episode_0177

[…I have arrested all the sinners, Madam.]

“The only person I can trust is the captain. He handles things reliably.”

[Oh, you are too kind! But, what are you going to do with these sinners…?]

“Let me take a look first. Can you bring them all?”

As soon as the words were finished, the head demon in charge of the maids began to bring the trembling maids and make them kneel before me one by one.

One more, one more.

The room, which I thought was relatively spacious, was gradually becoming crowded with maids kneeling down, and I thought that if things continued like this, the room would be full, so I ordered everyone to move.

“Let’s move the seats first. I thought there would be one or two, but phew… How did all the maids in the mansion…”

Jin-ha, fearing that she might be the nine-tailed fox at the peak of the fox race, has taken all the maids under her wing to explore the mansion.

Feeling the pain in my back already creeping up, I dragged all the maids except the head maid out to the front yard of the mansion.

“You may go in, Captain. Go and grab Jin-ha’s soft cheek and stretch it, and she won’t say anything, so just rest.”

[Oh, how could that be… Please stop talking!]

“Well, your mouth may not be honest, but your eyes seem honest. Think of it as a reward for doing a good job. Then…”

After watching the back of the head maid running into the mansion to touch Jin-ha’s soft cheek, I started to lecture the maids gathered in the front yard.

“Haa… This time, I’m really disappointed.”

[[…]]

“Even if they are evil spirits who are vulnerable to desire, what if they fall for it and end up fanning it? I was really worried this time.”

To be honest, I wasn’t that worried at first.

The mansion is completely manned by maids, and if those maids decide to move, Jin-ha will be able to walk with her small feet without feeling like she’s in the palm of Buddha’s hand.

It’s 3 minutes at the shortest, 10 minutes at the longest.

I thought that unless she was really kidnapped, the maids would bring Jin-ha to me, so I was able to focus on my commission work with peace of mind.

however.

“After more than 10 minutes, the captain came running in, out of breath, and said that all the maids in the mansion were moving somewhere. Do you know how disappointed I was when I heard that?”

[[sorry!]]

“If you apologize, does that mean you did nothing wrong? I’ve said it many times, it’s okay to be cute, but keep it within the appropriate range. Do you want to join hands and ascend together?”

[[Oh, no…]]

They shook their heads from side to side with pale faces, or rather, faces that were already pale because they were dead, but had become even whiter.

I looked at them with cold eyes and let go of my guard.

“If this happens one more time, then I’ll really ascend. I’ll ascend without touching those soft cheeks anymore. Do you understand?”

[[I will be careful, ma’am.]]

“I’ll stop the lecture here, so everyone go back to your work. Since this is the first punishment, I won’t do it.”

[[Yes, ma’am!!!]]

The maids scattered in unison as if their feet were on fire, and I only stepped into the mansion after confirming that the last maid was gone.

“…It would be a good idea to have at least one safety device.”

I think about today’s commotion.

What if Jin-ha wasn’t wandering around the mansion on her own two feet, but someone had kidnapped her with malicious intent?

What if your precious and beloved first child is taken away from you and then harmed by someone else?

Perhaps there is nothing more terrible in the world than that.

“I should make her a location tracker or a summoning charm or something. Phew, who does this little girl take after to be so mischievous?”

I guess he looks just like his father.

If you were like me, who hates moving around because it’s annoying, you would never cause so much trouble.

“Let’s go and scold Jin-ha too… Yeah?”

As I was walking to my room, something strange caught my eye for a moment as I entered the hallway, then disappeared.

A scene where a baby gumiho with fluffy fur walks, and a woman in a demure maid outfit follows her, and then disappears like a ‘ghost’.

I rested my forehead on the back of my neck, which was being pulled back again, and growled lowly.

“Captain?”

[…]

“Haa… I know everything, so come out right now.”

As I stared at one spot with my gloomy, bloodshot eyes, the maid finally revealed herself with her head bowed.

She began to spew out excuses at a rapid pace, her voice trembling.

[Ma, Madam? This is a misunderstanding! I wasn’t really possessed, but the young lady kept crying, so I chose the most effective method…]

“Shut up.”

[yes…]

I looked back and forth between Jin-ha, who was smiling brightly, and the maid with a gloomy expression, then let out a long sigh.

“There was no one to trust, no, not even a ghost.”

How many people should we elevate as real examples?

—–

Time passed and passed, and about two months had passed since the kidnapping incident.

