The Tak Family's Fox Prophecy
I finally managed to calm Valeria down and sat her on the bed.
The demure way she sat there bore no trace of the dignified authority she'd always shown me as a mother.
Instead, she fidgeted restlessly, like a dog desperate to take a shit—it was pitiable, almost painful to watch.
This was a world with a reversed gender ratio, so even if cultural norms differed from what I knew, was it right to look at my own stepmother this way?
No, fuck that. This is beyond morals—it's a violation of natural law. Better to kill her than let my birth mother suffer this humiliation.
But she'd seen through my identity.
With the truth laid bare like this, there was no hiding it anymore.
So for now, I'd play along with what she wanted.
Less as her son and more as Valter from my previous life, that's how I'd speak to her.
"...Valeria. From what you've said, it sounds like every ancestor in the Tak family was waiting for me. What the hell does that mean?"
As I forced the words out—my mouth reluctant to open—
Valeria beamed ear to ear, as if just hearing me address her was cause for rapture.
"Are you granting me the chance to explain?"
"Yeah. But first, tone down that creepy reaction. It's giving me chills."
"...Ah, y-yes. My apologies, Sword Ghost. But this is truly beyond my control. After all, the family's long-cherished wish has come true in my lifetime—"
"Spare me the emotional bullshit."
Even then, she seemed grateful, pressing a hand to her chest as she spoke.
"Sword Ghost, do you remember the incident in Kalad Village three hundred years ago, in your previous life?"
"Kalad...?"
The name rang a bell.
But pinning it down was tough—my past self had roamed the world far and wide.
Back then, my routine was simple: grab my sword, head where the enemies gathered, and cut them down.
I didn't bother memorizing every village name.
"That village was brutally ravaged by demon realm invaders. The defensive line collapsed, the hero-led army withdrew, and the abandoned villagers were slaughtered to the last."
"Plenty of villages like that in wartime. You expect me to remember from scraps like that?"
"...But that's when you appeared in Kalad—a man beyond human limits, wielding a crimson sword."
"........."
"You stormed the occupied village alone and turned the fully assembled demon army into mincemeat."
Now that she mentioned it,
I did recall pulling a suicidal stunt like that in some village once.
I wasn't weak by any stretch in my past life,
but charging a prepared army was downright stupid, and I knew it.
Places where I'd done something that reckless? I could count them on one hand.
With details like these, the memory surfaced.
"Kalad, huh... Yeah, hearing you say it jogs something. It was risky as hell. Occupied territory—killing them all solo wouldn't stop the reinforcements from flooding in soon enough."
"Exactly. And yet, knowing all that, you pressed on anyway, Sword Ghost."
I nodded slowly.
"I'd split from the hero to scout enemy movements. That's when I spotted a little kid in a village full of corpses—tied to an enemy shield, being defiled."
And as I said it,
Valeria's face broke into a smile she didn't even try to hide anymore—flowers blooming full.
"Just as I thought...!"
"So I went in. Nothing more, nothing less."
But even saying it felt profoundly uncomfortable.
Stripping away my mindset at the time and looking at the facts alone,
wasn't this straight-up hero bullshit?
I've always been the furthest thing from a hero, past or present.
More like a lunatic possessed by the ghost of my former self, acting on whims.
I did it because it didn't feel like someone else's problem—I just followed my gut.
In a village swarmed by demons,
with family and kin butchered mercilessly,
and the kid herself defiled body and soul, left only to regret surviving.
Another such tragedy couldn't be allowed in this world.
"The child who should have been abandoned there was saved. An utterly ordinary village nobody, revived by someone's aid, now carried an eternal hero in her heart."
"Something's clicking..."
Valeria pressed a hand to her chest, eyes glistening with tears.
"The child you saved was none other than Max von Tak, the founder of our Tak family."
...As expected.
I'd guessed it, and there it was.
That kid Max must've taken my whim to heart,
unfortunately carrying a guy like me inside forever.
In chaotic times, a commoner rising to count wasn't impossible.
Thinking back, that brat had venomous eyes full of spite.
Truly exceptional.
"Our founder praised you endlessly in life and left a dying wish for his descendants."
She brushed back her hair, revealing the fox tattoo on her neck, and spoke.
"'The one who returned screaming in death shall one day revive in the body of one of our male heirs. Thus, name all future male descendants Valter.'"
"You knew I'd revive...?!"
"Yes."
