Round 331

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Bell did not move an inch.  

Lying down, he only wagged his tail gently without showing any particular reaction.  

‘Aren’t they friends he hasn’t seen in a long time?’  

Unlike the other Seven Deadly Sins who acknowledged and welcomed them, Bell was simply Bell. In a way, the word “sloth” suited him the most.  

“Is he always this quiet?”  

“Bell is always this cool. That is what makes him cute.”  

I-Is that so?  

Well, I do agree that his appearance is cute. Out of all the cats I’ve seen, he is the cutest.  

But still, I can’t quite believe this little guy is a blacksmith. So this tiny thing is supposed to hammer metal?  

‘Even though he’s this lazy?’  

Isn’t a blacksmith supposed to be diligent?  

I don’t know, but first things first—I should try to befriend him.  

I rummaged through my belongings.  

Since I knew he was a cat in advance, I had prepared something that I and Jae-seong had worked on together—something a cat would like.  

“Here, it’s Churu!”  

Its name was Churu.  

It contained chicken breast, freshly caught fish, rice, and magic-infused carrots.  

Except for the chicken breast, all the ingredients were personally sourced.  

Just in case, I had brought plenty, and seeing the number of cats around, it seemed like a wise decision.  

“Bell, hello? This is a gift from us. Want to try it?”  

“It’s delicious!”  

Ara, who had already tasted it herself, nodded confidently.  

But Bell remained sprawled out as before.  

At some point, Emily was carefully petting him.  

Purr, purr, purr, purr.  

Looks like he’s enjoying it.  

First, I should let him sniff the Churu. Once he gets a whiff, he won’t be able to resist.  

As soon as I tore open the package, the scent wafted through the air. The cats around us immediately perked up and started looking around.  

“Alright, who wants some Churu?”  

-Nya!  

-Of!  

In an instant, the cats swarmed in.  

Even Bell, who had been lying down, started sniffing the air.  

“Could you help distribute the Churu?”  

“Sure!”  

“I want to help too!”  

Thus began the frenzied Churu party.  

The cats, having tasted it once, went wild with excitement.  

-Miyaong!  

“I’ll give it to you, hold on!”  

I did my best to distribute it evenly.  

The ones who had already eaten kept trying to get more, but they had to wait their turn!  

-Human! Hand it over!  

“Oh! Hello, Bell?”  

Finally, he’s looking this way.  

Bell, who had been lying down, finally got up.  

Then, with an air of dignity, he stretched out his soft little paw toward me.  

I really want to touch it!  

“Alright, here, open your mouth. Churu incoming!”  

I squeezed the Churu into Bell’s open mouth.  

But he devoured it at an incredible pace, his tongue moving frantically.  

So cute!  

“How is it? How is it?”  

Ara eagerly asked Bell, full of anticipation.  

Bell, without answering, kept licking up the Churu before beginning to groom his fur.  

“Bell! How is it?”  

-Nya. Not bad. Lick.  

It felt like he was only answering because he was forced to.  

Bell seemed like the type who wasn’t very honest with his feelings.  

Looking around, I saw Mammon and Ras had also joined in, busily distributing Churu to the cats.  

Seeing the cats rubbing against them and begging for Churu, I thought—this must be heaven for cat lovers.  

“This is heaven!”  

And there she was.  

Emily seemed to love cats very much.  

-Human. Pet me.  

Before long, Bell strutted over to Emily and made a bold request.  

Emily, seemingly overwhelmed with joy, quickly sat down.  

Bell naturally curled up beside her, purring loudly on her lap.  

He was such a cat.  

‘Wait, he is a cat, right?’  

After the wild Churu party, we all lay down and rested.  

Occasionally, some of the cats would plop their butts on our faces, which, surprisingly, was quite cute.  

“By the way, I suddenly got curious. Are all the other cats blacksmiths too?”  

-All of them are skilled blacksmiths. It’s hard to tell just by looking.  

It really was hard to tell.  

They just looked like ordinary cats.  

At least Bell could walk on two legs, but what about the others…?  

“Bell, are you really a blacksmith?”  

-Nya.  

“I know you can talk. You were just talking earlier.”  

-Nya. Churu.  

I immediately offered him some Churu.  

Bell licked it up, then finally answered.  

-Human. What do you want?  

“What do I want?”  

-Nya. You gave me something tasty, so I shall repay you by making something. Tell me what you want.  

Lick, lick.  

At Bell’s words, I glanced at Ara.  

Noticing my look, Ara nodded confidently as if to say, Leave it to me.  

“Bell! Come with us!”  

-With you? Where?  

“Move in with us!”  

-Nya. Too much trouble.  

“If you come, you can eat Churu every day. Not just Churu, but lots of other delicious things too!”  

Flick.  

Was Ara’s persuasion working?  

Bell’s ears twitched slightly.  

-Nya. Will you cook for me?  

“Yes!”  

-That is quite tempting.  

Bell, deep in thought, now turned to look at me.  

His gaze was strangely intense.  

-Human. Become my butler.  

“Huh?”  

-Then I will move in.  

Uh…  

Looking around in confusion, I saw that even Kyler and his daughter, along with everyone else, were nodding at me.  

………If sacrificing myself meant bringing Bell home, then I would gladly do it.  

“Alright! I’ll be your butler!”  

-Nya. Good. Deal accepted, butler.  

Sniff. So this is how I become a butler.  

………But maybe this isn’t so bad?  

‘I always wanted a cat anyway.’  

I had always dreamed of being a butler, so this turned out quite well.  

Let’s just think of it that way. Haha.  

