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Chapter 25 - Wanted
🕑 Added 2025-04-03 18:21:31 +0000 UTCLicking the inside of his thigh, Puss couldn't stop thinking about who was targeting him.
Just a day had passed since he left San Riqueza.
'Could it be because of my money? But how would they gain anything? My money is in the bank. Even the orphanage can't be a target, since it stopped receiving so much money—there were people trying to kidnap the orphans and extort money, so we took back the portion the orphanage used to receive and now just cover their needs directly.'
Puss thought back to past events.
The orphanage was too fragile to have that much money, so Puss had been forced to remove their extra funding, after much pleading from Imelda and everyone involved.
The city guards, on the other hand, didn't have that problem—quite the opposite. With the investment, they were able to pay and train more soldiers, becoming stronger.
That's why Puss wasn't too worried about San Ricardo when he left.
'No, this isn't about money or my life… It's about my reputation. But who would hate me so much that they'd go to such lengths to ruin my name with this level of planning and cruelty?' Puss thought, perplexed, stopping his grooming.
After fifteen years as a cat, he had long since stopped caring about things that had seemed strange when he was human. He simply acted as the cat he was.
But as he pondered who might want to destroy his reputation, an image suddenly flashed through his mind. A human egg, smiling at him.
Puss quickly shook his head, pushing the thought away.
'No, Humpty wouldn't do that! I'm just being biased by the movie. In this reality, Humpty won't go down that path—not anymore.' Puss thought firmly, clenching his fists.
But once a doubt is born, it cannot be easily erased.
'It's not him… it can't be him… fate wouldn't correct itself like that, would it? Am I stuck on a path I can't escape from?...' Puss thought, increasingly uncertain and bitter.
Shaking off those thoughts and not wanting to dwell on them any longer, Puss got up from the ground, dusted off his rear, and walked over to Tornado, who seemed to have rested enough.
"Haah… Let's go, Tornado. We're close to a town, according to the map. There, you'll be able to recover from the journey better… and so will I." Puss said with an exhausted sigh, then jumped into the saddle.
"Snort!" Tornado scraped the ground three times with his front hoof and began to walk.
'Three times yes, two no.' Puss thought, amused by the horse agreeing with him using their little code.
Slowly, they approached a town.
Like San Riqueza, this one also lay outside the influence of the Hum&Puss Company. The truth was, as Puss in Boots, his name was only recognized as heroic in San Ricardo and a handful of nearby towns.
In most other cities throughout the San Ricardo region, it was the Hum&Puss company that had claimed the hero's title. So, it wasn't unusual for him to go unrecognized in towns several days' ride from his hometown, like San Riqueza. His greatest deeds as Puss in Boots had been defeating the bandits who attacked the orphanage—but beyond that, most of the fame belonged to the company.
That's why Iago's word—a well-known figure in San Riqueza—carried more weight than his, an unknown outsider with no standing in the town.
Entering calmly, everything seemed normal. Arriving at an inn, he left his horse in the stable, paid a few extra coins for its care, and booked a room for himself.
Puss didn't even flirt with the innkeeper's beautiful daughter, too tired and disheartened for that.
Lying on the bed in his room, Puss slowly closed his eyes, his heart heavy with bitterness.
He tossed and turned for a long time before finally drifting into the land of dreams.
…
The next day, Puss woke up feeling a bit more cheerful.
Uncurling from the ball he had been sleeping in, he stretched his paws forward, raised his rear, and completed his morning ritual by licking his paw and running it over his face. Only then did he feel fully refreshed.
Jumping off the bed, he approached a coat rack, lazily grabbed his belt, sword, and cape, then pulled on his boots.
Finally, he placed his hat on his head, slid his hand along the brim, and winked at himself in the mirror with a smile.
"It's impressive how you get more handsome with each passing day." Puss said, admiring his reflection.
He then waved his hand dismissively, with his reflection mimicking the gesture.
"Nonsense, it's just your eyes!"
"No, no! You're definitely more handsome!"
"Well, if you say so… I believe it!"
After his little session of narcissism, Puss smiled more lightly, feeling fully ready for the day.
Reaching the door, he gave a little hop and grabbed the doorknob, which, with his weight hanging on it, caused the door to open.
'We need a bit more social inclusion for cats here, folks!' Puss mentally complained.
He then began descending the stairs, wondering if in this crazy world, social inclusion had already been invented.
Reaching the ground floor and heading to the dining area, he found no one—not even the innkeeper to serve breakfast.
Confused, he didn't think much of it and decided not to wait. He left the inn and walked toward a nearby tavern, searching for something to eat or drink.
Upon arrival, he saw a small, dirty, and ugly building with swinging saloon-style doors like those seen in Western films.
