I Don’t Care About the Story, I Want a Cat ～Transmigrated into an Otome Game～ - Chapter 17

At Grandfather’s Estate

Dear Ed,

How are you? It’s been 10 days since I came to visit my grandfather. Tiger has gotten used to it too; he doesn’t go around exploring curiously around the estate anymore. However, it is still a new place so we go out to walk around the grounds every day. 

Right now, his favourite place to visit is the beach. He always tries to catch the small fishes and anemones in tide pools. He stares into the pools with such a serious face, and tries his best to catch them but the fishes are quite good at running away so he hasn’t been able to catch even one.

He was a bit scared of the waves at first, but now he’s used to them. Cats don’t usually like to get wet, but Tiger doesn’t seem to mind it. He likes to splash in the water with his front paws.

In fact, yesterday, when he was doing so, a really big wave came and…… I’m sure you guessed it, we both got soaked through. My mother told me I should have just gone for a swim if I was going to get wet anyways. 

Tiger looked surprised to find the water was salty. He stuck out his tongue to lick his fur but then made a funny face at the taste. We both took a bath as soon as we got home.

I also found a really pretty seashell so I put it into a glass jar. I’m going to collect a lot of seashells; I’ll show them to you when I get back to the Capital.

My brother and my magic tutor will also come here soon so I’m looking forward to it. 

…… You told me to talk to you like I normally would with my friends so I wrote this letter in a more informal tone but is it really okay? It’s not weird, right? 

Amy

Amy rolled up the letter into a cylinder and put it into the box tied to the roodle’s leg. 

The roodle had eaten its fill, and had plenty of rest so it was bursting with energy, ready to take flight. Amy tapped it’s forehead, telling it the letter was secured. The bird chirped in reply and spread open its wings.

“Ah…… you’re so pretty as always.” 

Amy watched as the roodle took off into the sky, getting smaller and smaller as it flew away. Tiger, who was sitting next to her, also watched it leave with his head tilted up to the sky. 

“Come, Tiger. Brother should be arriving soon now so should we go out to see them?”

She stepped into her room, blinking her eyes as they adjusted to the sudden lack of light. Her room was dark compared to the bright terrace she had just come in from. 

Amy had come to this bright and scenic seaside town last week. It was the territory belonging to her grandfather, Margrave of Warram.  

Every year she would come visit this place, i.e. her mother’s hometown, with her family, and they would stay here for two months. Sometimes their stay would extend to more than three months. Amy looked forward to this trip every year.

The Kingdom of Rudusia had a flourishing trade system with seas to the north and west of the kingdom, and a large highway connecting the port to the major cities inland. The kingdom had thriving agriculture and manufacturing industries as well, but the one thing it excelled at was trading.   

For that reason, it was common for members of the Royal family to marry royalty from other kingdoms. In fact, both of Prince Edward’s elder brothers were married to princesses from other kingdoms. 

Shipping was one of the major aspects of the Kingdom’s trading network, and had considerable influence internationally. This was why coastal towns were so important to the kingdom. Her grandfather’s territory, Warram, was one of those towns. 

Although this town lay on the frontier, it boasted one of the larger populations in the kingdom. And it was overseen by Isabel’s father, Rudolph Warram. 

Despite being heavily populated though, the people here were completely different from those in the Capital. Warram’s people were more friendly and outspoken. Nobles and commoners mingled together openly; Amy couldn’t feel any difference between the aristocrats and the commoners. 

Every year, the town would face heavy storms during the monsoon season. Sometimes the storms would lead to major natural disasters. On top of that, since Warram was a coastal town, it housed sailors and merchants from different kingdoms. In such a place, whenever a natural disaster occured, everyone banded together to fight through it; there was no room for them to distinguish themselves by their nationality or social status. Hence the townspeople were not pretentious. This, combined with the unassuming personality of her grandfather, the town had become a lively and prosperous gateway to trading.

Her grandfather’s estate was located on a cliff near the sea. It also had a tower with a built-in torch on it’s top that served as a lighthouse. 

The town also had a small troop force for defense and disaster relief purposes. The barracks and other military facilities for the troops were located in the property neighbouring her grandfather’s estate. Training and other military activities were all done there, however the meetings or discussions about the troops were held in her grandfather’s estate.

There was one such room on the ground floor, next to the entrance. Amy was on her way outside when it opened and her grandfather stepped out along with the Captain of the troops. 

“Amy! Are you heading out?”

“Yes, grandfather. My brother will soon be arriving with the other stude… ah!?”

Her grandfather, who had been coming closer to her with a smiling face, grasped her from both sides and lifted her up in the air. 

The man who had lifted her up had short, silver-blonde hair, cut short, and often tussled by the sea breeze, and he had tough skin tanned from the sun. Even though he was old, he was still robust of health. Scars from his past military service could be seen peeking through the rolled up sleeves of his shirt. He had a fierce look; he looked more like a pirate than a noble. This person was Rudolph, Amy’s grandfather.  

“Grandfather, I-I’m not a child anymore! Kya!”

“Hahaha, don’t say that.”

Amy had gained quite a lot of weight now but he easily lifted her up in the air and spun her around happily.

