Chapter 91: A Woman's Secret
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 91: A Woman's Secret
Hoot, hoot.
The hooting of an owl. When you wake up, you’re supposed to hear the chirping of birds heralding the morning, not an owl.
How strange.
“…up?”
Then, another sound reached me, faint as an auditory hallucination. My mind was groggy, and I wondered if I was dreaming.
“This is the last time. Get up.”
But the voice that followed was as sharp as a blade, far too vivid for a dream. Even the undisguised annoyance and faint anger lacing it were clear.
I had no choice but to accept that this was not a dream, but reality.
I forced my heavy eyelids open. A gray-furred wolf beastkin stood in my blurry vision. As my eyes focused, the distinct figure of Seira came into view.
“Um… Seira?”
“This is too much. I was going to let you sleep in since you’ve been so tired lately, but how can you still be sprawled out asleep when I’ve already come home from work?”
“…Huh?”
Work?
With bleary eyes, I checked the window. The sun was gone, and only the moon hung in the sky. My gaze met that of an owl beastkin perched on the opposite roof.
The owl beastkin tilted its head at a bizarre angle to look at me. It hooted again.
“What on earth were you doing all night to sleep without any sense of time?”
“Uh…”
At night? What did I do last night?
….
I had no idea.
It wasn't like a blackout; it was as if the entire tape had been erased. Nothing came to mind. Well, since it was night, I probably just came to my room and went straight to sleep, right?
I’d been exhausted lately, so I must have passed out the moment I hit the bed.
Still, to sleep away an entire day.
Even on days when I was dead drunk, I’d wake up by noon at the latest. Waking up in the evening was unimaginable. This had never happened to me before in my entire life.
What was more surprising was that I still felt tired even after sleeping for so long.
“Honestly… If you’re awake, come down and have some dinner. Rin is waiting for you.”
“I'll be right there.”
I tried to get out of bed to follow Seira.
“Ugh.”
I slumped back down.
“Now what's wrong?”
“Nothing, my body just feels stiff…”
“It's one thing after another with you.”
Giving me a pathetic look, Seira left me and went downstairs first. I stretched my particularly stiff back before following her.
Rin was waiting demurely at the dining table.
Rin was currently going through a late puberty, which was why she kept pushing me away. It felt all the more bittersweet because our relationship had always been so close, as if I were raising a daughter.
I needed to resolve this as soon as possible to proceed with the next part of the story…
“Oh, Master! Did you sleep well? You woke up so late!”
Contrary to my worries, Rin greeted me first with a bright smile. I was so surprised that I could only react awkwardly.
“Yeah, well…”
“Come on, let's have dinner! Seira bought a ton of delicious food!”
I hesitantly sat down next to her. Grinning from ear to ear, Rin leaned over and clung to me. Her seven tails wagged frantically.
It was a familiar sight.
This was why I always found her fur in my food.
“I tried to wake you, but you were sleeping so deeply, you know? You wouldn't wake up even when I tried, so I just let you be. You're such a sleepyhead, Master.”
“I suppose so. I think it's because I've been so tired lately. Though I never thought I'd sleep this long.”
“It's because you're so frail, Master. How about you take this chance to exercise, get stronger, and build up your stamina? I checked, and you definitely need to work on your stamina.”
“I'm too busy with work right now. I'll think about it.”
“Just say the word anytime! I'll help you!”
Rin rubbed her cheek against my shoulder in an affectionate display. I was sure we hadn't been this close just yesterday.
It was like a yo-yo effect; the distance between us stretched and snapped back like a rubber band. The difference was just plain awkward.
I couldn't understand it at all, and unable to hold back, I cautiously asked a question.
“Um, Rin? Aren't you a little too close?”
“What are you talking about, Master? This is how we always are.”
“That's true, but just yesterday you seemed uncomfortable around me. Now you've suddenly changed.”
“Oh, that?”
Rin giggled, a sly fox-like smile playing on her lips.
“A woman's secret.”
What the.
So it wasn't puberty, but that time of the month?
I don't really know much about that stuff. Not unless I get gender-bent or something.
“Anyway, you're saying it's all fine now?”
“Yep. I'm in top condition.”
“That's a relief, then.”
Whatever the process…
As long as things worked out, it's all good!
*
A few more days after the Fallen Monk was defeated, the people realized the curse had completely vanished.
People who had been cooped up in their homes came out to walk the streets, and merchants reopened their shops. Life was gradually returning to the city.
Though Seira, who had to go back to work, let out the sigh of a public servant.
A real shame.
