Chapter 94
Chapter 94
The Silver Fox’s Tricks (1)
How did it follow us? I narrowed my eyes. If it had been tailing us from the start, that would be unsettling.
Its stealth was so refined that even my Adaptive Body hadn’t noticed it. It was on par with Canis’s concealment.
“Um. Senior?”
At some point, Winter had scooped up the fox and called out to me. The way her eyes sparkled made it obvious she liked it.
“Don’t get that close to animals you meet in the wild.”
“Ah. Okay.”
At my words, Winter hurriedly let the fox go. The fox twisted its body deftly and landed lightly.
It immediately approached me as if swimming, its two tails swaying gently.
“For now, we’re heading to the shelter. The weather’s not good.”
I hesitated over what to do. Still, getting to the shelter came first. The weather was growing increasingly ominous.
Clicking my tongue, I started walking. Winter followed behind me, repeatedly glancing back.
“Huh? This is the shelter……?”
Winter let out a dumbfounded sound upon arrival. I only became certain after checking the map.
A sign engraved with a cross symbol confirmed that this small cave was indeed the shelter. We sighed and stepped inside.
“It’s got everything we need.”
“……There’s only a single lamp, though.”
The cave was small, about three pyeong in size. A simple place with only a magic lamp hanging from the ceiling.
The reason it felt so distant and desolate was the fierce snowstorm visible whenever we turned back. I easily ignored Winter’s remark.
“Can we light a fire?”
Even without the snowstorm, the perceived temperature rose significantly. I set my belongings down against one side of the cave wall and tapped the lamp.
Winter, who had also organized her things, was about to start a fire before hesitating.
“The entrance is open, so it should be fine.”
“Hm.”
She was worried the smoke might build up and become dangerous. After a brief moment of thought, Winter pulled out some kindling from her backpack.
“Now that I think about it, we didn’t bring much wood.”
“It’ll get cold at night.”
We hadn’t brought much firewood. I would be fine, but it could be dangerous for Winter.
“Should we eat dinner?”
“Yeah. That’s a good idea.”
Winter, who had easily started the fire, asked as she took out a mess tin. It seemed better to eat while the fire had just been lit.
I stepped outside, filled the mess tin with snow, and returned. With the campfire going, the cave quickly warmed up.
“More importantly. What is that little one?”
Chewing on some dried jerky, Winter asked. She pointed at the fox sitting not far from me, staring blankly.
“A silver fox.”
“A silver fox?”
At my firm answer, Winter’s eyes widened. She tilted her head once before speaking.
“Isn’t that an animal from the East?”
“Yeah. You know about it?”
People of the Empire had little interest in the East. The Empire itself was vast and filled with countless races, which was already more than enough to deal with.
That’s why it was surprising that Winter knew about the silver fox, which lived only in the East.
“In the East, there are creatures called divine beasts or spiritual beings, and they’re revered as gods. I wondered if they might be the same as the gods we know, so I looked into it. That’s when I saw mentions of the silver fox too.”
“Ha, seriously.”
The power of a fangirl was impressive. I shook my head and looked at the silver fox.
It was staring straight at me. I handed it a piece of jerky, and it quickly snatched it up.
“……It’s cute.”
“Does the book describe silver foxes?”
“Ah! Yes!”
Watching the silver fox chew on the jerky, Winter’s expression softened as she answered quickly.
“Silver foxes are also considered sacred animals. More precisely, they’re extremely rare. Anyway, they appear occasionally throughout long history, and most of them have //nine// tails, use powerful sorcery, and act as guides that lead souls.”
The snow in the mess tin had melted into warm water. I took out some powdered soup from my bag and slowly dissolved it.
Excited, Winter continued talking about what she knew. The silver fox, having already finished the jerky, nodded with a solemn expression.
“You said silver foxes use powerful sorcery.”
“Huh? Yes. It says they possess strong power.”
“Did you know that among the sorcery a silver fox uses, there’s transformation magic?”
“……Huh?”
Winter made a blank sound. The spoon she was using to stir the soup came to a stop. The silver fox also froze momentarily.
Winter’s face turned serious. Then she spoke in a heavy tone.
“What is transformation magic?”
“Ah. So that’s where we’re starting from.”
I felt a bit deflated. At my words, Winter made an aggrieved expression.
She began making excuses, saying that sorcery of the East was their own culture and asking how she was supposed to know about it.
“Anyway. Transformation magic refers to changing one’s body into something else.”
“Oh. There’s sorcery like that too.”
“Yeah. And it’s known that silver foxes use it often.”
“Oh. Silver foxes use it often……. Huh?”
Only then did Winter stare at the silver fox with wide eyes. It seemed she had realized what I was getting at.
The silver fox remained frozen like a statue.
“Th-then. Um, can this one also become a person?”
“That’s right. And the reverse is possible too.”
“…….”
Only then did Winter start watching me cautiously. She kept glancing sideways as if asking what we should do about it.
“I know quite a lot, you see. Senior.”
“Senior?”
I muttered lowly while touching the soft fox ears. Winter looked confused at the sudden word that came out of my mouth.
“How did you know?”
“Aaaah!”
At the unfamiliar female voice coming from the silver fox’s mouth, Winter let out a piercing scream.
“Ah. My goodness.”
After hearing the whole story, Winter looked at Aro with an impressed expression. Aro, lying on Winter’s lap, let out a wide yawn.
“You followed us all the way here because of love?”
“It’s not love.”
“It’s obviously love.”
Different answers came out of my mouth and Aro’s at the same time. Winter looked at me with a puzzled expression.
She didn’t stop stroking Aro’s back.
“More importantly, how did you follow us? It was quite a distance.”
“I hid inside the backpack of the child who resembles snow.”
At the phrase “child who resembles snow,” Winter made a blank expression. It was the same look she often made when reading the scripture.
