Chapter 1
It's been about two years since I was born as a fox.
Of course, I couldn't tell exactly without a clock, but this is the third winter since I was born, so it must be about right.
"Kyuueeeng"
For the record, that's not me crying.
My twin sibling, who's been with me since birth.
Judging by its appearance, it seems to be a red fox like the ones I'd seen online, but strangely, its fur is gold.
It was so cute when it cried that, if I'd met it in my previous life, I would've wanted to buy it snacks and look after it, but
Honestly, to me now, it's just a pain in the ass. A real pain in the ass.
"Kyuueeeng!"
Thwack.
"Kyuung!"
I lifted a front paw and smacked my sibling on the head.
Why'd I hit it? Because it was hungry and begging me for food.
I'm starving too.
"Kyuueeeeng!"
Cry all you want. Food's not going to appear!
It wasn't snowing outside, but at this time of year, every hunt was a matter of life and death.
Of course, being a fox meant I had no problem moving around in winter.
At a time when ordinary animals were hibernating, the only things roaming outside were vicious monsters like orcs.
That's right. I was born into this world crawling with monsters, and not only that, I was born as a fox with no abilities whatsoever—just cuteness.
Even if this is a punishment, isn't it going way too far?!
"Kyuoo (Sigh)"
At least, at first, our mother was there to bring us food.
When she left the den one day and never came back, she probably died while looking for food.
Since I had memories from when I was human, I couldn't really see her as a parent, so I wasn't sad that she'd died, but
Seeing my sibling, who'd been sleeping curled up with me, whining about being hungry got on my nerves, so I had no choice but to become the girl of the family supporting us and leave the den to find food.
Why the girl of the family, you ask? I'm female, for fuck's sake.
It doesn't really matter, since we're animals, anyway.
Anyway, luckily, foxes were omnivores, so instead of risking my life hunting live prey,
I carefully searched around the den, eating things like berries and bugs, and occasionally hunting small rodents. That's how I'd survived this long.
Of course, there were two mouths to feed and I was the only one finding food. On top of that, hunting had been bad this year, so we were now on the verge of starving to death.
"Kyuung"
No, for starters, my sibling was way too much of a shut-in.
On top of that, it was kind of spacey. The last time I sent it out to find food, it came back injured.
And now it's whining about being hungry.
Sigh. I guess I have no choice.
"Kyuang!!"
I shouted at my sibling and headed out of the den.
But I was trying to yell angrily, so what was with that "Kyuang"?
…
…
…
After leaving the den, I carefully made my way around, searching for something edible.
It was a good thing the sun hadn't completely set yet. If it were nighttime, I wouldn't have dared to come out, no matter how much my sibling whined about being hungry.
It's awfully quiet. Maybe it's because I'm a fox, but my hearing is pretty good, so I can easily pick up the sounds of small animals moving around.
Since it was winter, I guess my prey was hibernating in warm hiding places.
I was jealous. I'd worked hard like an ant all year, but somehow I'd ended up like the grasshopper.
It was so unfair. This was all my shut-in sibling's fault.
When I got back with food, I'd give my sibling another smack on the head.
Rustle.
Just then, I heard leaves crumpling somewhere ahead, and instinctively lowered my stance.
Judging by how heavy the sound was, it probably wasn't a small rodent or anything like that.
So the best thing to do was avoid it instead of approaching.
I carefully backed away from the sound…
"Kyuueeeng!"
Once again, that wasn't me crying.
When I looked toward the sound, I saw a cute fox with golden fur—my sibling—looking at me with its head tilted.
You crazy idiot! Why'd you follow me all the way here?
Rustle!
Just then, another heavy sound came from the direction where I'd heard the noise before.
It was clearly heading this way, drawn by my sibling's cry.
If that was the case…
"Kyuang!"
"Kyuung?"
I lightly nudged my sibling with my face to signal it to follow me, then sprinted as fast as I could in the opposite direction.
It made a dazed sound and stared blankly for a moment, but it was good at following me, so I soon heard it running after me.
Kwoong, kwoong.
At the same time, I heard footsteps chasing after us.
Shit, no doubt about it. It's that guy.
The reason I'd said earlier that there were monsters in this forest, despite being nothing more than an ordinary fox with no knowledge of monsters,
And why I'd been able to single out orcs in particular,
"Kuaaaaar!"
I'd seen that orc before.