Of course, that didn't mean things were completely back to normal. The terrifying thing about a plague was the lingering anxiety it etched into people's minds, an anxiety that couldn't be completely erased even after it was over.
What if it comes back? What if I go to a crowded place and catch it?
Because of that, the general mood was to stay home unless it was absolutely necessary to go out. It would be more accurate to say the city had only halfway recovered.
I'll have to find a way to solve this.
A situation where people could forget the plague and laugh freely. There had to be a way.
Until then, I decided to enjoy a walk with Rin and savor the peace we'd found after so long.
“Peace is nice, isn't it?”
“It is~”
Rin had become a seven-tailed fox, and we were close again.
Closer than before, it seems.
There was nothing to complain about. Except for the fatigue that wouldn't go away no matter how much I rested.
Still, at this rate, I should be able to raise her into a gumiho without any trouble…
“Master, we're surrounded.”
“What?”
Startled by her sudden words, I quickly looked around, but I couldn't see anyone.
But Rin's eyes seemed to see something I couldn't. The atmosphere around her had grown heavy.
The street grew noisy.
I could hear the murmur of a crowd in the distance, but they were too far away for me to see what was happening.
“What is it?”
“It's her.”
“Her?”
“The Lion Princess.”
The Lion Princess? If you're talking about the Lion Princess in Vestia…
“Hey, Boss!”
Before I could even guess who it was, a familiar, cheerful voice rang out.
The crowd parted to the left and right, and through the gap, Hilde the lioness strode forward. Behind her, fully armed knights and soldiers followed in formation.
Hilde sauntered over, hands in her pockets. At her feet was a turtle shell.
It was a turtle beastkin hiding in its shell. She was kicking it around like a soccer ball.
What a psycho.
Yes, she was.
“Well now, I was just about to pay you a visit, and here you are. What a lucky day.”
Lucky for you, maybe.
You just made my day a whole lot unluckier.
I'd even heard from Yuhwa that she suspected Rin might be the gumiho. Of course, now that Rin was a seven-tailed fox, we didn't necessarily have to run, but there was nothing to be gained from meeting her either.
Dealing with her had nothing to do with Rin's complete liberation. She was just another obstacle.
“That's the pink fox next to you, right? She's much bigger than I heard.”
“That's right. I didn't expect my slave to grow so big, either. But why would the princess be looking for a humble boss like me?”
“Oh, it's nothing much. I'm here to catch a fox.”
“Excuse me?”
Hilde began to speak calmly, as if she were sharing a piece of gossip instead of something shocking.
“Lately, an unusual number of unfortunate incidents have been happening in the kingdom, one after another. I'm convinced the pink fox is the reason. The timing of her appearance in the kingdom lines up with it all too creepily.”
“If this is about the superstition surrounding pink foxes, you're mistaken. As you can see, I'm standing right next to her, and I'm perfectly fine.”
“I don't care about that. The fact that she gets on my nerves is reason enough, but now the people are trembling in fear, aren't they?”
Hilde gestured with her eyes for me to look around. The crowd was staring at us with anxious eyes. To them, the one who brought the plague wasn't the Fallen Monk, but Rin.
“So, we'll be taking the pink fox into our custody. She's a slave, so she has a subjugation brand or something, right? Hand it over. If you do it nicely, I'll guarantee your life.”
Hilde said it as if she were doing me a great favor.
This was no exaggeration. She was genuinely doing me a favor because she'd taken a liking to me. The Hilde I knew would have thrown a punch first.
What should I do…
Needless to say, handing Rin over was not an option. That only left fighting Hilde. Rin, glaring at the princess, was already on the verge of entering a battle stance.
But if I fought the princess in the middle of the city like this, I'd be branded a terrorist, which would make things difficult later on.
“Hm?”
As I was running my brain at full capacity, trying to figure out how to break through this situation, the sky suddenly began to darken.
Ominous dark clouds gathered in the clear sky.
The entire city was covered in shadow.
It was clearly an unnatural phenomenon.
People looked up at the sky, murmuring amongst themselves.
Rumble!
Thunder cracked.
Lightning flashed through the dark clouds.
From within them, a single figure descended as if a god was making their advent.
A towering figure, easily two meters tall.
Gleaming golden armor.
A massive spear taller than its wielder.
Red hair that flowed down to its feet, reminiscent of a blazing fire.
And, to top it off, the ears and tail of a horse.
“So, everyone was gathered in one place.”
One of the Twelve Zodiac Spirits—a yokai with a horse motif. The Horse Demon (十二午鬼).
Of all the times for them to show up.
First a lion, and now a horse.
It's a regular animal kingdom.
…Ah, right. This is an animal kingdom.