After finishing lunch in the afternoon, Caius grabbed his heavy hammer and took Kiki with him out of the city to complete some quests.

  They hitched a ride with a friendly farmer who was returning to his village.

  Now, that farmer was the very definition of simple and honest. He gave Caius a ride for twenty miles without asking for a single coin.

  Meanwhile, Kiki, who had eaten and drunk her fill, even managed to take a nap along the way. Now bursting with energy, she transformed into a little chatterbox, meowing non-stop in Caius’ ear.

  "Big guy, which quest are we doing first, meow?"

  "Call me Caius... You know what, never mind. Whatever makes you happy."

  "I’m always happy, meow! So which quest, meow?"

  "We’ll see which target we run into first. There are three targets for this quest: Iron-tailed Giant Lizard, Tusked Boar, and the Red Velvet Bee hive."

  "Got it, meow! Do you want me to scout ahead, meow?"

  "No need. It’s just the two of us, better to move together."

  "Okay, meow~"

  Upon arriving at the forest, they bid farewell to the farmer and ventured in under the darkening sky.

  The nighttime forest was when Magic Beasts were most active, making it the most dangerous time as well.

  But to Caius, that wasn’t a problem at all.

  Since childhood, the old man had sent him into the mountains to train, so he felt more at home in the wild than in the city.

  The dim night did nothing to hinder his sharp senses.

  As for Kiki, there was no need to even mention it—Catgirls had outstanding night vision.

  The two moved through the forest in eerie silence. Kiki understood why—Catgirls were naturally nimble and light-footed.

  But Caius, with his massive frame, was also unnervingly agile. His movements were almost soundless, and he was even faster than Kiki.

  "They're coming," Caius suddenly whispered, raising his hand. Kiki instantly stopped, both of them hiding in the underbrush.

  A moment later, a group of boars noisily emerged from the thicket.

  There were sixteen Tusked Boars in total, three of which were Silver-ranked. One of them was particularly large, likely at the high end of Silver rank, around Silver Six-star or higher.

  Still, there was a long way to go before reaching Gold rank.

  Caius didn’t bother with stealth or assassination tactics. He simply charged forward and slammed his hammer down, instantly taking out the largest boar.

  That heavy hammer could flatten even a Wolf Demon, let alone a mere Silver-ranked boar.

  The remaining boars immediately scattered in fear, which was where Kiki came in.

  Activating Spirit Wind, she surged forward with a burst of speed, leaped onto the head of a Silver-ranked Tusked Boar, and drove her dagger straight into its eye.

  The boar was barely above entry-level Silver rank. The dagger pierced through the eye socket and into the brain. With a quick twist of her wrist, Kiki finished the job, and the boar collapsed on the spot.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Not bad," Caius nodded in approval.

  He hadn't invited Kiki to join him just because she was cute.

  That was just a bonus. What truly mattered was her natural talent.

  The fact that she had narrowly escaped multiple Wolf Demon attacks and made it back alive proved that.

  Without such combat instincts, she would have been torn apart long ago.

  Caius saw potential in this little Catgirl. With a bit of training—cough—discipline, she could definitely become formidable.

  "Hehe, quest complete, meow~"

  "Are we heading back now, meow?" Kiki flicked her cat ears and asked.

  "Of course not. Returning after each quest is a waste of time. In the mercenary business, efficiency is key," Caius replied.

  "Ohhh!" Kiki nodded eagerly. Learning something new, meow!

  For the rest of the night, Caius and Kiki roamed the forest, hunting down their targets.

  By dawn, they had completed all three quests.

  "Alright, time to head back to the city!" Caius declared, slinging the massive boar hide over his shoulder and setting off towards Ocean City.

  The boar hide was stuffed with two large jars of honey and a pile of Iron-tailed Giant Lizard scales.

  The entire load weighed several hundred kilograms, but Caius carried it as if it were weightless.

  And atop that makeshift sack of boar hide lay a sprawled-out Catgirl.

  "Ugh… I feel awful, meow…" Kiki whined weakly.

