Chapter 165: Name for a Fox 3

"B-b-b-boss!" Monk, hiding behind a pillar of the house, stared at Julian with a trembling, gloomy body. "W-what do we do now? Was that okay just now? You might have offended him!"

Both of her ears drooped limply, while from time to time she glanced at the door Julian had just closed.

As if that arrogant Dragon might come back at any moment.

Seeing Monk’s fear made Julian pause for a moment, and then he nodded.

"Yes."

It wasn’t that Julian hadn’t thought about it. It was just that, with Garph here, he was sure he could get through it easily.

That was far better than having to do something violent or lowering himself.

Well, lowering himself was a solution. But the problem was that it might change Garph’s view of him, since Garph currently had a misunderstanding about him.

If that misunderstanding went in a different direction, namely suspicion, who knew what would happen?

That was why Julian had taken his current approach. He didn’t let himself be pushed around easily, but he also didn’t let himself go overboard.

And it was just the right balance.

Looking at Monk, Julian stepped inside and patted the rabbit girl’s head.

"We’ll be fine."

"Hiinngg."

Julian had only just noticed it.

Perhaps because Monk herself was still something combined with an animal. When he patted her head and stroked it, her reaction showed that the rabbit girl liked it.

He meant, sure, humans could enjoy a gentle stroke too. But the problem was in how Monk responded.

Her eyes still looked frightened, showing a bit of tears, but her lips wriggled a little, curving into a shape like the number three.

The girl let out a low humming sound.

Her ears, which had drooped before, slowly began to move, while her head unconsciously followed the movement of Julian’s hand a little.

"....."

Then, when Julian pulled his hand away, Monk jolted, her eyes snapping wide open, looking disappointed.

Both of her hands rose and touched the spot where Julian had stroked her, her expression truly looking sad.

She even stared at Julian’s retreating hand, as if still hoping the stroking would continue.

But Julian didn’t pay much attention. He only glanced at the fox, which was looking back at him calmly.

Its nine tails swayed a little from side to side.

"There’s no need to make a decision too quickly," Julian said before the fox could say anything.

Even though Julian had said the rest was up to the fox’s own decision, that didn’t mean Julian would truly let it go.

I mean, fate had already whispered that the answer lay with the Fox! It was a fox!

How could he just let the fox in front of him walk away?

’I intend to make it think that its choice came from its own thinking.’

Because, considering how the fox had acted, maybe it was somewhat afraid of slavery and the like, to the point of becoming so sensitive.

To deal with that, Julian had to make the fox make its own choice so it wouldn’t feel restrained.

"Besides, we’re in the Dragons’ base right now. You can’t survive alone, can you? There are hundreds of Dragons here."

The fox’s body stiffened when it heard what Julian said.

"H-hundreds? H-how much is hundreds? H-hng..."

The fox lowered its head a little, as if it were truly trying to count something.

But the longer it thought, the more confused it seemed to become.

Seeing its ears and tails wilt as it tried to figure out how big a number was actually meant made it look even more adorable.

Julian hoped a day would come when he could stroke that ball of fluff as much as he pleased.

Forming a small smile on his face, Julian spoke.

"Well, that’s how it is. Now, what should I call you? Do you have a name?"

"N-name?" Once again, the fox looked startled and fell silent. Julian suspected that the fox might not know the concept of a name either.

So he was about to explain, but failed because the fox spoke first.

"...Is it like the call-name that Mother has?"

"Call-name?" Julian blinked, then nodded. Yes, that could be right.

"What is your mother called?"

"The Dragons call her B-12."

The answer came instantly, so quickly and with a result Julian had never expected.

The fox said it so casually, as if there were nothing strange about that call-name.

’B-12!? Seriously? Doesn’t that sound kind of wrong?’

Rather than a name, it was more like a label for a subject, right?

Thinking about how the fox had been hunted, how it was alone, and how it mentioned its mother right now.

’...Damn, if that’s true, then these Dragons are truly cruel.’

Julian looked at the fox again.

The creature seemed completely unaware of why such a simple call-name had made Julian go quiet for a moment.

It was a miracle to see this fox, which had been so tiny before, manage to escape from the encirclement of so many Dragons.

"That’s not a name."

Julian decided not to lie.

"I mean, yes, it could be a call-name and a name for a creature. But did your mother say that it was her name? Or was it something decided by the Dragons?"

The fox tilted its head, as if thinking it over for a moment, and asked.

"How do you know it was the Dragons who gave Mother that call-name!? Could you be an evil witch!?"

"An evil witch? Of course not," Julian shook his head in amusement. He didn’t know how the fox had suddenly brought up an evil witch.

Anyway, "My name is Julian, that’s what the others call me. It’s the name my parents gave me directly."

After a brief pause, Julian continued.

"A name is used to refer to yourself, to set yourself apart, and to become your identity. Of course, you don’t have to accept the Name from your mother. Someone can give you a name and you only need to agree, or you can give yourself a name."

Julian didn’t know whether the fox understood or not. Judging by how the fox simply fell silent, it seemed to be trying to digest that information in its small head.

Both of its ears moved slightly, while its nine tails slowly stopped swaying.

At that moment, Monk let out a rough breath across from him and spoke with a clear frown.

"That’s troublesome. Big fox, you don’t have to think about it, what matters is that we need a name to call you. How about Bifox? It’s short for Big Fox!"

Monk raised one hand enthusiastically, looking quite satisfied with the name she had just come up with.

Hearing that, the fox turned and stared at Monk with a look that was hard to read.

"So, I only need to have a call-name, right?" Then it mused, growling a little. "Bifox sounds ugly, I want a cooler call-name!"

"Eeehhh come on, why are you so difficult!? Anyway, I’m calling you Bifox."

"But I don’t agree with that! Grrrr!"

All nine of its tails puffed up, while its body leaned slightly forward with an annoyed growl.

"Uwaaah, so scary, hahaha."

Monk laughed instead, her ears even moving cheerfully as she watched the fox’s reaction.

Ignoring the two of them, Julian sank a little into his thoughts. Fortunately, Monk had helped him reach the key point needed here.

So after thinking for a while, Julian looked at the fox.

"How about..."