A Gift That Cannot Be Returned

"...And that is what happened."

"Hmm..."

Having heard the entire story from Choco, Yeon crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She looked for all the world like someone sunk in deep contemplation. In truth, she was not thinking about much of anything at all.

So cute.

Meeting the Fox God Gumiho, becoming a shrine maiden — stories like those simply did not land. Yeon had not met any of these beings herself, and nothing particularly earth-shattering had actually happened. Far more than those hard-to-grasp tales, it was the sight of Choco standing before her that struck her square in the chest. The enormous ribbon of the sash tied around that slender waist, in particular, burned itself into Yeon's eyes with startling clarity.

They were clothes Yeon herself could never have pulled off. Yet on Choco — petite, with those slender limbs — the very imbalance of the outfit somehow looked just right.

"Um, Yeon?"

"Hm? What is it?"

The cautious call pulled Yeon from her thoughts. She opened her eyes and tilted her head, taking in the girl fidgeting before her.

"That is... could you change this one into different clothes? As you well know, I cannot manage it alone..."

"Ah, right."

"I would ask this of you. These clothes are rather... well..."

"Hhk—"

Watching Choco duck her head in embarrassment as she made the request, Yeon clutched at her chest, seized by a sensation so full it nearly overflowed. She had never felt anything like it in her life, but she knew by instinct that this was what happened when joy grew too large to hold.

Choco looked up at her with a puzzled frown.

"Are you unwell?"

"No, I just... got a little overcome?"

"Overcome, you say? By what, exactly?"

"You don't need to know, Choco..."

Choco stared at her, plainly none the wiser. Afraid the questions would keep coming, Yeon quickly reached for the system window, intending to enable Choco's equipment slots —

"Hold it. Don't tell me you intend to remove the vestments Lady Gumiho herself bestowed upon you?"

"You state the obvious. Could a creature such as yourself wander about outdoors in attire like this? You imbecile..."

"The imbecile here is you, not me. Do you even know what those clothes are?"

"What manner of clothes? The kind bestowed by a perverted g— ngh!"

"Is there anything you won't say?"

The sentence never made it to the end. Tara brought her folding fan down on Choco's head without the slightest restraint. Unlike before, the blow carried real force — it hurt badly enough that tears beaded at the corners of Choco's eyes.

"You wish to have it out, do you?!"

"Hmph. Have you forgotten that guiding a foolish successor is my calling? And you have yet to grasp just how much favor Lady Gumiho has shown you."

Choco glared at her, clutching the spot where she had been struck, but Tara's chin ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠remained loftily raised. If anything, her eyes only sharpened, as though to say the one at fault was not her, but Choco.

"You're wearing those clothes and you feel nothing at all?"

"Feel what, exactly...?"

Choco started to shout a denial — and then, belatedly, she registered the sacred energy radiating from the garments, and her words died in her throat.

Just as a mage who wielded mana was sensitive to mana, one who wielded spirit power was sensitive to spirit power. And so Choco could feel, with startling clarity, just how immense the energy saturating these shameless clothes truly was.

She hurriedly pulled up the system window and read the item description, muttering in disbelief.

"What in the world is this...?"

High defense against all attacks, and an amplification of the wearer's spirit power. That single line alone swept away every worry Choco had ever harbored over her pitifully low defenses. The line after it, however, was something else entirely.

Cannot be destroyed by any attack. Even the most renowned named gear in the game had its limits. Fail to repair a piece in time, and it would crumble to dust in the blink of an eye. These shrine maiden vestments needed no such concern. They could not be destroyed in the first place. The ultimate piece of armor, in other words... except the next line made her eyelid twitch of its own accord.

"Hold on. Cannot be bound to another?"

Which meant she could not change into any other equipment, did it not? As the implication sank in, Tara spoke in a voice dripping with disbelief that the question even needed asking.

"Isn't that obvious? Those clothes were personally tailored by Lady Gumiho for you and you alone. The notion that any other being could wear or possess them is absurd."

An unimpeachable argument, without a single hole in it... and to Choco, it landed like a death sentence from a clear blue sky.

"...Then I am to wear these clothes for the rest of my life?"

"Unless you pass the role on to someone else, as I did — yes."

True to her word, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tara's robes — which had once been covered in elaborate patterns — were now a plain white garment without a single marking on them.

Choco turned toward Yeon with a look of desperate disbelief, her eyes pleading for her to do something. Yeon offered an awkward grimace.

"Umm... I think she's right. I've been trying this whole time, and nothing's working..."

"That — that cannot be...!"

Trembling, her face slack with shock, Choco whipped her head back toward Tara. Then she strode forward, seized her by the shoulders, and cried out.

"Take them back! This one has no need of such garments!"

"Hmph. Do you think I wouldn't take them back if I could? And 'such garments'? Do you have any idea who made those clothes...?"

"I know nothing of such things! So I beg you, take them back!"

Even after ending up in this body, she had never once imagined she would be made to wear something like this. At worst, she had expected to play dress-up doll for Yeon now and then. Beyond that, she had assumed she would wear ordinary armor, or the same unrevealing white robes she always had.

She was beyond desperate — she was practically wailing. Tara, utterly unmoved, pressed the tip of her folding fan against Choco's forehead and pushed her back.

"This is a decision Lady Gumiho has made. Mere creations cannot overturn or undo the will of a god. And stop clinging to me. If it weren't for the gift I received from Lady Gumiho, I would have been the first to rage against that decision."

