The women I set free are obsessed with me

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"Don't play with the Calamity Fox. You want yokai visiting at night?"

"Is that true, Calamity Fox?"

"Kyaang?"

"See? Even she agrees. Come along now."

A mother fox led her cub away from the young Calamity Fox. Not understanding the implications, the Calamity Fox waved goodbye with a smile.

The fox people rarely spared her a glance, passing by like scenery. But occasionally, someone would approach her.

"Calamity Fox, could you go outside and lure some yokai? We need to go hunting."

"Kyaang!"

Delighted that they were speaking to her and making requests, the Calamity Fox naively agreed.

The wind made her hesitate as she was about to leave the fox den. Though she had answered without thinking, it was still scary.

She tried to ask if anyone could accompany her, but the hunting party just tilted their heads and smiled, as if not understanding.

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

"Kyaang…"

"The sun will set soon. If we delay, more yokai will come out. We need to go and come back quickly before then."

That smile seemed only kind to the Calamity Fox, who couldn't yet read the intentions behind people's expressions. She dashed out of the fox den without suspicion.

And so, the Calamity Fox was a convenient tool for them.

She could be used to scare children into obedience, and sometimes as bait for yokai.

Moreover, since she couldn't speak and never refused, there was no tool more convenient in the world.

The Calamity Fox, tasked with luring yokai, returned that night. After shaking off the yokai and coming back, the sun had long since set. When she returned to the village, the hunting party had already been back for some time.

The village was filled with the scent of meat, as if they had thrown a feast to celebrate a successful hunt.

"Oh, you're back already."

"Kyaang!"

"Good job. Here, eat this and rest a bit."

The Calamity Fox had hoped she might get to eat meat today, but what the man dropped on the ground were a few potatoes with traces of insect bites.

She blinked at the potatoes rolling on the ground and looked up, but the man had already turned his back.

He returned to his house without glancing back. Soon after, laughter and chatter could be heard from the house, light spilling from within.

The Calamity Fox, who had been sitting in a 'waiting' posture, lowered her head.

"Kyang."

She began to pick up and eat the potatoes.

Such days repeated, and Rin, who had been watching by the Calamity Fox's side all along, let out a small sigh.

This is irritating.

She had expected something special to happen, but meaningless scenes just kept repeating endlessly. Yet she couldn't intervene either.

Even when she tried to leave White Cloud Valley, she would find herself back in the fox den when she came to her senses. As if there was something she needed to resolve in this fox den.

If so, what could there be to resolve in this small fox den? It wasn't hard to guess. Rin went underground.

Following exactly what the elder had done, finding the shrine wasn't difficult.

The shrine she arrived at was dust-free. However, an unfamiliar yet somehow familiar fox was sitting on the altar.

The way she played with the golden fox orb like a toy ball seemed quite irreverent.

But those who knew her wouldn't think it irreverent. After all, she was the owner of the orb.

She resembled Rin but was larger in various aspects of her physique. Especially in the chest area. Moreover, she had nine tails, four more than Rin.

The being who had been called gumiho before becoming the Calamity Fox or the Pink Fox greeted Rin.

"Hello, little one. Did you come here wanting this? But you know what~ This is mine."

"Is there any need to call me 'little one'? You are Rin, after all."

"Don't misunderstand. I've never lived meekly, never craved affection. Much less have I ever been as weak as you."

"Then why were you sealed? Wasn't it because you were weak?"

"…"

The gumiho fell silent.

Rin flashed a triumphant smile.

"If it had been me, I wouldn't have been sealed. Weakling~"

"Shut up. Before I break this orb."

"How petty."

Since that would be truly troublesome, Rin stopped her teasing there.

Though the gumiho denied being the same entity as her, Rin denied her denial. After all, they wouldn't be able to converse so easily if they were meeting for the first time.

They could exchange words comfortably without any burden. Even Karami hadn't been like this at first. She was undoubtedly Rin.

Still, she didn't like it.

"Rin doesn't want to grow old like that."

"You'll end up like this too if you get involved with ugly ones."

"Ugly ones?"

"Yeah. Those who betrayed me and clung to the heavens."

The gumiho looked at the shrine wall, but Rin could tell her gaze was focused much further away.

Rin briefly tried to recall what that might be, but quickly abandoned the thought. What mattered to Rin now was the fox orb.

"Rin's busy. Master is waiting outside."

The gumiho looked at Rin as if she were a slime stuck to the street.

"Why are you looking at me like that? It's annoying."

"Haah… A gumiho being a slave? No matter how much time has passed, how can this make sense? I'd be less surprised if the world flipped upside down. Should I just take over your body and kill him…?"

Rin's expression twisted horribly at those words.

"If you do that, you won't be safe either."

