Swordsmaster Fox-girl

Morning.

Actually, if it wasn’t for the sunrays seeping through the blinds of the window, I’d have still thought that it was night due to how cold it was.

Luckily for me, I had a maid-warmer hugging me all night.

Unluckily for me, I had a maid-warmer hugging me all night…all the way into the morning.

I tried to struggle my way out of her embrace, but of course, I couldn’t. 

“Hey, Ria.” I tapped her cheek. 

However, all it did was make Ria frown a bit before continuing to squeeze me.

“Ughhh…you’re crushing me…”

As if mocking me, her hug only got tighter.

‘I swear, something’s wrong with the women of House Leinfall. They can kill the Demon king with only their hugs.’

{She’s a maid, you know? Not someone of House Leinfall.}

‘She’s Mom’s childhood friend. That’s basically the same thing.’

{...Not really.}

‘You know, I’m starting to regret summoning you. I’d rather die to that [Fireball].’

{And let the kid die with you?}

‘...’

{Heh.}

That aside, the only reason why my bones weren’t broken right now was because Ria’s two mounds of useless fat were cushioning me. Though, I didn’t know how effective they would be if she increased the force of her hug.

So, after much deliberation, and reluctance, I had to wake Ria up from her blissful sleep.

“Wake up.” I pinched both of her cheeks with my fingers.

Hearing Ria groan, I pinched them and stretched them even harder.

“Wake. Up.”

“Urghhh…five more minutes…”

“It’s already nine.”

“But I’m sleepy…”

Eventually, my cheek-pulling technique got so painful that Ria jolted up awake with teary eyes. Massaging her cheeks, she pouted.

“Young miss, isn’t this too cruel?” 

“Revenge…”

Ria chuckled and patted my head.

“I’m a Head maid, you know? I can sleep in all I want. The other maids will do my job for me even if I don’t tell them to.”

“But you’re the only maid here.”

“Still…”

“...You’re not sleeping in when you’re with me.”

Pouting, Ria got up and fixed her clothes.

“Fine, let me help you wash yourself, young miss. Then, we’ll have breakfast.”

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After having soup for breakfast, Ria and I continued exploring the city.

“We’re going to the Southern parts this time, miss.”

“Okay.”

I didn’t know where else to go anyway.

“Fufu, you’re going to love it. It’s the entertainment district after all. Only wealthy people can live there.”

Much to my surprise, there weren’t any grand gates separating the Southern district from the others. In fact, everyone could come in and out as they pleased. 

Even a group of rugged Mercenaries—oops, I meant Adventurers was laughing loudly while exiting the district.

As I focused on the Mercenaries, though, I noticed something very strange.

“W-What is that?” I pointed at the Female Warrior of the group.

Ria followed my gaze. Blushing for a bit, she coughed and averted her eyes.

“A-Ah, that’s just…the Otherworlders’ idea of…armor for girls.”

“But that’s not armor…barely any part of her body is covered…”

“W-Well, I guess that their culture is different from ours.”

“But the Adventurers look like Astorians.”

“M-Maybe the copied the Otherworlders?”

“Hmmm…”

Looked like not every one of the Otherworlders’ influences were good…

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Okay this influence was definitely good.

Currently, I was standing on the side of the street with Ria, near a peculiar food stall. It wasn’t just any food stall, however.

‘Ice cream…’

I remembered tasting this thing once in my past life. I never really liked it. Something about the overly sweet taste and icy flavor just didn’t sit right with me.

Now, however, I had to admit that it was just so damn good! I didn’t know what it was, maybe the recipe changed, maybe the ice cream that I ate was just shit, or maybe my palate was modified to fit a girl; I didn’t care. It was damn delicious right now that I’d already finished four servings.

“Ria…another one.”

“Young miss, you shouldn’t eat too mu—”

“M-o-r-e.”

“Okay,” Ria sighed. Then, she gave me a mischievous smile. “But only if you share some with me this time.”

“...No.”

“Hmph! Why?” She faked a pout.

“...You have a cold. You shouldn’t.”

Ria opened her mouth in an attempt to say something, but she couldn’t. Instead, she just hung her mouth open like that in shock.

Eventually, she regained her calm.

“H-How did you know?”

“Achoo.”

