Wise wasn't surprised by the situation. Even in the peaceful days of the past, there had been places the Public Security couldn't reach.
Now, with order barely restored after the apocalypse, those gaps were even wider.
"Alright, but why did Nicole and her friends run off to the construction site now?"
"They were looking for something! My commission! The Red Fang Gang was causing trouble, there were brawls everywhere, and people… so many people, like canned fish, nya~[1]!"
Nekomata bounced nervously, chattering without pause, but Wise could tell her explanations were all over the place. He stepped in before she completely lost herself.
"Calm down. Right now, your story makes me think of a chaotic department store sale, with the items on display being canned fish."
Hearing that, she froze. Her ears drooped, and she hugged her fists to her chest, looking exactly like a child caught doing something wrong.
"This… I can't explain it clearly... Oh, right! Nicole's Bangboo has a video from the past few days. You'll understand once you see it, nya."
Looking at Nekomata's expression, as if she had found a savior, Belle felt a pang of sympathy, but she still had to speak.
"Unfortunately, the only ones allowed to export visual data from a Bangboo are its owner and the manufacturer, Marcel Group."
"What? Is that… how it is?"
Nekomata looked completely dejected, her ears pressed flat against her head, looking like a lost kitten.
[|Beep—|}
Just then, an electronic sound cut through their conversation.
"There's a strange sound…"
"Don't be scared, Belle. It's Fairy messing around. Looks like she has something to say."
At that moment, both siblings turned toward the monitor, but Nekomata glanced at herself first, then looked at Wise with a confused expression.
"What… what are you talking about? Fur…ry?"
She hugged her almost non-existent chest with both hands, looking a little scared as she spoke.
[Ding! New favorability target detected.]
[Name: Nekomiya "Nekomata" Mana]
[Gender: Female]
[Charm Value: 95]
[Unique Traits: Cat Thiren race, extremely sensitive hearing and smell.]
[Hobbies: Likes eating little dried fish and being petted under the chin… and other cat-like spots.]
[Current Status: Slightly scared and anxious.]
[Current Favorability toward Host: 20]
[Evaluation: Small body with extreme flexibility, very light, almost effortless to pick up. On a side note, a cat's tail and ears should not be grabbed indiscriminately, as this will tense the body.]
[Inner Thoughts: W-Why would he suddenly mention furry? C-could it be that this guy…]
Looking at her thoughts, Wise realized he had been misunderstood and quickly moved to clarify.
"Ah, no, there's nothing like that here, you misheard."
To prove it, he called Fairy forward. To anyone unaware of the truth, Fairy looked like just an ordinary AI.
"Ahem, Fairy, can you access the internal data of the Bangboo?"
[|Affirmative, my dear master. This is not a difficult task for me.|]
[|Question. Should I convert the visual records within the Bangboo into a video playback?|]
"Yes, I'll leave it to you then."
While Fairy read the internal data of the Cunning Hares' Bangboo, Nekomata looked around, clearly confused.
"Nya? Who was just talking? Is there anyone else here?"
"It's a newly installed computer manager. Don't worry about it."
Sure enough, after Wise spoke, she didn't ask any more questions and just stared at the computer screen with curiosity.
"So amazing! To be able to read data from a Bangboo without going to the manufacturer, you truly live up to Phaethon's name. No wonder Nicole trusts you so much."
Neither of the siblings responded to the Nekomata girl's praise, knowing that if they did, Fairy would be smug.
"How is it, Fairy? Has the data been read?"
[|Affirmative. Data reading is complete. Playback commencing.|]
The three of them then gathered around the computer screen. With the space being tight, Nekomata accidentally leaned close to Wise.
Although there was no physical contact, she instinctively sniffed at that moment.
It was that inexplicably pleasant scent again, as good as the smell of Dried Fish, no, even better!
Wise noticed her sniffing and suddenly remembered he had bought some cat treats from the supermarket earlier to feed the stray cats living in a nearby alley.
Something clicked in his mind. He retrieved the rest of the treats, small fish-shaped biscuits, and held them out.
"Do you want this?" Wise offered.
The girl's eyes lit up, drool forming at the corner of her mouth.
"C-Can I really eat it?" she asked, barely able to contain herself.
"Of course."
Nekomata didn't take the treat with her hands. She bit directly from Wise's hand, and in the process, she ended up licking his fingers. The soft, unexpected touch sent a gentle shiver through him.
Unconsciously, she gave more licks, and Wise, taking the opportunity, picked up two more treats. Each time, Nekomata would lick his fingers with her slightly rogue tongue, just like a true cat.
With the last treat fed, a system notification popped up.
[Ding! Target: Nekomata has increased her favorability toward the host by 10. Her current favorability is now 30. Additionally, 200 Emotional Value has been obtained.]
[Current Emotional Value: 4000]
"Mmm! So delicious! Wait, no!"
The cat girl, realizing what she had done, had already swallowed the treats. She looked up at Wise, who had fed her.
"Brother, what are you doing?"
Belle, who had been watching the whole scene from the side, frowned slightly. She clearly didn't understand her brother's actions anymore.
"Uh… I just saw this Miss Cat sniffing something, and I thought she might have noticed the treats I bought from the store earlier…"
"But you shouldn't feed her directly with your hand! That's too impolite!" Belle scolded with her arms crossed.
"My apologies, my apologies," Wise said quickly, raising his hands in surrender. "It's just… I usually feed Inky and the others like that, so I didn't even realize I was doing it."
He glanced at Nekomata beside him. Her ears were drooping, cheeks flushed, and she looked both embarrassed and shy.
Feeling a twinge of sympathy, Wise handed her the rest of the treats in his hand with a sincere smile.
Luckily, her favorability didn't go down. It actually rose by another five points thanks to that.
+ + + + +
Nekomata's Inner Thoughts:
Does this young man feed stray cats on the street? He seems like a genuinely kind-hearted person. No wonder I had such a good impression of him the first time I saw him.
+ + + + +
Although it felt a little inappropriate, if it could increase favorability and earn rewards, then there was nothing wrong with this method.
Wise thought this as he subtly wiped the saliva from his fingers with a tissue. After that small incident, the three of them returned their attention to the video Fairy was playing.
On the screen, a pair of bouncing chests appeared alongside Nicole's mischievous grin. Behind her, a member of the Red Fang Gang staggered under the weight of a safe, chasing her desperately.
She darted into the corner of an alley, only to run straight into another gang member holding a gun. At this point, Nicole had no choice but to raise her hands.
'It is a good thing nothing worse happened. Otherwise, the next part of the story would probably…' Wise thought, shaking his head slightly.
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[1] Sorry, I can't hear a Cat girl saying meow anymore, only nya.