He spun her around happily while Amy, who had gone dizzy from the spinning, hugged him tightly to steady herself. Rudolph smiled in happiness at being hugged. One of the newer members from the meeting looked at the Margrave’s behaviour with surprise, but the others, who were used to seeing him act like this, just smiled at the two.

This man, who was like a demon in an emergency situation, would become an ordinary grandfather in front of his grandchildren. 

“G-grandfather, am I not heavy?”

“What? Not at all! You should be even heavier. You were too skinny before, I was always worried that you’d end up flying away with the wind.” 

“I won’t fly away!”

He finally set her down. This time, Amy moved over to Tiger and pulled him into a hug.

“Ah, so fluffy…… so soft……”  

She really loved her grandfather, and loved talking with him, but it wasn’t easy to be picked up and swirled around like this. She was glad she hadn’t eaten anything before this. 

She buried her face in Tiger’s fur. But, after a few seconds, her grandfather nudged her, signalling he had seen something outside. It looked like her brother had arrived. 

“It looks like the carriages have arrived.  I’ll also come with you.”

“Okay. Tiger, let’s go.”

And so, they all went out together.

Every year, exchange students from the academy in the Capital would come to visit this town. Some of them would come to study trade, while others came to learn about ship assembly, or sailing, and there were others who came to learn and practice foreign languages, and so on. These students also included sons of aristocratic families who came to learn about managing their territories and estate, and disaster prevention. Welcoming these students to his territory was also one of Amy’s grandfather’s jobs.  

Regardless of status, anyone who cleared the academy’s exams could come to study here if they wished, which was why quite a number of students came here every year. 

Amy was too young so she had never mingled with these students before, even though she had seen them around. However this year was different. This year, her brother, Harold, was to come visit this town as one of the exchange students. 

They stepped out onto the front lawn of the estate to find several carriages had arrived. Her brother stepped out from the carriage in the front. 

Warram’s seas were also rich in fish, so fishing was one of the thriving businesses here. People usually went out in small fishing boats to catch fish, however there was one problem with that… and that was magical sea monsters. 

“Yaho!! I’m here!!!”

“Brother, you’re too loud.”

And of course, whether it was the sea, the sky, or a dungeon, wherever there were magical beasts hunters would appear there. 

Harold was also visiting Warram this year as a hunter exchange student.

“Ouch, you’re so cold. You shouldn’t forget that you were only able to keep Tiger because of healing my injured body.” 

“That has nothing to do with each other. Besides, you should be more careful with your injuries.”

“I know, I know. At any rate, mom’s scolding is much worse than the magical beasts. Right, Tiger?” 

Harold extended his hand out to pet him, but Tiger quickly evaded it. He only showed up at the Count’s estate on the weekends so Tiger still wasn’t used to him.

Harold clutched his heart as he feigned shock, but his dramatics were interrupted by the sudden voice that came from his back. 

“Hohoho…… what did you just say?”

Both siblings were startled at the sudden arrival of their mother. Harold quickly turned around and began offering words of apology while Isabel glared at him with her arms folded. 

“I came all the way here to welcome you but I hear you sputtering nonsense without even considering your mother’s feelings, huh. I heard you came to hunt the kraken, but maybe I should just ground you.”

“Eh, wai-! Why! I finally came here to try hunting it!”

Amy glanced away from her pleading brother to see her grandfather was already greeting the students who were coming out of the carriages. He was briefing the students, telling them to come to him if something happened, or that their teachers will be visiting them each periodically to check their progress. The students nodded along with excited eyes before dispersing to their assigned places to stay. 

Soon, all the students left; only her brother and two other students were left behind. They also came here as hunters, and would be staying in the barracks that was located on the adjacent property.  

Her brother had often bought these two to their estate back in the Capital so Amy was familiar with them. They were the kind and caring twin brothers, Gilbert and Nicholas. 

“A kraken, huh? How big do you think it is, Gil?”

“I don’t know but it will be more fun to hunt if it’s big. I heard we’re going to join the hunting party made up of the troops here. Is that right, Harold?”

Harold, who had successfully escaped from their mother’s scolding, joined in on their conversation.

“Yup. I heard we’ll dispatch tomorrow. Amy will also be on standby on the beach as part of the medics.”

“Eh, I’ll also join? I don’t mind but…… try not to get too hurt.” 

This was the first time she was hearing of it, but if her healing magic could be useful then she had no reason to refuse. She agreed without hesitation. 

“Amy’s healing magic is quite effective, and it’s very relaxing.”

“Looks like you’re better than the magic healer at school. You’ll be a great help to both me and Nick too.”

Their greetings complete, Amy decided to go for a walk to the beach before the sun set… she had just thought this when she felt someone’s eyes on her. 

It came from the direction Tiger had just turned to. Amy looked back to find a girl was peeking out from the trees that bordered the edge of the property. 

Noticing that both Amy and Tiger had noticed her, she quickly turned around and ran away.

“Hm? What is it, Amy?”

“Ah, it’s nothing… probably.” 

For some reason her heart felt chilled in apprehension 

The girl had been too far to see her face clearly. She had been wearing a simple dress. The only thing Amy could tell from her appearance was that she must be around the same age as her. 

“Pink blonde hair……” 

Her long hair that had been fluttering in the wind was a colour that was very common to heroines that Amy knew of.