Chapter 36: Phyllis Leaves the Castle!

This was the third day since Carola left.

Phyllis drew a circle on a piece of paper.

She took out the small mirror Carola had given her and opened it to check her reflection.

It could only be used as a mirror; it couldn’t be used to contact Carola.

It was the third day.

Carola still had not returned.

Phyllis couldn’t help but feel worried.

‘Did something happen to Carola?’

‘What exactly is going on with the Blood Tribe?’

“Gurgle…”

The sound of her stomach interrupted Phyllis’s thoughts.

She rang the bell, then opened her door and headed to the Dining Room for today’s breakfast.

Even for breakfast, she was served her favorite fish dishes.

Although there was no such thing as a weight scale in this world, Phyllis could clearly feel that her body seemed to have grown much heavier recently.

“I can’t go on like this!”

Phyllis muttered to herself while eating the fish.

She didn’t want to turn into a fat orange cat that looked like a giant chicken leg.

Even though she was a Siamese cat.

She needed to exercise more.

However, how much exercise could she really get in this Castle?

She couldn’t just walk back and forth through the halls forever, could she?

Carola hadn’t come back, so Phyllis was free.

“Perhaps…”

Phyllis turned her gaze toward the window.

‘Should I go out and take a look?’

But Carola wouldn’t let her go out whenever she wanted.

“I’ll just go out for a little while, breathe some fresh air, and then come back, mew—”

Phyllis comforted herself.

The Puppet Servants had no self-awareness and wouldn’t stop Phyllis from leaving.

As for those Skeleton Gardeners in the garden and the Ghost Administrator in the library…

They couldn’t control Phyllis either.

Phyllis changed into a set of light clothes and threw a hooded cloak over them.

She had noticed the wind through the window earlier, so she added the extra layer.

However, after being fully prepared, Phyllis discovered an embarrassing problem.

She couldn’t push open the Castle’s front gate.

“Damn it, mew! How do you open this door!”

Phyllis used all her strength, gritting her teeth as she tried to push the gate.

The Castle gate remained perfectly still, not moving an inch despite Phyllis’s efforts.

After ten minutes of fruitlessly struggling with the door, Phyllis decisively gave up on the idea of leaving through the main entrance.

“What a piece of junk door! Mew—”

Phyllis extended her sharp claws and fiercely scratched at the gate… leaving marks that were barely visible.

She had intended to leave several obvious gouges to express her anger.

But she was afraid of what would happen if Carola saw them.

Then she would truly be in for a world of pain!

Just because the gate was a dead end didn’t mean Phyllis had no other way out.

In fact, she had already spent the past few days simulating several escape methods in her mind.

However, in the face of Carola’s Master-Servant Contract, Phyllis felt that even if she managed to run away, she wouldn’t be able to escape Carola’s pursuit.

“Hmm…”

“Wait?”

Phyllis suddenly felt as if she had overlooked something.

“Isn’t right now a perfect opportunity to run away?”

“Why hadn’t she thought of that just now?”

“But…”

Phyllis pressed her hand against her chest.

Why didn’t her heart actually want to escape?

“Could she really…”

“The door won’t work, so I’ll use the window! Think a mere gate can stop me, mew?”

Phyllis suppressed the ripples in her heart and decided to use a different method to get out.

She moved quickly and silently through the empty corridors and up the spiral staircases.

The torches on the walls caused her shadow to lengthen and shorten.

Phyllis opened a window she had scouted out long ago.

This window was large enough for her to fit through, and beyond it lay freedom.

“Just as I thought, mew—”

This time, things went according to Phyllis’s plan.

It was a viable path out.

“Phew—”

Phyllis took a deep breath.

Her instincts as a Catkin meant she didn’t have much fear of heights; instead, she felt an impulse to leap down.

Of course, she restrained herself.

“Whoosh—”

Phyllis slipped out and landed steadily on the roof of a small outbuilding of the Castle.

Maintaining her balance, she walked across the rooftop as if she were on level ground.

In her previous life, when she watched the anime “Nekopara”, she had been envious of the Cat Girl Chocola’s ability to walk along the tops of walls as if it were nothing.

In this life, she possessed that same ability.

“Hmm, thinking about it that way, the Cat Girls in that anime had to wear bells when they went out.”

Since she was wearing a Collar, did that mean she was qualified to go out?

Phyllis’s thoughts began to wander again.

“That was close!”

Phyllis dodged a sharp ornamental spire on the roof.

Looking down, she saw the Castle’s garden.

The Skeleton Gardeners were pruning plants with pitch-black leaves and blood-red flowers, seemingly oblivious to the commotion Phyllis was making above.

Phyllis continued forward.

Finally, she reached the end.

Phyllis hugged a smooth but carved stone drainpipe on the Castle’s exterior.

Using all four limbs, she slid down lightly and quickly.

She performed a front roll for Force Deflection upon landing, her movements so fluid that even she was a bit surprised.

Phyllis patted the nonexistent dust off her hands and smugly curled the tip of her tail.

“Perfect, mew!”

Phyllis opened her mouth and laughed happily, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

Ever since being captured by Carola and brought to this Castle, she had only gone out for a walk with Carola once.

She had really been feeling suffocated these past few days.

This time, she planned to have a good time outside.

The area surrounding the Scarlet Dungeon was very empty; trees couldn’t survive here, and even grass was scarce.

It was as if the area had been hit by radiation.

Phyllis walked with a cheerful gait toward the distant forest.

During the last walk, she hadn’t caught any fish in that lake.

This time, she couldn’t return empty-handed.

If she really couldn’t catch any fish, she could just catch a small snake or dig up some wild vegetables!

Returning with nothing was simply not an option…

The scorching sun hung high in the sky, and the air was beginning to warp from the heat.

“Got you!”

By the lakeside, Phyllis flicked her tail.

After her Agility stat had significantly increased, catching fish had become easy for her.

Moreover, it wasn’t a small fish; it weighed at least one pound.

It was a good omen.

Phyllis became immersed in her fishing…

“Hum~ la la la, I am…”

Phyllis hummed an off-key tune as she stepped on the cool bluestones by the shore.

Sweat slid down her small face, sparkling like diamonds in the sunlight.

She held several fat, beautiful fish in her hands.

She hadn’t come up empty-handed after all; in fact, she had quite a harvest.

“I’ll grill these, use this one for soup, and this one…”

Phyllis counted the fish, her blue eyes bright.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from behind her.

Phyllis’s cat ears instantly stood upright, and her tail curled in alarm.

She spun around abruptly, her claws already extended.

But there was nothing there.

“Whoosh— whoosh—”

There was only the sound of the wind rustling through the treetops.

“An illusion, mew?”

Phyllis tilted her head, wondering if she was just being too nervous.

However, she truly felt that something was nearby.

“I should go take a look! Just to be safe.”

Phyllis tossed the fish into a hollow tree and then moved stealthily toward the source of the sound.

She had practiced her Stealth skill to a proficient level, which was enough for her to investigate the situation silently.

Phyllis pushed through a patch of dense shrubs, and the scene before her made her stop in her tracks.

It was a scorched clearing.

Scattered around the area were stray fragments of metal.

It wasn’t iron or copper common to this world, but a silver-white material.

It looked very much like the steel Phyllis had often seen in her previous life.

“Machine Race?”