Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Moon Aiko chatted with Yu for a while before walking in further. The Runes were nicely done, as expected of Chen Rune Pics.

The walls were done in multiple parts, but every single part was still reinforced. This would make the whole continental flying ship into a fortress.

It was probably necessary because of the ocean or something. Well, Mei knew what she was doing, so Moon Aiko didn’t need to say anything more.

’It’s still a marvel how huge it is...’ This place would be able to host most if not all Foxes currently associated with them. The sheer size would be about 7 to 10 times the normal continental flying ship and the inside was much bigger, making it also larger room-wise.

Moon Aiko felt the continental flying ship, since there was nothing else she could do with it. Well, maybe there was, but it was simply too much work for her. She wanted to enjoy her time until everyone left, maybe fool around the sea or something?

’Maybe I should bring that up?’ Moon Aiko mulled it over and decided that it was a good idea.

...

”Mei~” Moon Aiko hummed as she walked over. Mei was swamped with work, but she still lifted her head to look at Aiko.

She was sitting behind a desk with rows of papers, blueprints and documents.

”Aiko?” Mei tilted her head. She didn’t expect Aiko to come over, so this was an unexpected surprise.

”I was thinking about making our last moments into holidays? Something like playing around the sea and what-not?” Moon Aiko smiled at her.

Mei paused, thinking it over. ”I’m not sure if we will be able to.”

”Why not?” Moon Aiko titled her head.

”Well, our original plan was to seek the help of the Beasts for protection? But well, you happened.” Mei shrugged.

”Right...” Moon Aiko nodded her head stiffly. She happened, changing the plans greatly, maybe that was also why made such a large continental flying ship.

”Well, it’s not like we will need their help, but that’s only as long as we are high up in the sky.” Mei played with the brush that she used for writing.

”So, only when we are inside the continental flying ship, will we be safe?” Moon Aiko mulled it over once again.

”That’s the idea, yeah.” Mei nodded her head. It was nice that everything was progressing smoothly so far.

”Then how about landing with the ship on the sea and playing there?” Moon Aiko suggested.

”The aquatic life would quickly devour us.” Mei shook her head.

”It’s that dangerous, huh?” Moon Aiko sighed. ”Then how about landing on a lone island?”

”That’s... possible. We can set up a boundary and with the help of Yanqi we should be able to secure some safe space.” Mei gestured for Aiko to sit down.

”Is that possible? She is always around Chen Shi, so it’s been a little difficult meeting her.” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”Well, she is not one to party or socialise. While she does care for Chen Shi a lot more than for us, we are not in a bad position either, so I believe we will be accommodated.” Mei didn’t believe it would be that hard to convince her to do something about it...

”Well, we are Foxes.” Moon Aiko nodded her head thoughtfully.

”We are indeed Foxes.” Mei nodded back. ”Anyway, anything else?” She was quite busy, and she needed to complete a lot of things if that damned ship is supposed to fly any time soon.

”I’m- well, the Clothier- There will be plushies for the Foxes that are currently undergoing rehabilitation. I spotted some really withdrawn Foxes, so I wanted them to have something nice.” Moon Aiko gestured.

”Wouldn’t that isolate them further?” Mei narrowed her eyes.

”That’s where the Foxes that are in better condition, come in.” Moon Aiko gestured that it would create a nice loop.

”If everything goes well.” Mei pondered about it for a while before giving up. ”Even if they are not completely fine, once we leave for the mainland they should improve.”

”Why?” Moon Aiko tilted her head again.

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”Because they will be leaving painful memories behind.” Mei sighed softly.

”But wouldn’t that cause Heart Demons or whatever those are called?” Moon Aiko smacked her lips, frowning for a bit.

”That is indeed the case, but there is nothing we can do about it. We can give them the best treatment possible, but if they are not willing to get better, they will never get better.” Mei sighed again. It was inevitable that some Foxes would die because of this, but there was no way to accommodate them further.

They now had a safe place, warm filling food and comfortable accommodation. They even had Foxes deliver them things and chat with them.

”I wish that it wouldn’t come to that, but that’s unrealistic I suppose.” Moon Aiko sighed.

”Well, maybe the plushies create a miracle?” Mei chuckled.

”Well, if it could, that would be wonderful.” Moon Aiko smiled gently.

”You can always believe in it and it might just happen.” Mei giggled.

”Should I be that optimistic?” Moon Aiko didn’t know how to handle the emotions of others on that scale, so she was quite doubtful. Still, she did hope that it would help them in some way.

”Well, you should probably return to that ’Clothier’, he might be crying again.” Mei chuckled sinisterly.

”How did you know?” Moon Aiko was speechless, but it only made sense, since Mei was trying to manage everything and there was also Dai Lu, who could read thoughts and minds(?).

”You know how.” Mei chuckled again, before leaning back, stretching her body.

