The Carnivorous Beast Beauties Are Dying to Devour This Herbivorous Beast Me - 57

Chapter 57: With this, I can beat Seira-san…!

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“Welcome～… Oh, it’s you! Long time no see!”

“Yeah… I just haven’t had many chances to be on my own lately…”

“Thank you for choosing to come here during your free time! Our little ones have been waiting for you!”

…It wasn’t like I’d come to some kind of shady place. 

I mean, I’m a high school student—there’s no way I could even get into somewhere like that.

With Chinatsu, Seira-san, and Miran nowhere around, I had to spend the day alone, so I came to a cat café I’d visited once before. Yeah, I got totally hooked the last time I came here… They sat on my lap, all warm and fluffy. And when I petted them, they purred and looked so relaxed—it was adorable…

Wait a second. Sitting on my lap, purring sweetly, warm and fluffy… or rather, soft and squishy… Aren’t they just like Seira-san? In that sense, cuddling Seira-san at home isn’t really all that different from this… No. No, that’s not okay.

If I tried something like that with Seira-san, I’d end up getting eaten for sure…! That was why, cat cafés were the best because I didn’t need to worry about getting eaten.

“Sir?”

“Huh—? N-no, it’s nothing…”

“If you say so… But since our little ones took a liking to you last time, they’ve all been waiting—please, go play with them!”

Just like the manager said, a bunch of cats were already gathering around me, meowing as they gently pawed at my legs.

So… so cute…!

“This! I’ll take it right away!”

“Three tubes of Ch*ru, got it! I’ll bring them out right now!”

Seeing the cats sniffing curiously at me and rubbing their bodies against mine… I couldn’t resist the affectionate behavior of the cats and asked the manager to bring me some Ch*ru right away.

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Prrrrr… Prrrrrr…

“Ahh… This is so healing…”

As I stroked the back of the cat curled up on my lap, it purred with pleasure. On both sides, several cats were climbing onto my arms and legs, meowing for more Ch*ru. Unable to resist their cuteness, I bought even more Ch*ru. I had decided—today, I was going to spoil these cats thoroughly.

“This one really seems to like sitting on your lap, doesn’t she? She hasn’t budged at all…”

“Is she not usually very friendly with people?”

“She’s picky～ If she doesn’t like someone, she won’t even come out from the back room. For her to be sitting on your lap is pretty rare!”

“Really…!”

“Maybe you smell delicious?”

“T-that might be possible…”

I looked down at the Russian Blue cat quietly curled up on my lap and watched her closely. I couldn’t help but wonder—did cats see me, a squirrel, as prey…? Well, she seemed to be fond of me, so I was honestly grateful for being a squirrel in this case.

“By the way, sir, we’ve got something good in stock today…”

“What is it?”

“Would you like to try this?”

With those words, the manager pulled out what looked like a small wooden stick, just about palm-sized. The moment she brought it out, all the cats perked up their ears and turned their attention toward it.

“Whoa, they look super interested.”

“This is matatabi.”

“Ah, the famous one…”

“Yes, cats absolutely love it!”

After receiving the matatabi from the manager, the cat on my lap seemed to notice and slowly sat up, sniffing toward it.

“Nyaa～～…”

“Whoa, that’s some strong effect.”

She sniffed the matatabi, then rubbed her face against it, showing her belly as she twisted and rolled around. She really did look a little drunk…

“Why do cats like matatabi so much?”

“Well～ One theory is that matatabi contains a compound that repels mosquitoes and other pests. By rubbing it on themselves, they use it as natural bug repellent. Cats have a gene that makes them love the smell of matatabi, so it became a natural habit for them to seek for matatabi.”

“Huh, I never knew that…”

A gene that makes them like the smell of matatabi, huh…? Does that mean Seira-san might like matatabi too?

…It’s worth a try.

“Manager, is this matatabi something I can buy?”

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After spending a good while playing with the cats, I asked the manager if there were any other places like this nearby. Apparently, there were—like an “Owl Café” and a “Hedgehog Café.”

…Yeah, I had a feeling I wouldn’t make it out in one piece if I went to the owl one, so I left the cat café and headed to the hedgehog café instead.

I mean, hedgehogs are kind of like mice, right?

So as a squirrel, I figured I might be able to get along with them. Anju-chan, who I thought was a fellow herbivore, turned out to be pretty carnivorous (in more ways than one)… So hey, even I wanted to chill with some fellow herbivores from time to time, you know?

I’d be alone at home anyway, and Chinatsu probably wouldn’t be back for a while, so even if it caused a little dent on my wallet, I figured I should spend the day relaxing. Lately, animal café-hopping through had become a bit of a hobby for me, so I headed to a new café, eager to discover yet another place for me to relax.

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