“She means you.”
“Me!?”
“Yeah~ you, the child who resembles snow. Though you’re small, you’re quite strong?”
Finding Winter’s reaction amusing, Aro giggled as she answered.
Winter looked wronged. When she complained that I, someone sturdier, was right there, Aro flipped onto her back laughing.
“Because it looked fun. And I had to see that handsome face too, right?”
“You really are something else.”
Being called handsome should have been a compliment, but coming from Aro, it didn’t feel like one.
Aro said that to anyone who fit her taste. Of course, she said it to genuinely handsome guys too.
“S-senior.”
“Yeah?”
“No, um, senior.”
Being evaluated like a sculpture didn’t feel great. Sensing that my expression wasn’t good, Winter cautiously tried to intervene.
“So please go back now.”
“I came because I have a request.”
“You can’t go any further anyway. The sanctuary can only be reached with Divine Power.”
“You said you obtained the scripture? Can I take a look for a moment?”
As the conversation ran in parallel, Winter’s eyes turned cold.
“Excuse me. Seniors.”
“Anyway, please go back.”
“Show me the scripture.”
“……Please talk after reaching an amicable agreement.”
Sighing as if exhausted, Winter set Aro down and headed toward her backpack.
She took out a sleeping bag and some extra firewood.
“Ugh. My legs hurt.”
Leaving Winter behind as she massaged her calves, I locked eyes with Aro.
We ignored each other’s words like dogs and just pushed our own opinions. Neither of us yielded an inch.
“Please go back now.”
“Show me the scripture.”
“Go back.”
“Show it.”
“……Seniors, I’m tired.”
Now half-lying down, Winter groaned. I swallowed a sigh and shook my head.
“If we show it to you, will you go back?”
“Yeah! For real!”
Aro nodded and smiled brightly. Her two tails swayed happily.
“I’m sorry, but that’s difficult. The scripture is something important.”
At my words, Winter nodded. The scripture was the symbol of a religion. Showing something like that carelessly carried great risk.
Especially in front of Aro, who dealt with unfamiliar powers like the sorcery of the East.
“Hmm. Fine.”
As if agreeing, Aro nodded. Just as I felt relieved that it was over, Aro suddenly shoved her fluffy hand into her mouth.
At the bizarre action, both Winter and I were startled.
“Blegh!”
After retching once, something popped out of Aro’s mouth.
“Oh. Wow.”
It was a small orb emitting a brilliant light. The rainbow-colored sphere shone beautifully enough to illuminate the entire cave.
At its mystical and radiant appearance, Winter let out a small gasp.
“It’s a fox bead. If you know about silver foxes, you should know this too. I’ll give you this. Show me the scripture.”
“…….”
I was left speechless. The silver fox had been modeled after the gumiho from modern Korean folklore.
The fox bead, even here, was extremely important to the fox itself and was considered an exceptional material or elixir.
“A fox bead, huh.”
Aro had readily taken out something so valuable. And all just to take a look at the scripture.
“Do you know how valuable this is?”
“Of course. Senior, it’s the essence of magical power. It’s something comparable to the life of the fox clan.”
Naturally, this was also related to magic power. But unfortunately, I wasn’t a mage.
I picked up the rainbow-colored fox bead. It was certainly beautiful.
“Here it is.”
I took out the scripture. With the fox bead clenched firmly in one hand, I handed it over.
“You can do it. I can just gather it again.”
Grinning, Aro accepted the scripture. I observed her with sunken eyes.
“O disbelief engraved upon the golden branch!”
Sitting cross-legged in her fox form, Aro chanted a spell. It all happened so quickly that neither Winter nor I could react.
A brilliant white light burst from Aro’s body and filled the cave. The fox bead emitted the same light.
“Fufu! Hahaha! With this, it is done! We are wed!”
As the light faded, Aro laughed heartily. The words that came out of her mouth were shocking.
“Fufu. Davide! You fool! This spell resonates with my fox bead. It’s a marriage ritual passed down through our silver fox clan! With this, you and I are now eternal companions, our souls connected.”
“I see.”
“……?”
Aro rattled off the details of the spell without being asked. Hearing it, I responded calmly.
Finding this strange, Aro tilted her head.
“So you have to be holding the fox bead.”
“That’s right. You have to keep the fox bead on your body…… Wait. Where did it go?”
Aro, who had been speaking confidently, suddenly made a dumbfounded face. The fox bead that had just been in my hand was nowhere to be seen.
“I-it’s, it’s, it’s with me.”
“What!?”
Startled, Aro turned to look at Winter. In Winter’s hand was Aro’s fox bead. I had secretly passed it to her the moment I handed over the scripture.
Aro looked like she had lost the entire world. Meanwhile, Winter had tears streaming down her face.
“The revival of my clan! The salvation of the East!”
“Congratulations on your marriage.”
“No!”
The moment I saw the fox bead, this scenario came to mind. When I played the game, Aro had been one of the heroines.
Though it was called marriage, in reality it only slightly connected a portion of the souls. Because of that, it was a rather unique spell that allowed sharing one passive skill.
“Ugh…”
However, not knowing that, Winter cried sorrowfully. She seemed flustered by the sudden marriage with another woman.
The passive skill Aro granted through this soul-sharing was ‘Fox’s Eyes’. It enhanced magical power and slightly increased physical abilities—a fairly useful skill for Winter right now.
“Kya-haak!”
After running around in frustration, Aro suddenly hissed at Winter. I wasn’t sure foxes hissed, but just in case, I adjusted my stance.
“Since it’s come to this! You! Snow-like child.”
“Y-yes?”
“I shall take the role of the wife!”
“Huh? Yes!?”
Is that really what matters right now?
Aro was far more open-minded than I expected.