Chapter 113: The Masquerade

  I didn't feel immediately different after taking the Cat Trait, nor did staring at Pumpkin provoke any flash of profound insight or sudden flood of memories, instructing me on how to behave like a cat. I could've asked, of course, but I preferred not to sound like a crazy person, which the conversation would definitely verge on, even if the bystanders only understood half of it.

  [Mask of Felis stored.]

  It did, however, allow me to put my mask away, pretending to slip it into my trouser pocket while actually depositing it in my inventory. I didn't need it any more, now that I was fluent in Cat, so I wasn't going to wear it ever again; maybe one of my companions would like it, that way Pumpkin can bother them as well.

  That little revelation aside, there were no surprises on our way back home. The road was busier than it had been in the morning, making me realise that we'd actually be fairly late to descend. Seven in the morning was my natural time to wake up, a legacy of decades spent commuting to work on the Tube, so I'd thought it natural, but the people of Heaven's Reach were evidently more industrious, with many of them already in the office at dawn. Despite the crowded path uphill, nobody spared the two of us a second glance; we were simply ships in the night, sharing the camaraderie of workers heading home, already anticipating a good meal, a bath and a nap, not necessarily in that order.

  The mood was rather upbeat, all things considered, and looking around, I wouldn't have seen any signs of a monster invasion just the night before. Maybe it wasn't too surprising, we were remarkably adaptable as a species when push came to shove; I'd seen it enough times, people coming in to work and plodding on, never mind the fire that burned down their house the day before or the car crash that nearly killed them. Some of it stemmed from the need to keep the pay cheques coming, sure, but I liked to think that at least part of that was a testament to human resilience. Add in the fact that monsters were a known quantity in this world, albeit not usually in quite such numbers, and people really did just bounce back straight away.

  Pumpkin nipped me on the ear, bringing me back to awareness just in time to avoid walking into a lamp post. I'd done it a few times back in London, when my mind wandered; it wasn't all that painful in truth, but the embarrassment and broken glasses were things I'd rather do without, even if only the former applied here.

  "Not bad for our first proper outing," I murmured softly, reaching a hand up scratch Pumpkin behind the ears. "I hope the others had just as much luck."

  We arrived back at the safe house without issue, slipping inside to find that we were the last to return. Harvey had set up a crock pot while we were gone, filling it with a hearty stew of salt pork and some of our excess apples, pears and plums. The end result he was stirring looked to be somewhere between compote and a pudding, not quite thin enough for the former nor congealed for the latter, but it smelled great, and that was what mattered in the end. While the contents of the pot were interesting, I was more curious about the product itself.

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  [Hot Pot: Enchanted to cook anything placed inside at a slow simmer. Mind your hands.]

  I wasn't sure which was more amusing, the fact that some enchanter used his talents to create a magical equivalent of the flameless ration heaters back on Earth, or that someone took a look at its functionality and decided to stick an arm inside, because there was no way that disclaimer on the end would exist without a backstory of its own; every food safety regulation is written in blood, as the old saying goes. Harvey never brought it out on the way to Heaven's Reach, but I supposed it was never necessary, not when we had the luxury of the open sky to cook under.

  Kyle meanwhile had procured a portable desk, the veteran adventurer looking surprisingly studious as he shuffled papers about. From what little I could make out while reading upside down, he was collating and sorted through status reports from a wide variety of sources, everything from the standardised print produced by System functions, to the elegant cursive favoured by the nobility and clergy, and even a few nearly illegible scrawls that either originated from the slums or the local doctor's office. This was a bit more unusual, but still fell within the range of expected behaviour. What actually surprised me was the presence of the third and final guest.

  [Ralph - Level 1 Cat]

  A stray cat was hardly uncommon in and of itself, even if they rarely reached the size of this rotund black void, but that didn't mean I expected to see one in our most likely illegal hideout. He'd even managed to grab some of the salt pork, and was eagerly devouring a chunk nearly half the size of his head.

  "Ralph, what are you doing here?" Pumpkin demanded, sounding equally baffled by his presence, though not his existence, judging by the familiarity when he called the latter's name.

  "You know each other?" I asked, somewhat bemused.

  "He's the one I asked for help during the kidnapping," Pumpkin explained, which cleared some things up; he had mentioned getting assistance in passing, though only now did I get a name.

  "A friend then," I shrugged, not too bothered by his presence, especially now that I was an honorary Cat; might as well start making connections, right?

  "Keep feeding me and you can call me whatever you like," Ralph retorted between bites. "I'm just here to pass messages along, don't mind me otherwise. Not like I got much else to do, with guards swarming all over my usual place."

  "Noted," I acknowledged, mentally noting Ralph as food motivated and easygoing; a typical cat then, and easy enough to get along with.

  I grabbed two bowls from a nearby stack, one for myself and one for Pumpkin and loading them with stew. The taste was unusual, a mix of salty, sweet and savoury, but it honestly wasn't bad, reminding me of a meatier mince pie from back home. Pumpkin certainly didn't mind, diving in right away to start stuffing his face.

  "Learn anything useful today?" Harvey asked, once we were both fed and watered.

  "Well, as a matter of fact..."