It hurts.
The injured paw throbbed. It was so painful that it was amazing how it had been running around until just moments ago—it couldn’t even wiggle a single toe.
The fox instinctively relied more deeply on the warm body heat enveloping its entire body. As tension gradually eased in the safety it felt for the first time in a long while, irresistible drowsiness washed over it.
No… I can’t fall asleep.
It might be attacked while sleeping. Even though this man had saved it, it couldn’t be completely at ease. So it repeated to itself that it absolutely must not doze off, but its body, weaker than usual, wouldn’t follow its owner’s will.
Its eyelids grew heavy as lead and consciousness became faint. Just as it was about to fall into deep sleep, the warm, sturdy arms that had been protecting it suddenly disappeared. Sleep fled completely.
Where is this…?
When it opened its eyes, an unfamiliar space entered its vision.
It was the complete opposite of the forest full of familiar trees and the smell of earth, stones scattered here and there. This place was packed full of dazzling objects, and the smell of humans wafted strongly from all sides. It must be where humans lived.
Where is he?
When the man who saved it was nowhere to be seen, anxiety washed over it. It hurriedly scanned the surroundings. Fortunately, it could see his back not far away. Soon the door creaked open and an unfamiliar old man entered the room.
“Your Majesty, you called for me?”
Who is this?
From that old man came the bitter smell of grass and the smell of disinfectant. It was similar to the smell that came from the man called Necro. At the appearance of an unfamiliar being, the fox’s wariness surged again.
“Check its condition.”
He didn’t leave like before. Instead, he gave instructions to the old man. Then that old man began approaching the fox.
“Grrrowl…”
As the stranger took a step, the fox bared its teeth and growled low.
“Shh, good boy.”
The old man, having treated many animals, came closer slowly but without stopping, as if the fox’s wary appearance was familiar to him. Finally, the moment his hand crossed the line of warning, the fox gathered all its strength and lunged with its teeth bared toward that wrist.
At that moment, another hand swiftly extended and grabbed its body. The one who blocked it was that man himself.
“Keng!”
Why are you interfering!
Toward the fox barking as if in protest, he whispered softly.
“Calm down. No one will hurt you. They’re just trying to treat you.”
The fox still didn’t hide its fangs as it glared alternately at the two people. Distrust filled its gaze.
The man it had believed to be a benefactor who had saved it from danger twice just moments ago. The trust it had directed toward him was rapidly cooling. The moment it realized this old man of unknown identity was on the same side as Adrian, all the fox’s nerves stood on end again.
As the fox kept its guard up with its fur bristling, Adrian and the old man exchanged brief glances. Though it couldn’t know what signal they were exchanging, the fox, instinctively feeling a sense of crisis, tried to run away.
It was right then. The hand wrapped around its body suddenly applied force. It didn’t hurt. But it was a strength strong enough that it couldn’t budge. Just as the fox was twisting its body to escape, something pierced the scruff of its neck.
“Kyeng!”
Though it wasn’t pain enough to die from, the fox screamed in shock at the unexpected sting.
What? What is it!
When it quickly turned its head, it saw a thin, pointed object in the old man’s hand. He had stabbed it with that.
“Kyaaaang!”
A cry mixed with sorrow and betrayal burst from the fox’s throat.
You tricked me! You said you wouldn’t hurt me but stabbed me with something sharp! You’re trying to kill me!
Its eyes grew hot. Though it was only for a very brief moment, the betrayal toward the human it had trusted, the fear of being stabbed by something unknown, and the humiliation of being deceived all exploded at once. The fox whipped its head around and opened its mouth toward the wrist that had been holding it.
Being saved from the trap and arrow had all been deception, and that kind voice had been a lie. In the end, they were all the same. He was just one of the humans trying to harm it.
Chomp!
Small but fairly sharp fangs sank deep into his flesh. Warm blood spread in its mouth, but it didn’t let go. Instead, it bit down even deeper while glaring at him with the most fierce eyes possible.
But he didn’t even move, let alone scream. He just looked down at the fox with its teeth embedded in his hand with calm eyes. Rather, the one shocked was the white-haired old man. His face turned paler than the white clothes he wore.
“Your, Your Majesty! Your hand is bleeding…!”
Despite the old man’s outcry, he didn’t bat an eye. Rather, he looked down at the fox biting him as if finding it amusing, then spoke to the flustered old man.
“Don’t make a fuss and finish quickly.”
“Ah, b-but… ah, understood!”
