Adventure World Online (AWO)

"G-get back!"

Chang Long commanded with a firm voice, pointing her trembling finger at the five frog princes. Her arms and legs twitched uncontrollably as she fought the urge to flee in panic.

"Oh! My lady."

The first frog prince looked disappointed.

"Please, help us!"

The second frog prince pleaded, trying to look cute and endearing, though in Chang Long's eyes, it was nothing short of terrifying.

"Beautiful princess,"

The third frog prince flirted, winking at her mischievously.

"We need a kiss from you!"

The fourth frog prince added, striking an infuriatingly exaggerated pose with his front legs wide open, eyes closed, and lips puckered, as if waiting for her to embrace him and break his curse with a sweet kiss.

"Yeah!"

The fifth frog prince grunted, making the other four nearly fall over again. They turned on him, berating him for ruining the moment and embarrassing them, all while failing to notice someone's simmering anger. By the time they sensed her chilling aura, she was already fuming with killing intent.

"Are you enjoying yourselves!"

Chang Long asked in a cold, sturn voice, gripping her sword menacingly. The tiny frog princes, now huddled together in fear, shivered uncontrollably.

"Calm down, love,"

The first frog prince hastily said, panicking.

"Yes, beautiful princess, please calm down."

The second prince chimed in, hoping flattery might soothe her.

"Please don't hurt us. Look how small and fragile we are."

The third frog prince backed away a little, clearly afraid.

"We won't bother you for a kiss anymore!"

The fourth prince quickly followed, also retreating in fear.

"Yeah!"

The fifth prince remained stoic as ever.

"You, shut up already!"

The other four shouted in unison, scolding the fifth frog, who sighed and jumped into the pond, realizing the fierce princess had no intention of playing along.

"Move aside!"

Chang Long ordered icily. The four remaining frog princes immediately jumped to either side of the path, politely gesturing for her to pass. As Chang Long stiffly walked away, they sighed in relief, but before they could do anything else, her cold voice came again from behind, making them jump back into the water in terror.

"W-what is it, love?"

The first prince asked with a trembling voice, only his head and tiny golden crown visible from behind a lotus leaf, just like the others.

"Do you know where the red-eyed rabbits' and the thieving field mice's burrows are?"

Chang Long asked. There was no sign of those creatures anywhere, and she suspected the frogs had wasted her time, so they owed her some help.

"Oh!"

The first frog prince smacked his fist into his palm, starting to sound like he was about to sing.

"Walk along the edge of the pond~"

The second frog prince sang melodically.

"And you'll find a big tree~"

The third frog prince gestured eagerly in the direction they had described.

"There's a fork in the road~"

The fourth frog prince said with more enthusiasm now that he saw Chang Long had sheathed her sword. They continued their operatic style, thinking their fierce princess might enjoy it.

"Yeah~"

Both Chang Long and the other four frog princes were stunned when the fifth prince joined in on the impromptu opera. An awkward silence settled over the pond for a moment before the first frog prince resumed.

"Follow the finger-shaped branch,"

"And you'll find it~"

The four frog princes harmonized the last line, making it sound like the grand finale of a song.

"Yeah~"

Chang Long was left speechless by the frogs' performance. She hastily thanked them and set off along the path they had enthusiastically pointed out, eager to get away from the talking frogs.

As she walked, she soon found a large tree with branches resembling twisted fingers, pointing toward a path that led away from the pond. Continuing her journey, Chang Long began to see traces of the creatures she was searching for, though the creatures themselves remained elusive. It was not long before she came upon a large stone burrow, where red-eyed rabbits and thieving field mice were busily hauling stolen supplies inside. Upon seeing her, they panicked and vanished in under five minutes.

Chang Long did not bother chasing after them. Instead, she entered the burrow, searching for the golden corn she had come for. It did not take long before she found a pile of golden corn cobs, untouched and perfectly preserved in the back corner of the burrow.

Relieved, she gathered the corn into an empty sack falling nearby. It took some time, but eventually, she managed to stuff all one hundred cobs into the sack. Slinging the sack over her shoulder, she exited the burrow in a good mood.

