Swordsmaster Fox-girl

“F-Fox spirit, are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“B-But—”

“I’m fine!” I snapped.

Freya had been asking me this for the past few hours, and it was fucking annoying! 

I sighed and slumped back onto the log that I was sitting on. I was inside a makeshift camp with Freya. My only hope was that the Guildmaster would notice our absence and look for us before any Wolves found us.

Anyways, I picked up the skewer of cooked Wolf meat and munched on it. Since my arm was injured, Freya had to cook. And I had to say, she wasn’t a bad cook at all.

While I was eating, Freya inspected and treated my arm as if it was something fragile. I wanted to snap at her again, but seeing the undeniable guilt that welled up in her eyes every time she saw my arm, I couldn’t bring myself to.

…She was still goddamn annoying, though.

“A-Are you sure you’re not mad at me?”

Here it was again. For the eighth time, I sighed. “Yes, I’m not mad.”

If I were to have a grudge every time I was injured due to someone else’s stupidity, I’d be the most hateful woman alive. Orphans that had their entire family killed in front of their eyes be dammed. ‘The Hero always picks fights with people stronger than him. Holy fuck, how did I survive until the end?’

We stayed like this for a while—with me eating the meat skewer while occasionally giving Freya a bite, until I felt that my Mana had recovered enough.

“[Minor Heal]”

The wounds recovered a bit. I estimated that three more [Minor Heals] and I could fight again.

“Fox s—”

“Esther.” I was getting pretty annoyed with her calling me “Fox spirit.” 

“W-What?”

“My name’s Esther.”

Freya stared at me blankly for a few seconds before blushing. “Fox sp—”

“Esther.”

“Fox spir—”

“Esther.”

“Fo— DAD!”

Freya suddenly widened her eyes and dashed into the tree lines, leaving me behind. A few seconds later, she returned sitting on the Guildmaster’s shoulder.

“Took you long enough,” I grumbled.

The Guildmaster stared at my injured arm and frowned. “What happened?”

“Red Wolves.”

“...But they’re supposed to live in the mountains.”

“And yet they’re here.”

His frown deepened. Placing Freya back on the ground, he patted her head and smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

Watching the Guildmaster disappear in a cloud of dust, I stood beside Freya and looked in the direction that she was staring. “Where did he go?”

To that, she gave me a shy smile. “You’ll see.”
And I did. Not even a few seconds later, the Guildmaster returned. In his hands was a Red Wolf that was three times bigger than the Guildmaster himself. Yet he carried it like it was nothing.

Oh, and I could tell that it was at peak 2-star.

Seeing the really fluffy mane on its neck, I realized something. “T-That’s the pack leader?”

“Indeed.” The Guildmaster nodded. “I found it in a cave not far away from here. What do you want to do with it?”

“You’re asking me?”

I turned to look at Freya, but she gave me a nod. It seemed that I alone would decide the fate of this dog.

“Just…let it go.”

The Guildmaster widened his eyes in surprise. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

I didn’t let it go because I pitied it. Instead, the reason was the translucent blue screen that was floating right beside me.

[DEX and STR have increased by 0.2. This bonus is voided. To gain further stats points in these categories, please progress to the next star-rank.]

I didn’t know if Status rewarded me stats points for beating something well beyond my power, or if the Wolves were special. Whatever the case, it was for the best to let it go so that I could fight it later.

And it helped me set up a goal. Before I turned eighteen, I must defeat the Red Wolf leader!

‘But if it runs away after this, well, it can’t be helped.’

.

.

.

.

The journey home was quick since the Guildmaster literally flew us back. After receiving some proper bandaging, I took a bath and went into my room to receive my daily Nowarium dose. 

“Nee-chan, your hand…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

I buried my face into the top of her head and sighed. This relieved me of all stress…

Since it was late, I put on my sleeping clothes and lie under the covers. But just as I was about to fall asleep, I felt Nowa straddling on top of me.

I opened my eyes and stared at the child. “Yes?”

“Practice! Nee-chan promised!” 

‘Oh, right.’

I almost forgot about that. I’d set a bad example if I broke my promise in literally a day. So, I sat up on the bed and watched as Nowa pressed her body against mine.

I hunched down a bit since I was taller than her. Seeing her lips slowly coming closer to mine, my breathing strangely became ragged. And even stranger, Nowa’s breathing also turned heavy.

Just as our lips were about to meet—

-”Fox spirit!”

I jolted up in surprise and reflexively hid Nowa under the covers. After taking a few moments to calm myself down, I walked toward the door and opened it to see what the Dryad wanted.

Freya’s hair was wet, and her face was flushed. She probably just took a shower. “F-Fox spirit…”

“What?”

“W-Well, FredandihavebeentalkingandhetoldmetoapologizetoyoubutyoualsosaidthatyouarentmadsoIaskeddadwhattodobuthemerelylaughedanddidn’ttsayanythingandthenIakedclaraan—”

“Woah there.” I covered her mouth with my hand. “Slow down. Better yet, get to the point. Got it?”

She slowly nodded. As I removed my hand, she took a deep breath. “W-What I want to say this… Thank you. Thank you so much for saving me!”

I scratched the back of my head and awkwardly laughed. “Ah, it’s nothing.”

“B-But is it nothing though? Your hand is injured!”

‘Ah, here we go again.’

Hence began my standing in the doorway, listening to her babbling on and on about something. I didn’t know what she was talking about, and I knew that she knew that I didn’t know what she was talking about. Regardless, she seemed grateful that someone would listen to her vents.

After what felt like hours, Freya finally bowed and bid me farewell.

“I-I see you tomorrow, Fox spirit.”

I closed the door and rubbed my eyes. Freya’s ramblings did nothing but make me more sleepy, but I had to stay awake for a few more minutes to help Nowa with her kiss.

But when I returned to my bed, I saw that Nowa was already fast asleep. ‘Huh, guess I took too long.’

I parted her bangs and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. “Seems like you’ll have to wait until tomorrow, Nowa.” 

And with that, I crawled under the bed covers and hugged Nowa until I slept.