The afternoon sun filtered through the dense canopy of trees, casting dappled shadows over the neatly tended garden. A gentle breeze stirred the edges of the gazebo, fluttering the white curtains lazily around its wooden frame. At the center of the gazebo sat a large round table, topped with tea, snacks, and a single unconscious mage bound to a pillar behind them with glittering ice chains.
"So, let me get this straight," Amari said slowly, her fingers laced together on the polished wooden table. She sat upright, her tone stern yet bewildered. "On your very first day, you met Ed—the guild master—and his wife, Tracy. Then, instead of just finishing a simple orc elimination quest like anyone else, you stumble upon a battlefield in the Emerald Forest where 23 people are lying around injured, and somehow there's also a valley of destroyed trees?"
Zagan, who sat beside her with his arms crossed, shook his head in disbelief. "A whole valley?"
"I wouldn't say valley exactly," I replied, lazily spinning my ice teacup between my fingers. The cold emanating from it gave a satisfying chill that grounded me. "But yeah, close enough. The trees looked like something out of a war zone."
Amari leaned back slightly, her brows furrowed. "And after assessing the situation, you decided you could only save sixteen of the wounded?"
Her voice had softened, and I caught the conflicted gleam in her eyes. I sighed quietly. That tone again—the one that assumed every life could be saved if only we tried hard enough.
"Don't make that face," I said, my voice deliberately calm. "There wasn't much we could do. We didn't have a healer with us, and time was ticking. I'm still trying to learn healing magic on my own, but… it's not exactly my forte currently."
Amari looked down for a moment, nodding solemnly. "I understand. It's just—"
"Let's get back to the story," she said, cutting herself off with a small breath and forcing a neutral expression.
As she spoke, I caught Zagan giving her a side glance. He was clearly struggling with the same idealistic mindset. These two individuals still hadn't learned the first rule of adventuring.
'I don't understand how people care so deeply about random strangers dying,' I thought, watching them. 'It's inefficient. Unproductive. I should ask Mom if she wants to help change that mindset of hers later.'
"Anyway," Amari continued, tapping her nails against the table's edge, "after you identified the sixteen survivors and froze them for preservation, Kayda transformed into her dragon form and flew them to the capital for treatment."
Zagan, his curiosity piqued, looked up. "Wait. I've only read about dragon forms in theory. Isn't Kayda a fire dragon? How did you use ice magic on her? Wouldn't her scales burn anything before it even touched her?"
I grinned, a little too proud of myself. "My ice is special. It's not the run-of-the-mill kind. It's adaptive, and Kayda has better control over her body temperature than any dragon I've seen. She let it happen."
"Umm, Kitsu?" Amari interjected with a raised brow and an awkward smile. "You really need to think more before you speak sometimes."
"Huh?" I tilted my head, genuinely confused for a moment before waving it off. "Don't worry about it."
Amari cleared her throat and moved on. "So, after she flew off, twelve orcs entered the clearing, and you and your group held them off. Most of them were taken down. That is, until—" She pointed at the unconscious fire mage still chained behind me. "She showed up and stole a few of your kills. Then you… brought her back? Why?"
I looked at the girl, her limbs still rigidly encased in translucent chains of magic-infused ice. She groaned faintly but didn't wake.
"I don't know. Honestly, I don't really care anymore," I said, staring at her. "Initially, I believed she owed me repayment. Then I realized she had already suffered enough. Did you lose your dignity mid-fight, get choked out in front of your party, and then watch your comrades abandon you? Yeah, that's punishment enough."
With a flick of my wrist, the chains crumbled away in a slow cascade of shimmering frost, and the mage slumped forward, collapsing to the grass like a broken doll.
Zagan, unfazed, casually poured himself more tea. "After you grabbed her by the neck, her party arrived, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah. They didn't like that I nearly froze their friend to death. We argued. During the shouting match, the people I came with circled behind me to prepare a sneak attack.
Amari looked horrified. "Wait, they tried to betray you? But they were with you on the mission!"
I glanced at her. "Probably thought I'd be vulnerable without Kayda there. They must've known about the bounty on me from the Federation. A high-value fox girl alone in the forest? Tempting."
My hand clenched without thinking, and the teacup shattered again in my grip. I groaned in frustration and hurled the icy shards to the floor.
"Damn it!"
"That's your fifth cup today," Amari noted, exasperated. She refilled a new one for me from the pitcher beside her, her movements smooth from repetition.
"Yeah, well, at least I can—"
I froze mid-sentence, sensing something.
