episode_0097

After a pleasant walk, it is now time to part ways.

Only when she got close to the castle was Hilde able to stand on her own two feet. She dusted her knees and palms.

But she couldn’t go back yet. The collar around her neck was just a regular one, but it was made so that she couldn’t untie it without Karami’s permission.

There is only one way to unlock it.

“Release it now.”

Hilde glared at Karami. Her eyes were intent on killing him, as if she was going to tear him apart at any moment.

But Karami was indifferent. After all, as long as the soul was chained, she knew that dying by Hilde’s hand was nothing more than a delusion and a vain hope.

He wiggled his fingers with a disgusting smile.

“No, no. I taught you to use honorifics when asking for favors from your master.”

“This little shit… !”

Hilde clenched her teeth as if she was going to snap them and clenched her fists. She didn’t even speak politely to the king and queen, so how could she do that to a mere human being…!

“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it. Instead, you’ll have to go into the castle like that. Your subjects will be shocked.”

Karami shrugged.

Hilde, who was shaking with power, chewed and chewed her teeth for a long time before finally opening her mouth.

“Poo, let go… .”

“Hmm, I think that’s a bit short~”

“Untie, untie… please… … .”

“What are you saying? It’s too small to hear.”

“Let me go, you piece of shit!”

“Hmm.”

How dare you swear at your master.

If you want to change a slave’s habits, you shouldn’t go beyond this, but Karami was a tolerant person.

There was so much shame in that place that tears welled up at the corners of Gehilda’s eyes. If she played around any further, she might just bite her tongue and die.

This one time, they decided to let it slide. Karami reached out and untied Hilde’s leash. Hilde had never been able to untie it no matter how hard she tried, so it was surprisingly easy.

“Okay, here it is.”

Karami placed the leash in Hilde’s hands. Hilde frowned at the leash, which made her feel irritated just by looking at it.

“What, why are you giving this to me?”

“You can keep it and give it to me later when I say let’s go for a walk. Or, if the princess wants to go for a walk, you can give it to her first.”

“This kid is real!”

Hilde tried to throw the leash at Karami’s face, but her hand never went beyond its range of motion. It seemed as if she could not harm Karami in any way.

Hanhilda had no choice but to take the leash with her.

***

“Oh, you’re here, princess.”

The royal hallway.

The maid bows politely to welcome the princess who returned late at night.

Hilde is a famous troublemaker in the castle. When she’s bored, she harasses the servants, and when she’s upset, she uses violence. That’s why everyone tries to avoid her if possible.

Even today, you look quite unhappy, and if you make a mistake, you can clearly see a bad future ahead.

‘Why today of all days…?’

The maid on duty is shaking slightly. I pray earnestly in my heart that she will pass safely.

Hilde glared at the back of the maid’s head with a cold gaze. The cold silence continued for a while, but Hilde passed by without a second thought and entered the room.

Thump, I hear the door close.

‘…?’

Could it be that she’s pretending to go in and waiting? If she raises her head, she might think this is the moment and throw a punch. If it’s Hilde, she’d be more than capable of doing that.

Even after the sound of the door closing was heard, the maid kept her head down for several minutes. However, when nothing happened after waiting, she rolled her eyes and checked her surroundings.

After making sure that there was no one around, I slowly raised my head. There was no sign of Hilde anywhere in the hallway. It was the same even if I looked up at the ceiling just in case.

‘what?’

It’s good. It’s a relief that it got over safely. But it looks like Hilde had something like a leash in her hand.

‘I don’t think there’s any need to think deeply about it.’

It was clear that he was dragging an innocent person by the neck. The maid was sure of that.

***

The princess’s bedroom in the palace.

Hilde came back, her body particularly tired. Her steps were weak and she looked lost. She was holding the leash tightly in her hand. A precious item that contained memories of her new master… .

“Fuck!”

grasp!

Hilde threw the leash. The leash, loaded with all her strength, fell, leaving a large scratch on the wall.

Hilde shrugs her shoulders and grumbles.

Indescribable anger and contempt well up within me.

Not only was he helplessly defeated by the nine-tailed fox, but he was also put in the chains of subservience by some worthless human.

Someone with her level of power could have suppressed that simple order with force, but she didn’t budge.

Because of that, I crawled on the floor like a pet.

I got my head patted by a lowly man.

The princess of Vestia.

The lioness of Vestia.

“Nahilde Brigitta Lionis!!!”

Hilde, who bursts out with thunderous roar.

With just a little bit of energy, furniture and other odds and ends are shattered and broken into pieces.

But it doesn’t help to calm down the anger.

Unless you tear off that guy’s limbs.

My anger will not be relieved unless I tear that smart mouth apart.

To do that, we need to start with these chains.

Unfortunately, Hilde is confident in fighting but is not good at magic. Still, with the help of the court magicians, it will be easy to dismantle the magic of this slave trader.

If only I had the chains, I would use any means necessary to get that man…!

bang!

Hilde kicked the door open.

The door fell down completely.

“Eek!”

The maid is startled.

Hilde, who didn’t even care about her existence, went out to find the court magician.

It was the crack of dawn.

***

It was when Karami was taking a walk with Hilde at dawn.

