Chapter 505 – Bowls and Mixed Blood

000

Kuzunoha should have stopped running wild because of Cleon’s engraving on the amulet.

However, it didn’t stop at the tail shrinking due to the sealing, and the tail disappeared altogether, no matter how you look at it, it was human itself.

His hair his has also returned from silver to black, and even the ears that sprouted from the top of his head are gone, so when you remove the hair, you can see that there are human ears where human ears should be.

“What is this… No matter where you look at it… Human, right?”

Layla must have had the same thoughts as Cleon.

“Kuzunoha…Wasn’t that Yoho?”

“I don’t know… But the smell I was feeling until now was ‘Yoho’ itself…”

Saying so, Sasha tells the two that she no longer smells like Yoho.

“Tamamo… I don’t think she cheated on us, isn’t it possible that this Kuzunoha is a ‘fake’?”

Even if you talk to each other, the answer doesn’t come out.

The one with the answer must be none other than this Kuzunoha … Collapsed right in front of his eyes her.

“Thanks to being rummaged through the body, I passed out… What should I do? Should I ask Tamamo?”

Scratching his head, Cleon tries to call Riomes with his imprint her.

But before that, when I looked back at the hand holding Cleon’s sleeve her.

Sasha- No, Ruben was holding back Cleon.

“No, Mr. Cleon. There is no need for that.”

“Ruben. Do you understand something?”

At Cleon’s question, Ruben closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated his mind as if trying to feel something.

Soon, while nodding her head, she turns to Cleon and talks.

“Yes. This child… Is the same as ‘Sasha’.”

“Is Sasha… The same?”

Cleon thinks for a moment about what part she refers to by ‘same as Sasha’, then changes her expression to her.

“…The beast god – is it because of the fox god?”

“Something similar. To be precise, it’s written in ‘Becoming a Fox God’.”

At Ruben’s words her, Cleon frowns at her and looks down at her.

“Is the beast god related not only to the witch beasts but also to the ‘subhumans’ of the ‘beasts’ series?”

“Actually, there is no big difference between Beasts and Beasts. Those who look more human are just called ‘Beasts’.”

While saying that, Ruben rummaged through the clothes hanging over the body of the fallen Kuzunoha.

“Wait wait! What are you doing!?”

When Amelia tries to stop Ruben, shocked by Ruben’s behavior of her, Ruben looks back at Amelia while laughing at her.

“Whatever it is. It is trying to change ‘suspicion’ to ‘certainty’. There must be an imprint similar to Sasha’s ‘Hunter’s Imprint’ somewhere.”

Saying so, ‘Is this it?’ Ruben forcibly opens Kuzunoha’s closed eyelids.

But there was no such thing there, and Cleon followed Ruben’s hand her and shook his head when he saw her cut little finger her.

“Ruben. Let’s treat him first. … I’ve never seen a guy who cuts off her little finger her and runs away. It’s not even a ‘lizard’.”

“Ha ha! Even though lizards and foxes are classified as creatures, they are different!”

Looking at Ruben, who seems to have taken her own words with a laugh, Cleon sighs and tells Amelia.

“It’s okay if you can’t regenerate your fingers. For now… Let’s cover the wound. Amelia. Please.”

“…Yes.”

Amelia also nods her head at Cleon’s words of her, and seeing her neatly cut pinky finger of her, where part of her bone is visible, Amelia uses a simple healing magic.

Then, the blood flowing from her cut surface her slowly stopped, and a film made of divine magic was covered on top of her.

This will prevent germs from getting inside, but severed fingers will not grow back.

“But… Will this be all right? After all, treating the finger is…”

When Amelia spoke as if she was worried about the collapsed Kuzunoha, Cleon also replied as if to reassure her.

“If it’s Quon, it should be able to regenerate simple body tissues. I need one person who should be watching ‘Emma’, so I guess I can ask for it tomorrow…”

In the meantime, Ruben, who once again rummaged through Kuzunoha’s body her, opened Kuzunoha’s mouth and found a complicated pattern on her tongue her.

“Oh. Here it is. Cleon-sama. This is the mark of ‘Hakumen, the fox deity’.”

