After that, Kisa simply followed the red-haired boy who moved smoothly on his own.

Although he said it was his first time coming to this area, the boy showed no signs of hesitation or intimidation.

“Excuse me. Is there a place nearby where cats often gather?”

Unlike Kisa, who froze completely in front of strangers, he calmly asked questions…

“Hey, you kids. I’ll give you this if you catch that cat running away over there. I’ll give one more to whoever succeeds.”

When he spotted a cat that looked similar to Whiskers Jack, he naturally lured passing neighborhood children with coins.

The boy, who seemed very accustomed to commanding others, examined the captured tabby cat and then turned his gaze to Kisa.

It looked similar, but it wasn’t Jack, so Kisa quietly shook her head. If we were to be precise, the scar was on the forehead rather than near the eye.

Then the boy turned his head and gave the promised reward to the young hunter.

“Good work. You can let the cat go now.”

After the children disappeared amidst noisy chatter, Kisa quietly swallowed a sigh.

They had looked at numerous cats over a considerable amount of time, but Jack was nowhere to be seen.

‘Where on earth did you go, Jack…’

Although she wondered if they could find him in time, Kisa forced herself to shake off the doubt.

She had to do her best until the very end. Even the boy she just met today was searching hard.

At that moment, the boy, who had been talking to a passerby some distance away, came back with new information.

“There’s an old person living on that hill who feeds stray cats every day. Apparently, many cats gather there. Let’s go quickly.”

“O-Okay!”

As Kisa followed the boy, she softly murmured something she had wanted to say for a while.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t been much help.”

All Kisa did was confirm whether it was Jack or not, while the boy took care of everything else.

However, despite the uneven distribution of roles, the boy showed no signs of dissatisfaction and silently carried out his given task.

As if he were completing an assignment given by a tutor.

“It’s fine. I’m the one who told you not to get involved.”

True to his words, before starting the full-scale search, it was the boy who had declared he would handle most things.

Though he didn’t show it outwardly, Kisa knew better than anyone why the boy had done so.

‘Because he doesn’t expect anything at all.’

The look that her father, Count Banspelt, had shown countless times.

Just as Kisa’s mood was about to sink, the boy’s footsteps came to a halt.

With laughter, a family of three passed in front of them.

A young couple and a little girl. Kisa found herself unwittingly captivated by their seemingly harmonious appearance.

Then she watched as the three of them entered the gate of a quaint house.

The beautiful building in pastel colors looked like a house straight out of a fairy tale, seeming like the perfect residence for a happy family.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

The boy’s voice snapped Kisa out of her reverie.

“Huh? Oh, I’m sorry for getting distracted!”

She thought he was scolding her for spacing out for so long, but upon closer inspection, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Is there something interesting?”

The boy looked in the direction Kisa had been staring at earlier and asked this.

“Do you like that house?”

“Oh, yes. That’s right.”

Too embarrassed to say she envied the family of three, Kisa simply nodded.

“The house is really pretty.”

But it wasn’t a complete lie. The cute houses that had often caught her eye recently when riding in carriages through the streets had a certain appeal to Kisa.

Moreover, after seeing the family living in that house just now, it seemed to shine even more.

“So you find that pretty.”

The boy didn’t seem to sympathize much with Kisa’s words, looking rather indifferent.

“With an exterior in such light colors, when it gets dirty, those parts will stand out more, making maintenance more labor-intensive. Moreover, seeing how it doesn’t blend well with the surrounding landscape, even being generous, it’s not a style that will last long. Such a house would be better off isolated in a place with good scenery…”

“…”

Was it too obvious that Kisa didn’t understand even half of what the boy was saying?

“I said unnecessary things. Let’s just go.”

The boy turned around and continued walking without finishing what he was saying.

“Wait for me!”

Kisa had to move her feet diligently as well.

Upon reaching their destination, the two were able to quickly find the old person the passerby had mentioned.

As luck would have it, that person was out on the street feeding stray cats.

“A cat with whiskers, you say.”

The elderly woman, sitting in a chair placed in front of what appeared to be her humble dwelling, rubbed her wrinkled face.

“Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen that child for a few days either. It used to come often to eat.”

“…I see.”

As Kisa’s expression turned gloomy, the old woman spoke in a comforting voice.

“But why are you looking for that cat?”

“I’m worried. It might be unable to move due to some trouble.”

“It might have gone on a journey.”

“A journey?”

“Yes, a journey.”

