53
Chapter 53
Mother Bear and Urami.
After making graves for the two Flame Bears.
It was when we were bowing our heads slightly to pay our respects.
"Rest in peace."
"Woong...."
"Kkuo, kkuheuhk......."
"So sad."
Four voices could be heard from the side.
Something was strange.
Excluding me, there should only be three voices, right?
Whose unfamiliar voice was that just now?
As I turned my head to the side with questions, a monster I'd never seen before was standing right next to me.
"Rest in peace. Zzz."
Oh man, that startled me!
What is this pure white Fox?
Where did she suddenly pop out from?
I hadn't noticed her approaching at all.
Because I hadn't felt her presence in the slightest.
Between Jjokkomi and me.
The Fox was naturally wedged in.
She was paying her respects toward the grave along with us.
Who are you to be paying respects?
Anyone would think she was part of our party.
She didn't feel out of place at all.
She was top-tier at blending into someone else's group and pretending to be part of the party.
While I stepped back and kept my guard up against the Fox.
Ailee, Jjokkomi, and Tosuni also belatedly noticed that an uninvited guest had slipped into our group.
"Huh?"
"Woong?"
"Kkuo?"
All three of their gazes simultaneously turned to the Fox.
Ailee discovered the Fox and asked with a flustered face.
"Who are you...?"
"I am me!"
"...Huh?"
With her mouth shut.
Ailee blinked as she looked at the Fox.
What is with this kid?
She had an expression that seemed to be thinking just that.
Jjokkomi and Tosuni stared blankly at the Fox, then,
"Wowoong?!"
"Kku, kkuo!?"
Startle!
They threw their arms up high into the air and shouted.
Guys, isn't your timing a bit late to be surprised?
"Hieeek?!"
The Fox also threw both arms up and shouted.
Why are you surprised, kid?
"...Where did this Fox baby suddenly appear from? She definitely wasn't around here just a moment ago."
Ailee expressed her doubts while keeping her guard up against the Fox.
Then, she shifted her gaze to me and asked.
"Tosuni baby and Flame Bear seem to be meeting that Fox baby for the first time... Bear Baby, is she perhaps your friend?"
"That's right! She and I are friends!"
The Fox beat me to the answer.
What kind of nonsense is she spouting?
Since when were we friends?
She's lying with such a shameless face.
It wasn't even a question directed at you in the first place, so why are you answering?
"Bear Baby, is that true?"
Shake shake bear!!!
I looked up at Ailee and violently shook my head.
It was a very strong denial.
Ailee stared at the Fox with a face full of suspicion.
"Our Bear Baby says you're not friends, though?"
"Hehe. I'm busted."
"What's with her...."
I didn't know her identity,
but it was certain that she was a weirdo.
***
Pure white fur covering her entire body.
A colorful tail.
A star-shaped pattern engraved on her forehead.
Roughly similar in size to me, and a bipedal monster.
This was the appearance of the Fox that had suddenly appeared.
[Star Fox lv.33]
└Pw.330
└Rnk.Unique
The species name was Star Fox.
Her rank was Unique, and her power was a whopping 330.
Seeing her information, it made sense how she could ignore the energy of the Flag installed by Tosun's Mom and approach this far. Looking purely at power, she was above Tosun's Mom.
Although she was a very strong monster,
thankfully, she didn't seem to have any intention of harming us.
If she had approached with the intention of hurting us, we would already be dead.
There is no way to beat a monster of that level.
No matter how much Great Luck came to us, it was impossible.
Because Spicy Fist and Sweet Fist do not work against a Unique rank.
Besides, my uses of Spicy Fist were already depleted.
I judged the Star Fox to be a harmless monster for now.
Therefore, it shouldn't be a problem to lower my guard.
Being on guard or careful wouldn't change anything anyway.
In the first place, there was no reason for such a powerhouse to bother making us lower our guard.
"If you're following us to pay respects at the grave... did you perhaps know the Flame Bear mother buried here?"
"That's right!"
"You're lying, right?"
"I'm busted!"
"......."
"Hehe."
It seemed.
I assumed she was a Fox lacking a bit of intelligence.
Dim-witted but kind-hearted, that sort of type.
Ah. Seeing as she lies as easily as breathing, maybe it's hard to call her kind-hearted.
Anyway.
It would normally be hard to survive in the wild being that seriously stupid, but it seemed her overwhelming strength had helped her survive until now.
Ailee, Jjokkomi, and Tosuni lowered their guard.
Having realized that the Fox held no hostility toward us.
After we decided to ignore the Fox.
After paying respects to the graves again, we started organizing the Spoils of War.
I made a grave for the Boxwood and joined in sorting the Spoils of War.
Through body language, I somehow managed to convey well that we would share the Spoils of War.
We decided to do the distribution later.
Because extracting all the Mana Stones from the monsters' corpses was the priority.