Jin-ha’s tail, which had been fluffy, became slightly more fluffy, and his curiosity seemed to grow stronger in proportion to the attractiveness of his tail.

Is that all?

Jin-ha, who used to need help to walk a few steps, is now able to walk on her own to some extent and can even babble “ma” and “pa” while pointing to me and my husband.

Growing up so fast for a 9 month old baby.

However, since she was born and had been developing so quickly, my husband and I decided to let it go.

Well, honestly, in a world where there are nine-tailed foxes and beasts, it’s not that surprising that a nine-month-old baby is already learning to walk.

Anyway, it was a day like any other, where I was working on a commission while trying to stop my docile daughter from causing an accident.

After a few times of playing along with my playful daughter’s antics, I left the childcare to my husband for a while so I could focus on my commission work.

My husband played with Jin-ha a lot even though he said it was annoying, and when Jin-ha got tired and stopped playing for a while, he asked her a childish question.

“Does Jin-ha like his dad or his mom?”

“Oh no!”

“…I’ll ask again. Does Jin-ha like his mom or his dad?”

“Oh no!”

The husband was really cowardly, repeatedly asking questions while poking Jin-ha’s soft cheeks, and eventually Jin-ha, unable to bear his nagging, cried and crawled to me.

“Daddy, Caesar…”

“What?!”

She hugs his fluffy, cuddly tail tightly and looks at her father with tears in her eyes.

“Caesar!”

“…”

How much must he have hated to see someone like that to speak so firmly with such a sad face?

The hated husband soon ran out of the room crying and looking ugly, and Jin-ha, who was watching him, puffed out her cheeks and threw a tantrum as if she still wasn’t satisfied.

“Pfft!”

Judging by the fluffy, bushy tails that were raised high, it seemed that he was definitely very angry.

I lifted up Jin-ha, who was grumbling, and began to carefully soothe her by gently stroking her soft cheeks.

“Our Jin-ha, you can’t say that. Your dad loves you so much.”

“Hehehe… Maa, good…”

Bubbit bubbit.

When I scolded him in a stern voice, he pretended not to hear and buried his face in my chest.

He even adds a subtle hint that he likes me, making me feel weak and discouraged when I try to scold him.

Aegyo that you know you have to endure even though you know it.

All I could do was stroke my daughter and enjoy her cuteness.

“…But if my husband isn’t here, who will take care of Jin-ha instead? I have to finish the commission first.”

Even though I’m a nine-tailed fox, I can’t do childcare, which requires a lot of mental strength, and commission work, which requires concentration, at the same time.

I stroked my daughter’s fluffy tail as I thought of someone I could call.

Should I call the fox god? No, he really just plays pranks on Jin-ha. It’s counterproductive, since he now has two foxes to manage.

The maids… are trustworthy in other matters, but when it comes to Jin-ha, they are so untrustworthy that I can’t trust them.

Of course, you should never call your mother or mother-in-law.

“That’s tricky, I have no one to call.”

When I was thinking that I was finally giving up on today’s work, Jin-ha pointed to the picture I was drawing and showed interest.

“Oh my! Oh my!”

“Why, Jinha? Do you want to try drawing too?”

“Wow!”

Jin-ha clapped her hands with her small palms with her eyes sparkling brightly, and I looked at my daughter intently before calling the maid.

“Is anyone there?”

[Did you call, ma’am?]

“Do you have any crayons and drawing paper at home? Jin-ha seems interested in drawing.”

[You mean the young lady? Hmm, crayons and drawing paper… I’ll look for them first!]

The maid disappeared with an expectant look on her face, then reappeared a moment later holding a stack of crayons and drawing paper with quite a few colors.

[I just swept everything I saw. Is this enough? Or is it not too much?]

“I feel like it’s not enough, it’s overflowing. Thank you for helping me.”

[No problem. By the way, ma’am? I have a favor to ask…]

“What is it?”

When I asked her if there was a problem because her face was full of worry, the maid asked me for something trivial in a small voice like an ant crawling.

[Oh, can I see you draw? Oh, if not, then I can’t help it…]

“Yes, that’s right. It’s not like it’ll wear out just by looking at it, you know.”

[Really? Thank you, ma’am!]

…I wonder if he really is an evil spirit, being so happy over such trivial things?

While I was pondering for a moment, wondering if my definition of a demon was wrong, Jin-ha held a crayon tightly in her small hand.

“Wow!”

With a confident expression, he began to draw something slowly.