Damned System

**Chapter 86: Chapter 18 – The Beginning of Change (2

‘I knew this would happen.’

I expected them to keep crying like this.

‘I didn’t think they’d give up easily.’

If Berta were the type to quit at an appropriate moment, she wouldn’t have tormented me so much yesterday.

Berta’s stubbornness was resilient, comparable to mine.

“Jo-o!”

“Play with something else.”

I abruptly presented an item from my inventory to the little one, who didn’t even pretend to listen to me.

The child, who was on the verge of bursting into tears again, showed interest.

Sniff, sniff.

Her little pink nose twitched, and then she said,

“Give me the one with the cool smell! Not this!”

She knocked the item from my hand and shouted noisily.

‘It’s useless, I guess…’

I clicked my tongue inwardly, observing Berta rolling on the floor in tantrum.

The object she knocked away was a catnip lollipop, something I had prepared because her relentless sobbing weighed on my conscience.

‘I guess it’s a miss.’

I had asked if she might like it, figuring her feline nature would find it appealing.

It seemed catnip only worked on mature cats, about 70 percent of the time, from what I’d heard.

Either that or she belonged to a tiger lineage, as Chandler had told me about Berta, and sighed.

For whatever reason, the catnip seemed ineffective on Berta.

The evidence lay in the form of a catnip lollipop lying there pathetically on the shiny marble floor.

‘If I want to establish a connection with the beastfolk through her, I should probably treat her well…’

If I sent the child back after making her cry all day, it wouldn’t earn me any favor.

I eventually relinquished the catnip toy and opted for a second approach.

I pulled out a doll from my inventory, another item sent to me by An Kijun.

‘Because I requested catnip…’

All the dolls were shaped like fish.

I hesitated, feeling it was akin to treating her like a beast.

But Berta started crying again, and I had no choice.

I sprayed skin moisturizer on the fish-shaped doll and handed it to her.

“Meow…?”

Finally, Berta’s crying subsided.

After sniffing the toy, she finally smiled contentedly.

“Hehehe.”

‘Smiling with those puffy eyes.’

I patted her head and asked, “You’re smiling now, huh? Do you like it?”

“Yes!”

Berta smiled brightly as if she’d never cried.

‘Now that I think about it…’

She had smiled just like this yesterday when she tugged my hair to give directions.

Berta seemed to enjoy herself immensely, almost looking overjoyed.

Watching her bury her face in the doll and giggle made me chuckle softly too.

‘What is it even about that?’

It was just skin moisturizer; I couldn’t fathom why she was so pleased with the scent.

I shook my head at her incomprehensible preference.

I eventually had to pick her up. I couldn’t let her continue sitting on the marble floor.

“Huh?”

At that moment, there was an unfamiliar presence where there should have been nothing.

Nothing was detectable through Mana Detection, nor did I sense anyone approaching.

Yet, the owner of the presence appeared as naturally as if they’d always been there.

I gulped and turned toward the direction of the voice I heard.

‘Beastfolk.’

The person who suddenly appeared was a head taller than me.

However, their appearance drew my attention even more than their size.

‘Same species as Berta.’

The resemblance was uncanny, the tiger-like striped hair and tail, the triangular ears atop their head, and the whiskers protruding just slightly.

Even the pink nose, freckled with black spots, was just like Berta’s.

“What’s this?”

Without waiting for an explanation, the male beastfolk picked up the catnip lollipop off the ground.

“Catnip… it’s a toy from the other world, I think…”

As I explained, he took a whiff of the catnip.

I closed my mouth, unable to finish, as the beastfolk suddenly collapsed onto the ground, mouthing and licking the small catnip lollipop.

“……”

His stance was reminiscent of a cat clinging onto a catnip toy with its forepaws, eagerly sniffing it.

It was a scene that one might have witnessed once while casually browsing on WeTube.

The problem was that this “cat” was an imposing 2 meters tall, complete with human-like arms and legs.

“Sss, ha.”

Had he remained standing, enjoying the catnip, it wouldn’t have been so overwhelming.

But as he rolled around on the floor, I found myself at a loss for words.

However, it allowed me to discern one clear fact:
‘The catnip wasn’t completely ineffective.’

Most likely, it hadn’t worked on Berta because she was not a mature cat yet.

“This behavior from Breche is weird.”

Those were not my words.

In my arms, Berta, who had been quietly holding her fish toy, giggled and said those words.

I alternated my gaze between the adult beastfolk and Berta and asked,

“Breche?”

“That’s Breche.”

Pointing at the other beastfolk, who seemed to be named Breche, Berta said with one hand while clutching her doll with the other.

‘That’s his name.’

Breche continued to roll around the floor for a good ten minutes.

During that time, I contemplated a myriad of thoughts.

Should I stay and continue to endure these strange, complex emotions while observing this beastfolk?

Or should I feign ignorance and quietly leave?

My hesitation was brief, and my choice was obvious.

‘Since he’s the only mature one I can communicate with.’

If I wanted to establish any connections or relations with the beastfolk, leaving wasn’t a viable option.

One of my reasons for looking after Berta was to foster a friendly relationship with these unknown beings.

Thankfully, what I knew so far indicated that this awkward situation wouldn’t last long.

‘I think I read somewhere that it’s a one-time effect.’

If what I read was true, the smell of catnip would last only about ten to fifteen minutes until the cat’s olfactory senses became fatigued.

After approximately ten minutes, Breche, who had been focusing intensely on the lollipop, seemed to regain his composure.

