Chapter 133. Popularity
Cats rained down from the sky.
The cats were beings that had inhabited Solorb’s inner world, and they had been selected as residents to relocate to the newly built desert village.
【Yumi】─How cute!!! This time they’re really cute!
【Rizenova】─So, before, you were only pretending they were cute?
【Mysticism】─🤭
As soon as the cats landed on the ground and spotted me, they perked up their ears and ran straight toward me.
［Gauntlet, nice to meet you, meow!］
［Meow!］
［I can’t believe I’m seeing Gauntlet in person! I’m so moved, meow!］
［Could you shake my hand just once, meow?］
［It’s really Gauntlet, meow! So cool, meow!!!］
［I fought fiercely to make it out here, meow!］
［There’s also Necro Puppet Master, meow! But where’s Merino Ula, meow?!］
There were quadrupedal ordinary cats.
There were bipedal cats.
And there were cat beastmen with human bodies.
Various kinds of cats crowded around me, greeting me.
Behind them, even more cats were waiting their turn in a neat and orderly line.
It felt like I was hosting a fan meeting autograph session.
【Bubble Bubble】─Why is Gauntlet so popular?
【Mir-Stin】─LOL! His popularity’s blowing up. He’s a total celebrity!
【Luna-chan】─How do those cats know Gauntlet? o_O
【Pururu】─They’re viewers of Gaon’s broadcasts, too. They’ve been watching Gaon through Bastet. I think we mentioned this before.
【Luna-chan】─That’s right, you did! I forgot! Thanks for the kind explanation! As expected from the veteran assistant who knows Gauntlet’s broadcasts better than anyone else! ><
【Pururu】─Hehe.
【Yumi】─It looks like they’re really excited to meet Gaon in person after only seeing him on screen.
【Pururu】─Yeah, it must feel like meeting a character from a comic or drama in real life.
【Mir-Stin】─LOL. Other monsters are also pretty popular with the cats. It seems like each cat has their own favorite.
【Rizenova】─Some of the cats seem to be desperately looking for Black Magma Slime.
【Mysticism】─🤪 The cats are so cute!
I greeted the cats one by one.
Meanwhile, I began the taming process.
There was no need to use the Necro Puppet Master’s ability, Mind Control.
Maybe it was because they had been watching me steadily through Bastet.
Their favorability was already through the roof.
Well, it could also be that Solorb had carefully selected those kinds of creatures to send.
［Hoo-hoo.］
***
A total of 625 cats had come over from Solorb’s world.
Among them.
Twenty were S-rank, and there were even three SS-rank ones.
Additionally, the cat with the lowest danger level was D-rank.
I shared the measured danger levels with the assistants as well.
【Pururu】─The weakest cat is D-rank? I mean, how are the cats so strong?
【Yumi】─They’re not ordinary cats.
【Bubble Bubble】─They’re from the world of SSS-rank Solorb.
【Mir-Stin】─Cuteness and strength are directly proportional, after all.
【Luna-chan】─Maybe Solorb didn’t send any weaker ones. ><
【Rizenova】─It’s surprising that there were other SS-rank beings besides Bastet.
【Bubble Bubble】─I was surprised too. Solorb’s inner world might be on par with Elemencia, or even beyond that.
【Pururu】─To think the cats’ world was the strongest world.
【Mysticism】─😮 A totally terrifying world! Don’t be fooled by the cuteness!
Some cats stuck close to me.
But quite a few liked other monsters more than me.
［The liquid looks tasty, meow. Could I have just a little bit, meow?］
［Beep!］
A cat eyeing Medical Mushroom’s liquid.
［Necro is so cool, meow! If I die later, please make me a puppet, meow.］
［I’ll consider it.］
A cat expressing admiration for Necro Puppet Master.
［Nyara! Gauntlet isn’t your son, meow!］
［Oh dear, that can’t be, can it? Our cat is a bit silly, isn’t he?］
A cat constantly talking to Nyara Nepenthis, circling around her.
［Snake Head! Do your job properly, meow! Don’t slack off while others are working hard, meow!］
［Oro-oro···.］
A cat scolding Snake Head.
［Where’s Black Magma Slime, meow!!!］
［Black Magma went on a picnic with Merino earlier, meow.］
There was even a cat desperately searching for Black Magma Slime.
While everyone was getting attention from the cats.
One creature wasn’t getting any attention.
That was none other than Kinogine Arachne.
［Father. Why am I not popular···.］
“Maybe you’re just not their type.”
［That can’t be···.］
Arachne made a gloomy face.
I gave her a short consolation, then gathered the village residents again.
I told them to walk around the village and choose the house they liked.
【Pururu】─So you’re not assigning them houses?
【Mir-Stin】─They get to choose their own houses!
