Chapter 21

---

---

 

 

“That’s because Silia is a Holy Knight.”

 

 

 

 

“What are you talking about—ugh!”

 

 

 

 

“Holy power and yokai power are opposites, remember? Here, let me pat your back.”

 

 

 

 

Silia retched and emptied her stomach.

 

 

 

 

Since she hadn’t eaten anything, only bitter stomach acid came up.

 

 

 

 

“Even so, the reason you’re holding on is because I’m a gumiho descended from a spiritual creature.”

 

 

 

 

“Hah… urgh…”

 

 

 

 

“You’ll feel better as time passes.”

 

 

 

 

Breathing heavily, Silia asked,

 

 

 

 

“Then when are you taking this back?”

 

 

 

 

“Why are you so determined to make me take it back? I told you, it’s good for your body.”

 

 

 

 

“You said it’s your power. You need it so you can grow up and hunt on your own later.”

 

 

 

 

Ran looked utterly dumbfounded.

 

 

 

 

“I can catch and eat animals even without yokai power.”

 

 

 

 

“There aren’t only animals living in the forest.”

 

 

 

 

“Monsters? You think monsters or yokai might hurt me?”

 

 

 

 

Ran stared at her in disbelief.

 

 

 

 

“Silia, I’m a yokai too.”

 

 

 

 

“A baby fox that even I can beat.”

 

 

 

 

Ran fell silent before adding slowly,

 

 

 

 

“I’m not exactly a baby anymore.”

 

 

 

 

“Right. A young fox.”

 

 

 

 

A faint smile appeared on Silia’s lips.

 

 

 

 

But it vanished as quickly as a mirage.

 

 

 

 

“You must take this back. It’s uncomfortable carrying it around.”

 

 

 

 

“…”

 

 

 

 

“I’ll handle whatever sinister thing is attached to my shoulder myself, so don’t worry about it.”

 

 

 

 

“You sound like one of those stubborn old people from the Eastern Continent.”

 

 

 

 

“…”

 

 

 

 

“When I become an adult, I’ll remove both the thing on your shoulder and the bead. I can retrieve the bead whenever I want, even if you refuse to give it back, so stop worrying about strange things.”

 

 

 

 

Only then did the tension in Silia’s shoulders finally melt away.

 

 

 

 

The boy instinctively moved to support her waist in case she collapsed.

 

 

 

 

But she pushed his hand away and stood up on her own.

 

 

 

 

Like someone drawing a line.

 

 

 

 

Like someone who, one day, would send him away without regret.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Commander, are you pregnant?”

 

 

 

 

“Pffft!”

 

 

 

 

Eric, who had been eating beside her, sprayed water like a fountain and began coughing violently.

 

 

 

 

Silia froze in visible shock as she picked at her food.

 

 

 

 

“Pr-Priest Shula, what on earth are you saying…?”

 

 

 

 

“Well, isn’t it obvious? Why are you constantly retching like someone with morning sickness?”

 

 

 

 

Shula grabbed her hand.

 

 

 

 

“And why are you barely touching your food? Give me your hand. Let me check your pulse.”

 

 

 

 

“I-I’ll be taking my leave now!”

 

 

 

 

Eric jumped to his feet and practically fled the dining hall.

 

 

 

 

Rubbing her face, Silia replied,

 

 

 

 

“It’s not like that.”

 

 

 

 

“How is it not? Something’s clearly wrong.”

 

 

 

 

Suddenly, Shula’s face turned pale.

 

 

 

 

“W-wait. Don’t tell me that male gu—”

 

 

 

 

Before something disastrous could leave his mouth, Silia clamped a hand over it.

 

 

 

 

“Mmph! Mmph!”

 

 

 

 

“Let’s go to my office, Priest Shula. Understood?”

 

 

 

 

Dragging him by force, she hauled him out of the knights’ dining hall.

 

 

 

 

Everyone else conspicuously avoided looking at them while pretending to focus very hard on stuffing bacon into their mouths.

 

 

 

 

The question ‘Are you pregnant?’ had been shouted far too loudly.

 

 

 

 

At minimum, every knight in the dining hall had heard it.

 

 

 

 

Once inside the commander’s office, Silia groaned and rubbed her forehead.

 

 

 

 

“Haah… Priest Shula, please think before you speak…”

 

 

 

 

“What? Pregnancy is a good thing. Even Solar said humanity should prosper and multiply.”

 

 

 

 

“I’m not married.”

 

 

 

 

“Well, that part is a bit of a problem.”

 

 

 

 

Shaking her head, Silia sat down.

