Ch.39It’s a Fox Not a Dog (2)

The first to take action was the Valkyrie.

She pulled out the rope from the lifeboat and threw it into the sea. The beastkin who caught the rope in her mouth with a snap nodded her head urgently.

The Holy Maiden and I joined forces to pull on the rope, and that’s how the beastkin was rescued.

Fwooosh.

The beastkin shook her body after climbing onto land. Water splashed in all directions.

[‘No manners at all.’]

[‘Well, that’s how beasts are.’]

A woman with purple bobbed hair and eyes of a dark, almost ink-like purple.

Her two tails swayed in opposite directions, and atop her head, beast-like ears lined with snow-white inner fur twitched alertly.

Her face is pretty. Just her face.

Those ears and tails instinctively provoke a sense of rejection.

“Wowah, hello!”

That was Ascalia’s greeting. Now that I looked closer, the beastkin was wearing clothes with the Holy Spirit Kingdom’s insignia.

It seemed like a military uniform, but I’d never seen it before. It looked more like work clothes than combat gear.

“I almost died! Umm, well, uh, natives? Thank you for saving me? I’m not sure if Riyo’s words will be understood, but…”

“We’re not natives.”

“Huh?”

The Holy Maiden and the Valkyrie started blabbering away.

The beastkin’s eyes grew increasingly confused.

“The Holy Maiden and Black Cat are alive! That’s wonderful! Now if we can just get back, everything will be lucky! But… who is that man?”

“He’s a Magic Stone Officer from the Magic Kingdom. It’s a long story…”

As soon as the Holy Maiden glanced at me, the beastkin’s gaze also turned in my direction.

[‘Wow.’]

[‘Scary.’]

She doesn’t look friendly, at least.

Right, it wouldn’t be that easy.

“Grrrr.”

Two humans and one beast sat around the campfire drying themselves. The reason there were only two humans was because the Valkyrie was sitting a bit apart from us.

“Haah, it’s a bit cold…”

It’s chilly.

This island seemed to have a lower temperature than the other islands.

At this rate, the Valkyrie might catch another cold. If one of us gets sick here, we’ll all suffer. I synthesized a heating stone using the magic stone I’d obtained from catching the fish-person, then approached the Valkyrie.

“Here, wear this at least.”

“…Huh? Okay.”

The Valkyrie carefully accepted the heating stone.

Three months.

That’s how long I’ve been with this woman as survival companions.

Although we still feel aversion toward each other for killing each other’s comrades, it seems we no longer suspect each other when exchanging items. It takes too much energy to be suspicious all the time.

Just then, the Valkyrie, who had been fiddling with the heating stone, raised the corners of her mouth.

“…”

That face.

That smile she shows is the problem.

She rarely smiles, but when someone shows her kindness, she sometimes unknowingly beams, and each time, my hostility plummets through the floor.

She’s cute, or I want to take care of her, or I want to make her show that face every day.

[‘Hey, junior.’]

[‘Senior?’]

“Ah.”

I snapped back to reality at the voices of Kalon and David.

Calm down. Stay composed.

I shouldn’t be too nice to this woman. I’ll strictly use her until we escape, then leave. After that, even if we meet again on the battlefield, we’ll be strangers…

Just as I was collecting myself:

“…Thank you.”

The Valkyrie thanked me in awkward Magic Kingdom language.

“Mage, good. This.”

“Ha.”

“Oh, don’t get the wrong idea. I just don’t want to owe you. When we go back, if we go back… we’ll have to fight again.”

I hurriedly returned to the campfire. If I stayed with that woman any longer, I felt I might get caught up in the atmosphere and forget my original position.

The campfire was somewhat better.

The Holy Maiden and the dog beastkin.

The distance between the Holy Maiden and me was just right. Not too far, not too close. A neutral relationship that we’d never see again once we left this archipelago.

On the other hand, with the dog beastkin, things were just beginning.

“Grrrr.”

She was on the verge of barking.

It was a level of hostility matching what the Valkyrie had shown when we first met. I didn’t know the exact reason, but since she was growling just from hearing that I was a mage, I could infer that she had an unpleasant past like the Valkyrie.

[‘Well, beastkin have been used as experimental subjects for a long time.’]

[‘This is the first I’ve heard of it. Did such things happen?’]

[‘It’s dark history. Even the Magic Kingdom wants to hide it, so unless you dig deep, you wouldn’t know. Just a hundred years ago, beastkin weren’t even treated as human and were bought and sold for animal experiments.’]

Just as the two stones said.

It hasn’t even been a century since beastkin began to be treated as persons.

[‘And that’s only because human rights came into existence. Before that, it was a mess. When you look at the related materials, you can’t help but feel sorry for them despite how they look.’]

