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In a tea house located in the capital of Vestia.
It was a shop run by deer beastkin. The tranquil space, decorated with leaves, made it feel like being in a forest.
Deer employees with antlers on their heads walked gracefully and came to our table.
"Here's your Antler Tea."
They set down the tea Bolt had ordered.
A tea with a mix of thick green and brown colors.
It smelled like some herbal medicine that elders might drink.
"What's this made of?"
"It's tea made from ground deer beastkin antlers. It helps with fatigue recovery and boosts vitality. Please try it."
"Hmm, deer antlers… that's a bit uncomfortable."
So it was like velvet antler, but hearing it from a deer beastkin's mouth made it feel… different. Like eating pork in front of a pig.
I meant to keep that thought to myself, but it accidentally slipped out. The employee's expression immediately soured.
"Tch. Then don't drink it."
"Ah, that's not what I…"
"Humans are so picky about food. Ordering something and then complaining about the ingredients."
The employee shot a sharp remark and took the tea back.
Seira wrote another evaluation from the side. I didn't need to look to know I'd lost points.
"Karami, you really are inept at dealing with beastkin. How can a slave trader be like this?"
"Beastkin are so diverse, it's not easy. I've raised cat and dog beastkin before, but…"
My existing common sense kept clashing with this bizarre reality. The gap between them was so wide that it was really difficult to adapt.
Just like how playing a cat-raising game didn't actually mean you can raise cats well.
"I'll buy you a book called 'Beastkin Special Lecture: Tricks for Dealing with Beastkin.' Make sure to read it thoroughly."
"I suppose I should."
Bolt sipped his tea.
"So, Karami, what brings you to Vestia?"
"I have some business. There's a beastkin I need to meet."
"An acquaintance?"
"Someone I'll soon get to know."
Bolt seemed not to understand, but he nodded as if it didn't matter much.
"Where are you headed?"
"I need to go to White Cloud Valley."
White Cloud Valley.
A small village where foxes lived huddled together, named for the white clouds that hung over the valley.
The third main slave was there.
"Hmm, I don't recall ever hearing of a place called White Cloud Valley. My Buddy, do you know it?"
"I'm not very familiar with other species' habitats… I've never heard of White Cloud Valley either."
Bolt and Buddy seemed clueless. Our eyes naturally turned to Seira. She sighed and then provided an answer.
"If you go east, there's an area covered in mist. Inside White Cloud Valley, there's a fox den where about thirty fox spirits live in hiding. However, due to the many dangerous demonic beasts making travel difficult, it's not well-known."
Seira narrowed her eyes as she spoke.
"How do you know about this? I know because I am in a position where information flows freely, but this is a backwater among backwaters, even most beastkin are unaware of its existence."
Seira glared at me suspiciously. Though her predatory gaze looked ready to devour me at any moment, I responded confidently without being intimidated.
"How could I not know this when I love beastkin so much?"
***
Deep in White Cloud Valley, in a fox den nestled among mist-shrouded mountains.
The sharp wind blowing through the valley sounded like the wails of ghosts, reminiscent of the dying screams of unsuspecting outsiders who wandered in.
There was an eerie atmosphere as if something might jump out at any moment. In fact, outside the valley roamed demonic beasts and beings some called yokai.
They couldn't leave. The only consolation was that those creatures couldn't pass through the narrow path either. So the foxes lived hidden deep inside the valley.
For generations.
Therefore, this daily life of anxiety was the fault of the ancestor who settled here, not anyone in the current generation.
But when pushed to the brink mentally, people inevitably look for someone to blame. It's the only way to rationalize things, even if just a little.
Conveniently, the foxes had someone perfect to blame.
"Calamity Fox, time to earn your keep."
Multiple pairs of eyes were focused solely on one small fox.
Pink fur.
Heterochromatic eyes containing day and night.
Her appearance which was different from others stood out among the foxes. A monster fox who had lived in this valley for who knows how long, never growing up or learning to speak.
The girl had no name.
Calamity Fox, a yokai that brings misfortune in its wake.
It was neither a name nor anything else. The girl lacked even a name that those abandoned by their parents would have.
The pink fox brings misfortune. It was a legend passed down from ancient times.
From being trapped in White Cloud Valley to the yokai threatening the village roaming about.
The foxes believed without a doubt that all of this was because the Calamity Fox brought misfortune.
"What are you doing? Get out, Calamity Fox."
