At that moment, Marcille's vision was suddenly overwhelmed by the viewpoints of familiars left behind by Thistle in the past. A flood of incoming information made Marcille dizzy, but some fragmented thoughts began to surface:
"No… I can't use killing as a solution. First, I need to protect Chilchuck and the others… Then preserve Falin's body properly…"
Marcille had no strength left beyond her scattered, chaotic thinking. She muttered groggily, "Need to find Laios… and get ready to revive Falin…"
"Is that so? Then let's start with that."
Within the protective cocoon formed by wings, the Winged Lion snapped its fingers. Marcille could vaguely hear commotion from outside the wings, but it quickly died down. Then, the Winged Lion fully unfolded its wings and released Marcille.
Marcille groggily looked up, seeing that the surrounding elves had all disappeared. However, it seemed the forest around her had been partially destroyed by something.
Chilchuck and Senshi had somehow fallen unconscious again and were lying atop Falin's sled beast...
"Izutsuzumi…?" Marcille asked blankly. "Where is she?"
"That little kitty?"
The Winged Lion smiled warmly, keeping its gaze fixed on Marcille. "She probably went to find Laios. After all, you're already safe here."
"Alright, now start doing what you want to do," the Winged Lion said, lowering its head near Marcille. "First, create a place where you can rest—adjust to your new identity as dungeon master."
"Then freeze Falin's body, send monsters to locate Laios and the others, and alter the terrain here…"
The Winged Lion gently held Marcille like a child, walking forward with her in its arms. Its other hand effortlessly dragged the sled beast along with them. "Just do what you want to do now…"
—Meanwhile, in the forest—
Izutsuzumi was fleeing rapidly through the woods.
The reason? Several giant spiders were hot on her tail.
After the Winged Lion had cloaked Marcille within its wings, monsters had suddenly appeared nearby. One of them had even knocked out Senshi and Chilchuck and placed them onto the sled.
The elves had been besieged and drawn away by other monsters. Izutsuzumi realized the monsters were likely trying to knock her out too—to toss her on the sled and take her along.
She was still trying to figure out what to do, but evading monsters while running through the woods had already drained much of her stamina. Worse yet, the number of monsters chasing her was increasing.
Just as Izutsuzumi leapt over a thicket, the terrain beneath her suddenly changed—from forest to a cliffside with a river far below.
Unable to grab anything for support, she plunged straight down. Flailing helplessly in the water, she was suddenly scooped up by something.
"She's one of the Guildmaster's and Hunters' friends, nya!" came a youthful voice near her ear.
"Why'd she fall from up there, nya?"
"Let's bring her back to camp too!"
"?"
Izutsuzumi blinked in utter confusion. Around her were three Felynes of different coat colors, all wearing gear that looked like children's toys. Nearby lay a large fishing net.
Apparently, she had just been pulled out of that net.
"She's awake, nya!" the pure white Felyne exclaimed happily.
The calico Felyne gave the folded-ear Felyne a whack. "Idiot! She just fell—she wasn't unconscious, nya!"
"Are you a Felyne too, nya?" The cow-pattern Felyne stared at Izutsuzumi with great curiosity. "You're black and white too!"
"…?"
Izutsuzumi's face showed confusion, but the Felynes had already started hopping excitedly around her, seemingly drawn to her cat ears and treating her like one of their own.
"Why are you guys here?" Izutsuzumi asked, curious. "There are this many of you?!"
Until now, she'd only met a single Felyne who made Palico meals. She had nearly mistaken it for a person possessed by a monster's soul. She hadn't expected there to be three more of them!
"We came to gather ingredients, nya! For Hunter-sama's Palico meals!" The pure white Felyne proudly raised its paw. "The fish here are excellent, nya! They might become a staple in our recipes!"
"We're the Gathering Hub's Gourmet Expedition Team!" The calico Felyne puffed out its chest with pride. "This time we're scouting new ingredients in this world! Since the Guildmaster-sama is already in the camp… we'll take you to see him, nya!"
"Oh…"
Izutsuzumi hesitated for a moment but was quickly swept up in the cheerful atmosphere. Before she knew it, she had a basket of fish strapped to her back and was following the Felynes. It didn't feel like she'd walked far at all, yet she'd already left the forest and arrived near the Dwarven Ruins—before a tent brimming with the mouthwatering smell of food?
"??"
Izutsuzumi slowly raised a pair of question marks over her head.
How had she gotten here? And how had the Felynes gotten here?
"Guildmaster! We brought back new ingredients, nya!!"
The Gourmet Expedition Team's three little cats spotted Kairo Retsu—who was stuffing his face—and excitedly pounced toward him.
"Oh! Great job out there! Good work, good work!"
Seeing the team return with new ingredients, Kairo Retsu dropped his utensils and squatted down, immediately starting to pet them.
"Good job, good job, good job, good job, good job, good job…"
He petted each of the Felynes in turn—but when he got to the fourth, he paused in confusion. Why did this one have a human face…? Wait—this was Izutsuzumi!
"Izutsuzumi?!" Kairo's eyes widened. "What are you doing here? Did you join the Felynes?!"
"Xia————!"
Izutsuzumi fluffed up defensively, glaring at Kairo's still-raised hands, which looked ready to pet her at any moment.
"Guildmaster, you're scaring Miss Izutsuzumi," Tanjiro said from behind. "She's a girl, after all—you mustn't be so rough."
At that moment, Tanjiro was also holding a Felyne in his arms. The little creature was curled up contentedly on his lap, clearly enjoying the warmth of Tanjiro's slightly higher-than-average swordsman body temperature.
"But look!!"
Kairo's eyes were still wide. "She's a furry! And not even one of those basic catgirls with just ears and a tail—this is the deluxe tier—"
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