I'm on the Ark, and I start out as Gretchen.

After hearing what the person next to her said, Swire fell silent for a moment, but when she looked at a chubby figure who was gnawing on a grilled fish, she suddenly understood.

She realized she probably knew why the canned food was so fat: its owner fed it three meals a day without fail and it would occasionally run out to have extra meals. How could it not be fat?

“So, Swire, you must have fed the canned food quite a bit lately, right? How much did it cost? I’ll pay you back.” Patto glanced at the silent Swire and touched her nose guiltily as she spoke.

The cat believes

As someone with principles, putting aside the issue of purchasing goods, she felt it was necessary to settle the "meal bill" for the canned food she was getting for free.

After hearing Patto's words, Swire snapped out of her reverie, quickly shook her head, and said earnestly:

"No need, I bought those things voluntarily for the canned food. Rather than such a small matter, I should apologize for feeding this little guy so much extra food."

"If it has any health problems that require examination or treatment, please let me know and I will pay for the relevant expenses."

Swire really didn't have much experience in raising pets, which is why she was tricked into opening a lot of cat food cans when the cat came to her door for a free meal.

"No, no, no, it's my fault for not watching the canned food properly and letting it run out. As for check-ups and treatment, there's no need; it's perfectly healthy now."

Faced with Swire's sudden seriousness, Patto, who was already feeling a little guilty, became even more uncomfortable and quickly waved her hand to decline.

"Hey, are you sure there won't be any problems? But the information I found tells me that being too fat can also affect your health." As she spoke, Swire couldn't help but reach out and touch the canned meat's round, chubby belly.

"Well, there's no need to worry too much. Although Canned Food looks chubby, it's always been very healthy."

Pado wasn't lying. She knew her cat's condition better than anyone. Even if it ate something it shouldn't have, let alone more food, it usually wouldn't have any major problems.

Moreover, the reason why the canned food is so fat is partly due to her, or rather, "Padofelis".

If "Pado" hadn't subconsciously felt that cats should be well-fed and plump, canned food wouldn't be what it is today when it first appeared.

"That's good." Hearing this, Swire patted her chest gently and breathed a sigh of relief.

……

----------------

Outside the Imperial Guard Bureau—

“I’ve taken up a lot of your time today. It’s getting late. Let me take you home in a taxi.” Swire, who had finished her late-night snack and was now completely off work, glanced at the time and said to Patto, who was leaving the Guard Bureau building with her.

"No need, it's not necessary to go through all that trouble. I can go back by myself." Upon hearing this, Pado quickly shook her head and said.

If it were anyone else, even another superintendent or officer, who wanted to take her home, Patto might have hesitated for a bit because she wanted to be lazy. But if it was Swire... she didn't need to think at all; she'd just call!

After all, besides being a senior superintendent in the Guard Bureau, Swire is also the "sheep" that she's been constantly exploiting! If possible, I don't want to have any more contact with her.

Because the more she says, the more mistakes she might make, and she might accidentally give herself away... Then the second task would be much more difficult, as she's still waiting for her sister Eden to come out and give her a sparkling gem.

"Is it really not necessary?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Even if I run into bad guys, I'll definitely be able to escape!" Patto said confidently, patting her chest as she glanced at Swire, who seemed a little uneasy.

"Meow!"

"Alright then, be careful on the road."

Seeing that Patto was so insistent, Swire did not press the matter.

After all, she could tell from what happened tonight that the person in front of her had some skills, and even if he couldn't beat her, he should be able to escape if he encountered danger.

"Oh, right, there's something else I wanted to ask you." Hearing this, Pado nodded first, then, as if remembering something, asked with a rare seriousness:

"Swire, can you tell me about the injuries sustained in tonight's incident?"

Upon hearing Padre suddenly bring up serious matters, Swire slowly suppressed her smile and replied earnestly:

"Well... normally, according to the rules and regulations of the Royal Guard Bureau, I can't tell you before the case is resolved. But, since you, Pado, are the person involved in this act of bravery, I can give you a little bit of information."

"There were quite a few injured people in this incident, including two seriously injured, but... no one has died so far. And we have to thank you for subduing the assailant in time."

"Don't thank me. Even if I hadn't intervened, your officers would have arrived by now. And if I had known the statement would take so long, I should have run away after knocking that guy unconscious."

As she spoke, Pado couldn't help but flick her long tail, then glanced resentfully at Swire beside her.

"Ahem... Tonight's matter was quite significant and complicated, so the statement took a long time to take. Please forgive me." Meeting Paddy's resentful little eyes, Swire's gaze shifted slightly, and she couldn't help but cough twice.

But being suddenly interrupted by the cat, Swire's complex and depressed emotions, which had resurfaced because of the tragic case that had just been mentioned, gradually eased and dissipated.

"Oh right, I almost forgot, let's exchange contact information or add each other as friends, so it'll be easier to contact each other if anything comes up later."

"what……!"

Upon hearing this, Pado, who was yawning and planning to say goodbye and slip away, was suddenly startled and almost couldn't close her mouth.

