(Lian Li POV)

I knew it!??

The moment I saw this damn vixen eyeing Master I knew she was up to no good! In fact, the whole village has ill intentions with Master!

This sly fox spun a sob story about her tails and my most benevolent and kind Master healed her without hesitation.

Ah~~ As expected of Master! You're truly a blessing sent from heaven! Ehehehe~~ Master is patting my head again~~

No wait! This damn vixen is latching on to him as well!

Go away! Stop clinging onto his leg and crying!

He already healed your Quark Veins so shoo!

Stop saying that he's your destined mate and pledging your eternal servitude to him! Don't you know Master hates clingy girls?!

No no no no! Don't touch his hand! What are you doing?!

AHHHHHH SHE KISSED HIS HAND!

Who do you think you are?!

I haven't even kissed him anywhere yet!

I should've been first!

You sly vixen! How dare you sully Master! I'll slowly torture you and--

Eh?

Master?

Your hands? Eh? You're hugging me and patting me at the same time?

No… Ah~~

Stop… This feels too good… Ahhh~~

I… This… This is heaven~~

Nooo… Anymore and I'll melt~~

I'll melt! I'll really melt! I'll…

Fuwaaaahhh~~

*

(MC POV)

It seems like patting Lian Li and giving her a hug calmed her down.

She was probably terrified of Manami getting so close to her with how she froze up but it seems my touch was able to soothe her worries.

Manami was still kneeling in front of me after kissing the back of my ring finger.

I was confused about that part.

The moment her tails fully grew back after swallowing the pill I gave her, she began crying while hugging my leg, thanking me over and over again.

While I was still trying to calm her down, she had seized my hand and made the kiss, declaring me to be her destined mate and herself my ever loyal servant.

How the hell did a monster subjugation request turn into this?!

I mean, I expected her to be thankful but not to this extent. I thought healing her would let me have good relations with this fox youkai village, allowing me to come visit from time to time.

Now she's saying that she will follow me everywhere I go...

Ah… I suppose I could just treat it as though I picked up another disciple, she is technically a Practitioner after all.

With Manami's help, I might even help Lian Li rid her fear of youkai.

Yep, that's a great idea, two birds with one stone.

*

(Manami POV)

To a fox youkai, her tails are her everything.

Her status, position, power and identity all revolves around her tail.

Fifty years ago I was the strongest within the village, acting as the village guardian and was respected all around. My authority was second only to the village leader but even she was partial to my decisions.

In seeking out more power to better protect my village, I tried a forbidden technique that I discovered only for it to cripple my Quark Veins in the backlash.

When I lost my tails, all that prestige I had were gone as well.

The foxes who used to look at me with respect now only have scornful looks for me.

"Why did she have to do that?"

"It's called a forbidden technique for a reason."

"She should've been satisfied with her power, greed was her downfall."

"A guard dog who can't guard is just a dog."

I endured the harsh comments thrown at me, still trying to fulfill my duties as village guardian despite all the abuse.

However, no one feels safe with a crippled guardian. With the constant fear of monster attacks taking over them, they chose to take out their frustrations on me.

Finding a mate was also next to impossible with my state and the thought of living my life without a partner frightens me.

It was a fate I had resigned myself to after finding no cure for all those years.

If that was not enough, I had to fail my duty as guardian as well, letting a monster kidnap our leader.

I had never felt so useless and powerless in my life.

But when all seems lost, my mate and Master appeared before me, sweeping away my problems and fears with his presence alone.

He never looked at me with scorn.

I had expected disgust when I revealed my tails to him, but there were only concern and understanding in his eyes.

It was like he knew my pain and understood me.

Master thus bestowed upon me my new life.

My Quark Veins were healed, my tails entirely restored and he had also accepted my pledge of loyalty by letting me kiss his ring finger.

Yes, for He who has returned my everything to me, I will give my everything to Him.

I will be the perfect mate for Master!

***

(MC POV)

Manami guided us to where the monster was waiting, an unassuming cave deep in the mountain.

She told me it was a bear type monster and it managed to gather at least thirty subordinates.

The initial demands were for the fox youkai to vacate the village before they would release their leader. If their demands were not met within the week, they will devour the fox youkai leader and claim the village through force.

A giant black bear came out of the cave we arrived at, holding a fox youkai whom I assumed was the leader in its hands. Behind it, a group of ten white bears followed while growling threateningly at us.

The bear monster sniffed in our direction before growling, "You… You are the nine tails. Have you come to surrender? Who are the ones with you?"

My, my, for a monster it sure is inquisitive.

Before Manami can respond to its questions, I had already pierced its head with an ice shard that instantly froze the top half of the monster.

The other monsters didn't even have the time to react when my earth spears exploded out from the snow beneath them, piercing through their hearts and instantly killing them.

Without missing a beat, I sent out my Dark quarks into the cave, skewering every bear monster inside.

What? Did you think I would stand there and let the enemy monologue while having a hostage in its hands? Or did you think I would try to make peace with these monsters? That's just naive thinking.

If the enemy presents an opportunity for you to strike, just take it.

Wasting time talking will put the hostage in a much more precarious situation than they already are, so why take the risk?

Huh? A long and epic battle?

You think I'm a level one noob that just started his first quest?

No way will I have trouble killing a few monsters like this, this is the Earthen Plane after all. Give me a dragon and I'll probably run away though.

Now that that's done, let's just return to the village with the unconscious leader.

I guess I'll just send the Request rewards to the Sect then we'll continue our training journey.

That reminds me, would this village be alright without Manami as their guardian?