Term and Kechachachka. Quite the peculiar combination.
When you lined them up like this, both being Mages, the orthodox Term and the thoroughly suspicious Kechachachka presented strikingly opposite impressions.
Still, though I'd assembled the group on a whim, they'd since become the most reassuring allies I could ask for. I'd better butter them up. If another dragon showed up, I'd need them fighting alongside me...
Term's eyes went wide at the sight of me beaming at him. His gaze shifted to Chryss, who was lying on the floor clutching her stomach.
"...What happened?"
"Hmm? Oh, well... it's a long story. Nothing to worry about."
Even for a proud Spiritfolk, admitting to having stuffed your face with Amuz Nuts and gotten a stomachache would be too much for their dignity.
Chryss glared at me with tearful eyes for having been considerate of her feelings, then muttered in a small voice, almost groaning.
"Everything... that person over there... the weakling... said is correct. Don't worry about it."
As long as she had enough energy to put on a brave front, she'd probably be fine. Still, getting a stomachache from eating Amuz Nuts—Mages really had it rough.
"The guard shift discussion? If that's what you're here for, I was planning to pair Kechachachka and Term as before, but... the Royal Guard members are pretty capable too, and leaving it to them alone is still a bit worrying."
I flashed a hard-boiled grin while subtly flattering the Hunter.
Pairing Kechachachka with Term was a decision born of cold logic.
First, I had zero confidence that I could communicate with Kechachachka during the escort. Pairing with Kill Knight, whose actions were unpredictable, was equally worrisome. Chryss was even worse at communication than I was, so by process of elimination, I had no choice but to shove Kechachachka onto Term. This was the downside of hotpot recruitment.
"Oh right, want some?"
Term furrowed his brow at the text printed on the large bag of nuts I held out, and said in a gruff voice.
"...Amuz Nuts inhibit magic manipulation. They're not something a Mage should eat during a guard duty."
"Mm-hmm, yeah, you're right..."
Chryss's face turned beet red as she clutched her stomach and glared up at me with undisguised resentment. Since I wasn't a Mage myself, I happily crunched away at the nuts.
All you needed to activate a Treasure Weapon was no magic at all.
"But if you really had to, the magic interference from Amuz Nuts is something you could endure with enough willpower. They're great for training, actually."
Or so Citry had told me. Lucia had chimed in agreement.
The reason I loved Amuz Nuts so much was that I'd gotten my hands on a whole box of them back then and stuffed myself until I was full.
Kechachachka was staring at me as if I were some kind of suspicious object. Well, I wasn't about to tell him to eat any.
"So, if it's not about the shift, what brings you?"
Maybe it was going to be some kind of "I can't follow a leader like you anymore" speech. Very well—then you be the leader.
Term straightened his expression into something stern, addressing me—the guy with zero tension who was busy crunching away at nuts—as if whispering a secret.
"Thousand Transformations... you have a 'tail,' don't you?"
"...Huh?"
My eyes went wide in sheer confusion. A dumb sound escaped my lips. But Term's expression was dead serious.
No way... that's impossible. How did it leak out...?
Nobody was supposed to know. The only people who knew I had a tail were the members of my Party, the Mourning Specters, and I couldn't imagine them spilling the beans.
But there was unshakable conviction in Term's eyes. It wasn't a slip of the tongue, either.
A human like me having a tail was absurd, and there was no way to talk my way out of this.
You can't put a lid on people's mouths, huh? Maybe I'd gotten drunk and let it slip somewhere.
This was bad... I'd resolved to keep it a secret.
I turned to Chryss, who was squatting on the ground looking utterly bewildered. Sorry about your stomach, but this was information Chryss absolutely could not know.
In truth, Kechachachka and Term shouldn't know either...
"Chryss, sorry, but could you step out for a bit? I have something important to discuss."
"Huh...? What... gkkk..."
"This is... a very delicate matter. I'm sorry. I'm the leader this time, right? I'll make it quick."
"Nnngh... I'm telling Lucia on you..."
I watched Chryss slither out like a caterpillar. Next time, I'd buy her something sweet that wasn't nuts.
I took a deep breath and looked at Term and Kechachachka.
The 'tail.' It wasn't, strictly speaking, a tail—it was a chunk of living Mana Material.
We had once encountered a[Wandering Inn]and surrendered without the slightest chance of resistance, but that didn't mean we'd come back empty-handed.
There was one thing we'd brought back. Or rather, one thing that had been forced upon us.
A tail. As proof that we'd survived the[Wandering Inn], the thirteen-tailed demon fox had given us its last tail—one of the thirteen it bore.
We called it the "Final Tail of the Divine Fox"—that lump of dangerous magic, severed from the boss we'd been forced to take with us, which even after all these years still showed no sign of fading.
§ § § There was no doubt about it. The man before him was a Fox operative.
Kechachachka had been certain of it the moment Klye Andrich had shown that telltale reaction.
Asking about the 'tail.' It was a code known among Fox members.
It was rarely used, but when a lower-ranking member had confirmed the identity of a higher-ranking member, this was the question posed as verification.