Unbothered, he walked up and arrogantly pushed the doors open.
Since his rebirth, he had never been defeated or wounded, and on top of that, he still had nine lives. This had turned him into a fearless and uninhibited man. In his past life, he would never have entered a suspicious tavern with such arrogance… in fact, he wouldn't have entered at all. But in this life, he feared fewer and fewer things.
'Puss in Boots laughs in the face of death…' That phrase passed through his mind as he thought about these things.
He knew that, at the rate he was going, soon this phrase would come naturally from his lips, just like Puss in the movies before meeting Death. And the worst part was that he knew Death from the films, and yet, with each passing day, with the power he had, he was becoming more and more fearless.
Walking into the bar naturally, he moved under the squinting eyes of the various brutes who were drinking beer in the morning.
Puss calmly walked up to the tall stool at the counter, and with ease, jumped onto it and stood upright. Then, resting one arm on the counter, he extended a claw and tapped the surface twice.
"Barkeep, a glass of leche!" He said naturally and waited.
But the barkeep didn't move, only staring at Puss coldly.
"Ptui!" The sound of someone spitting behind him caught Puss's attention.
"You're not welcome here, gato!" A tall and strong man with scars on his face said in a rough tone, glaring at Puss.
Puss turned and leaned his small back against the counter, spreading both arms behind him on the surface. With a smile and a raised eyebrow, he asked playfully,
"Oh yeah? And why not?" He teased, knowing this was the typical case of not being taken seriously because of his appearance and being thrown out—something he had read about countless times in his past life.
But this time, he was wrong.
"Because we don't want you bringing destruction to our town too… hero." The man said, and at the end, he pronounced the word "hero" slowly.
Puss's eyes narrowed, and he stood up properly on his stool.
"Where did you hear that?" Puss asked hoarsely, clenching his fists.
"Get out, gat—" The man refused to answer and started getting up angrily, but before he could move far, he froze.
The cat that had been on the counter a second ago was suddenly on his table, with a sword pointed between his eyebrows.
"Don't make me repeat myself…" Puss said darkly.
"I-I… here!" The trembling man pulled a wanted poster from his table.
On it, a drawing of Puss was displayed, with the large word "WANTED" above.
"T-This arrived today. Everyone was warned about you and the things you did in San Riqueza by the soldiers," He said, shaking.
Puss remained silent upon hearing that.
"The things I did?" He asked quietly.
His grip on the sword hilt tightened, and in his anger, the blade accidentally pierced slightly between the man's eyebrows, making him grunt in pain and start crying and begging.
"P-Por favor, Señor Boots, don't kill me!" He pleaded, sadness and bitterness in his voice.
His voice snapped Puss out of his rage, and his eyes cleared. Only then did he notice the blood running down the man's face.
He widened his eyes and withdrew the blade.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" He stammered slightly, embarrassed.
Shaking the sword to rid it of the blood on the tip, he quickly sheathed it and left the tavern.
'I have to go back to San Ricardo, I can't let them misunderstand!' Puss thought anxiously, running toward the inn to get Tornado. But upon arriving, he saw the innkeeper followed by guards.
"There he is!" The man pointed at Puss, and the guards spotted him too.
'Damn it, he wasn't there because he saw the wanted poster and went to call the guards.' Helpless, Puss could only draw his sword as the guards surrounded him.
"Stand down! It's all a conspiracy against me! I just want to take my horse and leave." Puss tried reasoning, but the guards neither feared him nor took him seriously.
After all, he was just a criminal cat, and they were a squad of soldiers.
"Drop your sword and surrender, gato!" The guard captain ordered in a threatening tone.
Puss grew irritated at once again being attacked for something he hadn't done, and at the impossibility of reasoning.
"Rrrrghh!" He growled at them, stopped hesitating, and attacked.
"Meoooww!!!"
"Watch out!" They shouted, but under Puss's sword, no matter how cautious they were, they were disarmed and knocked down.
Soon, only Puss stood atop a small mountain of soldiers, with the innkeeper trembling on the ground beside them.
Puss didn't look at the man—he simply put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.
"Neighhh!!" A loud horse neigh resounded from farther away, and then, with a thunderous crash, the stable door shattered into pieces. Among the debris, a mighty black horse emerged.
Gallop! Gallop!
Tornado ran toward Puss and stopped in front of him.
Only then did he notice the horse was without a saddle, since it had been resting.
Too lazy to carry the saddle himself, he glanced at the still-trembling innkeeper and smiled internally.
"You, go get my saddle," He pointed at the man and ordered.
"Si! Si! Señor!" The man frantically nodded and ran to the stable.
A few minutes later, a black horse with a ginger cat riding atop it dashed out of the city, leaving the townspeople sighing in relief.
