Swordsmaster Fox-girl

I stared deeply at Tirka’s glowing eyes.

‘To think that I’d see [Eyes of truth] so soon after I reincarnated…’

And possessed by a Goblin no less. This world was truly absurd. Unfortunately for the Goblin, however, I knew just the way to counteract it—half truths.

“It’s obvious, really. Mindless beasts like Coldsapes won’t spare Ihwa and I even if we surrendered, and I don’t intend to just die like that.”

Tirka’s eyes returned to normal as he nodded. “Right, that’s all I want to know. Keep up the good work.”

Then, he left without saying anything else.

“Huh…” I sighed. “...Let’s get back to work.”

*

*

*

Twenty-one days had passed since the meeting. Just last night, the scouts spotted the horde of Coldsapes making their way toward the Volcanic cave, just like Nova had predicted. They estimated that the Coldsapes would arrive in 2 days.

Hence, Goblins were running around tirelessly to finish their assigned tasks, while Nova was overseeing everything.

Ihwa, meanwhile, was sparring with Noxt to increase her personal power.

“Haaaah!”

Kwang—!

Noxt easily deflected Ihwa’s attack.

“With speed like that, you won’t be able to even hit a snail!”

Ihwa backstepped and tried not to let Noxt’s provocation get to her head. So what if her speed was slow? It wasn’t like she could increase it right now. Then, she’d just have to make up for her speed with something else.

Pointing the tip of her sword at Noxt, Ihwa dashed forward, aiming to puncture his stomach.

“Seriously?” Noxt snorted. As he was about to block Ihwa’s attack with his huge axe, Ihwa stepped to the right and instead aimed her sword at his waist.

It was a feint!

Widening his eyes in surprise, Noxt instinctively used Aura. Ihwa’s surprise attack just bounced off the green hue covering Noxt’s body.

“So close!”

For the first time in years, she voiced out her frustration.

Chuckling, Noxt sat down on the snow and patted Ihwa’s back. Then, both of them watched the changing scenery.

Over the span of a few minutes, they watched as Goblins dug trenches, carry logs, and put those same logs in place. 

What captured Ihwa’s attention was a particular group of Goblin holding axes. They were struggling with cutting down a tree.

Nova came up to them and pulled out his sword, which was covered in a hue of blue. Then, with a simple slash, he cut the sword down.

Still in awe, Ihwa subconsciously let out a mutter,

“So that’s Aura…”

The energy found within any living creature; not to be confused with Mana, which was present in the atmosphere. 

Then, Ihwa remembered that Noxt had just used Aura earlier too. She swallowed her almost non-existent pride and asked,

“How do I manifest Aura?”

Noxt widened his eyes. He was clearly taken aback by this sudden question. Though, he soon answered with a question of his own.

“Tell me, why do you fight?”

“Why are you asking?”

“Trust me, it’s important.”

Ihwa nodded and closed her eyes to think hard about this. Why did she take up the sword in the first place?

The answer seemed obvious—her father made her do so, as with every of her siblings.

But…was that all? She did feel the need to make her parents proud, and it was what kept her going for years…

…Until the day she met Nova.

She’d gotten too cocky and disturbed the bear monster while it was hibernating. As a result, she almost got killed. While she was running away from the bear, all thoughts of making her parents proud vanished. Instead, an urge for survival drove her.

However, that too changed into awe when Nova saved her from the bear.

‘I want to be like him,’ she thought.

But then, she recalled something that made her answer even more unclear. What if the thing that motivated her was the excitement of battle? After all, she remembered the indescribable thrill of battling ten armored Goblins. All she wanted at that moment was to have more things to fight. 

‘Maybe I really am a battle mania— wait!’

A stroke of genius hit her. She now knew what her answer was going to be. 

Confident, she spoke with a determined voice,

“...To protect.”

“Protect?”

“Yes, I fight to protect the ones I care about…”

She could vividly remember the moment just before her fight with the ten Goblins. Rather than a crave for bloodlust, a sense of duty filled her. That duty of hers was protecting Nova from the Goblins.

Although she knew that Nova was perfectly capable of defending himself, letting a kid younger than herself fight just didn’t sit well.

‘I did ask him to help me clear the Dungeon but....’

T-That doesn’t count!  

Ihwa kept her eyes closed, waiting anxiously for Noxt’s answer. She only opened her eyes when she felt a pat on her head.

“That’s a good answer. Very well, I shall tell you.”

“R-Really?” She looked at Noxt with round eyes.

“Of course. A true warrior never goes back on his words!”

Ihwa nodded and waited eagerly for what Noxt was about to say.

“To manifest Aura, you have to be desperate.”

“...?”

“Any kind of desperation will do. Maybe it’s getting revenge, becoming the strongest, or maybe, pure desperation for having Aura can also work. But in your case, I guess that you have to be desperate about protecting someone.”

“Desperate…to…protect…”

She didn’t really like her parents, and her relationship with her siblings was even worse. As it turned out, being nine didn’t mean that she wasn’t affected by the succession war.

There was only one person left that was somewhat important to her—or at least, treated her like a normal human being. Ihwa slowly looked at Nova; he was still chopping the wood up for the Goblins. He looked so…innocent and carefree while wiping the sweat on his forehead.

If what Noxt was saying was true then…Nova would have to be in danger for her to manifest her Aura.

“Noooo! I don’t want Aura anymore!”

Already being able to guess what she was thinking, Noxt chuckled,

“That’s just what our tribe does to get Aura, anyway. It might not work for you, so you can just keep it in the back of your mind.”

Then, he went silent as if he was thinking hard about something. Eventually, he sighed and took out a bottle with some kind of red liquid inside.

“Here, it’s yours.”

“Why are you giving me this?” Ihwa couldn’t help but be curious.

“To be ready to give up getting stronger if it means your loved ones get harmed…you remind me of somebody. Just take it, you can’t refuse a give from a warrior.”

Ihwa took the bottle and bowed in gratefulness.

“What does it do?”

“As long as you’re not dead, this potion will save your life. But!” Noxt especially emphasized the second part. “Supposedly, there an unknown side effect. People say that the previous Chief used a similar potion, but she refuses to tell me what exactly happened to her.”

Ihwa gulped.

“Risky...”

“Yes, but I think your life is worth more than whatever side effects there may be.”

Ihwa nodded and put the potion inside her backpack.

“Thank you…”

*

*

*

The day of the attack.

The atmosphere was tense, as it should be. The previous day, all the lumberjack Goblins and non-combatants had gone back to the settlement, so everyone left in the Volcanic cave area was, at the very least, competent in combat.

I was sitting inside the fortress, enjoying a cup of tea, when a warhorn was blown.

“ENEMIES!”

Immediately, Jaxt, Noxt, and Tirka, who was staying in the same room as I was, stood up and rushed outside. Similarly, Ihwa stood up and was about to draw her sword. However, she was stopped by me before she could go anywhere.

Seeing her confused expression, I tugged on her sleeve and pointed toward the mountain slope.

“Our position is there.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry, the Goblins will make it.”

“Noxt…”

“He’ll be fine. It’s all part of the plan.”

“I want to…”

“No, it’s too dangerous, I can’t afford to let you get hurt.”

It would weigh on my conscience if I couldn’t even protect a 9-year-old girl after all.

After some more convincing, Ihwa finally agreed to go to the mountain slope with me, albeit a bit reluctantly.

‘Now, the fun will begin.’