Chapter 5
After Theo had completely disappeared from sight, I waited a while, then took my sibling and headed in the direction he had gone.
Of course, I wasn't planning to follow him all the way home.
I just wanted to find out in advance where the human settlement was.
Just because Theo was kind to us doesn't mean all humans will be, right?
So I followed his scent at a leisurely pace, keeping far enough away that he wouldn't notice me.
There they were. Beyond the bushes, human-made buildings stood in the distance.
And I could just make out little Theo's back, too.
All right. At least I know where it is now. Finding it later will be a piece of cake.
But as I'd thought earlier, entering the human world in my fox form carried far too much risk.
So what was I going to do?
Name: No name
Title: None
Race: Heavenly Fox
Sex: Female
Skills: [Telekinesis: F] [Human Transformation]
Ta-da!
The skill I'd acquired before losing consciousness yesterday was called Human Transformation!
All right, all right. I can guess what it does, but let's read the description anyway.
[Human Transformation]
[A technique that consumes spirit energy to take human form. *No spirit energy is consumed once a tail appears.*]
For once, the usually unhelpful status window had even added a helpful explanation.
So once I fill the orb with spirit energy, I can live as a human almost permanently!
In that case, it wouldn't be bad to live in a human settlement instead of this dangerous forest.
But...
[Spirit Energy 105/1000]
Even though I'd killed the orc, my spirit energy hadn't changed.
The orb probably used up as much spirit energy as it took to knock away the club yesterday.
At this rate, when am I ever going to fill it up?!
"Kyuung?"
Still, my sibling survived.
If we stay safer and more careful from now on, we can fill it up in no time.
Hmm, before that...
"Kyuang! (Let's pick names!)"
"Kyuu?"
We can't go on living without names forever, can we?
It's funny that I'm only doing this now, but when I was a fox, I never felt much need for a name. My sibling was the only animal I had any connection with.
But things are different now.
After all! I have a way to turn into a human!
Besides, my sibling is the same species as me, so they'll surely learn the same technique.
Then we can live somewhere safe, like a human settlement, instead of a dangerous forest like this... with kind people like Theo.
Hmm... But what should I name them?
Let's think of a name for my sibling first.
My sibling's a golden fox, and...
Their eyes... Now that I look, my sibling's eyes are like gemstones.
Beautiful and mysterious... lapis lazuli.
"Kyuang (Lapis Lazuli)"
Yeah, let's go with that! It sounds pretty impressive!
But Lapis Lazuli is too long, so I'll shorten it to Lazuli.
Then my name is...
Hmm...
…
…
All right, that'll do!
"Kyuang (Your name is Lazuli)"
"Kyuung!"
Do you like it? That's a relief.
And my name is...
['Would you like to choose 'Edel'?']
['Would you like to choose 'Lazuli'? *Spirit energy will be consumed*']
A window appeared in front of my sibling, and another in front of me.
But why does approving my sibling's name consume spirit energy?
For now... approve!
[Name has been set.]
All right, let's check!
"Kyuang! Kyuang! (Status window! Information!)"
Name: Edel
Title: Cute
Race: Heavenly Fox
Sex: Female
Skills: [Telekinesis: E] [Human Transformation]
Name: Lazuli
Title: Hikikomori
Race: Heavenly Fox
Sex: Female
Skills: [Telekinesis: F]
All right, it's set... Huh?
Why is my title like that? Cute?
Could it be... because Theo thought I was cute?
Wait, how easy is it to get a title? It happened to my sibling, too... Is it enough for just one person to think that way?
Huh? But...
"Kyuang!"
"Kyuung?"
My sibling got a skill!
That must be why it took spirit energy to give my sibling a name.
[Spirit Energy 35/1000]
But it used up 70!!
Still, if that gave my sibling a skill, it's not a bad thing.
If anything, it'll pay off in the long run.
But Lazuli doesn't have an orb. How will they gather spirit energy?
"Kyuung?"
Right. Let's think about that later.
For now, finding somewhere for my sibling and me to live is the priority.
