Another World Fluffy Cafe

Chapter 4: An Inn with Cats

“Welcome!”

Upon arriving at the inn that had been recommended, Taichi was greeted with a cheerful welcome. The inn appeared small and cozy from the outside, but it was immaculately clean. The wooden furniture gave the place a calm and relaxing atmosphere, which made Taichi smile.

“Hello, I was told that I could stay here with my familiar. Is that alright?”

Taichi greeted back and glanced at Luke. Even though he had asked Luke to shrink down, the familiar was still about a meter tall. There was a chance they could be refused, but the staff returned his look with a smile.

“No problem at all. We’ll prepare a spacious room for you.”

“That’s great! Thank you—wait, what!?”

Just as Taichi was about to express his gratitude, he was taken aback by the scene before him. He couldn’t manage to say anything other than, “Eh, eh, eh?”

There, a cute cat stood before him. A plant-like leaf and flower sprouted from its neck, making it clear that this was a Forest Cat. The Forest Cat was holding a room key in its mouth and bringing it over.

The staff chuckled and said, “That’s my familiar.”

“Actually, my sister helps me out here, but I handle most of the work myself. So, my familiar helps me out too. This one here is a Forest Cat. Have you heard of them?”

Of course, Taichi had come all this way precisely because he was looking for a Forest Cat. He never expected to encounter one at an inn.

(Does that mean this is… a cat inn? Like a cat café?)

He almost felt like crying tears of joy at the thought.

“I know them! Actually, I came to this country to tame a Forest Cat!!”

“What, a Forest Cat!? But they aren’t particularly strong or capable of using special magic… why are you looking for one?”

“Well, uh… I just really love fluffy animals.”

“Fluffy…?”

The innkeeper stared blankly at Taichi, clearly surprised by his answer. After a brief pause, the innkeeper suddenly burst out laughing.

“You’re quite the character. My name’s Aarts, and I used to be a Tamer.”

“I’m Taichi, and this here is Luke. Thanks for having us.”

The innkeeper, Aarts, was running the place all by himself. He appeared to be in his early twenties, with soft, light green hair and sepia-colored eyes. He wore practical clothes with an apron on top, and he had tamed three Forest Cats that were helping him around the inn.

Aarts shared a bit about himself.

“I used to be an adventurer as a Tamer, but I never really became strong enough… so I took over this inn from my parents.”

The monsters that Forest Cats could defeat were generally weak ones like slimes or berry rabbits. They couldn’t possibly take on more formidable foes.

(Well, that makes sense…)

Sure, a cat’s claws are sharp, and its bite can hurt, but that’s a civilian’s perspective. If it came down to facing a much larger monster, Taichi would rather the cat run away as fast as possible to survive.

Seeing Taichi nodding to himself, Aarts smiled wryly.

“That said, the inn hasn’t been doing too well. I’m glad you’re staying here, Taichi.”

“Really? It hasn’t?”

(But this is the ultimate inn with cats! Why isn’t it more popular?)

Taichi tilted his head, wondering why an inn like this wouldn’t be bustling with customers. Then, he remembered that even his own fluffy café wasn’t that well-known. People in this world didn’t seem to have a strong attachment to small animals the way they did in Japan.

That said, once someone experienced the charm of fluffy creatures, they wouldn’t be able to resist.

(Since the cats here help with the inn’s work, it makes sense that guests don’t get to play with them…)

Taichi thought that if people could enjoy playing with the cats, they’d surely understand the appeal of Forest Cats. While this world didn’t have cat toys, Taichi could easily create some using his skills.

As Taichi suddenly went quiet, Aarts, who was stroking a Forest Cat, looked at him curiously.

“Taichi?”

“Aarts, what do you think about turning this inn into a place where guests can interact with the cats?”

“Huh!?”