Chapter 405: The Lonely Fox

Chapter 405: The Lonely Fox

Alcina left with a mischievous laugh, and the Pario brothers did so after exchanging a few words with Rakna. Ensis was the next to approach and the therian had to look up due to the unexpectedly tall stature of the man.

As old as he was, you wouldn't expect him to be anywhere near the two-and-a-half meters of height he possessed. His posture was also as straight as an arrow and the pressure of his presence would no doubt cause a lesser mind to cower.

"The evaluation will occur two days from now," Ensis said with a gruff but not unkind voice. "Your power is not in question. Your battle itself will be the subject of my attention. Until then, rest well, boy," he inclined his head and promptly headed out.

"That's the boss, all right." Lux walked up whilst massaging his neck. "After all this time, I still don't know if he's just blunt or doesn't like to talk. But anyway, nice to meet you," he smiled and extended his hand for a handshake, which Rakna accepted.

"Likewise."

"You already know, but I'm Lux. I'm also the Vice-Leader of the Guild. I'm sure we'll see a bit more of each other from now on," the fallen angel said before pulling his arm back. He walked past Rakna and patted his shoulder. "See you at the evaluation. Everyone will be there."

Once he was gone, Zialtra, Lacros, and Cura also went their way and Rakna ultimately stuck around with his group, Fiora included. There were still two people who seemed to want a word with him.

Cain was the first to come forward, Kamiria lagging behind with her arms crossed. "Hey, I've been meaning to meet you for a while," he said amiably. "I don't want to take too much of your time, so I'll be brief. I have a question; is it okay if I ask it?"

Rakna raised an eyebrow. "I don't see why not."

The man let out a chuckle. "Yes, of course..." He shook his head and his smile turned a bit sad. "It's a simple question, all things considered. Is your goal... the Fruit of Eden?"

The therian froze, his forehead creasing in a mix of confusion and skepticism, "Why do you ask?"

"Haha, well, I guess you can say I'm curious," Cain laughed lightly. "I happen to know a few more things about it compared to everyone else. I'm privy to certain details," he informally revealed, not even fazed by the shocked looks he got from everyone still here, even Kamiria.

"...what if I say yes?" Rakna retorted inquisitively.

Cain smiled. "That would not do anything much. In a way, all active Hosts have Eden as their goal by default. But all I want to know is, what you intend to do with it? Destroy it? Use it?"

For a moment, the therian fell silent. Then, he swiftly raised a hand and snapped his fingers. A pair of runes blinked into existence and temporarily separated Cain and him from the outside. No one would be able to hear or perceive his next words.

Everyone saw Rakna open his mouth to speak inside the improvised rune array but couldn't hear anything nor even read his lips, as if there was an illusion over it. Most of them could have easily broken through it but it would have required an equally easily detectable intrusion.

Most importantly, it didn't even last a few seconds before Rakna dispelled it, revealing Cain with an amused, but also somewhat defeated expression.

"I see. I'll be honest, I like that answer more than I imagined," he chuckled, eluding everyone with the meaning of his words. "I'm satisfied. Thank you very much," he bowed and turned toward his partner, who had a frown marring her face.

"Sorry about that. Let's go, Kamiria," he said softly and walked toward the invisible boundaries that delimited the exit area. But before crossing it, he addressed Rakna one last time. "Right, since I have the chance, I'll say it now. No matter what, please keep in mind that I am your ally," he stated with an offputtingly casual tone.

"I promise it," he finished and disappeared. Kamiria delayed her own departure for a few seconds, staring at where he had been standing with an unreadable expression. She clenched her hands out of what seemed to be frustration and then stormed out, leaving a confused group of people behind.

Only Rakna and Hans momentarily displayed a flash of doubt past that perplexity.

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"Could we talk alone for a moment?"

Lastly, Karyu faced Rakna with neither a stern nor polite countenance. His expression was set in a serious kind of neutrality.

The therian silently judged his reasons before nodding. "You guys go ahead," he told his group and left Evelyn in Astraea's care. They went without much fanfare and once there were only the two Nine-Tailed left inside the Myth Tower's dimension, Karyu let out a quiet sigh.