‘Asin’. The title, which is used to mean existence only after becoming a god, is an existence that has lost the ‘faith needed to form a god’ in the process of evolving from a spirit to a god.

Either all of their followers were gone, or they refused to serve as gods… Or all of their faith was stolen by another god.

There may be various reasons, but to put it simply, an existence that is a bit lacking in being called a god due to lack of qualifications. That is.

Cleon also looked that way at Ruben’s words, but when he saw Ruben pulling the tongue out of her after forcibly opening the stunned woman’s mouth, she couldn’t help but flinch and tremble.

In comparison, Layla goes closer and inspects the pattern of the engraving as if she is interested.

“So you were there. Was it because of that imprint that your voice was mixed with genjutsu?”

“Well. I guess so.”

When Layla huffs and drools at a vague answer, Cleon questions Ruben.

“What kind of god? Do you know each other?”

“Well. Foxes and wolves are close divinities, but they have opposite tendencies. Gods who ‘just know their names’. I wonder if they will.”

“It’s the same canine…”

When Amelia nodded as if she understood, Layla also stood by her side of her and helped out.

“In terms of the academy, they’re from the same department…”

Ruben shuts her mouth for a moment when Lila gives a strange analogy, but she nods her head with a puzzled look, as if she thinks it’s the most plausible analogy.

“So? Is she a ‘human’ possessed by that fox god named Hakumen?”

“Well. That’s right. I was possessed by a human, and like Sasha, who developed my characteristics, I have fox ears, a tail, and abilities. It was about that. He must have known about Kuzunoha.”

Cleon nodded as if he understood Ruben’s words her.

“…In that case. After all, it would be better to leave the treatment to Tamamo. I called Riomes now. Let’s lure out the rest of the spirits and seal them.”

Lyla makes a gesture of agreeing with Cleon’s words.

“Because there are still a few more people left. We have to get rid of the troublesome things quickly, catch that guy in the tower.”

Amelia, who is equally motivated there.

After Ruben shrugged his shoulders, his erect ears sat down and turned to Sasha.

Then, he looked at the fainting Kuzunoha for a bit.

“…What’s wrong, Sasha?”

“Ah, no… Should I say… The moment she became one with God?”

To Sasha who said that, Cleon nodded her head.

The reason why Sasha’s imprint her became so strong that it evoked Ruben.

Originally, even if she had completely turned into a beast in Elesia, she had the ‘Hunter’s Imprint’ to the extent that it would n’t be strange, because she responded to her academy’s will her to remind her of Cleon.

After that, with the help of Cleon, Ruben calmed down the battle for leadership to some extent, and considering that Ruben, who used to call her ‘bitch’, now unconsciously calls Sasha by her first name her.

The relationship between the two may be a bit unusual.

Then how about her – Kuzunoha?

‘… If Hakumen forcibly controlled her body her and used her medicine her…’

At that time, it would be right to take out the “God” Inside her.

“Whatever it is. I can ask after it happens.”

“Yes.”

Sasha nodded her head at Cleon’s words, then looked at Rio Meth running away from her, shaking her hand.

001

Thud! A sound echoed, and Yoho collapsed on the ground.

“Whew…! This is the end!”

As Lila spoke, wiping the sweat from her brow her, Sasha, who was standing next to her, sighed as well.

“All three of them. They worked hard.”

“Oh, no! Mr. Cleon suffered the most…! Are there any injuries?”

Concerned about Sasha, he immediately took out her bandage and potion her from her small bag her, and Cleon laughed and shook her head.

“It’s okay. Like Tamamo said, most of them are young demons, so they couldn’t properly resist the surprise attack. I’m not hurt… You guys?”

“It’s okay for us too, Cleon. Then, are you going to go back to where Tamamo is?”

“Yes. I heard that when I come back, I will tell you about ‘Kuzunoha’ and ‘Hakumen’. Let’s go back. Sasha.”

“Yes…!”

Sasha nods her head with a slightly excited expression somewhere, and she moves forward a little bit.

As for the last yoho, Cleon decided to carry it on his shoulder her and go back.

It was a pity to send Riomes back and forth as if he were running errands.

Then, Layla wraps her arm around Cleon’s side of her as she clings to her side of her.

