episode_0089
by fnovelpiaLin didn’t sleep. She couldn’t sleep.
That’s why the words the gumiho whispered to her during the day lingered in her mind.
essence.
Karami’s regular.
I wonder what it tastes like?
I was so curious about it that I couldn’t sleep.
Every living thing has a qi, and in most cases, the higher the rank of an individual, the better it is both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Yokai can absorb energy and convert it into magical power, which in turn becomes strength. Some people do it not only to become stronger, but also to enjoy the taste.
Humans hunt for the same reason they go on culinary journeys.
Even Rin was thinking, ‘Should I go hunting monsters?’
However, the nine-tailed fox told her that the more deeply intertwined the person’s fate was, the more delicious the energy was. Lin had no doubt that such a person was Karami to her.
Aside from the taste, there was also a desire to have his energy in my body.
Fortunately, I guess I should say fortunately. Absorbing vitality doesn’t necessarily mean you die. You just suck it up until you die, but if not, the vitality is something that can be recovered.
So────
‘Wouldn’t it be okay to have a little taste?’
just a little.
Just a little bit.
It would be okay if I could absorb only a very small amount that wouldn’t harm Karami. I mean, I’m just going to try to eat it.
I’m just trying it once to satisfy my curiosity, but I’ll never do it again. Lin made a firm decision.
He might not be awake, right? Lin checked Karami’s expression and placed a hand on his chest.
Saaaa… .
He carefully absorbed the essence. Not even a sip of water, just a tiny amount, more like licking it with his tongue rather than drinking it.
That was where Lin let her guard down. Even just one sip was enough to stimulate her senses.
“What?!”
The thrill that ran up through her fingertips spread throughout her body. As a tingling sensation, as if she had been shocked by electricity, ran down her spine, Lin’s waist arched without her knowing it, overwhelmed by the sensation.
As if a hidden sixth sense that I had never known about had awakened, my heart began to beat faster and a hot heat like fire stirred in my stomach.
A suppressed moan escaped between tightly closed lips.
“Huh! Huh… .”
Lin collapsed on the bed. Her tail was sticking out and her ears were twitching. Her skin was so sensitive that even the slightest touch of the collar sent shivers down her spine.
Lin pursed her trembling lips and made a straight line. She grabbed the bedsheet tightly.
You shouldn’t let your guard down just because the quantity is small.
I shouldn’t have done it.
This was Pandora’s box. A forbidden pleasure that you can never escape once you taste it. An oasis like a mirage in the desert.
‘It’s only one sip, but if it’s this much, what will happen if I drink more…?’
Lin raises her head and looks at Karami. Her odd eyes sparkle with greed in the darkness. Lin tries to reach out to Karami.
‘no!’
I flinched for a moment and barely managed to pull my hand away. I held onto the hand that kept trying to fly away with my other hand.
You shouldn’t be here.
If you do that, you might really get into trouble.
wind.
Let’s get some air.
If you breathe in the cold air, your mind will clear up. That’s what it should be. Lin left the room in a hurry.
That day, Lin gained an extra tail.
***
“Hwaaam… .”
“What are you doing frivolously during meal times?”
As I opened my mouth wide and yawned, Seira’s tackle came right away.
“I’m sorry. I keep yawning.”
“Did you lose sleep?”
“Well, I think I slept well without that.”
I didn’t sleep late, and I don’t remember waking up during the night. I thought I slept well, but I’m strangely tired.
Yawning and feeling drowsy.
I slept, but I don’t feel like I slept.
“I don’t think you need to worry too much. It’s just a day like this that happens once in a while.”
Saying that, Seira quickly lost interest and ate her breakfast.
Lin was eating next to me. The Seven-Tailed Fox had gained an extra tail last night. It was thanks to the magical power she absorbed after defeating the monk who broke the law.
It must have been a very exciting day, but her expression was gloomy. She was fiddling with her food.
“Rin, what’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”
“… … .”
Lin, who had briefly made eye contact with me, soon turned her head away and avoided eye contact. It seemed like she had been like this since she caught the monk who broke the precepts yesterday.
What happened during the process of defeating the monk who broke the precepts? I wanted to ask the nine-tailed fox, but she didn’t come out, perhaps because she was sleeping.
Maybe something changed in his mind after becoming Seven-Tailed Fox. He probably needed time to adjust. I decided to wait without asking.
“What are you planning to do today?”
“Now that I’ve killed the monk, I should check if the spell has been completely removed. I’m thinking of stopping by the cat cafe first. Nero was also cursed. What about Seira?”
“I’m still working from home. I’ll have to go back to work once the pandemic is over.”