Need I say more?

Then, Ria softly sighed and came up to the stall. However, a line had already been formed at the stall by that time, so she had to wait.

‘Hmmmm? This is perfect.’

By the look of it, Ria was going to be occupied for at least ten minutes or so.

‘That’s more than enough time to deal with the insects. Alright, let’s do it.’

{Finally, I thought you’d gone so soft that you’d forgive them!}

‘I just didn’t want Ria to get involved.’

After all, despite the fact that even the City guard captain feared her, Ria didn’t have any combat capabilities. She was just a normal, 1-star ranked Human.

Mom was a bit better. She was at the peak of 2-star, but I could easily defeat her in a fight.

…Not that I’d think of fighting her, though.

Grabbing Avaron, I skipped around the street, trying to act as naturally as possible. Then, from the corner of my eyes, I saw a toy bear being thrown into a nearby alleyway.

‘Seriously? Not even a child would fall for something that obvious.’

{You’re about to, though.}

‘I’m doing it intentionally.’

A few seconds after I dashed into the alleyway, three hooded figures jumped into the same alleyway.

“You shouldn’t have left your maid, l— huh? Where did she go?”

“Behind you, shithead.”

“Wha—AHHHHHHHH!”
The cloaked figure wailed in pain as his ankle was sliced. I tried to continue with my attack, but the other two figures had already begun drawing their weapons.

“Tch,” I clicked my tongue as I distanced myself from them.

{Are you fucking serious?! Why would you announce your position to them?!}

‘Shush.’

{N-No, you’re not “shushing” me again! Why would you waste your time, energy, and dignity hiding in a trashcan when you’re going to announce your surprise attack anyway!?}

‘...Do not question a Swordsmaster. I’m doing this to test my pure Swordsmanship skills.’

Mentally blocking Avaron from my mind, I pointed her tip at the remaining two men.

“Come.”

“You bitch!” 

One of them screamed in rage and dashed madly toward me. 

‘An overhead strike? Really?’

I sighed and sidestepped his attack rather easily. Then, with a clean cut to his heart, his limp body fell onto the ground.

Kicking the body away, I motioned for the only remaining thug to come.

“Come on, be more careful than the last guy. I can’t test my skills otherwise.”

“Y-You crazy Demi! You killed him!”

“Yeah?” I picked my ear with my pinky finger. “And you’re going to kidnap me and demand ransom, or sell me as a slave. Either way, this makes us even.”

I could definitely tell that the man was boiling with rage. However, he was still cautious, surprisingly enough.

Soon, he slowly and warily moved closer to me with his sword raised in a neutral stance.

‘A diagonal slash.’

I shifted my body to the side to evade his attack, then counterattacked by lightly jabbing his thigh with Avaron. I couldn’t have my training dummy die so soon, after all.

We exchanged moves just like that a few more times, before I noticed a perfect opportunity to practice my parrying.

‘A thrust.’

Holding the blade of Avaron close to my ear, I parried his attack and countered with a thrust of my own, piercing his head and killing him instantly.

Or, that was what I thought was supposed to happen.

Instead, as soon as our swords made contact, I could feel the tremendous force behind his strike.

‘Is he stron—no, I’m too weak!’

“Eughhh!” I groaned as Avaron was knocked out of my hand.

As I was still in the air, the man quickly kicked me square on the stomach, sending my body crashing into the invisible barrier that he’d set up beforehand to stop me from leaving this alleyway.

I laid there with my back up against the barrier. My eyes went blurry, and I could feel shimmering pain spreading from my stomach. 

I lifted my head up, just in time to find the man rushing toward me and swinging his sword with a maniacal laugh.

“DIE!”

I tried my best to raise my weakened hands up as if I was pointing a sword at him.

‘C-Come on, just a bit more.’

Luckily, I managed to do so just in time.

‘N-Now!’

Summon: [Avaron]

Avaron materialized in my hands again. The man, already committed to rushing toward me, couldn’t change his direction in time and was impaled.

Watching his body fall to the ground, I heaved a sigh of relief.

“Well…that was unexpected.”

{...What did you even expect? Your [STR] stat is just too low.}

‘Yeah, yeah, but it’s definitely not low enough for a 1-star bastard to rough me up like that, though.’

