Swordsmaster Fox-girl

-“Yahhh! Take this!”

Nova screamed every time she stomped her feet down to the herbs to crush them. Around her, several more soldiers were helping out.

Though most of them did it since she commanded them to, some did it voluntarily because of how cute Nova looked while she was doing it.

Ria was no exception. She would’ve helped if her sister hadn’t pulled her away from the herb-grinding group.

“Riri…” Hannah said with a sigh. Briefly glancing at Nova, she continued, “what did you do? Why did you choose that little girl as your liege?”

“What’s all this about? I thought you hated me?” Ria frowned.

Hannah scratched the back of her neck, not sure what gesture she should back right now.

“W-Well, the bet with that little girl got me thinking. Maybe I was too hasty in judging you…”

Before Ria could voice her surprise, Hannah quickly continued,

“D-Don’t get me wrong! If you didn’t abandon your hatred to directly serve a Noble for a very good reason, I-I’ll still be mad at you!”

“It’s good enough that you finally give me a chance…”

Then, while twirling her hair and trying to keep heat from rushing into her cheeks, she mumbled,

“ᴵᵗ'ˢ ᵇᵉᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ᴵ'ᵐ ᶦⁿ ˡᵒᵛᵉ.”

“Huh? What was that?” Hannah frowned and tried to strain her ears. Although Ria’s voice was small, she could hear some of it. And by God, did she hope she just misheard.

Burying her face in her hands, Ria screamed, 

“It’s because I’m in love with my Mistress!”

Hannah widened her eyes in surprise. She was so shocked that her body physically recoiled. Calming herself down, she approached Ria and caressed her cheek.

“Riri…”

“Big sis…” Ria leaned more in Hannah’s hand.

“...You fucking idiot.”

Hannah pulled on Ria’s cheek, hard.

“W-What?”

“What are you, twenty-three, twenty-four? Doesn’t matter! You shouldn’t be in love with a little girl!”

“W-Wait!” Ria could sense that her sister was under a severe misunderstanding. “My mistress is not the young miss! It’s her mother!”

“Oh,” Hannah dumbfoundedly muttered, letting go of Ria’s cheek. 

Then, she sighed.

“Riri, I hope you know what you’re doing. If your mistress doesn’t reciprocate your feelings, you’re just going to end up hurt.”

“I know,” Ria nodded. “The mistress knows of my feelings, and she accepts them.”

“R-Really?”

“Y-Yes,” her face turned red once more. “Every night, we—”

“Okay, okay! I don’t need to know the details!”

Hannah sighed for the umpteenth time and reached into her pocket to take out a cigarette. Realizing that she’d run out of it, she clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“Anyway, who’s your mistress?”

“She’s H—”

“Ria.”

A dull voice interrupted Ria’s answer.

Both of the sisters turned around, only to see Nova standing there with her arms crossed; the tip of her tail covered in green, possibly because she also used it to grind the herbs.

“Y-Young miss?! H-How long have you been standing there for?”

“I just arrived. You’ve slacked off for long enough, help me crush the herbs now.”

.

.

.

.

As Ria followed me back to the herb-crushing area, Avaron spoke up.

{Are you not going to confront her about…that?}

‘Nah.’

{Seriously? She just admitted to fucking your Mom every night.}

‘It’s not my place to intervene.’

Though…

‘I might start calling Ria “Mom” soon.’

{I can already imagine how awkward it would be. Do it. Do it. Do it. D—}

‘Shut up.’

Grabbing Avaron, who was in her stick form, I used her to crush the herbs. I originally did it to shut her up, but upon seeing the never-seen-before efficiency, I continued using her for hours on end, until all the herbs were no more than piles of mushy green.

{Sobs…an Archangel like me being used as a mere herb-grinder…}

‘Don’t worry. I’ll find you some Mana later.’

{R-Really?}

‘Don’t count on it.’

After that, I commanded the soldiers to take the mushes and simmer them for a whole night. The next day, I helped them feed the end product to the patients.

“...They should fully recovery in three days.”

“Are you sure about that?” Hannah raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.” 

“Huh…it seems like the bet will be over sooner than I thought.”

During the three days of waiting time, I didn’t sit around and do nothing. After all there were many things to do inside this infected village.

Though, the activity I participated in the most was—

“Y-Young miss, are you sure you want to do this?”

“...I want to help.”

“But there are other things…”

“I want to help.”

After hearing my firm answer, Ria sighed and left me on my own devices. Finally, I could focus on moving the dead villagers to the fire pit.

During epidemics, it was common sense to burn the dead bodies of the infected so that the disease couldn’t spread any further; and this town was no different.

However, I didn’t do it purely out of good-will. Secretly, I was drawing blood from the body to repair Kirion.

But…after the thirtieth body, Kirion wasn’t healing anymore.

‘I guess that’s the limit.’

If I could make Kirion stronger by killing low-ranked Monsters, then I’d have done so instead of hunting strong Monsters in my first life.

Eventually, it was the third day.

I sat in the medical tents, watching the patients. 

I waited for hours and hours. Day turned into noon, and noon bled into night. However, the patients were still not cured. T-Their symptoms didn’t even alleviate!

As I was wondering what I did wrong, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“You lost.”

It was Hannah.

Despite her victory, she sounded more disappointed than happy. 

As she was about to open her mouth to presumably reprimand me, a soldier rushed into the tent.

“Commander! Urgent!”

Hannah nodded. Then, she lifted me up by the armpits and sat down on my seat. Then, she placed me down on her lap and began touching my ears.

I purred as a happy feeling coursed through my body; though, I could still make out their exchange.

“Tell me, what’s so important that made you barge into the patients’ tents?”

“Commander, we got reports from the other villages. They say that the cure they were instructed to make was effective! Practically everyone was cured!”

Hannah hung her mouth open in disbelief. All the while, I was standing up in her lap, crossing my arms to show off my superiority.

“B-But how? The cure didn’t work here!”

Her words snapped me back from reality. The smug feeling of triumph soon disappeared from my mind and was replaced by confusion.

‘It worked in other villages, and I’m sure I didn’t get anything wrong. Just wh—’

“Cough!”

I suddenly went into a coughing fit. It got so violent that Hannah had to hold me down while I coughed into my hand.

Eventually, the fit was over. Removing my hand, I could see…blood trickling through my finger.

“Are you okay?”
Ignoring Hannah’s concerned voice, I quickly rolled up the sleeve of my right arm. 

Nothing.

Then, I did the same thing with my left arm—

“N-No…”

—Only to reveal a pea-sized black patch.