As I arrived downstairs, it became quite clear that Mina’s dad hadn’t been lying about needing Mina’s help. The guild tavern was absolutely packed, not a single open table or bar stool to be found. Upbeat and raucous music pierced through the loud buzz of conversation, creating a joyful yet crowded atmosphere in the room.

Mina was currently briskly walking through the room, two lavish platters of meats and vegetables carefully balanced in her hands. She stopped by a table of two, sliding the plates out onto the top of it before walking towards me. The grey smudges from tapping her pencil against her face were still there, it seemed she hadn’t noticed them yet. Returning to the bar and kitchen area to get more meals to deliver, she looked down and saw me, an expression of slight annoyance showing, as if my presence wasn’t a great benefit and improvement to the situation.

Mina crouched down, scooping me up in her arms as she had already done quite a few times. She plopped me down on the end of the bar, earning a questioning look from her father.

“Hey sorry but Soot came downstairs and I don’t have time to go back up to my room so yeah here ya go sorry dad.” Mina said, all in one breath and already walking away into the kitchen.

“What? Soot? Did you name it? I don’t have time to bring a cat upstairs either, y’know!” Mina’s father complained, but she was already gone. He looked down at me with some sort of emotion that was hard to read, but surely wasn’t positive. He grabbed a rag, concentrating on it for a brief moment. It shined pale yellow, and he lightly tapped both me and the countertop with it, making me feel refreshed and the counter look brand new. Magic, I guess. Kind of a mundane use for it though, I'd expected something flashier for my first time really seeing it. “Alright, that should take care of your stray furs.” He mumbled before narrowing his eyes in suspicion. “If you knock a glass off of here, it’s back to the alleyway, got it? Don’t even think about it.” He threatened, his intimidation broken by a low chuckle as he walked away to hand a drink to a rather stocky woman. “You’re just a cat, can’t understand me anyway…”

I couldn't really blame him for that assumption.

Lying on the counter of a busy tavern for about an hour made some things very clear to me. Firstly and most importantly, I was beloved by all. I had already known people were inclined to pet me if I was just sitting around doing nothing from earlier in the day, but this was just the start of what being a cat could bring me. Multiple people had given me scraps and cuts of meat, cooing words of affection, and… hmm, alright, not really anything else. Still good though. It was like offerings to a godly figure, but then again, I’d met a goddess and she kind of sucked.

Beyond the free food and affection, sitting around as people ate had one great benefit. Gossip. With no other way to occupy myself, I listened in on the conversations of the customers. While I mostly eavesdropped on the people at the bar, close proximity made it easier, currently I was entertaining myself by listening in on random snippets of conversation out of context from across the tavern.

“Yeah man, those skeletons have super stylish belts on them sometimes so I’ve just been selling them, it’s a pretty lucrative business. You wanna buy one?”

“Dude, I don’t care. Shut the fuck up about the skeleton belts.”

I bet those belts were ugly as hell too. What other conversations were going on right now?

“Some kobolds popped up near my farm. The guild should be getting rid of them soon, hopefully. Where would we be without them? Cowering away? All dead?”

Wasn’t this the guild? Guess I was a member of an incredibly important establishment. How honorable.

“Haven’t ya heard? The demons can take any form they want! Any one of us could be one!”

“You should probably stop drinking, that rumor doesn’t make any sense and you’re being paranoid.”

“I knew it! You’re one of them!”

Ahhh, good ol’ drunk people.

“I’m telling ya Dero, we should go out more often! Feels like we never do anymore.”

“Vic, I've been trying to get you to come here for weeks. You kept saying you’d rather just make dinner.”

Dang, get it together Vic. You’re looking real stupid right now.

My silent gathering of gossip was interrupted as a sharply dressed woman sat down in the seat closest to me. She had a rather pointy nose, her small glasses perched upon it. She waved to Mina’s father and he nodded back, coming over and pouring her a glass of… wine, maybe? Kinda looked a bit too blue for that.

Spritoc Berry Wine

Huh, I was right. Was wine not limited to just grapes? Maybe they didn’t even have grapes here? Questions for another time, I suppose. Might as well Insight the newcomer as well.

Millie, “It’s Rude To Insight Without Permission”. Further information restricted.

