Sherwin was not in a hurry about going to the Hunter world for now. At the moment, he still had to take care of the big cat clinging tightly to him in front of him.
After bawling his eyes out for a while, Kaido Meow quickly fell asleep while hanging onto him.
Sherwin was worried that waking him would mean having to comfort him all over again, so he did not forcefully peel him off. Instead, he gently scratched around his ears and under his chin, while glaring fiercely at the true culprit.
"Hey now~ I really didn't expect Kaido to be so big yet so unable to hold his liquor, meow~"
(●ω●)
Suika Meow avoided Sherwin gaze and stubbornly defended herself. "The way he drank was so bold and heroic, meow. I thought his alcohol tolerance was really good, meow."
"His tolerance still isn't good enough?" Sherwin shot back irritably.
"He drank more than a dozen bowls of that liquor you compressed with your ability. Before this, who else could drink that much?! You should've switched the alcohol as soon as you noticed he was getting drunk!"
The tipsy little drunk cat, clearly in the wrong, gave an awkward laugh and scratched the oni horns on her head, but she still had her own justification…
"You can't blame me for that. Kaido didn't show any signs of being drunk at all before that, meow. After the seventeenth bowl went down, he suddenly just started crying, meow."
Sherwin thought back for a moment. It really did seem to be like that.
At the time, they had been eating while chatting about things from the pirate world, trying to help Kaido Meow get familiar with this world as quickly as possible.
Then, all of a sudden, he lunged forward, hugged onto Sherwin, and burst into loud sobs…
Klee Meow and Haibara Meow, who had been sitting close to Sherwin, along with the Dodo Advance that couldn't eat and could only lie on his head watching enviously, were all knocked over by the impact.
With that in mind, and since he had already been mentally prepared for something like this, Sherwin couldn't really blame Suika Meow any further.
He only reminded her, "Don't go pouring drinks into him like that again in the future…"
"Don't worry, Sherwin, meow. After this time, I already know exactly how much he can drink. I'll be careful to control the amount when I drink with him in the future, meow… hic~"
(●ω●)
Suika Meow shook the Ibuki gourd in her hand and replied with absolute confidence.
It was just that Sherwin did not believe a single promise this little drunk cat made when it came to alcohol…
"Alright. If you get Kaido drunk again in the future, I'll cut off your alcohol for three days."
"How can you do that, meow?!!"
∑(●ΦДΦ●)
Obviously, Suika Meow herself did not trust what she had just said all that much either.
"Sherwin big brother, when will Kaido big brother wake up from drinking, meow?"
(=｀3=)
While Sherwin and Suika Meow were bantering back and forth, the little ragdoll wandered back over. She tugged at his clothes, tilted her head up, and pouted as she asked.
"He keeps hogging you like this, so Klee can't lie on Sherwin big brother and sleep tonight, meow."
After finishing her surprise, the little ragdoll finally remembered to reclaim her "territory."
"Don't worry. It probably won't take until night," Sherwin said, awkwardly stretching out a hand to rub her little head. "With Kaido physique, he'll break down the alcohol in his body very quickly."
In the manga, Kaido was always drunk because even after getting drunk, he kept drinking nonstop, so naturally it was hard for him to sober up.
Besides, the high-proof liquor Suika Meow compressed was nothing like the alcohol brewed with the backward techniques of the pirate world. While it made people drunk very quickly, it also wore off just as fast.
Having drunk this kind of "alcohol" several times himself, Sherwin had plenty of firsthand experience to speak from.
Sure enough, after about another half an hour or so, Kaido Meow, who had been holding Sherwin tightly the whole time, gradually loosened his arms.
Originally, Sherwin planned to adjust his posture a bit and let him wake up naturally.
But the moment he applied even a little force, Kaido Meow immediately snapped awake.
His eyes flew open, filled with vigilance, and the fur on his body bristled slightly.
But when he saw that it was Sherwin, Kaido Meow gaze immediately softened…
This kind of situation was not unfamiliar to Sherwin. In the inherited memories, those Hunters who had fought countless battles and spent years roaming the wilds all carried this sort of vigilance.
