Seven-Tailed Fox (2)

“Hrrrnngh…!”

“Hang in there! You can do it, Miho! With the strength you had while breastfeeding!”

“Huuuuggghh… Hrrrnngh, hrrrnngh…!”

“Keep going! It’s almost out, I swear! A daughter just like you…”

“Ugh, ugh… Wh, what are you saying? I’m trying to unleash another tail here.”

“Oh. My bad. I got a bit too immersed in roleplaying.”

“And what do you mean ‘almost out’? There’s no sign of it coming out at all.”

“You’re right. It’s just not happening…”

…We weren’t doing anything strange.

Yi Haneul and I were training to unleash another tail in the Underworld.

For me, unleashing and retracting tails was as natural an action as humans moving their hands.

For example:

If I wanted to unleash one more tail from my four-tailed state, I just needed to exert my rear a bit.

To unleash three more tails, I exerted my rear more.

However, going from seven tails to eight was not achieved simply by exerting my rear.

It was clear.

There had to be some condition I was unaware of.

Otherwise, I would have already unleashed that eighth tail long ago.

I had exerted so much effort into this futile act that my head was starting to ache.

As Yi Haneul and I engaged in this pointless endeavor, Daepo, who had been silently watching, finally spoke up:

“Miho, you idiot. Who told you to become a spirit creature? If you had just calmly gone around draining human males’ essences, you would have unleashed not eight, but nine tails by now.”

“…How many times must I say I have no intention of draining essences, you deranged squirrel yokai.”

“Stupid idiot dimwit Miho.”

“Sh, shut up! Like that’s even important!”

“It’s not important…?”

“No, not at all important.”

Actually, Daepo’s words were not wrong.

Yeah.

If I had simply accepted my nature from the start and gone around draining human males’ essences, who needed eight tails?

I would have already become a nine-tailed fox spirit ruling the world by now.

But the premise itself was flawed.

How many times did I have to say it?

I had absolutely no intention of draining human male essences.

Yet Yi Haneul seemed to have gleaned some kind of hint from Daepo’s words, asking me seriously:

“Miho, I’ve been wondering about this for a while… Why don’t you drain essences?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

“But why don’t you want to?”

“Well, I’m a spirit creature, you know. For a spirit creature whose purpose is protecting humans to engage in the vile act of draining human male essences, does that even make sense…”

“Why is that a vile act? From a human male’s perspective, wouldn’t it be desirable…?”

“…”

“I’m asking because I genuinely don’t know. Couldn’t you just drain them once in a while?”

As Yi Haneul said, devouring human livers was undoubtedly a vile act worthy of that azure kitsune.

However, draining human male essences…

Well.

With mutual consent.

Without coercion.

It was somewhat debatable to call that a ‘vile’ act…

No.

Why was I even seriously considering this?

“I absolutely, positively, definitely have no intention of draining essences!”

“I, I was just asking, why are you getting upset?”

“I don’t know!”

How vexing.

Without any guidelines for growth, I was utterly perplexed.

In ancient China, the multi-tailed ‘Dalki’ likely drained essences and devoured livers as she pleased whenever hungry, without a care for unleashing more tails.

She probably naturally unleashed more tails as her yokki increased.

After Yi Haneul and Daepo returned home, even after pondering how to unleash an eighth tail, I could not arrive at any conclusions no matter how hard I thought.

“Haah…”

I eventually gave up halfway and collapsed onto the bed.

I didn’t know.

Maybe I should just sleep on it.

…

…

…

A dream?

No.

It was too peculiar to be a mere dream.

Dreams were unconscious sequences of surreal, random situations.

Yet I was fully cognizant of my current circumstances, just like normal.

It wasn’t a lucid dream either.

Only the location had changed – my body, abilities, and senses were all intact.

What I saw was a blank white world.

As if I had intruded into a blank canvas, all I could see in every direction was whiteness.

I had clearly fallen asleep on my bed in the Underworld.

I had no idea how I had ended up in this enigmatic place.

A sense of unease began creeping over me, recalling ‘Grrowl’s’ words about being ‘imprisoned somewhere for 500 years’.

