Chapter 11

As the tension drained from his shoulders, a ravenous hunger surged in its wake. He ignored their chatter, pulling a crust of bread from the basket. It was only a few days past payday, so he treated himself to a generous smear of butter and a glass of milk instead of the usual water. The cats, still sporting the translucent shimmer of tiger disguises, fell into a stiff silence, their eyes locked intently on his fingertips. He could hear the faint, rhythmic sound of them swallowing in unison.

“Are you hungry too?” Isaac asked.

「Hm, hm. If you wish to offer tribute, we may graciously accept it,」 one responded.

Where did these haughty, thieving feline pests even come from? Dumbfounded, Isaac snorted and continued chewing. “No, thanks. Even if I emptied my entire month’s pantry, there’s no way I could fill the bellies of three beasts your size.”

「What?」

「What are we?」

Before Isaac could finish, the house-sized apparitions flickered and vanished, leaving only three ordinary cats sitting neatly in their place, their wide, round eyes darting back and forth.

“…”

You little shits…

Isaac forgot to chew, staring at them for a long moment before he burst into a helpless, jagged laugh. The sudden release of tension left him lightheaded, and he found himself giggling at the absurdity. It was the new moon, a time when his spirits naturally soared; a dream like this was, at the very least, amusing.

Fine, why the hell not.

In a sudden burst of generosity, Isaac retrieved the herring he had packed in ice for breakfast. The moment the fish hit the table, the cats’ eyes glittered. No sooner had he set the platter down than they flung themselves onto the meat, becoming a single, writhing mass of fur and claws.

Squatting beside the trio as they tore into the raw fish with wet, eager chomps, Isaac reached out to stroke one of them. A tail whipped out, slapping his hand aside with surgical precision. He had failed miserably.

Very proud, these noble little bastards.

Only after they had stripped the fish to its head and skeletal remains did the three begin grooming with satisfied, haughty expressions. The one with eyes as large as teacups glanced at Isaac and curled its lip.

「In recognition of your devotion, we have specially accepted your tribute. For a half-blood living in human lands, this is an honor difficult to obtain even once in a lifetime. Be grateful.」

“Sure thing,” Isaac replied, smiling. “And pray tell, why have such precious beings not returned to the Land of the New Moon? Why linger here?”

The cats ceased their grooming, staring at him with such unnerving focus that Isaac shifted, glancing between the three pairs of eyes.

「We need the box.」 The cat with eyes like towers spoke.

“Hm? A box?”

「The tinderbox. The one that holds those.」

The creature’s gaze shifted to Isaac’s shoulder. He turned to see the flint and steel lying on the table: a dark, worn shard of flint and a rusted piece of steel.

“You just need any decent container? I can find one for you. That shouldn’t be too hard…”

「No, no.」

「We need the tinderbox that originally held that flint.」

「It has to be that tinderbox.」

Isaac, having picked up the tools, looked utterly baffled. “Why?”

「Because it is our treasure,」 the cat stated, its voice ringing with chilling clarity.

Isaac looked down at the mundane objects in his hand. They were common, worn items, the sort discarded in any back alley.

「It was ours in the first place. A precious heirloom passed down through our family for generations. That cunning Amnemica tricked us and stole it away. Now that Amnemica is dead, the treasure should have returned to us, but the soldier who slaughtered her took it.」

Isaac recalled the rumors of a witch’s lost treasure. With a sinking feeling, he asked, “Where is that tinderbox now?”

「In the king’s treasure vault.」

That fabled repository of gold, silver, jewels, and ancient wonders.

The cat repeated itself, its tone demanding. 「Bring it to us. We need it.」

“Bring it to you…” If it were that simple, the royal vaults would be empty. Isaac clicked his tongue, shrugging. “If you’re powerful enough to demand such things, why not just go grab it yourselves?”

「No, no. The king’s treasure vault is inside the royal palace. What if we enter a place crawling with royals, get caught by mistake, and have our blood drained?」

“Blood? Why the hell would your blood be drained? Royals aren’t vampires.”

「They are under the witches’ curse. If they consume the fresh blood of a witch, they can be freed from that curse for one night.」

「Youngest, shh!」

Another cat swiped a paw across the mouth of the babbling one, but the damage was done.

“…Aha… So that is how it is…”

It made sense. If that secret leaked, the royals would hunt every witch to extinction. As Isaac muttered in distaste, the cat’s body expanded with terrifying speed, ballooning until it eclipsed the size of a tiger, filling the room. It exposed rows of needle-sharp teeth and let out a guttural, vibrating growl.