The nine-tailed fox remained in Cheon Sang-ru.

Cheonho Yuhwa.

Because she had business to attend to.

This was the main purpose.

Dealing with Hilde was a way to meet her.

The nine-tailed fox wiggles her hands, drawing her eyes like crescent moons.

“I won’t say much. Give me your power.”

The power of a genius that Yuhwa possesses.

That was the nine-tailed fox’s purpose.

But I will never give it to you.

There will surely be fierce fighting.

Since it has seven tails, it doesn’t have the same strength as before, but the same goes for the opponent. As a price for disobeying the will of heaven, Yuhwa was also steadily weakening.

It was a fight worth a try.

The nine-tailed fox created a fox bead.

“If you don’t come, I’ll do it first… .”

“Okay. I know.”

“gan… …what?”

“He said he would give you the power you so desperately wanted.”

Yu-hwa’s expression as she spoke was indifferent.

As usual, I took a leisurely sip of the steaming tea.

The one who was taken aback by Yu-hwa’s obedience was the gumiho.

Could it be that he is hiding some petty scheme?

I looked at Yuhwa with my hair standing on end in alertness.

“What are you thinking?”

“What are you thinking? I said I would give it to you because you wanted it.”

“Do you think I don’t know you? There’s no way I’d hand you over so easily.”

Looking at the glaring nine-tailed fox, Yu-hwa smiled brightly, wondering what was good about it.

Why is Cheonho laughing so loudly?

To the gumiho’s ears, it sounded more ominous than a ghost’s cry.

“Why are you laughing like that?”

“How can you not laugh? You’re a wary little brat who readily gives up your power when you ask for it. The world’s nine-tailed fox trembles at a single word.”

Yuhwa felt that a lot of time had passed as seen in the gumiho’s reaction. So much so that the gumiho seemed like a childish child.

On the one hand, it seemed pitiful.

Phew.

I pushed the white and blue fox bead, reminiscent of the sky, towards the nine-tailed fox. The fox bead flowed towards the nine-tailed fox.

“I wondered why. This is not for you. It is for the little fox inside you.”

“… What the heck? Why on earth are you being so nice to her?”

Not only do you teach me, you also give me strength?

Cheonho to the gumiho?

It looks like he’s completely crazy.

“I saw what happened to her head while we were together, but she’s a gumiho anyway. When she grows up, she’ll be just like me and a gumiho that even fears the sky─”

“It won’t work out. Lin isn’t you, and more than anything, there’s that child by Lin’s side. If you act recklessly, I won’t let you off easy.”

“What on earth makes you trust that guy so much? What on earth is he up to?”

“Because it’s decorated… .”

It’s not something grand enough to warrant the adjective “decorated.” I just want to see the unfortunate fox girl throw off her oppression and shackles and live an ordinary life.

I just want to see the fantasy he spouts become reality someday.

“You never know. You too may be saved.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. I’ll win my salvation with my own hands. And there’s no way she’ll wake up. Because I’ll do it.”

“Of course.”

A cold reaction as if she didn’t really care. A smile that seemed relieved somewhere, but it was complicated to look at.

The gumiho tried hard to look away.

I hammered a nail into my heart so that it would not waver.

‘I am not weak.’

I don’t need anyone’s help.

He is a gumiho.

A fox that beats a thousand bells.

All that is needed is strength.

The nine-tailed fox reached out to Cheonho’s fox bead.

As I put strength into my grip, the bead cracked.

Clang!

The marble shatters into numerous fragments.

White and blue mist swirls in all directions.

The nine-tailed fox sucked it up.

The power of Cheonho is sucked into the nine-tailed fox’s bead.

Kuuung…!

The sky is shaking.

Heaven is a space created by the power of oil painting.

Now that the power has disappeared, it is only natural that space will collapse.

At the same time, it is evidence that he has completely turned his back on the mandate.

Yuhwa’s blue clairvoyant eyes lose their light and become cloudy, and the mysteriousness contained in her white fur disperses.

Then what was left was nothing but an ordinary, ordinary old Hoyo.

However, even though it has lost all its power, the atmosphere that Yuhwa creates is still mysterious.

The sight of the immortal who had attained enlightenment left an indelible impression of awkwardness on the gumiho’s mind.

***

The sky above Cheonsangru collapses and becomes an ordinary tower for several days.

The nine-tailed fox’s tail, which absorbed Cheonho’s power, eventually grew to eight.

As the influence of the Heavenly Tiger that protected Bestia disappeared, monsters began to swarm. The misfortune of the Hong Tiger spread, and the fate of countless creatures was distorted.

The soldiers devoted themselves to exterminating monsters day and night, but it wasn’t easy. Monsters aren’t just simple monsters; they each have strange abilities.

It’s difficult to catch them if you don’t know how to exterminate them.

Of course, the damage itself wasn’t that great thanks to the nine-tailed fox following Karami’s orders. But that can’t go on forever.

The nine-tailed fox, who knew that, made a subtle suggestion to Karami.

“These days, monsters are appearing frequently. If we just catch them like this, there’s no end to it, right?”

“Then?”

“We have to pull it out by the roots.”

Now that I’ve absorbed Cheonho’s power, there’s only one left.

It’s time to go catch the black fox.