Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko enjoyed the bamboo garden a bit more. She looked around so that she could remember everything that she liked about this garden, but even with her memory and determination, it was possible that she still missed a few things.

Aiko would have to visit a few more gardens to understand what she liked and disliked, which was fine. She had plenty of time to look around the world, now that she was on missions, since this 'free' time would only improve over time.

"I will contact you once everything is prepared." The Prince gently bowed towards Aiko's group and left with the princess from the fallen kingdom.

The Blood Fox's opinion of him had elevated slightly, most of the time, people like him would either stare or at least glance at her cleavage, but this Prince was impressive. He didn’t take even a peek.

The Blood Fox turned towards Aiko who was still inspecting the garden.

She said softly. "I don't mind helping him."

Aiko gently nodded. "He is a strange guy, but surprisingly neither of them is bad."

Aiko was pleasantly surprised that the princess was so submissive. Maybe they truly loved each other? Or maybe she sought safety and used her submission as a bargaining chip, that might be a kink for the Prince?

Aiko didn't know and couldn't care less about it, what mattered for her was the attitude that they had towards her and their hidden feelings.

Even if you were a great actor on the outside, it would be difficult to fool [Intention Perception], especially for Mortals.

Aiko came next to Lady Liu and sat down.

Lady Liu was playing with the sacred lotuses, clearly enjoying herself.

"It's truly a beautiful Royal Garden." Lady Liu said softly with a hint of melancholy.

Aiko nodded gently. "Somewhat beautiful, yeah."

Lady Liu giggled at that remark. "For us Humans, it's beautiful." She gently petted Aiko.

Aiko pouted, but didn't reject Lady Liu's petting. "We have a lot of time, will you be returning to the manor?" Aiko suddenly asked.

"Not yet, they will have another council and then I will return." Lady Liu sighed. She didn't really want to attend another council, especially since that attack happened.

"It will be fine." Chen Shi said. He had already geared himself up and set his flying ship to auto mode. This meant that if he activates his ship, it would ignore the restrictions and fly straight into the Royal Palace to rescue them.

He didn't really care about Human cities, especially if said cities endangered his love. He would do everything in his power to protect Lady Liu.

Aiko sighed. 'Lady Liu has it tough too...'

Well, for Aiko, she held nothing but dislike and disdain for this whole situation. She didn't really want to be here, yet she has to endure since she really wanted that treasure.

She will also have to deal with that Panther who attacked her. Sure, half of his body was obliterated to pieces, but as they said. 'He can heal by smothering himself in shit.'

Aiko chuckled, that was one of the Abilities she would never wish to get!

Having those questionable titles was already humiliating enough, but that couldn't be helped since the system was going utterly against her with it's naming scheme!

She would wait for Lady Liu before leaving this place. It was not because she was worried that they would be attacked, but because she was concerned that something unpredictable might happen to Lady Liu.

...

It took a few more hours, but Aiko was not bored, since she would watch over the tiny Mortals from the gazebo.

She somewhat understood why Foxes loved their bases high up. You could watch over others while being on the higher ground, making it feel like you are more important than them.

This made Aiko think that those Human Cultivators loved their flying swords not because of ease of travel, but because they wanted to have the high ground, even if it was not a moral one.

Aiko found Humans stranger each day, they would complain about something, but then do the exact same thing they complained about. She didn't understand it, this motion was beyond her.

While Aiko was busy trying to comprehend the boundless levels of hypocrisy that humans exude, Lady Liu finally finished playing with the pond and stood up.

Aiko jumped down from the railing and dashed next to Lady Liu.

It was time to leave and Aiko would not leave Lady Liu's side!

Lady Liu giggled, seeing Chen Shi's distorted face. She would comfort him later, since she wanted to indulge Aiko a bit more.

She was happy to be kept company during these times and she would miss them greatly. Unfortunately, she knew well that she couldn't follow Aiko as her next target was in another Empire and Chen Shi might not like them. She wouldn't go against Chen Shi since he picked such a beautiful place for her.

...

They left the Royal Gardens and were picked up by the same maid again. It felt like she was waiting there the whole time and that might've been the case since it was part of the etiquette, but everyone knew that the Emperor liked maids. He possibly pardoned them so they didn't need to wait the whole time, but that was just Aiko's guess from gossip.

'Well...' Aiko stared at the maid with slightly different clothing. It was very modest and light-coloured, which signified innocence. It had colours like yellow, white and green, each signifying a different type of maid, but Aiko didn't really care about that, so she didn't listen to the explanation when she was introduced.

She liked the colour codes, since it immediately made it obvious what kind of maid each colour represent, but Aiko just didn't like their outfits, something felt odd about them.

