“I am quite curious as to how you recognized me.”
The black cat spoke.
The voice did not come from its mouth. Instead, it echoed directly within Greg's mind—cool, distant, possessing an inhuman, ethereal quality, yet strangely mixed with a hint of laziness unique to felines.
It even raised a front paw and licked it gracefully, then tilted its head, looking at Greg inquisitively with eyes so deep green they seemed capable of absorbing all light.
That posture was not that of a cat, but rather a deity sitting high upon a throne, observing an unexpected visitor with deep interest.
“I knew it.”
Greg's reaction was unexpectedly calm.
There was no prostrating or kneeling, no panic or confusion, and he didn't even raise an eyebrow.
He acted as if he had long anticipated this moment, merely tweaking the corner of his mouth into an expression mixed with helplessness and an “I knew it” look, before speaking unhurriedly:
“After all, this trope is far too classic. The goddess representing night showing herself in the form of a black cat... It's practically standard issue in all kinds of stories. It'd be harder not to make the connection.”
He even shrugged, as if discussing some cliché literary trope.
“Trope? What on earth are you talking about?” A clear trace of confusion leaked through the black cat's voice.
Its deep green eyes narrowed slightly, as if Greg's reaction and words were completely outside its expectations.
“It's too much trouble to explain.”
Greg waved a hand, adopting a posture of not bothering with details:
“Anyway, just assume that I realized a regular cat could never show up in a godforsaken place like this, right around the time I happened to gain a bunch of dark-attribute skills. So the moment you appeared, I figured you were anything but ordinary.”
This wasn't entirely an excuse.
From the moment this black cat first appeared, its overly serene demeanor and its calmness in ignoring the dangerous dungeon environment had reeked of strangeness.
Add to that his ridiculously high Dark Magic Affinity, which he had just acquired... A stack of coincidences pointing to a conclusion that wasn't hard to guess.
“What a casual attitude.”
The tip of the black cat's tail flicked gently, its voice revealing no emotion:
“Since you know I am a goddess, shouldn't you show me a bit more respect?”
Greg flipped the deity off directly with the universal gesture of friendship.
“Not a sliver.”
His tone even carried a hint of impatience:
“I'm not a member of the Animal Protection Society, so I don't have any special cat-lover filter. And to be completely honest, I never wanted to get involved with beings like you in the first place.”
He continued, “My current situation is already troublesome enough. Besides, I just want to live a peaceful life, not get dragged into some script about a struggle of fate.”
Finally, he concluded, “So could I please ask you not to have anything to do with me from now on?”
“Attempting to reject a goddess? You truly are a... peculiar human.”
The faint trace of a smile seemed to brush past the cat's voice, but it quickly returned to that ethereal tone:
“However, regrettably, you have already been marked by me. Thus, your desire to cut ties with me is already impossible.”
“Hey!”
Greg's fur bristled a little at that:
“You did all of that on your own authority, didn't you? Did I agree? Did I nod? Did I sign a contract? No! Do unilateral, forced blessings count? At worst, just take it back!”
“That cannot be done.”
The black cat shook its head gently with elegant, yet unquestionable certainty. “Because your fate and mine have already been thoroughly bound together.”
“Holy crap!”
Greg cursed under his breath, modern slang slipping out. “Shady merchants like you who force a sale and refuse refunds deserve to be tormented by those freeloaders who exploit refund-only policies!”
“Freeloaders?”
The black cat tilted its head, clearly unable to comprehend these otherworldly terms, but the disgust and resistance in Greg's tone were unmistakable.
“That look of disgust on your face genuinely makes me a little sad.”
Its voice remained flat, but a barely perceptible wave of emotion seemed to ripple through it:
“Do you know how many living beings throughout history willingly offered their entire lives, even their very souls and eternity, just to earn a single glance from me, or a fleeting sliver of a blessing?”
“That's other people.”
Greg emphasized. He sat down cross-legged, resting his elbows on his knees and propping up his chin, his face written all over with anxiety about the uncertain future:
“But I don't want to be used as a pawn by a... uh, weird goddess like you, and forced to do things that could put my life in danger.”
He placed heavy emphasis on the word “pawn.”
“A pawn?”
The black cat seemed amused by this phrasing. It lightly leaped onto a slightly higher rock, looking down at Greg from above, its deep green eyes flickering in the firelight:
“This is hardly the treatment one gives a pawn.”
It paused, as if weighing its words—or rather, imparting information.
“If I had merely viewed you as a disposable pawn, you would never have received such a... generous gift.”
The black cat's gaze casually drifted across Greg's body. Though nothing appeared unusual on the outside, Greg instantly understood what it meant.
His Dark Magic Affinity at LV10, along with the dark-attribute skills that came with it.
Greg felt a jolt in his heart.
Indeed, according to the original game's setting, even Silvia, who was similarly favored by a goddess, only had a max elemental affinity of LV8 on her game panel.
LV10 was a tier that originally existed only in lore; in reality, no one could reach that level.
If the Goddess of Night really had viewed him as a one-time throwaway tool, there would be no reason to invest so heavily in him.
So this looked much more like an... investment?
Or rather, a binding?
“Furthermore...”
The black cat continued in that voice that echoed directly inside his mind, its tone becoming slightly more solemn:
“I have already stated this—your fate and mine are thoroughly bound together. This is neither a metaphor nor a threat.”
It leaped lightly down from the rock, landing noiselessly before Greg. Tilting its head up, its deep green eyes stared straight into the young human's amber pupils.
“If you die, I too shall perish.”
Greg: “...?”
“We share the exact same Godhood.”
Greg: “...???”
“Thus, strictly speaking—” The black cat's tail wrapped gracefully over its front paws as it delivered its final verdict. “—you, too, can now be considered a... deity.”
Greg: “My sword and shield???”
Rate on N.U.
