Cop Craft – Dragnet Mirage Reloaded - Book 4: Chapter 2: (2)

“Translator: ClefRunner”

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Switching the body and the soul—.

Since that was the kind of mechanism at hand, then naturally, the one in Tilarna’s original physical body had to be Kuroi’s soul. So if Kuroi’s soul was inside Tilarna’s body, then that meant that the Morth El Balbe spell had an effect even on cats, unexpectedly. So when she went on a rampage that morning— doing this and that to Kei as he was defenseless, and behaving in such a preposterous seductive manner, that was all simply a normal behavior for a cat, and Kuroi didn’t see anything wrong with it.

And that’s that, but…!

Snuggling with Kei in that half naked dress, and rubbing her cheeks against him… and especially licking him all over….

Ugh… Uuuuughhhhhh….

Tilarna writhed in pain still looking like a cat inside the empty garage.

I just want to die already.

She was considering just taking her Krége and slicing off her throat, leaving this world.

However, unfortunately, it was completely impossible for her to take her own life just with Kuroi’s paws. And she would feel bad for Kuroi, as well.

In any case, she felt so embarrassed she could die. And besides, looking at her (own body) behave in such a manner as an outsider was unthinkable.

Looking completely enthralled and seduced by a man like that. By Kei on top of that! By a gross guy like him! And she was even running her tongue all over him…! There was no way she could accept seeing herself like that. She had vividly witnessed her own body in the only position she never wanted to see herself in.

She cowered and kept crying in the garage for about 10 minutes. The sight of a black cat cowering and bawling was bizarre, but she did it anyway.

Unfortunately, she did not die just from doing that, so instead she managed to regain her calm.

Calm down, me. That’s right, let’s calm down.

If only I managed to find a way to return to my previous body, then I would definitely have a chance to explain everything to Kei. I would tell him that I wasn’t me back then. I’ll tell him over and over again that whatever Kuroi wanted to do was completely unrelated to me. That’s how it is, got it?! … or I could just get my Krége and explain to him like that.

That’s right, I don’t have to die to restore my honor. I just need to get my body back.

And in order to do that, the first thing I need to do is inspect that bow and arrow very carefully.

No wait… that crossbow.

The previous night, after switching bodies with Kuroi, she remembered it falling off the table. And Kei had only collected the items on top of the table earlier, so that crossbow was probably left behind somewhere in the living room but…

There was a bin right next to that table. And going by memory, that bin was right next to the place she had seen the crossbow fall.

Wait, wait wait, please…

With a desperate look on her face (despite being a cat), Tilarna rushed upstairs right into the living room. She leaned her small body against the bin next to the table and pushed it over.

The bin was empty.

Kei had pushed all the trash into a single plastic bag, and simply took it out just like that.

Kénishuba…!

Tilarna muttered to herself a word that translated to “This is the worst” from Farbani, and she started impatiently pacing around the room.

It’s not here, it’s not here. I can’t find that crossbow anywhere.

Although it was hard to accept, that crossbow was probably in the container outside.

If Kei had taken it along with all the other confiscated items, then maybe she still had a chance to be saved— it seemed like no matter what the situation had only just started to get complicated.

Tilarna kept pacing around the house, looking for an exit. Both the windows and the doors were too heavy to be opened by a small cat. The switch to open the garage’s door was right in the middle of the wall, and there was no way she could reach it.

She wasn’t even able to get out of the house.

Kuroi kept ignoring Tilarna’s uneasiness, while dozing off peacefully in her own body. Tilarna thought that it would be best if she just kept sleeping like that. With her current body, all humans looked gigantic. If she suddenly started jumping on chairs or tables, and meowing all over the place then it would be troublesome. She had already seen it happen that night, so she was frantic about it.

What should I do now? I can’t do anything useful in this cat body. Is there nothing I can do without somebody else helping me? How about the phone? No, impossible. The only sounds that I’m able to make with Kuroi’s throat are “Nya nya”. In that case…

That’s right, an email…!

Even with her tiny feet, she would probably be able to text somebody. And then if she asked for help…

「Un… na…」

Just as she was starting to think that, Kuroi came out of Kei’s room. More accurately, it was Tilarna’s body with Kuroi’s soul inside it. She was walking on all fours wearing her loosely fit camisole, and arching her back in a strange manner. She sluggishly walked across the living room, straight towards her tiny plate on the floor, and she started slurping the water from it with her tongue.

