chapter 12
Episode 12 [Fox, what are you doing, fox](3)
Immediately after Olivia’s permission, Dante wrapped her lotus in a towel and brought her to his room.
Then, after gently wiping the dirt and mud from her body with a towel soaked in lukewarm water, she laid it on my bed and exposed it to a warm flame.
The hair that starts to shine more and more.
When her icy body temperature rose to a certain extent, Dante let out a sigh of relief at her.
“[How should I repay this favor… I’m sorry Dante, the only thing this lady can do now is say thank you…]”
“That’s enough.”
He smiled kindly.
“Oops.”
With a sigh, Dante lays down right next to Yeon-hwa, showing his belly.
Turning her head and making eye contact with her lying down, Dante said happily.
“The owner allowed Yeon-hwa to stay here for a while… What do you think, Yeon-hwa?”
“[I’m grateful, but I can’t trouble you any more…]”
“…Yeonhwa-nim. You know what? I really like foxes, right?”
He had a curious expression on his face.
“But it’s the first time I’ve seen it this close. That’s a rare white fox.”
“[Hey, wait a minute, my dear.. If you come closer, your face will touch..!?]”
“How many times will this opportunity come again in my lifetime?”
Tuk, Dante put nose to nose with Yeon-hwa.
“I’m sharper and more greedy than I look, so I don’t do anything reckless to take advantage of a precious opportunity that might come only once in my life.”
In that state, Dante smiled once.
“──In short, don’t feel pressured. Just being by your side is enough.”
Of course, lodging costs.
“[….It looks gentle and delicate on the outside, but on the inside it’s like a well-polished blade.]”
───It’s a good vessel.
Yeon-hwa brushed Dante’s messy bangs with her paw.
“[In that case… It would be rude to decline further than this… I’ll be grateful for your consideration. I’d like to take care of you again. Dante.]”
“Please take good care of me too, Mr. Yeonhwa.”
◇
The two chatted about this and that.
“[──It wasn’t originally this small figure, it was a huge nine-tailed fox that could easily climb a mountain.]”
“A nine-tailed fox must have nine tails…”
“[Yes, that divine beast that appears in the legends handed down to the people of the underworld is correct.]”
Yeonhwa waved her tail slightly.
“[Right now…It’s gone down like this, but… hehehe.]”
A self-deprecating laugh.
Dante looked at her blankly and said.
“Can’t you… Regain your strength again?”
“[…Even if it’s not about regaining one’s prestige, there is a way to recover the original power to some extent.]”
“…Are there only means…?”
Nodding his head, Yeonhwa spat out a small marble from her mouth.
A beautiful purple marble.
“[Foxes accumulate demon power throughout their lives in these fox marbles, which they naturally carry inside their bodies from birth. The longer the time, the stronger the power and the more tails they have.]”
She took her marble and pushed it up her nose at Dante.
The size of a tiny marble.
That means,
“[Whoops..I never thought the word time is medicine would be used like this…]”
She smiled bitterly.
There is only one way to regain one’s strength, but to accumulate demonic energy once again by enduring a long time without a promise.
To rebuild a completely destroyed tower from scratch.
“I can’t…”
“[Am, it’s realistically impossible… The difference between Yeo then and now is physically and mentally the difference between heaven and earth. No matter how many times you repeat the same practice in the same way, hundreds or thousands of years will pass. You can’t even guarantee yourself if you’ll take it.]”
A heavenly fox who was born with the qualifications of a god, and a fox who is nothing more than an ordinary little creature.
It was different from the skills I had in the first place.
“[…Well, if you happen to pick up a raindrop filled with demonic power somewhere, it’ll be a different story.]”
——It’s just what I hoped for, and Yeon-hwa patted Dante’s hand, who was deep in thought before he knew it.
“[Hey Dante, what the hell is she thinking, why is she making such a serious expression?]”
Dante said.
“I, Yeonhwa-nim, as long as it’s filled with that magical power… You mean, anything is fine?”
“[Um, but… By any chance, do you have any clues?]”
Your force, that is, if you interpret it similarly with the title here, it is magical power.
He nodded and smiled once.
──There is no place in the world full of all kinds of precious treasures like the rarity of dragons, and even black dragons.
◇
Dante brought a small box and held it out to Yeon-hwa.
“[This is…]”
“Yeah, I got it as a gift from my master a long time ago. I, a human, went to the southeast country a long time ago, and killed a strange-looking snake. It’s a spoil or something.”
He opened the lid of the box and began to unwrap the white wrapping cloth neatly piled inside.
“By the way, I’ve thought before that it’s considered to be something so great that even I, who don’t have a good eye for it, would naturally admire it… Just in case.”
Slowly.
Finally, her white cloth fell to her floor, and Dante carefully wrapped her hands around her large bead, which was brilliantly blue, and showed her to her.
No matter how strong the power was, the waves of magical power were already spinning around the marble.
Yeonhwa made a surprised expression.
“[…! How did Yeouiju get here…?!]”
