Chapter 28

Mil transforms into a human, so those who are uncomfortable with this should be cautious.

After being born for two years, I finally managed to transform into a human.

"Mother, look!"

In the cave where we live, I showed my human form to Mother, who was resting in the form of a large white fox.

Even as a human, I was about the size of a two-year-old child, with silver hair that reached down to my waist. I wore a white kimono similar to the one Mother wears when she transforms, but it was short, only reaching my knees. I was barefoot, wearing straw sandals, and looked somewhat like a snow maiden. I seemed more like a Japanese snow spirit than a Western snow fairy. If I wore a snow cape, it would be even more perfect.

"Oh, Milfia."

Mother turned her face toward me and opened her eyes wide.

"You can now transform into a human form. What a lovely appearance!"

When Mother transformed into a human, she hugged me tightly, moved by the sight. She was soft, her chest was soft.

However, after letting go and looking at me again, Mother let out a seductive smile and said,

"However, it seems you are not yet perfect. Your ears and tail are still showing."

"Huh?"

I quickly checked my behind and saw a fluffy white tail wagging. When I reached up with my short hands, I felt the fur-covered fox ears...

"Wow, it's true."

I tried to concentrate and close my eyes, but it was difficult to retract them.

"Damn it!"

I squatted down, pressing my fox ears with both hands. It's embarrassing!

I don't like this half-human, half-fox form. It feels like I'm trying to seduce someone. It's so... manipulative.

"Hehe, there's nothing wrong with it. You look adorable."

Mother, who doesn't know the Japanese term "kemonomimi" or the genre it represents, seemed to have hit a sweet spot with my current appearance and hugged me tightly with a full smile. No matter how the world changes, the things that make hearts flutter remain the same.

There are no mirrors in the cave, so I can't see my appearance objectively.

After being petted by Mother for a while, I suddenly thought of something.

"Hey, Mother. Can you keep your human form and show your ears and tail?"

"Me?"

I looked up at the beautiful woman in front of me, excited.

"I've never tried to show my ears and tail before," she said.

"Please try! Please!"

I clung to Mother and wagged my tail. My eyes must be sparkling.

"Hmm."

Mother closed her eyes quietly and concentrated for a moment before showing off her fox ears and tail. The sight was shocking!

"Mother...!"

I was speechless.

Children are always cute, and adding cute fox ears only doubles the cuteness. As a young child, my transformation into a kemonomimi didn't change much.

However, when a beautiful, mature woman with a cold, icy appearance puts on fox ears and a tail, the effect is different.

The combination of beauty, coldness, seductive charm, and cuteness is incredibly powerful.

Imagine it! Putting cat ears on a ditzy girl doesn't evoke much emotion, but what if a usually cool girl suddenly has cat ears?

...I might have created the ultimate being.

"Mother, it's amazing... amazing..."

Seeing me start to tremble with excitement and emotion, Mother began to look a bit uncomfortable.

"What's wrong, Milfia?"

Mother might not understand the impact.

However, I find my own excitement a bit disturbing, so I averted my eyes from the beautiful fox-eared woman and calmed myself down. I don't want to be an excited child looking at their mother.

"Sorry, it's nothing. I'm just happy we match."

I touched the ears on my head and smiled innocently.

"I see, I see. We do match."

Mother smiled happily and kissed my ears. Ah, it's painful. Mother is so cute, it hurts. I want her to stay like this forever. I want to take a picture and keep it forever. It's good that she doesn't realize how adorable she looks.

"Mother, can you stay like this all day today?"

When I said this in a cajoling tone, Mother nodded happily.

"Sure."

Yay! I get to spend the whole day with a beautiful fox-eared woman!

***

The next day, after enjoying Mother's adorable appearance, I headed to the fortress to show my human form. I aimed for the usual lunch break and flew toward the one-eyed knight. The movement was instantaneous.

When I opened my eyes, I was in the fortress's training ground, where everyone was returning to the building with their swords after finishing their training. There were quite a few people, probably from a joint training session.

In front of me stood the one-eyed knight, but he had his back to me and hadn't noticed me yet.

Next to him was my dear friend, the deputy commander, who seemed to be discussing the next team formation based on the training results.

