Chapter 20: Inevitable Doom?, Decision of the Foxes
Belrik Kingdom, capital town.
In the underground part of this town, the mother of Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea was imprisoned.
Crown Prince Maurin coldly looked at her. "Accept the contract. This is the last chance. I am running out of my patience."
"Over my dead body."
"I swear…I will find your cubs soon and give them a life worse than hell. I will make them completely obedient and fully weaponize them for this kingdom."
The fox's eyes shook with fury. "Then you'd better kill me, or I swear I will erase every single trace of your bloodline."
A burst of frosty blue glow exuded from the fox, but it was suppressed quickly.
Crown Prince sneered. "Don't worry, since you don't want to accept the contract, we'll make good use of your body. "
He looked at the two mages and nodded. "Maintain the seal. I am going to call Raimbart to execute this bitch."
"No need."
Suddenly, a person arrived with no footstep sound, startling the others in the chamber with her cold and crisp voice.
It was a young lady looking in her twenties with long indigo hair, wearing a noble red long-frock dress with gold embroidery and a mage's hat.
"Irnia?" Maurin
"We can't kill her, brother." Irnia coldly looked at him.
Maurin frowned. 'Bitch. Always with that looking down look.'
"Why can't we kill her? Since you are here, then finish her off. We lost a lot to capture this bitch, but she sent her cubs away. We at least need to dissect it and make some weapons and potions out of her."
"That's exactly what she wants," Irnia said as she continued walking and stopped in front of the fox. "Nice to meet you, Lady Ruoin."
"Huh?" Crown Prince Maurin frowned. "You know her name? And what do you mean by that's exactly what she wants?"
Irnia turned to her brother while Ruoin's eyes narrowed. 'Does she know?'
Irnia looked at her elder brother, his tone assuming coldness. "What you did was invite doom to our kingdom, you idiot."
"W-What?" Both angered and baffled, Crown Prince Maurin tried to be calm. This sister of his was carrying the name of their kingdom far wider than any of the princes or the king.
As much as he wanted to act like an elder brother, he couldn't.
"Sigh..." Irnia rubbed her temples. "This fox here wouldn't have been a problem if she weren't pregnant, but now she has even given birth…I rushed here after knowing you captured a pregnant fox from Star Heaven mountain, and had to confirm, but seeing her…"
Irnia turned to the nine-tailed fox.
'Stop beating around the fucking bush, bitch!' Maurin internally cursed her.
"You were the one chosen by the Southern Mountain Emperor's son."
"That's right. I have acquired his divine bond, and my children have his divine blood. The doom of your kingdom is inevitable."
"You…" Ruoin narrowed her fox eyes as she looked at Irnia and spotted an obscure symbol pattern on her dress. "You are from Mistbound Magic Tower …"
"Oho? Irnia smiled. "Then you should know we could deal with your husband even if he comes here."
Ruoin laughed. "Who are you fooling? You are an early Ascendant-rank, which means you personally have no power, while Ascendant-rank is not impressive enough for the Magic Tower to mobilize the forces against my husband and war against Star Heaven mountain."
Irnia's eyes glinted. 'So she has some knowledge of the tower's structure.'
"What?" Maurin confusedly asked. "Can you tell me already what the fuck is the deal with her?"
"Idiot brother. In the words that anyone can understand, the matter at hand is that her husband is a wolf, and he is a King-rank monster. That wolf is away right now, but the moment he returns and smells this, this capital will be wiped off the map. He is unaware right now, but if you had killed her, he would have found out with his bond right away."
"Then it wouldn't even take one day before he is here and wipes out this capital."
Irnia's face was gloomy as she spoke. "Now you know what kind of trouble you've brought here? That aside, you did half-assed work and lost the only card we could have, which was the cubs."
"Where are they?"
Maurin's expression was ugly. "This bitch teleported the cubs somewhere. The mages still need one or two days to pinpoint the general direction of the teleport."
"Teleporting is that wolf's power. He must have given her some safety measures." Irnia turned back to Ruoin.
"Yeah. She had more than one defensive measure. That's why we lost three Ascendant-rank Adventurers and our court mage," Maurin said with a dark face. "But why did such a powerful monster from the Southern Mountains come to Star Heaven Mountain to fuck this fox?"
"Who cares?" Irnia frowned.
'I care bitch! If I knew she had babies of a fucking monster who could wipe us out, I wouldn't have captured her!'
"The Magic Tower really can't help us?" Maurin asked, his anxiety increasing.
"Hahaha…" Irnia suddenly laughed as she eyed Ruoin. "Look at you, bitch. You really think that Magic Tower won't mobilize forces to help my kingdom?"
"Unfortunately for you, they will help this kingdom because I am not an ordinary Ascendant. Don't worry, even if your husband returns, he won't find us for at least a year. I have redirected the traces of battle and everything before coming here."
Irnia grinned. "Blame your husband for leaving you to join the war with his father. You will keep living.
Turning around, she eyed Maurin and uttered. "Let's go. We need to find the cubs."
Ruoin snarled as a burst of magic power unleashed, but the seal made her helpless.
'My children…please take care of yourselves. Your mother is helpless. Find a trustworthy person with a good heart to remain hidden and safe, my children…stay safe.'
Ruoin sat down, her head buried, eyes tearing up in worry.
…
The foxes approached Ainen and stopped just half a meter away from him.
Then, a mysterious mark appeared on their foreheads.
Then, out of nowhere, Ainen heard the cute voices of little girls, full of innocence and sincerity.
'Master Ain, we sisters believe that you are of good heart and only have good for us in your mind,' Saffa said. 'And food is tasty.'
'Master Ain, we believe that would never harm us,' Clovelle said. 'You also feed us to the full and your food is best.'
'That's why we believe that we should form a soul contract with you, Master Ain.' Fraisea rubbed her head against Ainen's cheek. 'We trust you completely. '
'You already treat like part of your family,' Saffa said. 'So, can we form magical bonds with each other? That way, we sisters can hide from others by staying in your body using magic.'
Ainen was surprised, and very much pleasantly so.
"Well, your words have sweetened me very much, and yes, I do already consider you a part of our family because why not?" Ainen smiled. "But are you all serious about this?"
'M-Master Ain, you don't want us?'
The foxes looked at him with big, glittering puppy eyes.
Ainen slapped his thigh. "Says who? Of course, I want you."
Ron and Syl laughed at his action despite not being able to hear the foxes.
"Brother, are they talking to you?"
"What are they saying?"
Ainen smiled. "They want to form magical bonds with me."
"Magical bonds?!"
Ron and Syl looked at each other, amazed.
The foxes smiled and nodded.
'Ahem, we also can't eat anything else after eating your food, Master Ain.'
'Yes, yes. I tried to eat something while we were hunting, but it was so bad.'
'True…I also tried, but it didn't go past my throat.'
Ainen laughed loudly in gusto.
"Alright, let's form the magic bonds." Ainen grinned. "For the whole life and until death, we take care of each other."
The eyes of Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea brightly shone in joy.