Outside the burrow, Chang Long found herself surrounded by red-eyed rabbits and thieving field mice. They stared at her as if she were the thief, stealing what was rightfully theirs. She paid them no mind and kept walking—it was nearly evening, and the next day would be the day Kitsune hatched. There was no time to waste, especially after the delay caused by those ridiculous frog princes. She needed to return in time for Kitsune's reincarnation.

Though the creatures did not disperse, they kept their distance, retreating step by step as she moved forward. They were clearly afraid of her. Continuing on, Chang Long grew more irritated but maintained her pace. When she finally reached the pond, a particularly brave thieving field mouse jumped in front of her, waving a tiny sword in challenge.

"Human. Return our food!"

The little mouse demanded boldly, though its legs trembled uncontrollably.

"You stole it, didn't you? I'm returning it to its rightful owner,"

Chang Long raised an eyebrow, looking down at the courageous little mouse with a cold expression, though she struggled to suppress a smile at its pitiful state.

"W-we didn't steal it. Even if some of our names are a bit suspicious!"

The little mouse stammered but tried to pass it off as anger.

"If you're thieves, just admit it. Now get out of my way—you're wasting my time."

Chang Long scolded as she continued walking, ignoring the brave little mouse that had spoken to her. She did not even think twice about the fact that it could speak human language like the frog princes. The surrounding creatures eventually backed off, albeit with pitiful looks directed at the sack of corn. Finally, Chang Long softened and stopped. She sat down and looked at the creatures, asking,

"How much do you need? I can't give you all of it."

She made this offer because she recalled that the little fox had not given a specific number of corn cobs to return, and it had even urged her to hurry, warning that the golden corn might be gone if she delayed too long.

"Twenty... um, please?"

The brave little mouse that had blocked Chang Long's path blurted out but immediately shrank back under her stern gaze.

"Alright, but I'll have one kernel from each cob, deal?"

Chang Long replied, and the surrounding creatures nodded eagerly, clearly overjoyed. Smiling, she pulled out a small pouch used for holding spare change and began carefully plucking one kernel from each cob, dropping them into the bag. The brave little mouse helped her with the task.

Once she had gathered twenty kernels, Chang Long resumed her journey, unimpeded this time. She rushed her way back to the place she had met the five frog princes. The brave little mouse, for unknown reasons, perched itself on her shoulder. She was not sure if it was tagging along out of gratitude for her kindness or scouting the fox village to see what else it could steal.

The five frog princes were already waiting for her at the pond. When she arrived, they stood in line, bowing respectfully. Each frog looked so deeply touched that they seemed ready to jump up, hug her, and give her a big kiss. But the sight of Chang Long lifting her foot in warning stopped them in their tracks—none of them wanted to risk being kicked into the air.

"Oh, beautiful princess!"

The first frog prince greeted her with a deep bow.

"With such a kind and generous heart!"

The second frog prince added, bowing as well.

"Beautiful inside and out!"

The third frog prince batted his eyes at her, causing Chang Long to shudder in discomfort.

"You will forever be the lady of our hearts!"

The fourth frog prince sang out dramatically, like an opera singer once again.

"Yeah..."

The fifth frog prince let out his usual sound, causing his friends' brows to twitch in frustration. Unable to bear it any longer, they leapt at him, and a comical brawl ensued. Chang Long simply shook her head and walked away, uninterested in their antics. Soon, she reached the fox village where the foxes tended to their crops.

She immediately approached the fluffy little fox that had sent her to retrieve the golden corn. It had been waiting in the same spot, and when it saw Chang Long approaching with the sack, it ran to her, looking overjoyed. It eagerly took the sack and began counting the remaining corn cobs. To its delight, it discovered that only twenty cobs were missing.

"I can only give you one kernel from each cob. If it's not enough, don't blame me,"

the little fox said.

"Mm, thank you."

Chang Long acknowledged with a nod and began peeling one kernel from each cob of golden corn herself. As she worked, she noticed the thieving field mouse that had guided her sneaking toward a fox family's barn. Without hesitation, she grabbed it, intending to toss it back into the forest. However, the mouse pleaded and whined so much that Chang Long grew annoyed and decided to shove it into her dimensional pouch instead, preventing it from causing any further trouble. She then resumed peeling the golden corn.