It was a cold, callous voice.
Whenever yokai appeared, the foxes would drive the girl out of the village. It was a tradition passed down from ancient times. When the girl moved away from the village, the yokai would follow her.
The Calamity Fox may die in the process, but that wasn't their concern. She should be grateful just for being fed and given a place to sleep.
It was the tiniest shred of mercy they could spare towards their own kind.
"…"
The Calamity Fox stood at the path leading out of the village.
The loneliness and fear she felt every time she was driven out hadn't disappeared. Her body began to tremble slightly.
She moved her feet towards the thick darkness beyond and looked back one last time.
There were only foxes waiting for her to leave as soon as possible.
Into the mist where sharp winds blew, the Calamity Fox vanished.
***
"Huff… Huff…"
The Calamity Fox ran on all fours through the valley, panting shallow breaths.
Her frail, lonely steps echoed throughout the forest. The thick mist made it impossible to see even a step ahead. Every moment was like a precarious sprint, each step feeling ever closer to tumbling down.
Her pink fur was already damp with mist and sweat, and her heart felt like it might burst.
The hands and feet of the fragile child were covered in wounds, she had couldn't afford to acknowledge the pain.
An otherworldly blue light flickered beyond the mist. It was a will-o'-the-wisp. Those faint, flickering lights circled around her as if mocking her.
As if trying to lure those who had lost their way into deeper confusion, they seemed to whisper ominously.
Thump… Thump...
Her ears twitched. The deep, terrible breathing of a giant yokai echoed. The sound drew ever closer.
If she stopped, she would die.
If she got lost, she would die.
No matter how many times she had fled, it never became familiar. The mist, like sea fog, made her lose all sense of direction.
Because of this, she had once lost her way and returned to the village after four days.
But there was no time to rest. She hurriedly picked up the potatoes thrown by the villagers, gobbled them down, and ran out again that night.
The Calamity Fox harbored no resentment towards them. It was her fault for being born cursed with misfortune. Being born with pink fur was her sin.
She should be grateful to those who allowed her to cling to life.
THUMP!
The yokai's footsteps shook the ground. Feeling like an earthquake had struck, the Calamity Fox leaped in place.
She looked around frantically.
Where should I go?
Where should I go?
I don't know.
I don't know anything.
Anxiety surged through her, giving way to fear that enveloped her entire being.
Whoosh.
"…?"
At that moment, the Calamity Fox's nose sniffed something. What wafted in was the scent of the forest. A refreshing forest scent she had never smelled before instantly filled her nostrils.
She didn't know what was there. But her beastkin instincts told her to go in that direction.
Just as she took a big step forward…
"Ah…!"
A slope.
She couldn't see it because of the mist. Her foot slipped and she tumbled down.
The Calamity Fox, face-down on the ground, tried to get up but couldn't. Blood flowed from her legs, covered in cuts.
THUMP!
The sound grew closer.
She had to run away.
I have to run away, but I can't move.
I'm scared. It hurts. It's painful.
Tears flowed from the Calamity Fox's heterochromatic eyes, her wounds burning like they were on fire.
But there was no one in the world who would embrace her, painted by a stigma of heresy.
She crawled forward, dragging her injured leg. Then she heard footsteps.
They were clearly lighter than the yokai's, but in her fading consciousness, she couldn't tell the difference.
Through her closing eyelids, she saw a black shadow approaching from the mist.
The figure of Death itself.
As if coming to claim the life she had been barely clinging to.
Her consciousness faded.
And her heterochromatic eyes, the colors of the sun and moon, closed.
The shadow of the Grim Reaper loomed over the Calamity Fox's head as she lay face down on the ground, unconscious.
Karami looked down at the little fox sprawled before him.
Her tail and ears had lost their luster from neglect, tangled irregularly and caked with dirt and dust. She was covered in wounds, and her body emaciated from malnutrition.
The tragedy brought by misfortune.
"To meet like this. How fortunate."
But Karami said it was fortunate.
He had been worrying about how to get to the village while wandering lost, but she had been the one to come to him.
[The Fox Who Brings Misfortune]
The third main slave.
One of the most popular characters, vying for first place in TOS popularity polls.
The nameless fox, known as the Fox of Calamity.
Bearing a name known only to Karami in the whole world.
"Rin."
The Calamity Fox, whom he called Rin, twitched her ears ever so slightly.