After a long while, the Scholar finally recovered from the intensely sour taste.
He raised a hand and wiped the corner of his eye.
The sourness had really brought tears to his eyes.
"Hehehe~"
Little White Fox laughed until its eyes curved into crescents.
The Scholar couldn't help baring his teeth in a grimace.
So it had been a prank?
The sour taste of the fruit still lingered in his mouth.
It was unpleasant.
But the corners of his mouth curved upward.
"Are you a fox spirit?"
"You really are a fox spirit..."
The Scholar didn't need the fox to answer.
He had already come to the conclusion himself.
"You..."
The Scholar clenched his hands.
He really had... met a fox spirit.
A genuine... fox spirit, just like the ones in books...
"...Can you turn into a human?"
The Scholar was both curious and excited.
He tried to calm himself down.
But found it a little difficult.
The Scholar took a deep breath.
"How did you save me just now?"
"Was it magic?"
"What kind of magic can you use?"
"Can you use the Fireball Technique?"
The Scholar asked about all the things that had puzzled and intrigued him while reading, along with his own guesses.
How irritatingly talkative.
Watching the Scholar chatter endlessly below, Little White Fox pursed its lips.
Its expression was full of disdain.
He wanted to see it transform, too?
Hmph.
In his dreams.
"...Are the stories about fox spirits and scholars true?"
The most widely circulated tales about fox spirits fell into two categories.
One claimed that fox spirits bewitched humans and cultivated by absorbing the vital essence of human men.
The other told of a fox spirit and a scholar who met, came to know and understand