I Raised a Nine Tailed Fox Wrongly - Chapter 05

Chapter 05

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The more she spoke, the more Silia’s true nature emerged.

Her lowered eyes shimmered with a tender light green like newly sprouted leaves, and a faint blush colored her cheeks.

Her hair, like threads woven from sunlight, glimmered brilliantly gold.

And when paired with her smile, it revealed the kindness hidden within her completely.

Pure and delicate—so gentle it almost seemed fragile.

That was Silia’s true self.

“Kkyuuuuuu! Bbyuuuu!”

“Yes, I know. You hate this. You want me to let you go, right?”

“Grrrrrr!”

“If you drink some water—”

Silia’s voice abruptly cut off.

The fox, still struggling relentlessly, had finally caused trouble.

Its claws—capable of easily tearing through human flesh—slashed across her throat, and blood burst forth in a rush.

The fox itself looked startled by what it had done.

Silia hurriedly pressed down on her neck to stop the bleeding.

Her entire throat and hands became soaked.

She could feel hot blood running down her forearm.

‘It’s deep.’

“Ugh…”

As pain distorted Silia’s expression, the fox’s frightened eyes grew wet with tears.

It had slashed a human’s throat.

Whenever it caused such a disaster, punishments far crueler than the offense itself always followed.

Having all its claws ripped out was considered mild.

Its knees trembled, and its heart pounded violently.

All nine tails curled tightly beneath its body, while its unusually large ears drooped to the sides.

Feeling the fox trembling, Silia slowly reached out.

The fox squeezed its eyes shut, expecting merciless violence.

But even after a long moment, no pain came.

Instead, it felt a soft, careful hand wiping gently at the corners of its eyes.

The fox cautiously opened one eye.

Silia was looking down at it with concern in her sprout-colored eyes.

“Why are you crying? Did you hate it that much?”

“……”

“I’m sorry for forcing you. I only did it because I was worried you’d get hurt. You have to drink water.”

Breathing heavily, Silia shut her eyes tightly for a moment as though dizzy, then opened them again.

After soothing the fox and adjusting it carefully in her arms, she entered the bedroom and searched through a shelf.

Everywhere her hand brushed, terrible bloody handprints stained the surroundings.

Only then did the fox properly look at Silia’s condition.

Because of all the scratching and clawing it had done, there was hardly a place on her body not bleeding.

‘Why isn’t she angry?’

While the fox stared in confusion, Silia sprayed emergency coagulant medicine onto her neck.

Because it contained holy power, the medicine worked quickly.

“I’m sorry, little fox.”

Silia did not look angry.

Instead, she looked sincerely apologetic.

“For locking you up, forcing my hands on you, and hurting you.”

“……”

“I have my reasons. I can’t let you go right now. I wish you would understand that this decision isn’t only for my sake.”

The fox swore that this was the first human who had ever spoken to it like this.

It could only stare at her wide-eyed in a completely different kind of shock.

“I don’t want to kill you. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Hadn’t done anything wrong?

No.

The fox knew very well what its crime was.

Being born.

Being born a yokai.

That was its sin.

Being a yokai with reason.

Being a yokai with the blood of a sacred spirit flowing through its veins.

Being a yokai that could understand human speech.

Being a mere yokai, a worthless yokai, a gumiho born breathing beneath the skin of a monster.

Simply being alive was a sin.

Every human the fox had ever met had treated it that way.

Everything was always the fox’s fault.

“You did nothing wrong. It’s all humanity’s fault.”

Silia stroked the fox’s head as she whispered almost like a song.

Whenever she soothed the fox, she always spoke in a voice so sweet it sounded like singing.

And now was no different.

“Humans failed to recognize you. They condemned you as a yokai and treated you cruelly. That’s why you were hurt.”

The tears would not stop.

Even though the holy knight before it no longer felt frightening, the fox still could not stop crying.

“I’m sorry, little fox. So don’t stay hurt forever. That would be unfair, wouldn’t it?”

“……”

“You should become healthy and happy instead. Alright?”

Holding the fox close in her arms, Silia headed toward the kitchen.

Then she personally dragged a bowl of water over while still cradling it.

“Good boy.”

Pressing a kiss onto the top of the fox’s head, Silia held out the water bowl.

“Can you try just one sip?”

The fox stared silently at the bowl, then glanced toward the wound on her neck.

“Hm? Just one sip.”

She coaxed it earnestly while offering the bowl closer.

Reluctantly, the fox began lapping at the water.

It was not because it wanted to grant the holy knight’s request.

The smell of blood coming from her injured body was simply too strong, making its head spin.

It did not want to smell blood anymore.

That was all.

“Thank you.”

But the strange holy knight smiled brighter than ever, genuinely delighted.

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The holy knight worked outside from morning until afternoon before returning home late at night.

Sometimes she even rushed out in the middle of the night to subjugate monsters.

Whenever she returned, she always carried food in her hands.

