Scyllia shut her mouth, but couldnât stand Shulaâs intense gaze and answered in a small voice.
âI must feed the fox with the spirit of a living beast.â
âA Nine-tailed-fox eats humans as a main dish.â
âAs long as Iâm raising it, humans are not an option.â
Shula suddenly burst into laughter, and said the next thing with a stiff face
âOh my God, Commander. Iâm not worried about other people right now.â
âIâm worried about you!â
This time, Scyllia laughed.
âThe fox skills donât work on me.â
âYou already failed at the part where you thought skills would be everything.â
Will a nine-tailed-fox attract people using only its power?
They are creatures born with the intention of attracting people with their face, hair, tone, and even body odor. It was clear that he would grow up to be seductive and decadent, with every glance and gesture.
âDo not underestimate their instincts. Youâll get hurt someday.â
Shula, who warned casually, gave a simple goodbye with a nod and left the house.
Exhausted, Scyllia went back to her room.
As she removed the cloth covering the iron cage, a droopy nine-tailed-fox raised his head. Scyllia looked through the wounds on the foxâs body.
Adding a little exaggeration, he seemed to have better resilience than trolls. It was almost healed.
It was a pity that the nine-tailed fox was trapped in a cage. It reminded me of my childhood, when I was locked up in a room all day.
âIâll release you, so stay quiet in your room. Otherwise, you will go back to the cage.â
The fox blinked as if understanding.
She opened the cage without hesitation.
At the same time, the nine-tailed fox, which had been stretching itâs body because of its poor condition, shot itself through the window.
It was like an arrow bouncing off from a bowstring pulled with all his might.
She followed the movement of the nine-tailed fox with her peripheral vision, which she often used while dealing with three or four monsters single handed, and reached out her hand at the exact spot.
Her eyes were sharp, different from when she looked at Shula.
The nape of the fox cub came into her grip.
The little fox struggled and howled violently as if it had never been sick.
âWere you pretending to be innocent? Guess itâs a fox after all.
Scyllia reached out to get the fox safely back to the cage, and he did not miss the opportunity. He erected his teeth and mercilessly bit off her forearm.
Scyllia frowned, but that was all. Compared to the pain in her shoulder blade, this much was nothing.
He was so frightened a bubble-like saliva flowed out of the foxâs snout.
The little fox kept groaning softly.
I need to calm the frightened cub.
When she thought about it, a soft voice came out easier than she expected. As if it was her original voice, it was a slightly high-pitched, clear voice. Compared to her usual low and overbearing tone, her throat was also comfortable.
As she waited quietly, reason returned slowly, very slowly, to the cloudy eyes of the little fox. âWhy are you so scared? Itâs okay. I wonât hurt you.â
Scyllia smiled softly, sweeping the foam off the little foxâs snout. As she smiled, her icy, cold face became surprisingly soft and pretty.
It was her original face.
The cub looked up at her with rounded eyes.
âYour fur is all wet from the saliva.â
When the strength in his snout was released, Scyllia released the fox safely into the cage.
âI wonât let you go today. You broke your promise. Donât you agree?â
The fox, of course, did not answer, but Scyllia didnât care.
âBut you have another chance tomorrow. If you donât run away, Iâll release you.â
âYou will have a chance every day. The choice is yours.â
Scyllia, who taught neatly, closed the cage.
The second night of the little nine-tailed fox together with the second best, and saddest Paladin, in the eastern continent, passed like this.
(Note: Note sure if Scyllia is the second best yet, this line took me quite a while. But we will see in the future)
The little fox rarely trusted Scyllia.
After he showed his true color once, he knew that acting wonât work, and was now very wary of her. Although he was a nine-tailed fox that enchants people, it was clumsy in hiding his inner feelings because it was a cub.
Scyllia read traces of past abuse amid the foxâs extreme vigilance.
If he had lived for 19 years in the Eastern continent, according to the words of the priestess, he would have been with humans for at least two months before reaching the trading ground in the western continent âŚâŚ
âWas he captured by humans in the eastern continent?â
I donât know what happened, but it was certain that the little foxâs aversion to humans did not develop overnight.
Her heart was heavy as if she had found an abused little child. No, it was akin to a baby in the meaning that he still has infinite possibilities.
Knowing what the pain of abuse was like made her feel even more disgusted. Unknowingly, she sweated and her hands trembled.
