Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam

"Hungry?"

Without much of a greeting, Ethan asked as he used to.

The ragdoll cat nodded at him.

"Come on, we’ve got leftover pork belly and bread at home, oh, and some sour cream too."

"Meow~"

The ragdoll cat squinted its eyes, showing a pleased expression, and just like before, dashed towards Ethan, leaped high, and agilely jumped onto his shoulder using the arm Ethan had stretched towards her. She found a comfortable position, with her furry tail gently wrapped around Ethan’s neck like a scarf.

After arriving home, Miss Keroy also sprang into action. She jogged down the street, first dragging the cauldron into her bedroom and then pushing the drunken Hagrid onto the sofa. No one knew what kind of dream Hagrid was having, but he kept shouting "Wife, wife!" Miss Keroy bit a pillow into Hagrid’s arms, finally quieting him down.

Afterwards, it was the first meeting between Miss Keroy and Miss Zhao Cai.

Miss Keroy raised her chin, curiously gazing at the ragdoll cat on Ethan’s shoulder who refused to come down. The ragdoll cat glared back fiercely, tightening the tail wrapped around Ethan’s neck as if declaring its territory.

Ethan, facing away from the cat and the chicken, was oblivious to this. He was leisurely humming a tune, singing, "Today is a good day for stewing meat~", while adding the spices into the pot in order.

Old Sen’s stew, his specialty dish.

This was, in his memory, Miss Zhao Cai’s favorite dish. He couldn’t help but marvel at the Divination Master’s accurate prophecy; it was indeed an unexpected reunion of old friends.

"Cluck?"

Miss Keroy tilted her head in confusion, feeling that the new guest from the apartment seemed somewhat unfriendly. Suddenly she thought of something, and hopped to a corner of the kitchen, buried her head into a bag, and moments later, carried a hard bread, tip-toeing to offer it to the ragdoll cat.

Miss Keroy also squinted her eyes, puffed her cheeks, and smiled kindly.

The ragdoll cat finally responded to her, jumping off Ethan’s shoulder and gracefully landing on the cabinet—a position still taller than Miss Keroy. Miss Keroy pushed the hard bread towards the ragdoll cat, quickly opened the cabinet door, and brought out the sour cream placing it beside the bread.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck!"

The ragdoll cat’s gaze softened, somewhat contemplative.

This little hen seemed silly and didn’t appear to be any kind of threat.

She gladly accepted the offering from the little hen, holding the hard bread with sour cream, and began to munch on it deliciously.

The taste was familiar.

Before, when Ethan buried himself in reading under the gas lamp at night, she would sit on the table munching hard bread.

Then she gained five pounds in a week.

The ragdoll cat, having learned her lesson, stopped after a few bites, pushing the bread aside. While waiting for the stew, she began to study the strange creature in front of her, which seemed to have mutated from a chicken, and appeared to have a gentle personality, like a carefree optimist.

The ragdoll cat extended her paw, gently patting Miss Keroy’s head, and the little hen immediately cheerfully rubbed against her.

It turned out to be a pet chicken.

The last bit of worry was laid to rest. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

After a short while, Ethan prepared the stew. He placed the pot on the floor, brought himself a small stool, gave Miss Zhao Cai a bowl, and Miss Keroy a basin, cutting the stew and distributing it.

He raised his bowl first, "Here, this is to celebrate Miss Zhao Cai’s return to town!"

"Meow~"

"Cluck!"

"It’s been so many years, you’re still the same."

Ethan said smugly, "But now I’ve changed significantly, I live in a big house."

Sure enough, the ragdoll cat gave him a disdainful look again.

This was a ragdoll cat that understood human language, but in this supernatural world, it wasn’t anything strange. Ethan had seen higher-level creatures in the guild’s bestiary that could transform into human forms, and felt that the ragdoll cat probably had some magical bloodline.

Miss Zhao Cai was very clean, no matter when you saw her, her fur never got dusty, nor did she emit any unpleasant smell.

Since Ethan was the only one capable of speaking, he took it upon himself to narrate the events that occurred after Miss Zhao Cai had left.

He talked about the truth behind the "Three Knights" story. It was from the era of Baron Gledin’s grandfather, where they poisoned the water source and killed the witch that wrought havoc in the town; years later, the witch returned with a vengeance and attacked Riverside Town. Then there was Luoxang’s case, where Mr. Clown had forever left the town.

Time passed by second by second, unknowingly, the stew was consumed entirely, Miss Keroy being the main force. Her appetite always was a mystery, no matter how much food Ethan prepared, Miss Keroy would always finish it off, with the most remarkable feat being the night they encountered a giant boar in the forest.

Miss Keroy ate throughout the entire night and managed to swallow the giant boar, several times her size, without wasting a bit.

After an indefinite time, the ragdoll cat yawned.

"If you have nowhere to go, you can stay here temporarily, come with me."

Ethan led the way, with a cat and a chicken, to the side room, "This is Miss Keroy’s room, there’s a big bed inside. From now on, you are roommates."

"Meow!"

The ragdoll cat’s face was full of rejection, she shook her head vigorously, and then walked to the main room and stopped.

"Here? This is my room."

The ragdoll cat merely looked up at Ethan, straightened up, scratching the door with her paws,

"You want to live here?"

The ragdoll cat nodded eagerly.

"There’s no way around it."

Ethan thought if there were aristocrats among felines, Miss Zhao Cai must be a princess. Earlier in the guild, she wasn’t keen on staying in the cat bed he built; as soon as it got dark, she’d occupy the big bed ahead of him, initially, her territorial instinct was strong, not allowing him onto the bed.

Later, there was a time Miss Zhao Cai got sick, looking listless all day. He researched many books on pharmaceuticals and nursing, taking care of her for a long time, after which she gradually stopped resisting.

Ethan understood Miss Zhao Cai’s pride as a cat race maiden, so he drew a line on the bed, requested two quilts from the Guild, she slept inside while he slept outside.

However, those were times when conditions were poor.

As he had said, he now was vastly changed!

"Alright, since you insist on living in this room, the master bedroom is yours. In the worst case, I’ll move to the side room and share a bed with Miss Keroy for a while. Hang on, let me just pack up my quilt and pillow, hey, what’s with that look?"

The cat didn’t speak, glaring at him angrily.

Ethan was surprised to learn that a ragdoll cat’s eyes could actually glare so intensely.

The cat’s eyes were filled with disbelief, and even... had a trace of fierceness.

"Are you stupid!"

The cat seemed to want to convey this message through its gaze.

Then,

The cat arched its body.

The cat prepared to pounce.

The cat sprang from the ground, like a bullet, crashing into him.