「If you breathe a word of this, we will devour you. We will place a terrible curse upon your soul!」

“I won’t say a word. I won’t. I have absolutely no desire to see something like that,” Isaac insisted, waving his hands defensively. The mental image of a witch being bled dry was nauseating.

The beast examined Isaac with suspicious intensity before slowly shrinking. Within seconds, it was once again a common house cat. Isaac watched, transfixed.

“But if you possess magic of that caliber, can you not just use it to reclaim the tinderbox?”

「No. Magic is useless against that vault. Furthermore, witches are barred from entry. There is nothing we can do.」

“Hmm… That is unfortunate.”

Isaac looked down at the dejected, drooping cat, offering a hollow, detached sympathy. However, the cat beside it interjected with cold calculation.

「But you could enter. You may be half-witch, but you are also half-human.」

“Huh?”

「Yes. And you are reckless enough to serve in the royal palace despite your lineage.」

「Our treasure is in the royal palace.」

「Which makes you the perfect candidate to retrieve it.」

The cats harmonized with practiced, eerie precision. Ignoring Isaac’s look of profound disbelief, they began to chant in unison. 「Bring it. Bring it.」

“…Excuse me. Not a chance.” Isaac rubbed his temples, a mounting headache throbbing behind his eyes. “That isn’t a place just anyone can wander into. A low-ranking guard like me can’t even catch a glimpse of the door. I’m telling you, you’d need to pull off some legendary feat just to get a look at the threshold.”

「Then make a contribution.」

No matter how clearly he articulated the situation, these cats—utterly unversed in the harsh realities of the world—remained stubbornly oblivious to his meaning. A sudden, crushing wave of fatigue cascaded over Isaac.

“Forget it. My sole ambition in life is to exist quietly and peacefully. I’m not doing it. I don’t have the stomach for such tasks, either. Go find some other mark.”

Having delivered his flat refusal, Isaac trudged toward the bed. The cats, however, were persistent; they dug their sharp claws into the hems of his trousers and dangled from him, trailing behind as they let out a cacophony of insistent meowing.

「Bring it. We told you to bring it to us.」

“Why on earth should I?”

At Isaac’s sharp inquiry, the incessant meowing died instantly. Isaac gazed down at the three felines clinging to his clothes with round, pathetic eyes, then exhaled a weary sigh.

“I pity your situation, really, but I have my own life to lead—”

「We will grant your wishes.」

The cat with the most oversized eyes interrupted. It dropped from Isaac’s pant leg, sprang onto the bed, and sat there, studying him with unnerving intensity.

「On every new-moon night, we will grant three things you desire. We will lend you that flint. Strike it once, and this one」—it gestured with a paw toward the cat with eyes like teacups—「will emerge. Strike it twice, and this one」—it signaled toward the cat with eyes like massive windmill wheels—「will appear. Strike it three times, and I will come running to satisfy the desire of the one who holds the flint. We will fulfill your wishes, and in return, you shall deliver the tinderbox to us.」

The cat rolled its tower-sized eyes while it spoke. The other two felines leapt onto the bed, fixing their solemn, reverent gazes upon Isaac as if presiding over a sacred contract. Isaac mused, What a surreal dream this is, and looked down at the flint and steel he still gripped.

“If I strike this, my wish…?” Isaac muttered to himself and, acting on pure reflex, knocked the stone and steel together. He had barely tapped them, exerting no real force, yet a brilliant, singular spark leaped into the air.

THUD

In that heartbeat, the first cat’s shadow expanded with terrifying velocity. The darkness that blanketed the room was, in reality, the cat itself—a beast now far too colossal to be labeled a mere tiger. Isaac recognized the truth the moment those massive, glowing orbs glared down at him from above the ceiling.

「I will grant the first wish. What is it that you desire?」

The bass-heavy voice reverberated through the room, sounding as though it had erupted from the very bowels of the earth.

Isaac stared at the monstrous creature and swallowed hard. Although his rational mind insisted this was merely a dream, his heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. It’s fine. It’s just a dream. There is nothing to fear here.

“A wish… Uh… Well…”

「What is it that you desire?」

The beast thrust its massive head forward, hovering mere inches from Isaac’s nose. It let out a low, menacing growl, pressing him into a space so intimate it felt stifling, and Isaac’s mind turned to static. A wish? He had never considered it. What did he actually want? If he truly had a choice…

“A b-beautiful…”

「What is it that you desire?」

“One night… with the most beautiful beauty in this country…?”