“This is no joke! It’s amazing!”

His bright sky-blue eyes glittering, he leaped up and approached me, extending his hand freely.

“If you have more, give them to me.”

I glanced at the large hand of Breche and then quickly shifted my gaze to Berta.

‘Why do they keep asking for things?’

One might think they had entrusted something to me.

‘Is this a trait? The two of them are quite similar in behavior.’

Both Berta and Breche seemed to say whatever they wanted without holding back.

I viewed Breche with a strange expression.

It felt like encountering school bullies during my student council days, demanding things in exchange for not bothering other students.

‘This feeling is reminiscent of those times when thugs demanded things from peers.’

The only difference this time was that I was the target.

I considered retorting firmly but changed my mind, seeing Berta happily smiling.

The radiant smile that said she was the happiest being in the world was on the child’s face.

‘It seems there’s no malice here…’

They were likely just born to be tactlessly straightforward and brazen.

Heaving a shallow sigh, I opened my inventory.

‘I don’t have any other use for them, anyway.’

Giving away another piece wouldn’t cause any harm.

I pulled out a catnip ball this time.

A toy with a catnip-filled ball inside a wooden structure about the size of a fist.

“Thanks!”

Breche received the box, immediately opened it, and sniffed it.

He tilted his head curiously.

“This one’s odd? It’s not good.”

Even after giving it to him, he started to complain.

I smacked my lips knowingly and replied.

“Because you’ve probably become accustomed to that scent.”

Since he had casually started using informal speech with me, I had no intention of being polite either.

“Oh! So, if I sniff it again, will I like it?”

“Probably. But it’ll be less effective if you sniff it too often.”

“Got it.”

Breche, seemingly reluctant, gave a lick to his catnip lollipop.

He then called over a servant from the estate and requested a glass jar.

After carefully placing the lollipop and ball into the jar, he tightly sealed the lid.

“So, I can take this out later?”

With a face full of satisfaction, Breche asked with a grin.

“… Yeah.”

The thing I intended to use to cheer up the kid ended up bringing more joy to him, oddly enough.

Breche finally showed interest in me after tucking the jar under his arm.

“I heard Berta followed the outsider. That’s you, right? What should I call you?”

Feeling uneasy with him suddenly shoving his face close, I pushed him gently away with my hand, replying.

“K. And you?”

“Brother with this one.”

I had meant to ask for his name, yet he started explaining his relationship with Berta instead.

“They say your people call us half-siblings, don’t they?”

I was bewildered, but having already learned his name from Berta, I felt no need to ask again.

“… For now.”

I responded while looking back and forth between Breche and Berta.

‘If he’s Berta’s half-brother…’

Then is he also the child of that beastfolk king or whatever?

‘No.’

If the king is male, they are unrelated.

‘… Could that be the case?’

Technically, that would mean their mothers had other partners besides the king.

Is it possible that beastfolk aren’t bound by ordinary marital norms?

My limited perspective on this world broadened the scope of my thoughts.

‘Should I take this opportunity to ask more details?’

While I mused, Breche spoke up first.

“Are you staying here?”

“For the time being.”

“Good, that’s all I need.”

What that implied, I couldn’t discern before Breche extended his hand with further words.

“I came to get this little one.”

Yet moments ago, she was refusing to go and causing a fuss, unable to leave.

Breche grabbed Berta by the scruff, pulling her toward him.

“She’s calm now. I can take her with me.”

Berta, who had her nose buried in her fish toy, looked up at Breche with a puzzled expression.

“Why?”

“Because mom told me to bring you back.”

“Mom? Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Breche shrugged and glanced at me, saying,

“I’ll be off then. I’ll come by again. See you then.”

There were questions I had wanted to ask, but none were pressing enough to hold back someone who was leaving anyway.

‘We’ve at least exchanged names.’

We had made a decent first impression, and there was no point in prolonging things unnecessarily.

“Go on, then.”

I responded shortly, and Breche, with Berta in tow by the scruff, boldly stepped out of the estate.

As Berta, being carried out by Breche, turned to wave at me with her hand flapping.

“Goodbyee.”

Stretching out her farewell cheerfully, it somehow reminded me of a tiger cub being dragged by its mother.

I almost reflexively waved back, finding myself chuckling unexpectedly.

Berta with her fish toy, and Breche with the jar of catnip toys.

Seeing them cling to those items as if they were lifelines, I couldn’t help but smile.

The two soon disappeared from view.

Standing alone in the empty estate hall, I scratched my neck.

Relief washed over me from the resolution of the issue that had troubled me since yesterday.

It was both refreshing and slightly nostalgic.

‘I’ve never encountered this type of personality before.’

What became apparent after our brief conversations was how deeply self-oriented these two tiger beastfolk were.

Their actions, devoid of consideration, were straightforward and unsettling.

Yet not all memories of those moments were unpleasant.

The reason behind this was simple to identify.

‘It’s because there were no scheming intentions.’

Faced with raw, unrefined behavior, I’d much prefer such bluntness over deceitful kindness masking ulterior motives.

Organizing my somewhat positive impression of the beastfolk, I shook my head promptly.

‘Time for some mana training.’

Shaking off my wistful feelings, I ascended the stairs with a demeanor almost unchanged from usual.

**Damned System**

**New Elements and Characters:**

– **벨타** (Berta) – A young beastfolk who cries easily and has a fondness for fish-shaped toys. (she)
– **브레체** (Breche) – A larger, adult beastfolk, possibly related to Berta, fascinated with catnip. (he)