I defeated the Bear Ghost. Lin obtained the power of the Gumiho and became a Six-Tailed Fox. My business in Baeyun Gorge was completely finished. Only the return remained.
After deciding the treatment of the Fox Elder.
“What should we do, Master? Now that it seems useless, should we kill it?”
Lin spoke the chilling words as if flowing like water, pulling out her claws as if ready to kill at any moment’s command.
The Elder also seemed resigned to their fate, calm about the imminent death, but my thoughts were slightly different.
“Let’s spare it.”
“Why?”
The Elder looked at me in surprise.
“Don’t worry. I’m not doing it for you.”
“When Lin became a Gumiho, shouldn’t she experience firsthand how foolish her choice was?”
The best way to drive someone mad is to make them suffer severe regret about their past choices.
It’s their own choice, after all.
The ultimate conclusion resulting from that choice.
The intention is to let them slowly wither away while helplessly regarding an irretrievable past. Most importantly, how could I just kill something that caused Lin so much torment?
“Okay. I understand. I’ll do as you say, Master.”
Lin nodded in agreement.
The Elder lowered their head weakly.
“Sigh….”
Lin stretched her arms and yawned widely. Her eyes blinked slowly, and she looked quite tired. It was understandable. She had just caught a Bear Ghost and taken on a trial.
She was likely quite exhausted both physically and mentally.
“Do you want to rest?”
“Yes. Just a little….”
Lin jumped in front of me, did a somersault, and transformed into a small fox. She landed softly on my hand and wriggled into my clothing.
Is being small more comfortable? Perhaps it’s because smaller bodies consume less energy. Well, it certainly seems more comfortable than being a giant.
I gently stroked Lin, who nestled deep within my clothes.
“We’re going to take our leave now. Whether we live in the Fox Den or exit Baeyun Gorge, that’s up to you, but you must stay alive until Lin becomes a Gumiho.”
As we departed, I didn’t forget to bless the Elder’s future.
“Wow. The Gumiho can talk?”
We returned to Vestia.
The Gumiho gazed around the city with curious eyes.
“Originally, a fox could talk, you know?”
“When I was around, foxes couldn’t talk.”
In the era when beastmen were beasts.
Those classified as beastmen with intelligence were extremely few.
There were the Hoyo tribe, and aside from the wise tortoise beastmen, it could be said there were no others.
But now even passing dog beastmen can talk, and cow beastmen can talk. Truly, everyone talks now.
“It’s unsettling, so don’t fidget and stay inside.”
“How picky…”
The Gumiho could see everything through Lin’s eyes without needing to come out, so she obediently allowed her spirit to enter.
While watching the transformed world with curious eyes, the Gumiho suddenly had a question.
“Why do you hide your tail?”
Lin, being a Six-Tailed Fox, was wandering around with only one tail exposed. Carami answered in place of Lin.
“If it’s known that a Gumiho has appeared, it can get messy in many ways.”
“Really? When I showed up, whether human or yokai, everyone bowed down and revered me.”
“And that’s why Lin lives like this now.”
Confused, the Gumiho tilted her head. What she felt this time were the uneasy gazes of the people.
“That’s Hongho.”
“I thought she had left since I hadn’t seen her lately, but I was mistaken.”
“But she’s grown a lot since I first saw her, hasn’t she? Do they usually grow this fast?”
The people regarded Lin with caution. Miraculous changes rippled through them as if the sea had parted. Though Lin was accustomed to this reaction, it was unfamiliar to the Gumiho.
“Why are they acting like that?”
“Hongho is known to bring misfortune. They’re avoiding Lin.”
“Should we just leave it like this? Just a mere beast is looking down on the Fox God? If it were me, I would tear it apart alive immediately.”
“And that’s why Lin lives like this. She was sealed before even becoming a Fox God.”
“It was just one step away. If I hadn’t been betrayed, I would have won.”
“You likely would have.”
Carami lightly teased.
“Seira, we’re back~”
The two of them returned to the city and first stopped by their home. Seira emerged, wiping her wet hands on her apron as if she had been doing the dishes.
“This time it took a while. Nothing happened… sigh.”
As soon as she spotted Lin, who had become a Six-Tailed Fox, Seira let out a deep sigh. After repeating this many times, she was now weary of making comments about it.
She accepted it.
“You’ve grown again. It wouldn’t be inappropriate to call you a proper young lady now.”
“Right? Lin has become so pretty!”
“Indeed. You could get married soon.”
Having grown taller and lost baby fat, Lin’s chin had become slender. She had shed the guise of a young girl and exuded the freshness of a young woman.
Since males are foolish creatures who would go to any lengths for a beautiful female, it wouldn’t be surprising if even Hongho forgot herself and pursued Lin.
