Kazuki, proud new owner of a provisional adventurer badge and a deep sense of unease, picked the least humiliating quest he could find.
Which turned out to be, of course, the most humiliating one.
[Quest Accepted: Clean Out the Rat Den Beneath the East Storage Hall]Quest Rank: F (even the board looked disappointed)Objective: Exterminate all vermin. Try not to contract plague.]Reward: 3 bronze coins, a loaf of bread, and mild judgment]
"This," Kazuki muttered as he climbed down into the damp, groaning basement of the storage hall, "is how legends begin. In sewers. Alone. With rats."
Kaelith had refused to come with him, citing "emotional distance" and "this is your failure to own."
The hall manager, a gnarled old man with suspiciously shiny teeth, had handed Kazuki a mop, a rusty dagger, and a small, broken lantern.
"You'll be fine," he said, with the same tone people use to say "you're going to die hilariously."
The basement smelled like damp socks and regret.
Kazuki lit the lantern and descended into the darkness, surrounded by the sounds of tiny claws and the quiet dread of bad decisions.
It didn't take long before the rats appeared.
Except they weren't just rats. No.
They were Corpse Rats—twice the size of regular rats, with patchy fur and glowing red eyes and the kind of energy you'd expect from something that recently chewed its way out of someone's crypt.
[New Threat Detected: Corpse Rat – Lv. 3]
[Weakness: Fire, Loud Noises, Existential Threats]
The first rat lunged. Kazuki screamed and hit it with the mop.
It worked.
Kind of.
The rat hissed and retreated, now slightly damp and mildly offended.
Kazuki threw the lantern at it.
That also worked. The rat caught fire, squealed, and ran into a stack of old crates, which promptly lit up like kindling.
The whole room began to smoke.
[Environmental Hazard Created: Fire in Enclosed Space]
[Breathing: Not Recommended]
Kazuki coughed, eyes burning. He stabbed a second rat with the dagger—surprisingly effective!—and kicked a third one into a wall, where it bounced off with a squeaky thud.
[Corpse Rats Defeated: 3/??]
But they kept coming.
Dozens.
Squealing. Gnashing. Judging him.
One climbed up his leg. Another went for the lantern's remains.
Kazuki panicked and activated Berserk Mode for the first time since the Cave Leaper fight.
Red surged through his vision.
When he came to, the basement was destroyed.
Burned crates, smashed barrels, and a puddle of something that may have once been wine—or rat.
And in the center, on top of a broken crate, sat a cat.
It was black, sleek, and glaring at him like he'd ruined its weekend.
[??? Detected: Familiar-Class Entity – Name: Mistral]
The cat spoke. With its mind.
"You idiot."
Kazuki stared. "Did the cat just—"
"You burned my lair. You brought chaos into my domain. You smell like sadness and mold."
"…Okay, fair."
"You will now serve as my errand boy until my trust is rebuilt."
"...I have a job now?! For a cat?!"
[Quest Updated: Earn Mistral's Approval]Reward: Unknown. Possibly affection. Probably not.]
Kazuki sighed, wiped ash from his face, and muttered, "This is going to be a long week."