”I would never be able to do that.” Moon Aiko commented before leaving.

”How so? I believe you are the perfect person for paperwork.” Mei smiled meaningfully.

”I only like things that have an end.” Moon Aiko closed the doors behind her, leaving Mei alone. Well, with Dai Lu.

”I do too, but there is so damn much work.” Mei immediately stared at Dai Lu.

”Don’t ask me. If I do paperwork, that would double your work.” Dai Lu shook her head. While she could read thoughts, she couldn’t get a feel over what she should do with these papers.

That’s also why she held such high admiration for Mei, since she was able to do all of this so easily.

”I suppose.” Mei sighed. Only a few weeks left before she will be able to throw these papers out-!

...

Moon Aiko walked around the ship and workshop, before returning to the Clothier to see how he was doing.

”Welcome, I have already made a few prototypes, so we can test which are liked more and which are liked less.” The Clothier his Master enthusiastically, as if he was already waiting for her to appear.

”Oh?” Moon Aiko smiled happily, but that smile didn’t last for long.

”Why do they look like me?” Moon Aiko’s lips twitched.

”There was... demand...” The Clothier coughed awkwardly before changing the topic. ”Here are different filling sizes and processes. You can test it yourself and see what you like.”

Moon Aiko touched those plushies, keeping in mind that offensive implication that he made.

”I don’t like these. They feel prickly.” Moon Aiko gestured towards certain plushies.

”The filling is made out of smaller cubes, we also made round balls or come, just several of them.” The Clothier gesture and even showed her how they are made.

”They will be easily misplaced, I don’t think this is a good idea.” Moon Aiko shook her head.

”Then we have these fillings. They are mostly ’uniform’ and ’connected’.” The Clothier guided her to another piece.

”I like this one more. It’s smooth and doesn’t feel like there is ’something’ inside it.” Moon Aiko nodded her head. This filling would probably be expensive, but that was fine since the materials were abundant.

”En, it’s harder to make, since you have to ’sculpt’ it, but once you get the feel of it, it should be possible to mass produce.” The Clothier shared his opinion about how it would work and what he needed to accomplish it.

”This sounds quite nice, but will you be fine?” Moon Aiko turned towards him.

”I already made plans accordingly.” The Clothier knew too well what kind of scale this Fox was talking about, so he had to make sure it was possible to do. Mostly because of his own sanity.

”Nice.” Moon Aiko smiled. With this, she could show these plushies-

”Can’t you make something different?” Moon Aiko didn’t know how she should feel about having her own plushies.

”Why?” The Clothier tilted his head. ”I believe the Foxes will like it.”

”No way.” Moon Aiko dismissed his idea, but since there were no other prototypes, she still took them for testing.

”Be well.” The Clothier bowed as his Master left his workshop.

...

Moon Aiko walked slowly towards the centre, attracting a lot of attention, mostly because...

’This is so embarrassing.’ Because of her red face and the cute plushies she was carrying.

The Foxes in the inner part of this place curiously looked over, but didn’t approach her.

Moon Aiko picked a few less timid Foxes and slowly approached them.

”Here are some plushies, tell me which one you like.” Moon Aiko gestured for them to come and have a feel.

The Foxes were overly cautious at first, but eventually came over just to touch them, before going back.

Most of them only touched one time, but Moon Aiko noticed they liked the most uniform plushy the most. The second one would be the chubby version.

”There will be different designs too.” Moon Aiko suddenly said, but to her shock, their ’enthusiasm’ diminished greatly.

”W-what?” Moon Aiko speechlessly stared at them, her mouth slightly open.

Some of the Foxes stifled a laugh. This was an unexpected situation, but a cute one.

Most of the Foxes liked this Fox. She was a bit... no, very odd, but that oddness never transferred into abuse or anything they disliked.

Well, she was a bit pushy at times, but that couldn’t be helped. Or at least that’s what they believed.

What they also believed is that this Fox was chasing the bad spirits away, so having a plushy of her around might make it easier for them to sleep.

”...” Moon Aiko didn’t know if she should cry or be happy that they actually liked the plushies.

”I will see what we can make and how many...” Moon Aiko said with a slightly dampened spirit. She never expected the Foxes to like her plushy so much...!

...

Returning to the Clothier, she almost grabbed him by his clothes and yanked him around. She was a bit upset, maybe with mixed feelings(?) about this situation.

She was definitely happy and upset. Both can be true at the same time.

”Just make the plushies. As expected, they liked the carved or ’sculpted’ plushies the most.” Moon Aiko gestured towards the plushy that earned the greatest attention.

”As expected.” The Clothier nodded his head. ”It’s the hardest one to do, but we should be able to make it happen.” He was currently working on a technique that would allow him to scrap the poorly made carvings. It was difficult, and he probably would need more tools, but definitely doable.

”I will do my best, Master.” The Clothier bowed his head.