  After an entire night of hunting, Caius felt fine, but Kiki was exhausted.

  That would have been manageable, but when they were gathering honey, Kiki got stung on the hand by a Red Velvet Bee. Now, her left hand was swollen like a steamed bun, making her utterly miserable.

  Fortunately, Red Velvet Bee venom wasn’t lethal with just one sting.

  Besides, looking at Kiki’s swollen little paw, Caius found it oddly adorable—it reminded him of soft, pink cat toe beans.

  "Kiki, try smacking me with that stung hand," Caius said.

  "Why, meow?" Kiki tilted her head in confusion. What kind of weird request is this?

  "Just try it," Caius chuckled.

  "Oh…" Still puzzled, Kiki went along with it. She lifted her swollen hand and gave Caius' cheek a gentle pat.

  Then—

  "Meowww!" Kiki yelped, clutching her wrist as a sharp sting shot through her hand. Meanwhile, Caius just grinned in amusement.

  He had to admit—it really did feel like getting patted by a soft little kitten.

  "Wanna try again?" he teased.

  "No way, meow! It hurts, meow…" Kiki pouted pitifully.

  Caius burst out laughing but soon tossed her a bottle of healing potion.

  Kiki examined it, then hesitated. "Can I not drink it, meow? These potions are expensive. I want to save it for later, meow~"

  "Suit yourself," Caius hummed, unconcerned.

  After all, a single bee sting would heal in a couple of days.

  Before long, they arrived back at the tavern.

  For quests that didn’t require direct interaction with the client, mercenaries could simply bring the collected materials to the tavern for submission.

  So when Caius walked in carrying that enormous boar hide sack, he naturally drew a lot of attention from the other mercenaries.

  "Boss Lady, turning in the quests," Caius called out to Yvlan.

  "Follow me." Yvlan led him to the back of the tavern, where a spacious area was designated for material processing, unloading, and storage.

  Caius set the exhausted Kiki down, untied the boar hide sack, and emptied out the materials for verification.

  "All checked. Quests complete," one of the staff members confirmed.

  Yvlan immediately pulled out three pouches of gold, clearly prepared in advance.

  "Two quests pay five hundred gold, and the honey quest pays six hundred gold—total of sixteen hundred gold."

  Caius took the pouches without even counting, tying them to his belt before heading out with Kiki.

  "One room, two seafood platters, and three roasted lamb legs delivered upstairs," he ordered. "Oh, and some medicine for Red Velvet Bee stings."

  Despite having only been here a few times, he acted like a seasoned regular, making Yvlan chuckle as she swiftly arranged everything.

  Inside the room—

  Caius had already finished eating. Since Kiki could only use one hand, she was much slower.

  As she ate, her other hand rested in Caius’ palm as he carefully applied the medicine.

  For someone so massive, his touch was surprisingly gentle.

  "Does it hurt?" he asked.

  "Not at all, meow~" Kiki grinned, revealing her tiny fangs. "Big guy, you're really gentle, meow~"

  "Heh, you wouldn’t say that if you were my enemy."

  "But I'm not! I’m your battle partner, meow!"

  "Not qualified yet, little Catgirl. A real partner wouldn’t get their hand stung because they smacked a bee hive while trying to catch a bird."

  "Ugh… Next time, I won’t, meow…"

  "Alright." Caius put away the potion bottle, rubbed the little catgirl’s head, and then said, "I'm going to take a nap. If you’re not sleeping, wake me up when the sun sets."

  "I want to sleep too, meow~"

  "Then go ask the Boss Lady for another room." Saying that, Caius had already closed his eyes.

  Kiki looked at him, her cat ears twitching. Then, without hesitation, she flipped over and sat on Caius's stomach like a little bird.

  Caius raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "What are you doing?"

  "Getting two rooms would be a waste, meow~" Kiki said, her eyes darting away.

  Caius gave her a suspicious look but couldn't be bothered to argue. Instead, he just lay back down and said, "Then go take on a few missions first. Pick ones that require gathering materials from the forest. It'll be faster to level up that way."

  "Got it, meow!"