Chapter 554: Summer Grooming

Running the long, stiff bristled brush through the majestic Snow Spirit Fox’s fur, Eris smiled cheerfully as she asked, "How’s that, Aunty Frey? Better?"

With a light grin on her fox-face, Frey gave a grunt, using her Soul Sense to communicate with the young girl, "It’s much better, Little Eris. Thank you."

"Hehe, no problem!" Eris replied happily, "Aunty Frey has been helping out so much, I figured this was the least I could do."

The end of June wasn’t quite the hottest period of the year in Misty City, but it wasn’t far from it.

Even for humans, with the merciless sun beating down on them, the heat could be quite unbearable, so it wasn’t difficult to imagine how the Snow Spirit Foxes, used to living in a land of perpetual winter, felt right now.

In fact, only half of Frey’s pack was currently in Misty City, with the rest, under her husband Bron’s lead, having retreated to the tallest set of mountains in the South-East Province. It wasn’t always below freezing even atop those tall peaks, but it was certainly much, much colder there than it was in this low-lying settlement.

Celestina, having long anticipated this problem, had ordered a large warehouse on the Manor’s property renovated and equipped with multiple Freezing Tools to give their guests from the Northern Continent a comfortable place to rest.

Unfortunately, time was a bit short, so the ’igloo’, as Lucas called it, was only half-finished by the time it was needed.

In order to finish the work, the Freezing Tools would have to be turned off, which would defeat the purpose, so a rotation was set up instead, with Frey leading half the pack for the first half of the summer in Misty City, while Bron would take the second shift.

Who had it better? That was hard to say.

Of course, it wasn’t like Frey and her foxes could just lounge around indoors for months on end without doing anything; they still went out, especially in the evenings and at night when it cooled down a bit more, and helped out with all kinds of tasks around Misty City.

Whether it was tracking, hunting, or herding livestock, the Snow Spirit Foxes were completely unmatched even compared to human masters, but that was hardly surprising considering their raw strength and natural advantages.

When the foxes first arrived in Misty City, many people, even amongst the Balfour Family, had been wary of them, but after more than half-a-year, the people had pretty much adapted to the sight of giant white foxes trotting through the streets.

Even the local draft-animals and livestock had stopped freaking out around the foxes, though it was clear they were still quite nervous whenever the powerful Spirit Beasts were roaming around nearby.

The foxes were also especially popular amongst the city’s children, all of whom were quite enamoured with the giant, friendly creatures.

There was not a single day where Frey’s pack members didn’t receive gifts from local butchers or from grateful parents for their help finding lost children and protecting the streets.

Crimes like theft had also seen a dramatic drop in Misty City, as it was now almost impossible for thieves to evade the sharp noses of the Snow Spirit Foxes.

All any of the Balfour Family’s Law Enforcers or the City Guard needed to do when they were stuck on a case was ask one of the foxes to sniff around the crime scene, then lead them to where the criminals were hiding.

Now, how did the cold-weather foxes manage to do all this in the heat of the Rockwell Kingdom’s summer?

Simple, they endured it for a few hours, like humans could endure extreme hot or cold, then retreated to the igloo to rest, normally with big tubs of their now favourite food, ice-cream, waiting for them as a treat.

Naturally, real payment in the form of cultivation resources was also provided for the foxes’ work, as was promised by Celestina when she first agreed to take in Frey and her pack.

There were also some tasks which could be performed indoors, like guard duty or teaching hunting or combat tactics at Eris’ Rising Phoenix Guild, which was far more bearable than being outdoors.

Still, it was hardly a pleasant overall work environment, which had led to many of the foxes looking for other ways to stay cool.

In that regard, Eris’ suggestion was to trim their fur short, an idea she had gotten one day when she saw a farmer sheering his sheep, lightening their coats for the summer while simultaneously acquiring some valuable wool.

The Snow Spirit Foxes were all for this idea when they heard it, especially considering that their species didn’t experience seasonal molting like most foxes native to the Blue Sky Continent.

Issac and Felicity, the two tailors Lucas had hired to be in charge of his new clothing line, were also very interested in what they could do with such valuable fox fur.

When Eris asked if Frey minded if they used the trimmed fur to make clothing or decorative pieces out of, the big fox hadn’t raised any complaints; after all, it was just garbage to them once it was cut.

And so, that was what Eris was doing today, with help from a few stable workers from the Manor who had experience grooming domesticated beasts.

Lucas had left yesterday on some important trip to Torren Ridge, and Christina was off patrolling the Lorren with the Raging River Legion, so Eris was the only one left in Misty City right now.

Well, not exactly.

Peeking over Frey’s large form, Eris spotted her friend Danika and the little fox kit Yuki working on another Snow Spirit Fox.

Danika was a little quiet, but she was kind and friendly, so Eris liked her quite a bit.

There was even one time when Eris had heard someone singing in a very beautiful voice in the back garden of the residence, only to find out that it was this slightly older girl.

Danika was extremely embarrassed when Eris burst into applause at the end of the song, and had even made her swear she wouldn’t tell anyone else about her ’hobby’.

Eris wouldn’t betray a friend, of course, though she did think it was a shame Danika didn’t want to share her talent with others.

As for Yuki, well...