“Yeoui..Ju? What is that?”
“[It is a mysterious orb called the source of the dragon’s power. The Imoogi, who has accumulated 1000 years of training, obtains this Yeouiju and ascends to heaven as a dragon.]”
“….. Huh?”
Dante put on an expression of incomprehension.
Imoogi? Perform? Ascend as a dragon…?
Dragons weren’t born as dragons…?!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Olivia have anything like this before?
“[Ah, Yeo’s explanation was insufficient. The dragon you are thinking of and the dragon you are talking about are completely different species.]”
Eagle’s feet, tiger’s legs, deer’s horns, lion’s mane, rabbit’s eyes, cow’s ears, fish’s scales, and finally a long, flexible body like a snake’s.
“[When it comes to dragons, which are called places where there was leisure in the past, it was only natural to think of all of these things put together.]”
Perhaps the strange-looking snake that your master said was a dragon.
“Eagle’s feet, deer’s horns, long torso…I can’t imagine it at all…Anyway, can this Yeouiju be of any help to you, Yeonhwa?”
“[The legendary treasure that is said to make any wish of the person who wears it come true. My dear… You certainly don’t intend to hand over such a precious thing to the woman without paying anything…?]”
“? Can’t you?”
“[Hah!?]”
Yeonhwa put on an expression asking if she was sane.
Human beings do not easily give to others without remuneration.
The more valuable it is, the better.
Exclusive desire.
This is the natural and instinctive desire of all intelligent creatures.
Of course, it was impossible to say that this was completely evil.
Because what can be said to be precious is not limited to just property or things.
The all-powerful rain that grants any wish.
You’re going to hand it over to yourself, who you haven’t even met yet?
Isn’t it too good even if people like it!?
How can there be such pure and innocent people?
I’ve seen countless people come and go even when I was in my home country, but I’ve never seen anyone with a bowl like this.
“[My dear, think again. With just this, your life, Dante, will change 180 degrees from head to toe..! Get out of your loathsome slave status and lead your minions until you die. Good food, good food.” You will live by only taking good clothes!]”
A human with a good soul like you deserves to enjoy it..!
Yeonhwa sincerely tried to change Dante’s mind.
“[The body that is under divine punishment anyway, I had no idea that she would regain her dignity again! So, my dear, her heart is enough, so please change that decision!]”
“…Hey, you seem to be misunderstanding something…”
Dante slightly lifted Yeon-hwa’s body, leveled her eyes, and said.
Clear and clear golden eyes.
“There are times when I think that being a slave is always difficult because I wanted to, but I have never thought of quitting.”
How the hell did I get this valuable job?
“And secondly, I’m not interested in living a life of ease and luxury. No, I’m rather reluctant.”
Before her death, her mother said.
Even if you suffer from poverty and graze the wild grass, you should never harm others to take their money or steal their food.
In addition, no matter how much wealth you have, you should live a frugal and simple life.
“Those who are immersed in power and pleasure often fall easily due to the taste of comfort. I would rather die than lead a life without anything left, neither rewarding nor proud.”
In Dante’s subconscious, a secret aversion to the nobility, the royal family, and the powerful lay dormant.
Since both of his parents died at a young age because of Emperor Mars, it was justifiable anger from his point of view.
So, Dante swore.
I will live a life of keeping to the end the words of my parents, who tried their best to lead me correctly even in poor and difficult circumstances.
That is the best reward you can give yourself.
In the future, when this life is over, I will be able to face them without a single bit of shame in the sky.
──I lived really hard.
“So, to me, this isn’t a valuable item, it’s a useless item. I already know how to be content with not having enough.”
“[Dear…]”
How noble.
I hope you are happy.
I want you to be happier than anyone else.
I wish I could live a life full of laughs.
I want to caress you.
I want to save it.
I want to hug you.
I want it.
──It just came to me, for no reason.
Yeon-hwa lowered her head as if confused.
“[…Even if it’s something you want–]”
“My wish is.”
Interrupting her words,
Dante made a wish without hesitation.
◇
At that moment, all the power in Yeouiju was sucked into Yeonhwa’s fox beads.
They grew bigger and bigger until they reached the size of an apple.
At the same time, Yeonhwa’s body is wrapped in pure white light and her appearance begins to change.
Hair like pure white frost.
Sharp purple eyes.
Fox ears pricked up on her head.
Nine plentiful tails that sway around the waist.
When the light finally went out, what stood there was not a small and fragile fox, but a tall, beautiful woman in an exotic outfit.
“……Crazy.”
Dante exclaimed a small exclamation while covering his mouth with her hand at such an unconventional transformation.
She was so surprised that she sat down on her floor and lifted him up, who couldn’t close her gaping mouth, and her Yeonhwa smiled.
“I liked it.”
“…….Yes…?”
A dumb voice.
As if even that was lovely, she stroked Dante’s hair.
“——You said you liked her.”
The eyes of the fox that had captured the prey shone in a magical way.