I'm Just a Cat! (P.S. My Stand is a Menace)

Chapter 328: Chapter 29: The First Failure

"Planning to step away for a while?" Heathcliff looked at Asuna in confusion.

"Mm. Not leave completely. Everyone is re-exploring the recent floors, and there hasn’t been anything especially urgent lately."

She wanted to go out and make a home. During the Laughing Coffin Crusade, when Kirito had been stabbed through the chest, and when Yimi had suddenly appeared, it had truly frightened her.

Treasure the present—that was the new thought that had come to her, after always hurrying so desperately to clear the game.

If they pushed floors too quickly, the exploration of each floor would inevitably be insufficient. In the past, the Clearers had usually cleared one floor per week, but ever since the Cat Mask appeared, that deadline had shortened to two or three days.

The difficulty would only rise from here on out. Pushing too fast and leaving their equipment and levels unable to keep up was not a good thing; in this game, where there was no margin for error, everyone needed to be at least ten levels above the current floor before they could explore onward with peace of mind.

There would probably be a fairly long vacuum period in the future for everyone to develop. She wanted to take that chance to rest properly, and also...

It seemed she had managed to nurture her relationship with Kirito, which had been gradually stiffening, back into shape.

"Also, during this period, I want to take Yimi with me."

That request was reasonable. The stockpile of food Yimi had cooked should already be enough to last a very long time, and overall, Asuna was the only one teaching Yimi how to make clothes.

At the same time, it was not entirely reasonable. From the perspective of everyone in the Knights of the Blood, even if Asuna was the Vice Commander, they could not feel at ease letting her take the child away.

Heathcliff interlaced his fingers before his mouth. "Is this because of Kuradeel?"

The Knights of the Blood’s decisive final charge during the Laughing Coffin Crusade had indeed been reassuring, but that could not make anyone ignore what Kuradeel had done.

Moreover, not every member of the Knights of the Blood had taken part in the crusade. Even the top guild in the entire game still had people who could not fight, such as Daizen-san, who handled the finances, and others with more water mixed in, like Kuradeel.

Among the items Kuradeel had turned in, they had discovered Paralysis Poison that could be mixed into food. In fact, this thing was even more troublesome than the spices Asuna had carefully developed. She was probably worried that someone else might take advantage of Yimi sleeping, or some other moment, to do something to her.

Heathcliff pondered for a while. "Back then, when you left this child with the Knights of the Blood, part of your intention was to protect her. Now you want to take her out for a while. If it were only you, you yourself probably wouldn’t feel at ease either, would you?"

Asuna blushed. "Kirito will be there too."

"I understand." Heathcliff lowered his hands flat. "I can agree to your request, but on one condition."

"If I saw correctly before, Kirito-kun displayed sword skills that allow him to use two one-handed swords at once. Please pass along a message and have him duel me. If he beats me, I will agree. But if I win, Kirito-kun must join the Knights of the Blood."

...

Asuna actually had not told Kirito the entire idea of moving out, but after she passed the message to him, he agreed outright. Or rather, to Kirito, every condition involved—including asking Heathcliff for instruction—was favorable to him.

And besides, he thought he would win.

"..."

Then Kirito, quite naturally, lost.

At the Knights of the Blood Headquarters, Kirito lowered his head and looked at his cuffs. "I’ve always worn black. This is my first time trying a white outfit."

What he wore was the uniform of the Knights of the Blood.

Not only had he lost, he had lost in full view of everyone.

Daizen-san, whose mind was set on making money, had directly advertised Dual Blades vs. Holy Sword on a grand scale, arranged the venue, sold admission tickets, and opened betting. Immediately afterward, other players, saying things like, "It’s rare to see a battle between powerhouses with our own eyes; this time even dying would be worth the ticket price," came to watch.

Kirito stretched his arms to test how mobile the outfit was. "I really did feel like I was about to win."

The attack speed of Dual Blades sword skills was terrifying. Even Heathcliff, publicly recognized as the strongest player, had been suppressed by him for quite a long while.

Yet just as Kirito was about to swing down the decisive blow, Heathcliff, with reaction speed that stunned even him, had instantly cut the shield from another position back into place and blocked that strike. Could such speed really exist in this game?

That man had remained calm almost the entire time, facing the Duel with confidence and the gaze of someone standing above others.

Kirito had doubts in his heart, but since he did not understand the Holy Sword sword skills, he could only press those doubts down for now.

"I’m sorry." Asuna lowered her head. "It was clearly my own idea, but I dragged you into it."

Kirito chuckled. "Why apologize? Being in the same guild as Asuna now and being able to see each other every day isn’t really any different, is it?"

Asuna shyly turned her face aside. "Kirito-kun, you..."

Kirito instantly grew a little awkward and nervous. "Sorry. Since the conditions for moving out had to be passed on to me, I thought..."

He had thought the matter of moving could have something to do with him, such as living together.

Had he misunderstood?

"No, you didn’t misunderstand." Asuna placed both hands on Kirito’s shoulders and gently shook her head.

"Asuna?" Kirito swallowed, watching Asuna’s face slowly draw closer.

Peeking.

The door creaked open a little, and Yimi stared at them curiously through the crack. A door that other people could only open with the room owner’s permission was something she could open casually.

Spotting her from the corner of their eyes, Kirito and Asuna hurriedly moved away from each other, coughing as they sat down on chairs.

Kirito even looked left and right, picked up the half-finished black dress Yimi had been making, and pretended he had something to do.

"What are you doing? Why didn’t you, keep going?" Yimi walked in, both hands clawing at the table, releasing rays of curiosity at them with pure, wide eyes.

