Chapter 165 Cats
"I don't know, I guess. It might have been something comforting for me. Maybe it reminded me of the cats I used to pet, but they died because I touched them," Kailey said quietly, her eyes glistening.
"The cats that came to me seemed to want to comfort me because they always came whenever I was sad or hiding my feelings. But, because of my curse, I think I absorbed their mana or energy whenever I petted them because I wouldn't feel so frail afterward. In the days that followed, I would find them as frail as I had been or next to dead around and in front of my home. After all this time, the golem helped me remember the warmth I felt while petting them," Kailey said, her expression downcast. "It might have been the other townspeople who left them in front of my family's home, but I can't believe they could be that cruel."
Aleshia felt a pang of guilt for causing Kailey to recall and share her past trauma. "I'm sorry for making you tell me that," she said gently, touching Kailey's shoulder before leading her back to the golem. There, Kailey began to caress the golem beast's tail.
Believing it was imprudent to remove the golem's head in Kailey's line of sight, Aleshia moved away to find another golem that Kailey couldn't see. Once she located one, she gently shimmied its head from the neck. Applying pressure on the head, Aleshia felt a jerk and heard a click. After that, it became much easier for her, and she successfully pulled the head off like a cap.
Peering inside, she saw nothing but pitch black. "Right," she muttered, suddenly remembering that she needed Kailey's light orb. She returned to Kailey to ask if she could use it.
When Aleshia spotted Kailey again, she noticed her curled up next to a detached tail belonging to the golem. "That detaches, too?" Aleshia muttered to herself. As Aleshia approached Kailey, she realized that Kailey was unusually still. Concerned, Aleshia checked Kailey's breathing and discovered she was simply asleep.
Aleshia quietly searched for the light orb, careful not to disturb the sleeping Kailey. Once she found it, she manipulated the orb to follow her and examined the inside of the golem.
Aleshia peered into the golem, just as she had with the previous one. She noticed the same layering of magical circles inside. Driven by her prior goal, she opened more golems and examined their insides, unaware that Kailey had vanished from the room. Eventually, Aleshia, still searching through the golems, fell asleep.