Night had fallen hours ago.
The convoy advanced slowly along an ancient forest path while several torches illuminated the darkness.
Carriages.
Horses.
Inquisitors.
Priests.
Magic seals.
An entire absurd deploynt.
And in the center of the entire operation...
There was a cage.
An enormous cage reinforced with runic steel.
Covered in blessed chains.
Sacred inscriptions.
And magical barriers.
All to contain a single creature.
A fat cat.
Malrik watched the cage with his arms crossed.
He still found it hard to believe.
"So this is the famous monster..."
Inside.
The Little Fat King slept on his back.
Completely unconcerned.
As if he were at ho.
As if he hadn’t been kidnapped.
As if none of this mattered.
Malrik felt a vein begin to throb in his forehead.
"The one responsible for the mountain incident."
Nothing.
"The creature that eliminated an Abyssal Beast."
Nothing.
"The aberration that worries the Church of Order."
Nothing.
The cat didn’t even open his eyes.
Malrik narrowed his gaze.
"The Little Fat King."
One ear twitched.
Just one.
Then it went still again.
Malrik smiled.
"Ah.
So you do hear."
The cat opened one eye.
Looked at him for two seconds.
And closed it again.
Malrik felt as if he had just received an emotional slap.
One of the inquisitors cleared his throat.
"Is he... mocking you?"
"No."
"He seems like it."
"No."
"A lot."
Malrik decided to ignore him.
He took a deep breath.
And approached again.
"When we reach the headquarters, they’ll study you."
Silence.
"They’ll analyze your abilities."
Silence.
"They’ll discover your origin."
Silence.
"Maybe they’ll dissect you."
Nothing.
Not even an ear twitch.
Malrik gritted his teeth.
"And we’ll probably capture your summoner too."
The cat’s tail stopped moving.
It was such a small thing that almost no one noticed.
Almost.
Malrik didn’t either.
He continued talking.
"If we eliminate the boy,
he won’t be able to summon more creatures like you."
Silence.
"It’s a sha.
He seed nice."
For the first ti.
The Little Fat King opened both eyes.
Slowly.
And looked at Malrik.
The man felt a chill.
Just an instant.
Just a second.
But it was enough to make him uncomfortable.
Then the cat closed his eyes again.
"ow."
Malrik frowned.
"What?"
"ow."
"He’s owing."
"Thanks, I hadn’t noticed."
"I’m just trying to help."
"Don’t."
The cat owed again.
"ow."
And then again.
"ow."
And again.
"ow."
Nothing strange.
A cat owing.
That was all.
Or at least that’s what it seed like.
Because a few minutes later...
The problems began.
CRASH.
A box fell off a carriage.
"Who left that there!?"
"It wasn’t !"
"Well, soone did!"
A horse got scared.
Neighed.
And hit another carriage.
Several bags ended up on the ground.
"Hold the horse!"
"I’m trying!"
"Then try harder!"
Malrik sighed.
"Incompetents."
An old tree collapsed near the path.
The animals got agitated again.
Soone tripped.
Another fell on top.
Two inquisitors began to argue.
"You pushed !"
"I didn’t push you!"
"Yes, you did!"
"I wasn’t even close!"
"Liar!"
Malrik massaged his temples.
"Why is everything becoming so chaotic?"
No one answered.
Because no one had an answer.
anwhile.
Inside the cage.
The Little Fat King remained lying down.
Watching.
Waiting.
As if he were watching a play.
As if he were enjoying every second.
"ow, ow, ow..."
---
Several kiloters away.
Kael ran.
Aurelion ran.
The teachers ran.
And Seraphina...
Looked like a force of nature.
"This way."
That was all she said.
Her voice was still calm.
Monotonous.
Serene.
Which was infinitely more frightening.
Kael glanced at her.
"Are you okay?"
"No."
"That’s understandable. But we’ll find him."
"I’m going to get the Little Fat King back."
Aurelion swallowed.
Kael did too.
