8 The Fur-Grooming Master
On April xx, Natsuki Subaru, his entire body aching, walked into the knights' hall intending to pick an easy mission to pass the day.
But what he saw was astonishing: the invincible, flawless Reinhild van Astrea had an expression of distress on her face.
Subaru initially thought he was hallucinating from exhaustion due to Marcos's harsh training, but after instinctively rubbing his eyes, Reinhild's troubled look remained.
After pondering for a while, Subaru decided to trust the facial expression analysis method he had developed over the past month.
"This is… a request to find a cat, isn't it?"
Approaching Reinhild without thinking, Subaru finally saw the commission in the young girl's hand.
While it might seem ridiculous to have the almighty Sword Saint do such a task, due to Reinhild's kind nature and immense strength, "Go to Reinhild if you're in trouble" had become a common belief in the capital.
Of course, as captain, Marcos had tried to reform this misuse of valuable combat power.
So technically, the request was made to Heinkel—but since Heinkel doesn't accept requests from commoners, this was considered a big improvement.
"I'm surprised. Rain-chan isn't good with animals?"
Subaru asked, a bit shocked.
"It's quite embarrassing.
Most animals are more sensitive than humans.
If it's a powerful magical beast or a noble-blooded ground dragon, it's fine.
But domesticated pets tend to be extremely afraid of me."
"But don't you have the Divine Protection of Decreased Presence?"
"Divine Protections aren't all-powerful. So when I touch it, I might unintentionally give it a big fright."
Seeing Reinhild's downcast expression, Subaru didn't press further.
But he had a rough idea: it's like if someone you know suddenly turned into a monster covered in eyes and mouths, you'd instinctively try to run or fight it.
Cats likely felt the same way.
"That really is unfortunate. But the fact that someone would still request you means you've completed such tasks before, right?"
"Yes."
"So then…"
"I usually use the [Animal Friend] Divine Protection. When I can't use Divine Protections, I find the pet first and then ask a knight or someone from the Astrea merchant caravan to help capture it."
Subaru instantly understood—Reinhild couldn't use his [Animal Friend] Divine Protection at the moment.
As for the knights, the deserted hall showed just how intense Marcos's training was.
Subaru, being weaker, had already been dismissed early, but the others were still in intense drills.
And the merchant caravan? If Reinhild was in the capital, that meant they were delivering supplies to the Astrea domain.
"That's really not good."
"Indeed."
Reinhild nodded.
'Even with a troubled face, Reinhild is still so nice.'
'She really is kind.'
Subaru thought to himself.
The girl requesting the help probably could've caught the cat herself, but didn't want to frighten it—that's why she was troubled.
"I've decided. I'll help."
Subaru said seriously to Reinhild.
"But…"
"Don't reject me so quickly. Today is Captain Marcos's training day.
Unfortunately, my session is already over, and I happen to be free.
Most importantly, you've helped me so much—I'd like to repay you in any way I can."
He spoke in one breath, then looked nervously at Reinhild.
"Understood. I'll leave it to you then."
"Let's work well together today."
With some unknown Divine Protection at work, Subaru quickly located the target: a dirty white cat.
Possibly due to harsh life experiences, the cat was very cautious.
"Now then, leave it to me, the top-class Fur-Grooming Master."
Subaru flashed a confident smile at the girl and cautiously approached the arched-back cat.
He stopped, pulled out the food he had prepared, and rolled it toward the cat.
The cat, being domesticated, had lower vigilance and was more approachable.
Soon, Subaru established initial trust.
Patiently waiting until the cat was full, Subaru began to pet it.
With the terrifying technique that even soothed the great spirit Puck, the cat was immediately tamed and began to purr with delight.
"Amazing…"
"Rain-chan, you try too."
"I'll pass."
Although he was refused, Subaru noticed a flicker of interest on Reinhild's face.
So, he picked up the cat and approached her.
"There, there, be good."
After a few steps, the cat in Subaru's arms began to tense up.
He hurriedly calmed it down.
Though a bit shaken, Subaru didn't stop and slowly moved closer to Reinhild, eventually placing the cat in front of her.
"See? Even for cats, regular people can be scary too. Rain-chan, try petting it."
While continuing to pet the cat with his left hand, Subaru grabbed Reinhild's hand with his right and slowly guided it toward the cat, who was lying comfortably on the ground.
But the moment Reinhild's hand touched it, the cat's fur bristled and it lashed out at his hand.
Subaru suppressed the instinct to dodge and protected the hand he was holding.
"Subaru!!!"
"It's okay, just a little scratch."
He didn't let Reinhild pull her hand away and continued calming the cat.
Maybe because it realized Reinhild wasn't going to hurt it, or maybe Subaru's technique worked—the cat finally lay down again.
"See? You can touch it without Divine Protections. Now just stroke it the way I showed you earlier. Come on, don't let this scratch be for nothing."
Reinhild sighed, then gently stroked the cat.
After several corrections by Subaru, Reinhild's strong learning ability eventually got the cat to purr in satisfaction.
"Don't be reckless next time. A cat could never hurt me."
Reinhild tied a butterfly knot on Subaru's injured right hand using her handkerchief and said, a little upset.
"But protecting a beautiful lady is the duty of a knight."
Reinhild instinctively lowered her head and petted the cat now sleeping on her lap.
Subaru stayed silent, unsure how much time passed.
"Subaru, thanks for helping. I'll return it to its owner. You should head back to the knight order and get treatment."
With that, Reinhild picked up the cat and slowly walked away.
"Oh right—teach me more about fur grooming next time."
"Absolutely!!!"