Back then, when I ran into it, I managed to shake it off pretty quickly, but
Thinking about it now, I don't think I shook it off because I was especially good at running.
Because back then,
"Kuaaaaar!!!"
It didn't chase me this hard!!
Was this guy a grasshopper too? This is so unfair! I'm the hardworking ant here!!
But no matter how hard you chase us, do you really think a two-legged pig can beat a four-legged fox in a race?!
Keep chasing us all you want. You'll never catch u…
"Kyuung"
Just then, my sibling, who'd been running behind me, fell over.
Apparently, it had never run this fast before, so its feet got tangled and it fell.
I should've made it exercise more.
"Kuaaar!!"
The orc, exhausted from chasing us, saw my fallen sibling and charged over excitedly, as if this was its chance.
At this rate, my sibling would get eaten by that orc.
But if I tried to carry my sibling by the neck, we'd both obviously get caught before long.
Leaving it behind was the sensible choice.
Besides, I used to be human. My sibling was only a fox.
Yeah. Let's leave it. That's the right thing to do…
"Kyuueeng…"
Ha, shit.
What the hell is this attachment...
I ran over to my fallen sibling, bit it by the scruff of the neck, and hauled it up,
"Kyuang!!!"
I let out a fierce cry, telling it to run that way.
But why the hell is it "Kyuang" in this situation?
"Kyuung…"
And what the hell is that "Kyuung" supposed to mean? Hurry up and run!
"Kyuuaaaang!"
When I bared my teeth and scolded my hesitant sibling, it finally started to run away, little by little.
Judging by how it was limping, it had clearly hurt its leg when it fell just now.
Then I had to make sure to take down the orc here.
So it couldn't go after my fleeing sibling, even if I died.
"Kuaaar!"
The orc, now right on top of me, was facing me head-on for the first time.
I couldn't see clearly with a fox's vision, but it looked nearly three meters tall, and the club in its right hand was definitely bigger than my body.
At the sight of it, my terrified tail tried to droop, while my fur stood on end. My animal instincts kept blaring warnings in my body.
Run. If you fight, you'll definitely die.
But I fought my instincts and forced my tail upright, baring my teeth at it.
Because I'm human, not an animal.
"Kyuurrrr!!"
It probably sounded unbearably cute, but I still growled fiercely to warn it and waited for it to approach.
To sink my teeth into it, I had to leap.
But if I attacked first, its club would send me flying before my teeth could even reach it.
So I'd attack after it swung its club.
"Kuu?"
The orc seemed confused that I'd stopped running, and looked at me without even seeming to consider swinging the club in its hand.
It was probably baffled that such a weak prey would bare its teeth instead of running away.
From my perspective, the longer I stalled for time, the better, so I kept waiting without moving first, and
"Kuaaar!!"
Maybe it had finally realized I was only making a last stand like a cornered mouse. It let out a fierce roar and raised the club in its right hand high above its head. A moment later, the club came crashing down toward me.
But…
Whoooosh-
Not yet. Not yet.
Iii-
Now!!
Whoosh!
Just before the orc's club smashed into me, I threw myself to the left and dodged it.
Then, while it was momentarily stunned by the impact, I curled up and aimed for its neck. In one leap, I went for the orc's throat,
"Kuaaaaaaar!"
Its right side was completely unguarded, so I managed to bite its throat.
It dropped its club from the pain and grabbed me by the neck, trying to pull me off, but I absolutely refused to let go.
Of course, the orc's grip felt like it was about to crush my body, and its skin was thick, but even so, I couldn't let go.
Whether I let go or not, I was going to die either way. If I was going to die regardless, I had to take this orc down with me so I could at least save my sibling, who couldn't have gotten far.
But the orc was far too strong for a frail fox like me to hold on,
Whump.
In the end, the orc flung me from its hand and slammed me into the ground.
At the same time, an enormous pain surged through my entire body, but I couldn't cry out.
Maybe my throat was torn or something.
Still, I'd bitten and torn at the orc's throat as much as I could before it threw me, so maybe it'd give up after eating just me.
Through my fading vision, I saw the orc approaching me, holding its throat with one hand.
What a ridiculously tough bastard.
So this life was going to end as an orc's meal after all.
Still, surely God would acknowledge this life of mine.
In my previous life, I'd been punished for trying to end things by suicide.
But in this life, at least, I'd saved my sibling.
But without me... that kid... w-won't...
…