Even when Seijuro Meow and the others had first arrived, they had shown the same instinctive reaction. It was only after awakening a more refined and practical Observation Haki that such moments became rare.
"S-Sorry, meow…"
After waking up, Kaido Meow also recalled what he had done while drunk, and a trace of embarrassment appeared on his usually imposing face.
Fortunately, at that moment, Klee Meow, the little angel, jumped out to break the awkwardness.
"Yay! Sherwin big brother belongs to Klee again, meow!"
(=`=)
The little ragdoll cat leaped forward and crashed into Sherwin arms, rubbing her small head nonstop against his stomach.
And Dodo, who had been staying on top of Sherwin head all this time, followed Klee Meow example, hugging Sherwin head and nuzzling it enthusiastically.
"Hmph!"
(=`へ=)
The tsundere Haibara Meow couldn't bring herself to act cute toward Sherwin, so she could only stand to the side, expressing her displeasure with deliberately exaggerated huffing sounds.
While clumsily soothing the three little cats, Sherwin said to Kaido Meow, "Letting it out a bit after getting drunk isn't so bad. Don't take it to heart."
Although Kaido Meow looked quite mature, to Sherwin he was still just a cat, so there was no reason to blame him over such a trivial matter.
To keep him from dwelling on it—and also out of curiosity about what had happened before—Sherwin decisively changed the topic.
"By the way, I still don't know why you responded to my summoning."
After all, judging from Kaido Meow reaction when he was drunk, he must have borne considerable responsibility in the Monster Hunter world, and didn't really seem like the type who would respond to a summoning.
"Actually, when I joined forces with the Hunters of Elgado to repel Gaismagorm, I was also infested by the Qurio.
Then, before I completely lost my reason, I chose to leave the village and planned to find a place to end myself…
Right at the moment I jumped off the cliff, a voice suddenly told me it could resolve the problem of the Qurio on my body.
I thought that trying it wouldn't make things any worse anyway, so I responded to the summoning, meow…"
Kaido Meow briefly explained why he had answered the call.
Unlike in the game, where materials from Gaismagorm can be used to craft equipment that automatically drains health, in the real Monster Hunter world the Qurio are far more troublesome than even the Frenzy Virus.
If the infestation is shallow, they can still be dug out in time. But if they burrow into the internal organs, there is basically no hope.
Even if someone is barely saved, they will never be able to fight again, and even daily activities become extremely difficult.
Because of this, most Hunters who become infested would rather refuse treatment and choose to die on the battlefield.
And since Kaido Meow mentioned losing his reason, it was most likely that the infestation had reached his brain, a completely hopeless case. No wonder he responded to the summoning.
However…
When you descended from the sky, you really were committing suicide!
Despite being so different from the original, you're oddly similar in this particular aspect…
Sherwin even began to suspect that this was the malicious sense of humor of his own cheat, deliberately issuing the summoning right at the moment Kaido Meow leaped off the cliff.
"Isn't this a good thing? It basically like you've gained an extra life," Sherwin said immediately when he noticed Kaido Meow growing a little downcast while talking about it.
"Yes… I'm just a bit regretful that the Flame I knew didn't receive your summoning, meow."
Kaido Meow forced a smile at Sherwin.
"Is 'Blazing Flame' what you call the Hunter over there, meow? I remember when you first arrived, that exactly how you addressed this idiot Sherwin, meow."
Haibara Meow, who was squeezed together with the Dodo Advance and Klee Meow in Sherwin arms, asked curiously.
"I'm not really sure what you mean by 'Hunter,' meow, but as for 'Blazing Flame,' that a title reserved exclusively for the strongest Hunter of Kamura Village…"
Kaido Meow scratched his head and said a little embarrassedly, "Actually, at the very beginning they planned to give that title to me, but since I'm a Felyne after all, I turned it down, meow."
Sherwin: "..."
Sure enough, just as he had guessed, Kaido Meow could never have encountered a situation like Kaido. Instead, he would only be treated as a hero and revered by everyone.
Judging from what he said, it even felt as though Kaido Meow had snatched the protagonist role from the player character in Monster Hunter Rise…
Although, from the outcome, this should count as a tragic version of a protagonist, in reality, this was simply the norm of the true Monster Hunter world.