Chapter 17 17: Meeting The Future Sword Saintess

Infra, the supposed god of beasts, lay on her back, purring. She drank the milk long ago, now enjoying Zell's experienced belly rubs and neck scratches. She initially meant to trick him into thinking he would have a passionate night.

"You love that, don't you, Infra?"

"Prrrr!" (Don't stop, human! This delightful feeling makes my tummy flutter!)

Her tail was nothing like a true lynx from his planet as it was very long and fluttered slowly, flicking his face with a slight thump if he stopped his divine finger massage.

Zell felt relaxed sitting on his large sofa for three people. Infra, the fat little cat, sprawled on his legs. When he returned to the real world, his feeling of hunger vanished as if something had changed within himself upon leaving.

—|Zell: 'I wonder if she knows how slovenly she is right now?'

Her little white belly fur fluffed out all her paws in the air, and she sprawled on his lap. He would think she was a typical cat for not asking him to stroke certain places she found comfortable.

"I need to get some shopping. Can you watch the house for me like a good girl?"

Zell spoke to her like Griselda by reflex. He thought she would get mad and pat away his hand. Instead, her cute little button nose rubbed against the back of his hand. Her purring became much louder as she replied moments later.

"Nyao!" (Oi! This goddess wants that expensive cat food if you go! The one with tuna and salmon!)

His vision became sharper, hearing better to hear the faint sounds outside his house. The theory the merger started from the first log-in seemed entirely accurate. He picked up the cute fat cat and placed her on a soft cushion he had ordered when he wanted to buy a dog.

Quickly, she nestled herself in a soft, woollen red cushion and purred before she drifted asleep.

"Mmmm, I'll be back soon," Zell said quietly.

He picked up his house keys and grabbed his long black coat. Earlier, he wore a black pair of tight jeans and a t-shirt. The mirror reflected his handsome face, which made him happy as he left the small detached house.

The area he lived in was quite empty, needing more residents. His parents worked very hard to avoid living in a horrible neighbourhood. He paced down the road with his long legs towards the local supermarket.

"If memory serves me right, a player lived close to me. Said to be powerful."

Zell wondered if he should contact certain players and befriend them before anything happened. He couldn't tell them about the future, but that didn't mean he couldn't level together and guide them towards a better future.

"Well, it doesn't matter. I can think about it later. She doesn't become a big star for another six months."

As he walked down the long pavement, the stone buildings surrounded him on either side of his body made of a beige, cream-coloured stone and several trees along his path.

Before his eyes, a large rectangular supermarket came into view. Since he lived on the city's outskirts, it was more compact and relaxed than the centre of Paria.

"Haa… Salmon and tuna. Let's not forget my cat's food. It would be horrible if she tore apart my house in anger."

Zell greeted several women and males at the store. He noticed that everyone still recognised him as himself. It seemed when the goddess and that computer changed him into this handsome stud. She also changed everyone's perspective of him.

He filled his basket with expensive premium cat food with various flavours, some chicken and beef steaks and various green vegetables.

"Hmmm, soda, chips… vanilla spongecake."

While Zell checked his list for the week and pushed his trolly softly, someone suddenly bumped into him, which caused him to drop the list and his Astra Online bracelet that came with the limited edition copy.

"Ah!"

"Ugh!"

Two people's heads slammed together as they became too focused on their shopping lists. What amused others was that both trolleys contained the same items, except one, which were feminine care products.

Zell fell to his knees. This woman had power which nearly surpassed his own as she crashed into his side. He became winded and fell off balance.

—|Zell: 'Wow! This woman is powerful. Strange, I should be far above most people with my customised body….'

He shook his head and stumbled to his feet. Grasping the list, she dropped her pink bracelet; he offered her a hand to help her.

She grabbed his black bracelet and list, then took his hand with her delicate fingers. Her body seemed relaxed as she released her hand after standing up again.

"I'm sorry. I focused too much on my shopping list and didn't see you." She said with her soft voice like a songbird.

