I opened my eyes slightly. And the first thing I noticed was Frau peeking out.
âMy Lord, heâs awake!
âKyui!
I stared at the ceiling while trying to remember why I was lying down.
The ancient demon king Ios had come and wanted to murder Grandmother TamamoâŠ
Now I remember! I had been fighting against Ios!
I tried to get up, but a terrible pain invaded my whole body.
âIt still hasnât healed completely, please rest.
Kaede came running to me and made me lie down again. She also used healing waves to relieve the pain.
I checked my arms and other parts of my body, but there were no serious injuries. However, those blows were deadly enough to leave me completely sore and tired.
âHow long was I asleep for?
âTwelve hours, I think.
So, itâs early morning the next day. We seemed to have been transported to the realm of the white fox celestial beasts and it was night.
âWow!
Kaede and Frau hugged me.
âI am so happy that you are still alive. Please donât do something rash like that again.
âYes, I thought you were dead.
âIâm sorry I worried them.
Her eyes were red and swollen.
I felt deeply sorry for the trouble I had caused. Apparently, itâs not easy to die anymore.
âLet the boy continue to rest. I will leave him in someone elseâs care.
Grandmother Tamamo said as she entered the room.
âNo, I want to take care of the teacher.
âYou can do it after you have rested. Someone take Kaede to her room.
âHuh!? NO! Masterïœ!
A pair of white foxes entered the room and dragged Kaede away. Frau and Panda went after her.
Grandmother Tamamo, who was still in the room, sits upright with a tense expression on her face.
âThank you for saving me. Iâm pretty sure Iâd be dead now if it hadnât been for you.
âThereâs no need for any of this. I only fought because I didnât want Kaede to be sad. If you want to thank someone, give it to Kaede.
âYouâre right, even so, you saved my life.
Tamamo bowed her head to me deeply.
She is just like Kaede. Sheâs so polite, and sincere with her feelings. Being someone else she would have ignored me because of her pride. But she took the trouble to come and thank me in person.
âBy the way, that lightning was a great help. If you hadnât blinded him, it would have been me who would be dead now.
âOh, you didnât notice?
âWhat?
ââŠNo, nothing, forget about it.
Eh? What do you mean by that? Now Iâm curious.
But then I stopped caring when I felt a bug crawling around my waist and scratched.
The reconstructed main hall is now complete. Yatsufusa grandfather ushers us in with a satisfied expression on his face.
âWe have done a much better job than before. It wonât be necessary to rebuild or remodel this place in a thousand years.
âI donât think anyone has asked you to improve it. But thanks anyway. You two, go get the dimensional mirror.
âYes.
A mirror was brought to the center of the main hall at Grandmaâs request. This mirror is the entrance to the heavenly realm.
According to Grandfather, this object is actually not a mirror, but a portal. He had given me a detailed explanation about such an object, but I did not understand it at all.
âIâm sorry for leaving so suddenly, I didnât know that the demon would come back so quickly.
âItâs not me you should apologize to. Itâs Toru-sama.
âItâs all right. Grandfather apologized to me many times already.
When grandpa came back, he apologized to me so many times that I was already dizzy. I really didnât mind at all, as the fish he brought was really delicious.
âAnd is your body feeling much better now?
âIâm not completely healed, but I donât feel much pain anymore. And luckily my body always recovers quickly from serious injuries.
âThatâs good to know.
I thought I saw Grandpa Yatsufusa and Grandma Tamamo exchanging glances. Maybe they are still worried about my injury.
âI have something for you, boy. Come with Kaede to my room.
After those words, the three of us proceeded across the mirror to the realm of the celestial beasts.
We arrived at the huge room I was shown when I first arrived here.
Grandma Tamamo proceeded to sit with her back straight, very different from our first meeting.
âI have something for you on your journey.
âDoes that mean I can go on a trip with the master?
âYou were going to go anyway, even if I stopped you. Besides, Toru-sama is a man who has never betrayed your trust, and I see nothing wrong with leaving my family in his care.