"Finally!"

Chang Long exclaimed in relief after placing the hundredth golden corn kernel into the pouch. After spending quite a while bent over peeling the corn, she was ready to head back to the golden rice field where the Inari Shrine stood. The task given by Inari was now complete, and all that remained was waiting for Kitsune to hatch from his egg, at which point Inari would officially recognize his status. Kitsune would become a full-fledged Sacred Beast with pure blood, an acknowledgment of his utmost loyalty to her.

At the Inari Shrine, the foxes were still lounging around peacefully under the soft evening sunlight. Chang Long walked toward the shrine with a light heart, having successfully completed the task. Everything had gone smoothly, despite a few hiccups caused by the five frog princes. Now, she just had to wait for Kitsune to hatch and be recognized as a pure-blooded Sacred Beast by Inari.

"You're back?"

Inari greeted Chang Long with his usual warm smile. She nodded and began searching her pouch for the sack containing the golden corn kernels, but instead, her hand landed on something that was lying in her pouch—the little thieving field mouse. It had to have still been dazed from being stuffed into the pouch. Chang Long grabbed it by the tail and pulled its tiny body out of the pouch.

"Hey!"

Chang Long whispered, and the thieving field mouse slowly opened its eyes. The moment it realized her face was inches away, it let out a loud squeal. Behind Chang Long, a host of foxes stared at it, licking their lips as if it were a delicious treat.

"Ahh, don't let go of me, miss. Don't... don't let those foxes get me!"

Inari chuckled while Chang Long rolled her eyes in exasperation. She set the little mouse on her shoulder, and it heaved a long sigh of relief.

"You didn't sneak any of the corn kernels, did you?"

Chang Long pulled out the sack of corn kernels. Everything appeared intact, but she could not help but be suspicious. The mouse clung tightly to her shoulder and looked her in the eye, grumbling.

"I didn't touch any of it. Even though I'm starving right now!"

The mouse huffed indignantly.

"Good,"

Chang Long replied, satisfied, and handed the sack of golden corn kernels to Inari. He passed it to a large golden fox, who took it in its mouth and swiftly disappeared into the rice fields.

"Now, it's time to rest. Tomorrow will be an important day,"

Inari said with his usual warm smile. With a small wave of his hand, a patch of golden rice plants in front of the shrine vanished, leaving an open space large enough for a campfire. The vanished rice had already transformed into sacks of harvested grains.

Inari waved his hand once more, and a bright fire appeared in the middle of the clearing. He invited Chang Long to sit down, and soon the foxes serving nearby brought tea and snacks. The thieving field mouse, sitting on Chang Long's shoulder, stared longingly at the mochi drizzled with red bean syrup before it. Hungry as it was, it knew it was not an invited guest, so it had to hold back and swallow its saliva instead of devouring the treats.

"Here!"

Chang Long handed a piece of mochi to the little thieving field mouse, who had been sitting with an empty stomach on her shoulder. The mouse immediately turned its head toward her in disbelief. Its tiny hands trembled slightly as it accepted the treat with overwhelming gratitude.

"Orp ai (Thank you),"

the mouse mumbled, its mouth stuffed with mochi. Inari glanced at Chang Long out of the corner of his eye, a smile playing on his lips. He quickly understood why the little fox Chang Long had brought along was so loyal, to the point of sacrificing his life to protect his master.

"How great..."

Inari murmured softly to the foxes around him as he watched Chang Long share tea with the little mouse, who had eaten so quickly that it nearly choked on the mochi.

Greatness came in many forms: some were great by birth, some by wealth, some by power, and some by their own virtues. Inari handed his teacup to Chang Long, suggesting she offer it to the mouse again, as it seemed to still be choking. He chuckled softly as the little mouse flopped over onto the ground, waving its tiny paws in surrender, signaling that it could not handle any more tea. It was already on the verge of bursting from all it had eaten.

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