Preparation Time (1)
It wasn't as if the face-obsessed fox had never tagged along to Soul Academy before.
After all, when someone's Charm was high enough, this creature threw rules and discipline clean out the window.
But that had never been a forced-join event. At the very least, the fox had bothered to ask for consent back then.
She didn't care if the object of her affection found her repulsive, but she genuinely didn't want to be truly hated.
In the game, if you told her she wasn't needed, she'd sulk dramatically — but she never stooped to outright stalking like this!
So what is this? What is with this creature openly declaring she's going to stalk me whether I hate her or not?
I stared at the face-obsessed fox wagging her tail beneath me and squeezed my eyes shut.
With the fox screaming am-I-cute-or-not with her entire body, there was nothing I could actually do about the situation.
If I chased her off, she'd just shadow me from the shadows and keep ogling me from afar. But if I let her stay nearby, she'd grin and pull some kind of depraved stunt instead.
Part of me wanted to beat her to death — but the gap in our strength made that impossible.
Whatever else you could say about her, this creature was powerful enough to be the Lord of a Forest. I couldn't take her down. Not yet.
If this were the game, I'd solve it with every exploit and pixel-perfect tech in my arsenal. But this was reality.
How was I supposed to defeat a creature who, even after taking a full-force mace to the head, would just ask for more?
"You seem burdened by many worries, child."
'Please shut up.'
"Face-obsessed fox? Could you close that foul-smelling mouth of yours? I'm beginning to feel nauseous."
Theoretically speaking, Grandpa had a point. Her presence was undeniably useful.
Among the many Lords of the Forest, the face-obsessed fox was one of the most versatile — a being with no downside to keeping around.
And yet. And yet!
I couldn't accept her on a physiological level.
How was anyone supposed to live alongside a deranged creature who, if you spat on the ground, would lap it up and call it a reward?!
Even back when I was a man, before becoming Lucy, I would have recoiled in horror from this beast. How could I possibly keep her at my side!
Ugh. My head was such a jumbled mess that I couldn't get a single word out.
Every time I tried to form a rational sentence, it felt like the word fuck would come attached to the front of it.
No no no no. You're a cat — no wait, you're a FOX! So why do you crawl up to me and declare "You shall be my master now!"?!
Knock, knock.
"Lady Aln? Are you inside?"
I had been glaring at the blissfully oblivious fox between my fingers when the voice from beyond my door made me look up.
That was Professor Anton, no doubt about it. He was central to everything combat-related, so he should be swamped — what could possibly bring him all the way here?
If I had to guess, it was probably related to the last Field Trip. I couldn't be certain, but on that front my conscience was perfectly clean, so I wasn't worried.
No, honestly, the strange thing was that my reputation had actually gone up after the Field Trip ended?
My plan had worked flawlessly, redirecting everyone's fury onto the faculty, but I'd still expected my standing to take at least some hit, given everything I'd pulled.
Yet afterward, I don't know what Arthur said to the other students, but my reputation had somehow improved.
Something along the lines of: she has a filthy mouth, but unlike before, she does look out for the people around her.
Coming from Avery, Vishy, and Joy, I'd have to take it with a grain of salt — but still, the fact that my reputation had improved seemed real enough.
Arthur. What on earth did you tell those students with that silver tongue of yours? Seriously, thank you!
Unlike a certain fox who only ever gifts me disgust, you're actually useful!
Thank you for rallying everyone during the Field Trip — and then cleaning up after me afterward, too!
Just you wait! I'll bring you the greatest gift you could ever need!
"Lady Aln?"
'One moment, please.'
"Wait there, you pathetic gorilla of a professor. I'll come out."
"Yes, of course."
Haa. There was no solving the face-obsessed fox problem by grinding my teeth over it now, so I'd shelve it for later.
Step outside, get some fresh air, and maybe better thoughts would come.
...Mm. But was it really okay to leave the face-obsessed fox in my room? What if this pervert pulled something bizarre while I was gone?
"Surely even she has some sense of shame" — no, those words carried zero weight with the face-obsessed fox.
What common sense could you possibly expect from a deranged pervert who declares to your face, "I will stalk you"?
But I didn't want to drag my greatest source of stress around with me either.
What do I do?
'Grandpa.'
<What is it, child?>
'I'm leaving her here, so if that pervert does anything weird, please tell me about it later.'
I asked because she seemed exactly the type to casually swipe my underwear and stroll off with it. It won't take long — just keep an eye on her for me, please.
At my request, Grandpa gave a grudging agreement.
Well then. Time to step out and take a breather. Though it sounded absurd, saying I was going to "relax" by leaving my own room.
Haa. What can you do. What's done is done.
After Lucy told Rina to wait and stepped out, saying she'd be back shortly, Ruel quietly observed the fox as she surveyed the room.
Truly, the world held every manner of creature imaginable. To hold the title of Lord of the Forest, and yet comport herself with so little dignity.
What made it far more insidious was that this creature knew what dignity was.
Until Lucy had begun wearing that revealing outfit, Rina had carried herself with impeccable formality.
Ruel had once been a noble, a holy knight, and a hero. By his eye, the etiquette Rina had mastered was flawless enough to be tossed among the court nobility without a single flaw to be found.