Seeing this, Cleon narrowed his eyes for a moment, then turned to Amelia and spoke.

“… Amelia. Stay with Sasha so she doesn’t go too far.”

“…? Yes I will.”

At Cleon’s sudden request, Amelia tilts her head once, but moves closer to Sasha’s side her without much doubt.

Layla was stretching her body all the way. Then, she puffed out her sigh and then she quietly opened her mouth.

“‘Assin the fox’…Well. It’s something I’m curious about as a scholar, but I don’t think it really has anything to do with this incident.”

“Lyla.”

“I know. Does Sasha want to know more than I do?”

When Cleon calls her Lila by her name her, Lila replies with a raised corner of her mouth.

“Yes. … Maybe, it could be a clue to solving Sasha’s current condition. Didn’t Kuzunoha lose her ears and tail when she passed out? Unlike Sasha.”

“…That’s right… Actually, the reason we went to the academy was to fix Sasha’s condition for her.”

At Cleon’s words, Layla nodded her head and shut her mouth for a moment.

“…Originally. I might have had to be more active in treatment.”

A little regret of hers-and then, Lila, with her regrets her, speaks as she looks down at her own hands.

“Right now, it’s more about finding a solution before the situation where the hunter’s imprint gets out of control, rather than the thought of getting rid of ‘Ruben’.”

When Cleon spoke quietly to Layla, she clenched her fist in the hand she was looking down at.

“The stronger her feelings for her grow… The thought of ‘I have to protect’ dominates her head. It’s… A pressure of a type that has never existed before.”

“…You think it’s a good trend?”

When Cleon made eye contact with Lila as she spoke, Lila blinked her eyes two or three times before bursting out laughing with ‘Aha!’

“You like pressure, you’re not even a masochist!”

“I didn’t mean it that way…”

“Pufu… I know.”

After Layla said that, she moved away from Cleon and walked forward a little.

Then she put her hands behind her waist and she smiled as she turned to Cleon.

“Just like today. I’ll protect Cleon forever. I.”

“…Ah. I’ll ask you. I, too, will protect you guys. It’s a promise.”

That promise is made ‘lighter’ than any other contract.

But – in the hearts of the two, it was more weighty than any ‘oath’.

002

When they returned to Tamamo’s shop, the dinner table was already set, and Tamamo and Riomes had finished preparing.

“Oh, you’re back! You’ve worked hard!”

“Except for Kuzunoha, it wasn’t that dangerous. This guy is the last one.”

While Cleon said that, he pointed his finger at the yoho he was carrying on his shoulder her.

I tell her to lie down in the room where Riomes and Cleon mixed up earlier.

“Ah, then I. Instructor, please eat first. You’ve worked hard today.”

Riomes gets up from his seat at Tamamo’s words and approaches Cleon with a smile.

Cleon nodded in favor of Riomes and handed the last one to Riomes.

Then, Tamamo urged Cleon and the other three to sit in front of the table.

“I was going to have a drink first, but that guy said that you have to come back~”

“Well. If I saw you drinking first, you might have been angry.”

When Lila answered half-jokingly, Tamamo stuck out her tongue and raised the bottle in her hand.

“Let’s go to sleep. You worked hard, so please take a cup…”

Pour Lila, Sasha and Cleon’s glasses and head towards Amelia, but she shakes her head.

“I-I’m still underage…”

“Ah. I did.”

Continuing from the camp, this time, I am the only one who cannot drink alcohol.

Amelia briefly wondered if she could drink it if she used her magic her to grow her body her, but she soon shook her head again.

“There…”

In front of such a statue, even before toasting, it was Sasha who raised her voice.

“I’d like to ask a question about Mr. Kuzunoha. You said you could answer it, right?”

“Mmm… Yes.”

As if expecting Sasha’s question, Tamamo nodded her head.

“First of all, we should talk about her ‘identity, her’ her. She is a half-blood of a demon and a human.”

Tamamo held a wine glass in one of her hands her and cupped her chin with the other, with a look as if recalling her old days her, she spoke.

“Hey. Half Yoho? For something like that, he only looked human.”

“Well, that’s right. It’s ‘a quarter yoho’ to be exact. Her mother her was a half yoho.”