"Nngh...!"

"Well. Watching you squirm like this has soothed my temper a little, at least."

Snap — Tara flicked her folding fan open, hid her mouth behind it, and smiled with her eyes.

"Do be sure to keep showing me that flustered face of yours."

With that, she dissolved into mist and vanished, returning to the Fox Bead inside Choco's body. Choco, who had been all but hanging off her, pitched forward and hit the floor. She landed hard enough to make a thud, and Yeon startled.

"Choco, are you okay...?"

"Does this look 'okay' to you...?"

The impact hurt, yes — but what truly weighed on her chest was the thought of walking around like this from now on. Wandering about as a fox was one thing for a day or two, but sooner or later she would have to go out in human form. She did not even want to imagine how people would react when they saw her.

And Ho-jin might still be somewhere nearby...

More than anyone else, it was Ho-jin she dreaded being discovered by. They ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had not exactly parted on good terms at the end of that party — she did not even want to imagine how mercilessly he would tease her if he saw her like this.

Maybe I should just stay a fox for as long as we're here.

Yeon watched her lie there, unmoving, steeped in gloom. Then, as if she had come to some quiet decision, she crept closer and murmured.

"Hey, Choco? I think you look fine the way you are right now... I mean, you're plenty cute..."

"I see... I thank you for the consolation..."

It was not consoling in the slightest.

"Huh? Wha?"

Why was she getting even more depressed...? Yeon tilted her head, completely lost.

She could not lie there feeling sorry for herself forever. After a while, Choco pulled herself together and tried to look at the situation rationally.

Okay. Look on the bright side. I hate the design, but... the performance is ridiculous, right?

All-attack resistance, indestructibility, and a spirit power amplification. Set aside that cosplay-costume design, and those were effects you would not find on armor of any level. You would be lucky to pick up even one of them on a piece of named gear. It was, without question, a performance worthy of something a god had personally tailored.

The design was trash, though. Choco heaved a long sigh and pushed herself up off the floor. Yeon, who had been hovering restlessly beside her the entire time she had been lying there, asked carefully,

"Choco, are you okay now?"

"Yes... I owe you an apology as well. When one considers it, this was hardly a matter worth such a commotion..."

"N-no, it's not that. I realized I was being too thoughtless about it..."

It was a fact she often forgot, given how Choco looked — but Choco had originally been a man. Cute as she was to Yeon's ordinary girl's eyes, she ought to have considered that the same outfit might be nothing short of horrific to someone with rather different circumstances.

Choco shook her head at that.

"It is fine. To the eyes of others, that impression would be only natural. You need not concern yourself."

Frankly, if she had not been the one wearing the clothes, Choco would have had much the same reaction as Yeon. This body's looks, at least, fell well on the cute side even by her own estimation.

Saying that out loud makes me feel like a narcissist, but...

It was still the truth. Every so often, when her face caught in some reflective surface, she would flinch without meaning to.

"Besides, I can hardly sit idle simply because things have come to this."

"Yeah, I guess so. The sooner you grow stronger, the sooner you can go back to your original body..."

"...That is not the only reason."

"Hm? What was that?"

"I merely said that you were right. Come, let us be off."

"Okay!"

Yeon answered brightly and fell in behind her as Choco opened the door. The look on Choco's face as she led the way, however, was far from bright.

Yeon was right. If she wanted her original body back, she needed to keep hunting, not waste a single day. Only by becoming a fox god with nine tails would she find any clue to returning to the way she had been.

At first, that had been her only thought. It was not anymore.

I have to become a Gumiho before it's too late.

In the fluster of meeting Gumiho, there was a question she had never asked. Whether Gumiho was the one who had trapped her inside this game.

In her heart, she had long since concluded that it had been Gumiho. The woman styled herself an omnipotent goddess — a being inside a game, yes, but a god all the same. If not her, then who else could have locked Choco in here?

And she hoped that conclusion was right. Because if it was, then the moment she became a Gumiho herself and ascended to Dowonhyang at Gumiho's side, that same omnipotence would be hers to wield.

If that's the case... I might be able to cure Yeon's illness, too.

From everything Yeon had told her, the time she had left was not long. She might be gone as soon as tomorrow. In a situation that precarious, she could not afford to sit still just because the clothes were embarrassing.

Before it was too late — she would become a god. Holding that thought close, Choco stepped out of the soldiers' barracks.

And the moment she opened the door, her eyes met those of someone passing by. The person did not look as though they had been waiting. They had simply been walking past, and their gaze had turned naturally toward the opening door.

If they had just kept walking, everything would have been fine. Instead, they seemed to recognize her. Their face lit up.

"Hey, isn't that one of the party members who took down the Kobold King yesterday?"

"For real?"

"Ah."

That was all it took. People moving through the fortress began ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to murmur, their attention swinging this way. Come to think of it, the sudden event had ended only a day ago. Ho-jin's post would still be stirring up plenty of leftover buzz.

How had she forgotten that? Choco clapped a hand to her forehead and cursed her own stupidity. Meanwhile, the crowd was already beginning to drift toward them, closer and closer.

"Yeon, run!"

"Ehh?!"

Choco chose to break through before they could be surrounded. She kicked off the ground and bolted, and Yeon, startled, scrambled after her a beat later.

"They're running!"

"Catch them!"

"Why are they chasing us?!"

Yeon shouted in disbelief at the utterly untimely game of tag unfolding through the fortress.