The more we talked, the more Celia’s true mood emerged.
Her eyes, sunken low, sparkled with a lovely light green like newly sprouted buds, and a blush appeared on her cheeks.
Her hair, as If it had been woven into thread by sunlight, sparkled in brilliant gold.
Adding a smile to it gave the impression that his kind heart was clearly revealed.
An image that feels clean, delicate, and even fragile.
That was Celia’s true self.
“Kyuu! “Sweet!”
“Okay. I didn’t like it. Were you asking me to let you went?”
“Growl!”
“If you drink water… … .”
Celia’s voice broke in the middle.
This was because the fox, who struggled tirelessly, eventually gave up.
The claws that tear open human flesh cut her throat, causing blood to pour out in abundance.
After I did that, the fox looked surprised.
She quickly pressed down on his neck to prevent more blood from pouring out.
My whole neck and hands were wet.
I felt warm blood flowing down my forearm.
‘It was a deep cut.’
“Tsk… … .”
As Celia’s eyes twisted, the fox’s frightened eyes became wet with water.
Slitting the human throat.
When I had a major accident like this, I would be punished worse than the mistake I committed.
It was not uncommon for all toenails to be pulled out.
My stomach was numb and my heart was pounding like it was going to explode.
Its nine tails were curled up inside its stomach, and its particularly large ears hung down on both sides.
Celia felt the fox tremble and stretched out her hand.
The fox’s eyes closed tightly, anticipating merciless violence.
But even after a while, the pain did not come.
Instead, I felt a soft and careful hand stroking the area around my eyes.
The fox carefully opened one eye.
Celia was looking at the fox with worry in her bud-like eyes.
“why were you crying? “Did you hate it that much?”
“… … .”
“I was sorry for forcing you. I was afraid you would get sick. “You had to drink water.”
Celia, breathing heavily, closed her eyes tightly as if feeling dizzy.
Then, after picking up the fox and holding it in his arms, he went into the bedroom and searched the shelves.
Wherever her hands passed, there were ugly blood stains.
Only then did the fox look at Celia’s condition.
Because I scratched and scratched, there was no place that didn’t bleed.
‘Why weren’t you angry?’
While the fox was wondering, she sprayed an emergency hemostatic agent on his neck.
It was effective because it was an item filled with sacred power.
“I was sorry, fox.”
Celia wasn’t angry. Rather, she had a truly sorry face.
“By locking you up, forcibly touching you, and making you hurt.”
“… … .”
“I had a problem too. I can’t let you went now. “I wanted you to know that this decision was not just for me.”
I swear, the paladin in front of me was the first person to talk to a fox like this.
The fox was surprised in a different way and his eyes were wide open.
“I didn’t want to kill you. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
You didn’t do anything wrong?
No. The fox knew very well what his mistake was.
Born.
Born as a monster.
That was his fault.
There was reason in the subject of the monster.
The blood of a spirit being flows through the subject of a monster.
Understanding human speech despite being a monster.
A monster, a monster, a monster, etc., was born and breathes wearing the mask of a nine-tailed fox.
Being alive itself was a sin.
Every human I’ve ever met treated a fox that way.
It was all the fox’s fault.
“You did nothing wrong. “It was all human fault.”
Celia stroked the fox’s head and whispered like a song.
Whenever she comforted the fox, she would speak to it in a sweet voice, as if she were singing.
It was still like that now.
“Because humans didn’t recognize you, they called you a monster and treated you carelessly. “That was why you were harmed.”
The tears didn’t stop.
Even though I wasn’t scared of the paladin in front of me right now, I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.
“I was sorry, fox. So didn’t got sick. “It was unfair.”
“… … .”
“I need to be healthy and happy. Huh?”
Celia hugged the fox and headed to the kitchen.
He then brought a bowl of water directly into his arms.
“Were you nice?”
Celia kissed the top of the fox’s head and held out a bowl of water.
“Shall I just take a sip?”
The fox, who had been quietly glaring at the bowl, looked at the wound on her neck.
“huh? Just one sip.”
She comforted the fox and eagerly held out a bowl of water.
The fox reluctantly licked the water and began to drink.
The paladin’s request was not granted.
Because the smell of blood from her wounded body was so strong, I felt dizzy.
Because I didn’t want to smell blood anymore.
That was all.
“thank you.”
However, the eccentric paladin smiled brighter than ever and was happy.
The paladin worked outside all morning and afternoon and returned home late at night.
Sometimes, I would ran out late at night to subdue monsters.
When I came back, I always had something to eat in hand.
There were many cases where live chickens or ducks were caught so that the fox could eat regular food.
She had a cold expression on her face, as if she wouldn’t shed a single drop of blood even if she stabbed her, but I knew she would have a very kind face when dealing with foxes.