Well that… wasn’t the most welcoming first impression. I suppose she didn’t want people (or cats) using insight on her, but c’mon, now I’m curious. How’d she block me out anyway? Some sort of skill, most likely, but it was still intriguing.

Mina’s dad waited for her to take a long sip of the wine before speaking. “Well Millie, as nice as it is to see you, it’s rare you drop by without a reason.” He said, polishing the wine bottle with a clean rag before placing it back on the shelf.

Millie sighed, placing her glass down with a light clink. “Maybe I'm here to ask about your new cat, hmmm?” She said, brushing her hand over my fur. “But I'm not, unfortunately. I'll get straight to the point. You were aware of the plan to summon a hero chosen by the goddess herself to assist us in the war against the demons, correct?”

Wait, that’s me. I was supposed to be that hero. This couldn’t be good. I listened intently as Millie continued.

“Well, it didn’t work in the slightest. The royalty and higher-ups are all panicking, some of them are renouncing their belief in the goddess, and worst of all, someone leaked that the summoning was happening, and that it was a failure.” Millie pushed her glasses upwards, taking a heavy sip of wine, sighing, and continuing to speak. “The news is already spreading, by tomorrow morning the whole city will know.”

Mina’s dad didn’t seem too stressed about what should probably be rather terrible news. C’mon man, I was being presumed dead here. “Well, I’m hardly shocked that the goddess failed to impress.” He spat in a rather sour tone.

Millie sighed. “Yes, and I can't blame you for that. But more to the point, this will have ramifications. Even ignoring the fact that we don’t have a hero to fight in the war, the ripples of this go much further. You won’t care to listen to me talk about the economic or religious changes from this, but a lot of it will directly affect the guild. I figured I should warn you that you’ll have a very busy day tomorrow.”

Mina’s dad raised a bushy eyebrow, silently signaling for Millie to elaborate. “Think about it. All those patriotic young ones throughout the country, full of vigor and dreams of greatness. As soon as they hear about this, they’ll flock here to join the guild, eager to prove that they’ll be stronger than any summoned hero could have been. They all fancy themselves special, and they all think almost exactly the same. Just a bunch of idealistic dreamers.” Millie sighed again. She seemed to do that quite a lot.

Mina’s father sighed too, must be contagious. “That’ll be a pain, but nothing we can’t handle. We’ll look for more beginner quests to assign, make sure Mina is prepared to register enough people, and this should blow over soon enough.”

“Oh, speaking of Mina, I assume her problem still persists?”

Huh? What problem? Being unable to ask questions really sucked. Mina’s dad merely nodded in response as he slid a glass of water to another customer, which did nothing to clear up my confusion.

“Ah, shame. She'll be dreaming of adventuring just as much as any newbie that comes through tomorrow. Probably even more.” Millie fell silent as Mina whisked by with some meals, occupying herself with finishing her drink. “Poor thing. No one her age wants to be stuck like she is.”

Neither of them talked for a while, the dull sounds of the bar somberly washing over them as I thought about what the fuck any of that meant.

The night went on, Mina serving tables, her father constantly cleaning the bar and handing out drinks, and Millie making idle chit chat while occasionally petting me. Occasionally the chitchat was about me, Millie seemed to be a cat fan, as all people rightfully should be. The tavern’s background music slowly shifted from energetic to relaxing over time, and the tavern slowly drained of patrons. Eventually, Millie was ready to leave too, sighing one last time before standing up.

“I'm headed off. Best of luck tomorrow, and all that. I'm sure you’ll be fine.” She paused, looking at me with a scrutinizing gaze before an amused smile spread on her face. “Oh my, quite the title your cat has.” She noted before walking out of the tavern.

Huh? Did she know? Did she connect the dots? She seemed pretty smart, after all. Mina’s dad glanced down on me with the analytical look I'd come to realize indicated Insight. Was this it? Had Millie outed me as the hero? There was no time to change my title from Defier of Gods. I was gonna be thrown on the streets or forced to fight in a war or worse. How was I supposed to get my sleep if that happened? I was doomed, my second chance at life over in days.

Mina’s dad just laughed a bit. “Sounds about right for a cat.” He muttered before going back to cleaning the counter.