"Corrupting Potion...?" Chen Ce's first reaction was, That counts as equipment? His second was, All right, it actually does.
A Corrupting Potion was worth five hundred gold in the Rift—one or two hundred more than other starting items like a Long Sword, a Short Sword, or Cloth Armor. This was definitely a good deal.
If it could be used an unlimited number of times, it really wasn't any worse than the other starting items.
Not bad.
Chen Ce was quite satisfied with completing the quest and getting his reward.
Until... a strange sound brought him back to reality:
"Mmm... mmnh..."
He looked down and saw Ahri, who had been standing there posing just a moment ago, sprawled on the ground.
Her slender waist arched slightly upward, and her nine tails covered her beautiful body like a blanket. The part where they joined her body had been forced to stick up—ouch, it hurt so much!
As a long-tailed Vastaya, just like most animals with long tails, her tail was the most sensitive part of her body.
When someone rubbed her tail, she would...
Well...
It wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't comfortable either. All in all, it was a... very strange feeling.
She felt strange all over.
Her breathing grew quick and heavy, like she was panting after strenuous exercise.
As for her expression...
She looked as though she'd been thoroughly worn out.
Ahri's fair cheeks had flushed an unusual red, and her amber eyes were starting to roll back.
She was numb with shock.
She had never suffered such an indignity.
As a Nine-Tailed Fox born with the ability to control people's minds, her earliest memories were of running with a group of arctic foxes in northern Shon-Xan. She knew she wasn't one of them, but they treated her as though they shared the same soul and welcomed her into their pack.
During those days of wild hunting, she gradually discovered that she had a mysterious ability—the Vastayan magic flowing through her veins.
Though no one had taught her, she learned to use this power in her own way. Most often, she used it to sharpen her reflexes so she could chase down prey. If she crept close carefully, she could even soothe a frightened fawn. Even with her sharp teeth sunk into its flesh, it would remain calm and peaceful.
Little by little, she developed this ability to its fullest: the power to control minds and absorb memories.
Once she had mastered it, hunting became easy, and she hardly ever found herself in danger.
She had never felt as wronged as she did today. She hadn't managed to absorb any life essence, and she'd had her tail yanked around.
She felt wronged and miserable, with a hint of anger.
So even though she was afraid of Chen Ce, she still used her weak voice to demand sternly:
"What are you doing~~!"
"..." For an instant, Chen Ce thought he'd been transported back to Blue Star.
But the rather suggestive sight before him brought him back to reality.
First he looked at Ahri, whose eyes were red and who seemed on the verge of tears. Then he looked at the little potion bottle in his hand.
A sense of guilt welled up inside him.
Unfortunately... he felt guilty, but not that guilty.
"You were the one who had bad intentions first. This was just self-defense."
"When did I ever have bad intentions toward you!" Ahri was so worked up that she even forgot to use her usual way of referring to herself.
"I know you wanted to eat me—or, rather, absorb my life essence."
"I, I... I didn't...! You're slandering me...!"
"Let's not pretend." Chen Ce shook his head and made as if to grab her tail again.
She immediately shrank back toward the corner. "B-but I hadn't even managed to absorb anything...! What gave you the right to attack me...!"
"This was a normal attempt to stop a crime, and reasonable self-defense."
"That's not reasonable at all...!"
"It is."
"It isn't...!"
"It is." Chen Ce stood by his view of self-defense.
But what he hadn't expected was that the fox girl in front of him was even more fragile than he'd imagined.
Clutching her growling stomach and rubbing her slightly reddened eyes, she sniffled and began to sob:
"You're bullying a fox... Wuuuhuhu..."
"..." The moment she started sobbing, Chen Ce suddenly realized something.
Maybe this fox girl... wasn't quite like the Ahri the Nine-Tailed Fox he remembered...
The Nine-Tailed Fox in his memory was mature, a "fully realized" version. But this fox girl... at this point in the timeline, she might not have been able to take human form for very long.
At this point in her life, she hadn't even accidentally killed anyone—apart from the first time she tasted life essence. That time, she had found a hunter who'd been hit by an arrow and was dying. She ended his hopeless suffering and gained his memories.
Later on, she must have absorbed more life essence and gained more human memories, becoming fascinated by them.
Early on, she could still control herself. She wouldn't kill anyone by absorbing too much life essence. As she gained their memories, she could feel her victims' pain and felt guilty and distressed about it, so she knew when to stop.
But later, she gradually became unable to suppress her hunter's instincts and killed quite a few people. But that was in the future, when she was the "fully realized" or "mature" version of herself.
Right now, she was only "young Ahri."
If she couldn't absorb other people's memories, her knowledge might not have been much greater than a child's...
Of course, even with all that knowledge, her maturity was another matter...
