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Chapter 26
As befit a place long said to have been the capital of the human kingdoms, there were truly a lot of humans.
Children who looked similar in age to my current disguised form were running around, while on one side people had spread out their goods and were loudly trying to sell them. There were those riding horses, others hauling loads of things on carts pulled by oxen, and even vendors selling food that sent up billowing steam. It was an incredibly diverse scene.
[Mountain Lord. There are quite a few martial artists roaming around here.]
[Martial artists, huh. They’re not the ones who challenged us at the gate and got knocked out with a single blow, are they? You mean humans like those big guys?]
[Well, you only start counting as combat power if you’re at least that level. Want to see if you can pick them out?]
[That’s easy enough.]
I swept my gaze around and pointed out those who looked like martial artists.
[One of those guys is wearing a sword at his waist, another has a huge saber strapped to his back. And the last one isn’t carrying anything, but all three of them clearly have far more energy than ordinary people.]
[Correct. But there are more besides the ones you pointed out.]
[What?]
[The ones you noticed are martial artists above a certain level. You can roughly tell which sect they belong to just by their clothing.]
The fox’s explanation left me dumbfounded.
[…Are those “below a certain level” really martial artists at all?]
[Not all humans can gather energy in abundance. Some might still be in training and in the process of accumulating it, and others practice something called external techniques, focusing more on physical strength than internal energy. And remember what I told you before? Humans gather far less energy than spiritual beasts.]
[That’s right. Hmm… so is it similar to the time it takes an animal to become a spiritual beast?]
[It’s faster than that—though only for those born with talent.]
[I see. Clothing, huh.]
I carefully observed the humans the fox had pointed out, then turned my head away.
‘So that means all of them are skilled to some degree.’
The so-called “martial artists” I had encountered before were never so weak that you had to distinguish them by clothing alone. Whether it was the Blood Cult or the orthodox martial artists I’d faced directly, they had all been strong. That was why this was surprising. They were this weak, yet still called martial artists?
‘If I look closely, I can feel clumps of gathered energy, but…’
Still, I couldn’t really tell the difference from ordinary people. They might be a bit stronger and tougher, but to my eyes the difference was no more than that between an ant and a caterpillar.
[Hah. To think they’re martial artists at that level of weakness…]
[Humans are physically weak, after all. But you know, don’t you? What humans’ strengths are.]
[Of course. Their clever minds, their tendency to form groups, and their dexterous hands—those are things other animals can’t easily match.]
[And those with exceptional talent grow incredibly fast. Fast enough to look down on most spiritual beasts.]
[That much?]
[That much.]
I nodded at the fox’s serious assessment. I couldn’t deny it, given what I myself had experienced.
[Enough with the heavy talk. Want something to eat?]
The fox immediately headed toward a stall with steaming food, holding me in his arms.
“Two dumplings, please.”
“Right away, sir!”
The fox pulled out some coins and handed them over. The human vendor took them and offered us round, white items wrapped halfway in paper, steam rising vigorously.
“Here, try one.”
“Mm… it smells kind of nutty. And like meat.”
I carefully held the white, round thing with both hands. It was warm, with white steam rising, so I blew on it a few times before cautiously taking a bite.
“…It’s bland.”
“Try a bit more.”
“There’s a slight sweetness, I guess…”
What was I supposed to get by eating more? It was obviously going to taste the same.
Thinking that, I took a few more bites—then suddenly my eyes flew open.
“Ah—hot…!”
“It’s hot, so let it cool before you eat it.”
The fox blew on it, making the steam rise even more strongly, but I couldn’t focus on that.
“What… is this?”
This was—truly—the first time in my thousands of years of life that I had tasted something like this.
The filling inside the soft, fluffy, perfectly cooked wheat dough was downright shocking. The taste and texture were unmistakably pork. Judging by how tender it was compared to wild boar, this must be the kind of pig humans raise.
