The night grew deeper, yet the number of pedestrians on the street increased. Terror enveloped the city as they frantically sought a sliver of hope for survival.
Maiev stood in the kitchen, holding Yunia. In his hand was a gold pocket watch. On the dining table before him lay the dinner prepared by Mrs. Cecil, now somewhat cold.
"Papa..."
Curled in his arms, Yunia was as light as a feather. Pain caused her brows to furrow tightly, and her small body trembled gently. Her consciousness was gradually becoming chaotic, yet she kept calling for her father.
"I'm here."
"So... cold..."
Maiev looked at the stove nearby. The bright red embers mixed with black impurities radiated warmth.
The kitchen was definitely not cold; in fact, it was a bit stifling. But Maiev knew that the chill Yunia felt wasn't physical coldness, but a coldness from the depths of her soul.
She was about to disappear.
"Don't be afraid... Papa is here." Maiev comforted her, tightening his arms around Yunia.
At this moment, twenty-five minutes had passed since Fat Orange and Little Black left. During this time, he had asked Mrs. Cecil to return to the room upstairs, boil two pots of holy water, and bring out all the dried fish and canned food in the house.
He had done everything he could. The curse-carrying rats had caught everyone off guard. There was no better way right now. If Fat Orange and Little Black couldn't bring good news...
He would have to burn his bridges: open the church doors and distribute all the holy water to temporarily increase the number of believers, prioritizing Yunia's survival.
He couldn't care less about the consequences of doing so.
Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Yunia was on the verge of collapse. Seeing this, Maiev sighed and prepared to open the main doors to attract the people on the street praying for salvation.
Just then...
"Meow!"
A cat's cry from outside the window caught his attention.
Taking three steps in two, Maiev rushed to the window and pushed it open. He saw a scene he would never forget in his life.
Countless cats had leaped onto the walls, roofs, and tree branches surrounding the church. They sat obediently in every available foothold. Their meows rose and fell, their fur a myriad of colors, like a field of flowers covering a valley.
All the stray cats in the city had come.
They gathered together, parting to leave a path, welcoming the newly born orange tabby emperor and his sycophant henchman.
Fat Orange and Little Black!
"I'm back."
Fat Orange came to Maiev and said, "There are 1,535 stray cats in New Ross City. Excluding kittens and old cats unable to move, the remaining 986 are all here."
"So you really do have ambition..." Maiev smiled.
"Master! Master, meow! Little Black helped too! Praise me, praise me, meow!"
Patting Little Black's forehead casually, Maiev took a deep breath, his tone grave. "There's no time to lose. Let's begin the baptism and registration."
"En." Fat Orange nodded, raised a paw, and issued the first order: "All cats line up according to size and enter the church one by one to receive the Father's baptism!"
"Meow!"
Under the command of Fat Orange and Little Black, nearly a thousand cats formed an orderly queue. They flipped through the window and entered the church, walking with elegant steps to Maiev, who stood in front of the statue.
To welcome this batch of "heterodox" believers, Maiev took a brand-new registry book from the drawer. The cats only needed to lower their heads and let him tap their foreheads with a finger dipped in holy water, then press a plum-blossom paw print on the registry. They could then receive a dried fish or a piece of canned meat.
The dried fish and canned meat stored at home were insufficient to feed nearly a thousand cats. Therefore, Maiev had to issue 'Dried Fish Vouchers'—slips of paper with the words "Dried Fish" written on them—to replace the actual food.
As the baptism ceremony proceeded, Yunia's illusory body gradually became solid. Wisps of dark red light flew from the cats' foreheads and drifted into her body.
Halfway through the ceremony, Yunia opened her eyes. Her pupils once again shone with their usual liveliness.
The cats gathered at her feet, rubbing their heads against her, constantly acting cute to win the Goddess's favor.
Yunia was tickled by them and giggled. Seeing this, Little Black snorted with dissatisfaction: "Just a bunch of coquettish sluts, meow..."
"Little Black, come here."
"Coming, meow! Coming, meow!"
Hearing Yunia's summons, Little Black immediately abandoned his duty of commanding the line and sprinted over, shoving aside the cats surrounding her feet with his butt.
"Thank you, Little Black."
Yunia kissed him. "If it weren't for Papa, Fat Orange, and you, Yunia definitely wouldn't have recovered."
Little Black was stunned for a long while, then burst into tears with a 'waa'. "Little Black... Little Black knew the Goddess would remember Little Black's contribution, meow..."
Then, Little Black climbed onto Yunia's lap, accepting the Goddess's strokes while flashing a triumphant smile at the envious cats around him.
After the baptism ceremony was fully completed, Fat Orange found the relieved Maiev and asked, "What do you plan to do next? Although Goddess Yunia's crisis is temporarily averted, the city is still in chaos. If we don't stop it, a riot might break out."
In areas with poor living conditions, rats were everywhere. But in those luxurious residences and palaces, rats were practically a rare species. So everyone wanted to flee to places without rats. The act of self-preservation by the officials and nobles had thoroughly enraged them.
"I've already thought of a countermeasure."
Maiev put away the registry compiling the cat believers and stated his plan. "No matter what, we cannot be like those officials and nobles, abandoning believers and commoners. Self-preservation is not the Truth."
"The urgent task is to stabilize the situation first."
"Do you have a good idea?"
"First," Maiev raised a finger, "we need to clear the rats in the city. They are the source of the disaster. If we don't deal with the curse-carrying rats in time, the situation will never stabilize."
Who is the natural enemy of rats?
Cats!
Cats were experts at catching rats. With a thousand cats moving out together, they could definitely purge the threat in the city in a short time.
This was the first step of Maiev's plan.
"Even if we solve the rats in the city, the curse that has already spread cannot be resolved. If we use the Goddess's grace to save the believers and commoners, we will definitely be targeted by other large churches!"
"This is the second thing I want to say..."
Maiev grinned. "Every cat must carry a small bottle of holy water. While catching rats, they will distribute the holy water to the people infected by the curse. This will solve the trouble caused by the curse."
Fat Orange frowned. "Doing this will certainly save the commoners, but it's a thankless task for us. We pay so much, only to benefit other churches in the end!"
"Saving people doesn't need a reason."
"But for the church to develop, we must seize opportunities!"
"Don't rush... I have a third move, enough to gain both fame and fortune without exposing the church."