But the moment Lucy donned that outfit of exposed flesh, Rina had cast it all away.
She had collapsed entirely into her own desires, no longer capable of even the barest courtesy.
However lovely our girl may be to look upon, wasn't this going a bit too far?
Had this creature been anything other than the Lord of the Forest — a mere ordinary human — she would have been imprisoned as a criminal long ago.
Rina, tail swishing as she prowled the room, sprang up the instant Lucy's footsteps faded into the distance and stretched luxuriously.
Was she about to begin? Please, let her do nothing strange. I beg of you.
Our girl's psychological suffering was trouble enough — but watching it unfold did my spirits no good either.
Rina sniffed the air of the room with her nose, wore a most unpleasant smile, picked a direction, and set off.
Hm? Why was she approaching this direction? There should be nothing belonging to our girl anywhere near me?
...No, wait. There was one thing.
Me. The one who had always existed at our girl's side, the weapon long gripped in her hand.
Surely not. Surely this creature wasn't setting her sights on me?
Stop! Cease this at once!
I have no desire to be your plaything!
Ruel cried out with all the earnest desperation in his soul, but Rina paid him no heed whatsoever.
With a light hop she landed atop the table, took in Ruel's form, and licked her lips.
Our girl! Please, hurry back!
I am utterly terrified of this situation right now!
Who knows what this demented beast might do! Please, I beg you!
Just as Ruel was praying inwardly for Lucy's return, Rina reached out and placed her paw upon him.
Ruel tensed, imagining what would come next — and in that very moment —
'Well met, you who dwell within the mace.'
Rina spoke to him.
<...Do you mean me?>
'Who else is there for me to address?'
<Fair enough. How did you know I was here?>
'Because I am a fox, of course. I can see souls.'
Ruel couldn't fathom what seeing souls had to do with being a fox — but for a being powerful enough to rule a forest, possessing such an ability hardly seemed strange.
<In a way, this is rather fortunate. Lady Rina, I beg of you — please do nothing strange while you are here.>
If she knew someone was watching, surely her eccentricities would lessen compared to when she was left alone.
'What exactly do you take me for?'
<You have, after all, committed rather a lot.>
'I have merely expressed my affection, have I not?'
Not a shred of guilt for anything she had done — she spoke as if nothing about it could possibly be wrong. For a moment, Ruel found himself at a complete loss for words.
So this was his own fault, then, for expecting common sense from a madwoman.
'Enough prattle. Let us get straight to the matter at hand. Who knows when that lovely girl will return.'
<It was not prattle, actually.>
'I shall be blunt. Help me remain at the girl's side.'
Ruel was under no illusions about Rina's power. Why else would he address her with courtesy rather than the flat tone he gave everyone else?
But setting that aside, this pervert of a fox was simply not a being who would have a positive influence on Lucy.
Yes, she'd be useful — but the psychological damage she inflicted would undoubtedly outweigh that a hundred times over.
'It is what the girl needs.'
your desires need, more like.>
'Well, that is certainly one reason among many — though it ranks rather low on the list. There is something far more important.'
Ruel was absolutely certain Rina was about to spout nonsense — but he let her talk.
Time would pass while she babbled her depravities, and the longer it passed, the closer Lucy's return would draw. That was all he needed.
'The girl carries a light far too bright within her. One might even say she is beloved of the heavens themselves.
'Given her beauty, it is only natural she receives such favor — but when one person's love gathers in a single place, it also gathers the resentment of everyone else.
'Do you follow me? A great threat will surely descend upon her. Until now she has somehow weathered every trial, but can we truly say she always will?'
<...What I hear is that you intend to protect the girl when that time comes.>
'Precisely. Why else would I have latched onto her without so much as asking her will?'
Letting her be pushed to the very brink of breaking was fine. Victory seized through hardship would only add beauty to the girl's life.
But she must not break. Rina spoke such words with perfect composure, and Ruel fell silent.
He had spent considerable time at Lucy's side, and he knew better than anyone just how many crises she had already clawed her way through.
And if, in a worst-case scenario, this fox's aid were available —
'And should you still feel uneasy, then I, of course, would—'
The reason Professor Anton had called for me was to hand over the Field Trip rewards.
He'd come the moment the spoils were tallied and our party's first-place finish was confirmed.
He'd grinned and praised us for gathering more loot than any Field Trip in Soul Academy's history — which suggested he bore me no ill will at all.
Even though the mess I'd caused had worked him so hard he'd earned dark circles under his eyes.
Truly a magnanimous man, Professor Anton.
The first-place reward from the Academy was the Protection Brooch — the very same one that had once saved my neck from the Minotaur.
With this, I could escape one brush with death.
Best case, of course, would be never needing to use it at all — but that was probably wishful thinking.
Given everything that had happened to me so far, no amount of future danger would come as a surprise.
Lost in such thoughts, I returned to the dormitory and stood before my door with a sigh.
Was I really about to face the face-obsessed fox's perversions again?
The mere thought was horrifying — but what could I do? This was my room. You can't exactly flee your own room.
The moment I steeled myself and opened the door, the face-obsessed fox in her human form came into view.
She had been kneeling at the entrance, waiting — and the instant she saw me, she bowed deeply.
"Welcome home, Master."
...What kind of play is this supposed to be, face-obsessed fox?