“Do cats go on journeys too?”

“Well, animals are just like people.”

A warm smile appeared on the old woman’s face, showing traces of the years gone by.

“Sometimes they feel like suddenly leaving and go on a trip, or they move because they want to live in a new place.”

“…Do you think Jack left because he wanted to leave?”

“That must be it. If I remember correctly, he was a very brave and vigorous child, so he probably set out on his journey without fear of the unknown world, full of confidence.”

And so, the two had to turn back once again without much result.

They had observed the cats getting food from the old woman for a while, but still, there was no sign of Whiskers Jack.

However, perhaps thanks to the old woman’s words, Kisa’s heart felt lighter than before meeting her.

By the time they had descended the hill, the boy, who had been silent until now, opened his mouth.

“What do you want to do? We’ve searched almost everywhere around here. Ah, should we go towards the stream? There were quite a few cats there too-”

“It’s okay now.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry for giving up after you helped so much. But if Jack really left because he wanted to travel, I don’t think it’s right for me to forcibly find him.”

Meeting the boy’s reddish-brown eyes, Kisa smiled sheepishly while scratching her cheek.

“Of course… I do regret not being able to say a proper goodbye, but it can’t be helped. Still, Mom used to say that where there’s a parting, there’s also a meeting.”

At those words, the boy made a somewhat ambiguous expression.

“What journey? Cats are territorial animals. What that old woman said is all…”

Seeing Kisa tilt her head in confusion at the unfamiliar term ‘territorial animals’, the boy suddenly stopped speaking.

“Nevermind. If the person concerned doesn’t want to search anymore, it wouldn’t make sense for me to insist.”

Saying that, the boy resumed walking.

“Anyway, you’re going back home now, right? I’ll escort you to the front of your house, so follow me.”

“Huh? Is that okay?”

“There’s still some time left before the two hours I initially mentioned, and you can’t find your way back alone.”

Feeling a bit embarrassed by that accurate observation about herself, Kisa changed the subject.

“Um, actually, there’s something I’ve been curious about for a while now.”

“What is it?”

Momentarily shrinking from the boy’s inorganic gaze, Kisa nonetheless straightened up the next moment and spoke the words she had been thinking about.

“Can I ask your name? My name is Kisa.”

She had learned that it was polite to give one’s own name first when asking for someone else’s name, but despite her effort to introduce herself, the boy responded with an unimpressed face.

“Is there any particular reason you need to know? It’s not like we’ll meet again anyway.”

“Why not? We could meet again later.”

“For what purpose?”

“Well, because we’re friends…”

“Friends? You really lack caution, calling us friends when we haven’t even known each other for half a day. For all you know, I could be a bad person.”

“That’s impossible! You’re kind enough to help find Jack!”

Perhaps because she raised her voice a bit out of frustration, the boy momentarily looked slightly surprised.

But this was clearly his fault.

Even if Kisa wasn’t as smart as the boy, she wasn’t foolish enough to mistake a kind boy for a bad person.

“…I’m sorry for shouting.”

After thinking it over, she realized that raising her voice was wrong, so she honestly apologized. The boy narrowed his eyes as if finding it ridiculous.

“You sure say ‘sorry’ and ‘thank you’ a lot. But well, it’s not bad. It’s not really something that requires an apology.”

The boy saying this still had an expressionless face, but somehow he seemed a bit softer than at first.

“My name is…”

He obediently told her his name, and Kisa, having achieved her goal, smiled brightly.

“I see. It’s a cool name.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes, it’s cool. And it sounds like it would be delicious!”

“…Don’t tell me it’s because it sounds similar to ‘biscuit’?”

And so, Kisa and the boy headed towards the direction of the Banspelt mansion, exchanging trivial chatter.

However, when they reached the square where they had first met, the boy suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“Wait here for a moment.”

The boy, who had been intently staring at a dark alley, left those words and moved away.

Not long after, the boy reappeared with a familiar presence in his arms.

“Jack!”

Kisa ran to the boy and stroked the head of Jack, whose eyes were closed.

“So you were here!”

“It seems he came here after we left, we must have just missed each other.”

“Jack, wake up. It’s me, Kisa.”

“Waking up is impossible.”

“Why?”

“Look closely. He’s already dead.”

“…Huh?”

“Didn’t you say earlier that you wanted to say goodbye?”

The boy held out Jack’s body towards the stunned Kisa.

“Here, do it as much as you want.”