Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Moon Aiko finished her tea and glanced around her. This room was not just well decorated, but it seemed to possess some historical touches.

Mainly about the Crow Clan Bloodline, or something among the lines.

There were some kinds of small flowers or greenery inside pots, arranged in line. Most of it was already withered and gone, but 3 of them were still alive. One was blooming, the other was about to bloom, and the last one was still green without the sight of a flower bulb.

’Is that something like the Fox Village Stone thingy?’ Moon Aiko thought about it and found it quite curious.

The bird lady glanced behind her and trained her eyes on what the little Fox was observing.

”As you have probably guessed, these flowers are connected to our lives and wither once we die. The closer you are to be the head of the Crow Clan, the more the flower blooms.

”I’m guessing the one that is blooming is yours?” Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes. She found things like this fascinating, especially since she couldn’t feel any Qi connection between the flower and the bird lady.

”En.” The bird lady smiled gently. ”Well, I intend to take this flower with me once I leave, so that nobody knows where I’m and if I’m alive.” She already thought about it and this was the most dangerous thing that would be able to trace her.

”That’s...” Moon Aiko didn’t know what to say about that. She couldn’t really call it extreme, since it was just a flower, but not leaving anything behind so that others know if you are still alive seems a bit...

”I want to close this chapter of my story cleanly, in that case I have to make sure that they don’t follow.” The bird lady knew that most Crows would follow her, which would be troubling if she wanted to stay around this Foxy.

”But they will be sad.” Moon Aiko also didn’t believe they would give up like that. If they were at least 10%- No, 1% as the Foxes, they would follow her and try to find her at any cost!

”You are overestimating them.” The bird lady shook her head.

”Aren’t you the one underestimating them?” Moon Aiko tilted her head. She didn’t believe for a moment that the Crows wouldn’t chase them.

”Even if I’m underestimating them, it’s not like they will be able to find me if I don’t leave any traces.” The bird lady shrugged.

”...” Moon Aiko didn’t understand this. She took pretty much all the Foxes that were on her side or meant well for the Fox Village.

As such she couldn’t comprehend why someone would want to leave loyal individuals behind them.

”Don’t think too much about it. You won’t be able to figure out what this means for us.” The bird lady shook her head.

”Cultural shock, huh.” Moon Aiko couldn’t grasp it, so it was quite shocking for her.

”You can call it that.” The bird lady found this little Fox funny.

”Once you finish your snacks, the butler will escort you to your room. There will be changes happening quite quickly, so it would be better if you avoid confrontation for the time being.” The bird lady warned her, since this wouldn’t be something she could really participate in.

”Going after the haughty Elders, huh?” Moon Aiko had some experience with that, so she would be able to help, but seeing the bird lady so resolute she didn’t mention it.

”During this time the Fox Village- Well, the Foxes will be protected by the 3 Clans, just in case someone would convince the Crows to attack them.” The bird lady didn’t want to leave any loose ends and she didn’t want to be on a bad page with this Fox, so she had to ensure that nothing went wrong.

”Will it be safe?” Moon Aiko was concerned about the others.

”I will make it so.” The bird lady left with ’Fufu-’ making Aiko even more concerned.

The bird lady walked with her arms around the butler’s arm.

”Are you sure you don’t want help?” The butler murmured gently.

”I will be fine. I might be a lot weaker, but those idiots have nothing on me.” The bird lady chuckled.

”That’s not what I mean...” The butler shook his head.

”You mean about the Contract? I don’t think that the Foxy would ever use the same Contract as everyone else does.” The bird lady was convinced of this.

”You are putting too much faith in her.” The butler sighed, but he didn’t dislike this part of her.

”I wouldn’t say that...” The bird lady raised her eyebrow. ”Do you believe that someone who can so easily cancel a Contract from ’that’ person to use the same Contracts as them?”

”...” The butler paused. The Fox was greatly weakened, but saying that she was ’punching’ above her rank would be an understatement. ”I see....” It was plausible to assume that she either had a better Contract, or a Contract so vicious that it could not compare to this one.

”You are lost.” The bird lady pursed her lips. ”What did you think about her when you first saw her?”

”... So carefree-” The butler paused again.

”En. She is a carefree individual. While her nickname is far from perfect, I don’t believe someone like that would use anything that would overly harm an ally or friend.” The bird lady was sure of it, considering that Blood Fox came all the way here just to be by her side.