“Lin will marry the Master, though. Right, Master?”
“A slave can’t marry their Master.”
“Eh? Is that really so?”
“Marriage is done between equals. That’s why I told you. Being a slave is a bad thing. What’s good about it?”
“Freedom!”
“That’s right. Let’s do our best to attain freedom. There’s not much time left.”
As Carami stroked her head, Lin smiled, pleased.
“What will you do now? Are you going to rest?”
“No. We need to go to the Celestial Pavilion. I have something to show you.”
Since the Gumiho left the shrine and entered Lin’s body, her previously playful expression underwent a significant change for the first time.
“Here….”
It was the Celestial Pavilion.
As we approached close to the Celestial Pavilion, the Gumiho’s expression hardened, and soon her face completely blanked. The energy felt inside the Celestial Pavilion resonated with her soul.
The group entered the Celestial Pavilion. Since their entrance had become a normal part of life, the staff greeted them with smiles.
Carami and Lin received their greetings and naturally moved towards the restricted upper room.
It used to be a maze-like hidden chamber, but now, as soon as they climbed the stairs, there was a door right in front of them. It was Yu Hwa’s intention.
As they opened the door and entered, what they saw was the sky.
Foxes working above the clouds.
The Gumiho’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“Tenho…?”
“You’ve finally brought the Gumiho,” Yu Hwa sighed, feeling complicated. With her eye for detail, she could naturally see the spirit state of the Gumiho.
“Why is Tenho here?”
“She is Lin’s sorcery mentor. There’s no one else who can teach sorcery to Lin other than Tenho.”
“Tenho is going to teach sorcery to the Gumiho? Don’t speak nonsense. The dog of the heavens wouldn’t do that.”
Long ago.
In the fox tribe, a white fox with blue eyes was born, and the foxes called her the White Fox.
The White Fox had extraordinary talent in sorcery, and no one could match her. She was more intelligent than the other foxes, so her visions soon became prophecies.
Heaven, taking notice of her, extended a hand to her, and the White Fox took it and ascended to heaven.
She became Tenho and was entrusted with the power of celestial vision, performing the role of a messenger that let the world flow like clouds.
From Tenho’s perspective, it was a splendid opportunity, but from the perspective of the Hoyo tribe, she was a traitor to her clan. If it weren’t for her, the world would have been under the foxes by now.
“I can understand your feelings. Heaven may not have foreseen the day I would help the Gumiho.”
“Don’t lie! These foolish beings may be deceived, but they can’t deceive my eyes!”
“That’s right. Your eyes cannot be deceived. So don’t try to deceive your own eyes.”
The Gumiho understood best what that meant.
Yu Hwa’s power as Tenho had significantly weakened. The space they were currently in was even unstable.
It was because she was helping the Gumiho while bearing the title of Tenho that her power was diminishing. Just as a believer’s divine power weakens when they don’t believe in their god.
“Why…?”
Why is Tenho helping the Gumiho?
She hadn’t done so in the past, had she?
Back then, no one was by my side?
“Thanks to meeting a good Master.”
Carami’s sudden self-praise caused Yu Hwa to chuckle, while Lin leaned closely against her Master. Even in that moment, she wouldn’t forget to sense the surroundings.
The Gumiho remained detached, like a foreigner in an isolated world, unable to relate.
“…What is this?”
The Gumiho frowned as unpleasant sensations took over her. She fled out of Lin, hiding from view.
Yu Hwa gazed softly at the Gumiho, curled up inside Lin, with her celestial vision slightly opened.
‘It must be complicated.’
So much has changed from the past.
It must be extremely unsettling.
Yu Hwa also still faced moments where she found it hard to believe. The only difference from before was the addition of one human, yet the situation had changed in this manner.
Perhaps, as he said, he might liberate the Gumiho from her fate…
“….”
Yu Hwa looked up at the heavens. An unusual energy was gathering in Vestia, where the Gumiho was.
Since the Gumiho’s tail had finally become six, the heavens would no longer remain passive.
A storm was coming.
*
Deep in the forest, on a sheer cliff.
In a gloomy space where even the moonlight barely penetrated, there was a shrine.
Fox statues were symmetrically arranged, and in this place where black and white fox flames circulated, lies the Inmoon Shrine. A figure strolled leisurely through the shrine.
Wearing Eastern-style clothing interwoven with black and white. A black tail, her eyes concealed beneath an eye patch.
She was Hoyo.
She was Yokai.
One of the three Yokai existing in the world, the Dark Fox, Hekbi. The fox that twists destinies. A small light sparkled on her dark fox bead.
“Ultimately, this moment has come again.”
The celestial command obtained from a deal with heaven.
It was time to hunt the Gumiho.
