Wait! Was I Seriously Just Reincarnated As a Cat?-Chapter 40: Maternal Struggle

Standing in the middle of the forest, covered in a hooded shawl, and hidden in the shadows, was someone lurking just moments before Keiko’s victory. They watched everything unfold as a familiar old man with black and gold robes, cat ears, and sigils beneath his eyes stood next to them.

"She is powerful." The old man muttered before narrowing his eyes as they witnessed Keiko effortlessly handle the Skinwalkers. "More than I expected... even at this age."

The hooded figure kept her gaze fixed on the scene.

"She is untrained, yet her instincts are sharp. She already has the respect of the Swamp and Forest creatures... and she thinks quickly under pressure."

The man couldn’t believe his eyes, it was truly a miracle standing before him.

"Everything you said must be true. She is unbound by the laws of this world; that child... she might be more than we can comprehend."

"Mm." They nodded. "If she grows at this rate, by the time she is fully aware of her innate nature... she could rival even the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings in no time."

"And yet, you cannot wait, can you, Bubastis?"

The old man called out her name as she glared at him with a look of determination.

"I’m afraid not, Bishop Menka."

Menka lowered his head into a sigh before crossing his arms behind his back.

"I don’t understand you, Bubastis. You are aware of your daughter’s strength, knowing that she will one day grow up and rival even the Heavenly Kings, and yet, you won’t allow it to happen." He closed his eyes, continuing. "You want to be the one to slay Sasobek, knowing the risks involved. So tell me, why?"

Bubastis averted her gaze from him, staring off into the distance.

"My only objective is to avenge those who fell in the Primeval War."

Bishop Menka shook his head in utter disappointment as he faced her with a scowl.

"You fool!" He said aloud. "When was the last time you actually held one of your children? When was the last time you fed them? Told them that you loved them? Or actually acted like a parent!"

Bubastis kept her gaze stern, facing the other way.

"..."

"You even put them in danger by living in the swamp just to get information on Sasobek, Bubastis! Don’t you see the way of your actions? Don’t you see that it’s affecting them?"

She said nothing as she kept quiet, thinking of her past actions.

Maybe he was right—maybe she was too absorbed in avenging her fallen brothers and sisters—that she forgot about her children.

Even though beasts born from a divine body doesn’t require their mother’s milk to develop, considering they fed off of mana, she still could’ve held them in her arms.

She still could’ve told them that she loved them, every day.

She still could’ve moved somewhere else, away from the swamp, and not put her children in danger.

But she didn’t—and now—regret was apparent.

"You haven’t even named your daughter yet, you fool!"

Bubastis widened her eyes at his last comment before staring at the bishop.

"I... haven’t..." Muttered the Divine Beast, realizing how much of a horrible mother she had been.

Bubastis’s fingers trembled beneath her shawl.

A name.

Something so simple—so fundamental—had never crossed her mind.

Names carried weight.

To name a child was to bind them to the world, to acknowledge them not as an extension of oneself, but as an individual who would one day walk their own path.

And yet, she had delayed it. Again and again. Always tomorrow. Always after Sasobek. Always after vengeance and all of this nonsense.

"...I failed her." Bubastis finally said, barely above a whisper.

Bishop Menka did not pity her words. If anything, his expression hardened further.

"Failure is not in mistakes alone. It is in refusing to confront them!"

All of a sudden, a loud chanting began from the Skinwalkers Keiko fought. But Menka and Bubastis merely watched the outcome unfold as they continued speaking to one another.

"I understand wanting revenge, Bubastis. And I can tell that you care very much about your children. You’ve even brought me out here to see one of them. But if you have what is needed to defeat Sasobek without risking your life, then use it. Train your daughter and teach her right from wrong. Show her the path of justice. And she will do whatever it takes to ensure Sasobek’s demise."

"..."

Bubastis kept quiet, knowing what he was saying was true, but she suppressed those feelings internally.

She had already made up her mind.

All of a sudden, they both could pick up Keiko’s purring that echoed through the trees; it was soft and impossibly calming.