She had taken advantage of everyone watching Kirito and Heathcliff’s Duel to go silence witnesses.

Kirito hurriedly changed the subject. "Mm, this dress really is pretty. And it’s black too."

"You like it?" Having received praise, Yimi narrowed her eyes, her attention successfully diverted. "This is for you to wear."

"..."

Kirito fell silent for quite a while before realizing Yimi was facing him. Confused, he pointed at himself.

Yimi showed no intention of denying it. This dress was for him.

Impossible!

Looking at the little girl’s happily smiling face, Kirito still could not bring himself to say those three words.

"Yimi, I’m a boy. How can I wear a dress?" Kirito looked to Asuna for help, only to see her turning her face away and covering her mouth, as if holding back laughter.

This person had to be behind it!

"But I only know how to make, dresses." Yimi’s ears drooped, and she clasped her little hands, looking weakly at him.

You don’t want it? Did the kitty do something wrong? But the person who knows how to make clothes only taught me how to make dresses. She even said you’d like it.

Kirito hurriedly patted her head. "I like it very much."

Yimi regained her happiness, then trotted to the bed where she and Asuna usually slept and placed the little girl who had been lying in her Storage Space for quite a long time onto it.

"Who is this child?" Kirito first put the dress down and shifted his attention to the newly appeared little girl.

A pure white dress, black hair, and an age that looked roughly the same as Yimi’s, perhaps a little older. Like Yimi, there was no marker on her body that belonged to either players or NPCs.

The key question was where Yimi had conjured her from.

"I don’t know. She fainted, so I brought her here." Yimi reached out and poked the little girl’s face.

Earlier, this was the person who had kept murmuring something to her.

Very strange. Her Storage Space could not hold people.

"Yimi-chan, are you here? I brought you new local specialties." Another guild member’s voice called from outside.

"I’m here." Yimi ran out at once.

Asuna raised a hand toward her. "After you get the snacks, let me take one bite before you eat them!"

If they were poisoned, she would know with one glance at the status bar.

She turned and sat beside the unconscious girl, gently brushing aside the other girl’s not particularly long bangs. "What’s going on with this child?"

"She seems to be in the same state as Yimi. Another NPC deleted by Kayaba Akihiko? We’ll probably only know the details after that child comes back." Kirito gently held the little girl’s hand.

"She looks unconscious. What exactly happened?"

He shifted his gaze to the little girl’s face, only to find that she had already opened her eyes and was staring back at him.

"You’re awake." Asuna gently helped her sit up.

"Awake?" the little girl repeated in confusion.

She did not look very clearheaded.

"Do you remember what happened? Do you remember who your father and mother are?" The latter question seemed somewhat unnecessary.

"Father and mother?" The little girl thought blankly for a while, then pointed at Kirito. "Papa."

Then she pointed at Asuna. "Mama."

"Eh?"

...

"Too much." Yimi looked at the snacks piled into boxes before her.

"Some of them are from other members of the Clearers. They said it was to express their thanks. But these guys only know to buy lollipops and other things little girls like, so it’s a bit monotonous," the young man answered her.

At the time, there had even been people saying things like, "She’s too cute, I want to give it to her personally," but they had refused them.

The young man picked out a white pastry from among the snacks. "I bought this one. The flavors inside are different, so after you eat them, give me proper feedback. Next time, I’ll buy more of the flavor you like."

"Different?" Yimi wrinkled her little brows. "I still have to first give, the person who makes clothes, a bite."

If there was only one of each flavor, what if Asuna ate the one she liked best just now? And she also wanted to save some for Mom and Grandmother.

"Is the Vice Commander at the guild?" The young man looked up, then thought of the most crucial point. "Speaking of which, doesn’t the Black Swordsman joining mean they can see each other every day?"

How enviable, those young people!

He lowered his head and looked at Yimi, instigating her. "You have to keep a close eye on those two. If they suddenly tell you to go out for a while, they must be secretly eating snacks so you won’t find out. You have to supervise them properly."

"Secretly eating snacks? I’ll supervise, them." Yimi nodded solemnly, put the huge pile of local specialties into her Storage Space, and walked back to Asuna’s room.

As soon as she entered, she saw the two of them teasing the little girl she had brought back, the happy, harmonious scene looking as if they had already been playing for quite a while.

"Look at this. Move it like this, then move it again, and then it comes out." Kirito manipulated the Huarong Dao puzzle on the table, teaching the other girl how to play.

"Papa is amazing." The little girl hurriedly clapped.

Yimi stared at Kirito in shock. "She’s your, child?"

"Emmm..." Asuna carried Yimi over beside the little girl and had the two sit side by side. "This child you brought back seems to have lost her memories. When we asked her, she suddenly called us Papa and Mama."

After saying that, she looked at Yimi expectantly, though no one knew what she was expecting.

"Lost memories?"

"It means suddenly being unable to remember anything. Maybe not even the people close to you."

"Can’t remember!" Yimi widened her little mouth.

This was very serious. The kitty could not imagine how terrifying it would be to forget Mom and Grandmother.

Yimi raised a hand toward the little girl named Yui. "I’ll help you get better."

"Eh? Can you?" Kirito froze, then saw a faint layer of white light seep from Yimi’s palm where it rested on Yui’s head.

What he had seen that day really had not been an illusion.

The white light faded. The misfortune of amnesia was reversed, and a sheen flashed in Yui’s eyes.

"How is it? Did you remember anything?" Asuna held Yui’s hand.

Yui stared blankly for a few seconds, then shook her head at Asuna. "I didn’t remember, Mama."

No!

Yimi suffered a blow and lowered her head to look at her own hand.

The kitty’s Love Train had failed for the first time!

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