Fantasy Writers 1860

Dorian wandered aimlessly through the streets near the station, the magic lights lighting up one by one in the deepening twilight, casting his shadow long and short.

He wanted to find a hotel closer to the station because the station's rebooking time was too unfortunate; he had to get up very early to make it.

"There seem to be more streetlights here..." Dorian felt that the current atmosphere was somewhat familiar.

Yes, not long ago I was also walking alone on the street at night when I met the Blue Blood Gang and Lily. Since then, the gears of fate have started to turn, leading me to the Academy of Literature.

Thinking about it that way, she really can be called a woman who changed her own destiny.

It feels like I haven't seen her for quite a while now, but I often see Polina giving newbies a hard time at the training ground, so it seems she doesn't often team up with Lily.

The field operations department has a heavy workload...

Thinking of this, Dorian sighed inwardly. In fact, clerical work was not as easy as he had initially imagined.

The tools of this era are too outdated. What could be done in minutes in the previous life with computers, the internet, and AI now takes several days.

As he turned a corner, he noticed a hotel with a sign that read "Rosethorn". The storefront was small, but the windows were clean, and there were several liriope muscari plants in flowerpots under the porch.

This place looks pretty good.

Just as Dorian was about to knock on the door and go in, he suddenly heard a strange sound, which felt like... some kind of suppressed sobbing?

The sound wasn't loud, it was intermittent, and it quickly faded into silence, as if it were just my own tinnitus.

Could it be that the Blue Blood Gang has found their way here?

That would be an immersive replica... So when is Lily coming to save me?

Dorian chuckled, deciding to pretend he'd heard everything, quickly go inside to find a room to sleep, and head back the next morning.

Just then, the intermittent, seemingly suppressed sob suddenly became clear:

"Meow meow meow—"

Oh, it's just a kitten.

Dorian breathed a sigh of relief, realizing he had been too nervous and had been overthinking things.

He followed the kitten's meows and walked deeper into the alley, where there were piles of abandoned wooden crates and rusty iron pipes. The streetlights couldn't reach this area, but the faint light coming from nearby windows filled in some of the darkness.

Dorian squinted and vaguely saw a familiar silhouette.

"Miss Lily? What are you doing here?" Dorian exclaimed in surprise after getting closer and confirming the other person's identity.

"Dorian?" In the dim light, Dorian couldn't see Lily's expression, but he guessed she was just as surprised as he was.

After a brief moment of surprise, Lily quickly gave an irrefutable reason: "To carry out a mission."

"So, is it all done now? Am I causing any delays by being here?" As he said this, Dorian felt something furry walking under his feet.

He looked down and saw that it was a kitten.

Meanwhile, Lily was surrounded by even more kittens.

The meows I just heard must have come from here.

Is this also part of the mission?

"No..." Lily seemed to ponder for a moment before deciding to answer, "The mission is temporarily suspended. We were originally scheduled to return today, but something unexpected happened..."

"The seat you bought, it wasn't in that first-class carriage that was suddenly booked out, was it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Dorian noticed that the other person's tall silk hat seemed to tremble slightly.

"……The same to you?"

"Yes, and then the station changed my ticket to a time that was supposed to be in the underworld, so I'm looking for a place to stay here now."

"If I'm looking for a place to stay, the rose bushes in front of me will do. That's where I'll stay." She returned to her usual calm demeanor.

Dorian took a few steps forward and saw a cardboard box in the shadowy corner. He squatted down and gently poked the edge of the box with his finger, which made the kittens inside make soft meows.

"So, what's the deal with these kittens? Are they part of the mission too?" Dorian teased, sounding slightly relaxed.

"Of course not." Lily unusually used an adverb to emphasize the point, "I just happened to see it and took a look."

He then added, unusually, as if afraid Dorian wouldn't believe him, "I'm still writing for pet magazines; it's always good to accumulate more material."