”... I still don’t like it.” The butler shook his head. While he had nothing against this Fox, he had a lot of things against Contracts. He worried that she would end up in the same situation as before, so he was resolute in talking about this.

”I know.” The bird lady smiled.

”Not to mention I won’t allow you to run away.” The butler narrowed his eyes.

”Oh my, you want more children~?” The bird lady teased him.

”That was an accident...” The butler coughed awkwardly.

”You can say that again when I can actually walk after ’it’.” The bird lady accused him of injustice, since she was unable to walk for several days after ’night’.

The butler escorted her wordlessly to her room, since he was too embarrassed about what happened before.

-----

Moon Aiko saw the butler with a red face and wondered if he burned his face. Of course, she wouldn’t ask him why his face was like this, since her prediction was much funnier than anything that he would say.

”Are we going?” Moon Aiko asked him.

”En.” The butler stepped aside to allow the Blood Fox to enter this room and accompany this Fox.

Moon Aiko smiled seeing Danji and offered her snacks too.

”What?” Moon Aiko asked the butler, seeing him staring at her. ”Sharing is caring.” She pouted at him.

”I have not said anything.” The butler denied that he even thought about it.

”Get your snacks from the bird lady.” Moon Aiko chuckled at him.

”Not you too.” The butler groaned. This was too much teasing for one day.

”I also expected for you to come back much later on.” Moon Aiko said that completely shamelessly.

”I don’t need another rebellious daughter.” The butler immediately stopped her imagination from spiralling.

Moon Aiko didn’t say anything, since she saw how serious he was. She just ate those snacks with Danji in silence...

...

After the snacks. The butler escorted them to the room.

”If you ever want to leave this place, please tell me and I will immediately escort you. Just keep in mind that you will have to return for the reward later once it’s prepared.” The butler gestured and explained how it would go.

”Good luck on the hunt.” Moon Aiko hummed. She kind of missed those Elders. They were such a nice punching bag...

’Maybe I should visit them with some lemons...’ Moon Aiko thought about it. She even thought about growing lemons in that Treasure.

’What if I surrounded the Cauldron inside the Treasure with a lemon field...’ Moon Aiko had this genius and downright evil idea and she patted herself on the shoulder.

”I still can’t believe how soft these beds are.” Danji was impressed by the craftsmanship.

”You can try sleeping on it, but your back will hurt.” Moon Aiko shrugged. It was fine to have soft things, but if they were too soft it would ruin her body.

”Yeah, I know, but it’s a good idea to know the materials for the future.” Danji nodded her head. While she did agree with Aiko, she also had her own ideas. She also wanted to rate the beds and pick the best one for- Ahem.

”I wonder if we will be able to hear the events inside this place.” Moon Aiko pondered. This room only had artificial windows, with fake scenery to make it feel less suffocating, but that also meant she wouldn’t be able to see what was happening inside and outside of this place.

”We can’t really open those doors without the butler.” Danji nodded her head seriously. She wanted to fulfil her wishes, but she had to be careful about the dangers.

”Well, we can, but it will endanger us.” Moon Aiko sighed. She really wanted to join the fun, but she also knew that this was above her rank. She couldn’t join this thoughtlessly unlike the other battles.

”We can have the butler tell us periodically about what is happening, or we can return and have the Crows or other Beasts tell us how it’s going.” Danji suggested this. While she didn’t want to return when Mei was over there, she also knew that that place was much safer than this one.

”Not a bad idea, but other than Crows most Beasts won’t be able to survive this place, so getting any kind of information outside this Clan is a bit...” Moon Aiko scratched her head as her ears twitched.

”I understand.” Danji nodded her head seriously. It was true that without equipping herself with numerous Treasures that increased her tolerance to fire, she wouldn’t be able to come here.

This also caused her to think that this place was like a hostile fortress and try to indulge Aiko as much as possible so that she wouldn’t go crazy.

”Well, we can decide after a few days. It’s not like we are in a hurry.” Moon Aiko shrugged.

”There are the other Clans too.” Danji nodded her head, understanding what Aiko meant.

...

The time passed slowly for the duo. There was some kind of disturbance outside, but as long as they didn’t open those doors and waited for the butler, nothing really could endanger her.

Well, Moon Aiko won’t be able to last long in this place, since entertainment was scarce without actually seeing the action...