Clearly answering Laila’s question, she closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and continued her story.

“She was born in a brothel, and She was born with a body closer to that of a human than a subhuman. Usually, when it comes to ‘mixed blood’ between different races, there are many cases where people inherit the ‘advantages’ of both races, right?”

At her words her, Cleon naturally thought of Dhampir, a mixed blood of ‘vampire’and ‘human’. She remembered Illenu.

Certainly, she was a race that could withstand the strength and weakness of a ‘vampire’ with her ‘human characteristics’.

“However, it is not a mixed blood of a Yoho and a human. A ‘Yoho’ who does not have a magical power generating organ. And a ‘Human’ who ages much faster than a Yoho. It is an unfit race.”

“…”

Cleon naturally frowned at her words.

“Ah. I’m sorry. Of course, that doesn’t mean that life isn’t worth living for. But… The thing that hurts the most is them themselves. It wasn’t that their mother and father were in a relationship out of love. Those who were born because they did not use contraception were anti-Yohoe- born again and again and again by making mistakes…Such beings.”

That is the reality of the girl named Kuzunohara.

Said Tamamo.

“Then…”

Seeing Sasha’s disturbed expression, Tamamo smiled wryly along with a sigh.

“I know. It’s too much of a story. But fortunately or unfortunately, the probability of a child being born between a Yoho and a human isn’t that high. Right now, the only mixed blood between a Yoho and a human that exists in this brothel is ‘her one’. That’s why. – ‘Special exception’ allowed.”

“Special case?”

When Amelia asks, repeating her words her, Tamamo immediately nods at her.

“Yes. I entrusted the magic crystal that was handed down to the yohos – ‘Hakumen-sama’s Magatama’. This magatama has the property of absorbing the surrounding mana, so even Kuzunohara, who is not a yoho, can use magic. Ironically, Kuzunoha, who possessed the magatama, immediately developed her talent as a shaman. …Although she did not have magical powers, she did have the talent to use shamanism.”

Tamamo adds, “Is it because of my father’s lineage?”

“Then- after that, with Hakumen-sama-“

The moment Sasha opened her mouth to ask about the story behind it.

Gudangtang! A sound is heard from the back room, and her door is opened roughly, and Kuzunoha, who seems to have come to her senses her, jumps out.

“Mmm, whatever you want… Don’t talk about other people… You damn old woman…”

Kuzunoha staggers and speaks to Tamamo with a ferocious expression, but Riomes walks out from behind her and lets out a sigh.

“I’m sorry. I think it happened because I made a noise.”

“Kuznoha…”

Tamamo looks at her like that, with her eyes as if she were looking at her pitiful granddaughter of her, but she speaks while twisting the corners of her mouth to Kuzunoha.

“She entrusted me with Magatama, not because of ‘love’ or ‘pity’. To avenge herself… To use my body as a vessel for ‘Hakumen-sama’… I thought that from the beginning. That’s what you were doing!”

“…”

Tamamo puts her mouth shut for a moment at her words her, then drops her head.

“…That seems to be true.”

“I don’t mean to lie. But that’s really how it was at ‘the beginning’… Now-“

“It’s okay! Do you think people can change so easily? …Deceiver…Hypocrite…That’s you. I won’t let ‘Hakumen-sama’ resurrect.”

While talking like that, Kuzunoha tried to leave Tamamo’s house, but-

The next moment it staggered once more and collapsed.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Cleon, who saw that, got up and approached to raise Kuzunoha’s body in her.

“…It’s impossible with that body. Let’s recover first.”

“You’re the one who made me like this… Haha… Is my brother the same type as Tamamo…?”

“──”

Cleon fell silent for a moment, then shook her head.

“Nothing can be judged hastily. But people change. They can change.”

“That’s what…”

After Cleon said that, he placed his hand on Kuzunoha’s forehead and used sleep magic.

Then, Kuzunoha’s eyes quickly closed, and she passed out on the spot.

“…I’ll leave it lying down. Tamamo, tell me more about it.”

“…Ah. Let’s do that.”

After hearing her her tamamo’s answer her, Cleon took her her in her arms her and took her to her room her where her other yohos were asleep and laid her down.