"Sherwin-nii, we're back, meow~"
(=`=)
As soon as Klee Meow returned to the hall, she launched herself into a long-distance flying pounce straight into Sherwin arms, then skillfully burrowed and rubbed her little head against him.
Since the commotion caused by the other cats had happened far from the hall—and Judge had soundproofed the entire castle to avoid being disturbed during his research—Sherwin had no idea what had just taken place on the other side of the castle.
So, he simply stroked Klee Meow while casually asking, "Done exploring already? Did you see anything interesting?"
"Mhm, mhm, mhm! There so much interesting stuff in this castle, meow!"
Klee Meow happily nodded her little head, then started counting on her tiny fingers as she enthusiastically shared her discoveries with Sherwin—
"There a flowerpot in the corridor outside, and curling up inside it feels so comfy, meow…"
Naturally, most of Klee Meow "discoveries" were things only a little kitten would find fascinating, but Sherwin showed no impatience at all.
Instead, he deliberately acted surprised and amazed, fully indulging the ragdoll commentary.
Huamei Meow, however, couldn't take it anymore. She finally cut in, "We just had a fight with that blue-haired guy, meow."
"He the one who started it!" Klee Meow quickly added, "And Big Sister Huamei won, meow!"
"Won, huh? Then it fine." Sherwin didn't take the incident of fighting Niqi seriously at all. Instead, he gently pulled Huamei Meow into his arms with concern. "You're not hurt, are you?"
Sanji Meow also came over, anxiously asking, "Big Sister Huamei, are you okay, meow? It all that idiot Sherwin fault! If I'd gone with you, forget that blue-haired fool—even if the other two joined in, there'd be nothing to worry about, meow!"
The little yellow cat grew angrier the more he thought about it and gave Sherwin leg a flurry of hard kicks.
Seijuro Meow and Link Meow also came closer, both looking worried.
"I'm fine, meow~" Huamei Meow smiled sweetly, nuzzling Sherwin before shaking her head. "It was just a blue-haired one, and even Klee didn't have to step in. Plus…"
The little tabby shot Sherwin a mischievous glance, proudly lifting her head high. "I awakened Conqueror Haki, meow~"
Sherwin: "…What did you just say?!"
"Huh? So it was Big Sister Huamei who awakened Conqueror Haki, meow?" The ragdoll finally realized it and muttered in surprise,
"No wonder all the humans in the nearby rooms fainted. Klee thought it was Big Sister Ai who did something, meow…"
Right after that, she joined the other cats in crowding around Huamei Meow, excitedly shouting,
"Big Sister Huamei, you're amazing, meow! Even Sherwin-nii doesn't know how to do that, meow!"
Sherwin: "…"
Sanji Meow added with a disdainful look, "Old Man Chinjao said that Conqueror Haki depends on whether someone has the qualities of a king.
There no way that idiot Sherwin could ever awaken Conqueror Haki, meow! Isn't it only natural for Big Sister Huamei to awaken it, meow?"
"Personally, I think little brother Sanji has a point, meow."
(=`=)
Link also nodded in agreement.
Sherwin: "…"
The Felynes chattered noisily for quite a while, finally piecing together most of what had happened earlier, including the fact that Hua Mei Meow had awakened Conqueror Haki.
Reiju, who had been listening quietly on the side for some time, finally found a chance to speak. She walked over and said apologetically,
"I'm sorry, I didn't expect something like this to happen. My brothers' tempers are really terrible. I should've anticipated this sooner."
"This isn't your fault, and honestly, it doesn't even have that much to do with your brothers." Sherwin, now recovered,
curled his lip and said, "If it weren't for your father molding their personalities like that, none of this would've happened. Honestly, I'm curious what he was thinking.
Someday this country will be handed over to those three, right? With such flawed personalities, do you really think they can rule a nation properly?"
However, Sherwin quickly thought of the kings he had met before, as well as the even more appallingly behaved Celestial Dragons…
Well, with the exceptional "matching system" of this pirate world, maybe it wasn't such a big deal for Ichiji and his brothers to become kings.