Chapter 19 Earrings and Doubt

"..."

Silence, everyone was fast asleep

Night fell, and Pado sat on the roof of the low building where she had settled down, staring blankly at the new contacts on her phone.

Of course, the reason the cat was staring blankly at the phone wasn't because of a little tiger, but because it was thinking about what happened tonight.

In short, what happened tonight was an attack. In a sense, it wasn't a big deal because no one died, but it wasn't a small matter either, since many innocent people were injured.

Under normal circumstances, if such an attack were reported and circulated, it would at most evoke indignation, a sense of relief, and demands for severe punishment.

The above scenarios are all based on the premise that the perpetrator is an ordinary person. But what if the perpetrator is revealed to be an infected person?

At this moment, Pado could fully imagine the public outcry and subsequent impact that this incident would cause in the city.

Of course, everything that followed had little to do with the cat, and she had no means or influence to reverse the situation.

However, this does not prevent her from having a little bit of thought about what happened tonight and the speculation about its future development.

"..."

Suddenly, whether she had figured something out or not, Pado, who had been staring blankly at her phone with her head down, slowly raised her head to look at the starry sky with two full moons, and muttered softly:

"Indeed, one should not overthink things... Overthinking leads to unhappiness."

"But... I still want to do something."

"But what can I do?"

Paddo rarely worries about this, or rather, she hardly worries about anything at all.

Because she has always been very open-minded, and only cares about the present moment, for her, living one more day is one more day of happiness. If she can also have food to fill her stomach and sunshine, that is more than three times the happiness. She is so happy that she doesn't think too much.

Even if tomorrow were the end of the world, it would still be tomorrow for the cat. She is still happy today!

But even with such an open-minded attitude, no grand ambitions, and the belief that "if the sky falls, the taller ones will hold it up," Pado still has things she wants to do and small aspirations.

-------------------

A villa with its lights still on late at night—

"Ah, I'm finally done washing up and can rest now."

Swire yawned, ruffled her freshly dried, tousled hair, and murmured softly.

After all the things that happened tonight, it's practically midnight.

If it weren't for the fact that tomorrow's day off was scheduled for Swire, she wouldn't dare to be so carefree with her schedule after she got back, otherwise she would have to go to work with dark circles under her eyes tomorrow morning.

Not only will I be in a bad mood, but I'll also definitely be laughed at by some pathetic dragon...

"..."

Just as Swire was about to turn off the downstairs lights and go upstairs to her room to rest, she couldn't help but pause slightly as she passed the table with the tray and decorations.

"Speaking of which, isn't there an earring I've been missing all this time?"

"Forget it, let's talk about it tomorrow."

Swire didn't dwell on the little thing that suddenly came to mind. After turning off the light, she dragged her tired body upstairs.

-------------------

Because she stayed up late the night before, Swire didn't get up early as usual today, but instead indulged herself and slept until almost noon.

"Ah~"

Swire, who had just woken up, squinted her sleepy eyes, yawned, and slowly sat up on the large bed. Then she glanced at the clock in the room and couldn't help but sigh, "It's been a long time since I've gotten up this late."

After regaining her composure, Swire left the room to wash up. Although she was on holiday today, she had quite a few things to do.

For example, you could call a cleaning lady to clean the house, tidy up, and organize various items.

You see, she's still thinking about her missing earring. Although it wasn't a very valuable item, it was one of her everyday belongings.

Previously, she was too busy and only asked the cleaning lady to help look for it, but in the end, she couldn't find it. Now that she has time, Swire naturally wants to try looking for it again.

Besides dealing with things at home, Swire also plans to go to the Guard Bureau today to see if Hoshiguma and Ryuko need any help.

If there is an opportunity, she wouldn't mind working overtime.

After all, Swire is different from others. Others go to work for money or other reasons, but she genuinely loves her job and is ambitious enough to make it bigger and stronger, such as becoming the head of the Guard Bureau and then the boss of the Dragon King!

Having planned out today's time, Swire stopped wasting time and quickly began to execute the planned arrangements.

……

"It's almost time. Let me tidy up a bit and look for my earrings." After quickly finishing her lunch and clearing away the dishes, Swire started organizing her various small belongings.

This is a habit she's developed over a long period of time. To avoid causing unnecessary trouble for others, and because she doesn't like others touching her things, she always tidies up a bit before the cleaning lady comes to clean.

I'll tidy up my things.

……

After spending some time sorting out the items she didn't want others to touch, Swire began searching for her missing gemstone earring.

However, no matter how hard she searched, even moving the table where the earring had fallen, she could not find the missing earring again.

"That's strange. I clearly remember dropping it here. Could it have been carried away by a rat?"

"Or perhaps, someone took it..."

At this point, Swire's professional instincts kicked in, and his mind subconsciously began filtering out suspicious individuals...

However, before she could think about it further, the doorbell rang, forcing her to pull herself out of her thoughts and open the door.

"Good afternoon, Auntie. Thank you for your hard work today."

Swire walked into the yard, opened the gate, and invited the housekeeper in with a smile.