I Raised a Nine Tailed Fox Wrongly

“Ran, are you eating?”

“Kang!”

“Here you go.”

Scyllia took out the roasted pheasant and held it out. Ran gobbled down the meat in a wink. He patted Scyllia’s calf with his front paw, urging her to give him the rest of the meal.

“There’s no stopping you.”

Scyllia lowered the glass bottle to the floor. Ran lay flat on his seat, he shoved his long, small snout into the bottleneck, and flapped his tongue to eat the meat and vegetables. He grabbed the bottle with his four legs and even rolled around

“Ran. Are you letting me off the hook now?”

“Kyuu.”

The fox, who ate the pheasant and became merciful, forgave Scyllia with a generous heart. She thought now was a good opportunity, so she squatted down in front of Ran and carefully asked. 

“By the way, Ran. I have a question, are you sure you can’t humanize?”

Ran, who was thoroughly licking the sauce on the bottle’s neck, suddenly stiffened his body and looked at her. It was a reaction where he understood what humanization was.

“The book says that you can become human when you are ten years old. You are nineteen years old.”

Ran showed no reaction. His whole body remained motionless, but Scyllia noticed that Ran was extremely nervous.

‘What are you so afraid of?’

Ran now had eyes that Scyllia had seen many times since meeting the little fox. Terrified eyes. Inside them, there was a deep sense of vigilance that stabbed Scyllia as if pushing her away.

She quietly backed away and gave a soft expression on her face

“I was asking because I was afraid there was a problem with your health.” 

“….”

“If it’s because something hurts, you have to tell me. Do you understand?

After she had finished her careful words, she got up from her seat. Scyllia wasn’t a talkative person and that had a pretty positive effect on her relationship with Ran.

She walked to her bedroom and lay down. When Scyllia went to bed, the rocking chair next to it was Ran’s seat.

As he tried to settle down and was about to sleep, an unfamiliar moan pierced his ears.

He turned his head. Scyllia was suffering with her molars clenched.

Ran’s ears became stiff with a sharp strain on his nerves. As he was closely looking at her, at one point, he tilted his head and raised his nose.

Kung. Kung, kung.

As he approached, sniffing her scent, Scyllia crouched down as if his sniffling tickled her skin. Ran didn’t care and turned around Scyllia’s body, which was lying on her sides, and headed towards her back.

Kung, kung. Kung, kung, kung.

Ran’s yellow eyes, who had been vigorously sniffing her, suddenly narrowed in an unpleasant mood. Scyllia thinks the little fox’s eyes were cute, but his eyes were now alive with the unique aura of a nine-tailed fox.

The moment he tapped his black nose on her left shoulder right above her scar, Scyllia opened her eyes wide. 

“Ugh…….”

Ran was surprised as well. Feeling a presence, Scyllia looked back.

“Oh, my God, Ran. Sigh…… I was surprised.” 

With a tired face, she pulled Ran into her arms.

“Let’s go to sleep…” 

She soothed the fox by sweeping down his tender belly. The small Ran was helpless as she languidly rubbed his tummy with her characteristic scent of sunshine. His head, which had been tilting until then, lost strength and was eventually shoved into the duvet

Just in time, even the pain had disappeared, and Scyllia was able to fall into a deep sleep.

***

The next morning.

“Comaaaaaaaaaaaaander!”

From afar, Eric came running with a strangled scream. Experience has shown that nothing good happened when he, the vice-commander, came running like that.

Scyllia ordered the knights in the gymnasium to train and turned around. Eric ran so hastily that he, whose whole body was drenched in sweat, took a deep breath while supporting his upper body on his knees. He wanted to say something quickly, but he was out of breath.

Scyllia sighed and held out her water bottle.

“Calm down before talking.”

“Hah, big deal, hah, came, ha, hah, Comma-, hah, hah, the Commander….”

Instead of speaking, Scyllia eventually shoved the neck of her bottle into Eric’s mouth. He was coughing while drinking water, and it was long before he straightened his back. His complexion was white.

Scyllia gathered her eyebrows and asked.

“Where are you sick?”

“Commander! The Guardian is here!”

“I’m sure you are sick somewhere.”

As Scyllia took her first steps to take Eric to the treatment center, he stamped his feet with a tearful face.

“It’s true. A real guardian is here! He’s waiting in the Commander’s office now. You should go quickly!”

Eric was restless like a man whose throat tightened on a rope every time the Guardian waited another minute. Scyllia finally looked at him with a puzzled look.

“Is that true?”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

“Why is the Guardian coming all the way to this place?”

“Oh, how would I know that! Let’s go, okay? Come on.”