"I'm just a thought form now, so it would only be self-harm. You'd be the one getting hurt."

Rin's expression didn't soften even after being told the truth. She looked determined, ready to harm herself if necessary.

Conversely, the gumiho's lips twisted into a sneer at Rin's threat. As if taking revenge, she savored Rin's emotions like an emotional predator.

"Alright then!"

Having enjoyed herself enough, the gumiho hopped off the altar and held out the fox orb to Rin.

Rin was about to take it, despite her displeasure, but the gumiho suddenly threw the orb behind her.

"Ah!"

Rin let out a disappointed cry as the orb vanished from her fingertips. Just as it was about to hit the floor, it landed gently on one of the gumiho's tails.

She played with the orb ostentatiously, moving her tails gracefully this way and that.

"You…!"

"My, you're quite expressive, aren't you? Your face might be the same, but you're a completely different person."

The gumiho giggled at Rin's sulky expression. Then she held out the orb again.

Rin glanced suspiciously between the orb and the gumiho, wondering if this was another trick, before carefully taking it.

Huh? She's giving it up more easily than I thought?

No sooner had that thought crossed her mind than the same sunlight as before burst forth from the fox orb, the space around them beginning to distort.

"What's happening?"

"You're returning to where you came from."

"What was the trial then?"

"Pleasing me. You, I kind of like you."

The trial was to please the gumiho? What kind of absurd test is that? Thanks to this, she passed the trial easily, but Rin felt somewhat annoyed.

The gumiho grinned as if even that reaction pleased her.

"Let's head back now. Go see that master you were so eager to meet."

Light filled Rin's vision, and then the space completely distorted.

***

Flash!

The light illuminating the dark shrine suddenly exploded and clung to Rin's entire body.

It was as if she had been covered in full-body latex. Soon, the light cracked and peeled off like her skin was shedding.

As the light faded, Rin blinked slowly a few times, regaining her senses. The musty smell once again assaulted her sensitive beastkin nose, indicating she had returned to the real shrine.

"Looks like it's over."

Behind her stood Karami and the elder, in the exact same positions as when she had grasped the orb. Though it felt like considerable time had passed, the phantasm did not affect reality.

"Seems so."

"Congratulations. You're finally a six-tailed fox."

At those words, Rin checked her tails and found she indeed had six. Not only that, but her body had grown along with the increase in tails.

More than just growing taller, her feminine curves had become pronounced enough to be visible even through her clothes. She had taken one step closer to the gumiho's appearance she had just seen.

Rin checked her chest.

Hers were bigger than mine.

Would she become like that when she became a full gumiho?

It wasn't a bad thing.

Because a gumiho is meant to bewitch people, it was only an advantage.

If she gained a powerful weapon to seduce her master, she would welcome it with open arms.

"Oh, the fox orb has disappeared."

Rin checked her hand. The fox orb she had been holding was gone, but she could tell.

"It's inside Rin."

It had been absorbed into her own fox orb. A different energy, not her spiritual power, swirled in her lower abdomen.

An energy like the warm sun, and a shallow shadow in areas untouched by sunlight. She had obtained fragments of the gumiho's power.

—Hmm. So this is your master? Not particularly impressive.

Rin flinched at the sudden voice in her head. The gumiho's spirit form flowed out of Rin and coiled around Karami like a snake.

—His face isn't bad, and is this the World Tree's energy? Hm, interesting, but that's about it. Everything else is too lacking. He can barely take care of himself like this.

"Y-You, why…?"

Rin startled.

"Why are you here? Weren't you supposed to disappear?"

—You took my power, didn't you? Did you think you'd get it for free? In exchange, I'm borrowing your body to see the world a bit.

"You never mentioned that!"

—When making contracts, you're supposed to scrutinize even the smallest details, kiddo. If you have complaints, spit them out.

As much as Rin wanted to do just that, the gumiho's power had already mixed with her spiritual energy. It was now inseparable.

The gumiho was well aware of this, which was why she spoke so confidently.

"What is the matter?"

"What do you mean? Look, the gumiho's appeared!"

"Indeed, the gumiho has truly been here all along."

The elder, saying this, was looking not at the gumiho but at Rin. He showed no sign of being able to see or sense the gumiho's presence.

—You can only see me because you were bestowed with my power. Other people can't see me.

"I can see you though."

—Huh?

The gumiho looked at Karami with a puzzled expression. Their eyes met precisely, clearly indicating that he could see her.

—Why can you see me?

"Because I am Rin's master. I know everything about Rin."

—…I see. You can see me because you're connected through the shackles.

She took back what she said about him being inadequate.

He was no ordinary man.

However, it might have been better for him if he were ordinary.

For he would soon be made painfully aware of how foolish it was to make a gumiho his slave.