The healing priest, Shula, was a woman everyone avoided because of her bizarre personality.
She never cared whether someone outranked her or not when she spoke.
Despite possessing exceptional healing abilities, she had effectively been exiled to the Empire’s Holy Knight headquarters because of that sharp tongue.
Even Silia was not spared from Shula’s verbal attacks.
“Commander, have you completely lost your mind?”
Judging by her momentum, she looked ready to grab Silia by the collar and shake her violently.
“Throw that thing away immediately!”
“Shula.”
“It’s not even an ordinary yokai! You said it’s a gumiho! Those things seduce people and drain their life force!”
Shula was so agitated that she did not even notice Silia’s rare look of bewilderment.
Normally, she would have widened her eyes in fascination at seeing such an unusual expression from her.
After all, Silia was a holy knight with the solemn aura of a living sacred statue.
A narrow waist tightly honed with lean muscle and legs so sturdy they looked as though they had never once bent in weakness.
An emotionless mouth set firmly in a straight line.
Even those who scoffed at the idea of a woman wielding a sword would instinctively shut their mouths when standing before Silia.
She was the very image of a holy knight so sacred it felt as though icy water flowed through her veins.
Her body, trained for her entire life, was slender yet sharp like a rapier, and her elegant jade-colored eyes had never once lost their composure.
If one looked closely, her eyes were naturally gentle in shape, but few ever noticed.
Because whenever she stared at someone with that blank expression, it felt as though all their ugly thoughts were being laid bare, causing everyone to avert their gaze.
And yet that very Silia was visibly flustered right now.
“Priest Shula. Can’t something be done?”
Not only that—
Worried, she refused to leave the vicinity of the gumiho’s cage.
As though deciding this situation could not continue, Shula strode toward the fox.
Startled, Silia quickly followed after her.
“What are you planning to do?”
“What else? I’m about to throw this seductive little monster out! This wicked thing obviously bewitched you, Commander!”
The fox, which had been languishing weakly inside the cage, lifted its head at the noisy commotion.
Its dazzling silver fur reflected the light brilliantly, glittering so brightly it seemed to pierce straight into the eyes.
Shula had been frowning deeply—then suddenly hiccuped in shock.
The gumiho was staring at her with sparkling eyes.
“Kyuuuuung.”
“Hic!”
“Kyuu?”
The gumiho whimpered softly, blinking its bright yellow eyes like full moons.
“Th-that, that thing!”
The fox’s dazzling appearance left Shula unable to speak properly.
Her lips flapped soundlessly like a goldfish before she finally squeezed her eyes shut and shouted as though she had only just regained the ability to breathe.
“Th-that wicked thing! Hic! That deceitful fox! Hic!”
The gumiho’s large pointed ears drooped downward.
“No wonder it’s a gumiho! It’s already a sly little temptress from birth! Seriously, what a seductive fox!”
To defend herself from the gumiho’s “eye attack,” Shula hurriedly covered the cage with cloth.
“I was so happy because the Commander finally approached me first, but to think it was only because you’d been enchanted by a yokai!”
“Do I look enchanted to you?”
Seeing Silia’s utterly expressionless face, Shula fell silent as though speechless.
Then again.
This was Silia.
The commander of the Silver Lion Holy Knights, nicknamed the Ice Statue because she never showed affection toward anyone.
Silia handed Shula a cup of water as she spoke calmly.
“I brought it because it felt wrong to kill it.”
“What do you mean, ‘felt wrong to kill it’?”
“You know what my instincts are like.”
Shula’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“Seriously?”
“This isn’t an ordinary yokai. It feels different.”
“…It certainly looks different.”
‘That appearance definitely isn’t normal. Fur that shines that brilliantly silver…’
Shula nodded with an unusually serious expression.
She had clearly interpreted Silia’s words in a different way than intended, but Silia chose not to point it out.
“But doesn’t that make it even more dangerous? If it’s not an ordinary yokai…”
“It’s because of the blood of a sacred spirit. Those were the shrine maiden’s words, so you can trust them.”
“A shrine maiden? You mean a priestess who serves the gods of the Eastern Continent? But if she’s in the Western Continent, then she’s an exiled shrine maiden. Can she really be trusted?”
As Shula protested, the gumiho inside the cage began whining and interrupting the conversation.
It almost seemed capable of understanding them.
Shula whipped around and barked angrily.
“Be quiet, you shameless fox!”
“Kyuuu…”
Despite being half-dead, the gumiho still snapped back defiantly.
“How dare you talk back to a priest!”
“Kyuik!”
“She didn’t seem to have lost it.”
“Huh?”
Sighing, Silia clarified.
“Her spiritual power. That old woman was still a true shrine maiden.”
