I Raised a Nine Tailed Fox Wrongly - Chapter 8

Ran sat down and looked into Scyllia’s eyes, then put his nose to the jerky and sniffed it.

“What do you think? It’s okay?”

Ran began to chew on the jerky and Scyllia got up from her seat and headed for the kitchen.

She had a flustered look, never seen on the face of the Commander when she was on duty. Scyllia brought all of the jerkies she had sored in a separate place and poured them out in front of Ran.

“This is pork. This is duck. This is chicken. This is rabbit meat.”

She pointed at the jerky one by one and explained. Her face was flushed red with genuine pleasure.

Ran stared at Scyllia’s face like that.

“Oh, you might be thirsty.”

Scyllia ran back to the kitchen and when she returned, there was a bowl of rice with clear water held in her hand.

“Go on.”

She also held out the rice bowl. She was a strangely frugal person and had only one bowl of rice in her house, but she brought it to be used as the fox’s water bowl.

There is a separate water bowl in the bedroom that she had bought for the fox, but she forgot that all together.

“Eat a lot, you are too thin. You must gain weight.”

Ran couldn’t understand Scyllia at all.

‘Why are you so kind to a monster?’

Ran was not a being whose good or evil was different depending on how he behaved.

Everyone saw the fox as evil from the beginning.

Didn’t even the woman named Shula threaten him because he was a monster?

However, this easy-going person in front of him is training Ran like teaching a child who was learning good and bad things.

From one to ten, she cheered for him and believed in Ran’s infinite possibilities.

Scyllia was the first human to take care of Ran ignoring the fact he was a monster. It was a miracle for Ran, a nine-tailed fox, to meet someone who purely looked after his essence.

“You can eat a lot of this. It is dried without salt, so it’s not salty.”

On her forearm, the teeth marks Ran had bitten were still intact. With a sore arm, Scyllia still explained everything softly.

The fox continued to glance at her kind face.

For quite a long time.

***

“……What?”

The staff at the pet supply store looked up at Scyllia with a blank face.

She was cold to the point of numbness and beautiful at the same time.

When a paladin, who appeared to have been carved out of plaster, entered his shop, at first the staff thought she had entered the wrong place.

Therefore.

“This is a pet supply store.”

He said anything that could work without hurting her pride.

“Do you sell shampoo too?”

But why is she asking this question!?

“Sha-shampoo?”

Scyllia’s cheeks softly reddened when asked back. She lowered her yellow-green eyes and murmured in a small voice.

“Shampoo for animals…….”

“Ah!”

Recently, there was a pet craze in the Empire. Naturally, stores dealing with pet supplies also popped up one after another.

This store was also built on the current trend. It seems like even Paladins were unable to avoid trends of the material world.

“What kind of species are you raising? Is it a dog?”

Scyllia ponders over her serious face. She said yes.

“It’s a canine.”

“AHA! Cani…”

The staff, who rolled his eyes and struggled with how to react to her reply but skillfully led Scyllia.

“Then how about this product? It has a rich rose scent, making it a popular product among aristocrats.”

Scyllia, who smelled it, twisted her forehead.

“The scent is too strong.”

“Do you want a different scent?”

“Is there anything without scent?”

“Without?”

The staff made a surprised face.

“My animal has a sensitive nose. Strong scents will stress it out.”

‘Oh’

Surprised inside, the staff smiled broadly and led her again.

“Then this product is for you. There is no added fragrance. It does not foam well, but it is mild, so even picky animals can adapt well.”

Scyllia examined the product for a long time even after listening to his explanation.

She smelled it, saw what the texture looked like…Then she walked around the store and swept necessary items into the basket.

Comb, towel, bed, toys, snacks, rice bowl, water bowl…….

Seeing the basket overflowing with items, the employee was speechless.

“You seem to love your pet a lot.”

“I just bought what the child needs.”

Scyllia replied sternly.

‘She must be a shy person.’

The staff happily smiled and packed her things.

‘How can she be so kind and have such a cold face? She would be popular if she smiled a little.’

Ironically, the eyes of the staff she saw for the first time today were more accurate than the members she spent the whole day with.

“Come again!”

The staff took great care of the service, hoping that she and her pet would be happy.

* * *

As Scyllia turned on the light in the living room, Ran, who was crouching under the table, raised his head.

As soon as she saw Ran, Scyllia, with a remarkably loose face, pulled out a small bone-shaped cotton doll.

“You’re alone for a long time. I bought it because I was afraid you would be bored.”

