It was an early morning in the shipyard on the day of the launching ceremony for one of the ships. Liam, Bal, Marcel, and I were hiding in the corner, hoping to catch the culprit behind the ship-breaking pranks. Lord Reineke made himself small enough to fit into my arms, since he’d stand out too much in his bigger form.
I heard two pairs of footsteps scurry over toward the ship. Two youthful voices whispered to each other against the dim light of a candle.
“Big bro, is this the ship that’s launching today?”
“Yeah. But we went too far last time, so let’s keep things simple today.”
“Maybe we should stop?”
“Too late to back out now. Or do you not care if dad loses his job?”
“I do, but...”
A slightly older boy and his younger brother argued in hushed voices while rummaging through something.
Their candle flame flickered brightly for a moment. Liam chose that moment to lunge out of our hiding spot, and grabbed one of the boys by the wrist.
“What are you doing?” he asked coldly.
The children’s faces paled. One of them dropped the candle out of surprise. Bal quickly rushed over to pick it up and blow out the flame.
“Whew! That was close!” he said, wiping the sweat from his brow.
“Why are you doing this? One mistake and you could cause a huge fire,” Liam said. He scowled at the two boys, his violet eyes shining with fury.
The children trembled, their eyes welling up with tears. They were so afraid that they couldn’t get a word out.
I stepped toward them, holding Lord Reineke in my arms.
“Hmm... It’s dark in here,” the spirit remarked and decided to make a bright halo appear behind my head.
“Hey! Don’t do that!” I objected.
“I’m giving the scene a divine touch. And now it’s nice and bright, no?” he replied, entirely unashamed.
The kids looked over in my direction. When they saw the fox in my arms, they both dropped to the floor and bowed.
“We’re sorry!”
“Please forgive us!”
They huddled on the floor. Liam looked down at them, then shrugged.
“Why are you doing this?” he questioned again, his voice still icy.
The boys said nothing, continuing to shake all over. They made for a pitiful sight, so I leaned over and addressed them.
“You must have your reasons, right? Can you tell us?”
The smaller boy timidly lifted his head, staring up at me.
“Is Lord Reineke...angry at us? Is he going to give us divine punishment?”
“Depending on your answers, I might,” Lord Reineke grumbled, though only I could hear him.
“Do you think what you’re doing is so wrong that you deserve divine punishment?” I asked. Based on what the boys were whispering to each other earlier, this didn’t seem like a mere prank.
The younger boy burst out crying. “I’m sorry, Lord Reineke! I... I...” He wept loudly into the sky, his face drenched with tears.
The older boy hugged his brother protectively. “He didn’t do anything wrong! He was just following my orders! If you’re going to punish someone, it should be me, not him!” he said, pleading desperately with Lord Reineke.
The spirit sighed. The halo behind me grew brighter.
“Lune, act in my name and make these children confess to their sins. Show the dignity of a great spirit’s contractor.”
Humph! Lord Reineke just doesn’t feel like doing it himself!
With no other choice, I tried to put on the act of a humble priestess and spoke to the boys again.
“Please confess to Lord Reineke the reasons behind your actions,” I said gravely.
Lord Reineke made the halo shine even more.
“A traveler from the capital said that once Renard Water Transport opened, it’d be the end for packhorse drivers. Our dad is a driver, and he’s always worrying about how he and everyone else could lose their jobs...” the older boy explained reluctantly, biting his lip to stop himself from crying. He closed his eyes tightly, his voice strained as he continued.
“But the adults just complain all day without doing anything about it. They say it’s because there’s no point fighting back against the feudal lord’s orders.” The boy wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “So I had an idea: Everything will be fine if we get rid of the ships! And if the adults won’t act, then I will!”
He glared at me, his eyes burning fiercely. “I wanted to show them that I could help!” he practically yelled, his voice overflowing with sincerity.
My heart ached.
I know how he feels. I’ve always wanted to be useful to House Renard, and just like this boy, I went about it the wrong way.
I took his hand. “You have a noble goal, but your methods are wrong,” I said.
The boy’s glare softened. A single tear slid down his cheek.
“But I... I... What else am I supposed to do?”
I didn’t know how to answer him.
What now? What should I say?
While I hesitated, Liam put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“We should’ve explained things properly. Packhorse drivers won’t lose their jobs when the water transport begins.”
“You’re lying!” the boy replied. “I heard the ships can carry more goods than a horse, and faster too!”
“Yes, but only to places reachable by boat,” Liam said. “Horses will continue to carry goods from the town to the harbor and capital. They’ll also deliver goods to us from other territories.”
“But there’ll be less jobs than before!”
“There will be less jobs for delivering goods to the capital or far-off places by horse, but conversely, there will be more jobs for transporting goods within the territory, as we’ll handle more goods than before overall.”
The boy bit his lip.