Had Half-Blank taken action against me?

I tried using spiritual energy to release fox orbs in all directions, but nothing changed.

It didn’t seem like a space I could physically escape from.

With growing unease, I began aimlessly wandering this blank canvas world.

Before long, I discovered the sole dark space amidst the whiteness.

While exploring unknown spaces was unwise, I had no other viable options.

Eventually, I came face-to-face with that enigmatic darkness.

No, not darkness.

“Hmm…”

It was a woman.

She gazed at me with an inscrutable expression, yet her overwhelming beauty alone was enough to make my heart skip a beat.

Her every feature and gesture seemed to beckon seduction.

I could somewhat understand the feelings of those entranced by my own allure.

…Allure?

Wait a minute…

Could it be…

“…Dalki?”

Craaaaaack!

The moment I uttered ‘Dalki’, a massive fissure appeared in this pristine space, as if glass was cracking.

Shak shak shak.

The woman elegantly fanned herself in a seductive manner and spoke:

“You have breached a taboo once. Breach it three times, and this space shall shatter, so mind your words carefully.”

“Wh, what is this… Wait, who exactly are you…?”

“Foolish creature… You have already guessed, have you not?”

“…”

“Have conviction in your own thoughts. Your thoughts are always correct. That is the very essence and mindset a multi-tailed fox yokai must possess – solipsism.”

That overly arrogant tone and voice seductive enough to bewitch the human mind.

Though she lacked the fox ears and tails like me, it was undoubtedly her – Dalki.

Dalki spoke again in an alluring voice:

“Ask, young fox yokai.”

“Ask what, exactly…?”

“I too have bled to bridge the past and future. I shall no longer entertain foolish questions.”

“…”

“In my great magnanimity, I am willing to entertain three questions. Ask.”

I pondered briefly.

Never expecting to encounter Dalki, I could not immediately formulate questions.

While uncertain of this entire situation, it seemed Dalki had used advanced fox sorcery to connect the past and present.

And judging by the fissures, it was not a complete connection.

I needed to question cautiously.

My first question:

“What… is your purpose…?”

Dalki’s purpose had long perplexed me.

Sангун had evaluated Dalki as ‘a fox yokai who wished to become a spirit creature yet could never achieve it due to her innately vile nature’.

But I had always wondered if she truly desired to become a spirit creature.

And if she had, how would she have acted afterwards?

Dalki’s response was:

“Rather, I wish to ask you – is a purpose in life truly necessary?”

“…Huh?”

I responded dumbly.

Dalki shook her head in seeming exasperation and spoke:

“How vexing. I had somewhat understood since becoming a spirit creature… but to assign purpose to life itself is among the most useless things. Does this vessel of mine not know that?”

“But… didn’t you want to become a spirit creature?”

“Fufufu. Ahahahahahaha! Why would I, who already rules all under heaven, covet such a worthless thing! No being in this world dares to look up at me!”

“…”

“A promise is a promise, so I shall answer. My life’s purpose is simply indulgence.”

A shocking answer, yet in a sense, the most fox yokai-like answer possible.

I could not help but accept her philosophy.

That life’s purpose was mere amusement – who else could give such an arrogant answer?

Dalki was, in a manner of speaking, the protagonist of the world itself.

…No.

It was not just Dalki.

Only ‘multi-tailed fox yokai’ could possess such arrogant thoughts.

I asked her my second question:

“What exactly is a ‘multi-tailed fox yokai’?”

“That is a question which cannot be defined by any single thing.”

“But you promised. Please answer.”

“Hmph… To be spoken back to so brazenly… That swelling defiance is indeed fitting for a vessel of mine.”

Eventually, Dalki answered:

“A multi-tailed fox yokai is.”

“A being that has clearly transcended the shackles of the Wheel of Life.”

“In other words.”

“A uniquely free existence.”

“In my case, I chose the path of becoming a ruler who commands all under heaven.”

“You chose the path of becoming a slave to mere humans.”

“This too can be seen as freedom.”

Craaaaaaack!

The fissures in this blank space widened further.

“It seems I breached a taboo this time.”