Chapter 54: Who Brought This Misfortune?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 54: Who Brought This Misfortune?
The training had begun in earnest. No, “raising a child” would be a more fitting description than “training.”
Bathing her.
Teaching her words.
Even having to spoon-feed her.
She was even constantly looking for a chance to escape while also trying to take my life. You couldn’t find a more difficult child if you tried.
So, was it hard?
‘Absolutely not.’
Because foxes are cute. And when something is cute, you can forgive anything. I could finally understand why fathers dote on their daughters so much.
“Keng!”
Rin yapped.
Living with her, I’d started to roughly understand the reasons for her yaps. This one meant she wanted food.
“No. You just ate.”
“Kyaeng!”
“No means no. I have no intention of raising a pig.”
“Hmph!”
With a snort, as if to say she had no more business with me if I wasn't giving her food, Rin curled up on the floor. Ignoring me completely, she began grooming, licking her tail with her tongue.
Rin, who only pretended to be obedient at mealtime, then acted like a stranger once her belly was full and her back was warm.
‘You sly little fox.’
I’d expected it to some extent, but she was still so vexing. There were times I was tempted to give her a good flick on the head.
‘But I must endure.’
If I resorted to violence now, any chance of improving our relationship would be over. But I couldn't just let it go, either—it felt like a waste of all the money I'd spent on her food. So I enacted my own form of revenge.
“Keng?”
I scooped up the curled-up Rin from the floor and placed her on the bed. I hugged her from behind and buried my nose in her fluffy, cushion-like tail.
“Sff, khaaa… This crazy-good tail scent.”
A rich, concentrated body odor from her tail.
Is this that “tail-caine” thing people talk about? The addiction is insane. I inhaled the scent like a vacuum cleaner trying to suck up everything in sight.
“Kyaeng!”
Rin freaked out.
She attempted an emergency escape, but it was no use. My arms and legs were wrapped around her body like an octopus.
Accept your sweet punishment for baring your fangs at your master.
Her tail, so soft.
Her cheeks, so squishy.
“Khehehet…!”
Her tiny paws, so tender.
I poked my fingers between her little toes.
Struggling in my arms, Rin resorted to the only act of defiance she could manage.
“Kyaaaaeng!”
Not a chance.
Nwoooowaaaaong.
*
‘Ah, even forcing myself to play with her is exhausting.’
After a round of “playing” with Rin, I left the inn to take care of other business.
Even for mandatory tasks, you need at least a little personal motivation. That’s the key to high job satisfaction.
People don’t realize how grueling it is to handle work for purely professional reasons, without any personal feelings involved. Playing with Rin was exactly like that.
Sigh. I should make a list of things to do later.
‘Touch her flank and calf… and a belly raspberry is a must.’
It’s work, so I have to be thorough. Yep.
“Oh, young man. You’re here again today?”
I stopped by the market. It was a fish stall run by a bear beastkin. I was here to buy fish for the cat people.
“Haha, yes I am.”
“The fish are piled up in that bucket over there. Since you buy so many, I’ll give you a discount. Just 10 silver is fine.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. You’re buying them for the cat people, right?”
Even the bear lady knew. By feeding the cats, I had become Vestia’s famous cat mom.
“That’s right. Is it a bit strange?”
“It’s great for me. Those rascals used to steal from me like alley cats, but now that you’re paying for them, I have a steady income. I might not even have to prepare separately for this winter.”
Does she hibernate or something? At this point, I should probably see her less as a beastkin and more as a talking circus bear.
“Young man, why don’t you just settle down in Vestia?”
“Unfortunately, I have too much to do. But I’ll buy plenty before I leave.”
After telling the lady I’d be back tomorrow, I picked up the bucket. It was full of fresh, flopping fish. I headed for the alley where the cat people would be.
In the alley, the cat people were already lined up. I hadn’t said anything, but after a few days, they knew the drill.
“Fucking human! You’re a little late today, nyan!”
“So it seems, Mr. Fucking Cat. More importantly, there are more of you today than yesterday.”
The line stretched all the way down the alley and around the corner. I estimated there were at least thirty of them.
“Word has spread that a human is giving out fish for free, nyan.”
All according to plan.
I gave them my most benevolent smile.
“Welcome, everyone. If you make a contract with me, the fish is free.”
*
Another successful day of raising my affinity with the cat people.
If I ran a shop, I’d take them in and have them give cat-paw massages. The money would practically print itself. What a shame.
“Newspaper, get your newspaper! News from the Vestia Kingdom to the Traul Kingdom!”
A dog beastkin was weaving through the crowd, hawking newspapers. White hair and two tails, dyed pink…
“Poppy?”
“Huh? How do you know my name… Do you know me?”
I couldn’t believe it, but it was really Poppy. Just like something out of a Korean game.
“The name Poppy is incredibly famous in human society. There’s hardly anyone who doesn’t know it.”
“I-I’m that famous?”
Poppy looked incredulous, but I wasn’t lying in the slightest. Doesn’t the name Poppy immediately bring an image to mind?