It was natural for Eric to be this sensitive. The Guardians were confidants of the highest order of the Holy Land, who directly looked after the Saint, the child of God. Five holy attendants were given the mission of following the saint by God Solar herself.

One of such Guardians visited the Order of Paladins in the Grenia garrison.

‘Why? Since Grenia is so far away, Guardians don’t come in person. Because the Saint is in Gaia.’

Although she was puzzled, Scyllia moved for the time being. If it was a true Guardian, she would have to serve him with proper courtesy.

When she showed signs of moving, Eric, who was about to fall from high blood pressure was also relieved.

“Did he mention anything special?”

“No, he said he would tell the Commander himself.” 

“Get the members on standby at the gymnasium.” 

“Yes!

Eric bent down and stepped back. Without hesitation, Scyllia opened the door to her office. The Guardian was already sitting on the sofa drinking tea.

She immediately knelt down on one of her knees.

“I greet the fourth star, the Guardian Maldis, who has received the divine mission of Solar.”

She had never seen a Guardian in her life, but she could recognizable them at once. It was because she had memorized the portraits of the Pope, the Saint, and the Guardians, until she got tired of their faces, in order to be polite if she ever met them.

Portraits of them could be easily seen anywhere in the Holy Kingdom. If the generations changed, the portraits were also replaced immediately.

She scrutinized the appearance of the Guardian, Maldis. He had a sharper impression than what was shown in the portrait. It was not about losing a little weight, but a lot.

He had the impression of a sensitive scholar, and that’s why even his thin lips felt quite taut. Indigo bobbed hair that was sharp like a sword fluttered from the corner of his chin, a pair of eyeglasses, skinny, ribbed fingers, and cold gray eyes.

His eyes were bloodshot. It wasn’t the usual face made by normal stress. With a little exaggeration, he seemed to be pushed to the limit as if he would collapse if hit.

‘Is it difficult to serve the Saint?’

While she wondered, Maldis’s eyes scrutinized Scyllia. At one point, his eyes widened. Scyllia was lighting a nice incense for his headache without speaking a word.

She didn’t stop there, she put the scented candles by the window, leaving it a little open so the scent wasn’t too strong. The unexpected consideration made Maldis feel just dazed.

“Do you hate scented candles?”

Scyllia asked politely. After staring into her jade-colored eyes for a long time, Maldis belatedly came to his senses and blinked. 

“No. It’s fine.”

“Then I’ll let it smoke.”

Scyllia sat across from him and bluntly asked 

“What is the reason for your visit?”

“….”

Maldis did not readily answer, just stared at her. After staring like that for a long time, he looked at Scyllia as if she was an intriguing person and asked.

“Did you say your name was Scyllia?”

Suddenly, the face of the priestess who asked her name with a curious face came to mind. It was unknown why that face was now overlapping with the Maldis. Scyllia answered, clearing her thoughts.

“That’s right.”

“Yes, Dame Scyllia. I’m sorry for coming here all of a sudden. I’m afraid things aren’t going well over this side.” 

‘This side?’

Scyllia answered, hiding her doubts in her expressionless face.

“It’s all right.”

“I came here today for a secret mission.”

She didn’t show any signs of surprise even when he said it was a secret mission. Scyllia was merely contemplating what secret order the Pope would give her.

‘She has a calm personality.’

Maldis looked at her, involuntarily raised his lips, and smiled. It had been a long time since he had laughed, and it was a slightly awkward smile.

“Take this first.”

He took out a small silver box from his pocket. It looked like an ordinary box, but she could recognize at a glance that it was a blessed item. The sacred power she felt, and the blue energy of holy objects fluttered from the cold surface plated with silver.

Maldis put it on the table and opened the lid.

“Do you know what this is?”

“……”

Scyllia forgot to speak. It was a phoenix feather

“From the look on your face, you seem to know what it is.” 

“It’s a phoenix feather.”

“Yes. it’s an object used to find the Saint.” 

“……”

“You’ll need this to carry out your mission in the future.”

Maldis started talking alone while Scyllia was hardened in her seat.

“From now on, you are free to move out of the garrison. It’s because we’ve been seeking cooperation from the Empire under other pretexts.”

“Guardian.”

“I know that you are constantly busy because of the monsters. I just want you to look whenever you have time.”

“Guardian.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you want to find the Saint?”

“Yes.”

‘Is that true?’

Scyllia’s eyebrows narrowed.

“Isn’t the Saint in Gaia?”

Maldis closed his stiff eyes and opened them.

“It is the will of the Pope and his guardians.”

Scylia’s mouth closed.

“You will have to be careful. I have put a special prayer of blessing on the box.”

“……”

“Look for scars on the shoulder blades.”

Scyllia, who stared blankly at the feather, was startled.