The Fluffy Baby Fox Only Bites the Crazy Villain - Chapter 39
Just as the chicken’s beak was about to peck my body.
Swoosh! The sound of something cutting through the air was heard.
The chicken let out a single cry in mid-air and dropped with a thud.
Trembling, I looked back to see the chicken had fallen, struck by an arrow. In the distance, Owen was running towards us with a bow.
“Shushu, are you alright?”
“Sniff, sniff. O-Owen.”
I tried to hold back my tears but got the hiccups instead.
Owen rushed over in one stride, held me in his arms, and patted me.
“Are you hurt? You must have been so scared. You almost got pecked by the chicken.”
“I-I was so scared. Kyiing.”
I whimpered in Owen’s arms, tears and snot flowing.
“Who do you think you are, interrupting the training?”
Franz frowned and shouted in an irritated voice.
Owen stood up while holding me in his arms.
He patted my back as if trying to calm me down.
“You must be Franz, Shushu’s kin. I’m Owen, a knight of the Border Guard.”
Owen calmly introduced himself to Franz. Franz crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.
“Can’t you see we’re training? Shushu needs training as a fox. You all coddling her isn’t helping at all.”
“Catching chickens was the training?”
Owen looked slightly bewildered, glancing between me and the now-deceased chicken.
I also peeked at the chicken from Owen’s arms. That thing sure was plump.
Maybe I should ask the kitchen chef to make fried chicken for dinner tonight.
Coat it with egg and flour, then deep fry it… slurp Ah, I’m drooling.
I seriously considered spreading the soul of K-food chicken to the Border Guard. Or maybe organizing a chicken and beer party soon.
“I see. That was my mistake.”
Owen’s expression suddenly turned serious. A bad premonition brushed through my fur.
“What’s wrong, Owen?”
Owen picked me up and carefully set me down on the ground. Then, with a solemn teacher-like expression, he said seriously.
“Shushu, this is for your own good. To grow and develop, you need to train as a fox.”
“Um, I don’t really need that.”
Owen firmly held my tiny paw. Then he sent me a look of support and encouragement. Almost overwhelmingly so.
“I believe in you, Shushu. I’ll always support you. Stay strong.”
“Kyaaang! Even you’re betraying me?”
I cried out while flailing my front paws, but Owen turned away with a sad expression.
Making an expression like a male lead from an 80s romance drama who’s breaking up because of love.
I had forgotten. Owen was a straight-laced honor student who valued rules and proper conduct.
As if he’d been waiting for this moment, Franz grabbed my scruff with his mouth and shouted enthusiastically.
“Now, next is tree-jumping training!”
I dangled limply in his mouth, having given up on everything.
Sigh, I don’t understand magical beasts at all. Why aren’t they catching this guy instead?
***
The boy magician Ron barely opened his eyes in the harsh sunlight.
Scratching his messy red hair, Ron got up from bed and rubbed his freckled nose bridge.
Having stayed up all night in the laboratory to develop a new artifact, he was still half-asleep.
“Mmm. What time is it……”
Ron was checking his pocket watch while rubbing his eyes when he suddenly jumped up.
“Ah, I’m going to be late!”
Ron hurriedly washed up and changed his clothes. He roughly combed his disheveled hair and rushed outside.
Ron’s quarters were in an annex outside the Grand Duke’s residence. Located outside the Grand Duke’s residence, it was close to where Commander Karden’s direct subordinates lived and to the training grounds’ dining hall.
As he was running through the corridor connected to the dining hall, he spotted a familiar figure walking ahead.
“Sir Owen!”
Owen stopped walking and turned around.
“Ron, good morning.”
Neat attire, neatly swept brown hair and a bright smile.
As always, Sir Owen looked like a splendid noble from the capital.
Ron often felt it was a shame that Sir Owen was in the borderlands. If he had lived in the capital, he would have been very popular among the noble ladies.
“Hello, Sir Owen. Are you going to eat?”
Ron politely greeted Owen. Owen looked at Ron affectionately, like a younger brother.
“Yes. I’m just returning from outer wall duty.”
“Good work. How’s the situation at the outer wall?”
One of the main duties of the Border Guard knights was border patrol.
It was particularly dangerous work, patrolling along the outer wall to monitor magical beast activity.