Liam continued. “Also, the ships can go down the current themselves, but people will need to pull them upstream. We’ll need workers for that job too. So actually, there’ll be more jobs once the water transport starts.”
“Really...?”
“Yes, really.” Liam nodded.
Brother’s so amazing. I hadn’t even considered how jobs would be affected. I’ve only been thinking about the goods themselves.
But Liam was taking the whole domain into consideration. I was impressed.
The boy looked at me and Lord Reineke. The spirit sat down with a blank expression and nodded.
“That’s right. Please believe Lord Liam,” I said solemnly.
The boys once again lowered their heads to the floor.
“Sorry! We didn’t understand anything and did horrible things!”
They apologized profusely while crying. I looked over at Liam.
Is he going to have them arrested? But in their own childish way, these boys thought they were doing the right thing.
The thought was painful. These boys committed a sin out of a sense of justice. They hadn’t acted selfishly—they were doing this to protect other people.
Bal also cast Liam a worried look. The latter gazed down at the boys with a severe look on his face.
“Part of the blame lies with us for not explaining the situation properly, so you will not be charged for anything.”
Bal and I breathed a sigh of relief. The boys looked at each other and smiled.
“But you mustn’t do anything like this again. In the future, if you have troubles or concerns, speak to the feudal lord,” Liam admonished gently.
The boys nodded.
“Still, you two made me realize we need to do better at informing everyone of the situation. I’ll report this to the marquis.”
The boys bowed again.
“We’re really sorry!”
I smiled at their earnestness. Lord Reineke nodded, indicating he’d forgiven them.
“Lord Reineke forgives you,” I said.
The brothers sighed in relief and bowed at the spirit.
“We won’t do it again. Thank you for your forgiveness!”
Golden light spilled from them, which Lord Reineke absorbed. The fox smiled, his tail swaying.
“Now hurry home,” I said.
The children got up, bowed one more time, and headed to the exit. They turned back to look at us, bowing repeatedly before exiting the shipyard and quietly closing the door behind them.
Finally, the halo behind me disappeared.
“Lord Reineke, please stop it with the halos!” I said, puffing out my cheeks.
The spirit chortled unapologetically.
“Lune, that was very smooth,” Liam praised me while blushing.
I felt embarrassed. “You were great too. Thank you for forgiving those boys.”
“It’s not like they were being selfish; they were worried about their father. And our future rests on the shoulders of children like them.”
Bal gazed at Liam with admiration. “You’re on another level...”
Lord Reineke jumped from my arms, shifted into his giant form, and patted Liam’s head with his front paw. Liam smiled happily.
Sunlight poured in from the shipyard’s windows. The sawdust glittered in the air.
“All right. Let’s head back and inform father,” Liam said.
He and Bal stretched their arms and yawned.
“Okay. But I’m so sleepy...”
“Me too,” I said.
Lord Reineke sprawled down on the floor in front of us.
“Get on, all of you.”
“Really?” Bal’s eyes lit up. He’d never ridden on Lord Reineke’s back before.
“I’m making an exception today.”
“Yay! Thank you!” Bal shouted, flinging himself onto the fox. “So fluffy! So soft! Awesome!!!”
Lord Reineke smiled dryly at the boy’s antics. Liam and I exchanged a look, smiling at each other. He picked me up and placed me behind Bal.
“Pardon me,” he said politely before climbing on as well, sitting behind me. He held onto my waist with one hand and used his other to pet Lord Reineke. “It feels so nice...” he muttered with a sigh.
I was a little jealous. I swung my tail, smacking it against Liam’s chest.
“There’s no need to get violent, Lune.” He laughed.
I puffed out my cheeks and kept smacking him.
“Lune...” Liam caught my tail with the hand he’d been using to pet Lord Reineke, and pressed the tip of it to his lips.
“Eek!”
A scream escaped me at the sensation. I looked over my shoulder and cast him a sullen look.
“Brother! I told you not to do that so suddenly!”
He smiled, petting my tail so gently that most of my jealousy melted away.
“Don’t be mad, Lune. You feel the best.”
My cheeks turned red at his words. So he realized I was jealous. It was a bit embarrassing, but I was happy.
Seeing that I was no longer acting up, Liam smiled, then kissed the tip of my tail again. It felt like an electric current ran down my spine, making me shiver. I liked it when he petted me, but kisses made me shy.
“Humph!” I tried to smack Liam with my tail again, but he didn’t release his grip on it.
“I’m punishing this naughty tail,” Liam said with a smirk, kissing it again.
“Ngh!” I grabbed my tail with both hands and pulled it away from him. “No more!” I huffed.
“Sorry,” he said with a laugh. He didn’t look sorry in the slightest.
“Reflect on your actions!” I demanded.
Bal looked over his shoulder at us with exasperation.
“Can you guys stop flirting on top of Lord Reineke?”
Liam and I blushed.