The women I set free are obsessed with me

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Hilde… something Lioness.

I vaguely recalled that she had a middle name, but couldn't remember very well. Not that it mattered much; all I needed to know was that she was the Princess of Vestia.

She had an aggressive character. Despite her royal status, her boldly exposed arms, legs, and abdomen were muscular, hardly princess-like.

The Lioness of Vestia who stirred up everything in sight and smashed anything that irritated her.

Moreover, Hilde was always looking for an opportunity to kill the gumiho Rin under the guise of safety.

From her perspective as a princess, it might be seen as the right thing to do, but from my standpoint of needing to liberate Rin, she was a villain to be avoided at all costs.

Even that security was just an excuse; most of it was merely a way to kill time when she was bored.

And now, this Hilde was approaching the shop.

This wasn't good.

"Rin, go hide inside the shop for a moment. Don't come out until I call you, no matter what."

"Is it hide and seek?"

"That's right."

"Okay!"

Rin scurried into the back of the shop.

The day would come when Rin would have to face Hilde, but it was far too soon now.

Hilde swaggered towards us like a thug, hands in her pockets. Perhaps due to the street's chaos, no one seemed to recognize her.

Only Seira stepped out, barefoot, to greet Hilde.

"I am honored to meet you, Princess Hilde."

"Hm? Who are you?"

"I am Seira, team leader of the Immigration Management Department."

"Ah, I see. Nice to meet you. But why's someone from Immigration Management here? Aren't you on duty?"

"I am out on a business trip at the moment."

Hilde nodded lightly as if she understood. Seira, with her head still bowed, carefully asked.

"May I ask what brings Your Highness here without an escort…"

"I heard this place is a hot spot these days? I was curious, so I came to see. Who's that human behind you?"

"This is Karami, the owner of the cat café, Your Highness."

"Oh, so you're the owner here? Perfect timing. I was just wondering who you were and wanted to see your face."

She wants to see me? Hilde does?

Did Yuhwa rat me out?!

Hilde was one of the few people who knew Yuhwa's true identity. She was quite close to her.

Could it be that the old hag, unable to act due to our contract, sent Hilde to eliminate Rin?

I couldn't tell.

My mouth went dry.

I tried to spread saliva around, but it was futile.

"Hey."

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"In your opinion, are dogs superior, or are cats superior?"

What was this letdown of a question?

For a moment, she looked almost like a cute cat instead of a lion.

I quickly caught on to why Hilde had come here and the intent behind her question, then thought of an answer that would please her.

"Cats, of course."

"Really? You're not just saying that because you're in front of me, are you?"

"Why else would I run a cat café, Your Highness? It's all because I love cats."

"Now that you mention it, that makes sense."

Hilde nodded as if convinced. It was fortunate that Rin wasn't here. If she had heard, she might have caused a scene, yelling, Mastah is a liar!

But even if Rin had been here, I would have given the same answer. Even Seira nodded slightly, which meant I had answered very well.

"So those guys on the opposite side are the dog faction, right? I'll remember that clearly."

Sheesh, who told them to root for dogs?

They're in for it now.

"I should definitely see the face of the guy who made that dog café too. Do you know what he looks like?"

"I've never even seen his face."

Since I didn't look in mirrors, I wasn't lying.

I absolutely must not get caught.

If she didn't like it, Hilde might definitely destroy the place. That's how crazy she was.

"Geez, talk about boring. Anyways, I'll be outta here, but hey, boss man."

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"How can cats and dogs be on equal footing? Make those foolish creatures realize who's truly superior."

Hilde stared at me with frightening eyes.

"If those things are still running around when I come back next time, I'll consider it an insult to cats due to your incompetence. Understood?"

"Understood."

A few days later, a notice was posted at the dog café.

[We hereby declare that the dog tribe has been defeated by the cat people. Acknowledging our defeat, we will close our business as of today. To all our customers who have patronized us until now…]

"What is this nonsense! Who decided to close down?!"

"Ohoho! You should have worked harder and spent more money. Ah~ I'm off to get a massage at the cat café~"

People were causing an uproar at the dog café. The cat people and cat faction couldn't hide their smug smiles as they watched them like clowns.

In contrast to them, I was sinking into depression.

"My money… I could have milked them for so much longer… where did it all go…?"

"Isn't that deserved for inciting a fight? You reap what you sow."

Seira looked at me with pitying eyes. How was I supposed to know Hilde would suddenly show up?

It was then that I truly felt the urge to treat someone like a slave and push them around.

***

"Here's the financial report."

Back at the Celestial Pavilion after what felt like ages, I shared the details of my month-long business with Yuhwa.

Yuhwa, who had created a round table and chairs atop the clouds, tilted her teacup as she checked the report. She looked no different from an immortal.

"You stirred up quite a commotion. Inciting conflict between races."

"Ah, that. I never imagined it would escalate so far. All beastkin are the same to me, so I truly cannot fathom why they fight so much. If only they'd just get along."

Yuhwa's narrowed gaze flicked from the report to me.

"You certainly have a way with words."

"It's a fundamental skill for merchants. Thank you."

Yuhwa sighed deeply and shook her head, then set down the report.

"Well, how did I do?"

"Your performance was barely passing, but you've proven your qualifications. And there's no need to mention how famous you've become. You passed."