Because the way she said it sounded dangerously close to:
"I’m going to eliminate anyone who gets in my way."
Their teacher hadn’t been able to accompany them.
But before they left, he had grabbed Kael by the shoulders.
"Bring the cat back!"
"I’ll try."
"And make sure Seraphina doesn’t kill anyone!"
"That will be much harder."
"I believe in you!"
"You shouldn’t."
---
Back at the convoy.
Malrik finally decided to check the cage.
Just as a precaution.
He approached.
Looked inside.
And stood still.
Silence.
Long.
Very long.
One of the inquisitors blinked.
"Is sothing wrong?"
Malrik pointed.
"..."
"Sir?"
"..."
"Sir?"
"Where is the cat?"
Silence.
The inquisitor looked at the cage.
Blinked.
Looked again.
Blinked again.
"Oh.
OH.
OH!"
Because the cage was empty.
The chains were still there.
The seals were still working.
The runes were still active.
Nothing was broken.
Nothing had been forced.
Nothing seed damaged.
Simply...
The cat was gone.
"WHAT?"
Malrik put both hands to his head.
"HOW!?"
"I DON’T KNOW!"
"IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IMPOSSIBLE!"
"I KNOW THAT TOO!"
The entire camp exploded.
"SEARCH FOR HIM!"
"CLOSE THE PERITER!"
"LET NO ONE LEAVE THE FOREST!"
"FIND THAT DAMN CAT!"
Inquisitors ran in all directions.
Malrik felt like he was about to have a breakdown.
Because he had just understood sothing horrible.
They had never captured a pet.
Never captured a beast.
Never captured a simple summon.
Then.
From sowhere in the forest.
A ow was heard.
"ow."
Everyone turned.
Nothing.
"That way!"
They ran.
Found nothing.
Another ow.
"ow."
This ti from the opposite direction.
They ran again.
Nothing.
Another.
And another.
And another.
As if the entire forest was mocking them.
Malrik clenched his fists.
"He’s ssing with us."
And that sentence.
For the first ti.
Didn’t sound absurd.
Because he really was.
---
Minutes later.
One of the scouts ca running back.
"I found him!"
Malrik turned.
"Where?"
"On a nearby hill."
"Is he alone?"
"Yes."
Malrik smiled.
Finally.
Finally sothing was going right.
"Take there."
They climbed the hill.
Made their way through the trees.
And finally saw him.
The Little Fat King was sitting on a rock.
Perfectly still.
Watching them.
As if he had been waiting for them.
Malrik stepped forward.
"It’s over."
The cat blinked.
"ow."
"You’re not escaping again."
"ow."
"Not this ti."
"ow."
Malrik smiled triumphantly.
"I found you."
Then a voice sounded behind him.
"No."
Malrik froze.
He recognized that voice.
Very well.
"We found you."
Kael erged from among the trees.
Covered in dust.
Tired.
But clearly annoyed.
And behind him appeared Aurelion.
Smiling as always.
"Hi again."
Malrik swallowed.
Because there was still a third presence.
A much more dangerous one.
Much more terrifying.
Seraphina walked slowly forward.
Her expression was exactly the sa as always.
No emotion.
No change.
No apparent anger.
And that made Malrik feel more afraid than if she had been screaming.
The girl looked at the Little Fat King.
Then at the inquisitors.
Then at Malrik.
Finally, she spoke.
"Give back the Little Fat King."
Malrik tried to regain his composure.
"I don’t think you’re in a position to demand anything."
Aurelion burst out laughing.
"Wow.
He’s brave."
Kael shook his head.
"No.
He’s suicidal."
Seraphina took another step.
The air around her began to grow cold.
Slowly.
Dangerously.
Malrik felt that the entire forest had just dropped several degrees in temperature.
And for the first ti since this mission had begun...
He felt real fear.
Because he had just realized sothing.
Capturing the Fat King had been a mistake.
But making Seraphina angry...
That might have been an even worse mistake.
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