It wouldn't take long.
Since the Black Human had also done some dismantling work in his spare time, there were far more corpses that had already had the Mana Stones extracted from their bodies.
The extracted Mana Stones were all packed in numerous sacks.
We only needed to deal with the corpses that still had Mana Stones inside.
As we were continuing the dismantling work like that.
I briefly turned my head to look behind me.
"Hehe."
The Fox was roaming around us.
She didn't leave and kept hovering around here, observing us.
Ailee subtly approached me and spoke in a small voice so the Fox couldn't hear.
"That Fox baby, does she have some business with us? Is she perhaps eyeing the monster corpses and Mana Stones? It looks like she's looking for a chance to steal one."
I don't think that's it.
Unfortunately, Ailee's guess would be completely wrong.
If she wanted the monster corpses or Mana Stones, she would have just used her strength to forcibly take them.
Ailee was making such a guess because she didn't know how strong that Fox was.
Then again, she does look weak.
Both her appearance and her actions don't look strong at all.
Moreover, the energy of her Mana isn't particularly special, either.
To exaggerate a little, she feels more insignificant than a Venomfang Rat.
Unless someone can see the opponent's information with a Helper skill like me, nine out of ten people would probably judge that Fox to be weak.
Anyway.
Don't be fooled by her looks!
That Fox is actually a super strong one!
Ailee took a small Mana Stone and carefully approached the Fox.
"Fox baby."
"I'm not a baby!"
"Fox baby, have you been hovering around because you want this? If you want it, I'll give you one."
"I don't need it! Put it away!"
"You don't need Mana Stones? Do you want corpses instead of Mana Stones?"
"I don't need that either!"
"Then why on earth are you roaming around here...?"
"I was just passing by!"
"Then you can just keep passing by."
"Ugh...!"
The Fox puffed out her cheeks.
She had a face that looked annoyed.
Ailee, just ignore her and come back.
Because it's clear she's a crazy Fox.
Dealing with her will only give you a headache for no reason.
Perhaps Ailee realized that too, as she turned her back on the Fox and rejoined our side.
We continued the Mana Stone extraction work.
While doing so.
Tap, tap.
Someone lightly hit the back of my head.
"Hehe. So squishy."
The culprit was the Fox.
She was looking at me and grinning.
I ignored her.
Even so, the Fox kept hitting the back of my head and giggling as if it were fun.
...Ugh! I can't concentrate!
Why do you keep touching me so annoyingly!
Eventually, my patience exploded, and I quickly turned my head to glare at her with a fierce expression.
"Hiek! The Teddy Bear is angry! It's scary, so I'm running away!"
Flailing her arms, the Fox ran away with a silly, waddling gait.
Before long, her figure completely disappeared from our line of sight.
Seriously, what's her deal.
***
While organizing the monster corpses.
I found a monster with a familiar appearance.
Poison Tiger.
It was the monster I encountered on the very first day I was able to move.
Could it possibly be the same individual as Mr. Tiger I met back then?
They look similar, right?
I wasn't entirely sure.
Because I couldn't see the information of the dead.
Hmm.
I should bury this tiger first.
Since it might be the same individual.
I decided to make a grave without even extracting the Mana Stone.
Because if it really is Mr. Tiger from before, damaging the corpse and swallowing the Mana Stone wouldn't be morally right.
I did owe him a debt of gratitude, after all, right?
He saved my life and even taught me about the energy of vivid Mana.
So making a grave was the least I could do out of courtesy.
Right when I was making Mr. Tiger's grave like that.
"Uhehe."
The Fox stealthily revealed herself again.
No, why did you come find us again?
She was carrying a bundle slung around her neck.
She didn't have that earlier, so did she go pack her bags and come back?
As I harbored doubts, the Fox settled down a little distance away from us and started digging in the dirt while wiggling her butt.
"I'm going to build a house here. This is my land now!"
Why is that your land?
That's a crazy Fox right there.
What on earth is she doing on someone else's private property.
I didn't make an issue of that action.
Because she was a stronger monster than me, it couldn't be helped.
"Looking at her, it seems that baby was a wandering Fox roaming around to find a proper dwelling."
Ailee said while keeping the Fox in her sight.
I guess so.
I don't know why she chose this place as her dwelling, though.
Did she particularly like this location?
Or did she like us?
Regardless of the reason, we unexpectedly gained a neighbor.
"House complete!"
The Fox, who had dug out a burrow in an instant.
She came outside, untied her bundle, and poured out the items stored inside.
Half of them were Mana Stones glowing with a pure white light.
It's my first time seeing white ones.
So there are Mana Stones like that, too.
As I stared at those Mana Stones in marvel, Ailee muttered in a surprised voice from beside me.
"Pure white Mana Stones...? Aren't those top-grade Natural Mana Stones?"