Rei no neko

Spirit cats are feline companion creatures defined in the narrative through Orange, Broccoli Bunch’s summoned pet. They are not merely decorative familiars or passive equipment. Orange travels with Broccoli, receives protection from her, interacts with other adventurers, and becomes a visible expression of Broccoli’s instinct to make friendship part of survival. The creature’s smallness and apparent vulnerability contrast with the dangers of dungeons, undead, mud, and military conflict, giving the companionship a practical as well as emotional importance.

Nature and Introduction

Broccoli introduces Orange as a spirit kitten companion when she explains her identity and abilities to Amaryllis Albatross. She describes Orange as not yet very capable in combat but excellent at providing affection, especially “great snuggles.” This introduction places the spirit cat within Broccoli’s broader Cinnamon Bun identity: the class defines her as an exceptionally pure support and friend, and Broccoli’s first instinct is to present companionship rather than force as one of her defining strengths. Orange therefore functions as evidence that Broccoli’s support role extends beyond formal magic or battlefield assistance.

Orange is carried in a pouch attached to Broccoli’s bandoleer. When Broccoli is preparing to inspect the airship, Orange’s head appears from the pouch, and Broccoli notices that leaving the creature exposed could be dangerous. She asks Amaryllis to watch Orange, then tosses the spirit cat onto Amaryllis’s lap before leaving. The gesture is hurried and awkward, but its purpose is precise: Orange must be placed under the care of someone who can protect her while Broccoli moves through an unfamiliar ship. The scene establishes both the creature’s portability and Broccoli’s willingness to delegate its care rather than treat it as an afterthought.

Behavior and Survival Function

Spirit cats can be unsummoned when circumstances become too dangerous. Broccoli explains this to Gunther while identifying Orange as a spirit kitten and patting her head. The ability gives the creature a measure of protection that ordinary animals would not possess, but it does not eliminate the need for judgment. Broccoli still worries about Orange being hurt, carries her through hazardous regions, and pays attention to where she is concealed. The spirit cat’s safety remains a relationship that requires care, not a problem solved entirely by the game-like system.

The creature’s movement and concealment adapt to the environment. During the group’s attempt to hide in mud, Orange is tucked into the nape of Broccoli’s neck. She then walks around to stand beside Broccoli’s head in the shadow cast by her helmet, avoiding the mud by standing on the air. This moment gives the spirit cat a distinct physical agency: Orange is not simply held in place but chooses a safer position and uses her supernatural nature to avoid the surrounding contamination. Her behavior also creates a comic contrast with Broccoli’s immersion in mud and emphasizes the difference between the human adventurer’s bodily exposure and the companion’s flexible movement.

Relationships with Broccoli and Amaryllis

Orange’s closest bond is with Broccoli, who speaks of her with immediate enthusiasm and treats her as a genuine pet and partner. Broccoli’s concern is practical when she asks Amaryllis to supervise Orange, but it is also intimate: the request assumes that Orange deserves attention and protection even while a larger expedition is underway. Broccoli’s affection is repeatedly expressed through touch, praise, and the desire to share Orange with others.

Amaryllis becomes an important temporary caretaker. When Gunther asks where Orange is, Amaryllis reveals that she is carrying the spirit cat inside the front of her jacket, where only Orange’s fluffy head is visible. Orange is therefore physically sheltered by Amaryllis even after Broccoli has entrusted her to that protection. The arrangement also marks an early form of cooperation between Broccoli and Amaryllis: the two adventurers do not merely fight alongside one another but coordinate responsibility for a vulnerable companion.

Orange’s response to this protection is not entirely compliant. She looks displeased when Broccoli abruptly tosses her onto Amaryllis’s lap, and later nestles deeper into Amaryllis’s chest while Broccoli pats her. These details give the spirit cat a personality and a degree of preference. Orange can resist, glare, reposition herself, and choose comfort, which prevents her from becoming an interchangeable accessory in Broccoli’s inventory.

Encounter with Gunther and Throat Ripper

Orange also helps establish a bridge between Broccoli and Gunther. When Broccoli meets Gunther and Throat Ripper, she first expresses interest in the enormous undead companion, then remembers Orange and immediately asks where her own pet is. Her excitement about both creatures makes the encounter reciprocal rather than purely investigative: Broccoli approaches Gunther’s unusual companion through the same affectionate vocabulary with which she describes Orange.

Gunther is surprised that Broccoli carries a pet through dangerous places. Broccoli answers that Orange is a spirit kitten, that she does not know what can hurt her, and that she can unsummon Orange if danger becomes severe. Gunther accepts the explanation as clever, while the exchange reveals a difference between them. Gunther has built his life around recovering and protecting Throat Ripper despite the social stigma attached to undeath; Broccoli’s bond with Orange is less tragic in its known history, but it reflects the same refusal to reduce a companion to a hazard or instrument.

The juxtaposition becomes especially vivid when Broccoli pets Throat Ripper and Orange hides more deeply against Amaryllis. The enormous skeletal creature can collapse hard enough to shake the fort while presenting his belly for affection, whereas Orange remains a small, concealed presence close to the body. Together, the two companions enlarge the narrative’s idea of creaturely friendship: companionship crosses size, species, combat utility, and even the boundary between life and undeath.

Narrative Significance

Spirit cats embody the tension between support and danger that defines Broccoli’s role. Broccoli admits that she fights poorly, relies on Cleaning magic against undead creatures, and moves chiefly by Jumping. Her answer to the question of her team position is that she wants to be ranged damage support, yet Orange represents another kind of support entirely. The creature does not solve combat problems through established strength; instead, Orange gives Broccoli a reason to protect, coordinate, and remain emotionally open while moving through hostile spaces.

The broader setting repeatedly surrounds Broccoli with filth and death. Cleaning magic consumes mana while producing water for scrubbing; the smell of abominations resembles raw sewage; Broccoli hides in mud; Gunther lives among skeletons because his undeath-oriented class is socially condemned. Against this background, the spirit cat’s fur, cuddling, concealment, and portable presence create a recurring counter-image. Orange does not erase contamination, but she gives Broccoli a living—or summoned—relationship that can be carried through it. The creature thus makes the Cinnamon Bun class concrete: purity is not an abstract claim that the world is harmless, but a practice of preserving tenderness within dangerous conditions.