Hideout in Another World: I Tried Building a Secret Base in the Middle of Nowhere

Chapter 79: Short Story : Elizabeth and the Black Panther

Everyone stands still.

My mind is completely blank.

I can’t seem to make sense of what just happened right in front of me.

At that moment, Elizabeth suddenly strides over to the carcass of the black panther and starts feeling around its belly with her nose.

“Huh? Are you going to eat it?”

“Meow!”

As Zamza blurts out, Elizabeth lets out an annoyed sound.

Then, just as I think Kuro is also running towards Elizabeth’s nose, she starts fumbling around the belly of the black panther’s carcass and pulls out something like a damp blanket.

“Meow~! Meow meow meow~!”

“Huh?”

“Oh my, it’s a baby.”

“Oh, I see… So you were a mother…”

Kuro embraces the stuffed animal-like black panther cub with one hand and wipes its body with a towel.

I finally manage to organize my thoughts.

Along with that comes an indescribable feeling.

The black panther must have been observing us all along.

Until the very end of its life.

Wondering if we were really the ones it could entrust its child to.

Considering how it could entrust its child.

(Elizabeth’s Perspective)

“Meow~! Meow~!”

“Elizabeth, are you okay? I’ll pet you plenty later, okay?”

Kuro and Shiro are indeed kind.

They always make me look very pretty.

It’s embarrassing to say it myself, but I think I’m a stunning beauty.

In my former world, everyone was obsessed with me.

A shining, beautiful, soft, and resilient coat.

Plenty of thick fur.

Horns that combine strength and grace.

A long, flexible pink tongue.

And in terms of physique, the largest and roundest among girls of the same age.

With just a flick of my tongue, boys would drool all over, and girls would gaze at me with envy.

If I were to be pampered like this… it would be quite a hassle.

Now, my old friends are no longer around… but everyone in the hideout is infatuated with me.

Once someone touches my body, they can hardly let go, and when they bury themselves in my body, they quickly fall asleep.

Sometimes, everyone goes out into town together, but even then, someone is usually with me.

But even so… to tell the truth, I felt very lonely.

Before I was forcibly brought to this world, I lived surrounded by many companions who looked like me.

And someday, I planned to be with one of them and have cute babies.

I vaguely imagined and longed for such a future.

But now, it seems like that possibility is gone…

Of course, creatures from the old world are sometimes brought here, but most of them die quickly.

There are many dangerous creatures in the southern forest.

It’s not uncommon for them to be eaten the moment they arrive in this world.

Moreover, many of them can’t adapt well and end up going crazy.

And above all, all the creatures brought to this world are exclusively female.

Some are indeterminate, but it seems difficult to have children.

That’s why the future of me being with a boy and having a baby has completely disappeared.

It’s very disappointing, but well, what can you do?

There’s nothing I can do about it, and life in the hideout isn’t so bad after all.

While thinking about that, I was living leisurely with Bonus and the others, but one day, I suddenly encountered that black panther.

Now is the time for me to show my power! …or so I thought, but it didn’t turn out that way.

In the end, three days after it first appeared, on the third night, the black panther quietly breathed its last.

And thus, the black panther left us with a child.

I will never forget the face of that woman at that moment, until the day I die.

The black panther had many serious injuries, and its body was more worn out than it appeared.

Even though it must have been very painful and difficult, it showed no signs of it, calmly looked around at us with a relaxed expression, and died leaving its child with a satisfied look.

What a sense of defeat.

That black panther probably already had a child in its belly when it was summoned to this world.

Was it me, who can no longer conceive, or her, who left her child and died in this hopeless world?

Which one of us is truly unfortunate?

At the very least, it’s clear that she didn’t see her fate as tragic.

That woman always had a mischievous look on her face.

In the end, she might have found her fate amusing in some way.

It’s frustrating…

And that woman, while considering me, left her child behind with a plan.

And infuriatingly, her assessment was completely correct.

“Mmm, meow, meow.”

“Baa~”

Right now, I’m being nursed while experiencing a strange, indescribable sense of satisfaction.

How adorable is this…?

From now on, I need to be a bit more firm.

Bonus is no good.

Despite saying various pompous things, his face when looking at this child is completely softened and defeated.

At this rate, he’ll spoil it too much.

Kuro and Shiro, too, just grin endlessly when they hold the baby and don’t let go.

Everyone else is pretty much the same.

I’m the only one who truly understands the loneliness this child will have to bear.

I have to raise it properly.

“Mew, meow~”

“Aww, so cute~. What should we name you?”

“Baa~”

First of all, I have to make sure Bonus doesn’t come up with some outrageous name!