Chapter 168: Lumi

"...Lumi?"

Julian finished his sentence after thinking for a few moments.

For some reason, the name had suddenly popped into his head, and when he considered it again, he felt it was quite a good name.

At the very least, it was far better than Bifox.

Didn’t the name also sound fitting when Julian looked at the thick ball of white fur in front of him?

"Lumi?"

The fox tilted its head slightly, its nine tails slowly swaying left and right.

Julian nodded.

"...."

The fox fell silent.

It seemed to be considering something, then repeated the name in a quieter voice.

"Lumi..."

No one knew what it was thinking inside that small head.

Meanwhile, Monk, beside Julian, furrowed her brow. Her expression looked odd and scrunched up, clearly showing her disapproval.

"Boss! Why Lumi!? Doesn’t Bifox sound cooler!?"

"...No."

"Eeehhh!?"

Yes, that rabbit girl’s head probably needed to be examined as well.

Julian ignored the rabbit girl’s protest with a small sigh.

He turned back to the Little Fox, which had now grown big enough to resemble a dog.

Even so, its behavior hadn’t changed much.

The fox still looked very wary, and still as childish as before in its attitude, didn’t it?

Even when Julian shifted his hand slightly, Lumi’s ears immediately perked up, while its gaze followed the movement.

"...Why does it have to be Lumi?"

A sudden question rang out, making Julian blink.

"What?"

"Is Lumi a cool name? If it’s not cool, I don’t want it."

"..."

Julian fell silent, genuinely at a loss when faced with that question.

’Why?’

Julian repeated the question in his mind.

Hadn’t he simply chosen a name that sounded good?

There was no particular reason.

He hadn’t even thought about its meaning when he said the name.

However, seeing how the fox looked at him with such curiosity, Julian found it rather hard to say so.

What’s more, he had already explained earlier that a name was something important.

’...Should I say that I just picked one at random?’

No, that would sound extremely irresponsible and, honestly, cruel.

So, after considering it for a while, Julian decided to give an answer that sounded better.

"Lumi has a good meaning."

Both of the fox’s ears shot up, even swaying as if they were leaves blown by the wind.

"What! What! What!?"

Seeing how excited the fox was made Julian feel somewhat awkward and guilty.

"...Light."

"Light?"

"Yes, a light that shines in the middle of darkness."

Julian nodded calmly, even though his thoughts said otherwise.

"It symbolizes something that won’t easily disappear, even when it’s in a dark place."

"..."

The fox fell silent upon hearing what Julian said.

Meanwhile, Julian continued speaking in the same tone.

"In short, it’s a cool name."

’...I think.’

He added in his heart that as long as the word ’cool’ was in there, that should be enough, right?

In any case, Julian truly didn’t know whether Lumi had a meaning like the one he had just explained.

But that didn’t mean he was lying entirely.

The name did remind him of light.

So, it should be fine.

"...Light."

The fox repeated the word again.

It lowered its head a little, looking at the white fur on the front of its body.

Its nine tails moved slowly as something dawned in its small head, and it seemed to be reaching a clear conclusion.

Then, unexpectedly, it raised its head again.

"Yes! From now on, I’m Lumi! It’s a cool name!"

Its voice sounded louder than before.

In fact, all nine of its tails immediately puffed up, as if showing off its joy.

Seeing that made Julian feel a little relieved, and he even began to picture himself patting his chest in relief.

’Whew, thank goodness she likes it.’

At the very least, he wouldn’t need to think of another name. That would have been troublesome.

"But..."

Lumi spoke again, snapping Julian back to attention.

"...?"

"If I have the name Lumi, could I become stronger now?"

"....?"

Julian fell silent, unable to believe what he had just heard.

Why had this fox suddenly asked something like that?

Weren’t they only talking about names?

"Who said that?"

Both of Lumi’s ears drooped immediately upon hearing Julian’s question.

It looked very disappointed.

’...Does it think a name can grant power?’

Julian didn’t know how the fox had arrived at that thought, but well, it was a truly interesting idea.

Meanwhile, Monk, who had felt ignored all this time, finally raised her hand. She looked a bit sulky as she found her chance.

"In that case, Bifox can have a cool meaning too! A very strong Big Fox!"

"No, that sounds terrible! Grr!"

"Hahaha! But you really are big now!"

"Do you want to die!?"

"Uwaaaah! Boss, it’s threatening me!"

Julian simply watched the two of them.

Somehow, Monk seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the chance to tease the fox.

And in a strange way, the fox itself was really easy to provoke.

At least, that was the impression.

Though the fox might have a different opinion.

Julian let out a small sigh, then called out, testing the name himself.

"Lumi."

At first, the fox, Lumi, seemed to hesitate, but soon it turned its head and glanced at Julian, its tails wagging excitedly.

It seemed to be happy about being called by that name.

"So, can you explain? What made you suddenly grow this big?"

Julian changed the subject once Monk finally stopped teasing the fox.

"How did I grow? Well, it’s because I ate a really delicious Fruit!"

"..."

’So the growth factor is indeed tied to food.’

Julian noted that in his mind, then quietly spoke again:

"So, you can eat Mana and fruit? What about meat?"

"Fruit that has Mana in it, and Mana itself, but not meat! Meat isn’t tasty."

’I see.’

Julian then nodded.

With that, he now had a clear direction on how to look after Lumi’s food.

All that remained were a few questions that had always made Julian curious.

What exactly was this fox’s history?

Would it give some information that Julian might be able to use, or would it turn out to be the reason Lumi was the key that fate had whispered about?

"Next, Lumi—"

Knock—! Knock—!

Julian’s words were interrupted when the sound of knocking on the door rang out.

The sudden arrival made Julian turn in surprise.

"...Who would come in the middle of the night like this?"

For a moment, Julian fell silent, while the knocking continued not far away.

Julian then felt a touch on his body, right behind his back.

"Eeek! Boss! We’re dead! Could that arrogant Dragon be back? He’s really going to turn us into rabbit skewers now!"

On Julian’s other side, soft fur was clearly felt brushing against his leg. It was Lumi, who had grown big and no longer had a place to stay on Julian’s shoulder.

"Rabbit skewers? What are those? Are they tasty? Can I try them?"

In response, Julian could feel Monk’s body trembling violently behind his back.

For some reason, Monk seemed extremely sensitive about Rabbit Skewers. Julian was curious, but it wasn’t important right now.

Because the knocking stopped and someone’s voice was heard.

"Lord Julian, it’s me, Garph. Forgive me, I forgot that humans are usually not active at this hour. I hope I’m not disturbing you."

Only then did Julian feel relieved, realizing that it was actually Garph.

’...Damn, those at Rank-A and above really are cheating.’

How could they hide their Mana like that?

Julian hoped he would soon rise to Rank-A as well, thinking that as he walked toward the door.

The door opened right away, revealing Garph in his humanoid form.