Of course, that didn’t mean they released the fox.
Because the fox didn’t stop running away.
‘If you did’t ran away, I’ll let you go.’
He was a man who was extremely strict with his words.
I had seen a lot of people who just keep talking about rules, but there were’t many who were as strict with themselves as she was.
‘Was it late today too?’
The fox lay down bored and thought.
After being locked up all day, all I could do was sleep.
Should I consider it fortunate that it is still a baby and sleeps a lot? … .
When I fell into a light sleep like that.
“Damn fox bastard!”
Suddenly, the sound of a whip hitting the floor rang loudly in my ears.
Ahhh!
The sleeping fox opened his eyes in shock.
A grim-looking pirate with his dirty hair covered in a bandana was showing his yellow teeth and spitting out anger.
One of his eyes was covered in blood.
It was a sign of damage from the claws wielded by the nine-tailed fox himself.
“I won’t let you go!”
A leather whip covered in glass powder exploded onto the small fox’s back.
“Kkegaeng!”
In an instant, the flesh was torn off and the bones were exposed.
He didn’t die at this level. Because you are a monster.
The pirate was relieved and swung his whip repeatedly.
“Wake up. Wake up!”
It screamed horribly, but no one took pity on the fox’s painful moans.
No one understood the fox’s pain.
There was no one to save me.
Mother was dead.
Rather than the pirates in front of me, I looked at the humans dressed in much more luxurious clothing.
Who was it?
I couldn’t remember.
‘It was a baby nine-tailed fox born by a spirit. Then you too will become a spirit creature?’
‘If that was the case, I can’t kill him now.’
It felt like I heard something strange from someone.
“If it wasn’t for the request, I would have ripped off the bones and flesh!”
The pirate complained.
The fox ran continuously through the open passage behind us.
The pirate chased after him, laughing evilly.
The whip turned into a huge snake and flowed like a stream of water to engulf the fox.
“Kyuu! Wow!”
It ran with its tongue sticking out of its snout.
The pink soles of my feet became hot as if they were on fire.
Before he knew it, the fox was running on the extremely hot volcanic lava field.
“Fox.”
My body shook frantically from side to side.
“Fox, wake up!”
My eyes brightened.
The dark gray sky disappeared, and dazzlingly bright sunlight spread out like an aurora.
No, it was not sunshine. It was the hair of a paladin.
Blonde hair that still smells like the sunlight it had been shining on all afternoon.
The vision that had become sticky with hatred and anger was wiped clean, and the paladin’s silent eyes filled it.
Celia blinked her pale green eyes and looked at him with concern.
“Were you okay?”
“… … .”
“I feel like I was having a nightmare.”
She held the exhausted body of the fox in her arms.
It was hard because of the armor, but it was moderately warm due to Celia’s heat.
She must have been running, and she smelled of sweat and dirt. It was a similar smell to her mother, Cheonho.
The fox’s eyes blinked slowly.
“You seem very surprised.”
Celia carefully stroked the trembling fox’s back.
It was a back that had been split by a pirate’s whip.
Although it healed without a trace, the scar still remained in the fox’s heart.
“What nightmare did you have that made you scream like that?”
No one recognized the fox’s screams.
If they cried, they said it was noisy and more violence poured out.
I did… … .
“When you grow up, tell me who did it. “I’ll scold you.”
Celia spoke with a face that was completely devoid of jokes, and suddenly held out her other hand.
There was uncooked chestnut sweet potato in it.
“They say eating sweets makes you feel better. Did you ate sweet potatoes too? “I went to the village today to defeat monsters, and the villagers gave me sweet chestnuts.”
She broke the sweet potato into easy-to-eat pieces and thrust it into the fox’s snout.
It smelled sweet and fresh.
“how was it?”
“… … .”
“Not so good? Did you want me to cook it for you?”
She tilted her head and headed toward the kitchen, holding the fox in her arms.
“I’ll cook it and let it cool before giving it to you.”
“… … .”
“What if I burn my tongue?”
She muttered and boiled the water.
The fox suddenly became angry at himself for being so calmly held in the human’s arms.
As he tried to escape by struggling, Celia freaked out and tightened his grip on the fox’s body.
“be careful. I was boiling water. “It could burn.”
“Growl.”
“He was nice.”
Celia comforted the fox as she returned to the living room.
“Fox. I named you today. “Did you want to listen?”
“Growl!”
“Listen just once. “When I thought of you, this name immediately came to mind.”
The fox struggled without even listening.
At that time, Celia’s warm voice softly penetrated the fox’s ears.
“Ran.”
It was a name that conveyed a strong shock, as if an eardrum had been pierced with an awl.