Often she brought living chickens or ducks so the fox could feed on their life force.

Though her expression remained cold enough to seem incapable of bleeding even if stabbed, she wore surprisingly gentle expressions whenever dealing with the fox.

Of course, that did not mean she released it.

Because the fox still had not stopped trying to escape.

‘If you stop running away, I’ll let you out.’

She was the type to obey her own words to an exhausting degree.

The fox had met many humans who merely barked rules with empty mouths, but few who were as strict with themselves as Silia.

‘Will she be late again today?’

The fox lay there bored, thinking.

Being locked up all day meant there was little to do besides sleep.

Perhaps it should at least be grateful that it was still young enough to sleep often…

Just as it drifted into a shallow nap—

“You damned fox brat!”

Suddenly, the cracking sound of a whip smashing against the floor thundered through its ears.

Craaaack!

The sleeping fox jolted awake in terror.

A vicious-looking pirate with filthy hair wrapped in a bandanna bared his yellow teeth in fury.

One of his eyes was covered in blood.

It was the injury caused by the fox’s claws.

“I won’t let you get away with this!”

A leather whip lined with shards of glass lashed across the tiny fox’s back.

“Keaang!”

Flesh tore away instantly, exposing bone.

But something like this would not kill it.

It was a yokai.

Reassured, the pirate continued whipping it repeatedly.

“Kkaeng! Kkaeaeng!”

The fox screamed brutally, but no one pitied its suffering cries.

No one cared about the fox’s pain.

No one saved it.

Its mother was dead.

Killed by humans dressed far more elegantly than the pirate before it.

Who were they again?

It could not remember.

‘A baby gumiho born from a sacred spirit? Then will you become a sacred beast too?’

‘If that’s the case, I suppose we can’t kill you yet.’

It vaguely remembered someone saying strange things like that.

“If it weren’t for the request, I’d have skinned you alive!”

The pirate spat bitterly.

The fox ran endlessly through the tunnel carved behind the cage.

The pirate chased after it with a vicious grin.

The whip transformed into a giant serpent, surging like a torrent to swallow the fox whole.

“Kkyuu! Kkyuuu!”

Its tongue lolled from its mouth as it ran.

Its pink paw pads burned as though on fire.

Before it realized it, the fox was running across a terrifying volcanic field of lava.

“Little fox.”

Its body shook violently from side to side.

“Little fox, wake up!”

Its eyes snapped open.

The dark gray sky vanished, replaced by dazzling sunlight spreading like an aurora.

No—not sunlight.

It was the holy knight’s hair.

Golden hair still carrying the scent of sunlight from an entire afternoon beneath the sun.

The sticky haze of hatred and rage clouding the fox’s vision was washed clean, replaced by the holy knight’s clear eyes.

Blinking her light green eyes, Silia met its gaze worriedly.

“Are you alright?”

“……”

“You looked like you were having a nightmare.”

She gathered the exhausted fox into her arms.

Her embrace was firm because of the armor, but pleasantly warm from her body heat.

Perhaps she had run all the way here—she smelled of sweat and dirt. It reminded the fox of the scent of its mother, the heavenly fox.

The fox blinked slowly.

“You must’ve been very frightened.”

Silia carefully stroked the fox’s trembling back.

The same back once split apart by the pirate’s whip.

Though the wounds had healed without leaving a trace, the scars still remained hideously inside the fox’s heart.

“What kind of nightmare made you scream like that?”

No one had ever acknowledged the fox’s screams before.

Whenever it cried, it was only beaten more harshly for being noisy.

And yet…

“When you grow up later, tell me who did that to you. I’ll punish them.”

Silia spoke with a face utterly devoid of humor, then suddenly held out her other hand.

In it was an uncooked chestnut sweet potato.

“They say sweet things help improve your mood. Do you eat sweet potatoes? I went to the village today after subjugating monsters, and the villagers gave me some chestnut sweet potatoes.”

She broke the potato into smaller pieces and held them toward the fox’s mouth.

A sweet, earthy aroma drifted out.

“What do you think?”

“……”

“Don’t like it? Should I cook it?”

Tilting her head slightly, she carried the fox toward the kitchen.

“I’ll cook it and let it cool first.”

“……”

“What if you burn your tongue?”

Muttering to herself, she began boiling water.

Suddenly, the fox became angry at itself for sitting so quietly in a human’s arms.

The moment it began struggling to escape, Silia panicked and tightened her hold.

“Careful. I’m boiling water right now. You could get burned.”

“Grrrrr.”

“Good boy.”

Silia soothed the fox as she carried it back to the living room.

“Little fox. I came up with a name for you today. Want to hear it?”

“Grrrrr!”

“Just listen once. The moment I thought of you, this name immediately came to mind.”

The fox ignored her completely and continued struggling.

Then Silia’s warm voice quietly slipped into its ears.

“Ran.”

The name struck with an intensity sharp enough to feel like an awl piercing straight through its eardrums.