I let out a small sigh of internal relief. Since I had expected to pass anyway, that was the extent of my reaction.

"Now that you've passed the test, I suppose I should keep my promise as well."

Yuhwa pulled the contract from thin air and added a few clauses to the existing text.

Magic will be taught to Rin.

The place of instruction will be the Celestial Pavilion.

"The Celestial Pavilion should minimize the effects of misfortune. At most, it would only affect you and me inside."

"Thank you."

"This is no time for thanks. As I said before, the aura of death surrounds you. It will only grow stronger the longer you stay with the gumiho."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Such a stubborn fool."

Yuhwa sighed deeply once more and turned her gaze to Rin.

"Gumiho, how much can you control spiritual power?"

"Not gumiho! Rin is Rin!"

"…Alright, Rin. Have you ever used spiritual power before?"

"Spiritual power?"

Rin reacted as if the concept was entirely foreign to her.

"I've explained it to her before."

"Mastah did? Hmm…"

Rin crossed her arms and furrowed her brow, trying to remember.

Come on, you can do it. I explained it to you several times. You even said, 'Aha, Rin understands perfectly!' while eating meat.

"Don't know!"

It was a lie.

Where did she learn to lie like that?

It seemed that only the Celestial Fox would do.

"I suppose we'll have to start from the basics…"

***

"While humans possess mana, we yokai possess spiritual power."

Yuhwa sat on the floor, and Rin sat next to her with her back turned. She placed her hand on Rin's back to examine the flow of spiritual power.

"Yokai can grow their spiritual power by absorbing the essence of living beings. Have you done this before?"

"I have! I caught many rabbits with Mastah!"

"Yes, what you absorbed from them was spiritual power."

Unlike ordinary demonic beasts, yokai could grow steadily by absorbing essence. Just as a lowly snow spirit could become a Yuki-onna.

Of course, since Rin was a gumiho, her base level was overwhelmingly higher than lesser yokai. She could become plenty strong without separately absorbing essence.

Even so, every little bit counts.

"Do you remember releasing spiritual power when you broke free from my binding spell last time?"

"Mm?"

"It seems it was an unconscious action. But that's fine. Even if the mind doesn't remember, the body doesn't forget."

Yuhwa swiftly rotated the flow of Rin's spiritual power, whose eyes widened.

"Can you feel it? This is the spiritual power you possess."

"Oooh?"

"Now, try to release it all at once by exerting force."

"Like pooping?"

"…However you like."

Rin began to strain with a groan, putting all her effort into it. Thin threads of energy began to move erratically over her body for a moment.

Whoosh!

The same flame that had bloomed before ignited from Rin.

"It's red!"

"Indeed, it's pink. Now, once you can freely control your spiritual power, the next step is…"

"Ooh? Oh?"

Yuhwa's voice trailed off. The flame of spiritual power burning from Rin grew smaller and larger in sync with Rin's head tilts.

As expected of a gumiho.

Her learning speed was extraordinary enough to feel the joy of teaching.

This meant it was time for the next step.

What could be called the core of fox magic.

"Now, let's try making a fox orb."

The fox orb. A sphere containing the essence of fox magic, and a medium that maximizes power.

It's said to be as important to fox spirits as the dragon pearl is to dragons.

Now, put your hands together. Imagine creating a ball between them, and gather your spiritual power there. Concentrate."

"Ngh…"

Rin quietly steadied her breath and put her hands together. She squinted hard, staring intently at the space between them, focusing all her attention.

The spiritual power that had been radiating outward subsided, then began to gather above Rin's small hands. The thin thread-like spiritual power clumped together like a ball of yarn.

Rin was sweating profusely. She showed even more concentration than when eating.

The ball of yarn gathered to form a small sphere.

"Now compress it."

With Yuhwa's assistance, Rin compressed the sphere from all directions to the extreme, until it couldn't be compressed any further. This created a tiny dot.

"Now, while maintaining this form, gradually infuse it with spiritual power."

Rin infused it with spiritual power. The dot slowly grew in size as if breathing.

Before long, what floated above Rin's hands was a small sphere large enough to be called an orb.

"Hm, seems it's done."

"Huff, huff, huff…"

Rin's body shook. She took shallow breaths, having forgotten to breathe while concentrating.

Yuhwa examined Rin's orb. It was about the size of a fist. But the orb, imbued with Rin's spiritual power, emitted a soft pink light.

It was a very beautiful fox orb.

"Well done. This is good enough that you won't need to make another."

If the shape was odd or there were flaws, she would have had to break it and remake it for several days. Fortunately, Rin didn't need to do that.

Yuhwa returned the orb to its owner. Rin couldn't take her eyes off her fox orb.

"Rin's orb…?"

"Yes, it's your orb."

Rin, who had been staring intently, shook the fox orb and showed it off.

"Mastah! It's Rin's orb! Is it pretty?"

"It's beautiful."

"Hehehe."

Rin stared at the orb again. She even wiped it with her clothes as if handling a precious object. She was so excited that her three tails wagged like propellers, creating a breeze.

Yuhwa, who had been watching the scene intently with a complex smile, soon changed her expression to a stern one.

"It's too early to be pleased. This is just the beginning."

"Don't worry, Gwanny! Rin will master it in no time!"