After waiting for a few seconds, I tugged at the hem of the one-eyed knight's cloak. He immediately turned around, looked down, and found me, making a puzzled face.

"A child? Where did you come from..."

He stopped mid-sentence, his gaze quickly moving over my hair color, clothing, and the ears and tail on my head. He seemed to have recognized me.

"...Mil?"

His expression didn't change much, but there was a hint of surprise in his voice.

Feeling like a successful prank, I smiled and said,

"That's right!"

The one-eyed knight squatted in front of me and smiled like a kind father.

"I see, I remember Snowlea also had a human form."

"But Mother could only transform into a human at three years old. I'm still two."

Perhaps because I was human in my previous life, I could transform into a human earlier. Well, a year for a spirit is like a day for a human, so the difference might not be significant.

However, when I said this proudly, the one-eyed knight praised me.

"That's impressive."

Feeling proud of the praise, I smiled and wagged my tail.

"Thanks. Actually, I've been practicing for a long time."

The one-eyed knight took off his glove and ruffled my hair. Hey, stop pinching my ears while you're at it.

As we played around, I remembered the deputy commander was behind the one-eyed knight. He was covering his face with both hands and trembling.

"The one-eyed knight... the deputy commander..."

When I expressed my concern, the one-eyed knight glanced back and firmly said,

"He's fine."

"But..."

He doesn't look fine at all.

He seems to be reacting similarly to how I did when I saw Mother with fox ears yesterday.

"Deputy Commander! That kid, could it be...!"

Other knights who were leaving the training ground turned back when they heard our conversation. Kicks was in the lead, followed by Tina and the intimidating knights.

"Ah, it's Mil."

"Really!? What's with that appearance!? What kind of biological weapon is this!?"

Kicks tried to mess up my hair, so I quickly hid behind the one-eyed knight. However, the persistent Kicks chased after me, and we ended up running around the one-eyed knight.

"Let me pet her!"

"Kicks, you'll mess up my hair, I don't want that."

"I won't!"

"You'll pull my ears, I don't want that."

"I won't!"

"Hey, stop running around."

The one-eyed knight stopped Kicks by grabbing his collar, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"No way! Mil is so cute!"

Next, Tina spoke up, her eyes sparkling with excitement and her cheeks flushed.

"So cute! No way! I'm getting so flustered! What is this, I don't like it at all!"

Wait, you don't like it at all!?

"Ah, the deputy commander..."

Tina, who was hyped up, suddenly looked away from me. The deputy commander, still covering his face with both hands, was walking unsteadily toward the building, looking exhausted.

"Hey, is he okay? What's happening—"

"Tina."

Kicks and the other knights stopped Tina from rushing to the deputy commander. They all had a knowing look and said firmly, like the one-eyed knight,

"It's best to leave him alone. The deputy commander is fine."

"Yeah, he just had a strong shock."

"He saw Mil without any preparation. His personality is almost collapsing."

"His personality is collapsing!? That's not okay!"

"No, he's fine, he's fine."

Both Tina and I were worried about the deputy commander, but the others were looking at him with a warm gaze as he left. It's confusing.

Anyway, I managed to surprise everyone in the training ground except the deputy commander, and it felt like my practice in transforming into a human was worth it.

Moreover, I realized that a human body is more convenient in many ways. For example, these fingers. I grabbed some snow from the ground and formed it into a ball. I squeezed it tightly and silently threw the snowball at Kicks's feet.

"Whoa! What's this, all of a sudden—"

I grabbed more snow and silently threw it at Kicks again.

"What!? Why only me!?"

I remembered how last year, Kicks's playful snowball hit my face. It hurt, and the anger resurfaced.

"Last year, Kicks, you hit my face with a snowball!"

"What!? You're still holding a grudge! And your first act after transforming is revenge!?"

Since Kicks didn't apologize and just shrugged it off, I kept making snowballs and throwing them at him like a baseball pitcher.

"Ouch! That hurts! It really hurts!"

The one-eyed knight and the others didn't try to stop me or help Kicks. They were cheering me on, saying things like, "Go for it, more!" So, I didn't hold back.

While I was doing this childish act, I suddenly felt a presence approaching. I recognized this feeling from the many times I've experienced it over the past year.

—Kugarug is coming.