Chapter 81 - Shiro's Day (3)

I went back to the mansion together with Halt.

Halt came to return the food basket to Tina and go shopping with her afterward.

I’m not interested in grocery shopping, so I parted ways with Halt and rolled around the mansion.

I roamed the interior of the mansion looking for a place to sleep when I saw Youko napping in the courtyard.

Apparently, today was Youko’s day off from doing house chores.

A tree was planted in the center of the courtyard, and Youko leaned against the trunk of that tree, napping in the shade.

It looked like a good spot.

I trotted near Youko, but she was still fast asleep.

Yes, I’ll also sleep here.

---Hm?

Somehow, it felt like my energy was being siphoned away. When I traced the mana, I found that Youko was absorbing the mana that was spilling out from me.

“Oh, this one’s a nine-tailed fox, now that I think about it.”

A powerful nine-tailed fox going on a rampage is feared as a type of calamity in this world.

Colossal amounts of mana, overwhelming firepower, illusionary magic, and brainwashing magic.

Rumor has it that magic from just a single tail is enough to destroy a whole kingdom—

—and she has nine of those.

Until it is controlled, a single incident of rampage by the nine-tailed fox can end up in the destruction of nine countries.

Subjugation is impossible without fighting power on par with the reincarnated Heroes.

Also, the nine-tailed fox is different from the demon kings churned out irregularly by the Evil God. The nine-tailed foxes are regularly born into this world, so they are treated as natural disasters.

I once fought a nine-tailed fox, by the Creator God’s command; it was an extremely troublesome enemy.

Inexhaustible mana and high-level magic, and on top of that, all the people I was supposed to protect were brainwashed and ganging up on me.

Of course, it was my victory.

But it didn’t change the fact that its magic is a nuisance.

It is common sense in this world that when a nine-tailed fox is discovered, it must be nipped in the bud.

I stared at the peacefully snoozing Youko.

Even now, she was collecting mana from the surroundings and accumulating it in her tails.

Currently, there were three of them.

I felt as if her collection was faster than normal; though I wasn’t sure whether it was due to being near Halt, who uses massive amounts of mana.

Under normal circumstances, it takes around a thousand years for a nine-tailed fox to achieve the perfect body, but considering Youko’s current age and appearance, as well as the amount of mana she had accumulated, it might take her around a hundred years or so to complete her collection.

….Should I kill her now?

It is my duty to protect this world.

I need to defeat the nine-tailed demon that will kill thousands of people and destroy nature.

I bared my fangs at Youko.

Suddenly, Halt’s face appeared in my mind.

Halt has been taking care of Youko in many ways.

She’s part of the family, he said.

It is possible that Halt would be sad if I killed Youko here.

He might become furious with me.

“No, I can’t do this. Well, it doesn’t have to be now. If this brat goes into a frenzy, I’ll somehow deal with it then.”

I have the power.

I don’t have to make Halt miserable.

If the time comes, I can lend him my strength, and it’ll be fine.

----- So I reasoned.

“Don’t go on a rampage, you hear me? Make sure Halt won’t be sad.”

I told her so, but Youko just kept on napping.

I was also somewhat sleepy now.

I jumped onto the sleeping Youko’s cross-legged feet.

“This looks comfortable to sleep on, so I’ll nap here, got it? It’s alright, isn’t it?”

There was no response, naturally.

Well, it seems to be fine.

Hm, comfortable indeed.

The mana overflowing from me was, as expected, siphoned by Youko.

As a Divine Beast, mana overflows from me without bound.

Usually, I constrict the flow of mana in order to prevent influencing the surroundings, but I have to release it occasionally, or else my body will feel itchy.

I haven’t used a huge amount of mana for a while now.

Perfect timing.

Let’s vent it out and let Youko absorb it.

I curled up in the space between Youko’s crossed legs and dozed off.

──＊＊＊──

“---Nn, Hmm, Fuaahh. That was a good nap. Hmm?... Oh, it’s just Shiro.”

When Youko woke up, Shiro was curled up sleeping on her lap.

“When did this guy…”

Shiro wasn’t that heavy, so she hadn’t noticed him.

“He’s sleeping so well… Can’t help it, I’ll let him sleep a bit longer.”

Youko dozed off while sitting; her body was stiff, so she tried to stretch.

She stretched her upper body without moving her legs and was careful not to wake Shiro up.

“-----Hm?”

Her body had obviously grown compared to how it was at noon before her nap.

“N-No way—”

Youko checked her tails.

All nine of them were filled to the brim with mana.

It was because, unconsciously, she continued to absorb the overflowing mana from the Divine Beast Shiro while she was fast asleep.

“….My body has already achieved perfection, but I don’t feel any different.”

Nine-tailed foxes are a species whose lifelong mission is to accumulate mana in their tails and obtain the perfect body.

After reaching perfection, they will go wild until they exhaust all the mana they’ve accumulated.

That’s the nature of their species.

“It’s incredible. I thought I would lose my consciousness right after piling up enough mana, but… is it because of this?”

Youko stared at the back of her right hand. On top of it was the magic circle signifying the master-slave contract she made with Halt.

Youko accumulated two tails’ worth of precious mana in the span of two hundred years.

As a result of expending one tail’s worth of mana, she succeeded in forming a strong bond with Halt.

Maybe that bond is the reason why Youko’s rampage was avoided.

“No matter what, with this I can also become Halt’s strength from now on!”

Youko was extremely delighted.

A nine-tailed fox is weak until it has accumulated enough mana.

She can only fight by using brainwashing magic on her master to increase his subordinates.

However, today’s Youko is different.

At the very least, she now possesses enough power to overwhelm a few flaming knights and be their opponent.

“The reason why I didn’t go on a rampage might have something to do with you, is it not?”

Youko gently stroked Shiro as he slept on her lap.

When a nine-tailed fox absorbs magical power, it also absorbs the surrounding’s negative aura, blackening its heart with evil.

However, Youko’s tails were composed of two tails’ worth of mana from Halt and six tails’ worth of mana from Shiro; leaving only one tail with mana imbued with negative aura.

This is the main factor that prevented Youko from going berserk, and Youko also realized this.

“Thanks, Shiro.”

In reality, Shiro’s initial plan was to let off some mana, stop it, and then go to sleep.

If he had not done that, he would have hastened the growth of the nine-tailed fox.

However, he fell into a deep sleep while still discharging mana, which was continuously siphoned by Youko.

As a result, he was able to change Youko’s future of running amok and destroying countless kingdoms, but—

There’s no way Youko and Shiro will know about it.