Surviving a Shounen Manga

Chapter 63

Yellow Cat, Black Cat

He was a weird one.

The yellow-coloured beast, which I still wasnt sure was actually a mountain cat or not, was just standing in place, staring at me.

Without a single sound or the slightest movement.

Those bright red eyes simply stared at me, unmoving.

He was clearly no wild animal.

As per the setting, most wild divine beasts were hostile to humans and the more isolationist ones wouldnt even hesitate to pre-emptively attack humans intruding on their territory.

But, let alone attack, he didnt seem to even hold any particular hostility towards me. What shone in those red irises was something closer to indifference.

This left me with a strange impression, as if I was looking at a machine, rather than a living being. It mightve been a bit hyperbolic to say, but all interest and curiosity seemed to have been erased under repeated mental domination.

Leaving only a lifeless serenity that didnt fit a wild divine beast at all.

And above all else, Coocoos horrified reaction was the evidence.

Coocoos wings had been trembling ever since the beast had appeared. With his head bowed down, he looked quite anxious.

But it wasnt fear that gripped him, I felt. Rather, he seemed to be in pain, recalling some old trauma. The thought that those bastards had come to catch him again had triggered a panic attack.

I gently held Coocoos wings.

" Squatjaw?"

"Its alright, what are you shaking so much for?"

"Ah, but these guys."

"Its alright."

After a while,

" Haah, damn it."

Fortunately, Coocoo seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"That yellow beast. You know him?"

Coocoo shook his beak at my question.

"I dont. Its just, the smell"

"Smell? Does he smell like them? The organization that captured you?"

Instead of answering, Coocoo turned to yellow cat. It looked like he was trying to remember something.

And then

" Its not just him."

Said something odd.

"Whatre you talking about?"

"He didnt come alone, damn it."

Coocoo was falling into a panic again. His trauma ran deeper than I thought.

Hmmm.

Basically, there might be several people nearby who also controlled their own divine beasts, and there might be a few more divine beasts besides this yellow cat.

"Tch"

Ignoring the cowardly and mentally unstable pigeon, I turned to the yellow cat, who was still blankly staring at me.

It was difficult to imagine. That this guy was also a divine beast.

I decided to start up a conversation.

"Hm, hey, yellow cat. Can you even speak?"

I waited for a while, but no answer came.

But I didnt give up. Even if he couldnt speak, I thought he might be able to understand my words.

"Did you come here for us? Wheres your master?"

All the divine beasts Id seen in the original had been like that. Although few of them could speak, all of them, without exception, could communicate with their masters. Between humans and beasts, the intelligence of divine beasts was closer to the former.

And soon,

Purr.

The guy made a small noise.

Sounded like agreement.

"So, you did come to visit us Whats your purpose?"

The guy slowly turned back. Then he shook his head a couple of times, like signaling us to follow.

What should I do?

The approach was very different from what Id expected, but it was clear that enemies with divine beasts of their own had come a-knocking. Not one, but several.

Isnt the gap a bit too big?

The first wave had been small fries, but the ones whod followed right after were honestly a bit concerning.

After thinking for a while, I called out to the princess.

"If I dont come back within a couple of hours, start moving. Ill follow later."

"Why, what is it because of that beast?"

"Yeah. The bad guys whod imprisoned Coocoo have come to chat. Its no big deal, so dont worry."

"But"

"Dont get caught up in this mess for no reason just because weve been together for a while. You have enough enemies already."

""

Id had no intention of leaving the princess by herself, but this was different. These guys were the only enemies with a different purpose. Theyd come to get Coocoo back, and didnt care about the princess at all. Itd be cleaner and quicker to solve the problem without worrying about her getting caught up in it.

Of course, shed have to protect herself properly during the period.

"If youre in danger, remember to call the old man."

" Im not weak either, you know."

"Yeah, alright. Then, take care of yourself."

A character cant grow if theres no crisis, anyway.

So, I wasnt against exposing the princess to a little danger, although it wouldnt do to go overboard.

"Remember. Two hours."

Grabbing Coocoo, I followed after the yellow cat.

The yellow cat guided us to a nearby forest.

Crossing the thick woods, we reached the depths, an empty patch of land covered with fallen leaves.

And, there

"Ah, there you are."

A man in a flashy outfit was standing there.

He was wearing a white coat embroidered with different colours, like some kind of a stage magician costume. If it was a deliberate choice of fashion, I could only applaud his taste as being quite unique. Both his cheeks were painted with rouge, completing the foppish look.

Well, if this was the organizations uniform, thatd explain a few things.

He spoke.

"You know me, right?"

It was an absurd way to start the conversation.

"How could I? Its my first time seeing you."

This guy had never even appeared in the original.

"Oh, I mean, you know what Im here for? Right? You mustve heard it all by now."

He pointed to the left pocket of my cloak. Where Coocoo was nestled.

