I Reincarnated As A Villainess, But Why Did I Become A Cat Butler Instead? - Chapter 233

Chapter 117.1

“I thought I told you not to act without my permission.”

I warned, pointing to the head of Agaliaept that Coco was clutching with his paws. By now, Agaliaept had shrunk to just the size of a peach.

‘He said the connection was unstable.’

According to him, because he didn’t make a contract directly with me, the connection was unstable. As a result, sometimes his voice wouldn’t come through, his appearance may be distorted, or he may not be summoned even when called.

The demon chuckled, struggling between Coco’s front paws.

“Kikiki, I just showed you what you wanted to see.”

It was because of Agaliaept that I remembered the conversation with my mom so vividly a moment ago. It was quite unpleasant that the demon had tampered with my memories without my knowledge.

“When did I ever ask for that?”

“Kikiki!”

I glared fiercely at the demon, who grinned slyly.

As I gestured to Coco, he swiftly scratched the demon’s head. Even though Coco was far too weak to defeat Agaliaept, since he was my demon, he was bound by my commands, and he had to yield to him obediently.

“Kkeuaa! Kkeuuaaa!”

“Quit the theatrics. If you use your powers against me again, I’ll destroy your body and won’t summon you for a while.”

I learned from Dimitri that I could oust the demon’s heart even from Agaliaept. I heard that a demon’s heart wasn’t an actual heart but rather a condensed energy mass where demons store their power. Since demons kept their main bodies in another dimension and projected only their will into this dimension, they needed a central point of condensed power to manifest physically in a way similar to their main bodies.

It seems that once you break it, it takes some time to rebuild it.

Low-level demons like dream demons might need up to hundreds of years, while higher demons like Samael or Agaliaept might need a few days. However, in the case of Agaliaept, the problem wasn’t rebuilding the heart but rather the matter of crossing dimensions since the connection with me was unstable.

‘Sasha said we should draw a summoning circle and summon him like when she made a contract with Abaddon.’

Agaliaept, who can delve into my memories, would know well how I climbed that dark mountain path that day and reached the suitable place to draw a summoning circle.

‘I was a mess of tears and snot, clinging to Dimitri. How can I do that again after that?’

It was something I couldn’t do even more now that I was rejecting Dimitri.

Agaliaept would’ve probably realized that I couldn’t bring myself to ask Dimitri for help. That was why he was worried that his body, small and weak as a peach, would explode in Coco’s hands due to the unstable connection.

“Kkiiik! I could be useful! You’ll need my help! You almost got swept off your feet by that cat shapeshifter just now…!”

“S-Shut your mouth and go away!”

As I ordered him while glancing at Coco, Agaliaept smirked and vanished into my shadow.

‘D*mn it, I’ve been tricked again!’

He truly was a cunning demon.

̊ · : * ✧ * : · ̊

When I went to the shelter, I gathered all the cat shapeshifters who had applied to join the mercenary group. There weren’t many applicants, perhaps because they didn’t trust me yet.

The applicants gathered here seemed to have applied out of curiosity rather than a genuine desire to work hard as they could legally earn money as shapeshifters. Their eyes were filled not with a determination to work hard but with curiosity about what exactly they would be asked to do.

“Tonight, our mercenary group received its first request.”

At those words, around ten or so gathered cat shapeshifters stirred with excitement.

“Oh…”

“Who would do such a strange thing?”

“Is it really a genuine request?”

“There’s an idiot out there who wants to hire us, hahaha! How foolish is that?”

The murmurs gradually turned into conversations among themselves.

“What is it, what is it? Who are we supposed to kill?”

“Hey, do you think we are gathered here to assassinate? I thought I was coming to catch rat shapeshifters!”

“Ugh, who would be crazy enough to spend money on such a boring thing?”

“Ah, did you just touch me?”

“Huh? No, I didn’t. I was just passing by. What, are you trying to accuse me?”

I smiled as I watched them chattering distractedly, almost grabbing each other by the hair. As I jingled the bag filled with silver coins, they all lifted their heads and turned to me, their heads swiveling like cats, hearing the rustle of a snack bag.

“This is the advance payment for this request. If you successfully complete the request, the payment will double, and I’ll divide the payment among you at a fair rate.”

“A fair rate?”

“A base salary plus a performance bonus.”

The eyes of the cat shapeshifters sparkled with enthusiasm at the words, which had seemed disinterested until now.