Miss Vulpo's Life as a Rhodes Island Operator

Miss Vulpo's Life as a Rhodes Island Operator, by Just Xiyue

First, your tail must always be groomed beautifully!

Second, keep smiling, and harmony brings wealth!

Third, when you fight, hit hard!

If I had to put it more seriously... as an outstanding employee, walk alongside those who pursue their ideals, together with Rhodes Island.

The current goal might be peace across the land!

Miss Vulpo Wants a Leisurely Life

"Hey! You! Was it you who stole my two thousand Lungmen Dollars?!"

Lungmen, Yan. The slums.

As the most chaotic district in bustling Lungmen, disputes and provocations like this happened every day without end.

A burly Zalak man with rat ears and several scars across his face grabbed the collar of a somewhat malnourished, petite Vulpo girl with a pair of fox ears.

He'd lost his money, and there was no one else nearby. That made the girl passing in front of him look extremely suspicious.

Though the girl hadn't even come close to him, as the boss of this street, the Zalak man didn't care about details like that.

Despite growing up in the slums, where it was nearly impossible to have a normal upbringing, the Vulpo girl had blossomed into a stunning beauty. Her chestnut hair reached her waist, its tips touched with silver-white, and was tied into a high ponytail with a ribbon. Her red eyes were currently brimming with innocence.

Three fox tails swayed behind her. Their carefully groomed, fluffy, silky fur showed how much the girl cherished them. Like her hair, their chestnut-colored tips were touched with silver-white.

Facing the man's fierce questioning and the lackeys who had already gathered behind him, the girl offered an exceptionally friendly smile, looking playful and adorable.

"Oh my, oh my. Don't get so worked up, handsome~"

For a Vulpo girl, words like "fox charm" seemed tailor-made for the race. Although the girl herself leaned more toward cute than seductive, her soft, sweet voice carried a natural allure that raised her charm by several levels.

And the girl knew her own charm very well.

Struggling to survive in Lungmen's slums, having too much charm could sometimes bring trouble, but most of the time, it could solve trouble with ease.

At the very least, it made the Zalak man in front of her calm down a little and let go of her collar.

The girl unhurriedly smoothed out her clothes. A delicate little Fengling hung as a decoration from the side of her black cropped jacket, chiming pleasantly, "Ring~ ring~," with her movements.

"Did you accidentally lose your money, handsome? Please don't panic. Try carefully retracing your steps," the girl continued.

Then, she generously pulled two one-hundred-Lungmen-Dollar bills from her inner jacket pocket and firmly stuffed them into the man's hand.

"I don't think anyone on this street would dare steal Rat Bro's money, right?"

She even tossed in a little flattery for the Zalak in front of her.

Having spent years in the slums, Fengling might not visit this street often, but she knew more or less which streets had troublesome local thugs.

And this "Rat Bro" matched what she knew.

Seeing how "sensible" the fox-eared girl was, Rat Bro's attitude softened.

One of Rat Bro's sharp-eyed lackeys suddenly gave him a discreet signal.

"Rat Bro, look at her waist!"

The lackey was pointing Rat Bro toward the Fengling at the girl's waist.

"A three-tailed Vulpo, with a Fengling hanging from her waist..."

Only then did Rat Bro recall certain rumors.

She was exceptionally skilled at wind-manipulating Originium Arts and counted as a formidable fighter in Lungmen's slums.

Rumor had it that the leader of a northern street had taken a liking to the girl's beauty and brought more than a dozen men to surround her, intending to force himself on her.

The result was one dead and everyone else seriously injured.

Since she had been acting in self-defense, and the other side's conduct had been especially vile...

Even though someone had died, to put it bluntly... this was the slums. Things like this happened almost every day—

The girl had merely spent a few days eating pork cutlet rice in a Lungmen Guard Department cell before being released on grounds of self-defense.

The person he'd casually grabbed wasn't some nobody.

"Y-you're Fengling?"

Good grief!

Rat Bro had no intention of gambling with his life here.

The young lady in front of him had really killed people before!

"Oh? Am I that famous already?"

Fengling covered her mouth, surprise in her eyes.

But the three tails behind her suddenly fanned out, as if quietly warning him.

"W-we're leaving!"

Clutching the two hundred Lungmen Dollars Fengling had stuffed into his hand, Rat Bro didn't know whether to take it or refuse it—what if he offended the girl's pride and got retaliated against?

He'd heard some big shots were that temperamental!

Rat Bro could only grit his teeth and leave with the two bills.

Before long, Fengling was the only one left by the street.

