Don't Be Obsessed With Your Cat Butler - Chapter 8
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“Sia, are you awake?”
“Mmm….”
Working at the inn was far more exhausting than she had expected. And it started much earlier in the morning than she had thought. As she got out of bed, thinking that Karin’s voice waking her up at dawn was becoming more and more familiar, Sia drank the water placed on the bedside table to clear her head.
She quickly washed her face and got dressed—not in the modern clothes she had worn when she first arrived, but in the kind of outfit commonly seen in this world.
“It really does look like the clothes worn by commoners in medieval European times, huh?”
Muttering as she tightened the cord around her waist, Sia finally wrapped a cloth around her head, making sure to hide her hair completely. Stepping out of the room, she spotted Karin busily preparing breakfast and quickly approached her.
“Sorry you have to wake me up every morning.”
“It’s fine. When I first inherited the inn, even just waking up at dawn was hard for me.”
It had already been two weeks since she had started living with Karin and working at the inn. Through their time working together, Sia had come to learn that while Karin was a bit materialistic, she was also completely honest.
After placing forks and spoons on the table, Sia sat across from Karin. The breakfast laid out consisted only of hot potato soup, firm bread, and some jam and butter, but even that felt more than enough.
Honestly, there were times when she craved spicy Korean food, but with everything being so hectic, she usually forgot about it quickly.
“Are you still looking for that cat?”
Caught off guard by Karin’s sudden question, Sia lifted her head from the soup bowl she had been eating from.
“…Yeah, I’m really worried about whether he’s eating properly.”
At her words, Karin’s expression turned a little odd. But Sia didn’t notice, her face once again buried in her soup bowl.
“Is it something to be that worried about?”
“He came here with me, of course I’m worried.”
He even crossed dimensions with me, after all. Unable to tell the truth, Sia simply kept moving her spoon busily. Karin quietly watched her for a moment, then resumed eating as well.
After finishing their meal, the two cleaned up the table and left the house together. Karin’s home wasn’t far from the inn. Though it was old, it was a sturdy stone building rather than a wooden one.
From observing things here and there since her arrival, Sia had figured out that those with stone buildings were at least moderately well-off. Once you left the stone building area and headed toward the outskirts, there were clusters of wooden houses, and beyond that, rows of collapsing wooden shacks formed the slums.
Having wandered all over in her search for Cola whenever she had free time, Sia had now become quite familiar with the geography of the area.
After arriving at the inn, she opened all the windows, wiped down the tables, and swept the floor with a broom. While preparing things in the kitchen, Karin came out with a glass of water and said,
“To be honest, you were super suspicious at first, but now I feel like I couldn’t manage without you. I’ve never had an employee as diligent and meticulous as you.”
“I was suspicious?”
Now that they were on friendlier terms, Sia asked frankly. She took a refreshing sip of water and handed back the empty glass. Karin smiled as she accepted it and replied,
“You might not realize it, but I bet everyone around here thought the same.”
“…Why?”
Worried that Karin might have figured out she was a dimensional traveler, Sia asked cautiously. Then again, with her appearance being different, maybe it was weirder if no one found it strange.
“You’re a bit… out of place. It’s not just your looks, but your skin tone too… But the biggest thing is your black hair.”
“Is it really that unusual?”
“It’s not just unusual—it’s a symbol of misfortune. I honestly had to brace myself to take you in.”
“But isn’t that just superstition? In my hometown, black hair like mine was normal.”
“Now that’s really fascinating.”
Still believing that Sia was a rabbit werebeast, Karin wondered if there were any rabbit tribes with black fur. But since the Pelles Empire was far too distant from where they supposedly lived, she had never heard any information about them, so her curiosity had to remain just that.
“I’ll go sweep outside too!”
“Oh, please do!”
Starting at the front entrance, then moving to the back, Sia enjoyed the cool breeze as she swept cheerfully. Then she pulled a pouch of churu from her pocket, which she had prepared in advance, and spread it on a small tree within her reach.
Hoping that Cola, remembering the taste, would catch the scent and come here.
“Cola, where in the world are you?”
She had even gone all the way to the grass field where they used to spend time, but still couldn’t find him. With faint hope, she looked around for no reason before heading back into the inn.
It wasn’t the Cola she was hoping for, but a black silhouette landed lightly on the tree where she had spread the churu.