"Yeah. Youre villains. You catch divine beasts and put curses on them. Bad guys who lure adventurers and attack them."

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At my words, he giggled, and then broke into full-blown laughter.

"So you do know."

"And now youre targeting me."

"Right."

He stopped chuckling and stared at me.

Then

"Originally, I didnt intend to meet you here, but I guess I ran out of patience."

He pulled out a bell from his pocket.

As he shook it, the yellow cat slowly approached and stood next to him.

"I saw it."

"What?"

"That throw."

" You mean that rock?"

Then

"Rock? Ah yeah, that guy was dumb as a rock, you mean? Its true. Boasting like that, when he couldnt even notice the difference in strength between you two?"

He giggled again.

Hmmm.

From the looks of it, this guy hadnt even seen me in the preliminaries.

And come to think of it,

"But are you the only one here?"

Oddly enough, I couldnt feel anybody else nearby. Not even any beasts.

I looked around.

It was puzzling. Why was this guy here all alone?

This wasnt just because of Coocoos words, not alone.

Because I thought there had to be more than just this guy and that yellow divine beast to such a vicious group.

"Are you really the only one?"

"Oh, why?"

"Im wondering if youre dumb as a rock, too, since you cant even notice the difference in strength between us."

""

Appearance is one of the most important criteria for determining an opponents strength in this world.

If youre handsome, youre strong, if youre stylish, youre strong, and if you look larger than life, of course youre strong.

Naturally, therere a lot of exceptions, and the accuracy drops a lot towards the end of the storyline. Because all the characters that appear are strong, the emphasis on personality becomes more important than appearance.

But, only for humans.

For divine beasts, appearance is a strict criterion for judging their strength.

To make it simple the smaller and cuter it is, the more powerful it is.

Does it look cute enough to just eat up? Then its strong enough to easily crush an S-class adventurer.

Of course, the true body, once revealed, can be large and imposing. But in general, it needs to look pretty and cute. Thats the condition of being a powerful divine beast in this shounen manga.

And its a formula that doesnt change all the way to the end.

The yellow cat in front of me did feel quite strong, but he lost just from the appearance. Too bad, but he wasnt small, and he wasnt cute either.

In other words, itd be difficult to get rid of even the most inexperienced adventurers with just this one divine beast. As long as theyre adventurers, they must possess some ability.

And, to say the least

"You dont think you dont think Im in the same league as those idiots you beat earlier?"

"If you have friends nearby, call them in quickly. Dont end up regretting it later."

This rock-head who couldnt even notice the difference in strength between us, wasnt enough for this job.

If I were to divide the current characters in terms of strength, with a very simple grade system

1. Weak

2. Normal

3. Strong

4. Monster

I was naturally at the fourth level, a monster.

To be more specific, among the characters that currently existed, there was no one who I thought could threaten me, except for Karl Zayed.

The reason was simple. Because it was still early, the worldview hadnt been expanded enough yet, and strong enough characters hadnt had the chance to come up on stage.

The power balance of this world was forever set based on Leo, and Leos current power was at level 4, a fellow monster. No matter how strong a villain appeared right now, they wouldnt be at a level that Leo couldnt beat. The balance would break otherwise. The Huntington Bandits that Leo and his party faced in this chapter, were the same.

In a nutshell, there was no one who could be considered stronger than Leo right now, except for the two (me and Karl Zayed) whod ranked higher than him in the qualification test.

Of course, this wouldnt last very long.

The power scale in a shounen manga isnt static. There inevitably comes a time when the characters rapidly grow stronger, a period of upheaval that also heralds an expansion of the worldview.

A time when the main character is given a new environment and goal, the stage expands dramatically, and a gaggle of new characters show up. Characters whove only existed as settings till then, are realized in the world and reveal their presence.

When that time came, Leos rating would also be naturally adjusted, from the fourth level, monster, to normal, the second level from the bottom; and in severe enough cases, even to the lowermost level, weak. On the other hand, all the new characters would be at either level 3 strong or level 4 monster.

In other words, even though I was at level 4 right now, a monster, when the time came, I too would have to drop in level.

The most turbulent time next in the schedule was the chapter where the Scramble for Ramirezs Treasure would take place. From that point on, my strength would rapidly drop, enough that even staying at level 3, strong, might get difficult.

And even if I somehow raised my rating to level 4 monster again, once I crossed the Kings Road and entered Midland, Id again fall back to level 1, weak. Same as Leo.

In sum, once powerful guys started appearing one after another in the not-too-distant future, my strength would become nothing special.

But not yet. Right now, it was hard to find someone stronger than me, anywhere.

And therefore

"Hahaha! Wheres all this arrogance coming from? Just from beating those horse thieves earlier? Do you even know whats next to me right now? Its called a divine beast, a divine beast! Its not like the pigeon youve got with you, its not restricted, its a real divine beast!"