Scyllia grabbed her sword from her waist and calmed her breath.
âNow no one threatens to kill me.â
She obsessively devoted herself to training. After bringing the little fox into her house, the intensity of training was increasing day by day. Then, the Vice Commander jokingly tried to stop her, saying she would collapse, but it didnât work,
âIâm a person who has to die, but Iâm trying to live, so I have to do this much. This is how I can protect myself.
Scyllia thought so as she swung her sword.
âBut, in a situation where itâs too much to protect only me, will I be able to raise the little one?â
The fox was a monster, but neither good nor evil.
He was different from her cursed self.
The cub was an existence in a gray zone, and the outcome depends on how he grows up. If it becomes a demonic beast, Scyllia must eventually kill the child.
She just wanted to avoid it. Killing an abused child with her own handsâŚ.
To prevent that, proper education was necessary
Be calm, be kind and do things right. So that he doesnât think about seducing and eating humans,
âThe childâs life and death are in my hands.
As soon as she thought of that, she came to her senses. The more she thought about it, the more unusual it was.
âIn what did the priestess believe in to entrust me with the little fox?â
I couldnât understand why the future of a nine-tailed fox cub was left to a Paladin of the West. The old woman even told me she used to serve beings and worship Gods and Heavenly Beasts on the Eastern Continent.
The baby nine-tailed fox is not yet a heavenly beast, but is it not a creature with its feet on the edge of such a realm?
Such a precious existenceâŚ.
âIt would be useless to think about it now. Since then, the priestess has completely disappearedâŚâ
Scyllia shook her head and headed to her Commanderâs residence.
In the living room, fishy air mixed with the smell of the fox and blood, was stagnant. She opened the window to ventilate and then walked over to the cage,
The fox immediately raised its fur and stood on guard,
âI canât let it go on like this.â
Scyllia crouched down in front of the cage. The little one was growling in the shadowy corner, covered in darkness. A pair of golden eyes flashed.
He was as small as a two-month-old kitten.
âThis little guy is a 19-year-old monster.â
Crouching in a corner, it looked like a lump of cotton wool.
âLittle fox. Are not you hungry?â
The fox inflated his body and took only a rough breath.
âI think you should drink waterâŚâŚâ
The fox revealed his teeth and howled.
Donât try to bullshit me!
It sounded like it was screaming such things.
âYou have to drink water. You bled a lot.â
I heard that if a precious animal is rescued, it is sometimes forced to be saved. I couldnât wait for the boundaries to be lifted. Even if the fox died of starvation, it seemed that he would not change his mind.
âHis personality itâs not normal.â
Realizing that she was not an easy human being, the fox did not move hastily and chased her movements with its eyes. Scyllia felt her muscles tense as if she had gone to a subjugation battle.
Itâs not the kind of energy a baby can have.
âThe moment I show any gap, my neck will be torn.â
Scyllia spoke to the little fox with a calm face,
She turned her hand over, lowered it under her, and carefully reached out to the little fox. The moment her fingertips were about to touch the shimmering silver fur, the fox swung his claws.
She forced herself to endure the pain of her skin being torn apart and grabbed the foxâs body.
To give a lecture, he had to go out of the cage.
When his body was forcibly grasped, the foxâs howls changed. Previously, it was a threatening growl, but now it was more of a terrified scream.
As the fox struggled, scratches appeared all over Scylliaâs body.
Even though it was small, it was still a monster, and his claws were terribly sharp. Scylliaâs cheeks were scratched and blood dripped from her forearm. It was a disaster because she had never dealt with animals.
It would have been nice to cover the foxâs body with a towel, but Scyllia had no such trick. She endured the injuries and simply held the little fox in her arms.
âShh. I wonât hurt you. I wonât hit you. Please donât be scared. Uhn?â
She soothed the little fox with a soft sound that she had never made before.
âItâs okay. Donât be scared. You are a cute fox. How can I hurt you when youâre so lovely?â
It was easier to make a warm, tickling voice the second time she tried. It wasnât difficult for her to come up with kind words. All she had to do was tell the fox what Scyllia had wanted to hear her whole life.
The words she hoped the priests or her friends would tell her.
Words of affection that she so desperately wished for
She gave it to the little fox.
Scyllia opened her pink lips.
âThose who didnât recognize your loveliness are foolish. Youâre from the East continent, but Solar will love you, too. Because youâre such a precious child.â