 

 

 

 

The constant retching over the past week had already exhausted her.

 

 

 

 

“But seriously, what happened? It’s nothing serious, right?”

 

 

 

 

“I ate something bad.”

 

 

 

 

“You should visit the healers soon.”

 

 

 

 

“For something like this?”

 

 

 

 

“You’ve been retching for an entire week! What do you mean, ‘something like this’? Don’t tell me you accidentally ate a poisonous herb.”

 

 

 

 

“Absolutely not.”

 

 

 

 

Shula was about to argue further but stopped when he noticed how exhausted she looked.

 

 

 

 

Instead, he changed the subject.

 

 

 

 

“How’s that gumiho these days? Still obedient? He hasn’t suddenly revealed his true nature or anything?”

 

 

 

 

“True nature?”

 

 

 

 

“He turned human.”

 

 

 

 

A sharp wariness appeared on Shula’s face.

 

 

 

 

“You never know.”

 

 

 

 

“Priest Shula. He’s still just a child. He hasn’t changed at all.”

 

 

 

 

“Really? Even after you told him?”

 

 

 

 

“Told him what?”

 

 

 

 

“That he’ll have to leave once he becomes an adult. You told him, didn’t you?”

 

 

 

 

Silia’s mouth snapped shut.

 

 

 

 

Shula had been casually looking around the office, but the prolonged silence made him slowly turn toward her.

 

 

 

 

His expression became one of dawning horror.

 

 

 

 

Seeing his gaze, Silia’s lips sealed even tighter.

 

 

 

 

Was I supposed to tell him?

 

 

 

 

Most of Silia’s time had been spent fulfilling her duties and teaching Ran manners.

 

 

 

 

Beyond that, they rarely talked.

 

 

 

 

Usually only about food or walks.

 

 

 

 

After all, they were destined to part ways eventually.

 

 

 

 

She genuinely treasured and loved Ran, who was as precious as a tiny jewel, but she had never lost sight of reality.

 

 

 

 

Ran possessed the potential to become a Heavenly Fox, a true spiritual creature.

 

 

 

 

That meant he absolutely had to return to the Eastern Continent.

 

 

 

 

Spiritual creatures were beloved by Danwa, the deity of the Eastern Continent.

 

 

 

 

The Western Continent belonged to Solar.

 

 

 

 

The distinction was clear.

 

 

 

 

Ran wouldn’t want to spend his life trapped in a house, either.

 

 

 

 

Because of that, she had assumed Ran already understood that one day they would separate.

 

 

 

 

“Don’t tell me you never told him?”

 

 

 

 

Shula’s shrill voice snapped her from her thoughts.

 

 

 

 

“I didn’t think there was any need to…”

 

 

 

 

“Commander!”

 

 

 

 

Shula practically screamed.

 

 

 

 

“What were you thinking? Do you know how many months it’s already been?”

 

 

 

 

“Well… won’t it be fine?”

 

 

 

 

“No, it won’t!”

 

 

 

 

“Ran will be happy.”

 

 

 

 

“Do you really think that?”

 

 

 

 

“He’ll be going home.”

 

 

 

 

“His homeland may be the Eastern Continent, but that doesn’t mean he likes it more than here.”

 

 

 

 

“Even so, he has to go.”

 

 

 

 

“Nobody said he shouldn’t! But you should’ve at least talked to him about it!”

 

 

 

 

Even after all that, Silia still didn’t seem to understand.

 

 

 

 

When she remained silent, Shula rubbed his face.

 

 

 

 

“It looked like he’d grown attached to you. Affection, attachment, whatever you want to call it.”

 

 

 

 

Though Ran himself didn’t seem fully aware of it yet.

 

 

 

 

He spends all day acting unbearably cute in fox form, and she still doesn’t realize anything even after seeing him as a human?

 

 

 

 

Shula stared at Silia in disbelief.

 

 

 

 

A ridiculously adorable fox and an unbelievably attractive boy. The answer is obvious, Commander. That crafty gumiho is deliberately sticking close to you.

 

 

 

 

But what was the point of saying it?

 

 

 

 

Silia wouldn’t listen anyway.

 

 

 

 

Suppressing a sigh, Shula scolded her.

 

 

 

 

“What are you going to do when this blows up in your face?”

 

 

 

 

For someone who normally couldn’t stand Ran, it was surprisingly considerate advice.

 

 

 

 

Though in truth, he was worried that the lovestruck gumiho might end up causing trouble for the commander.

 

 

 

 

Those eyes of Ran’s…

 

 

 

 

Shula remembered perfectly the look in Ran’s eyes while watching over the unconscious Silia.

