The Reincarnated Lizardman Wants a Hamburger

The carriage that departed from the Holy Kingdom and passed through Omerta was smoothly heading toward the next destination.

Dagdak.

Dagdak.

Their objective might have been a serious matter related to the fate of this world, but not all the passengers on the carriage wore serious expressions.

“Hnyaaam~.”

That was the ‘cat,’ stretching out in a sunny spot, almost like a liquid, photosynthesizing.

The monster, acting as if it were a real cat, opened its tiny mouth and pretended to yawn.

Purr purr.

As winter faded and spring approached, the cat closed its eyes, purring in the warm weather.

The cat, sprawled out on the ground like a liquid, had its four legs halfway transformed into the shape of a plant rather than a deer.

At a glance, it looked like a half-melted fawn, both strange and oddly cute.

However, there was one human-like shadow glaring at the ‘cat’ as if displeased.

Well, to be precise, it only had the silhouette of a human but wasn’t truly a ‘human.’

The owner of that shadow was the golem that had followed Liche from the Ruins of the Ancient Empire.

Once called the Andelia Guardian, a special title given to those who protected the noblest bloodline of the great Dragnity Empire, the golem also had another name: Charlotte.

It was the golem Liche had taken in and named.

The great golem Charlotte was now vigilantly watching the half-melted, photosynthesizing baby tree-deer-cat, monitoring its every move.

“Object name: Cat appears to absorb sunlight to produce energy necessary for activity. This golem, Charlotte, who was graciously named by the noble master, can objectively and logically confirm the high probability of this hypothesis. However, why it needs to purr while photosynthesizing is beyond even my rational and logical comprehension.”

Though it was somewhat comical to see Charlotte, who once had a great duel with Kurt, now wary of a cat, Charlotte was utterly serious.

For a golem like Charlotte, tasked with carrying out its given commands, there was no room for anything but seriousness.

But even from Charlotte’s perspective, there was a rational reason to be wary of the cat.

The ‘cat’ was a monster born from the last fruit left by the Awakening Species Fruit Tree Antlered Reindeer, which Kurt had once defeated. Its body was made of tree trunks and roots, shaped like a fawn, but it acted and meowed like a cat—a peculiar little monster.

Even by the standards of adventurers who hunted various monsters for a living, this was an unusual sight.

Especially for Charlotte, who had memories from the Ancient Empire era when the number of monsters was extremely low, the cat’s appearance felt utterly bizarre.

“Why is the cat a plant-type monster, shaped like a deer, yet acting like a cat? At this moment, this golem, Charlotte, proposes a hypothesis. Object name: Cat, unlike this golem who was graciously named Charlotte by the noble master, is incapable of objective and logical thought, hence its irrational and illogical behavior. This hypothesis is highly credible, as assessed by this golem, Charlotte.”

While Charlotte’s new master, Liche, and those around her seemed to feel great affection rather than wariness toward the cat, Charlotte was not fooled.

After all, Charlotte was one of the twelve exalted Andelia Guardians of the Dragnity Empire, equipped with objective and logical circuits that prevented emotional judgments based on deceptive appearances. It was a special entity graciously named Charlotte by its noble master.

It certainly wasn’t because every time Liche doted on the cat, small errors accumulated in Charlotte’s circuits.

A perfect, flawless, objective, and logical golem like Charlotte did not feel jealousy.

And so, Charlotte spent dozens of minutes, even hours, observing the cat from the same spot.

Meanwhile, the warm spring breeze gradually turned cold, and Kurt’s group decided to prepare camp before the sun fully set.

“It’s still early before sunset, but since we’ve found a spacious open space, let’s set up camp earlier than usual today.”

“Ugh… another night outdoors.”

“What can we do? Villages aren’t conveniently spaced a day’s travel apart by carriage. Stop complaining and help set up camp.”

“Yesss~.”

And so, Kurt’s group, as if accustomed to it, scattered to set up tents.

Unlike adventurers who typically traveled in groups of four or five, Kurt’s group had grown to over ten members, requiring considerable effort to prepare camp.

Charlotte, too, stopped monitoring the cat and immediately approached Liche, who was diligently setting up a tent with her fern-like hands, and began setting up the tent in her place.

“Ah, thank you, Charlotte.”

Bow.

In no time, Charlotte set up the tent and bowed solemnly to Liche, who praised it.

“Assisting the master is the duty of a servant and not worthy of praise. However, the noble master, with her gracious heart, praises this golem for fulfilling its duties. Positive feedback on Charlotte’s actions can be used as beneficial data to improve this golem’s work efficiency in the future.”

Having helped Liche and received her thanks, Charlotte returned to its original spot with more vigor than usual.

“Top priority task: Installation of a temporary shelter for the master is complete. Returning to the next priority task: Continued monitoring of object name: Cat.”

At that moment, Charlotte’s gray circuits once again conjured rational, objective, and efficient thoughts.

“Wild animals establish hierarchies within their groups to establish command structures. By comparing the greatness of this golem, who labors on behalf of the master and receives praise, to the cat, who does nothing but consume the group’s resources, even the irrational and low-intelligence object name: Cat may come to recognize this golem’s greatness and submit.”

However, when Charlotte returned to its spot, it couldn’t find the cat and began looking around.

Look around, look around.

But no matter how much it searched, there was no trace of the cat, not even a shadow.

So, Charlotte activated its combat abilities to expand its detection range.

In truth, Charlotte had suffered severe damage during its battle with Kurt and couldn’t keep its combat abilities active at all times. Even when activated, it was far from its full capacity.

But even so, Charlotte’s detection range expanded to dozens of times that of an ordinary person.

As it scanned the surroundings, Charlotte soon found traces of the cat and followed them.

.

.

.

How much time had passed while helping Liche set up the tent?

In that short time, the cat had already wandered far from Kurt’s group, leaving the open space and freely exploring the deep forest.

But no matter how far it went or how fast it moved, the cat was merely a baby plant-deer, born not long ago.

Charlotte quickly caught up to the cat and intended to capture it and return to the campsite.

But at that moment, an idea flashed through Charlotte’s circuits.

“If I continue monitoring the cat without revealing myself, I may observe the evil nature this grotesque monster is hiding. This is a highly feasible and realistic proposal, as self-reviewed.”

If it could capture the cat when it revealed its evil nature and bring it back to the campsite, Charlotte could expose the cat’s true nature to Liche!

“Indeed, I am a flawless, rational, objective, and logical golem. I commend myself for this perfect plan.”

Somehow, since the battle with Kurt, Charlotte’s thought circuits had become strange, and it now praised itself while secretly tailing the cat.

And so, the cat’s grand forest adventure and the armored golem’s stealthy pursuit began.

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