Since Bestia has been closed off since the curse spread, Seira, who was in charge of managing immigration, naturally lost her job.
I hate to say this, but Seira was enjoying a sweet break thanks to the succession of the faction. Now, I have to go back to work.
“Isn’t that something I should apologize for?”
“If you want to make trash out of it, go ahead and do it.”
I decided not to apologize.
***
As planned in the morning, we stopped by a cat cafe first.
It must have been at least a week since Nero, the café clerk, was cursed and stopped coming.
“How are you, Nero? Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah… I don’t have much strength, but it’s okay.”
Those who were cursed by the monk who broke the precepts showed symptoms of their blood vessels turning black. In severe cases, some people even had their skin rot.
Fortunately, Nero wasn’t in that bad of a condition, and quickly improved once the curse was lifted.
‘That’s fortunate. I was really worried.’
Cat people don’t have their own homes. At first, they said they would only provide food, clothing, and shelter, but they all worked hard and eventually got to a certain level, so they started giving them wages.
However, many cat people who had difficulty buying a house lived in a cafe. There was no problem with the lifestyle itself.
I gave permission, and the space was spacious enough to even lay out a bedding. The only problem was that there were clear limits to living in isolation.
I was worried that other cat people might be cursed as well, but no one stood out. There is something called an incubation period, so they might have disappeared before it manifested.
“Since we won’t be doing business for a while anyway, everyone get some rest. If there’s any food or ingredients you want to eat, I’ll prepare them all.”
In this pandemic situation, getting materials is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but I have a strong connection called Cheonsangru.
“Thank you.”
“He’s our boss, after all. The dog cafe owner disappeared without any sense of responsibility.”
“What a terrible person.”
“The value of the family has been judged to be low.”
While the cat people were having a friendly conversation, Percy sneaked out from the group and approached me.
“What’s wrong, Miss Percy? Do you have something to say?”
“Boss, your complexion doesn’t look good. Are you feeling unwell?”
“Hmm.”
Sayla and Persi said the same thing. They were definitely tired, but was it serious enough to show at first glance? They should go back and rest after they’re done.
“Why do you look like that? You look like you’ve committed a crime.”
The person Percy pointed out was Lin.
Lin shrugs her shoulders.
“It’s my imagination.”
“Huh, really? You’re really restless for something like that.”
“It’s because of my mood.”
There is a strange atmosphere between the two. Percy, leaning on his leg and tilting his head, stares at Lin. Lin slowly averts her gaze.
“Master. I’m tired. Let’s go back after finishing our business.”
“Well, is that so? Miss Percy, we’ll be going now. We’ll be back soon.”
“Go in, sir. Get some rest.”
“Goodbye.”
After being seen off by the cat people, we walked back home.
The monk who broke the precepts died, and the curse was gone, but the city was still deserted. It was something that happened yesterday, so the city wouldn’t be back to life in a day.
Little by little, as people start to realize that the curse has been lifted, they will start to come out one by one, and it will soon become crowded.
So I’m not really worried, but I keep worrying about Lin being gloomy. She’s not saying anything today, and she used to be right next to me when we walked, but now she’s just an arm’s length away from me.
If the slave’s condition is not good, then as a master, you should take care of him. He clung close to Lin.
“Rin, if something bad happens, feel free to tell me. Isn’t that what the owner is here to use in times like this?”
Lin stared at me intently.
He seemed to be moving his lips and thinking about what to say.
“Master, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to walk a little further away.”
Lin distanced herself from me while saying those words!
My mind was blank as if I had been hit with a hammer.
‘Lin… you’re pushing me away?’
That wasn’t the end of it.
The night that came without fail.
I was about to go into the room with Lin as usual, but Lin stopped in front of the room.
“Why is that?”
“… … Lin, I’ll sleep separately from today.”
“Yes?”
Lin went into my room, which I never used. I stared blankly at her before urgently looking for Seira.
I explained the whole situation to Seira. She tilted her head, saying she didn’t understand.
“Isn’t that normal? Rather, it feels too late.”
“That’s true, but it’s strange that you’re suddenly doing that!”
“I guess she’s going through puberty. I don’t know if gumihos go through puberty, but.”
“Puberty… ?”
Lin is going through puberty?
That adolescent period where you close the door and don’t want to come out, and you hate doing laundry with your dad?
So that’s why you kept trying to distance yourself from me?
Does Dad smell weird?
“Teacher, is there no way to go back to the way things were before?”
Seira shook her head firmly.
“If a girl has reached puberty, she should be considered finished.”
“That can’t be… .”
The world has fallen apart.
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