerful.
It was so powerful that perhaps no one in Jiangcheng could match it.
At least, whoever tried to take it on would need backup from the capital city.
However, if it was angered before backup from the capital city could arrive, Jiangcheng City would suffer flooding just like that which occurred at the Jinshan Temple[2].
Thinking of the picture of The Flooding of Jinshan Temple that she had seen on television, the girl from Fusang shuddered again.
She didn’t want this city that she had bee familiar with to bee like Osaka a few years ago.
In Osaka, where the earth split, the city burned, and people fled in panic.
******
[1] Fahai. A Buddhist monk from Madame White Snake, a.k.a. Bai Suzhen.[2] Another reference to an incident that took place in Madame White Snake.
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