"Well, how should I broach this?" The fox man uttered with an amused snort. "First of all, I suppose warning you not to hurt my dear daughter is a good start?" He hummed speculatively.

Rakna sweatdropped. "Why the question?"

"It's not like I had a choice..." Karyu lamented. "Kaelith might as well be the parent here. She wants something; she gets it. Not because we spoiled her or anything. Quite the opposite. Whenever we'd try, she would just give us the cold shoulder and obtain anything she wanted alone, with her own hands. And if we ever dared to try and intervene..."

"She would beat you up," the therian nodded sagely. "Mentally, physically, or both."

The helpless regret of the Fox Patriarch was something she was aware of. Her personal grievances with the man notwithstanding, she knew he was concerned enough to share his worries with the therian. Karyu was that kind of person; responsible but dolefully passive.

"Hm..." In response to her inquiry, Rakna simply gazed at her as if he was viewing a certain puzzle, which only worsened her nervousness. "Kara, can you lift your arms for a moment?" He suddenly requested and her mind blanked.

"Eh?" She exclaimed in confusion. "Why?"

"Just do it. Extend them to the sides."

Bewildered, the vixen complied and spread her arms while Kaelith watched with a scowl... and an amused smile on her lips. "Like this?"

"Yep."

Before Kara could even say something, she was abruptly wrapped in a hug. Her body froze and her mind shut down. She felt Rakna's hand rubbing her back as if soothing her and for a moment, the warmth of that sole action clouded all her senses.

The therian's presence was assuaging all her worries without even trying. She got reminded then and there why she always came back to this boy. It was like chasing a drug, indulging in the sense of peace it gave her; she had never met someone whose soul cried out louder than her own.

There were no words conveyed and all he did was hug her as gently as he could, something which she reflexively returned. They separated after about half a minute and Rakna smiled at the frozen form of Kara.

She didn't come off as embarrassed, or even shocked. There was something else stopping her from reacting. With the same amount of gentleness, he patted her head and walked past her.

"All right. Let's go back home," he spoke up with a casual tone as if nothing had happened.

A few of the onlookers had their eyes wide open in surprise, while others sympathized with Kara despite not even being aware of the details. Just looking at her, they could tell the hug had meant something greater than they could imagine.

Kaelith approached her mother alone and with their back facing everyone else, the younger vixen spoke up. "Well, how does it feel?" She asked softly as she watched tears flow down Kara's face.

"Heh," she let out a stifled chuckle, wiping the tears away with her palms. "I feel like... I've regained something precious I lost a long time ago," she confessed and allowed a grin to finally restore her habitual mood. "How lucky you are, Kae."

Kaelith raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "How lucky we are, indeed," she emphasized her words and turned around to follow the others out of New Athens. But at the same time, she heard her mother whisper something to her.

"Thank you, Kaelith."

The younger vixen pursed her lips and looked away with a blush on her face. "You're welcome..."

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A bit of characterization for Kara won’t hurt.

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I remember I wrote this chapter after seeing some totally wrong opinions on her. I refuse to take that lying down! MILF ftw!

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But like, seriously, in all mangas, novels, and comics ever, how the fuck do you see the moms being so stupidly pretty, stupidly kind, stupidly sensible, and stupidly mature, and not prefer them over regular female leads? Like, bro! That's the perfect woman right there! By definition! Literally! Why should I care about whatever brat the FL is after that?

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But anyway, that's all for my personal religion.

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Incidentally, I still have a few more sub-plots to work on now that Evelyn’s done. Specifically, there’s Higure, Flavia, and possibly Lanata, though that’s not certain as I have yet to decide if I’ll make her an actual lead yet. I like my badass adorable sheep for now.

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PS: I have made illustrations. Like, a lot. A ton. A truckload.

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I re-designed the old ones too. For now, there's already 100 of them and I'm not done yet.

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You can go see them on my discord (I don't really care about having people in it or not, but for now, that's the most convenient way). You should be able to find the link to it in the synopsis. Come on, you're big boys and girls, I don't need to copy paste it here.

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