The Crescent Moon in the Starry Forest is just a Giant Kitten~ - Chapter 12

The Priestess of Prosperity (2)

“Mew.”

“Are you coming with me? Thank you! This way.”

The woman, relieved, started running. But she was so slow that even if I walked, I wouldn’t be left behind.

Humans aren’t very fast, are they? Or maybe she’s already exhausted from wandering the forest.

“I marked the trees so I wouldn’t get lost. If we follow these, we’ll get back to His Highness and the others.”

She said, taking a small knife from her pocket and pointing to a tree trunk that bore a mark, presumably made by that knife.

“But, huh? The mark I made on this tree is gone? There are marks on the tree over there and the one further on, so I thought I marked this tree in between, too, but maybe I forgot… No, I definitely marked every tree I passed.”

She walked on, puzzled. But I know that in this forest, there are trees that quickly heal such shallow cuts. They do so by absorbing starlight and being full of energy. There’s also the possibility of mischievous monkeys making similar marks with stones, so marking trees alone isn’t a reliable way to avoid getting lost here.

But, right now, there aren’t any playful monkeys around, and many marks are still there. This means not much time has passed since she made them and her destination isn’t far.

“Are you smarter than an average cat? You seem to understand a bit of what I’m saying, following me like this.”

She asked, panting. Having already given up running, she was walking quickly but with effort.

“Meow.”

Yeah, pretty much, I replied.

Hearing my response, the woman seemed convinced I understood her and began explaining why she was in this situation.

“I entered the forest alone at first, not knowing it was so dangerous… I didn’t plan to go deep, so I wasn’t well-prepared, and I came in my maid’s uniform, wearing just this skirt. His Highness was worried and came after me with the knights. Do you know His Highness? The prince. A dignitary from our country, Tortoy, located east of this forest.”

I know the names of the five countries surrounding this forest. The country to the east is indeed Tortoy. But I only know the names; I don’t know what it is like, how many people live there, or their customs.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Rise. I’m from Tortoy but not originally; I came from a different world called Japan. The king of Tortoy—the father of the prince I mentioned—summoned me here with magic.”

“…?”

A different world, meaning a world different from this one? Does such a thing exist?

I tilted my head, and Rise smiled a little sadly.

“I guess the concept of a different world is too much to grasp.”

She continued with a somber expression.

“My friend and I got summoned as ‘Priestesses of Prosperity,’ but it turns out only my friend has the power of a priestess, and I’m useless. I was just with her by chance when they summoned…”

Being summoned to Tortoy without a purpose sounds terrible. Rise should demand plenty of goat’s milk from the king who summoned her. She deserves a lot.

“My friend will work as a priestess in Tortoy, but I want to return to my world. But to do that, a difficult magic is needed, requiring a huge amount of magic stars. So, I came to get the stars. As I said, I didn’t know this forest was dangerous…”

Rise explained while brushing her sweaty bangs to the side.

“I never expected His Highness to come after me. He’s so kind, treating even a useless person like me well. But because of me, such a wonderful person is in danger.”

“Meow?”

What happened? I asked, curious. Rise looked at me and smiled a little before saying,

“It seems like you’re responding. Thank you. It’s comforting to know I’m not alone in this forest.”

Her previously lonely eyes now showed determination, and her steps became firmer.

“Yesterday, I arrived in this forest, searching for stars near the edge to avoid getting lost. His Highness and the knights found me quickly. Soon after we reunited, His Highness, a knight who tried to protect us, and I were swallowed by the mist and transported to a completely different place. “

There were other knights, too, but it seems only three were transported from the edge of the forest to another place.

I immediately understood the black mist’s identity. It must be the Black Mist Dada.

Black Mist Dada is a large, pitch-black mist that quietly moves within the Starfall Forest. When swallowed by it, one is expelled from another Black Mist Dada elsewhere in the forest. There are several—probably around five—of these mists.

So, those swallowed by Black Mist Dada are immediately transported to another location within the forest.

For me, being swallowed and transported by Black Mist Dada is a fun game, but humans like Rise could easily get lost and die.

Black Mist Dada approaches silently, so if it comes from behind, you won’t notice until you’re swallowed.

