The Cursed Gamer, Book 2

306: A Brand New Era

However, Mei wasn't sure if this plan would succeed, because of the rumors around the princess' not-so-sane mind.

"...It's alright, since it's the princess I don't mind sharing it."

Yet, Mei agreed to wash up here. After all, what could go wrong?

—-

Turns out, everything could go wrong.

"Tch! Don't splash water my way! I am going to kill you!"

A cat with black fur, golden eyes, and a haughty mouth growled at the girl who was laughing as she submerged her body in the hot water, resting with her back against the wall of the pool.

Mei stood close to the door, just as the cat and the woman turned to look at her. Then, a lizard–a red-skinned lizard–popped up from the girl's side and jumped on her head to look at Mei as well.

That girl should be Princess Azula, Mei recalled, and that lizard should be her contracted pet Salamander. The Salamander was a legendary fire creature related to the ancestry of the Fire Daimyo.

That wasn't surprising, Mei expected that. The reason why this Princess was dubbed insane was because of the burning incidents she brought to the country with her pet.

The surprising part was the... cat.

"Who the fuck is this woman?" The black cat, named Kurai whom Mei recognized, hissed at her.

Kurai. Neji's pet. Mei had never met the cat before, but she had heard about it. It met the description and above all, the depth of chakra it had.

With towels wrapped around her chest, Mei wasn't in the best state to fight, but she still went in full alert mode as she looked at Kurai cautiously.

"What?" Kurai frowned. "You wanna fight? Let's go then! Come o–"

Then, Kurai suddenly vanished in thin air even before she could finish what she was saying.

Mei was confused. "...Huh?"

"Don't worry," the Princess waved her hand. "It's her owner who summoned her. Rare, but happens from time to time."

Mei didn't trust her words entirely, but she supposed there was no reason for the princess to lie. Yet, she looked at the princess with a small frown.

"Do you have any idea who that cat is?"

"Yeah? Some Death God whom I met a few weeks ago, who befriended Manda." She pointed at her pet Salamander. "Hah, so sad that they're both girls, I would have wanted a Cat God and Lizard Salamander hybrid creature..."

"...Aha?"

"Anyway, you stink. Come down and wash up quickly."

Mei blushed in embarrassment and then quickly dipped in the hot water.

* * *

Neji was in the sky above nowhere in particular. Beside him were Rumi and Tsunade, where the former was shorter than she was before, and the latter was flying with the telekinetic help of the former.

In the last few minutes, they agreed on some things and amidst the discussion, Neji suggested that Kurai should be here too. So he summoned his cat familiar in his arms.

"-n, then!"

Kurai yelled just as she was teleported; it seemed that she was in a conversation with someone before being teleported.

"What? P...Papa?"

Kurai blinked, realizing she wasn't where she was a moment ago and was rather in Neji's hands. She was about to speak again, however, her eyes fell on Rumi who was at the side and so she shut her mouth and looked away grumpily.