The old man hurriedly reached his hand toward the fox again.
How dare you!
I’ll bite this old human too. The fox tried to lunge at the old man with its teeth bared, but suddenly its body wouldn’t obey.
The world began spinning round and round. At the same time, a strange languidness spread through its limbs as if sinking into mud. Its open jaw completely lost strength, and the legs it had been holding up gradually became powerless.
What is this? Why is this happening? This is strange. I’m scared. What did you do to me?
The blazing anger cooled in an instant. What filled that space was the helplessness crawling up its limbs and fear seeping into its bones. Its extremities grew cold. The sensations in its entire body faded one by one.
‘Ah, so this is how I die.’
The fox thought. That this was how it would end. In its fading consciousness, its parents’ faces rose distantly and then disappeared. The voice it had heard at the last moment, telling it to survive, echoed in its ears like an echo.
I’m sorry. For not surviving.
The moment consciousness scattered like fog, golden eyes flickered at the edge of its vision. What emotion was contained in those eyes—it no longer had the energy left to read it.
And the world sank into darkness.
***
Consciousness slowly returned as if rising from underwater. The first thing it felt was the softness enveloping its entire body. It was incomparably cozy compared to the touch of the cold, rough forest floor.
When it barely lifted its heavily settled eyelids, the ceiling entered its vision first. An endlessly high ceiling engraved with detailed and elegant patterns.
This is a human’s space. At the same time as that realization, it bolted upright. But a sharp pain shot up like lightning through its front paw, and it sat back down on something soft.
Catching its breath, it looked down at its front paw. Where it had been wounded was carefully wrapped with pure white bandages. Clean bandages with no smell of blood or dust. It was a trace of someone’s touch.
Then the last moments before losing consciousness came back in fragments.
The old man wearing white clothes. The sharp-tipped object in his hand and the stinging scruff of its neck.
Surely, it should have died after being hit by that sharp thing. However, it was still alive and breathing. Moreover, there were even traces of careful treatment on its wounded paw. After confirming it was alive, the confusion only deepened.
Why am I not dead yet?
Or am I already dead and is this heaven?
If it’s heaven, can I see Mom and Dad?
But why does heaven smell like humans?
Its head was in chaos. It couldn’t know what the truth was. Only one thing was certain. This place was the humans’ domain, which meant it could become dangerous at any time.
I need to get out of here.
The fox staggered down from the sofa. Fortunately, it wasn’t to the point where it couldn’t walk, but the front paw wrapped in bandages couldn’t perform its role. The fox limped toward the door.
Sniff sniff. Its round nose trembled faintly. It followed the smell seeping through the door crack. The smell of humans was faint. It seemed like there was no one around. Its tension eased slightly.
I should leave now. But… how?
The door was firmly closed. Scratch scratch scratch, it scratched at the door with its uninjured left paw, but there was no sign of it opening. Rather, only its paw hurt.
“Whiiine, whine.”
What should I do? Am I trapped?
The fox circled in front of the door looking for a way to escape. While trying to scratch and push with its front paw, it smelled several people’s scent on the golden doorknob. Suddenly, it recalled a memory of seeing a human grab the ring in the middle of the door and open it.
That’s it! If I press that, the door will definitely open!
The fox stretched its body out, but its length was insufficient. The fox, sitting with its bottom on the floor, pondered what to do when a new method came to mind, and it wiggled its bottom while fixing its gaze on the doorknob. After gathering strength by tapping the floor with its hind legs, it launched its body and hung onto the doorknob.
Thud. It dangled from the doorknob with its front paws. The doorknob went down and with a click, the door opened.
It opened! The fox quickly exited the room before a human could come. Upon leaving the door, an endless corridor unfolded.
Its heart pounded against its ribs. This place, open on all sides, was different from the forest. It didn’t know when, where, or who might appear. In this place without a single tree to hide behind, it was too easy a target. Its legs stiffened. It was hard to even take a step.
But…
The fox clenched its front paw tightly, then mustered courage and took a step forward. Tap. The sound of its claw touching marble echoed in the corridor.
‘It’s okay. I can do it. If I run into a person, I’ll just bite their nose and run away.’
The fox steeled its resolve and walked.
Stealthily. It focused only on its toes and muffled the sound. Naturally, it didn’t know the way. It just walked following the place where the human smell was weakest. It thought that if it kept going, an exit would appear eventually.
While walking down the corridor, when it suddenly looked ahead, something was standing on both sides. They were humans wearing armor.