However, Black Mist Dada has no will. It doesn’t purposely approach humans to swallow them, but instead, it probably is attracted by some gravitational force emitted by living things.

So, humans should run away when they see Black Mist Dada. It moves slowly, so they can escape by running, and it won’t persistently chase them.

But right now, we are in the eastern part of the forest, so if Rise and the others were at the edge, they wouldn’t have transported far.

But the teleported humans wouldn’t know their current location and might think they were incredibly far away.

“We wandered for hours, the three of us, and then night fell. We couldn’t move, so we rested. But with no proper sleep, we were exhausted the next morning and started walking again. The compass didn’t work in the forest, and we had no map, so we wandered aimlessly. But our misfortune didn’t end there; Suddenly, the temperature dropped, becoming as cold as winter, and it started snowing.”

What? In this forest, which is always warm like spring?

“His Highness and the knight gave me their coats because I was lightly dressed, but that made them quickly lose body heat and become unable to move.”

Rise’s voice trembled.

“So, I gave the coats back and separated from them. I thought we would all freeze to death if I didn’t find help or a warmer place. After walking a bit, I managed to escape the cold and find a warm area like this, but then I saw a huge black cat wandering the forest, and I was so scared I collapsed…”

Though she wasn’t very energetic, Rise turned to give a small smile in my direction.

I didn’t feel even a little sorry for surprising her, but I obediently meowed, “Meow.”

“I realized we could reach a warmer place if we walked a bit from that cold spot, so I need to get the two of them here quickly.”

Rise moved her tired legs desperately and started running again. Hang in there!

As I leisurely walked, cheering Lise on, I noticed the temperature around us dropping.

(It’s cold…)

Even in the lush green forest, it felt like it might start snowing. In fact, the other side is already covered with a thick layer of snow.

This forest is mysterious, but I don’t think it’s a place where only this area has a different season.

Since I’m a cat that dislikes the cold, my mood quickly soured. My nose and paw pads were freezing, and I didn’t want to go any further.

“Please be safe, both of you… I’ll get you to a warm place soon…!”

Even though Rise herself must have been exhausted, she was determined to help the prince and his companion, making it hard for me to just turn back and leave her alone.

If it were a human I disliked, I would leave them, but Lise is the kind of person who blinks at me and pets me well. I want her to pet me again when I want it.

As I moved forward thinking about this, Lise and I could see our breath turning white. The ground and trees were covered in snow, transforming the area into a winter wonderland, and the temperature continued to drop.

(So cold…!)

I love the sun, so I really hate the cold. Even with my fluffy fur, it’s tough. I start getting irritated. Why is it so cold here?

The frozen grass and flowers crunched with every step I took. The snow clung to my paw pads, melting and leaving a piercing cold behind, which made me hop awkwardly to avoid prolonged contact with the ground.

Rise, wearing thin clothes, must be even colder than I am, looking like she could freeze to death in no time.

“Prince Emilio! Sir Kyle! They should be around here…”

Rise called out their names. The tree trunks were lightly covered with snow, making it difficult to see the marks she had made.

The prince’s name seemed Emilio, and the knight’s was Kyle.

“Myao!”

I called out, too, just in case. But there was no response.

“Your Highness! Sir Kyle!”

Rise called their names again, then suddenly gasped and froze.

But she, with tears streaming down her face, ran to the base of a certain tree.

“No…!”

Two men, presumably Emilio and Kyle, lay on the ground with a thin snow layer covering their bodies. They seemed unconscious because they didn’t even brush the snow off their faces. Maybe they were already dead.

“Your Highness! Sir Kyle!”

Rise knelt beside them, hurriedly brushing the snow off. Emilio, the prince, had blonde hair and a handsome face. Meanwhile, Kyle, the knight, had light brown hair, cut shorter than Emilio’s, and a more ordinary face, though he was taller than Emilio.

Both wore luxurious outfits based on a deep blue color, but Kyle’s attire looked more like a military uniform. A royal guard’s uniform must be fancier than a regular knight’s.

(But it’s chilly.)

With my fluffy body, I wouldn’t die from this cold, but it was unbearable mentally. I hated it so much.