The higher-ranking member who received it could deflect or reveal their identity. It was a system that only worked because the superior already knew the subordinate.
Having expelled Chryss, Thousand Transformations raised both hands as if to surrender and said with a sheepish grin.
"I don't know how you found out, but you'd better keep it to yourself. It puts me in a tough spot."
"...Did you really think I wouldn't notice? Your behavior has been far too suspicious."
Term Apoclis was a terrifying man. He possessed power befitting a Level 7, and caution befitting a Level 7.
The magic he wielded was among the top five of all the Mages Kechachachka had ever witnessed. At the very least, in terms of direct killing ability, Kechachachka couldn't hold a candle to him.
Term gathered the magic circulating within his body and shifted into an attack stance. It looked like a natural posture at first glance, but Kechachachka—being a Mage himself—could sense the razor-sharp magic and honed killing intent behind it.
But Thousand Transformations was even more relaxed than Term. He didn't so much as flinch under Term's killing intent. He almost seemed as though he understood nothing at all.
"Umm... now that's a pickle. Have I really been acting suspiciously?"
"Are you admitting that you're a 'Fox'?"
"???? 'Fox'? No... as you can see, I'm a 'human.'"
Thousand Transformations answered exactly as the code prescribed. Terrifying acting ability.
Even with all this circumstantial evidence, Kechachachka still couldn't see anything but an ordinary man before him.
That half-hearted, troubled-looking smile on his face—Term pressed on with a quiet interrogation.
"What number tail is yours...?"
"Wha...? ...The thirteenth."
"!?"
At that answer, his eyes went wide involuntarily.
The Fox hierarchy had the ninth tail as the highest. A thirteenth was impossible. Term seemed to have expected a different answer as well, and for the first time, his expression twisted.
Leaving the confused Kechachachka behind, Term spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Impossible... there are only nine tails."
"Huh...? Oh, I grew a new one. They appear every time I accumulate enough power. Oh wait, you didn't know that...?"
There was not the slightest hint that he was lying.
If those words were true, then the twenty-year-old man before him was staggeringly above him in rank.
Kechachachka had expected as much. He'd fought superior beings before, more than once. And yet, even so, he couldn't help but shudder at those words.
Just how much talent and accomplishment would one need to amass in order to reach the rank of top executive in the "Nine-Tailed Shadow Fox" at the tender age of twenty? Penetrating that organization, which maintained absolute secrecy, to that degree had to be harder than receiving a Level 8 certification from the Explorer's Guild.
"Is Chryss one of you?"
"No, she has nothing to do with any of this."
"Hmm... then, let me see this 'tail' of yours..."
The 'seventh.' The superior member of the "Nine-Tailed Shadow Fox," Stillwater Term Apoclis, asked without betraying any emotion.
Thousand Transformations blinked and, in a perfectly guileless voice, gave the correct answer.
"No, 'I can't show it to you right now.' I've left it with my younger sister."
...Sister?
§ § § What in the world had just happened?
While I was still trying to make sense of things, Term cut in with a brief question.
"Tell me the plan."
It seemed the tail business was settled for now. Apparently Term had one too, but... oh well.
If we'd received tails, there was nothing strange about Term and his group having received theirs too. It was a miraculous probability, but not something worth discussing during a guard detail.
The tail was a lump of magic. For a Mage, it was both extraordinarily useful and extraordinarily dangerous.
The fact that he'd said tails numbered only nine meant they might have received theirs far earlier than we had.
...Just how old was Term? If I recalled correctly, that fox bastard had said the thirteenth tail had grown a hundred years ago.
"Like I said before, the pairings stay as usual. We'll basically follow Franz's lead."
"Can Kill Knight be trusted?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, he's a bit suspicious, isn't he? No worries, though. I can control him."
I answered Term's serious expression with a casual tone. It seemed he'd been worried about it after all, even if he hadn't said so.
Now where did I put that controller...
Well, I figured independent-thinking mode wasn't really a problem. Besides, Citry had handed him over to me.
"No need to worry. I don't think anything will happen for a while."
"Ke-ke..."
"The real problems start once we're flying. If something goes wrong up there, there's no escape."
"I see... understood."
Term nodded with a stern expression. Maybe it was because we'd both been saddled with tails, but the distance between us seemed to have shrunk a little.
I wonder if I could smooth things over with Term and resolve the grudge between him and Abyssal Annihilation... probably not.
"I'll leave the combat to Term. That was spectacular magic. You might even surpass Abyssal Annihilation."
"Rose is too flashy. It's a matter of fit."
"Kechachachka, you've been holding your own too. I'm counting on you. Unleash those hexes to your heart's content."
"Heh heh heh..."
Kechachachka nodded along to my hard-boiled instructions with a bob of his head. He seemed like a far better guy than he looked. I wished Riiz and the others would learn a thing or two from his cooperativeness.
"Don't worry. We're the best team there is. A commission like this should be a walk in the park. Let's do this."
I gave a hearty nod, and in a burst of enthusiasm, thrust my fist into the air with a triumphant "Alright!"