The cave we'd been in earlier didn't smell like anyone lived there, so it seemed unoccupied, but it was so large that it wasn't very good for hiding.
The orc had easily found the relatively small cave we'd lived in before, so staying there would be no different from committing suicide.
Let's use this chance to find a better, safer home.
"Kyuang! (Follow me!)"
"Kyuung!"
I walked at a pace my sibling could keep up with, searching the forest for a suitable place to live.
As we wandered aimlessly, a massive stone wall came into view in the distance.
Wow, it's really tall. If I fell from up there, I'd die instantly, wouldn't I?
But it's a strangely shaped cliff.
It almost looks man-made... Huh?
At the bottom on the right, I spotted an awkwardly cut opening. It was so narrow that my sibling and I would only just be able to squeeze through.
Hmm, could it be...?
"Kyuang! (Please!)"
Whoom
I had Orb check inside the opening for me.
I hope there's no one in there...
But a moment later, Orb came back with even better news than I'd hoped for.
Whoom
There were occupants in the cave.
Two of them, in fact—horned rabbits.
Rabbits usually dig burrows, and with those horns, they were clearly monsters.
But now they were just rabbits that would become our next meal.
I looked around for a rock big enough to block the entrance, quickly found one of a suitable size, and lifted it with telekinesis.
Before, lifting even that would've been a struggle, but my Telekinesis was an impressive Rank E now!
"Kyuang! (Telekinesis!)"
It was a little heavy, but not too heavy to lift!
The rock fit the opening perfectly—and then some, since it got wedged inside.
That might make it a little hard to get out later. But I wouldn't be the one pulling it out, anyway!
All right, then...
"Kyuang! (Stay back!)"
I moved my sibling behind me, and then...
"Kyuang! (Orb!)"
Whoom
I had Orb ignite Fox Fire inside the opening.
But the flames obviously weren't strong enough as they were. I compressed the fire I could see through the gap as much as possible and shaped it into a blade, like last time.
My spirit energy was running low, but I'd managed to cut up that tough roast chicken this way before.
There's no way I can't kill those fragile rabbit monsters.
"Kieeeek!"
A little while later, the rabbits began screaming from inside the opening.
Honestly, I felt a little bad. They might even have been humans reincarnated like me, but...
What could I do? The world was all about survival of the fittest.
We had to eat, too.
When the screams began to fade and finally died out, I stopped the Fox Fire and used telekinesis to pull the wedged rock out of the opening.
Honestly, I'd expected them to break through the entrance with their horns, so I never thought they'd die without putting up any resistance...
But just in case?!
"Kyuang! (Please!)"
I had Orb check inside the opening once more,
and soon it came back to tell me the rabbits were dead.
But I didn't go in right away. I crouched down outside with my sibling and waited for a while.
After all, I'd roasted them with flames inside a narrow burrow, so it might be pretty hot in there right now.
While we're waiting, maybe I should check my spirit energy?
[Spirit Energy 70/1000]
It went up by about 35?
Considering how much spirit energy I'd just used on my skills, that's not bad.
After a little while, I decided we'd waited long enough and went into the burrow to collect the rabbits' bodies,
"Kyuung!"
My sibling got excited at the sight of the rabbits, grabbed one, and started eating.
You have a name now, and you still can't tell me to try some first, even though I'm the older one...
"Kyuuuung!"
Still, seeing my sibling, Lazuli, enjoy the food made me happy.
Come to think of it, it was smoked rabbit cooked in a cave, so of course it would taste good.
All right, then I'll have some too...
Chomp!
"Kyuang! (It's delicious!)"
It's delicious! Almost as good as that chicken from before!
At the same time, my gratitude toward the rabbits grew and grew.
They'd given us a home, paid us back, and even provided a delicious meal...
Hunting them head-on might be dangerous, but from now on, if I see any of these rabbits, I'm going to catch and eat them!
My sibling and I devoured the rabbits in no time, but the smell was awful, so we left the cave and headed to the lakeshore together.
