“Okay, guys, the party can start
now!” Rasha said triumphantly, barging into the room and eagerly
waving her hands at the three nightshirt-wearing Mithra inside. “I’m
here, and I brought Kia!”
Three pairs of feline eyes turned
toward the little Tarutaru that had just entered the room beside her.
One of them - her round, green eyes alight with predatory menace as
her fingers caressed a softly rounded stomach - spoke in a voice
dripping with hunger. “Oooooh, Rasha, you brought a snack?

"That
is IT, Nola!"
Lupepe's
voice nearly quivered with rage. The catgirl in question glanced down
at her Tarutaru companion, a vaguely amused smile on her face. "What,
what's wrong now?"
"What's
wrong?!" If steam could come out of Lupepe's ears, it would
have. "I'm sick and tired of you and your new lover making
passes at me!"
"You
can't blame Meia for being hungry," Nola said, grinning. "And
besides, you're pretty tasty. If you weren't my

Maeriri felt eyes
on her back as she tended to the skewers of meat she was grilling.
Mithkabobs never failed to draw a crowd.
As a novice at
the cooking guild, she had been assigned to make mithkabobs more
times than she could count. And every single time, without fail, the
street urchins drawn into the guild by the smells of hot, fresh food
would make a beeline for her as soon as they started sizzling.
And every time,
it would always be the same.
"Hey, miss,
whatcha makin'?" came the

"Don't move,
Huntmistress."
Pua froze solid,
her breath suddenly catching in her throat as the low, dangerous
voice purred from behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she
glimpsed the glint of a blade at her neck in the moonlight. How could
this be? She hadn't heard anyone coming. Of course, she hadn't
expected anyone coming. She was so rarely approached by the other
Mithra at night nowadays, with most of them out hunting.
"Who..."
Pua licked her lips. This... this was an

Kazham had always
been a tiny little village, especially compared to the vast jungle
surrounding it. There were rarely more than a few hundred Mithra
living there at one time... whether they ended up as food for a
jungle predator or a fellow catgirl, the life of a Kazham Mithra,
particularly a tasty one, was never very long.
But recently,
their numbers had grown considerably as alliances with Norg and the
Allied Forces had better armed them against the monsters lurking in
the jungle and increase

Kazham was a
living town, more so than even Rimomo's home of Windurst. The jungle
was alive around the little village, with the sound of insects and
birds keeping the night nice and noisy even after the Mithra had
mostly settled in for the night.
Perfect for
sneaking about, Rimomo thought.
The moon was new,
and the stars' light hardly illuminated the village much. A few
torches lit some areas, but the village was full of dark shadows
where anyone could be hiding. Especially someone as small as R

"Let's see,
then... add the water crystal and mix well... this one'll be the one
that works, I'm sure of it."
Five years had
passed since Rimomo had returned alive from Kazham. Immediately after
getting home, she'd taught herself a teleportation spell, and
practiced incapacitating targets with nothing but her mind. She would
not allow herself to be a victim again.
"Hmm, yes,
now the color fades... add a dark crystal for decay..."
The incident had
aroused in her a significant

"I can't BELIEVE you, Meine!"
The catgirl simply smiled, tipping up
the wide-brimmed red hat that marked her mastery of red magic. "I'm
sorry, did you say something? I can't hear you all the way down
there."
Tilala made as if to kick her companion
in the shins, then thought better of it. That would be too much.
After all, despite her short stature, she was still a monk. A living
weapon, the flying fists and feet of fury. None could stand against
her.
None, that is, except Mei