Besides, with an army of loyal clone soldiers, they might even end up being among the more competent rulers.
Reiju didn't think as deeply as Sherwin. She simply gave a bitter smile and stayed silent.
Klee Meow walked over, patted Reiju thigh with her little paw, and comforted her: "Don't be sad, big sister. Klee and that human big brother Sanji won't dislike you just because of those red, blue, and green guys, meow~"
"Thank you." Reiju said softly as she reached out, wanting to hug Klee Meow.
But Klee Meow nimbly dodged her arms, darted over to Sanji Meow side, gave him a push toward her, and then dove back into Sherwin embrace.
Although a little disappointed that she couldn't hug Klee Meow, Reiju was very fond of this cat who so closely resembled her younger brother.
Naturally, she welcomed him into her arms without hesitation, hugging the confused little yellow cat and imitating Sherwin technique to start petting Sanji Meow from head to tail.
"Purrr…" Sanji Meow narrowed his eyes, enjoying the treatment for a while before commenting, "Not as good as Sherwin, meow."
Of course! My technique has been honed and perfected on countless little kittens—how could anyone master it just by watching a few times?
Sherwin, petting Klee Meow with one hand and Haibara Meow with the other, proudly raised his chin.
…
It wasn't until dinner time that Sherwin and the others saw Judge again. Naturally, his three flashy-haired sons did not show up.
Judge, of course, couldn't possibly be unaware of what had happened earlier that day, but he didn't mention it at all, acting as though nothing had occurred while having dinner with Sherwin and the group.
However, his attitude was far less warm than when they'd first met. He only exchanged a few stiff pleasantries with Sherwin, leaving most of the conversation to Reiju.
"The things you requested have been completed," Judge said in a dry tone after dinner, dabbing at his mouth with a napkin.
"Once they're handed over, you can leave. Germa has other matters to attend to, so we won't be keeping you."
Clearly, he had completely lost his patience with Sherwin and the Felynes, who not only refused to join Germa but also caused trouble in his own castle.
All he wanted now was to get rid of them as soon as possible.
Sherwin, having no interest in staying any longer either, was more than happy to quickly complete the exchange with Judge—payment in one hand, goods in the other.
The only one who felt disappointed was Reiju, who had wanted to spend more time with the Felynes. But unable to defy Judge orders, she could only silently watch Sherwin and the others leave.
Once the Dodo Advance left Germa temporary territory, Sherwin didn't bother to check whether those giant snails had earned him any summon ticket fragments.
Instead, he immediately scooped up Haibara Meow, concern in his voice as he asked, "What wrong with you today? Are you feeling unwell?"
Sherwin had only noticed it later: since their little tour, Haibara Meow had been unusually quiet, actively suppressing her presence as if she had returned to the state she'd been in when she was first summoned.
If not for the fact that she bore no visible injuries and her aura, as sensed through Observation Haki, was steady, Sherwin would've questioned her back in Germa castle already.
"Hmph~" Haibara Meow was clearly pleased by Sherwin concern. Without keeping him in suspense, she pulled a cat-head-shaped camera from her bag, proudly shaking her head as she replied,
"I stole all of Germa technology. I was just keeping a low profile so they wouldn't notice me. From now on, if we want battle suits or Insect Glaives, we won't need to buy from them—we can make them ourselves, meow!"
"Waaah—! Big sister Ai, you really did it, meow!" The little ragdoll cat immediately leapt at her, rubbing her head against Haibara Meow excitedly.
"Klee has been holding back from asking this whole time, it was so hard to keep it in, meow!"
ヽ(=`=)ノ
"Klee, you did a great job too! If you hadn't distracted them, it wouldn't have been so easy for me to steal all this, meow~" Haibara Meow praised in return.
Listening to the two little ones exchanging exaggerated compliments, the clueless Hunter was left completely dumbfounded.