His speech and behaviour gave credence to the hypothesis that his dumbness indeed approached that of a rock.

Waving the bell in his hands, he whispered something into the yellow cats ear.

Then, the yellow cat slowly walked forward.

I looked at him and didnt take any action. There was no reason to, because I didnt think he was a threat.

However, the guy in the flashy outfit seemed to think that I was frozen with fear.

"Hey, if you stand still, youll get eaten. Do you know what I just said to this cutie?"

He giggled, giving me no time to answer, and answered himself first.

"I told him to eat one of your feet first. So be careful. Hes got pretty sharp teeth."

He wasnt that funny, either.

"Lets hope youve paid more attention to this kids feet than mine."

I pointed to Coocoo.

"If I catch you, can you remove that thing from his ankle?"

The guy replied with a grin.

"Ill let you know if you can beat my cutie."

And then,

Growl!

The yellow cat rushed towards me.

At this point, I was indeed a little flustered, because he was slower than I thought.

He didnt even use his unique ability.

Just bared his claws and ran at me with open jaws.

Like a cheeky little kitten.

I lightly dodged the front paws that came flying and grabbed him by the neck.

Growl?

Then I spun him around a few times.

Gr-, growl?

And then

"Here, take him back! Im strong, but I cant control my strength very well, you see?"

I threw the yellow cat back at the guy who was still staring blankly as if he hadnt figured out the situation yet.

Gr-, growl!!!

Whooosh.

"Wai-, wait a minute"

Of course, I didnt stand still either.

While the yellow cat was sailing through the air, I was already rushing  at him.

"Huh!?"

The mans face, up close, was full of surprise and bewilderment.

"Whatre you so surprised about? This is just the beginning."

I grabbed him by the neck.

"Stop!"

I felt a flash of heat behind me and hurriedly backed away.

Then,

Bang!

A fireball struck where Id just been standing.

"That was dangerous. This is why I told you to wait."

"Yeah, you idiot! I told you to unseal the divine beasts unique ability as soon as you meet an enemy who looks strong."

Turning around, I saw two men who looked like they were in the same party, walking out of the bushes.

Ah, so thats how it is.

And next to them were two big cats that looked like they could be brothers of the yellow one. The fireball seemed to be the work of one of them. Smoke was still rising from his mouth.

One of the two newcomers shouted at me.

"Who are you!"

"Huh?"

It was a rather odd question.

I scratched my head.

"Isnt that what I should be asking? It was you guys who followed me."

"Shut up!"

?

While I was feeling dizzy from this deluge of absurdity

" Bastard! I was careless just now, but itll be different from now on!"

The owner of the first yellow cat cried out with anger. A very typical line for an extra.

"Now, has everybody gathered? This is all of you?"

I asked, tilting my head.

"Heh, your lucks now run out."

I was feeling puzzled. Were these guys really all of them?

To be honest, the two new additions didnt make them much more of a threat. I might need a little more time, but the ending wouldnt change.

But I was feeling a strange sense of incongruity. As if there was still something more left.

Although very faint, there was a sense of crisis.

Why?

It took a little while, but I managed to pinpoint where the source of that discomfort came from.

It wasnt far. Right from my left pocket.

Coocoos trembling hadnt stopped. Not yet.

I glanced at his shivering, silent form.

What was making him tremble?

Not the humans in front of me, or those beasts. I was sure of that. There had to be somebody else out there somewhere.

I looked around eagerly.

The idiots in front of me were still talking, but I ignored them. Because they didnt matter.

Obviously theres another guy, somewhere here

That was then

Huh?

As I was scanning my surroundings, something caught my eye.

It only flashed in my vision for a moment, but my head naturally stopped in its arc.

And unconsciously, I gaped.

That was how strong the presence was.

It was a black cat perching on a tree branch in the distance.

Even though the darkness had descended, I could clearly notice him even through the thick cover of trees. How absurdly beautiful he was.

This cat was crazy.

And in that moment, I was sure.

That guy was the culprit. The reason why Coocoo was still shivering.

At the same time, the black cat also seemed to notice my gaze.

He jumped off his perch and padded closer.

"N-, no!"

"W-, we can take care of this!"

"You really dont have to come out"

The black cat didnt respond to their cries.

Instead,

"Who are you?"

He spoke to me.

I was so surprised I even forgot to reply. I just stared blankly with my mouth agape.

However, this was not because of what he said, nor because of the revelation that the leader of the pursuers was a divine beast instead of a human.

It was because I found the appearance of the black cat quite familiar.

Heterochromatic eyes, that gleamed in the dark as if an emerald and a sapphire had been embedded into his shiny black coat.

A large red ruby hanging from his neck.

A cat I knew from the original.

[A speciality of the Southland National Park, commonly known as the Jewel Cat].

I carefully called out his name.

"Nero?"

In an instant, the black cats paws froze.

His eyes widened in surprise.

Editors Notes:

None for this chapter.