So Delicious?
Rai’s words carried a different direction, but it was still just that.
The fox spirit laughed with a “kyaah~” and spun once in mid-air.
“So you think I’m an idiot, do you?”
“Huh?”
He was about to ask what possible basis the fox had for that opinion when the fox spoke first.
“Have you ever been truly happy?”
He could not answer right away.
He had never lived thinking he was unhappy. Yet he could not remember when he had last felt happy.
Looking at the imugi, the fox spirit laughed “sae-” and crossed its front paws, placing its snout on top of them.
“You don’t even know what it feels like to be spoiled… or to truly be loved.”
The imugi had not understood the words back then.
More precisely, they sounded like useless chatter to something that needed to train for a thousand years just to ascend.
“Do I need that kind of thing? I am destined to become a dragon. I have no room for trivial emotions.”
“Cold, huh~ That makes you an idiot, but it’s also charming~”
The fox’s open teasing of him as an idiot brushed against his boundaries in a strangely familiar way, so he added a warning.
“I’ve said it before, but I don’t like it when people say things carelessly. It would be better to keep your mouth shut and not give off that feeling.”
The fox narrowed its eyes, clearly expecting another outburst of “You’re too much! Idiot! I’m upset!” It never came.
Instead, the fox simply looked at the imugi.
The imugi met the fox’s gaze in return.
“I… I’ve fallen in love. That’s why I’m going to become human.”
“Wha…?”
The idea that this was a joke flashed through his mind.
The next thought was that it was absurd.
How could an imugi that had lived by eating the hearts of humans and beasts fall in love with a human?
“You’re going to throw away everything just to become a fox spirit? A thousand years of training and you’ll give it all up?”
The fox spirit gave a “fufu” laugh.
“That’s ridiculous. If someone starts spoiling you and loving you, you’ll understand.”
“There’s no way that’s true.”
He had the feeling he would never understand it in his lifetime.
The fox spirit straightened up with a “heh heh” and stretched, pushing its tail all the way.
“I’m going now.”
The imugi opened his mouth to ask for details, but he had nothing to say that would really help and there was no point in pushing it.
Feeling this was basically his last goodbye, he chose his words carefully.
“If you become human, you won’t be able to come here. Live happily, loved just as you want.”
“…Yeah. Thank you.”
The fox spirit hesitated, as if there was more he wanted to say.
“Thank you. Heh heh.”
“?” It was too plain.
The fox spirit stared at him with a deep gaze as if trying to memorize every detail.
Somehow he could not look away, and the fox spirit closed its eyes and turned its body.
“You just now…”
“Hmph! Live well, you idiot!”
With a “kyeheng!” the fox spirit bounded away, and the imugi rubbed his chin.
“It looked like it was crying… Maybe it was just my imagination.”
He still did not understand why.
It was the one that had always pestered him, so he understood if the fox thought of him as a friend, but he had not thought it would cry.
“Its personality is one of those things you have to learn by the end.”
He was a little curious, but since it had already left he could not ask.
Since it was gone, he would simply live with the feeling of happiness and being spoiled.
But one day he received a message that told him the fox spirit had died a miserable death for wanting the fox stone.
His wife could be replaced, but the parents of the dying man had only ever been one person in the world.
“Thinking back on it now, that husband of his was truly a wretched man.”
He had been so obsessed that he had even killed his own children and wife.
He had punished him, but the fact that he had not killed him on the spot still stung.
“Thinking about it now is useless.”
With the unsolvable part neatly settled, he began to worry about how to remove the white spirit he had been assigned as a watcher.
“He couldn’t possibly leave a young creature alone… Hm.”
He changed his train of thought.
“In the end, isn’t it fine as long as I train myself?”
He looked for a method he could try among the things he could do and fell into a deep sleep.
Days passed.
After he grew used to drinking milk during meal times, he finished his private training without being seen by the spirit and lay naturally in the cradle, waiting.
Recently Christina had taken a liking to using milk for other cooking studies.
Thanks to that, the cooking facilities in the rare side would be completed soon.
“Haha. Just drinking milk like that is so tasty and lets you recover mana. It’s no wonder you’ve been studying it for so long.”
Was this the addiction they talked about in stories? He licked his lips, thinking.
Waiting while imagining the rich and creamy flavor of the milk, the air trembled from Christina’s teleportation magic.
“He’s here.”
Now that he was used to the sound of footsteps, he lightly clenched and unclenched his fists to prepare himself.
“It should go well.”
Today he had a special gift for Christina.
“I’m here. How have you been?”