 

 

 

 

The boy hadn’t even blinked.

 

 

 

 

The memory still sent chills down his spine.

 

 

 

 

Are all gumihos like that?

 

 

 

 

The fact that Silia had spent months beside him without noticing was almost impressive.

 

 

 

 

As if the gumiho wasn’t enough, now there’s a werewolf too…

 

 

 

 

Shula pressed a hand to his forehead.

 

 

 

 

“He’ll want to go to the Eastern Continent. All he’s had in the West are terrible experiences. Even now, this is basically another form of captivity.”

 

 

 

 

Silia was still completely missing the point.

 

 

 

 

“He probably wants to leave as soon as possible.”

 

 

 

 

So that’s the story she’s planning to tell him soon, huh?

 

 

 

 

Shula made a decision.

 

 

 

 

For the time being, he would stay far away from Silia’s house.

 

 

 

 

“Let me ask one thing. Is this idea that Ran wants to go to the Eastern Continent actually based on anything?”

 

 

 

 

The confidence in Silia’s voice faltered.

 

 

 

 

“Well… not really. It’s just what I think.”

 

 

 

 

Shula looked at her with genuine pity.

 

 

 

 

“I see. Good luck with that.”

 

 

 

 

Patting her shoulder, he left the office.

 

 

 

 

Ironically, his smooth departure made Silia feel even more uneasy.

 

 

 

 

I think I made a huge mistake.

 

 

 

 

The bigger problem was that now she had realized it, she had absolutely no idea how to bring it up.

 

 

 

 

She was competent and efficient at work.

 

 

 

 

But when it came to relationships, she was hopeless.

 

 

 

 

Which was hardly surprising, considering she’d never really had any close relationships before.

 

 

 

 

Among all the connections she’d made in life, Shula was probably the closest.

 

 

 

 

And changing the other party from human to yokai didn’t make things easier.

 

 

 

 

If anything, it made them worse.

 

 

 

 

“Haah…”

 

 

 

 

Sighing, Silia headed home.

 

 

 

 

Then she spotted a suspicious box beside the road.

 

 

 

 

“Hm?”

 

 

 

 

It sat precisely at the intersection leading to the secret passage connecting the commander’s residence and the knights’ headquarters.

 

 

 

 

A place no one but me would ever pass through…

 

 

 

 

The same holy power she had sensed from the box containing the phoenix feather emanated from it.

 

 

 

 

She opened it.

 

 

 

 

Inside were two thick black leather collars.

 

 

 

 

A red gemstone was embedded in the center of each one.

 

 

 

 

At a glance, she recognized them as blessed stones infused with holy power.

 

 

 

 

Silia checked the note attached to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I have no time, so I’m leaving only the items. Once the collars are on them, I don’t care what happens afterward. However, the spiritual creature’s cub may need to be reported to the divine maiden of the Eastern Continent, so I will inform the Guardians in advance.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was no signature.

 

 

 

 

But she immediately knew it was from Moldis.

 

 

 

 

“Ran hates collars…”

 

 

 

 

With one more worry added to her growing list, Silia’s steps felt as heavy as iron.

 

 

 

 

Dragging her feet, she eventually arrived home.

 

 

 

 

“Ran, Vio. I’m back.”

 

 

 

 

Patter, patter, patter!

 

 

 

 

A fox and a wolf came sprinting toward her on all fours.

 

 

 

 

How am I supposed to say this?

 

 

 

 

The thought instantly evaporated the moment she saw the state they were in.

 

 

 

 

“What happened to you two…?”

 

 

 

 

Where had Ran’s brilliant fur gone—the fur that usually gleamed like polished silver?

 

 

 

 

In its place was a filthy fox panting happily.

 

 

 

 

Without exaggeration, he looked like melting snow.

 

 

 

 

The kind trampled underfoot and mixed with mud until it became a soggy mess.

 

 

 

 

Ran had somehow wrapped that muddy slush around his entire body and was enthusiastically rubbing himself against Silia’s legs.

 

 

 

 

Not just her legs, either.

 

 

 

 

The bed.

 

 

 

 

The sofa.

 

 

 

 

The rug.

 

 

 

 

Silia pressed a hand against her face in agony.

 

 

 

 

Beside him, Vio was rolling around on the wooden floor completely covered in mud.

 

 

 

 

Apparently, the two of them had thoroughly enjoyed themselves in a patch of wet slush and mud.

 

 

 

 

Taking a deep breath, Silia slipped her hands under Ran’s forelegs and lifted him up.

 

 

 

 

“Ran. Turn into a human for a moment. I need to talk to you.