I Don’t Care About the Story, I Want a Cat ～Transmigrated into an Otome Game～ - Chapter 20

Back at the Shore

There had been a number of small fishing boats in the sea when they set out to fight the Kraken, but as soon as the Kraken showed up all the boats rushed to evacuate. However, one of the boats seemed to have run into some trouble and couldn’t move away. 

Krakens usually went for bigger ships. It’s attention had been diverted onto the battleship so the small fishing boat was safe from being attacked. But the giant waves created by the Kraken’s thrashing put the small boat at risk of capsizing; it rocked perilously with the rough waves, dipping into the water as it tilted from side to side.  

There were only two men on it, but both of them were clinging to the sides of the boat, trying not to fall down into the sea leaving behind no one to steer it away. 

“Mo-mother, that boat…”

“They’ve sent a team to rescue them so don’t worry.”

Amy had Tiger curled up into her lap, blocking her view of the sea so the opera glasses were handed back to Isabel who was narrating what was happening at sea to her daughter. 

A few lifeboats dropped down from the battleship and moved towards the fishing boat with practised ease. A man jumped onto it with a rope and, after the fishing boat was secured, they began pulling it towards the shore. 

“Oh, they’re saved……!”

“Your grandfather’s troops are quite skilled so don’t worry too much. Here, see for yourself.” 

Amy took the opera glasses with tears welled up in her eyes. 

She looked through them to see two of the small boats who had diverted from the scene of the fight and were coming towards them with the fishing boat behind them. The fishing boat had an elderly man and his grandson on it; Amy let out a sigh of relief when she saw they were safe. 

They reached the shore and one of the rescue team members got down along with the two fishermen. The lifeboats headed back to the sea while the fishermen and the troop started making their way to the temporary base where Amy and Isabel were sitting.

“Come, let’s go, Amy.”

She got up from her seat at Isabel’s signal. As the family of the Margrave, it fell upon them to look after the people who lived in his land. That included visiting families of the staff or troops to give their thanks, or inquiring after people hurt in some disaster. 

As they got closer they could hear the old man explaining what had gone wrong on the boat and why they hadn’t evacuated in time. Amy faltered suddenly. She stared at the youth standing next to the old man. She’d assumed it was a young boy around her age, but now she realised she had been mistaken.

The young boy was actually a girl. She could see why she’d have mistaken her for a girl; she was dressed in boys’ clothing and her hair was hidden under a wide brimmed hat. But looking closer, Amy could see she had a cute, girly face. 

She was a bit tanned, but she had large, round green eyes framed by long eyelashes and well-shaped lips. Her nose and eyes were sharp but it didn’t lend any unpleasant or haughty look to her face. Rather, she gave off a friendly and innocent feeling.

Skirts weren’t suitable for fishing so it wasn’t uncommon for women to wear men’s clothes when going out to sea. So it made sense that this girl was dressed in boys’ clothes. It made sense but…… 

“Thank you for always working hard. I’m glad you made it back safely.” Isabel said to the fisherman. 

“M-my lady!”

Even though Isabel was now a Countess, with two children, people in her hometown still called her ‘my lady’. Isabel didn’t mind, saying she would feel too old if they started calling her ‘my ladyship’ she would feel like they were talking to her mother, and not to her. 

When she was younger, Amy would think people were talking to her when they said ‘my lady’, but she was now used to it and had learned to pick up when they were talking to her mother. 

“You handled that well out there. You must have been scared, right?”

“Um, y-yes, my lady!”

The young girl replied with her cheeks bright red. She seemed flustered talking directly to Isabel. She hurriedly took off her wide-brimmed hat and luscious pink blonde hair tumbled out from beneath. 

“……!!!”

“Was it your first time seeing a Kraken?”

“Y-yes. I-I was so surprised I didn’t notice the motor had stopped working, and the rudder malfunctioned.”

“I see, it must have been shocking to see the Kraken so close.”

Isabel was chatting freely with the girl, but behind them the battle against the Kraken was still being carried out. It was a sight to behold, however, Amy’s gaze was fixed on the girl in front of her who was blushing prettily as she talked to Isabel.

That pink blonde hair… Could it be the same girl from yesterday? Her hair seemed to be the same length as the girl from yesterday, and her looks were cute enough to be a ‘heroine’. Although it was unusual for a heroine to be out fishing at sea dressed in hand-me-down clothes, it was an extremely common pattern for heroines to be from a low economic background and end up being adopted by a noble family…… 

The girl in front of her seemed to be fixed on Isabel so she didn’t see Amy who was standing a few steps behind her mother. 

Amy kept telling herself that it didn’t matter if this world was an otome game or not, or if she was a villainess, or if the heroine appeared. However, she couldn’t help but feel anxious that this girl might be a potential character from the story. 

“Oi, old man, I found the problem.”

A voice called out from the side. She turned to see one of the troop members from the temporary base was examining the fishing boat. He picked up a lump of something translucent with a stick and threw it down on the shore for them to see. It had a round shape with a number of long legs attached to it; it was roughly the size of an electric fan.

“Oh, a deep sea jellyfish. How rare.”

“It probably stuck itself to the Kraken and was brought up to the surface by it. Ah, please don’t touch it. It can’t move on land, but it still has a poisonous sting.” 

“Ah, no, Tiger! Stay here.”

