Chapter 273: Chapter 273: The Cheeky Fox: “I Am a Beautiful and Clever Fox Sage”

"Hahaha, I can’t take it! I’m going to die laughing! I’ve never seen Ei look that cute before!"

Just thinking about Raiden Ei flapping her little feet as she bolted toward the kitchen—

Yae Miko laughed so hard she couldn’t even straighten her back.

The gloom and suffering from the past few days had finally lightened considerably.

Right now, she only wanted to laugh freely.

"Seems you’re not as miserable as you claimed. Keep it up."

Su Ran patted her shoulder encouragingly.

With a face like a housewife’s, how could Raiden Ei not eventually master cooking?

Even if Raiden Makoto had existed, that shouldn’t matter.

"That absolutely won’t do. My life may not be priceless, but I’d rather not lose it before Lady Kitsune Saiguu returns. You’d better find someone else."

Ei’s cooking was a lifelong nightmare.

A trauma Miko never wanted to relive.

These days had been harder than the five hundred years Ei spent inside the Plane of Euthymia.

"But besides you, who’s suitable?"

Surely they couldn’t let Ei hand that indescribable substance to an ordinary person.

Not everyone had Miko’s thick HP bar.

One bite and they’d be hospitalized.

It was practically divine execution.

Truly worthy of the Raiden Shogun—

Whether in martial arts or culinary arts, she could take lives.

"I think that little one from the Kamisato Clan would be perfect. It could even test his loyalty to Ei. What do you think?"

If they had to pick someone,

Miko would absolutely drag Kamisato Ayato into this.

Let him taste Ei’s cooking.

Then, constrained by reverence for the Shogun, he wouldn’t dare criticize it.

Ei’s confidence would grow.

She’d become increasingly self-assured.

A wonderful plan.

Perhaps the Kamisato Clan would even gain greater favor and rise higher in status.

A brilliant opportunity for him to revitalize his family.

"Kamisato Ayato... that guy..."

Su Ran remembered him.

Back when he first activated the dream and pulled everyone in—

Ayato had been among the first to notice and rush to Tenshukaku.

In terms of reading the situation, he was sharp.

"You two have a blood feud or something?"

"Of course not. But he’s a fox too—just a sly one. Hard to deal with."

There was no true enmity between them.

In fact, their goals had once aligned.

Neither Yae Miko nor the Kamisato Clan had ever intended to exploit the Shogun’s authority for personal gain.

They simply overlapped too much in temperament—

And therefore didn’t quite get along.

Ayato tolerated it.

But Miko, the old fox, held stronger opinions.

"You’re the real fox here, yet you dare call someone else a fox?"

Su Ran gained a new appreciation for her shamelessness.

"This fox is not that fox!"

Miko raised her hand as if to knock his head in warning—

But considering the difference in strength, she wisely stopped.

"I am a beautiful and clever fox sage~ Kamisato Ayato is merely a dark-bellied, scheming stinky fox. There’s a big difference."

Hearing her narcissistic self-praise—while stepping on someone else in the same breath—

Su Ran was impressed.

"Who taught you to be this shameless? I’d like to apprentice under them."

How did she become this cheeky?

Was it Kitsune Saiguu?

If Saiguu returned—

Wouldn’t that mean another cheeky fox?

Possibly even Miko’s master.

"Of course I learned from you~ You should know, I was very innocent as a child. If I hadn’t picked up a few tricks, I’d have been kidnapped long ago. If I turned out like this, you’re partly responsible."

She gently pushed him, as if blaming him for her current personality.

When they first met, things had been tense.

She’d been cautious, afraid he might slaughter indiscriminately.

But after getting familiar—

She reverted to her old cheeky self.

Because she knew Su Ran wouldn’t harm her.

At worst, he’d just add a few more little foxes.

"Me? Have I ever been that shameless?"

He pointed at himself.

He didn’t think he’d ever been as outrageous as Miko.

...Right?

But recalling his time at Herta Space Station—

Su Ran fell silent.

Actually...

He might not be any better.

"Still, I think this is just your nature. Otherwise Alice wouldn’t have admitted she can’t outplay you anymore."

On that point, he was certain.

Maybe he had a bit of mischief.

Maybe a bit of recklessness.

But Miko’s cheekiness had nothing to do with him.

By the time he met her, she was already fully formed.

"...Wait. You met her?"

At the mention of Alice, Miko’s smile vanished.

Although she had long since paid back the teasing she suffered as a child—

It was undeniable that Alice had left behind plenty of embarrassing black history from her younger days.

Had he dug that up?

If so—

That would be a disaster.

Her composure wavered.

"Met her? Not exactly."

Miko breathed a sigh of relief.

"But I can witness your shared past through other means."

Her relaxed heart immediately tightened again.

Of course.

She could never rest easy.

Because Su Ran would always find a way to stir up trouble.

—------------------------------

Pat reon Advance Chapters: patreon.com/YonkoSlayer