Looking around irritably, I saw that the sky was clear blue, without snow clouds. Yet, this area alone was freezing and covered in snow.

(Could it be the work of a magical beast?)

Fairies usually don’t have such power, and monsters would attack Lise and the others directly rather than slowly freezing them to death. So, if there’s a culprit, it must be a magical beast.

(Where are you?)

I kept looking around until I spotted a white deer a few dozen meters away. The deer was smaller than a regular buck, with transparent, ice-like antlers. I couldn’t make out its eye color, but it was staring at me intently without moving.

(Ah, it’s that one!)

As soon as I saw it, information popped into my head. That was an ice deer called Sias, a magical beast that caused snow to fall and lowered temperatures to freeze its enemies.

It had a timid nature, attacking from a distance and slowly wearing down its opponents.

But knowing that the ice deer Sias wasn’t aggressive made it less scary. If I attacked first, it would likely just run away without fighting back.

So, I charged toward the ice deer Sias with a roar!

“Kitty…?”

Rise, unaware of the ice deer’s presence, seemed confused by my sudden action.

Leaving Lise behind, I deliberately made loud thudding noises as I ran, scaring the deer. Seeing my size and speed, the deer froze in fear.

It might have thought I was bigger than expected! The white deer with ice antlers turned and fled.

(Wait, hey!)

I chased it, roaring “Meow, meow” to scare it off. The ice deer Sias, frightened by the big kitten (me), ran away, leaping quickly until it disappeared. Unicorns were fast, but this one was quick, too.

The spot where the ice deer Sias stood wasn’t snowing, but there was frost, leaving the ground partially white.

(Lise, I chased away the ice deer Sias.)

I ran back to Rise and the others, but the snow wouldn’t melt immediately, and the cold air wouldn’t warm up instantly either.

“We need to move the prince and Kyle to a warmer place. Kitty, will you help me?”

Rise looked at me with teary eyes. I’m a lazy cat, but I can’t refuse when someone I like asks me like this.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me if Emilio and Kyle die, but if Rise cried, I’d feel a bit bad, too, so I’ll help.

(I don’t want to, but I’ll do my best.)

I really didn’t want to carry strangers on my back, but I had no choice. Lise was weak, and this was the only way to transport them.

“Meow…”

I lay down on the spot, signaling Rise to put Emilio and Kyle on my back. Even I could tell I looked reluctant.

Rise noticed and apologized.

“Thank you, I’m sorry.”

She then dragged the unconscious Emilio and Kyle onto my back. Even though I was lying down, my body was tall, and it must have been tough for Lise to lift the unconscious men.

“Okay, I think this will work.”

Just placing Emilio and Kyle on my back left Lise out of breath. She had been wandering the forest and losing strength due to the cold, so she must have been near her limit.

I carefully stood up, ensuring they didn’t fall off. Lise carried the three bags placed next to Emilio and Kyle.

We started walking, but having someone on my back was uncomfortable. I didn’t like foreign scents on my fur or getting it dirty.

Moreover, my back is the one place I can’t protect with my claws or teeth, making me instinctively want to shake them off.

But I held back and moved forward.

Within five minutes, we reached a warm area free of snow. With Lise’s help, I gently lowered Emilio and Kyle to the ground.

“Thank you. We got out, but they’re still freezing. Their clothes are wet from the snow…”

Rise took out a towel from her backpack and began wiping their faces and hair.

“Wait! I brought matches. If I can find something to burn, I can start a fire. I’ll collect some branches, so wait here!”

Rise stood up after placing the matches on the ground.

But to warm these two, she’d need a lot of branches. While gathering them, the two might die, and Rise might also run out of strength.

(No choice. I’ll warm them myself.)

I meowed to stop Rise. You rest here.

Then I moved slowly, positioning myself over the two lying down. I stood with their faces between my front legs and their feet between my back legs.

Then I gently lay down.

I thought my fluffy fur and high body temperature would warm them up.

With their faces sticking out from under my chest, they wouldn’t suffocate. I was careful not to put my weight on them, so they probably didn’t feel too heavy.

But after a while of warming them,

“Ugh…”

“Heavy…”

I heard groans from under me as they regained consciousness.

Huh? Was I too heavy after all?