The girl's hair was down to her breasts, pale blonde and slightly wavy. Her pale, smooth forehead was visible because her hair parted in the centre.

He noticed her beautiful silver eyes that watched him with no visible emotional changes on her face.

"Ah, don't worry. I didn't focus on my path either."

Zell found the girl beautiful with her sharp chin and brave face. She was almost as tall as he was, however. His gaze soon moved towards the shelf at the last limited edition of Salmon and Tuna's extravagant range of feline food.

Suddenly, when he reached out and grabbed for the tin. She grasped his arm with her powerful grip.

"That's mine… My cat will only eat this. She is get's cranky if I don't give it to her."

His head turned towards the women. He sneered at her and grasped the can because his power was still significantly higher. As he pulled out her grasp and looked at her with a sneer.

"Sorry, my little fat cat Fran gets mad if I don't buy her this food. She will tear my house apart!"

"Hmph! My Infra would never do that! She likes to eat this food and left my house for so long. What will I do if she doesn't return?"

—|Zell: 'Wait… Infra? It's just a strange coincidence, right?'

He stood up straight and stopped, looking at her with a sneer.

"By chance, is your Infra a large tabby-like cat with lynx ears and a long tail that hurts when she slaps you with it?"

The girl looked shocked, as if he said something extremely shocking, as her silver eyes showed a stunned expression.

"Ah? How did you know? Are you my stalker or something?"

Her voice sounded scared and a little shocked. This woman seemed to have a weird personality.

"No, a cute little fat cat on my table seemed to insist on this cat food when I finished playing Astral online today."

"Oh? Where do you live?"

Her words sounded curious, thinking this might be true. She noticed her naughty cat would sometimes leave the house for days, come back with glossy fur, and seem fatter.

—|Tessa: 'Mmm, was I too hasty? This guy is very handsome. Why would he stalk a geek like me? Ah, but he plays Astral too… Maybe I should ask for his ID?'

Zell took a risk and asked if she wanted to visit his house. She was pretty cute, seeming a little shy and reserved.

"Hmmm, would you like to come to check if she is yours? I would worry, too, if my cat ran away fed by a random stranger. Who knows, maybe it was fate we crashed into each other with one tin remaining."

"Mmmn… Okay."

—|Tessa: 'He seems like a normal guy, but isn't it strange to follow a guy back to his place? Maybe I should bring my mother's sword? Well, he's handsome, so maybe he isn't so bad. Infra always seemed to like handsome black-haired guys.'

The pair grabbed the tin, and since he was a gentleman, Zell paid for the shopping as an apology. Their contact caused her wrist to become bruised from their collision.

Immediately after they left, a shop worker moved to the shelf and packed it full of a pallet of extravagant salmon and tuna tins.

"Why were they so insistent on that single tin… We have loads in the stockroom… Did that handsome guy use it to pick that girl up? Damn… I wish that were me. That girl was my crush for years since she started visiting here."

As the pair left the store, Zell finally remembered to ask this girl's name like an idiot.

"By the way, my name is Zell. What is yours?"

Her soft lips trembled as she turned back to face him. The wind blew her pretty hair and floated in the sky.

"My name is Tessa... Tessa Reinhart... Nice to meet you, Z-Zell!"

Zell looked stunned. How could he not know who this was? She was the proud, arrogant and violent Sword Saintess. A woman that shunned all men and fought against the demons with a small legion of female warriors.

Because of the trauma, she suffered because of a group of disgusting males. She lost the ability to trust men and grew scared of contact with them, thus driving them away. Her end was not a good one, though...

This caused most to misunderstand her as being arrogant and proud. Yet, being close to a male caused her to feel short of breath, panic and terror. She would lock up, and her body shuddered with a cold sweat, sometimes even hysterically and violently.

The demons didn't affect her, though. They didn't look like the monsters that stole her best friend and her friend's mother.

In the end, the male fighters who thought she treated them like insects misunderstood her and abandoned her.

—|Zell: 'Looks Like I hit the jackpot... Now, if only I knew how to seduce a woman like those guys in bars...'