The fox, who had been staring at the bone doll with annoyance, bit it with insincerity.

Pop!

In an instant, the fabric was pierced and the cotton came out. Scyllia looked down at the badly torn toy with confusion.

“I should have bought a stronger one.”

“Kyun!”

Ran snorted as if saying it wasn’t even funny. Either way, Scyllia was serious.

‘Next time, I’ll have to buy a wooden toy with meat flavor.’

Leaving the garrison required the permission of the Empire. It wasn’t easy to stop by the pet store today, but Scyllia decided to try again soon.

“There are many things I want to show you. Do you want to come out?”

Ran, who had been squinting a side gaze at Scyllia’s huge shopping bag, took a slow step, pretending to be unwilling.

“It’s all yours.”

Ran sniffed at the lump of luggage.

Now, the fox only attacked Scyllia from time to time. Although the number of times decreased, she knew Ran was on the lookout for a golden opportunity.

Of course, the opportunity was never to be given.

“Oh, that’s right. I bought a shampoo today.”

Ran raised his head curiously.

“You should take a bath, Ran.”

Thus, the prelude to the war had risen.

“Kiing!”

Ran screamed as he struggled with his legs. Perhaps It was the first time he was going to take a bath like this, so the resistance was great.

“Ran, look here. Look at the duck. Aww, you’re cute.”

“Kyuannnn!”

Scyllia, tried to divert his attention by moving the duck toy around the water, but Ran was not even in the mood to look at her duck.

‘I can’t.’

She decided to change her tactics and end it with a quick turnaround. She squeezed the shampoo and vigorously washed Ran’s fur.

She thought it was somewhat clean because the fur was already beautiful, but shining moonlight-like fur gradually showed itself with each rinse.

“Kuung! Kuung!”

“Right, good boy.”

“Kang!”

“Oh, scary little guy. Here, duck.”

Scyllia put the duckling toy inside Ran’s ferocious open mouth. Ran nervously shook his head and spat the duck out.

His eyes were burning with anger.

“I can’t help it. You have to wash it so you don’t get sick.”

“Kyuuuuuu!”

“Sorry. I’m sorry, huh? It will be done soon.”

His bubbly body was ridiculously smooth and Ran eventually slipped out like a loach.

A fox with foam all over his body rushed out of the bathroom.

Ran’s body, like a bundle of white clouds, rolled over the living room like a cotton flower hit by a gust of wind. It was slippery because of the foam, and at that moment, his four paws slipped in different directions around ten times.

Scyllia who was soaking in water and foam from her hair, neck to even her pants, burst out laughing.

“Ran!”

Eventually, Scyllia followed Ran.

The fox paused for a moment, turned around, and snorted with a pang! At Scyllia who laughed at him.

This lowly human.

It was as if his eyes were saying that.

“You looked down at me, didn’t you?”

Scyllia started picking up her pace.

Ran saw Scyllia narrowing her distance horribly fast, and ran away in astonishment.

Scyllia, who was half chasing after him as a joke, suddenly opened her eyes wide and shouted.

“Look out!”

The accident happened quickly.

Ran, who was quickly running to avoid her, slipped at some point. He slammed his body into the empty showcase at the same speed he had been running with all his might.

Bang!

It was an old piece of furniture with disproportionately worn four legs.

The head of the showcase tilted downwards.

Scyllia rushed out and slid her body over the foam that had been splashed on the floor. Then, she reached the place where the Ran was to be crushed and pushed him out with all her might.

Thump –

A showcase made of solid wood slumped over her shoulders and body.

Her cursed scar also received the impact. It was a place where the skin was usually sensitive, so even just brushing by it would cause her hair to stand up.

Cold sweat dripped and her body trembled like convulsions, but Scyllia quickly regained her composure.

She had lived with the curse for 23 years.

‘It’s okay. It’s not like a seizure really came. I was just shocked because of the impact. Don’t need to be scared.’

After she clenched her teeth and supported the display case with her forearms, she wriggled out from under it.

In the quiet house, only the harsh breathing of Scyllia resonated for a long time. When she found her reason, Scyllia hurriedly checked Ran.

“Ran!”

The fox cub was trembling with his ears hanging down.

Suddenly, Ran stared tenaciously at Scyllia’s pale face. Her chest sank down as if for some reason, the pain of the curse was caught by the little fox.

‘Ran is young, isn’t he? Even if he saw something, he wouldn’t know anything.’

She erased her thoughts and looked at the fox’s condition.

“Are you all right? Where are you hurt?”