Amy quickly picked up Tiger who had been curiously crawling towards the jellyfish. Tiger had quite a large body so his back feet still touched the ground. It was more accurate to say she lifted him up rather than picked him up. 

Tiger seemed to forget all about the jellyfish; he wrapped his fluffy tail around Amy as he purred in satisfaction. 

Just like Tiger had forgotten all about the jellyfish, Amy also felt her heart ease from thinking about the heroine.

The deep sea jellyfish looked soft, but it had a strong elasticity and, unlike normal jellyfish, did not tear easily. It looked like this one had been caught in the propeller of the boat, making it unable to move. 

The boat hadn’t failed due to poor maintenance, and there were no casualties. The old man and his granddaughter looked relieved at that since it turned out to be an accident, and not their fault that the boat had malfunctioned. 

“It is fortunate that there were no injuries. You guys held on well. We just need a little bit more of your time.”

“Yes, of course. Thank you for your help!”

The staff member also seemed happy with this report. It was that moment when a loud cry of victory came from the sea. 

The battleship was greeted with cheers as it returned to the port. Thankfully, AMy didn’t see anyone seriously injured as the members of the troop force embarked one by one, 

Amy was sent here before the ship arrived, in case there were people who needed healing. But it looked like she wasn’t needed, she thought with relief. It wasn’t that she had no confidence in her healing abilities, but rather she didn’t want to see anyone injured. Just then she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

“Ah. Amy, over here!”

Her brother was waving her over with a pleased grin on his face, standing next to his friends. Amy skipped over to them. 

Harold had joined the battle in the water, so his clothes were completely drenched. But, as Amy looked them over, none of them seemed to have any serious injuries. They didn’t look like they had just come back from fighting a fierce monster. Rather it was like they were just stepping off of a particularly thrilling roller coaster in an amusement park.

“Brother, are you hurt?”

“Nah, I’ve just got a scratch. I don’t need magic to heal this so I’m fine. Ah, that’s rare, Tiger isn’t with you?”  

“Ah, yeah. It’s not safe here so I left him back with mother.”

“I see. He doesn’t like crowded places, anyways, right?”

“Yeah it looks like he’s trying his best not to shy away right now. I remember it took a while for him to let us pet him too.” Gil chimed in. 

Everyone looked at the temporary base on the rooftop. He was still not used to the Margrave’s residence so they couldn’t leave him there by himself. So Amy had brought him along. He was currently sitting next to Isabel, clinging to her legs as he curled into a tight ball with his tail tucked between his legs…… Ah, Amy wanted to run to him and pet him to comfort him.  

“Eh, you guys were able to pet him?” Harold asked in surprise. 

“Yeah he finally let us pet him around the third time we saw him. His fur was so soft and fluffy, right, Gil?”

“Oh yeah, Nick. The fur around his neck is super soft! It’s way better than my little sister’s teddy bear. Ah he’s so cute when he meows with his little voice.”

Harold looked shocked at Gilbert’s and Nicholas’ words. Even though he was Amy’s brother, he still hadn’t been able to touch Tiger properly. 

“I…… I feel betrayed somehow……”

“O-oh, brother, look! The Kraken!”

Amy was saved from having to answer by the convenient arrival of the Kraken as it was dragged on to the shore. Amy turned to it happily, grabbing Harold, who was suling with his shoulders slumped down, to turn him to it as well. 

“Wah, looking at it closer, it really is huge.”

The winch made a creaking sound as it hauled up the giant body of the Kraken, dripping with sea water. It was slowly placed on a loading carriage to be taken to a nearby dismantling site, but it sagged down the sides, not fitting at all.

Amy let out a breath, her eyes wide in surprise. 

“……. It’s so big. I guess it would be impossible to eat it.”

“What-! Of course it’s impossible, it’s poisonous, you can’t eat it!”

“Huh, really?”

“It’s not a squid.” Her brother chastised her. 

“Well you won’t die if you eat it, but your body will go numb_”

“No, it’s supposed to melt your internal organs_”

Gilbert chuckled, enjoying the look of horror that showed up on Amy’s face. According to Nicholas, the poison wasn’t that strong but it still was poisonous. Besides, it had a strong acidic taste. It also got hard like rubber when exposed to heat. It looked like it really couldn’t be eaten. That was unfortunate. 

However, the cartilage of the Kraken was both strong and flexible which made it a useful material for protective armour. 

“Hahaha, Amy, did you think we could eat it?”

“Grandfather! I didn’t think that at all, ah, teacher!”

Her grandfather had suddenly appeared followed closely by the magic teacher. The three boys immediately went to stand at attention when they saw him with a shout of, “Sir!” 

Amy gave them a brief glance before approaching her magic tutor and falling into a polite curtsy.

“I was looking forward to seeing you. I was a bit taken aback to see you on the boat.”

“Oh, you were watching the fight?”

Harold and the other watched in shock as his hand stroked the top of Amy’s head. That, and the smile playing on his lips were as rare to them as finding a million year old fossil. 

“Have you been practicing?”

“Yes! I’m also looking forward to the next lesson!”

“I see. I suppose those three will also be joining us from tomorrow.”

The fight with the Kraken had ended in one day, giving the three boys time to spare since they wouldn’t be going back for a while. And so they were suddenly sentenced to extra lessons with Sir Dion.

“Ah, w-with all due respect, sir, I would like to decline.”

“……What was that?”

“Nothing! We’ll be happy to attend!!”

And with that decided, Amy and the boys headed back home.