When he woke up, it was already evening.
Looking at the fiery orange clouds outside the window, Caius gave his biological clock a silent nod of approval.
Waking up whenever he wanted—now that was the life.
He got up and, unsurprisingly, found Kiki curled up in a ball, hugging her fluffy tail as she lay on his stomach.
Was this just a cat thing?
In his past life, the hacker in his team had a cat that did the same thing. Every time he woke up, it was either lying on his chest or stomach—sometimes even straight up on his face.
There were nights he woke up gasping for air, thinking someone was smothering him with a pillow.
Thankfully, in this life, his physique was maxed out. A tiny catgirl weighing less than a hundred pounds sleeping on his stomach? Barely noticeable.
He pinched the scruff of her neck and lifted her up—still sound asleep, not even stirring.
Caius rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
As a scout, having such low alertness was unacceptable. Looks like she needed some training.
What he didn’t know was that Kiki only slept this soundly when she was curled up on him.
Because it felt safe. And warm.
“Wake up, little catgirl. Time for a mission.”
“Meowu~” Kiki let out a soft whimper and blinked open her eyes.
After gathering his gear, Caius headed downstairs.
Ocean City was just as lively at night.
It was different from other places. Small towns near the villages he had stayed in before had curfews by eight or nine at night.
But cities like this, where the gates remained open and the streets were bustling well into the night, where even taverns never closed—these were wild cities.
And this was the kind of atmosphere Caius liked.
“You’re up?” The Boss Lady lounged seductively against the bar, flicking her wrist and sending a silver mercenary ID card flying toward him.
“Don’t forget to mark it with blood.”
Caius caught it between two fingers, pricked his finger to register the card, and put it away with a grin. “Tavern never closes?”
“As long as the Mercenary Guild is open, the tavern stays open,” Yvlan replied with a smirk.
“Dedicated, huh?” Caius chuckled and ordered a rum and four roasted lamb legs to eat on the road before heading out with Kiki.
As he walked, he called back, “Boss Lady, watch my stuff for me.”
His bag was still in his room.
“Got it,” Yvlan answered lazily, resting her chin on her hand as she watched Kiki hopping along behind Caius.
She pursed her lips.
She remembered—they had booked only one room, right?
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“That big guy… Can the little catgirl even handle him…?” she muttered to herself.
For the rest of the night, Caius and Kiki were out gathering materials—some from Magic Beasts, some herbs and plants, and even some insects. Nothing difficult, just tedious.
Still, by dawn, they had completed everything.
Kiki had taken on six Bronze-ranked collection tasks for plants, while Caius had completed four Silver-ranked collection tasks.
Looking at the cage holding a scorpion the size of a washbasin, Caius sighed and glanced at Kiki.
She was sitting on the ground with her ears drooping, one slender leg propped up on a rock. A fresh wound on her calf was swollen red.
Caius couldn’t help but wonder—was Kiki just cursed with bad luck?
Last time, during a bird-catching mission, she had smacked a bush, and, of all things, uncovered a hidden Red Velvet Bee nest.
Red Velvet Bee nests were notoriously well-hidden. Caius had searched for ages and found nothing—then Kiki’s one slap had revealed it instantly.
Of course, her tiny hand got stung into a swollen mess.
And this time, while Caius was flipping over rocks to find the Red-tailed Scorpion for his mission, Kiki had been happily chasing fireflies nearby.
She always seemed so relaxed around him, her guard completely down.
And, as luck would have it, as she passed by a fallen hollow tree, a Red-tailed Scorpion lurking inside took the chance to sting her right in the leg.
If Caius hadn’t been prepared, carrying the right antidote and reacting fast, her leg would have been done for.
Despite being only a Bronze-ranked Magic Beast with weak combat ability—easily crushed under Caius’ boot—the Red-tailed Scorpion was highly venomous. A single adult scorpion’s venom was potent enough to paralyze even a Silver-ranked Tusked Boar.
Which was why it was classified as a Silver-ranked mission.
“Big guy…” Kiki pouted, her eyes misty. “Am I gonna die…?”
“No,” Caius replied flatly, rinsing his mouth.
The moment she got stung, he had given her the antidote, then cut open the wound with his knife to suck out most of the venom.
It was a risky move. If he had even the slightest wound in his mouth, he would’ve been poisoned too.
But a good mercenary knew how to protect their mouth—hence his perfectly white teeth.
“But I feel so weak… meow…” Kiki whimpered.
With most of the venom extracted and neutralized, she wasn’t in any real danger, but the lingering poison still left her limbs weak.
“You’ll be fine. You won’t die,” Caius reassured her, lifting her up and settling her onto his shoulder.
Kiki obediently sat on his shoulder. Then, suddenly, her eyes lit up, and her ears perked back up.
She realized—this spot was perfect!
Caius had broad shoulders with well-defined muscles, making for a firm yet comfortable seat.
Like a heated cushion.
“I’m telling you, you need to be more alert. No messing around during missions,” Caius said as he walked back, carrying a hammer in one hand and a large bag of collected materials in the other.
“Got it! I won’t do it again, meow!” Kiki promised.
“There won’t be a ‘next time!’” Caius said firmly, making Kiki shiver.
“My comrades need to be reliable. You’ve had accidents in both missions. How am I supposed to trust you to stand on your own?”
“Missions might seem easy, but you have to take them seriously. Just because I’m here doesn’t mean you can slack off.”
“I don’t mind now, but it won’t always be just the two of us. Right now, small mistakes don’t matter. But if you stay like this, one day, you might get our comrades killed.”
Kiki’s ears drooped again as she silently accepted Caius’ reprimand.
“Do you understand?” he asked.
“I understand! No next time!” Kiki immediately replied.
“Really?” Caius glanced over—straight at her smooth, bare thighs.
The little catgirl was wearing shorts.
Kiki nodded vigorously. “I won’t hold you back anymore, meow! I swear!”
“I believe you.” Caius finally smiled.
As long as she took it to heart.
Honestly, it wasn’t a big deal. Maybe she was just unlucky, but ironically, because of her, Caius had completed the missions faster.
Finding the bee nest and the Red-tailed Scorpion should have taken much longer—these missions were simple but time-consuming.
He just hoped she wouldn’t rely on him too much. Otherwise, it’d be hard for them to make it to the top together as Legendary Mercenaries.
By the time they returned to the tavern, dawn was breaking. This was the quietest time in the tavern, with several mercenaries still slumped over tables, snoring away.
“Boss Lady, turning in the mission,” Caius called out loudly, waking several people.
Some had morning tempers and were about to curse, but upon seeing it was Caius, they swallowed their words.
For this, Caius had to thank Kalan—his reputation was firmly established.
The other mercenaries might be wary of him, but the Boss Lady sure wasn’t.
Having worked all night, Yvlan was dozing on the counter. Caius’ voice jolted her awake, and her elegant brows shot up.
“You little shit, can’t you keep it down?!” She smacked Caius on the chest, venting her irritation.
Not painful at all—
Actually, scratch that. It did hurt.
Turns out, the Boss Lady was pretty strong. That small fist packed a punch.
No wonder no mercenary dared mess with her. Caius guessed she was at least Gold-ranked.
He grinned, unfazed. “I’m in a hurry.”
“Get to the back!”
“Got it!”
