Seoul Outing
"Ready? I'm releasing it." "Y-yes!" Gulp. Focus, focus. I concentrated on the willpower training method Hojun had taught me. Soon after, Hojun dispelled the protective Taoist art. "How is it?" Ssshh. Hojun blatantly scanned my body from top to bottom. He even approached me closely. He poked my shoulder a few times. He stroked my tail and ears. It wasn't strange behavior. It was part of a serious process to check the results of the training. After a moment, Hojun nodded. "Seems like it worked." "R-really?" Th-thank goodness…! I thought I'd fail since it was just a one-day crash course.
"However." "However…?" My drinking of kimchi soup was shattered by Hojun's next words. "To be precise, the second effect of the charm you mentioned has definitely disappeared." "The second effect being… the effect that makes the target obey has disappeared, right?" "Yes." "Th-then what about the first?" "It seems reduced, but still there. It still feels like 'she looks seductive'." "Shit!" This is only half a success…
Hojun, who had put the protective Taoist art back on, continued. "But I can't be sure. Honestly, even with the protective Taoist art on, I still get the feeling that 'she looks seductive'." "What do you mean by that?" "In other words, I can't tell if it's the charm making people find you seductive, or if it's just because your body is lewdly shaped." "…"
The former is one thing. But if it's the latter… isn't that even worse? The charm can be controlled through training. But in the latter case… it's not something you can change with effort. It's not like I can go get plastic surgery somewhere. "Anyway, I'm someone the charm doesn't work on in the first place. It might be better to bring someone who's already under the charm and check. Do you have anyone like that?" "…They're everywhere."
It seemed like all the male officials at this Yokai Extermination Office were already under the charm. If I had to pick the one in the most severe state. Of course.
… … …
7th-grade official Kim Myungho was currently engulfed in an indescribable wave of dopamine. The reason was simple. Miho. My light. My hope. My master. My light, Miho, had personally summoned him. He couldn't focus on work. Looking at the nine-tailed fox figure on his desk, Kim Myungho shook his head. No. Compared to Miho's beautiful form like a sculpture, this figure could only be called 'trash'. As his reaction showed. He was one of the officials properly charmed by Miho. His condition was severe, and seeing his state, it was understandable why the director was worried about Miho's charm.
After finishing his backlog of work as quickly as possible, he made time to head to the front yard where Miho and Hojun were training. Having another man beside Miho was very displeasing. But what did it matter? Just being able to see Miho's overwhelming figure was an honor.
After a moment, facing Miho, he began to feel confusion. Of course, the seven-tailed Miho's appearance was indescribably beautiful. But just as he had thought earlier, it wasn't to the point where he could die for Miho. Or devote his entire body to her. Or think only of Miho all year round. …Had his passion for Miho cooled without him knowing?
His question was resolved by Miho's next words. "It seems the charm has been lifted."
* * *
"Myungho, what do you think when you look at me?" "You're beautiful! Your figure is also… excellent… ahem. Excellent…" "Not that. Like, do you think you could die for me? Or that you'd gladly offer your liver?" "Huh? Even if it's Miho, that's a bit…" "Yeah. It really seems like the charm has been lifted."
I explained the whole story to Kim Myungho. Then Kim Myungho spoke with admiration. "As expected of Miho! To go to such lengths for us mere officials… I, the president of Miho's number one fan club, swear to the heavens that I will serve Miho for life!" "…Are you sure the charm is lifted?" "It… seems so…?"
Compared to the previous Kim Myungho, the charm seemed definitely lifted. It's just that. Even without the charm ability, Kim Myungho was simply someone who liked me originally.