Aaaaaaahhhhh…!!

How unsightly. How ruthless. I look just like a complete savage!

Well, I guess she is an actual animal. But please, Kuroi. Please don’t do that kind of thing with my body. I can’t even stand watching it! Besides, looking at it, looking at her behavior, it would seem that… looking at her back trembling like that…

Oh no…

Still in Tilarna’s body, Kuroi headed on all fours straight for her litter box that was inside the bathroom. Tilarna changed her expression (despite her still being a cat) and followed her body, jumping right on her butt.

「Nya? Nya…!」

Stop it Kuroi! At least… please just take the shorts off!

「Unya!」

Kuroi waved her arms angrily, sending Tilarna flying across the room, and redirecting herself towards the bathroom. Tilarna had just gotten in her way when she had to go to the bathroom. She could understand why Kuroi would be angry but still—

「Nn… Nya…」

Stop it… stop… ah…! Stop… ah…

Her own body sighed relieved. Tilarna, still in her cat body, could not even bear to watch, so she just curled up and let out a sad cry.

~o~O~o~

「Matoba! Sergent Kei Matoba! Come here! Come here right now!」

Right as Matoba got to the Police Department’s headquarters, the head of Vice, Bill Zimmer started calling him to his office.

As he walked into his office, Zimmer slammed the door violently, producing a terrible sound that could be heard throughout the entire office. He kicked his own desk. Matoba was going to get wrecked because of the plane crash incident.

「What was that?! Even though the task was fairly simple, how did it end up becoming a plane crash?! If it had just been some reckless car chase— No, actually a car chase is outrageous on its own, but even then a plane crash?! What’s next?! Do you plan to blow up the entire city?!」 「I explained that already, didn’t I? They ignored us and started getting away. We weren’t in the wrong.」 「Shut up! Do you think the higher ups will simply accept that explanation?!」

The old man was easy to read. And Matoba was already used to him, so as long as he managed to calm him down and come up with some excuse, nothing would happen. Despite that, Bill Zimmer kept going on about it.

「The Goranbitha Police Department called and started ranting about something. At 12 in the morning! They were saying that you people were not taking the paperwork seriously, and that you didn’t give up the confiscated items—」 「That was just their boss trying to show off to the local reporters. But it all became a mess because of one of their novice officers. If only they weren’t trying to save face and lowered their heads, then I’m sure there would have been no further complains about anything.」 「I can’t believe him! That boss of theirs is incredibly persistent… He kept repeating the same thing over and over. For more than an hour over the phone, he made me hear him complain!! And I was supposed to be enjoying some wine together with Cami for the first time in a long time… ultimately even Cami ended up getting annoyed! We had planned to have some oysters and I was just going to take my zinc meds and leave it at that! Why are you people so intent on ruining my family life?! Huh?! Is a single bastard like you actually incapable of understanding that?!」

Zimmer was slamming his desk while his face turned beet red

「Ah…!」

Matoba was starting to feel sorry for him, but then he remembered something that made him uneasy so he asked Zimmer

「Boss. Was it only the Goranbitha department?」 「What?」 「Were they the only ones complaining? Did the CBP or someone else… say something?」

Zimmer raised his eyebrows at that

「What, that? Did you do something to the CBP guys as well…?」 「No, not really. I just wanted to check something.」 「This morning I talked to Hernandez from the CBP on the phone, but he just wanted to know about the confiscated goods. He didn’t say anything in particular.」 「Hm…」

That was somewhat unexpected considering Hernandez’s threatening attitude just the day before. Despite not officially opposing him, Matoba at least expected some antipathy and roundabout criticism. But then again, it was also pretty common for people to get heated up at the spot and then to get home and calm down later. Matoba kept pondering whether he should inform Zimmer of their discussion.

「What? Hey, did you do something to the CBP guys? Speak up honestly, Matoba. Because if you did then—」 「Ah… no! I really didn’t do anything! I simply negotiated with the other departments, so everything could go as smoothly as possible. Well then, I’ll get going…!」

Matoba turned right around and left Zimmer’s office.

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