I rummaged through the man’s clothes. However, I couldn’t find anything like rank-concealing artifacts. It meant that he was really a 1-star like I’d guessed. 

‘Wow, I’m much weaker than I thought I was. But…it’s nothing time can’t fix. I’m sure I’ll get stronger as I grow up.’

{Hey, Nova, I’m being serious this time. Just train your damn body! You’re going to be too weak otherwise!}

‘Did I hear a fly buzz in my ears or something?’

This city really needed a step up in its hygiene.

After finishing off the man whose ankles were cut, I gathered their bodies in one place and muttered,

“Come, [Kirion].”

However, instead of a sword, or even a stick, what appeared in my hand was…half of a hilt.

“Looks like there’s not enough blood.”

{Good. I wouldn’t want that brat to return any time soon. Now, go train your physical stren—}

‘Shut up.’

I then made my way toward a nearby trashcan and took out a shard of glass. Looking at my reflection, I sighed in relief.

“Good thing all the blood on my clothes and body was also used up.”

Now, the only remnants of the battle were the bodies, and my dirtied clothes.

“Well, there’s nothing linking me to these guys, anyway.”

Not to mention, no one would expect a five-year-old to kill three adult men. As such, I left the alleyway without any further thought.

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I returned just in time for Ria to come back with the ice cream.

Of course, she asked me about the dirt on my clothes, but I just said that I fell down while running as an excuse. And, surprisingly, she fell for it.

We then stayed in the Southern district for a few more hours, not going inside various fun places, but visiting many ice cream stalls.

As I was enjoying an ice cream for maybe the hundredth time today, I overheard a peculiar conversation between two guards.

-”Hey, did you hear? Some men were killed by a Vampire a few hours ago.”

-”W-What? Really?”

-”Yeah, three bodies, all drained of blood. I knew we shouldn’t have let those Demi-humans inside our land. The current Empress is nuts!”

‘Hmm…looks like the news travelled quicker than I thought.’

Ria also overheard the guards’ conversation. With a worried gaze, she put my hood on and hugged me from behind, lifting me up and hiding my tail by pressing her body against it.

“Y-Young miss, we should go.”

“Why?”

“S-Seems like there’s a mad Vampire here, and…” her eyes darted around. “...I don’t think the people here would appreciate your presence.”

“...Okay.”

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It was night by the time we returned to the mansion.

As some maids helped me get off the horse, Ria shoo’d them away and patted my head.

“Young miss, I have something for you.”

Then, she took out a star-shaped silver necklace from her pocket.

“Don’t worry. I bought this with my own money.”

I scrutinized the necklace. I looked uncannily expensive, and I was sure it was a hefty sum of money even for her, a Head maid.

‘But how did she even get the time to buy it? I swear, she was by my side all day.’

{Did you forget? You were basically in a trance every time you ate ice cream. The maid used that time to sneak away and buy the necklace.}

‘Huh…’

I guessed that I shouldn’t eat ice cream before battles.

That aside, I focused on Ria again.

“But why did you buy me this?”

“...Think of it as a gift from a friend, young miss. W-Well, can I be…your friend?”

Hah! What was this woman thinking? A twenty-four years old woman asking a five-year-old child to be her friend? Not to mention, said child was also her liege. How ridiculous!

…Of course, I’d accept!

Taking the necklace from her hands and hugging it, I tried to smile. And, surprisingly, I did smile!

“...Thank you.”

Ria looked at my smile with widened eyes. She looked as if she was going to melt to the ground right then and there.

Chuckling internally, I left her alone. Though, I didn’t forget to tell the maids to take care of her before leaving.

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I slept.

Well, I was sleeping until a shuffling noise woke me up. Opening my eyes, I could immediately see a shadowy figure slowly approaching my bed.

‘Who...?’

I raised my vigilance to the extreme. Discreetly summoning Avaron under my bedsheets, I waited for the figure to attack me first, so that I could counterattack.

However, things didn’t go as I expected them to.

Instead of me, the figure got to the table right beside my bed. Usually, I didn’t put anything on it, but today was an exception, as—

“Dammit! Stop right there, you thief!”

—The necklace that Ria gave me was lying there, all defenseless and vulnerable.