The fact that Kaede could now continue to travel with me and with Grandmother Tamamoâs acceptance, brought a big smile to my face.
Kaede became a valuable companion, and also an important member of my family. I didnât want to have to say goodbye to her.
âI have two things for you. One is this.
Tamamo holds out a rectangular wooden box. We opened the lid and saw that it contained a scroll.
âThe scroll containing the secrets of the clan?!
You are now a full-fledged white fox. You have reached level 50,000 after the last battle. Now, I want you to show me your nine tails.
Before I knew it, Kaedeâs tail expanded significantly, and suddenly, nine tails appeared like the petals of a flower.
The temperature of the room drops drastically and an enormous amount of magical power gushes out of Kaede.
âEeeh!
âKyui!
âIâm sorry. It seems that, if I relax too much, the magic gets to seep out.
âKaede, your tail.
âIâve leveled up and thatâs caused my body to undergo a physical transformation. I am now a white fox with nine tails.
Your body originally already contained a very high potential. And that is why there has never been a physical transformation.
âBack to the subject at hand, in the scroll you will find a list of the techniques I have devised. Each of the White Foxâs spells was created to defeat an enemy with great power.
Kaede unsealed the scroll and opened it. It was written in letters she did not know and could not read.
âThere is a magic called âice worldâ, what does it do?
It is a technique of self-destruction, the most powerful magic that can only be used once in a lifetime to finish off any enemy. I recommend you not to use it, but if you have no choice but to do so, thatâs up to youâŠ.
Grandmother Tamamo didnât say anything else, but then she stared at me, her gaze was as if she was pleading me to never let Kaede get to use that magic.
So I nodded silently.
I will protect Kaede, even if it means losing my life.
âAnd the other thing I want to give you is too big to bring here? So follow me.
Something too big? Will you give me a gold bar?
âAn eggâŠ?
A large egg, about five meters long, laid next to the main room. The surface was white and reflected the light as if it had been polished.
âKyu! Kyu, Kyu!
âEeeh!? Whatâs wrong!?
Panda pulled Frau off of him, and approached the egg with great speed, and then began sniffing it as he circled it.
âPossibly this is a fortification egg?
âOriginally, the beast you have with you were only created for support, but without any fighting capabilities. But when the war began, their nature began to change. They were given the ability to fight, and fortification eggs were also produced to evolve their abilities.
After that, the image of each of the beasts I own appeared in my head.
They all look cute, as if they were a pet. Maybe that was their original nature?
Grandmother Tamamo continued to tell her story.
âTowards the end of the war, the most powerful enhanced eggs were created. And with them came their own special beasts. However, these beasts put so much emphasis on their enhanced form that their pre-enhanced form became the weakest of all.
âThat meansâŠ
âExactly.
Panda is the most powerful beast in the world? Panda had always been worried about not being able to build as he wished in the party, but now that he has so much powerâŠ.
Both Kaede and I were very happy. But the happier of the two of us was Frau.
âThatâs great, Panda! Youâre the strongest of the whole family!
âKyui!
âThatâs right! UgghâŠ
âKyuuuuuuu!!
Frau and Panda started crying.
âThat wonât be so easy, though, kid. The beast needs to spend a lot of time inside the egg, minimum one week, maximum one month. So I recommend you to start your journey and leave it here.
âDo you want me to go and leave Panda?
âDonât worry about that. Heâll know where you are by your seal. As soon as he hatches, heâll come and join you. You go on with the journey.
Panda flies to the egg with moist eyes. He felt a strong will to want to be strong, even if it meant he would be left behind.
âRemember to come back with us, Panda!
âKyui!
âI canât wait to see you stronger, Panda.
âKyu kyu!
âIâll be waiting for you.
âKyu!
Panda proceeded to dive into the egg.
The lid is gently closed and a bulge appears on the surface of the egg. Steam is expelled from the protuberance and the pulsation starts.
Itâs a strange feeling to start a trip without Panda.
âFrau was left without his comfortable bed.
âKyu!
I could hear Pandaâs angry voice from inside the egg.
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