Chapter 173: Ivan’s Rescue
Pushing through the crowd of onlookers, I stepped outside the mansion with the exhausted Ivan and the Mystic Fox, Phonia. To give Ivan a chance to rest, I quickly found a nearby inn. Upon entering, I realized that being the closest inn to the Noble District meant it was a high-class establishment. The staff’s brows furrowed slightly at the sight of us—understandably so, given that Ivan was slumped over Nil’s back, bloodied and unconscious.
“Welcome.”
“For now, I’d like to book a room for the night,” I said, pulling out my Adventurer’s Certificate and placing a gold coin worth 100,000 Fron on the counter.
“Of course.”
Despite their surprise, the staff didn’t question the payment and promptly led us to our room. I appreciated their discretion; it was impressive how much influence money had.
“Please, make yourselves comfortable.”
We were shown to a room at the very end of the top floor. It had a master bedroom, a smaller bedroom, and even a private bath.
“I’ll change Ivan first,” I said.
“Got it. I’ll keep an eye on Phonia-chan,” Rio replied.
“Should we wash Nil too while we’re at it?”
With Ivan still on Nil’s back, we headed to the bath. It was a bit of a struggle to undress the limp body of a human, but once I realized I could use magic to lift him, it became much easier. I managed to get Ivan changed, but even while scrubbing him down, he remained blissfully unaware.
When I emerged from the bath, I found Phonia curled up in a corner of the room.
“Oh, you’re back.”
“Yeah, I’m back.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at my own words; I had only washed Ivan, but it felt like I had returned from an adventure. Phonia was still in her fox form.
“Has Phonia calmed down?”
“Yeah… She hasn’t spoken, but I think she’s settled down.”
“Can she even talk in her beast form?”
I laid Ivan on the bed, relieved to see his chest rising and falling with each breath after changing him out of his blood-soaked clothes.
“Ivan-nii!”
Before I knew it, Phonia had transformed into her human form and rushed over, her eyes brimming with tears as she climbed onto the bed. From behind, I could see her tail, which appeared to have five distinct tails.
“W-wait, Phonia-chan! Your clothes…!”
I averted my gaze at Rio’s panicked voice. It was obvious, but I had forgotten that Phonia, in her fluffy beast form, had been completely naked. A bare little girl had charged at Ivan.
“Ivan-nii! I’m so glad… You’re safe… Uwaaaah!”
As Phonia clung to Ivan, crying, we could only exchange glances, momentarily forgetting about her lack of clothing.
After a while, once Phonia had cried herself to sleep in her naked state, I finally managed to dress her.
“Ah, what…?”
Ivan finally stirred awake.
“Hey, good morning.”
“Finally awake, huh?”
The sun was beginning to set, casting a soft orange hue across the sky.
“Um, where am I…?”
He looked around, and upon spotting Phonia sleeping nearby, he let out a sigh of relief.
“This is an inn in the Imperial Capital. I just picked one at random, so I have no idea where we are exactly.”
“Randomly picked…?”
“It’s a high-class inn near the Noble District.”
“A high-class inn…”
Ivan gulped at Rio’s words.
“So, can you tell me what happened?”
“Ah, yeah…”
According to Ivan, adventurers had come to the hideout we had set up in the Forest. It turned out to be a D-rank request to capture a Fugitive Slave. For D-rank adventurers, exploring deeper into the hideout was a normal part of their range. If they could descend the cliff, they would easily discover it, even if it was hidden behind walls.
It seemed the adventurers who found the hideout were not the ones assigned to the capture request, but the rumor of a house in the Forest spread quickly.
“And so, despite my resistance, I was captured without much trouble.”
“I see…”
“It was impossible to protect Phonia while facing five of them.”
After that, he was taken to the mansion, where he suffered the violent whims of that foolish noble.
“I never thought I would be stabbed with a rapier. After that, I lost consciousness and have no memory of what happened.”
As he spoke, he gazed gently at Phonia, stroking her head with a tender touch. While I understood that he felt the need to protect her, based on her status, it seemed she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Perhaps Ivan still didn’t realize that Phonia was a Mystic Fox, a type of monster.
“I see… We arrived at the mansion just around that time.”
“What a coincidence.”
“Yeah, Ivan’s presence suddenly diminished. I thought something had happened, so I rushed over.”
I intentionally left out the details of Phonia’s transformation and recounted the events that transpired after Ivan lost consciousness.
“That’s quite a story… Shu, you guys are our saviors.”
“Umu…”
As the conversation reached a pause, Phonia stirred awake, perhaps from being petted, and let out a strange sound.
“Oh, did I wake you?”
She propped herself up, yawning widely and rubbing her eyes. Even now, she looked just like an ordinary foxkin.
“Good morning.”
“G-good morning…”
She flinched at my greeting but managed to respond, albeit shyly.
“It’s already evening, though.”
At Rio’s comment, Phonia turned her face toward the window. After a moment, a loud growl echoed from someone’s stomach, and Phonia pressed her hands against her belly, her face turning red.
“Haha, I guess I’m hungry too.”
Chuckling, I patted Phonia’s head and hopped off the bed. Despite her injuries, she seemed to walk steadily.