The Final Masterminds Are Obsessed with My Foot Jelly
"Kya, kyaaang!"
That hurts! It really hurts, you brute of a butler!
Kailian's merciless hands bombarded my white rump without a shred of pity. They spent every other day putting me on a pedestal as a Divine Beast, and now not a single one of them was stepping up to save me.
"Kyauuu..."
I've memorized every last one of your faces...
Even as the spanking went on, I scanned the knights standing around in a daze.
"Well? Are you going to sneak off on your own again or not? Do you have any idea how many times my heart stopped today because of you?!"
Kailian raised that fierce hand of hers once more.
Now.
I dragged every last scrap of reflex I had up from my soul and focused. The instant before her palm came down, I poured every ounce of strength into my hind legs, kicked off her thigh, and launched myself into the air.
Boing!
"Hey! Blanc, you get back here!"
Squeezing out even the power the First Grandfather had given me, I tore free of Kailian's grip. She snatched at empty air in a panic, but I had already landed safely on the snow. I scrambled backward until I was well and truly out of her reach.
"Kyau! Kyaaang!"
No way! You think I'm crazy enough to walk back in for more?! I thought the skin on my butt was going to split!
I kept a careful watch on her feet as I held the distance. If she so much as took a step closer, I was bolting. Tail ramrod-straight, I glared at my butlers with the most betrayed look in the world.
Of course, sneaking out for a dawn stroll without a word was clearly my fault. I did feel bad that they'd had to shovel snow as a group because of me, and I knew the butlers had been through hell... but even so, she should have gone easy on the spanking!
"Kyau!"
Okay, I was wrong! But you don't have to beat me like a dog in the dog days of summer! Yesterday the First Grandfather asked you to take good care of me!
I pointed at my rump with a front paw and bared my teeth at Kailian in protest. She just snorted, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Ha! Give me a break... Blanc, have I ever scolded you for anything else? I told you not to disappear without a word."
I had no comeback for that. How cheap... just listing the facts. The tear tracks still vivid around her eyes made my heart go even softer.
"Do you even know how worried I was because of you? I thought you'd been buried in the snow—I was about to dig up the whole mountain! You should be grateful it ended with a spanking."
Her words were so firm and so thoroughly, infuriatingly right that I had no choice but to clamp my mouth shut. There was nothing I could say.
"Kyaang..."
Even so, it really hurt...
Guilt toward Kailian made my ears droop. But with my rump still burning, irritation and apology sat together in a strange tangle. She had hit me so hard the sting simply would not fade.
I gave up the staring contest, looked around, and spotted a plump heap of cold snow. Without a second's hesitation, I pressed my rump right into it.
"Kyauung..."
Now I can finally live...
The moment the cold snow touched my blazing bottom, I felt like I might actually survive.
"Pffft..."
I had my eyes shut, concentrating on that blessed chill, when a wheezing laugh drifted over from somewhere. I turned toward the sound. Haetae had both hands over her mouth, her shoulders shaking.
"Kyaung..?"
Did you just laugh?
"Kh... I-I mean, Lord Blanc pressing his bottom into the snow with such a blissful look on his face was just... just so cute I couldn't... pffft!"
Haetae couldn't hold it in any longer. She turned her head away and burst out laughing.
"Kyau..."
You. Come here. Let's see how you like a spanking.
I unsheathed my claws and lifted a front paw toward her. Shame flooded my face with heat, and irritation followed hard on its heels. Even when I got mad, it just looked like a tantrum, and Haetae's laughter would not stop.
Then Lina, who had been sitting on the ground, shot to her feet with her eyes blazing.
"Lord Blanc! I shall personally heal your bottom! Come to me, if you would!"
The mad gleam in her eyes made me take a step back.
"Come, Lord Blanc. Entrust that sacred body to me, and I shall have you healed in no time... I harbor absolutely no ulterior motives whatsoever."
Divine Power wreathing her trembling hands made for a truly unhinged sight. The instant her hand reached for my rump—
SMACK!
"Kyaaak!"
Don't touch me, you pervert!
