Kai stepped out of his hut in the morning and walked to the center of the vilge. At that hour several catgirls were already working, probably on their daily tasks like sharpening weapons and preparing food.

  ‘I’m going to leave this pce,’ Kai thought. ‘And I still don’t know how much of this really belongs to me and how much only holds because they have me at the front.’

  Katherine appeared at his side almost immediately, as if she had been waiting for him all night. ‘Shit, the promise from yesterday,’ Kai thought. Her ears twitched slightly when she noticed the attention of the other catgirls on him. Sira appeared a few steps ter with a more rexed expression, though her eyes were already moving from one cat to another, probably checking that they were doing their daily duties.

  Ivark came out st, bending slightly because of the low entrance of his house, and stood still at his doorway waiting for Kai to speak.

  The rest of the vilge stopped working at the same moment when they noticed the leaders were completely still.

  ‘Good, they already understood when something important was about to happen,’ Kai thought, raising his chin slightly. “Stop what you’re doing for a moment,” Kai said while waiting for some reaction from the catgirls.

  They had stopped their tasks and approached Kai to a considerable distance. Silence had settled over the center of the vilge.

  Kai let another moment pass, just to make sure no one spoke first.

  “I’m going to head to the city,” Kai said, keeping his voice firm. “It won’t be to flee or to abandon this vilge. I’m going for information, resources, and even more strength than we already have.”

  The reactions came immediately, though none were completely startled. Several looked at each other. One frowned. Another moved her ears back. Two of the youngest gnced toward Sira before returning to him.

  Katherine tensed her shoulders and didn’t speak despite knowing nothing of the pn. Sira didn’t speak either although she already knew he was leaving for the city, but her tail made a slow movement behind her. Ivark remained motionless in the distance.

  The atmosphere was very uncomfortable. ‘I thought they would accept it more easily,’ he sighed. ‘They still see me as a foreigner even though they’re not wrong.’

  A brown-haired catgirl, one of those who had worked with wood, took half a step forward.

  “Master… if you leave, who will be in charge?” the cat asked while pressing her hands in front of her abdomen.

  The question nded at exactly the right moment. Kai didn’t answer immediately; he had expected something like this. But he wanted to see what else would come out if he let the silence press a little.

  Another cat, taller and with a short scar above one eyebrow, spoke before he answered. “If it’s about following orders, I would obey you or Sira,” the cat said while crossing her arms. “But not an orc.”

  The rest said nothing. ‘This is much worse, I had pnned to take Sira but it makes sense they have that doubt,’ Kai thought, trying to find a solution.

  Ivark didn’t react; not a single muscle on his face moved. He only lowered his gaze slightly toward the cat who had spoken and then returned it to Kai.

  Sira tilted her head with a brief smile. Katherine shifted her gaze toward Ivark and then toward Kai, perhaps worried about the direction everything was taking.

  Kai felt a short pressure in his chest. ‘My authority still depends too much on me being here in person or Sira,’ Kai thought. ‘I took the vilge. I defeated Mira. I made them bow their heads. But that doesn’t mean the power structure works on its own.’

  ‘A cn that only obeys while the leader is present won’t st long,’ Kai thought.

  Kai took one step forward, enough for several of them to straighten their backs. “Then listen well,” he said while fixing his gaze first on the scarred cat and then on the rest. “If everything depends only on me standing here or Sira, then this vilge will remain weak.” No one responded.

  Sira now looked at him with more attention, dropping her rexed face. Kai continued. “I can fight. Sira can lead them, Ivark can destroy anyone who tries to enter by force,” Kai said while gesturing slightly with his hand.

  First toward Sira and then toward Ivark. “But if one falls, the other has to hold what’s left.” They stayed completely still, processing what Kai had said. Kai let the idea sink in before pressing harder.

  “What would happen if Sira died?” Kai asked while sweeping his gaze over each one. “What would happen if I died too?” This time the effect was immediate; one of the cats opened her eyes slightly, another lowered her ears.

  Katherine turned her head toward him with visible tension, as if she didn’t even like hearing him say that. Sira narrowed her eyes but didn’t interrupt him. Kai continued without changing his tone.

  “Exactly,” he said while raising his chin a little. “You would be left without a leader. Without enough strength. Without someone capable of responding quickly if another cn appears or if armed humans come.” Kai said, not knowing if humans were really a threat to them.

  The word “humans” carried more weight than the others. “If a vilge depends on a single head, it only needs to lose that head,” Kai said while gripping the handle of his weapon. “That won’t happen here again.”

  The scarred cat no longer had her arms crossed. Another looked at Ivark with less disdain than before, though still with reservation.

  Kai turned slightly toward the orc. Ivark remained still, firm, without trying to defend himself. ‘Good, him not acting impulsively helped,’ Kai thought. He didn’t seem desperate for the position. He seemed capable of holding it.

  “For the moment, Ivark will be in charge while I’m away,” Kai said, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear without effort. “Sira will accompany me along with Katherine. In case of danger or if anyone tries to break the order of the vilge, Ivark’s authority will be mine.”

  One of the cats murmured something too low to understand. Another moved her tail uncomfortably. Two more looked at each other as if waiting for someone to argue first.

  Kai saw it; what he had said still wasn’t enough. So he shifted his gaze toward Sira. He didn’t need to say anything; Sira understood.

  She took a step forward with almost elegant softness, raised her chin a little, and let her eyes sweep over the others one by one.

  “If Master decided it, then it’s already decided,” Sira said while giving a faint smile, but without warmth. “Whoever disobeys Ivark while Master is away is disobeying me as well.”

  That changed the atmosphere immediately. ‘That was it. They didn’t want to obey Ivark alone; they wanted confirmation from the second leader,’ Kai thought.

  The scarred cat was the first to lower her head. “Understood,” the cat said while pcing a fist over her chest. Another imitated her, then another, and another. In a few seconds the gesture began to repeat quickly, though some did it with more conviction than others.

  Ivark watched the scene in silence. Katherine exhaled a little. Kai didn’t smile. But inside, the pressure eased a bit. ‘It’s not perfect,’ Kai thought. ‘But it works. For now, it works.’

  “Good. Then… go back to your tasks,” Kai said.

  No one responded; they simply stood up, and the cats began to move again little by little.

  As they walked away from the center, Katherine came closer to his side. “Master… I don’t like it when you talk about dying,” Katherine said while lowering her ears a little. “I understand what you mean but still we have to keep it in mind.” Kai looked at her and raised his hand, passing it over her hair.

  “That’s why I’m doing this.” Katherine stayed silent. Sira walked on the other side with a half-smile. “At least they finally understood they can’t just stare at the sky waiting for you to always be here,” Sira said while crossing her arms behind her head.

  “They still doubted,” Kai replied without looking at her. “Of course they doubted,” Sira said while moving an ear toward him. “The cats obey better when they see strength. And the strength, until now, has always been you.” Kai let out air through his nose.

  It bothered him to hear her say it so clearly. ‘It’s true. If this works, when I return I won’t just have a vilge. I’ll have a structure. And that can actually be expanded.’

  That idea pleased him more than anything else said that morning. “It’s time to move.”