After a brief silence...

"Pfft! Hahaha..."

Fengling finally seemed unable to hold it in any longer and chuckled.

Giving him two hundred Lungmen Dollars wasn't because Fengling was generous.

In the slums, even if you kept to certain bottom lines, being able to fight didn't necessarily mean you could earn a meal. The girl's life was still rather tight.

But the reason she'd been so generous...

Was because Fengling had really found two thousand Lungmen Dollars.

Don't expect Fengling, struggling to survive in the slums, to have particularly high moral standards. Returning lost money depended on who had lost it.

Besides, by ordinary standards, Fengling was no longer exactly a good person.

In a situation like this... naturally, she'd rob the robber!

"Looks like I can have an extra dish tonight!"

Her three fox tails swayed gently in rhythm, making it clear that Fengling was in an excellent mood.

Unlike her wind-manipulating Originium Arts.

Her ability to always find "high-value" items seemed to be an instinct Fengling had been born with.

But the definition of "high-value" was extremely broad.

Finding money today showed that money was something very important to Rat Bro.

But sometimes, that vague intuition also guided Fengling toward worn-out stuffed dolls, stopped pocket watches... things most people would consider "trash."

So an occasional flash of inspiration couldn't guarantee Fengling a carefree life.

Still, those items... must have been very important to their original owners.

"If I could go to the lower city and help people find lost things, maybe I could make a fortune without much effort."

Fengling sighed as she walked.

Being able to live a slightly more leisurely life—just slightly—was the dream she could currently imagine.

But unfortunately, even such a dream felt far out of reach.

She didn't even know how much longer she had left to live.

Her three tails swayed faintly again.

They weren't natural. Fengling had heard that some Vulpo really were born with multiple tails.

But hers were a "mutation."

Oripathy.

The culprit that had made her life such a mess.

As an infected person, Fengling could cast Originium Arts with her bare hands, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Put simply, infected people used their own bodies as the casting unit for Originium Arts.

The more they used them, the faster their condition deteriorated. In the end, they died and became explosive dust made of active Originium.

Then they infected the next unlucky person.

As long as you came into contact with active Originium, one careless mistake could give you a high chance of becoming infected for all sorts of reasons.

Because of its powerful contagiousness, infected people were deeply unwelcome in Lungmen.

Of course, it was basically the same everywhere else on this land—sometimes even worse.

Being able to live safely in the slums was already better than in many places across the land.

Dreams were beautiful, but she still had to eat.

"Hehe~"

In high spirits, Miss Vulpo arrived at one of her favorite stalls.

Usually, she couldn't afford to come here for a proper filling meal.

Dong's Fish Balls.

Though the signature fish balls truly were exceptional, in Lungmen, vendors selling balls more or less always had other products as well.

"Brother Jiejie, the secret menu. Tumor Beast Balls! Three servings today!"

Fengling generously laid out several bills and said with a smile.

Miss Vulpo Wants to Go to Rhodes Island!

"Thank you for your patronage. Your three servings of Tumor Beast Balls."

The young man tending Dong's Fish Balls spoke in a flat tone and looked utterly unmotivated, but his hands never stopped working.

Lungmen Tumor Beast Balls weren't heavily seasoned during cooking. What mattered was their crisp, springy chew. Once boiled and paired with a little special sauce, they became an exquisite delicacy.

Fengling could only come indulge occasionally, when she had a little extra money.

There weren't many foods in Lungmen's slums that Fengling craved, so after coming here year after year, she absolutely counted as a regular at this stall.

"Mmm~"

She picked one up with a toothpick and tossed it into her mouth. As she chewed, a rich meaty aroma and a little broth burst across her tongue.

Fengling's fox ears even twitched from time to time along with her chewing.

With three full servings of balls, Fengling naturally wasn't going to stand there eating the whole time, so she headed toward the seats behind the stall.

A mobile stall couldn't carry many tables and chairs, but it still had somewhere for customers to rest their feet.

And today, Fengling wasn't the only one in the mood to enjoy delicious food at Dong's Fish Balls.

"Oh? Uncle Lin's here too?"

Fengling openly shared a table, taking the empty seat across from an elderly Zalak man whose beastly traits were more pronounced.

The old man Fengling called "Uncle Lin" was also practically a regular here. Even when he wasn't patronizing the stall for business, he often wandered over during his walks.

Over time, Fengling, who also frequented the stall year-round, became familiar with Uncle Lin.

His ratlike face looked somewhat kind, yet carried an air of quiet authority.