"Gathering material?" Dorian's gaze darted between Lily and the kitten. "But if you don't like kittens, why write for a pet magazine?"

"I didn't say I didn't like it." Lily immediately realized something was wrong as soon as she finished speaking. "I just don't dislike it. Besides, pet magazines pay the most."

Dorian stood up, brushed the dust off his pants, and said with a smile, "Kittens are so cute. I wouldn't say I like them, but I doubt anyone would dislike them either. Do you have any food on you?"

"no."

"Why don't we go buy some food and feed them? If we hadn't seen them in the first place, it would have been fine, but since we've seen them, we don't really want to just leave them like this..."

Lily paused for a moment, then nodded: "Okay."

She was the first to step out of the alley.

"It's strange, really. So many people like cats, and there are even magazines dedicated to raising cats, but why are demi-humans, who also have cat ears and tails, so unpopular?" Dorian, feeling that things were a bit too quiet on the way to the store, took the initiative to try to start a conversation.

"Ajin?" Lily paused slightly, seemingly surprised that he would suddenly bring this up.

"Yes," Dorian said casually, even with a hint of excitement, "that Lenora who always delivers letters to the magazine at the Literature and Art Publishing House's base, she's a catgirl! How cute are cat-eared and cat-tailed beauties? What would it feel like to touch that fluffy tail?"

"Of course, a cat-eared pretty boy is also acceptable."

"Every time Lenora comes to deliver letters from readers, I personally go to meet her. The coachman also knows that I don't like seeing anyone bully her, so he's more restrained when I'm around..."

"It's really pointless. How long can she stay in front of me? I'll close the door, and her brief respite will be over. Of course, I could buy her—as far as I know, many gentlemen and ladies who care for demi-humans do just that. But I can't possibly buy all demi-humans, can I?"

"I heard that after the environmental bill is finalized, the parliament will discuss a bill concerning the demi-humans. It's said that the bill aims to liberate the demi-humans and grant them complete freedom... The legal mountain may be easy to move, but the mountain in people's hearts is a different story..."

"Even so, if that bill can be passed smoothly, it would be a good thing to some extent, as it would greatly improve the situation of the demi-humans..."

As Dorian spoke, his voice gradually lowered, as if he had been tripped up by his own words.

broken.

I don't know why, maybe it was influenced by that nouveau riche, but I seem to have gone a little too deep into this topic today.

I don't think I'm close enough to Lily to discuss such serious issues.

If I bring these things up abruptly, will she think I talk too much and dislike me?

Dorian's gaze wandered, glancing furtively at Lily, but she didn't reply. She simply slowed her pace and walked alongside him.

The night wind, carrying the smell of coal smoke, swept through the streets, and in the distance came the indistinct humming of a drunkard.

"You've thought a lot." Lily's voice was as cold and hard as ever, making it impossible to tell whether it was praise or blame.

All the words were swallowed up by the darkness of the night.

They found a grocery store on the corner that was still lit up and bought two smoked fish and a small piece of cheese. When they returned to the alley, the commotion inside the cardboard box became more pronounced; the kittens immediately poked their heads out of the box at the sound of footsteps, meowing anxiously.

Dorian broke the cheese into small pieces and placed them in his palm. Immediately, three kittens surrounded him, their pink tongues licking his palm until it itched. Lily squatted down and offered them pieces of smoked fish, her movements so gentle that they were completely different from her usual sharp demeanor.

"Do you do this often?" Dorian asked.

"What?"

"Feeding the cat, because you seem quite skilled at it."

Lily paused for a moment, then didn't answer.

An orange kitten took the opportunity to rub its head against her wrist. She pulled her hand back as if burned, but quickly relaxed and let the kitten rub against her.

The faint light cast by a window not far away cast shadows of varying depths on her profile, reminding Dorian of the yellowed old photos she had seen in some of the materials from the Academy of Arts and Sciences, where something was always hidden in the underexposed dark corners.

"Only occasionally."