But it wasn’t just pork. Salty and sweet flavors mingled with an aroma that meat alone could never produce—it was an entirely new taste. And the vegetables mixed in with the meat added another layer of texture, breaking up what might otherwise have been monotonous.
This was completely different from the snacks the fox usually gave me.
The sweet, nutty, crunchy treats were tasty too. Being able to savor sweetness—something hard to come by in nature—was a pleasant experience. Still, at my core I was a carnivore. I enjoyed the flavor, but I couldn’t say I truly preferred those snacks.
In that sense, dumplings were really—truly—perfect. They were incomparably better than plain noodles.
“What is this? Huh? What is this?!”
“They’re dumplings. Dumplings.”
“Dumplings?”
“Yeah. Do they suit your taste?”
Suit my taste? What kind of ridiculous question was that?
[They’re so good I regret not eating these when I was offered tributes.]
In my thousand-year life—no, my entire existence as a spiritual beast—I felt like I’d suffered an enormous loss.
“One more, please.”
“One more?”
“Yeah!”
“Didn’t other people offer you different things?”
“There wasn’t anything I wanted to eat, so I didn’t ask.”
I ate the dumpling bit by bit, feeling regretful as I looked at how only half of it remained. Ah, it’s delicious—and it keeps shrinking.
“You don’t have to eat it so carefully. I’ll buy you more.”
“It feels like such a waste to eat something this good.”
“I’m telling you, eat as much as you want.”
[Do you even know how much ‘as much as I want’ is?]
[…I do have that much means, Mountain Lord.]
[Then I don’t have to hold back?]
[Mountain Lord. There are things far tastier than this.]
“Really?!”
“Really. Once we get back, there’ll be piles of delicious food.”
“Wow!”
[Then let’s hurry back to Cheonwol Pavilion, Cheonwol Pavilion!]
[Hey, Mountain Lord. Didn’t we say we’d look around Luoyang?]
[We can do that later with Sehwa! Delicious food!]
[Once we get to Cheonwol Pavilion, I’ll put in requests with the cooks, so calm down a bit. Have some dignity.]
That finally brought me back to my senses. Looking around, I noticed people watching me with warm smiles.
“……”
Was it because my body had grown younger? Unlike before, I found it hard to control my emotions.
Humans were such difficult, exhausting beings to understand. Suddenly feeling weary, I buried my face into the fox’s shoulder.
When my view was blocked, laughter broke out around us.
“Oh my, how adorable.”
“What a cute child.”
“Is it your first time eating dumplings, little one?”
“Haha, seems like it.”
“Then this one’s on the house! Seeing a child enjoy our dumplings makes us happy!”
“Oh. Thank you.”
I felt the fox grinning broadly as he accepted the dumplings. Somehow it seemed like he was enjoying the situation, so I pinched him.
[Let’s get out of here quickly.]
[Why? It’s free food.]
[Hey. You said you’ve got plenty of means, right? Is this really the position to be fussing over free food?]
[Then let me rephrase it as gratefully accepting their kindness, Mountain Lord.]
[I really want to bite you. Want to try it?]
[If you return to your original form here, everything will be exposed, you know?]
Fox—this humiliation, I’ll definitely pay it back.
As I made that vow and grabbed tightly onto his clothes, he seemed to sense something was off.
“Well then, we should be heading back.”
He said that loudly for everyone to hear and hurried his steps.
Good. This is my chance.
[Gyagyagyagyagya!]
[Let’s go quickly.]
[Hey, even so, isn’t it a bit much to put energy into a pinch—ahh!]
[Be grateful I’m not biting you with my real body.]
The fox groaned softly and handed the dumpling back to me. Looking at the still-steaming bun, I added,
“I’m letting this slide because there are dumplings.”
“…Ugh.”
Food should be eaten before it cools. That’s respect for a fallen prey.
I took another bite of the dumpling while it was still warm. Mm. As expected—delicious.