[‘Then they should be given animal rights, not human rights. I understand the Holy Spirit Kingdom because of their goddess’s blessing, but why did our country give human rights to these beast offspring? They’re not even human.’]

[‘Think about it. Are they wealthy?’]

The two facts I know about beastkin don’t go beyond these two points.

The species itself had an unfortunate past, and currently, they possess enough capital to control the underworld.

And one more thing.

Despite the prohibition of official discrimination, many people’s gazes are still unkind.

I was the same.

“What are you staring at? Grrrr…”

Grrrr?

Is that sound really coming from a human mouth?

Well, fine. Let’s consider that much as cute. The problem was her appearance.

It’s physiologically difficult to accept that a person’s appearance has beast ears and tails. If I were to compare it to food, it’s like putting mint herbs on chocolate.

I barely suppressed the rising nausea.

It’s fortunate she’s not a complete beastkin; if she had been covered in fur all over, I would have vomited long ago.

“Sergeant Riyo, you can’t be hostile to the mage until we escape from here.”

“But Holy Maiden, we’re 3 to 1, so I think we can win?”

“It’s not about winning or losing. To increase our survival probability even a little, having more people is better.”

“But mages are dog-like—ah, no, fox-like bastards…”

“Shhh. That’s an order.”

“What if that mage completely backstabs us? Besides, this island seems to be managed by the Magic Kingdom. Wouldn’t it be more advantageous for us to tie up the mage like this and like that?”

“You’re talking about prisoner negotiation. There’s some logic to that. But I don’t want to ruin what trust we have when we don’t know how the situation will unfold.”

“Holy Maiden?”

The beastkin’s eyes suddenly widened as she conversed with the Holy Maiden.

“It’s funny, right? A Holy Maiden defending a mage.”

“This is so strange.”

The dog beastkin folded her arms and nodded. I could see her sharp protruding claws gradually retracting.

[‘A dog that can hide its claws like a cat.’]

[‘Is she actually a cat?’]

[‘Didn’t you hear her almost barking earlier? That’s definitely a dog.’]

Perhaps because of the two stones’ conversation, my gaze remained fixed on the beastkin’s hands.

The length of her nails growing and shrinking wasn’t human-like, but surprisingly, looking at her hands as a whole, they seemed quite normal.

“Phew.”

My body was mostly dry now, so I got up first.

“Mage? Where are you going?”

“I’m going to investigate a bit deeper into the forest. And gather some firewood while I’m at it. Would you like to come with me?”

Real-time broadcast of the Holy Maiden’s eyes.

Orange, then pink.

“My clothes aren’t fully dry yet…”

The Holy Maiden covered herself with her nun’s veil and gasped.

[‘Ah, Erich! You have no tact! Asking an enemy Holy Maiden who’s naked for a forest date!’]

[‘Senior, how can you make such a beastly proposal while wearing a human disguise?’]

Right, the Holy Maiden can’t move around in that state. Because of some rule that high-ranking clergy must follow.

I’ll have to take the Valkyrie instead.

Just as I made up my mind and was preparing:

“The Major says she’s not feeling well.”

“What?”

The Valkyrie hung her head and caressed her cheek.

“I don’t know what it is, but my body feels stiff and my face is hot…”

“She says her face is hot. I need to monitor her today. To see when she gets sick.”

I sighed. I told her to warm up quickly by the fire. How effective could drying off with just a heating stone be?

Should we rest more now and move later?

Absolutely not.

The firewood was all wet, so we needed to find new fuel. Also, our numbers had increased, so the food we had stored would soon be insufficient.

We needed to move right away.

But the Holy Maiden couldn’t because of her beliefs, and the Valkyrie was sick.

I wanted to force the Holy Maiden to come along, saying her beliefs weren’t that important, but that would be a bad move. I had built up an image of respecting the Holy Spirit religion until now, so saying such things would only strain our relationship.

“…I’m sorry. I’ll stay here instead. Herbs, making shelter.”

“I think I can do sea fishing just fine. I don’t plan to just sit around because I’m not going with you.”

Since they weren’t saying they wouldn’t do anything, I couldn’t really get angry.

[‘The sun is still high; wouldn’t it be better to go alone?’]

[‘Senior and the enemy female soldiers previously made a rule. When exploring unknown areas, at least two people must go together to prepare for worst-case scenarios.’]

[‘Including us, aren’t there three?’]

[‘In our current state, what practical help can we offer?’]

[‘We’re still magic stones. If you use us…’]

Cut.

There’s no time for lengthy deliberation.

“You, doggy, come with me.”

“…Woof?”

The beastkin tilted her head. The Holy Maiden chuckled and whispered something. Soon, the beastkin’s expression crumpled like paper, but she nodded.

“I’m not a dog. I’m a fox.”

The beastkin suddenly spoke in Magic Kingdom language and approached, pulling something out from behind her back.

It was a hand axe.