Soon after, I decided to step out and wander a bit. Being stared at by Leitir, Elaya, Yakura, Likos, and those Foxfolk elders with eyes like lanterns of expectation felt… a little suffocating.
They were overjoyed, of course. They even wanted to prepare a feast. But when Yakura thought of how bare the Foxfolk pantry was, he wore a wry smile. “We don’t have much left in the tribe, but we’ll try our best!”
“No need,” I said, keeping my tone light, like wind over reeds. “Lingxiao and Lingsaki brought plenty when we left. Just lend me the kitchen.”
“Lord Mizumi, you’ll cook yourself? That’s impossible!”
“It’s fine. I’m used to it at home.”
“But—” Yakura didn’t finish. Lanxia cut in, tail-twitching and impatient. “You talk too much! If Mizumi says so, you lend the kitchen—no objections! And just thinking about his cooking… this dragon’s stomach is already howling.”
Her drool began to glisten like dew at dawn. “What are you all standing around for? Get the kitchen ready for Mizumi!”
“At once!”
Lanxia’s order cracked like thunder. Yakura, Likos, and the elders bowed and hurried off.
“Leitir, Elaya,” I said, steady as a stone in a stream, “spread our news to everyone in the Foxfolk tribe and have them gather in the courtyard tonight.”
“Understood!” They rushed away like sparrows startled into flight.
“Lanxia, take Nalu. Map the forest’s terrain. Scout the Tiger Clan and Wolf Clan—locations and conditions.”
“Mizumi, no need to fuss. This dragon could sneeze and make those lowly beastfolk kneel.”
“That means nothing. Take Nalu and go.”
“I’ll follow Mizumi’s orders in all things!”
“I’ll do my best with Lady Lanxia to complete the task!”
…
Along the path before the courtyard, I strolled with my sisters and Lixue, our footsteps soft as falling leaves.
“Dear Brother,” Lingxiao asked, her voice like warm tea, “are you troubled?”
She must have seen me drift. Her hand tightened around mine, a small harbor in a cold tide.
“Mm. Helping the Foxfolk won’t be easy.”
“Why? One warning from you should settle it.”
“And when we leave? Time will wash it back to the old shape. Out here in the backwoods, the Mizumi name won’t echo long.”
“You’re right. Then… have you already thought of a way?”
“Mostly. This forest sits within the Ice Rock Empire, doesn’t it? I plan to have Colton shelter the Foxfolk. In other words, make the Foxfolk a vassal of the Bingsel Royal House.”
“Emperor, that might work,” Lixue said, calm as snow. “But the Ice Rock Empire isn’t Colton alone. Making the Foxfolk a royal vassal will draw noble opposition.”
“That’s Colton’s headache. Tonight, we ask the Foxfolk if they’re willing to become Bingsel vassals.”
“I don’t think it’ll go smoothly,” Lixue added, her gaze a thin blade.
“Yeah,” I sighed, eyes on the bare sky like a pale porcelain bowl. “Helping a whole tribe is messier than I thought. If we can keep it simple, we will. I don’t want more knots.”
“It’ll be fine, Dear Brother,” Lingxiao said, a lantern against dusk. “With our standing, nothing’s beyond reach.”
“Right. Let’s not turn pebbles into mountains. It’s just saving the Foxfolk—small matter,” Lingsaki chimed in, their cheer a warm breeze.
“I hope so.” A faint chill curled in my chest. “I’ve got a bad feeling sometimes. Maybe it’s nothing.”
It shouldn’t be that simple, I thought, drifting like a cloud. As long as it doesn’t become trouble for us.
…
A little over an hour later, Lanxia and Nalu returned.
Nalu’s hands were nimble as swallows. She’d mapped the forest’s terrain and marked both the Tiger and Wolf Clan settlements, with precise lines and small signs at places she felt dangerous.
“Mizumi,” Nalu said as she handed me the map, voice steady like bamboo, “at the Tiger and Wolf settlements, we saw both chiefs whispering with several skulking figures in black robes.”
“Skulking black robes… Dark Demon?”
I was on the Northern Abyss Continent today because of Dark Demon. We’d discussed them yesterday—memory still sharp as frost.
“Could be~” Lanxia yawned after shifting back to human. “Heard Dark Demon hasn’t been quiet lately. Doesn’t matter. Ants like that—this dragon can kill them with a breath.”
“If Dark Demon were that easy to wipe out, they wouldn’t have lasted till now,” Lixue said, her words clean and cold. “They’re the only force that dares shout about toppling the Mizumi Clan, even if their strength isn’t impressive yet.”