“Even so, it’s unfair. Why does the Commander have to raise that yokai?”
Shula huffed angrily, practically fuming.
“We’re servants of Solar. We belong to the Western Continent. But that sly fox came from the land ruled by Danwa, the god of the East.”
“…”
“At the very least, one of Danwa’s followers should raise it. Or that shrine maiden from the Eastern Continent should’ve done it herself!”
Shula’s argument was reasonable.
Silia herself found the matter strange now that she thought about it, but even if she somehow returned to the shrine maiden, it did not seem as though anything would change.
The shrine maiden had insisted that Silia absolutely had to raise this gumiho.
‘If you do not wish to see the child of a heavenly fox become a fiend of hell…’
When the shrine maiden had said those words, her eyes had been as steadfast as an ancient tree.
Even if Silia had argued, the old woman would never have changed her mind.
“To be honest, I’m worried about you, Commander.”
Shula sighed heavily as she admitted it.
Silia was a cold and merciless commander. Seeing her behave so differently only made it more concerning.
What kind of person was Silia?
She was so capable that everyone had supported her appointment as commander of the Holy Knights stationed in the Grinia Empire.
And yet…
‘Just when I thought I’d finally repay the debt I owe her, she asks me to treat a yokai instead.’
Shula rubbed her wrinkled brow irritably.
Truthfully, if Silia had not saved her life from a monster, Shula would never have cared this much.
She had been searching constantly for a chance to repay that debt, but Silia was so flawless she hardly seemed human at times.
And Shula was the type who hated owing anyone anything.
“I followed you all excited, too…”
“Is it unpleasant?”
“I’ll take a look at it. Since it’s your request, Commander, I don’t really have a choice.”
“Keep this matter secret—”
“Even if someone asked, I wouldn’t tell them!”
Shula exploded immediately.
“If people heard the Commander was raising a gumiho, they’d think I was insane too.”
‘Though they already think I’m half-crazy anyway.’
Shrugging her shoulders, Shula examined the gumiho’s condition.
“But this one’s male, huh?”
“Mm?”
“It’s a male gumiho. Look here. It’s young already but pretty well-endow—”
“KYAAAAAAH!”
The gumiho puffed up all its fur and glared furiously.
‘How can she say things so shamelessly?’
Standing some distance away, Silia pressed a hand to her forehead.
Shula muttered while deepening the wrinkles in her brow.
“This is going to be difficult for you to raise, Commander.”
“Is there some serious problem?”
Silia approached while still keeping a certain distance.
It was habitual.
‘This is uncomfortable…’
Anxiety tightened around her throat.
‘You monster! You should just die!’
Silia clasped her cold sweat-soaked hands tightly together and squeezed her eyes shut before reopening them.
Then, in a voice frighteningly rigid, she asked:
“Is the fox in very bad condition?”
Shula, who had been quietly observing that strange distance between them, casually continued speaking.
“No. This little thing just has a nasty personality.”
“I only need to raise it for about a year. It should be manageable.”
“A year? That shrine maiden said it’ll become an adult in one year?”
“That’s what she said.”
Shula tilted her head sideways.
“If it’s a year from now, you’ll be twenty-four, Commander. Have you never thought about marriage?”
“I have no interest in marriage.”
Marriage was something she could never even dream of.
“If things go wrong, you might end up living with this gumiho forever.”
“…”
That would never happen.
She absolutely intended to return this young gumiho to the Eastern Continent.
“What about romance?”
“No interest.”
Since she could never have it, she refused to desire it.
Otherwise, she might start becoming greedy.
For love.
For friendship…
“You don’t seem to have any close friends either… Commander, don’t you get lonely?”
Shula looked at Silia as though she were the strangest person alive.
Without even blinking, Silia replied:
“Solar granted me life. That alone is enough.”
“Just being alive is enough? How can anyone live like that? That’s worse than death.”
“…”
“Well, the treatment’s finished.”
As Shula packed away the medicine, she continued rambling.
“I’ve never seen anyone as strong as you, Commander.”
“…”
“But if a heart becomes too hard, one day it’ll break.”
“Yes, you. You don’t even realize how naive you are, do you?”
Silia ignored Shula’s bizarre nonsense and merely rolled her eyes.
Shula sighed even more deeply.
“But seriously, a male gumiho. This is basically like putting a fish in front of a cat.”
“…I’ll raise him only until we return to the Holy Kingdom, then send him back to the Eastern Continent. It’s simple.”
Shula shook her head vigorously.
“As if raising a male gumiho will be that simple for you, Commander. You’ve never even dated anyone.”
“What does having no dating experience have to do with anything?”
“When the gumiho gets hungry, how exactly are you planning to calm him down? He’s a yokai that seduces people and drains their life force. And he’s male. Male, Commander.”