It was a task only performed by knights with exceptional skills.
“There weren’t any unusual movements from the magical beasts.”
“That’s good. Just in case, I should make more explosive traps that detonate when magical beasts approach.”
Though Ron was a magician, he was also interested in explosives. He was developing traps that combined magic and explosives.
Karden fully supported whatever Ron did, and Ron was able to pursue various developments and research as he wished.
While Ron was explaining the principles of explosive traps with sparkling eyes, Owen listened to him with a smile.
Owen’s gaze lingered on Ron’s messy hair.
“Ron, don’t overwork yourself. You’re still growing, it’s not good to stay up late.”
Owen spoke kindly while smoothing down Ron’s disheveled hair. Ron stared at Owen intently.
Thinking once again that this person was too precious to remain as a border knight.
“Oh, Sir Owen. If I go to the training grounds now, will I be able to see Shushu?”
“You should. She trains every morning.”
Only then did Ron breathe a sigh of relief.
“That’s good. Actually, I’m going to the dining hall to see Shushu. The dining hall has the best view of the training grounds, after all.”
Owen tried to suppress his laughter at Ron’s innocent words. Ron looked puzzled.
“What is it?”
“No, I just realized that’s why the dining hall has been so crowded every morning lately – because of Shushu.”
Ron tilted his head and looked at the dining hall. As Owen said, the dining hall was bustling.
Usually, soldiers would eat breakfast at the speed of light and then take their rest.
But today, the dining hall was noisy with soldiers who wouldn’t leave even after finishing their meals.
The soldiers were stuck to the windows like cicadas, peering at the training grounds.
“Wow. There are so many people. Are they all watching Shushu?”
Ron squeezed between the soldiers to get to the window. The entire training ground was visible below the dining hall window.
A large silver fox and a small cotton ball-like fox were running back and forth.
They were training hard, jumping over fences, balancing on logs, and doing mid-air turns.
“Ah, it’s Shushu. She’s working so hard.”
Ron watched so closely that his breath fogged up the glass.
He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the small cotton ball bouncing around earnestly.
The other soldiers were the same, grinning from ear to ear, even forgetting to eat.
Even Captain Burke was watching Shushu’s training with a pleased smile while drinking his coffee.
Owen smiled as he looked around at this scene.
“The soldiers’ recent hobby is watching Shushu’s training.”
“Ah, I understand that feeling. Seeing cute Shushu gives you energy.”
Ron nodded in understanding. In the border fortress where there was little entertainment, the baby fox was a great comfort.
Moreover, with Franz, Shushu’s kin, joining in, the soldiers seemed even more delighted.
“Shushu is really training hard. She used to hate training at first.”
Ron murmured while watching Shushu.
Shushu and Franz, the two foxes, had become close like a well-matched pair.
Shushu, who was like a cute girl when with humans, seemed like a real wild fox when with Franz, her kin.
Franz was a real fox. A silver fox, indifferent to the human world, proud, beautiful, and mysterious.
“Which life will Shushu choose?”
Ron asked in a melancholic voice, almost whispering.
“A free life as a wild fox, or a safe life at the border. Which way would make Shushu happier?”
Owen’s gaze also followed Shushu as she hopped around the training grounds.
“Well. Whatever life Shushu chooses, we should support her.”
At that moment, the dining hall stirred. Turning around, they saw Grand Duke Karden and his aide Maildra entering.
The soldiers who had been pressed against the windows hurriedly returned to their seats and resumed eating.
Captain Burke also rushed over to greet the Grand Duke.
“Your Grace, good morning!”
“Yes.”
Karden replied briefly before sitting in the seat closest to the window. Ron and Owen greeted the Grand Duke.
“Good morning, Your Grace.”
“Commander, you’ve arrived.”
Karden raised his hand in acknowledgment to the two, then turned his gaze to the window.
Ron and Owen sat at the table opposite him.
Maildra brought coffee and some simple bread. Even while drinking his coffee, Karden’s gaze remained fixed on the window.
Ron asked Owen in a small voice.
“Did His Grace also come to the dining hall to watch Shushu?”
“Yes. He’s been watching like that after Shushu’s morning training. He used to watch from the training grounds, but Shushu hated feeling like she was being monitored.”
“Ah… So he got kicked out.”