“I doubt it’s that simple…” I studied the map, thoughts knotting like vines. “Lingxiao, Lingsaki, Lixue—I plan to slip into the Tiger and Wolf settlements. Unseen. You coming?”
“Of course!” Lingxiao’s eyes lit like stars. “The Book of Day and the Book of Night have several concealment spells perfect for you.”
“Same,” Lingsaki said, fingers already brushing the Dual Daynight Tomes. “United, our concealment is absolute. No one will notice us—except someone at Lady FrostyLily Dream’s level.”
“I’m in,” Lixue added, blade-calm. “Nothing to do here anyway.”
All three agreed without a ripple.
“Mizumi, what about this dragon?” Lanxia tugged my sleeve, eyes big as lakes. “You won’t take me?”
“Lanxia, you and Nalu stay and watch. We’ll be quick.”
I patted her head, then gave the map to Lingxiao and Lingsaki. “No time to waste. Let’s go.”
“Coordinates locked. Spatial magic—Area Shift!”
They skimmed the map, drew out the Dual Daynight Tomes, and flipped with practiced grace. A blinding light poured over the four of us like sunrise over fog. When it faded, another place held us.
…
The Tiger and Wolf Clans were neighbors, their settlements pressed together like twin ridges.
Their lands dwarfed the Foxfolk’s. Streets broader, buildings sturdier, the terrain kinder. A clear river cut nearby like a silver thread, and several plots lay ready for crops.
In strength and labor, they outmatched the Foxfolk by a mountain. The Foxfolk had mostly women, children, and elders—bodies gentle as willow. Few young men. Harsh truth: they were the old and the frail.
The Tiger and Wolf sides had men built like stone and oak, with better gear and merchants behind them. In that light, the Foxfolk’s string of defeats was the tide’s pull—inevitable. A victory would’ve been the anomaly.
Under Lingxiao and Lingsaki’s joint concealment—Veil of Light and Shadow—we spent half an hour drifting through both settlements like mist and reached that conclusion.
Back at our entry point, I laid it out. “Lingxiao and I will probe the Tiger Clan’s inner chambers. Lingsaki, you and Lixue take the Wolf Clan.”
“I’m in!!”
Lingxiao hugged my arm, bright as morning.
“…If Big Brother says so,” Lingsaki said, a touch of envy flickering like a firefly.
“No problem,” Lixue replied, cool as moonlight.
“We need to return before dusk,” I reminded them. “Don’t waste time. Find anything useful.”
“Mm.”
…
Splitting the sisters halved the Veil’s strength. But for the Tiger and Wolf Clans, it was still an invisible sky.
Lingxiao and I slipped into the Tiger Clan’s most hidden council room with the ease of shadows. As expected, the Tiger chief and elders were present. Alongside them stood four humans in black robes.
The robes were styled differently from the ones I’d seen before, but there was no doubt—they were Dark Demon.
“Chief Vikza, what’s your decision?” one black-robed figure asked, voice smooth as oil. “Will the Tiger Clan join Dark Demon?”
“Are you serious?” Vikza’s muscles knotted under his fur like iron cords. He still hesitated. “That’s the Mizumi Clan we’re talking about. For hundreds of years, no force has shaken the world’s absolute ruler. Dark Demon really has that kind of confidence? If your plan fails, the entire Tiger Clan pays.”
“We didn’t have such confidence before,” purred a lithe black-robed woman, tongue wetting her lips like a snake tasting the air. “But times change. Now, Dark Demon has a powerful partner—no weaker than the Mizumi Clan.”
“That’s impossible!” Vikza shot to his feet, outrage flaring like a torch. “There’s no force in this world that can match Mizumi!”
“We know,” the Dark Demon envoy said, unbothered as still water. “This world doesn’t. That doesn’t mean the world outside doesn’t.”
“You mean…”
Vikza’s tiger eyes widened. He sank back down, while the elders muttered like wind through grass.
“Before you join, we can’t reveal too much,” the envoy went on. “Our reaction when Chairman Rangetsu told us was similar to yours. Rest easy. Dark Demon has full confidence this time. Their side will be the main force.”
“…Give me a few minutes.”
Silence fell like snow.
“Outside world?” Lingxiao whispered, eyes lifting to me, puzzled as a fawn. “Dear Brother… are there other worlds beyond ours?”
“I’d like to know that too…”
Their words carried weight like mountains. For a moment, my thoughts couldn’t swallow them.
