Whether anyone wanted it or not, the next morning still came. As the sun slowly climbed higher into the sky, Kai stepped out of his house in high spirits with a wide grin on his face.
"How are you all doing? Are you happy!?"
Kai asked, despite there being nobody around to answer him. In front of him stretched the farmland he had tended ever since arriving in the village, and for a moment, it seemed like there wasn't another living thing in sight.
"Kyuu?"
Well, almost none. A small fox now stood near Kai's feet, tilting its head in confusion. It clearly had no idea what was going on inside the head of the person who was supposed to be taking care of it.
"Oh… I completely forgot there were creatures like you in this world."
Kai said that without the slightest trace of guilt on his face. In fact, judging from his expression, he genuinely seemed to have forgotten all about the little fox's existence until it suddenly made a sound near his feet.
"Kyuuu!!!"
The little fox immediately looked furious after hearing those words. Its entire body puffed up in anger as though it couldn't believe what it had just heard. How could this human possibly forget the existence of a rare and legendary creature like itself?
"Kyu! Kyu! Kyu!"
Kyuubi loudly protested while glaring at Kai with obvious dissatisfaction. Seeing the little fox becoming noisier and noisier, Kai let out a small sigh before crouching down in front of it.
He then reached out his hand and gently stroked the head of the fox named Kyuubi, trying to calm the angry little creature down. Although Kyuubi still looked unhappy with the way its owner treated it, the fox eventually stopped its endless complaints and quietly rubbed its head against Kai's hand instead.
"To be honest, I still don't understand why I'm supposed to keep you around. Can a tiny creature like you even do anything useful?"
The moment those words left Kai's mouth, veins immediately bulged on Kyuubi's forehead.
"Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu!"
Kyuubi became even angrier than before, loudly crying out in protest as its voice grew noisier and more aggressive by the second.
Realizing the little fox was about to explode again, Kai quickly covered both his ears and took several steps backward. Just as he expected, Kyuubi immediately lunged at him and started wildly swinging its tiny claws.
"OI! Is that how you treat the person taking care of you!?"
Kai shouted while desperately avoiding Kyuubi's attacks.
Hearing that, Kyuubi only grew more irritated. From the little fox's point of view, Kai had never taken care of it properly even once. Perhaps it was because they had only started living together yesterday, but even so, Kyuubi couldn't feel the slightest bit of affection or concern from him. At this point, the little fox was starting to wonder why it had followed this man in the first place.
"Kai, can you stop fooling around already?"
Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, the Fairy Goddess suddenly scolded him. With both hands resting on her hips, she looked visibly annoyed, her expression making it clear just how unimpressed she was with Kai's behavior.
"Does it seriously look like I'm fooling around to you!?"
Kai shot back while continuing to dodge Kyuubi's relentless attacks. His expression had begun to sour, partly from irritation and partly because the little fox showed absolutely no intention of calming down.
"Yes, obviously!"
The Fairy Goddess answered without missing a beat. No matter how one looked at the situation, Kai really did seem like he was simply fooling around.
"I'm trying to avoid this thing's attacks, and you think I'm fooling around!? You've got to be kidding me!"
Kai immediately snapped after hearing the Fairy Goddess's response. A vein twitched on his forehead as he clenched his fists in frustration, looking just about ready to start arguing with her for real.
However, the moment Kai's attention shifted away from Kyuubi, the little fox instantly took advantage of the opening.
"Kyuu!"
The moment Kai's attention shifted away, Kyuubi immediately took advantage of the opening and leapt straight at him.
"Wha—!?"
Caught completely off guard by the sudden attack, Kai failed to react in time as the little fox leapt straight onto his face and repeatedly clawed at him without mercy. Startled by the unexpected assault, Kai stumbled backward in panic before ultimately losing his balance and falling flat onto the ground.
"Hey, you damn creature! Stop! Ouch! That hurts! Hey, I said stop that!"
Kai shouted while desperately covering his face with both hands as Kyuubi continued clawing at him relentlessly. Despite being nothing more than a tiny fox, the little creature had him completely pinned down without any chance to fight back.
"Ah, Kyuubi! Please stop! You can't hurt him like that!"
Seeing the situation getting out of hand, the Fairy Goddess quickly rushed over and picked Kyuubi up into her arms before trying to calm the angry little fox down. Although wounds healed unusually fast in this world, that didn't mean Kai couldn't feel pain. And while the man could certainly be annoying at times and had a habit of saying strange things, she still didn't want to see him suffering like this.