From the sky, a figure descended with impossible grace, her white wings catching the light like a divine signal. Her golden hair shimmered, fluttering down around her as she touched the ground without making a sound.
"Hello, Rachel," I said, forcing a smile. "Long time no see."
"Kitsune~!" Rachel whined, rushing over like an eager puppy and jumping straight into my lap.
"Ha-ha, what's with you today?" I asked, trying not to sound too irritated as I caught her awkwardly. I took a moment to observe her more closely. Her white wings looked the same, but the hair was new—golden instead of pink—and the most striking addition was the single gold feather under each of her eyes. Subtle but impossible to miss.
"I got my class!" she said proudly. "Light Sage. A legendary one!"
My smile twitched. "... what now?"
Behind me, Amari and Zagan both yelped, and I instinctively slapped ice chains onto their heads to shut them up.
"Ow!" they groaned in unison, rubbing the impact points.
'I knew she was gunning for that class,' I thought. But I figured it would fall under exotic, not legendary. This complicates things again.'
"What was that for?!" Amari hissed.
"For yelling like idiots," I replied.
"Yes! How could you hurt poor Kitsuna's ears?" Rachel pouted dramatically, and before I could respond, she slid behind me and began gently rubbing my ears.
'Great,' I thought dryly. 'Now she's being that Rachel again.'
"Amari," I muttered, keeping my face neutral, "can you leave us for a while?"
"But—"
"Come on," Zagan interrupted, taking her arm. "Let's go. It's for the best."
As he passed, he leaned close and whispered just loud enough for me to hear, "Keep her away from me."
I grinned at his retreating back. 'Heh. Afraid of a little light magic, are we, shadow boy?'
Once they were gone, Rachel wasted no time. She plopped herself fully into my lap, straddling my waist with an irritatingly smug look.
"Now that we're alone, we can talk freely," she said, settling in like a cat claiming territory.
"Did you have to sit on me?" I asked, pushing against her lightly.
"But it's so comfy here," she whined, nuzzling into my neck again.
I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Just… move your wings. I need to reach my tea."
She happily complied, folding her wings tightly so they didn't obstruct the table.
"So," she said sweetly, "I heard you were in some danger today."
"Not really. It was just another job," I replied. "Went out with Kayda and a few randos from the guild. I managed to rescue several injured individuals, suffered a few casualties, experienced betrayal, and assisted in the firing and execution of a corrupt guild employee. You know. Standard day."
Rachel blinked. "Executed?"
"Yep. His name was Dev. It turned out that he had either injured or killed his own team in order to save himself. Kayda saw through it and dealt with him."
Rachel's eyes widened. "By Kayda? That woman killed Sir Dev?"
'Oops,' I thought. 'Should've kept that part vague.'
"Yeah, isn't she awesome?" I said quickly. "Strong. Brilliant. Amazing teacher, too."
Rachel huffed. "I can teach you things."
"I know," I said dryly. "I just don't need what you're offering yet."
"You're so mean!" She whined again, pouting and burying her head into my neck.
"You're always like this. "You are always playful and teasing, but I want the serious version of Kitsuna back," she mumbled into my collarbone. "She's really hot."
"Huh?" I blinked. "What are you talking about?"
Rachel pulled back and began to list the different types of Kitsuna. "There's playful Kitsuna—like now. Then there was serious Kitsuna, the one who performed surgery on me without flinching. Then there's that smirking one, the one who enjoys fighting a little too much."
I paused. 'Huh. Do I have personality shifts without realizing it? No… it's more likely that I am just wearing different masks. Or maybe… maybe I really am starting to split a bit.'
"I never knew I acted so differently," I said aloud.
"Serious Kitsuna was just here!" Rachel exclaimed, shaking my shoulders.
"Rachel. Stop doing that. It's annoying."
"Oops. Sorry!" she said with a sheepish grin.
"Well, anyway… I need to go. Kayda's arriving," I said, sensing the magical threads of my ice chains drawing closer.
"Oh?" Rachel tilted her head. "Do you still have any unfinished business with her?"
"Yeah. And apparently, she brought me another 'present.'"
"Again?"
"Yep. I've got skills that make handling these gifts more effective."
Rachel shivered at my smirk and instinctively took a step back.
"Can I come with you?" she asked.
I glared at her.
"No."
With that, I vanished using Flash Step, leaving nothing but a faint swirl of wind in my place.
I reappeared in front of Kayda, who was casually dragging Gaby and his party behind her like oversized luggage.
"Huh? Nova?" A surprised voice called out. I turned and spotted Catrina standing next to Kayda, arms folded.
"Wait, what are you doing here?" I asked, surprised.