Side Story: Fran and Kune 03

Bam!

「Coming in, nya!」

As we were discussing the request with Cotton, the door suddenly swung open with tremendous force. The person responsible burst in without so much as a knock.

She was a black cat woman equipped with the gear of a warrior. Her long ponytail swayed from side to side, and her prominent fangs hinted at an aggressive personality.

「Kune-san, how many times do I have to tell you to knock?」

「Oh right! Sorry, sorry, I forgot! Well, don’t sweat the small stuff, nya.」

Cotton appeared to be gauging our reaction to the woman. She certainly didn’t seem like a bad person, but her overly carefree attitude might rub some people the wrong way.

That said, we’ve met plenty of eccentrics, and Fran is just as carefree. Probably not a big deal.

Besides, I was so shocked that I couldn’t care less about her attitude.

『S-She ends her sentences with ‘nya’?』

Even for a black cat beast girl, isn’t that a bit too much? Did you have to go that far?

Fran tilted her head, sharing in my confusion.

「What’s with the ‘nya’?」

「Nya? You mean the way I talk? It’s a habit, nya!」

「A habit?」

「Woof?」

「I’ve been doing it since I was little, so it can’t be fixed, nya! You want to hear the Kune-chan story? It’s a dramatic tale filled with tears of both laughter and sorrow, nya!」

「?」

「It all started when I was only four years old, nya…」

Now she’s started telling a story! Listening to everything took quite a while, and indeed, it was a very tumultuous tale.

This woman, Kune, was taken as an illegal slave in her youth, and raised by a criminal organization. They trained her as an assassin.

During her training, she was taught to end her sentences with “nya”. My first thought was “what the hell”, but there was actually a pretty good reason.

Her cute appearance and speech patterns would allow her to get closer to men, then she would strike when their guard was down. Indeed, I can imagine many people letting their guard down against a small cat girl going “nya”.

Since it became a habit from such a young age, she can no longer stop talking that way.

After various twists and turns, the criminal organization eventually ended up destroyed. She was taken in by another illegal slave trader, then bought by the North Conquest Duke.

The North Conquest Duke bought as many slave children as possible, raising and training them into warriors. Though their status remained as slaves to prevent interference from other nobles, they were given considerable freedom.

In fact, his slaves only received a handful of orders throughout their entire period as slaves. To this day, they obey the North Conquest Duke out of their own will and a desire to repay his kindness.

A majority of his knights are composed of these former slaves, so he did something truly incredible. While I’m sure the North Conquest Duke’s talent for training others played a role, they wouldn’t have gotten so strong if they were forced into it.

Kune let out a satisfied huff after recounting her life story, but then she suddenly started staring at Fran.

「Nya? Y-You’re evolved!」

Finally noticed, huh. Her eyes had widened all the way to the limit.

「S-So you’re Fran, the Black Lightning Princess, nya?」

「Nn. That’s right.」

「Woooooh! I’m so grateful to you! Thanks to you, I might be able to evolve too, nya!」

With more and more foreigners coming into Raydoss, the method for black cat evolution apparently reached Kune as well. Recently, she had been spending most of her time hunting fiends.

「Is Fran the one taking the request, nya?」

「That’s right, Kune-san. Black Lightning Princess-dono is not only a Rank S adventurer, but also a master of the culinary arts.」

「Woah, that’s amazing, nya!」

「Hehe.」

As Cotton explained her exploits, Fran put on her smug face. Being praised by a fellow black cat made her very happy.

「I’m pretty well-known in the north! Just say the word if you need my help, nya!」

「Got it. I’ll ask you when the time comes.」

「Leave it to me, nya!」

Afterwards, Kune guided us to the warehouse where the spices were stored. We wanted to check out the details of the surplus spices.

As we walked there, many of the people we passed called out to Kune.

「Deputy Commander!」

「Kune-chan, it’s been a while.」

「Kune, pay back the money you owe me!」

「Dammit, Kune! You broke our promise!」

She wasn’t lying about being well-known. Apparently, Kune was part of the North Conquest Duke’s personal guard, giving her a very special position. Many in Northern Raydoss recognized her face.

I suppose half of the voices were complaints, but they weren’t seriously angry. Maybe they view her as a kind of endearing klutz or something?

「Here’s the warehouse, nya!」

「I smell spices.」

「Woof!」

When we checked inside the warehouse, we found a considerable amount of ten different types of spices. Many were the really spicy kind, while others had very unique aromas.

We had the spices necessary for making curry, and various other dishes were possible as well.

Just like we had heard, there were also stores of rice and buckwheat. I even found some miso tucked away into a corner.

The neighboring warehouse for wheat, potatoes, salt, and sugar was practically empty, while this one still had a large supply. As expected, they were hesitant in consuming unfamiliar foods.

「We shove all the disgusting stuff we can’t eat in here, nya!」

Hey! Don’t call them disgusting! You just don’t know how to cook them properly!

『Alright, fine. I’ll take that as a challenge.』

（Wow, you seem motivated, Master.）

『I can’t just stand by and watch all these ingredients go to waste!』

I mean, come on! It’s literally rice, buckwheat, and miso! As a former Japanese man, I have a duty to make them delicious!

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