Chapter Four: The Fox Girl and Her Familiar
“NGH…” I groaned.
I woke up feeling unusually heavy. The reason became clear to me at once. A sleeping Custode lay atop my chest like a small cannonball. Furthermore, something peculiar covered my feet.
“Huh?” I murmured. “Am I…?”
I opened and closed my hand. The sensation felt entirely different from my past two days as a fennec fox. When I turned my head, I found my five fingers—not covered in fur—moving properly. I was wearing my enchanted pinky ring as well. In short, I’d turned back into a human. I’d only remained as a fox for two days, just as Custode had predicted.
Though I wanted to examine myself in the mirror right away, I couldn’t move. Custode had curled up on my chest like a cat, breathing steadily in his sleep. He was, much to my surprise, so cute that I couldn’t bear to disturb him.
“What’s this weird feeling around my feet though?” I muttered.
A cold, slightly heavy sensation covered my feet. It reminded me of the gel in cooling patches. In any case, I strained my head to peer over Custode. What I saw covering my feet puzzled me at first. It looked like a dull gray puddle of water.
“Huh?” I repeated that dumb sound.
I’ve seen that color before, right? I wondered, the gears in my head turning.
When the truth sank in, the blood drained from my face.
“Oh no!” I shouted.
A moment later, a familiar magic circle appeared on the ground, radiating light.
“Ally!” Embert exclaimed, appearing atop the circle. Upon seeing me, he froze, his lips twisting into a sinister smile. “Just where do you think you’re sleeping, Custode?!”
My previous shout had already woken Custode. However, he was still rubbing his bleary eyes with a tiny hand.
Holy cannoli, he’s so cute! Someone bring me a tissue stat! I feel a nosebleed coming! How often do you get to see such an adorable little creature swaying on your chest? This has got to be one of the seven wonders of the world. Wait, is my brain glitching or something? That’s not important right now! First things first, I’ve gotta calm Em down!
“We’ve got bigger fish to fry right now, Em!” I cried. “My little sphere… My little sphere melted!” I remained on my back as I shouted, unable to move because of Custode.
Wow, I must look pretty stupid, huh? No time to dwell on that, though.
“You two could wake the dead,” Custode grumbled. “What’s going on?” Having finally woken up, the tiny dragon tilted his head at me.
All right, Ally, time to calm down. Deep breaths, okay?
A knock came at the door, and Mary burst into the room. “Lady Alexandra!” she cried.
Cita and Cia were behind her as well. My shouting had reached the rooms on both sides of mine. Everyone had raced over to check on me.
After scanning the room, Mary sprang into action, thrusting a knife in front of Embert’s face. “You might be Lady Alexandra’s fiancé, Prince Embert, but if you laid a hand on her while she was sleeping…” Mary paused here, her knife still pointed at Embert as she turned to smile at me. “Oh, milady, I see you’ve returned to normal.”
I smiled back at her. “Yep, back to being a human.”
“Aww, our little fox is gone,” Cita whined.
“Yeah, I’m gonna miss your fluffy coat,” Cia agreed.
I puffed out my cheeks. “Oh, did you prefer me as a fox?”
The twins laughed. “Not at all,” they responded in unison.
Still, I’m getting tired of lying here.
“Custode, do you mind moving off my—” Before I could finish speaking, Custode shot into the air. Embert had picked him up by the scruff of the neck.
“It’s high time you got off from there,” the prince said.
Whoa, I didn’t even see him slip away from Mary’s knife.
Custode snorted, his legs flailing about in the air. “What are you so cross about?”
Embert brought Custode up to eye level, glowering at him. “Listen here,” he said, his smile growing even more sinister. “Yes, Ally is a holy woman, and you are a divine beast meant to protect her. Regardless, Ally is my fiancée before being a holy woman. Let’s be clear on that.”
Custode snorted again, maintaining his mocking attitude. “Think about this carefully, Embert. Which relationship do you think is stronger? The superficial bond between fiancés? Or a bond forged through our mutual connection to the Goddess?”
“You still insist on arguing with me?” Embert asked, refusing to back down. “In that case, I won’t allow anyone to give you a sweet ever again.”
In response to Embert’s wicked smirk, Custode sighed for the umpteenth time. “You think to placate me with mere sweets?” the dragon asked. “Ha! Well played, good sir. I’ll bow out from this round.”
Wait, you’re admitting defeat that easily? I quipped internally. And you call yourself a divine beast? I locked eyes with Mary and the twins. They must have been thinking the same thing. But, like I said, we’ve got bigger fish to fry.
As that hit me, I slowly raised my upper body and looked down. The dark gray puddle of water continued to spread around my feet.
“My little sphere…” I whimpered. “He’s melting! Do something, Custode!”
When I unjustly flared up on Custode, the dragon responded with a carefree laugh. “No need for alarm,” he said. “Give me one moment. Your sphere will return to normal in no time.”
Cool as a cucumber, Custode grabbed the ore from the side chest. At that moment, I spotted Janus leaning on the open door frame.
“Thought I’d find you here,” he said. Apparently, he’d been searching for Embert, but he looked at me with a dazzling smile. “Looks like you’re back to normal, Ally.”
Alas, my tear-stained face was the exact opposite of his. “Janus,” I whimpered. “My little sphere. He’s…”
Janus entered the room. Immediately after seeing the gray puddle of water around my feet, he grasped the situation. “Custode,” he said while looking at the dragon. “Can you save this little one?”
Custode nodded. “Of course.”
After drifting over to the puddle, he dropped the ore into it with a light splash. A wave of sadness crashed over me. How could this little fella—the one who’d bounced up and down behind me—have come to this? As tears spilled down my cheeks, the twins sat on either side of me for emotional support.
“Ally,” Custode said. “Try infusing your mana into this ore.”
“…All right,” I replied.
Still crying, I infused my mana into the sunken ore. Insubstantial, golden mist enveloped it before disappearing. When I finished the infusion, everyone looked down at the ore, expecting some sort of change. Without warning, one corner of the gel puddle squirmed viscously. Little by little, the substance converged around the ore. When the gel had finished subsuming the ore, it vibrated in a jellylike fashion. Then, it stopped moving altogether.
Everyone held their breaths in anticipation of what might happen next. The gel—now a distorted sphere—condensed into a smaller form. Finally, a loud POP echoed throughout the room, and the gel cheeped, “Squishy!”
“For real?” I asked.
Something like a dull gray xiaolongbao sat in front of me. Back on Earth, I’d sunk countless hours into a series called Dragon something or other. If you’ve ever played one of those games, you know exactly what the little fella looked like.
“Is that a slime?” I mumbled.
Specifically, it looked like a metal slime.
Those would always run away from me in the game, I remembered wistfully.
“That’s right,” Custode responded with a pronounced nod. “Furthermore, this slime is a rare specimen. By continuously eating adamantine ore, its body turned into adamantine. In other words, it’s an adamantine slime.”
Following its introduction, the rare slime looked up at me. “Squishy!” it cheeped with apparent glee. The slime could fit in the palm of my hand. Upon closer inspection, it had dot-shaped eyes and a line-shaped mouth.
Are you kidding me? This is, like, the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
“How adorable,” I mumbled.
The slime bounced up and down with delight. I had to clap my hand over my mouth before a dorky smile could appear.
“Squishy, squishy,” the slime cheeped while bouncing.
Needless to say, everyone regarded the little fella warmly.