Looks like we won't be able to use that home for a while.
I take back my gratitude to the rabbits for giving us a home.
When we reached the lake, my sibling and I used the water to lick each other's fur clean,
and as I looked at my reflection in the water...
I wondered what I would look like if I used Human Transformation.
Maybe even though I'm female now, the technique could turn me into a human man?
All right, let's try it!
I moved away for a moment so I wouldn't startle my sibling...
"Kyuang! (Human Transformation!)"
Poof.
"Kyuung?"
When I used the technique, smoke rose from my body.
At the same time, my field of vision seemed to rise, and I felt my arms and knees touch the ground—a sensation that now felt unnatural.
I guess it worked, but it feels awkward trying to stand on two legs again after so long...
"Kyuuuung?!!"
"Did I scare you? Ah..."
I'd unconsciously spoken in Korean, and at the same time, I realized. As expected...
"It's a girl's voice..."
I lowered my gaze to check my body, but two rather sizable mounds stood proudly in my field of vision, blocking the view.
As expected, I was a woman. And a rather busty one, at that.
But one thing was strange: even though I was naked, I wasn't particularly excited.
Was it because it was my own body?
"Haa... So I really am a girl."
Honestly, I hadn't expected much.
In a story like this, there was no way I'd turn into a man.
Still, I shouldn't give up hope. You never know, right?
Maybe I'll be able to turn into a man once I have more spirit energy.
"Phew."
I looked at my reflection in the lake to get a proper look at myself, and my eyes met a pair of blue eyes the color of the water.
On top of that, my golden hair seemed to have kept its fox coloring. It was so long that if I stood up straight, it would reach my waist.
And my face...
"I'm pretty..."
If I went back to Earth with a face like this and started streaming online, I'd get rich in no time.
But so what? I'm stuck in this absurd fantasy world!
There's no point being this pretty!
And what's this?
Twitch.
"Why do I have fox ears, too?!"
This is going to be a problem when I go to see Theo later!
Haa... Right. Maybe once I have more spirit energy, I can transform those completely, too.
Let's look on the bright side.
My skills always disappoint me at first, but in the end, they turn out to be better than I expected, don't they?
Lick.
"Kyuung."
Ugh, that tickles. A human body is so sensitive.
"Do you recognize me?"
"Kyuung!"
I knew it. There's nothing like your one and only family.
I picked up my sibling. They felt soft, but their fur against my bare skin was a little prickly.
It even felt a little painful if I held them the wrong way.
Still, I'd wanted to hug them like this in a human body, and now my wish had come true.
"You'll be able to learn a skill like this someday, too. I'll make sure of it."
"Kyuung!"
I made that promise as I stroked my sibling's head.
I'm sure that once I fill the orb with spirit energy and give my sibling a tail, they'll be able to use skills, too.
It's still only a theory, but now that my sibling has a skill, it seems pretty likely.
If that happens, my sibling will be able to turn into a human, too.
By the way, how much spirit energy does Human Transformation...
[Spirit Energy 50/1000]
Cancel!
"Kyuung?!"
I barely changed at all, and it still used up 20?!
Of course, it might cost 20 each time I transform...
I'll check next time I need to transform again.
For now...
"Kyuang! (Let's go!)"
"Kyuung!"
We need to find somewhere to spend the night!
And just now, I decided on my goal.
From now on, I'll hunt every monster in this forest and convert them into spirit energy.
That way, my sibling and I can live in fully human forms.
After that, we'll go see Theo.
By then, I'll have some breathing room, so I can repay his kindness without a care in the world.
Theo probably won't recognize me. He might not even believe me if I tell him I'm a fox.
But if I tell him my name, maybe he'll remember me.
That night
Of all the things Theo had said while holding us through the night, the way he pronounced 'Edel' was what stuck with me the most.
I didn't know what it meant, though...
Anyway, I have a mountain of things to do from now on...
"Kyuang!"
"Kyuung!"
Shall we do our best, just the two of us?
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And five years passed.