The Skinwalkers’ chanting faltered as Menka’s ears twitched.

"...That skill." He muttered. "It calmed down the other Skinwalkers?"

Bubastis followed his gaze.

She watched as Keiko stood her ground—small, and afraid—but unyielding.

A ruler not because she demanded obedience, but because other beasts believed in her.

"She is quick on her feet like you said. She didn’t panic, and she handled the situation perfectly."

Bubastis stared at Keiko, proud of her growth. However, the pride she had came with shame; simply because she wasn’t there beside Keiko, watching her grow like she was supposed to.

And that’s what hurts the most.

"I see it now, Bishop Menka. Everything I refused to acknowledge... is right in front of me."

Menka turned toward her again, dropping his voice low.

"Then answer me this, Bubastis. If you truly intend to face Sasobek yourself—if you intend to walk into a battle even the gods fear—what happens to her if you fall?"

Silence stretched between them as she could only glare.

"...She will survive." Bubastis said at last. "She is strong enough on her own"

"That is not an answer!" Menka said, raising his voice.

Bubastis clenched her jaw, then slowly, deliberately, she bowed her head.

"For the first time in forever... I am afraid." She said, saddened in her tone. "I didn’t intend on having children while I was gathering information for Sasobek in the swamp. It just happened. And then I was forced into motherhood, without completing my objective."

Menka’s expression shifted as he furrowed his brows and lowered his head.

"Even if that was the case, it’s still idiotic." He muttered. "You were going to fight one of the Heavenly Kings while pregnant. So either way, it is still in the realm of a fool!"

"Have you no faith in me?" Asked Bubastis, awaiting an answer silently.

Bishop Menka stayed quiet, keeping his eyes closed.

"I do have faith in you, Blessed of Bastet, however... you slew a god to obtain the title of Heavenly King. How do you think Lady Bastet will feel, knowing you used her authority to murder a divine being? Even if they were of a lower class!" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Bubastis seemed stoic as ever by his words.

"If she had a problem, then her blessing would’ve been stripped from me by now. Lady Bastet understands me, and why I do this. If Sasobek continues to live, then this world will only know pain and suffering."

Bishop Menka scowled at her comment.

"That is true, however, you’re forgetting one thing, Bubastis."

She questioned him with her eyes before he answered.

"The other Heavenly Kings still exist."

Both of them went silent, until Menka continued speaking.

"Even if Sasobek dies, the others will just continue doing what he couldn’t finish. And you would’ve done all of this for nothing."

Bubastis stiffened. For the first time since the Primeval War, the certainty she wore like armor cracked, even if it was just slightly.

"...You think I don’t know that?" She said quietly.

Menka opened his eyes, and turned around, meeting her gaze.

"Then why do you act as if Sasobek is the end of all things?"

Bubastis looked back toward the battlefield.

The chanting had fully collapsed now.

Skinwalkers fled or lay unconscious, their rituals broken by a child’s simple purr.

Keiko still stood there breathing hard with her fur matted with blood and dirt.

Evidently afraid, but standing nonetheless.

"Sasobek is a traitor. A beast consumed by power. He freed us from humanity’s enslavement, but then used his strength like a tyrant. If I don’t end him... then I won’t be able to face myself."

Menka exhaled slowly.

"And when your daughter asks why you were never there?"

She widened her eyes as his question hit harder than any blade.

Bubastis’s claws dug into her palms beneath the shawl.

"I didn’t choose this..." She said. "I didn’t choose to be Blessed. I didn’t choose to be a weapon. And I didn’t choose to become a mother during the time I hunted down Sasobek!"

Her voice trembled in frustration.

"But she didn’t choose any of this either..."

Menka said nothing.

"That is why..." Bubastis continued. "I will keep her away from danger, and away from Sasobek. I will not allow her to walk my path. I won’t use her to avenge the fallen. I must do it myself."

She turned fully toward him now, eyes burning with resolve.

"And if I fall, then let history remember me as a fool who tried."

Menka clenched his jaw.

"And if you live?"

"...Then I will return... and I will be a mother once more."