The Tale of Hero Alice's Social Death - Chapter 222

Chapter 222 – There Is Something Wrong With You Catkins

The catkins’ chieftain wasn’t an old man like Alice expected. On the contrary, the catkins’ chieftain was a beautiful mature woman.

It wasn’t uncommon to see countries and tribes have women as leaders. The Vulcan Kingdom’s Queen Abbey Motley, the Acura Kingdom’s Queen Ellu Shax, and the Terra Kingdom’s Queen Aird Mishal were a few examples.

“Greetings, Your Highness. It is an honor to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

The catkins’ chieftain was named Johanna, and she was similar to Ciel in that the only features that separated her from a normal human were her cat ears, cat tail, and the paw pads on her palms.

Johanna wore a smile throughout her entire interaction with Alice. When she saw Alice entering her office, she even stepped away from her seat and took the initiative to shake hands with Alice. Her attitude overall was very friendly.

Johanna’s behavior was obvious if one thought about it. In exchange for letting Alice read the catkins’ taboos, which nobody could use normally, the catkins would receive a series of policy benefits from the Gryffin Kingdom. No matter how one looked at it, this transaction greatly favored the catkins.

As the catkins’ chieftain, Johanna would naturally behave very welcoming toward Alice, the princess who had helped earn these benefits for the catkins.

“Ah, hello.”

Alice didn’t expect the catkins’ chieftain to greet her so enthusiastically. So, when she saw Johanna extending a hand to her, she hurriedly held it and shook it.

Although the catkins’ settlement was relatively remote, Alice still managed to see a few humans walking in the small town. The catkins’ attire was also no different from modern human attire. She did not see anyone walking around in ethnic clothing. So, after realizing the catkins’ situation, Alice didn’t feel too much pressure when greeting Johanna.

However, the moment Alice held Johanna’s hand with her right hand, an information panel that normally shouldn’t have appeared in such a situation suddenly appeared in her mind.

…

[Weapon: Mana Rich Johanna]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Effect: Constitution +100, Speed +100, Control +100, Mana +100]

[Additional Effect:

Cat’s Wildness (Passive Skill. You gain cat-like agility, and your reaction speed becomes more sensitive.)]

…

Alice was momentarily stunned. Then, she took a moment to read the information that had appeared in her mind and verified that her right hand had indeed deemed Johanna a weapon.

During this period, Alice had already gotten so used to these information panels appearing in her mind that she had started ignoring them subconsciously. After all, the things she typically touched with her right hand didn’t have any special uses or value.

For example, when Alice was using the teleportation array, she was holding the crystal tablet with her right hand, which allowed her to see the tablet’s weapon information. However, the tablet was merely judged as a “Fine” item. It also had only one ability that went by the name of “Teleportation Lock.” So, Alice swiftly ignored it after giving it a glance.

However, the fact that Johanna was deemed a weapon was very strange.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time Alice had seen a living creature being judged as a weapon. The Milu Rabbit hanging by her waist was the perfect example. It was the perfect tool to crack walnuts. However, the problem now was that her right hand was judging Johanna, a living and conscious person, as a weapon. This was very strange.

According to Alice’s past experiments and speculations, when an object possessed conscious resistance, her right hand wouldn’t be able to turn this object into a weapon. Even Zauna, someone who trusted Alice wholeheartedly, couldn’t be judged as a weapon due to her body’s instinctive resistance. So…why was her right hand’s ability working on the catkins’ chieftain all of a sudden?

“Cough, cough… Your Highness?”

While Alice was wondering if something had gone wrong with her right hand, Johanna lightly coughed twice with an unnatural blush forming on her face, seemingly trying to remind Alice that their handshake was going on for a little too long.

Johanna’s voice quickly brought Alice back to reality. In this process, Alice subconsciously applied some force with her right hand and squeezed Johanna’s hand. However, not only did Johanna not put up a struggle, but the blush on her face had grown even deeper.

My goodness.

Alice finally understood what was going on. She realized that Johanna might have masochistic tendencies just like Ciel. Hence, when facing her, the catkins’ chieftain suddenly forgot the concept of resistance and became extremely submissive.

After all, any normal person would grow angry if a stranger was to persistently hold their hand for such a long time. However, Johanna neither got angry nor tried to break free from Alice’s hand. On the contrary, a misleading blush had even appeared on her face.

Meanwhile, due to Johanna’s lack of resistance, Alice’s right hand had judged her as a usable weapon.

“Sorry, sorry. I suddenly thought of something just now, so…” Alice apologized, a strange expression appearing on her face as she let go of Johanna’s hand.

“It’s fine.”

Johanna’s voice was quite soft. Alice found it hard to imagine that a woman like Johanna was the catkins’ chieftain. For a moment, Alice even suspected that the entire catkin race might have masochistic tendencies. Hence, they were letting such a delicate woman manage them.

Beastkins would typically stay in their tribe, and only a small portion would live in human society. Johanna was most likely part of the former, so it wasn’t strange that nobody had discovered Johanna’s fetish until now. Even Johanna herself seemed surprised by the strange feeling she had just experienced.

“We store our taboos in our archives. I’ve already told the archivist about your visit, so if you want to read them, you can have Ciel bring you to the archives,” Johanna said, her voice sounding a little flustered. She had originally planned to have a longer conversation with the Gryffin Princess, but she wasn’t in the mood to talk after that strange incident. “Well, that’s it from me.”

“Alright, then. Thank you, Matriarch Johanna.”

Alice nodded and glanced at Johanna thoughtfully. Then, she exited the Chieftain’s Office with Ciel, leaving behind the blushing Johanna alone in the room.

However, Alice still couldn’t be certain about her conjecture. Could a person really be judged as a weapon so long as they were sincerely obedient to her?

Harboring such a thought in her mind, Alice reached out and grabbed Ciel’s tail after exiting the office.

“Meow?!” Ciel shuddered, her whole body softening. Then, she glared at Alice and questioned, “W-What are you doing? There are people coming and going here…”

While there were indeed catkins coming and going from the administrative building from time to time, nobody was on the second floor right now. Hence, Alice had dared to squeeze Ciel’s tail.

Meanwhile, as soon as Alice squeezed Ciel’s tail with her right hand, an information panel promptly appeared in her mind.

…

[Weapon: Ciel in Heat]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Effect: Constitution +50, Speed +50, Control +50, Mana +60]

[Additional Effect:

Cat’s Wildness (Passive Skill. You gain cat-like agility, and your reaction speed becomes more sensitive.)]

…

Sure enough. It seems that my right hand will deem even a conscious person as a weapon so long as they are sincerely submissive to me.

As for the strange suffix in Ciel’s name… Alice decided to ignore it.