And with that,
my mouth snapped shut.
Living wild like a stray dog, one single whim coming back like this?
I'd never imagined it.
But that raised a question.
How the hell did Max set all this up?
I only learned about my revival right before dying, confessed by the demon inside me.
"Valeria, do you know why?"
"An oracle."
"Oracle...?"
"When the founder established the family, a fox goddess appeared in his dreams and prophesied your return."
"Fox. Fox..."
"As proof, every Tak heir bears a fox tattoo on the neck. Sword Ghost... this is the truth passed only to Tak successors."
"Then even my sisters don't know. You're the only one in the world who does."
"Indeed, Sword Ghost."
..........
.........
......
With that explanation,
it all fit together.
The entity always dwelling in my body back then was a Yo-ho—an ancient demon fox who'd lived eons.
A being with divine power enough to revive me after centuries.
After I vanished from my flesh, she must've schemed some way to prepare a new vessel.
The thought made me sigh, aching for someone no longer here.
"...You're not the type to meddle like this. When you said you liked me back then... it must've been real."
"Sword Ghost...?"
"Forget it."
If she were in me now,
she'd probably snap, "This one said so, fool."
We bickered constantly when she was inside,
but apart, I missed her a little.
Life's full of surprises.
"I get it all now. But Valeria, don't you feel any disgust toward me?"
"Disgust? What do you mean?"
"Even with your ancestors' edict, I'm Valter—not your son by name, but the one who hijacked his body."
"That's true."
"It's not just 'true.' Your family longed for my revival, so I get the joy. But your son's gone now. You'd have every reason to hate me."
"Th-that's..."
Valeria fidgeted, avoiding my gaze to muster courage.
"No need for that. My son was already dead from the accident."
"...What?"
"Court physician's verdict: instant death. So I had only one choice."
Her eyes raked over my body,
lingering, deeply.
"Publicly, declare him comatose from the accident. Until the corpse rots, pray for your descent."
"That's why all my sisters think I was just injured."
"Yes. Death is death. The family vow is the vow. I've steeled myself for this since becoming Tak countess. No need for you to worry."
And then,
Valeria flashed a strangely sultry smile,
gripping her collar.
Wait.
Hold on.
"W-well then, as a symbolic transfer of full authority to you, Sword Ghost. Shall we begin?"
"...What the fuck are you doing?"
"Ah, aaah... You prefer to undress me yourself? Then please do."
"No, that's not what I—!"
Shing—!!
"S-Sword Ghost?! Why?!"
Startled, I drew my sword and pointed it at her.
But Valeria, unaware my morals came from three centuries ago,
just blinked in confusion.
"I-isn't this ritual obvious? You're now master of all Tak County. As current head, I must serve you—"
"Fuck this, so that was your game. Button up, now!"
"Oh, you like it with clothes on...?"
"Like hell! Don't freak me out!"
"Th-this is totally normal! No, it's perfect timing. My son Valter's at that age—he'd need to learn about women soon anyway."
Seeing my utter rejection, Valeria looked genuinely sad, pouting.
"Or did you see through me...? Well, of course. You're the Sword Ghost."
"See through...?"
"I-I'm inexperienced too! All my children were conceived via insemination from one man's seed. This would be my first time—"
"You call that virgin act convincing?"
"Yes, Sword Ghost."
"I must've reincarnated wrong. Should've died for good back then."
No.
Wait.
This was all Seradion's fault—that bastard who wished this world into existence without looking back.
Every time my family pulled shit like this,
my rage toward the root of all evil burned fiercer.
"Anyway, get out. Not tonight. Not in the mood. Leave my room!"
"Understood. Then anytime doubts cloud your mind, call your servant Valeria."
"You're no servant—you're my mother!!"
Even after, she doggedly pushed for me to take over the countship tomorrow.
But I didn't want that yet,
so I snapped at her.
"Lucky you're the only one who knows about me. Keep my identity secret for now. Treat me as your son Valter. It's easier that way."
"If that's your wish."
"But if I really hold all authority, let me move freely from now on."
"Where to?"
"Reincarnated, so time to find old friends."
Yeah.
Hearing this from Valeria
made me ache to find someone.
The rush of blood surging through my grip.
The clear, cool thrill over my whole body.
To feel that again,
or for the greater cause needing power,
I needed that demon, like it or not.
And I knew where she was.
The valley where I died three hundred years ago.
Gold Zone.
Start there.
No time to waste.