Harpies of the Forest and Cat Thieves (2)

Chapter 9: Harpies of the Forest and Cat Thieves 2 

The two managed to find the thieves' hideout, but Piyo recklessly jumped in first. 

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I grabbed Piyo, who was proudly making demands in front of the thieves, threw her over my shoulder, and pulled her close. 

"What are you doing? Run away!" 

"Where do you think you're going?" 

Crap! The thieves moved faster than I did, and I was surrounded in no time. Since they're a group of cat thieves, they all have cat ears and tails. Some of them even have cat faces—they're apparently the so-called beastmen from fantasy books. 

"A human and a harpy child? Kill the human and capture the child like the others." 

The large man in front of me gave orders to his companions. He's probably the leader of this group. One of the thieves behind me drew his sword. This is seriously dangerous, and if things continue like this, I'll be killed. At that moment, a woman stepped out from behind the leader. 

"Wait a minute, let me handle this." 

"Ah, fine. Make it quick." 

I don't know what kind of whim this was, but it temporarily extended my life. If the other person is a woman, I might even try to talk to her to buy some time. Let's try to take advantage of this opportunity to escape. 

I pushed Piyo, who was in front of me, aside and approached the woman. The woman drew the dagger from her waist. 

"Wow, coming forward on your own seems like it'll be a bit fun, don't you think? Don't worry, I won't kill you right away. It'll be a great way to pass the time!" 

She came at me laughing. That was fast! I was hoping to think of what to do while we were talking! 

What should I do now? It's too late to avoid her strike. Ah, how ironic, to be killed again by the cats I love so much... wait, a cat? 

I immediately rummaged through my bag.