And even if the Vastaya matured faster than humans, her mental age might only have been fourteen or fifteen...
"Ah... my fault, my fault. Don't cry..." This time, Chen Ce really did feel a little guilty. The Nine-Tailed Fox before him was still a child and hadn't yet committed the sort of evil that took lives. Now he looked more like the bad guy.
"Wuu..." Ahri pouted slightly, her eyes and cheeks red, as though she'd suffered some terrible injustice.
Well, to her, having her tail rubbed really was a terrible injustice. It was such a sensitive part of her body that having someone rub it nearly drove her to pieces.
But... she only dared to argue a little, all wronged, and didn't dare to fight back at all, let alone use force.
The terror Chen Ce inspired had already been branded deep in her mind.
How could she dare fight back? All she could do was flee with her tail between her legs...
"It was wrong of me to want to eat you, but you did that to me too... So we're even...! I'm leaving...!"
With that, she struggled to get up from the floor and immediately headed for the door.
But just as she was about to leave, a large hand grabbed her once again—thankfully, not by the tail.
"Don't go yet." Chen Ce's voice came from behind her.
Ahri panicked instantly.
She remembered the terrifying way he'd threatened Samira earlier...
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...!"
The instant Ahri turned around, she bowed several times. Her beautiful eyes were filled with "fear of a pervert."
"I was wrong... I shouldn't have had bad intentions toward you... You can beat me or scold me as much as you like... You can even do whatever else you want to me... Just please spare my life...!"
"...?" Chen Ce froze, Corrupting Potion in hand, and stared at her in bewilderment. "What are you talking about?"
"Y-you're not going to threaten me...?" Ahri cautiously raised her head, looking as startled as a frightened little fox. "Make me do something bad... or kill me if I refuse..."
"...You saw that?"
"Mm... No, no...! I-I didn't see anything! I didn't see a thing!"
"..."
"Please, spare me... Wuu..."
"I didn't say I was going to do anything to you..." Chen Ce shook his head helplessly. "I just wanted to give you a little compensation."
"Compensation...?" Ahri warily glanced again at the bottle in his hand.
She could smell a strange... fragrance.
But that wasn't what drew her attention most.
What drew her attention most was the pendant around Chen Ce's neck—a blue, teardrop-shaped gem.
There were two reasons she'd taken an interest in Chen Ce. One was that the life essence she could smell on him was much sweeter and richer than most people's. The other was that pendant.
"Hmm? You want this?" Chen Ce noticed that she kept staring at the Tear of the Goddess around his neck.
"I do..." Ahri answered timidly.
"This? No, you can't have it."
"Oh..."
"But I'm guessing it's the energy inside that attracted you?"
"Mm..."
"Then I've got something else I can give you instead." Chen Ce waved the Corrupting Potion in his hand. "You can drink this."
In theory, the "life essence" this fox girl absorbed was "mana" plus "health," or, in other words, "life force" plus "magic." That was why she was interested in the Tear of the Goddess, which contained a great deal of magic.
But clearly, a Corrupting Potion that replenished both her "mana" and "health" would suit her better. It simply didn't contain very much, so at first glance it wasn't as appealing as the Tear of the Goddess.
"This...?" Ahri looked at the strange pink potion and tilted her head in confusion.
Thankfully, she didn't know much about... that sort of banned drug in the human world. Otherwise, she'd have been so frightened that she would've bolted on the spot.
"I think this can fill your stomach in place of my life essence." Chen Ce held out the bottle. He did want to make it up to her, but he didn't want to damage his own body—he might even end up with a bout of memory loss or something.
If it was a Corrupting Potion, he didn't have to worry.
It would refill automatically the next day, anyway.
Besides... the wool came from the sheep.
"Drink up. You can have as much as you want."
"Oh..." Ahri cautiously took the bottle, a trace of suspicion in her eyes.
But before long, the strange scent drew her in.
She was just too hungry.
She wasn't quite so hungry that she'd eat anything, but she was at least three seconds away from starving to death.
"Then... I'll drink it...?"
"Go ahead. Take big gulps." Chen Ce waved magnanimously.
Seeing this, Ahri stopped hesitating and quickly opened the cap.
Then she put the bottle straight to her lips and drank.
When the strange pink liquid slid down her throat, her eyes widened.
The taste was... strange, but... so good!
Her cautious little sips soon turned into greedy gulps.
In no time, the four- or five-hundred-milliliter bottle of Corrupting Potion was empty.
"Puhah~!" Ahri couldn't help making the sort of sound a drunk made after downing a large mug of beer.
She shook the empty bottle, then parted her lips slightly toward Chen Ce.
Her nimble pink tongue curled inside her mouth, while a little saliva and warm breath lingered between her white teeth.
"I drank... all of it..."
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