After finishing the training, I went to the director and reported. Then the director stared at my face and nodded in understanding. "Indeed, it's bearable now. I didn't think this would actually work… Haah." "Isn't that a good thing? Why the sigh?" "…I was hoping Miho would fail the training. Revealing Miho's identity was entirely my arbitrary decision, and I intended to bear the consequences alone… but I feel sorry for burdening Miho unnecessarily." "You don't have to think so complicatedly. If things go wrong, I can just run away." "Well. You probably won't be able to escape." "Why?" "There are ten force arts users attending the meeting. Of course, one of them is Ha-neul who's favorable to Miho… but I can't even predict how the other nine force arts users will react to Miho. It's clearly a dangerous place for Miho, so you must be tense. Perhaps you should reconsider the decision once more…" "It's fine. I've already decided."
According to Lee Ha-neul, among the force arts users, she had one of the best talents, but after becoming a nationally certified force arts user, she slacked off on training after experiencing trauma from some incident. Therefore, Lee Ha-neul was on the weaker side among force arts users. So the other nine force arts users were likely stronger than Lee Ha-neul. As the director said, escaping from them wouldn't be easy.
Well. Still, I'm not going to Seoul without any thoughts. I smiled at the director and said, "I have confidence in persuading them, so don't worry." "How do you plan to persuade them?" "Humanity." "…" "If I prove my humanity, that should do it." People's thoughts are all the same. If I prove the humanity of this yokai—no, this person called me—to them, since they are also humans like me, they will have no choice but to acknowledge me. "…It's just romanticism. Isn't it too idealistic?" Idealistic, huh. Well. I think it's realistic enough. Because I am only a yokai in appearance. I'm actually human.
* * *
6 AM. It was the perfect time to go to Seoul. They said we'd travel by car driven directly by the director to Seoul. Today's schedule was as follows. Arrival in Seoul. Hotel check-in after arrival. End. That's it. In other words, it meant there was plenty of time for Seoul touring.
Swish. Swish. Swish swish swish swish. Thud thud thud thud. Thwack. Lee Ha-neul in the next seat, hit in the face by my tail, made a disgusted face and spoke. "Aww, Miho! Keep your tail still!" "Ah. Sorry." "I want to see three-tailed Miho!" Sorry, but since we've left the Jirisan area, I can't tuck in my tails. If I tuck them in for no reason and get detected by yokai energy, things could go wrong even before attending the meeting.
"Everyone, fasten your seatbelts… Miho, please fasten yours too." "Okay." I fastened my seatbelt without complaint at the director's words. But Hojun in the passenger seat and Lee Ha-neul in the next seat were staring at me. What. What is it. "Your spiritual energy pouch is huge." "Envious…" Hojun and Lee Ha-neul spoke in turn as they looked at me. Indeed. The cumbersome lump of fat made the seatbelt uncomfortable.
Whether they stared at me or not, I started planning my Seoul outing. Though it was called an outing, even in spiritual beast state, I had no intention of wandering around Seoul with such noticeable tails. [Fox Cosplay] For cosplay purposes, I planned to only visit around Samsung Station. Coincidentally, there was a cosplay event near Samsung Station today, so even if people saw my tails, they'd think 'Oh, a high-quality seven-tailed fox cosplay' and move on. It was a perfect Seoul outing plan, but the director still seemed worried and spoke to Lee Ha-neul. "Ha-neul, please take good care of Miho." "Don't worry. I'll keep a tight leash on the dog."
…Hey, stop mentioning that dog leash in front of the person involved. Since I did dog training all day yesterday, I can now control my instincts to some extent. "I don't need a dog leash or anything." When I spoke bluntly, Lee Ha-neul rummaged through her pocket as if her playful side was activated, and soon took out a bone-shaped toy that dogs would enjoy playing with. When did she even prepare that?
Shake. Shake. Lee Ha-neul started shaking the bone-shaped toy in front of my eyes. Come on. What did you take my words for? I said I can control my instincts now? "Grrrrrr…" "Wait!" "Grr… whines. Whines." See. Only growling sounds come out of my mouth, and when told to wait, I'm not rushing towards the bone recklessly. How about that, Director? This is the result of instinct training.
Watching me and Lee Ha-neul, Hojun laughed in disbelief. The director sighed and said, "…Did you really do the training properly?"