If you’re thinking of a yordle with a hammer… my condolences.
“I’ll buy a copy, Poppy.”
“Ah, yes! That’ll be 30 copper!”
“I don’t carry copper. Keep the change. Buy yourself a dog treat or something.” I handed her a silver coin.
Poppy stared blankly at the silver coin in her hand.
“Th-thank you, sir! May you be blessed!”
“Haha, don’t mention it. You be careful on dog days, Poppy.”
After this heartwarming exchange with Poppy, I found a nearby bench and unfolded the newspaper.
The headline dominating the front page:
- Lady Fubao of the Snow Cloud Family, in a political marriage with the Barenher Family of the Traul Kingdom for diplomatic ties.
As she left her domain, Lady Fubao reportedly cried out sorrowfully, “I am the treasured daughter of the Snow Cloud family!” … The people, moved by her noble sacrifice, shed enough tears to form a river…….
“Hmm.”
A political marriage between nobles of the Traul Kingdom and Vestia. The only surprising part was that it was between a human and a beastkin, but such arrangements weren’t unheard of.
Next.
- Elves of the Great Forest Entering Society?
Recently, elves from the Great Forest, particularly young elven maidens in the prime of their youth, have been shedding their veils and revealing themselves to the world. It has been reported that these elves are serving humans in taverns, sending a great shock through society…
What?
Elves working in taverns?
Who on earth…
‘Who came up with such a groundbreaking idea?’
If elves got all dressed up to serve drinks and pour alcohol, they’d be raking in money. Whoever thought of it had a brilliant idea.
‘But why would elves work in a tavern?’
For elves, of all races, to be serving humans… Considering their racial pride and superiority complex, they would never do so willingly.
I had no idea what could have possessed them.
There was more to the article, so I read on.
A merchant group that had appeared like a comet, with elves at the forefront. Its name was the Merchants of Death.
The Reaper again?
Seriously, whoever came up with that name has terrible taste. A group’s future potential is revealed in these small details, and they just slapped on a name like that.
This group is already doomed.
‘Some people have to work their asses off traveling around to find slaves, while others get to make easy money.’
I hope they fail spectacularly.
There were no other interesting articles, so I folded the newspaper. Time to go give Rin that belly raspberry.
Rumble…
Thunder rolled. I looked up at the sky to see dark clouds gathering in the distance. It looked like it was about to rain.
*
Wind and rain lashed against the window. A night of flashing lightning and crashing thunder.
Rin had snorted “Hmph!” at Karami when he’d asked, “Aren’t you scared of the thunder? Want to sleep with Mastah?” and was now lying in a corner of the room.
A chain Karami had acquired was fastened around her ankle. It was slightly loose and wrapped in fur, so it didn’t hurt.
Rin coiled her long, bushy tail around herself, using it as both a blanket and a pillow. From above, she formed a perfect circle.
“Haaah.”
It was a completely different sleeping arrangement from where she had always slept soundly. The environment, too, was on another level from what she was used to, so it would have been natural for her to have trouble sleeping.
But her belly was full from the most delicious food she’d ever eaten. The other fox beastkin had made her sleep in a corner outdoors, saying her misfortune was contagious. Even then, she’d had to jolt awake and flee in the middle of the night whenever a yokai approached.
Having lived in such conditions, Rin found it much easier to sleep now that her environment had changed.
“……”
Rin stared at Karami, who was asleep in the bed.
She didn’t know why Karami was being so nice to her. She was grateful for the delicious food, but she didn’t trust him blindly.
Just as humans teach their children, “Don’t follow strangers,” the Fox Clan taught their young, “Humans capture beastkin and skin them.”
She had never been taught this directly, but she had overheard these lessons for generations. Even with her young mental age, it was only natural that the idea “humans are dangerous” was ingrained in her mind.
So Karami must have some ulterior motive. And even if he didn’t, when misfortune inevitably struck, he would eventually shun her and cast her out.
But Rin didn’t care. It was her own fault for being born with pink fur.
She only planned to eat as much delicious food as she could until she was kicked out.
What delicious thing would she eat tomorrow?
She hoped it would be meat again.
With the small wish of dreaming about eating meat, Rin closed her eyes.
Shaaa…
A wind blew in.
A cold, unsettling wind.
It was strange. All the doors and windows were shut, so there shouldn’t have been any way for a draft to get in. Puzzled, Rin opened her eyes.
“Keng…?”
The air in the room had changed.
An unseen force seemed to grip and twist the space before her, as an endlessly cold, indigo haze swirled in a reverse spiral, distorting the room.
A single silhouette emerged from the deep, thick darkness.
A body without a clear form, like mist.
A massive scythe clutched in a skeletal hand.
An ominous indigo aura spreading through the darkness.
It was hard to see in the dark room, but then—
CRACK!
A clap of thunder and a flash of lightning illuminated the figure for a moment. It was just an instant, but Rin saw it clearly.
The Reaper.
It was the Reaper.
From within the hooded cowl, the skeleton’s eyes flashed with an indigo light.