"Good grief! What the hell is wrong with that thing!? Attacking its own master like that… What a troublesome creature!"
Kai complained while holding the scratches on his face, glaring murderously at the little fox now resting safely in the Fairy Goddess's arms.
Kyuubi immediately glared right back at him without backing down in the slightest. The atmosphere between the two instantly turned hostile, to the point where it almost felt like sparks were flying between them.
"He only attacked you because you ignored him and treated him badly! If you take proper care of him, he'll grow into a powerful creature that can help you with many things."
The Fairy Goddess gently stroked Kyuubi's head as she spoke, trying to calm the still-angry fox down and stop it from continuing its deadly staring contest with Kai.
Kai had to admit that he really had forgotten about the creature's existence until it suddenly appeared near his feet. But could he really be blamed for that? The little fox had never helped him with anything before. All it ever did was ask him for food.
Well, maybe that was only because Kyuubi had started living with him yesterday, so it simply hadn't had the chance to show what it was capable of yet. Before deciding whether the little fox was useful or not, Kai figured he should at least give it an opportunity to prove itself first.
"So what exactly can this little thing do? It's supposed to be a legendary creature, right?"
Kai asked while pointing at Kyuubi, who was still sitting in the Fairy Goddess's arms. The little fox immediately looked annoyed at being pointed at like that, but instead of making a fuss again, it simply looked away as if refusing to acknowledge him.
"You already saw its abilities, didn't you? Kyuubi is actually very strong."
The Fairy Goddess answered with a cheerful smile, clearly sounding proud of the little fox. She seemed convinced that answer would impress Kai somehow, but his reaction immediately proved otherwise.
"Huh? So what if it's strong? It's not like brute strength can help me with farming."
Kai replied with an irritated look before glancing down at Kyuubi.
"And just so you know, the only reason I didn't fight back earlier was because I didn't want to hurt some tiny little creature like that. If I actually wanted to, I could've kicked it hard enough to make it unable to walk. I just don't want people thinking I abuse animals."
Kyuubi immediately became furious again after hearing Kai's comment. The little fox tried to jump at him once more, but the Fairy Goddess quickly tightened her hold before Kyuubi could attack him again.
"Kai, can you please stop provoking him!?"
The Fairy Goddess said in an annoyed voice, clearly starting to lose patience with Kai's careless remarks.
"Yeah, yeah… I get it. I'm the one at fault here."
Not wanting to get scratched by Kyuubi again, Kai quickly looked away and awkwardly apologized, clearly feeling embarrassed. Seeing the Fairy Goddess struggling to calm the little fox down also made him feel somewhat guilty. Besides, he didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble, so perhaps he really needed to be more careful with what he said.
"So, what's the answer to my question?"
The Fairy Goddess looked briefly confused after hearing Kai's question, but a moment later, she finally remembered what he had been asking about earlier.
"Because Kyuubi is a powerful creature, he can help protect your fields from animals or other living things that might try to damage them."
Kai went silent for a moment after hearing that answer. Something about it felt slightly strange to him.
"So you're saying there are actually creatures in this world that would try to ruin my fields?"
"Well, of course… Didn't things like that happen in your original world too?"
The Fairy Goddess did have a point. Back in Kai's original world, there were plenty of insects that attacked crops and ruined farmers' harvests.
"You mentioned other living things just now… does that mean there are creatures besides animals that might mess with my fields?"
"You already know dwarves exist in this world, right? Sometimes they like to fool around and mess with the village's crops or livestock."
"Isn't watching over them supposed to be your job?"
"I'm sorry!"
The Fairy Goddess immediately lowered her head and apologized to Kai, looking genuinely guilty.
Having his fields messed with by tiny creatures he hadn't even met yet certainly sounded annoying, but that didn't mean it was the Fairy Goddess's fault. Besides, nothing had actually happened to his fields so far, so there was no reason for her to apologize so seriously in the first place.
"Yeah, I understand… You don't need to apologize."
Kai let out a small sigh before turning his gaze toward the fields. With all the commotion that had happened since earlier, he had completely forgotten to take care of his crops.
As he walked toward the field, Kai pulled out his watering tool from the small pouch hanging at his waist and prepared to begin his usual morning work. Although there were still many things he wanted to ask about the little fox, he decided to leave those questions for later and focus on his work for now.