I twisted away in a flash and smacked the back of her hand with a front paw.
"Ow! Hnnngh... haah... even the jelly-bean shape of it... this, too, is a blessing..."
Even with the back of her hand swelling bright red, Lina clasped both hands together and smiled. There was truly no helping this woman. Goosebumps rose. I tucked my tail tight and backed away.
How do I have four butlers and not a single normal one among them.
Just as the heat in my rump was finally fading, heavy footsteps crunched behind me.
Crunch. Crunch.
I glanced back. The snow leopard family that had been hiding behind a rock, watching the whole scene, was coming toward me.
"Grrrr..."
The pair approached, eyed Kailian and the butlers with deep wariness, then turned toward me. They looked at my flushed red rump with the gentlest, most worried eyes.
"Kyau...?"
What? Is there a wound or something?
When they shoved their heads right up to my rump, I covered it with my tail in embarrassment—but the snow leopard paid that no mind. Following wild instinct, it stuck out its tongue to lick my bottom the way it would tend a wounded cub.
Sliiick—
"Kyaaak!"
Hey! Don't lick that! I'm not hurt! Don't get spit on me!
I leaped into the air in horror. I'd given them some meat, sure, but this was going way too far. I yanked my rump away and refused the treatment.
"Kyau!"
I'm fine, so put that tongue back where it belongs.
"Grrn..."
At my firm refusal, the snow leopard pair tucked their tongues away with dejected faces. Their drooping ears looked pitifully out of place on such large bodies.
"Mew! Peep!"
"Peep!"
From behind the pair, the hidden cubs came toddling over with tiny, adorable cries.
"Grrn..."
"Mew! Mew!"
The cubs shoved their little bodies under my short legs and against my belly, then started nuzzling their soft cheeks and heads all over me. It seemed to be the best comfort they could offer.
"Kya, kyaung."
That tickles, you little fools... but thanks.
I licked each of them once, then flopped onto the ground.
"Kyaaang! Mew peep!"
The moment I lay down, the cubs got excited, gently mouthing my tail like a toy as they rolled around, nuzzling even harder. Their fierce little charms melted the anger right out of me. I patted their heads with a front paw and tumbled through the snow with them.
The sight of Blanc tangled up in play with the ash-spotted snow leopard cubs was enough, all by itself, to make everyone forget the grim atmosphere. That peaceful, lethally cute scene had even the butlers and knights clamping their mouths shut, watching in silence. The people who had been running around in despair were nowhere to be found. Everyone had fallen under the spell of the beasts tumbling through the snow.
"Haa... if only you weren't so cute... you're infuriatingly adorable, you know that."
Even Kailian, who had been standing there with her arms crossed in a fury, couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from twitching, and finally let out a deflated little laugh. She watched Blanc and the cubs tangled together. Then she tilted her head, struck by a sudden question.
"By the way, Blanc. I've been wondering—where did you even pick up those snow leopards? What did you do to have them clinging to you with looks like that?"
She wondered if he'd gone and picked up another Spiritual Beast, the way he had with Lumia. Lumia, who'd been reading the room at Kailian's side, crept forward. Still scared of the Kailian who'd just been mercilessly spanking Blanc's bottom, she kept a safe distance as she answered.
"It's not like that. Those snow leopards... Big Brother saved them..."
"Saved them? Blanc saved those guys?"
When Kailian cocked an eyebrow in interest, Lumia swished her tail and started explaining.
"Yeah! They were starving, like, totally starving? So Big Brother made them a whole pile of meat!"
"Is that so...? Ha. He could've at least come back from doing something bad... Why does this kid have to be so good? I can't even stay mad..."
Kailian let out a deep sigh and gently stroked Lumia's head.
"You too. Don't go sneaking off just because Blanc talks you into it. Got it?"
"Okaaay..."
"And from now on, if Blanc tries to sneak off somewhere alone, you report it to Big Sister. Immediately."
"Okay!"
Lumia snuck a sidelong glance at Kailian's face, confirmed the smile at the corner of her mouth, and immediately ran off to join Blanc and the snow leopard cubs.