-Nya. You must feed me every day. Pet me every day. Give me belly rubs every day. And plenty of treats.  

“Okay. I’ll do it all. I’m your butler now.”  

-Good. Welcome, butler.

Somehow, it felt like I’d been tricked into something, but it should be fine, right?  

“Welcome, Bell!”  

-Bell is finally part of our family.  

-Consider it an honor to be with me.  

-Ashu likes Bell!  

At the children’s warm welcome, Bell lazily wagged his tail.  

It seemed to be his way of showing satisfaction.  

-Nya.  

After a short break, Bell said he had something to show us and led us somewhere.  

To our surprise, the place Bell took us to was a forge.  

“That’s so cute!”  

Emily let out an excited cheer.  

As she said, the forge had a whimsical, fairy-tale-like charm.  

This wasn’t the kind of blacksmith’s workshop I had in mind at all.  

-Nya. If I move, I’ll have to leave this forge behind. Can you build a new one at the new place?  

“Of course. I’ll make it even better.”  

-That’s a relief. But before leaving, I want to craft one last thing. Do you have any requests?  

Oh, actually, I did have something I wanted to commission.  

I quickly took out the heavenly metal I had been holding onto.  

“Could you turn this into a sword?”  

-Nya!? This is…  

Bell’s eyes widened as he received the ingot.  

He looked genuinely surprised, and seeing his usually sleepy expression change like that made him look even cuter.  

‘Ugh, focus!’  

Everything he did seemed adorable to me.  

I was definitely suited to be a butler.  

-This has an incredible aura. But forging it into a sword will take some time.  

“How long do you think it’ll take?”  

-Nya. I can’t say for sure. I need to start working on it to know. It might take a few days.  

A few days…  

That was fine. It wasn’t like it would take a whole month. And if it did take too long, I could always use the portal of Gluttony’s domain to travel back and forth.  

“Alright. Will you make it for me?”  

-Nya. I’ll start right away. I’m probably the only one who can handle an ingot of this caliber.  

“I’ll leave it to you.”  

After entrusting the ingot to Bell, Ras stepped up, rolling up his sleeves to help.  

At the same time, the resting cats gathered from all directions, suddenly moving skillfully around the forge.  

“Ooooh.”  

They lit the fire.  

Cats started working the bellows.  

Watching them prepare so efficiently, I could only marvel.  

Cats running a forge—what a sight!  

“Wow.”  

“This is incredible.”  

Kyler and his daughter were mesmerized, watching as if it were a scene from a play.  

The sound of hammering and metal clinking filled the air.  

Then, Bell suddenly frowned.  

-Leaving was the right decision.  

“Why?”  

-We can’t keep the fire going. We’re out of materials.  

Materials? What kind?  

Following his gaze, I saw several cats operating the bellows like a seesaw. Behind them, other cats were lined up, seemingly waiting their turn.  

-We’re running low on fuel. My work requires high temperatures, so fuel is crucial. Bellows technique is important, but without fuel, it’s meaningless.  

Just then, a few cats carried chunks of what looked like coal.  

So, they were running out of those?  

‘Hmm, does Gluttony dungeon have any fuel sources?’  

I could probably find some if needed.  

We could always bring it in from outside.  

Either way, the work continued.  

Fortunately, they had just enough materials left for this final job—what lucky timing.  

Chiiiik!  

The heat was intense.  

Bell wasn’t exaggerating about using high temperatures.  

Even from a distance, I was drenched in sweat.  

Ara had somehow changed into her tiger onesie.  

That outfit protected its wearer from extreme heat—legendary items were so convenient at times like these.  

Whoosh!  

The ingot pulled from the furnace glowed red-hot.  

Bell, holding a hammer from who-knows-where, began striking it with force.  

Clang! Clang! Clang!  

“Ooooh.”  

For the first time, Bell looked cool instead of just cute.  

Even to my untrained eye, his work didn’t seem ordinary.  

The other cats diligently assisted him, each handling their respective tasks.  

‘So adorable.’  

At first glance, it might have seemed amusing, but upon closer inspection, they were all seasoned experts.  

Each movement was smooth, without hesitation.  

The sheer precision of their work was almost mechanical.  

And so, two hours passed.  

While we, as spectators, grew tired, Bell kept hammering away.  

“He’s amazing. As expected of a Seven Deadly Sins.”  

“Indeed.”  

“Actually, I didn’t mention this earlier, but I have some experience with blacksmithing as well.”  

“Oh? Really?”  

Kyler, is there anything you can’t do?  

“I wouldn’t say I’m bad at it, but Bell is on another level.”  

“That impressive?”  

“Yes. Among humans, there probably isn’t a blacksmith better than Bell. Which makes sense, considering who he is.”  

Well, of course.  

He was a Seven Deadly Sins, and even the other Sins acknowledged his blacksmithing skills.  

It would be stranger if he wasn’t exceptional.  

Since we couldn’t help with the forge work, we decided to at least provide meals to keep them well-fed during their breaks.  

We prepared dishes that cats would enjoy, along with some of our own favorite foods—essentially, a buffet.  

-Nya. What is this food?  

“It’s rice cake. The breeding clan kids made it.”  

-Ah, Ashu’s family. They always made weird food, but this time they finally made something decent.  

After a short meal break, Bell returned to work.  

He didn’t even sleep.  

Watching him work, I started to understand why he usually seemed so lazy.  

‘Maybe he’s not lazy—he’s just recovering from these intense work sessions?’  

For a whole week.  

Aside from meals, Bell never stopped hammering.  

And finally…  

-Nya. It’s done.  

Emily’s sword was complete.

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