I Reincarnated As A Villainess, But Why Did I Become A Cat Butler Instead? - Chapter 146

Chapter 73.2

“I beg your pardon…? Are you serious?”

“Did you hear what I was thinking?”

“Almost as loud as thunder.”

“Did you just pinch and say* it’s yourself?”
[ T/N: To ‘Pinch and say’ means ‘To put one’s finger on something clearly.’ ]

“That was a mistake.”

As I puffed and sped my horse a little faster, Dimitri’s smiling face was full of malicious mischief.

̊ · : * ✧ * : · ̊

We traveled by magic circle to an estate that had recently been reestablished by slave traders who were expelled from Blois. The slave trader, seemingly unaware and going about his daily routine, was caught off guard by the heavily armed elite knights.

“What are you doing?!”

“Oh my! Help me…!”

“What’s wrong with you?! Let go of me!”

The knights kept their mouths shut and subdued the slave traders with their swords and shields. Meanwhile, the manager of the slave trader, who hadn’t been able to grasp the situation, shouted in anger as he was grabbed by the knight.

“Duke of Blois, this is not your territory! Even though you may be a duke, you can’t be this rude to us!”

I was amused that he thought that Dimitri was settling old scores.

“We’re a business dealing with His Majesty the Emperor! I’m going to bring you to trial, and His Majesty won’t stand idly by!”

At that, Dimitri chuckled.

“That’s right, the Emperor won’t let you get away with it.”

“….”

For the briefest of moments, the manager flinched. It seemed that his words must have meant something to him because of the sins he had committed. The manager glanced around, trying not to show his panic.

‘What is it?’

At first, I thought he was looking around to get a sense of the situation, but I soon realized he was looking for someone.

When I turned my head in the direction he was looking, I could see a cramped cage with several shapeshifters in shackles in the form of cats. And there, I spotted one of the slave traders hiding in front of it. The moment the manager winked, he opened the door wide.

“Ah…!”

In a stupor, I was stunned and froze.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of cat shapeshifters jumped out of their cages and scattered in all directions, creating chaos.

‘Oh, my God…’

Frightened cats often lost their senses and retreated into narrow, dark places, curling up and hiding for days on end.

One mistake could be a big deal, especially for stray cats unaccustomed to unfamiliar surroundings. Not only would they be unable to hunt or forage for food, but they might also fail to recognize danger and end up in accidents.

Unlike dogs, which instinctively seek out guardians, a panicked cat wouldn’t reveal itself no matter how much you called for it.

In particular, the slave traders’ cats weren’t wild, which made them even more fearful in unfamiliar situations. They would hide wherever they could, and along the way, accidents could happen—or worse, they could starve to death if they couldn’t find a way out of their hiding spot.

I screamed loudly.

“Door! Close the door, don’t let the cats out!”

The place was like a considerable warehouse, a massive warehouse with tents dividing it into compartments for different purposes. Even though I ordered my knights to close the door to keep the cat shapeshifters inside, by then, more than half the shapeshifters had fled the warehouse in a panic.

All of a sudden, Avila shouted.

“Be careful, Duchess…!”

“Aaaakk!”

As fire flashed beside me, one of the slavers flew into the wall with a scream. With the knights distracted by the cat people and me, the slave traders launched a counterattack.

“Hhiiinng—”

Suddenly, with a burst of magic, the startled horse raised its front hooves. As I braced my thighs and held on, the black mist emanated from Dimitri, anchoring me firmly to the back of my horse. Calming my startled horse, I then shouted at him.

“I’ll go outside and find as many cat shapeshifters as possible!”

“I’ll clean up and follow you in a minute, but don’t go too far in case there are more of them.”

Saying that, Dimitri attached three knights to me.

Before I left the warehouse, I pointed to Avila and told her about the tents where the dog shapeshifters were barking loudly.

“I need you to take care of the dogs, can you do it?”

“Yes, I’ll guard our door!”

As if to leave it to her, Avila rode to the tent of the dog shapeshifters with two knights. The next moment, I went out of the warehouse and ordered the knights.

“They probably haven’t gone far since they’re scared. Look in the grass, under obstacles, and in dark, narrow places. Don’t make any loud noises or sudden movements, and put them one by one in the bags you brought.”

Thankfully, I had prepared several bags for the cats before leaving the mansion, anticipating an unexpected situation, and distributed them to the knights.

‘…I wonder if we can catch them.’

Even though I had given the orders calmly, I wasn’t entirely confident. Still, since they were shapeshifters who understood people, I hoped it would be easier than dealing with real cats.

With that, I dismounted my horse and began searching for potential hiding spots where the cats might be.”

However…

“Uh…?”

Before long, I was dumbfounded and widened my eyes.

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