【Mysticism】─Give me a house too! 😀
Of course.
The homes for the administrator and the sub-administrator had already been decided.
The innermost circle.
The center of the village, where the Tower of Life stood tall.
The new building next to it would be the house used by Pharaoh Devil and Anubis Dragon. The crystal orb house would be used as a meeting place.
Giant Caterpillar’s house was right next to Pharaoh and Anubis’s house.
It didn’t have a separate wall.
Only a high roof was installed—roughly resembling the structure of a gas station.
【Luna-chan】─Caterpillar-chan’s house only has a roof. o_O
【Bubble Bubble】─There’s no other choice since it’s so big.
［Abberral! My house, my house!!!］
Caterpillar seemed quite satisfied.
It was rubbing its body on the ground under the newly built roof, expressing joy.
Anyway.
Once all the residents chose their homes, we’d begin interior construction.
It would take some time.
But the plan was to decorate the interiors to each resident’s taste.
Almost anything would be possible in terms of interior design.
Because there were interior design experts among Omega’s robots.
“Omega. How long do you think it’ll take to complete the interior construction?”
［Hmm. It might take longer than the village construction itself. Every resident will want a different design. And there aren’t many machines specialized in interior work, bleep bleep.］
“Really? Well, there’s no rush, so take your time.”
［Understood. Bleep bleep.］
Once the interior work was completed.
The desert village would officially be operational.
For now, the vertical farm inside the Tower of Life would serve as a food supply base for other villages to be built in the future.
Omega was about to begin the construction of an underwater village soon, and once that was completed, the desert village would fulfill its role as well.
But that wasn’t all for the desert village.
A labyrinth exploration team would also be formed within the village to explore the labyrinth.
Naturally, I provided the exploration team with my severed arms.
Not the ones placed in the village center, but two new arms specifically for the exploration team’s use.
There was no need to send Iris separately.
The Irises living in the village would participate in the exploration on a rotating basis.
Once the desert exploration was completed, I planned to move on to exploring other regions.
Besides the door connected to the hideout.
There was a huge door at the edge of the desert, too.
Of course, we had to explore beyond that as well.
Our goal was to explore every corner of the labyrinth.
Oh, and we also had to organize a vigilante group.
We needed to deal with and manage the monsters newly born in the desert area.
‘Since SS-rank monsters might emerge… I’ll have to form the vigilante group with SS-rank cats.’
Anyway.
Leaving the interior work to the robots, we decided to return to the hideout through the warp device.
As we crossed over to the hideout.
Omega immediately headed for the deep sea.
She said she was going to survey the area for the construction of the underwater village.
The construction of the underwater village would probably begin in a few days.
***
70th day in the labyrinth.
“I want to eat chicken! Bring me some chicken! I’ll cook it deliciously for you!”
［Please wait a moment. I’ll catch one right away.］
At Merino’s request for chicken, Artpega Unibicorn headed to the 7th cave with an Iris.
Passage No. 7.
At some point, the path was blocked.
There was a huge hole reaching far up into the ceiling, and Blood Orangutans and chickens lived there.
It was a place our monsters occasionally hunted when they wanted to eat chicken.
Artpega had never been there during her Centaurides days, but now that she had wings after her evolution, she seemed eager to catch a flying creature herself.
Oh, by the way.
The exploration of Passage No. 7 had already been completed.
If you keep going up, you’ll reach the ceiling.
In other words, the path was blocked.
Some time passed.
─［This is strange. There’s not a single monster here. No chickens, no Blood Orangutans.］
Artpega’s voice came through Iris as she arrived at the chicken habitat.
Artpega scratched her head, looking around.
“Did they change their habitat to a higher place?”
─［It seems so. I’ll go up to the ceiling and check it out.］
After saying that.
Artpega hugged Iris tightly and spread her wings.
With the sound of cutting through the air, Artpega shot up into the sky.
The blocked area.
It took no time at all to reach the ceiling.
Still, there was no sign of chickens or orangutans.
Then.
A huge door appeared on the ceiling where there had been nothing before.
It was a door that had not existed originally.
─［Explorer, was this door always here? I remember seeing nothing through Iris before···.］
“Your memory is right. There was nothing there before. It must be a newly formed door.”
─［···I’ll open it and check. The chickens might have gone through this door.］
Artpega pushed the door upward with all her strength.
The moment the door opened.
An endless sky full of stars twinkling.
Between them, white clouds drifted by.
It wasn’t just an ordinary night sky.
It resembled a view where the boundaries had collapsed, like a mysterious space blending vast outer space and planetary atmospheres.
As I was gazing blankly at the scene.
Nyara, who had been playing with Merino, quietly approached and looked at Iris’s screen, speaking.
［Oh my. It looks a lot like the Celestial Realm, doesn’t it?］