They arrived back at their side palace. Aiko was thinking about pulling Lady Liu to go shopping, but seeing Lady Liu so tired, she discarded that idea for now. She would later ask again once Lady Liu was in good condition.

Aiko looked towards her team, they would always follow her, which meant she didn't need to ask them, but that felt wrong...

"Shall we go shopping?" Aiko asked gently while smiling.

""No."" Both the Umbra Fox and the Blood Fox instinctively said, which made Aiko flinch.

They both coughed awkwardly. "We can go shopping." The Blood Fox was the first one to correct her previous words and the Umbra Fox just nodded alongside her.

"..." Aiko was speechless, she didn't understand what got over them...

'Phew, that was close. My inner thoughts almost completely leaked when I was caught off guard.' The Umbra Fox was sweating inside her mind, this was truly cutting it close to insubordination.

'My tongue slipped since I was too shocked.' The Blood Fox sighed in her mind. 'Every time we go outside something happens and I don't have enough energy to deal with everything...' The Blood Fox was tired from tying up so many assailants during Aiko's outing. This number will also greatly increase now that there is something brewing around the corner.

'I have almost run out of ropes...' The Blood Fox lamented.

The Umbra Fox shared the same sentiment, but she used wires instead of ropes, which were more expensive...

Aiko saw their expression and her face hardened, it didn't seem like they like her idea very much. She gave up going into the town for today, but she really wanted some kind of gift for Mei. Aiko would absolutely go out tomorrow, even if it meant that she would be going alone!

Aiko pouted gently and said, "Never mind, I will go out tomorrow." and she left the room.

"Do you think she hates us?" The Umbra Fox suddenly asked, concerned about her future relationship with her Mistress.

"I don't think so, but our expressions were probably a bit... rough?" The Blood Fox said gently.

The Umbra Fox nodded. "By the way, were you trying to seduce the Prince?" She, for some reason, hoped that was the case, but that explicit feeling quickly vanished. 'What am I imagining, I don't want to have the Mistress just for myself! I won't be able to las- No, what am I thinking!?' The Umbra Fox shook her head with a deep red blush. Her dreams of adult Aiko with those strange toys were gnawing at her mind each night.

Adult Aiko was too dangerous for this world and the Umbra Fox hoped that Aiko wouldn't mature, otherwise even whole rolls of wires wouldn't be enough to subjugate the waves of filthy Humans!

The Blood Fox stared strangely at the blushing Umbra Fox. "I was testing him, I don't want to help them if they have a strong sense of lust towards us." She was extremely sensitive towards lust as her nature was that of a Demonic Fox, or Bloody Lust Fox as Humans would call it...

"Oh..." The Umbra Fox blushed even more since she misunderstood the whole situation, but nodded gently. She was happy that Aiko wouldn't terrorise only her, but also others.

"Well, we will have to get stronger since Aiko seems more and more restless." The Blood Fox suddenly said with a serious expression.

"That's true, but we can't really hasten our Evolution or we might not be able to reach as high as Mistress." The Umbra Fox nodded.

They both thought about it for a bit and the answer was simple: She will leave us in the dust, but let's not hurry our evolutions and make bad decisions that would ruin our paths. We can slowly catch up to Aiko in our own way!

They both came to consensus.

The Blood Fox asked the Umbra Fox with curiosity. "Why were you blushing?" Her voice was soft and sweet.

The Umbra Fox choked. "N-n-nothing! About nothing!"

The Blood Fox narrowed her eyes. "That is a lie, should I push you down and interrogate you!"

"Hmpf as if you could ever catch me!" The Umbra Fox already stood on the windowsill and snorted at the Blood Fox.

The Blood Fox chuckled. "Let's not do this when we are supposed to be resting." She shook her head, it felt like Aiko was giving them time to rest and the Blood Fox could only imagine how hurt she would be if she saw them run around full of energy.

The Umbra Fox awkwardly jumped down. "Don't try to catch me then!" She pouted.

They sat down again and warily stared at each other.

The Umbra Fox was thinking about not being caught, while the Blood Fox was thinking about how to soothe Aiko tomorrow if they refused her invitation.

Yes, they are supposed to go with her, but the waves and waves of enemies are making it difficult for them to enjoy and recover themselves. It would be better if there was a cease-fire, which would allow them to shop in peace.

'Maybe...' The Blood Fox narrowed her eyes. They were forbidden to use the Recognition Inhibition Bracelets inside the Palace, but not outside. They could use that fact to go around outside in incognito, which would lower the chances of being ambushed.

'Let's do that tomorrow.' The Blood Fox sipped her tea with elegance, her air was similar to that of nobility, which made the Umbra Fox speechless.

'Why can't I emulate that air even now...' She pouted and slurped her tea, breaking the silent atmosphere.