“Kyuu~!”
The imugi gripped the cradle rails with both front paws and pushed off with his hind legs, standing up.
“Kyuuu. Kyuu…”
“I can do it. I’ve been secretly training my strength all this time.”
The gift he had prepared was simply standing on his own two feet.
Seeing it, Christina would surely sense his growth.
“If I feel like I’ve grown, that white goblin-like thing will stick less.”
He did not plan to remove it right away, but he would raise Christina to a level where she could leave him alone.
This alone-standing was the foundation.
“Kyuu!”
“Woosha!”
He stood tall on his two feet.
“This isn’t the end.”
Shivering.
With a roar he flexed the muscles of his shoulders and wing joints, unfurling his tiny wing membrane on his back.
“Kyuuuk!”
“Oh my~”
Christina’s eyes widened in surprise at the imugi’s proud gaze.
“I did it.”
He felt proud of his own efforts, pushing down his instincts.
“Even if it’s not enough yet, it’s important to show that I can walk.”
He expected Christina to take him to more places now that he could walk.
“With this, I should be able to run a little even in front of that sticky thing.”
Christina covered her mouth with one hand and said,
“How… I’m so moved.”
“Huh?”
The imugi was taken aback by the different reaction.
“I thought she would at least be impressed. Did I do it too much?”
Fearing she might realize he was not a normal child, he gave a sly smile and spread one arm.
“Kyuu. Kya.”
“I should act cute here as much as possible.”
Crunch.
Christina scooped the imugi into her arms in an instant and nuzzled his cheek.
“I can’t believe this cuteness pile!”
Breathing warmly against her while hugging him tight, he felt relieved inside.
“His breath is blocked, but I succeeded in winning her over.”
“Scales peeling off, so gentle, please.”
If anything, the effect was too good.
“Don’t get cocky either.”
Christina kept praising him before setting him down in the cradle.
The imugi spread both arms again with a “kyuu.”
“Milk.”
But no milk came even after waiting.
“What now? There’s no milk today.”
“…!”
The imugi stared with wide eyes, arms outstretched, completely bewildered.
“Milk… is gone?”
Seeing his growth, he had expected to gain something, but instead hunger hit him. His legs gave out and he collapsed with a thud.
His expression looked like he had lost an entire country.
“Starving a creature that hasn’t even lived long. I was wrong to trust her so easily.”
Added to the hunger was sorrow, and a deep weariness spread through him.
He looked at Christina with eyes full of suspicion.
“Pu hut.”
“She’s laughing?”
With a twitch of his lips, Christina gave a small smile.
“Today I brought something even better than that.”
A basket that had been hidden behind Christina’s body floated up with Rai, revealing itself.
The imugi narrowed his eyes and looked at Christina.
“She was teasing me?”
Still, it looked like a gift to return the favor, so he set aside any sting.
“Here. You can eat it even without teeth.”
“Eggs?”
The eggs in the basket were far larger than ordinary ones.
Almost the size of a human face, they were handed to him by Christina and filled both his hands like full moons.
“They’re phoenix eggs. A bird that rises from its own ashes even when it dies.”
“I’ve heard similar stories.”
The strange creature was still memorable.
The vermilion bird.
A divine creature that rose again immediately after dying.
“I have a vague memory, but it’s not a vermilion bird’s egg.”
The imugi knew the vermilion bird was not born from an egg.
Still, he was uneasy, so he wondered how to eat the egg.
“It’s an egg with resurrection ability.”
It definitely felt full of strong energy.
The shell looked very hard, but he pressed his claws into it and it cracked little by little.
He poked a hole with his index finger.
Despite the hardness, it took effort, but the shell stayed intact and formed a clean crack.
“Done!”
Crack.
Peeling the shell revealed the soft, white inside.
Without hesitation he opened his mouth wide and took a big bite.
“…! So delicious?”
It was so tender and savory that even gourmet tongues would drool.
The imugi devoured one egg in an instant, eyes wide.
Christina let out a relieved “hu~”.
“I’m glad it tasted good. I heard it was especially a delicacy because it was cooked with red dragon flame, but I was worried.”
“Tasty. So, so tasty. How can such an egg even exist.”
The imugi licked the egg crumbs around his mouth with a “kyaah~”.
The firm white part turned to pudding when he chewed, and the yolk gave off rich umami with vitality.
Plus, because it was cooked with dragon flame, he could absorb mana, and it was seasoned perfectly without needing salt.
“Kyuu. Uuung!”
“This is really delicious!”
Once he started, he could not stop.