Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Witch Aiko observed the tendrils closely.

’The regenerative capabilities are staggering.’ She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, but she also felt like there was something amiss with it.

She observed even closer and let her tails munch on it.

The tendril was getting thinner and thinner until it suddenly thickened.

Witch Aiko was now convinced that this regeneration didn’t happen until the tendrils hit 1% of their ’durability’, but once they hit that sweet-spot, then they suddenly surged with unknown energy and recovered like someone rewinded their time.

It was difficult to say if Witch Aiko would be able to combat this, but she had a few ideas.

*Nom Nom Nom*

The [Little #### Nightmares] munched through several tendrils, always leaving around 2-3% left. This ensured that the regeneration didn’t trigger, but Witch Aiko was actually testing something else.

’This is such a bother...’ Witch Aiko groaned. She didn’t mess around because she wanted this whole thing to be over with.

Sure, Moon Aiko did like the bird lady, but Witch Aiko was really not suited for this kind of work.

She munched through 10 tendrils until they were thin, but none of them started to regenerate.

’There is no way that the person who set up this Contract would be so stupid...’ Witch Aiko shook her head.

That person, in fact, was not stupid... by normal standards.

There are only a few places in this reality that knew how to cancel Contracts, but even those places couldn’t avoid damage to the Souls, so pretty much all Beasts avoided being contracted at all costs!

Thus, the only thing that someone had to do to prevent others from breaking the contract was to make it regenerate from the collective energy from both the Beast and the owner.

However, unfortunately for that person, Aiko was far from normal...

*Nom Nom Nom**Nom Nom Nom**Nom Nom Nom*

She let her [Little #### Nightmares] chew through all the tendrils while watching them if they were regenerating.

And sure enough, none of those tendrils even moved as long as they were not damaged under a certain threshold.

This overjoyed Witch Aiko, since it meant this would be over with quickly.

’Tastes like shit...’

’Tell me about it.’

’Let’s get it over with...’

’You are one to talk.’

’Yeah, you ate the least.’

The [Little #### Nightmares] were grumbling since their ’food’ didn’t taste all that good. They also had to ensure to purify the energy before allowing their Princess to consume it.

Of course, Witch Aiko paid more attention to the tendrils than to the grumbling [Little #### Nightmares]...

’Should we call Uncle?’

’Way ahead of you.’

’Why?’

’This energy is too strange.’

’Yeah, if that person tries to interfere in this place, our Princess would be in danger.’

’You think she wouldn’t retaliate?’

’THAT’s why we are calling Uncle.’

’...’

’...’

’Smart.’

’Very smart.’

’Hehehe~’

The [Little #### Nightmares] were chatting foolishly, while Witch Aiko was trying to count all the tendrils.

’Almost ten thousand tendrils...’ Witch Aiko was speechless. To compare it to Danji, she only had around a dozen or a few dozen. It was hard to say since those tendrils were like a stick compared to these log-like tendrils.

That also meant that this was at least 100 times stronger and at most 1,000 times stronger! Who was the person who went through all this trouble?!

Witch Aiko was quite tired from letting her [Little #### Nightmares] go wild, so she withdrew from this place. Her time was also up, so she would be kicked out even if she wanted to stay.

...

Witch Aiko opened her eyes and breathed out. This whole thing was so annoying it bothered her greatly.

The bird lady in front of her was quite pale, which startled Witch Aiko. It was a good thing that she stopped before something happened.

”How are you feeling?” Witch Aiko said softly, which was unlike her.

”I felt like you would drain the life of me.” The bird lady sighed, but she did feel miniscule changes inside her. The ’command’ over her weakened, albeit slightly, which meant that this little Fox could truly cancel the Contract!

”How are you?” The bird lady was concerned that the Foxy would hurt herself before she was able to cancel the contract.

”Tired, bothered, sleepy.” Witch Aiko yawned.

The bird lady paused. ”How did it go?”

”It’s a bother. Whoever created that thing really hated everything.” Witch Aiko grumbled.

The bird lady slowly nodded her head. This was her mistake. She should’ve been stronger so that nobody would be able to Contract her, but alas...

The butler knocked on the door.

”Enter.” The bird lady invited him, since she could smell delicious food.

”I have brought over a meal.” The butler unceremoniously entered the room and spread the food that he prepared for both of them.

”You look pale.” It didn’t seem like the butler would role-play today, which startled the lady bird.

She blushed slightly before brushing him off and switching him up for food.

Witch Aiko also joined in the food endeavour and munched on it.

*Nom**Nom**Nom*

*Nom**Nom**Nom*

They both munched the food like they were hungry for weeks, startling the butler.

It was obvious he really cared about this situation, so the Spiritual Food was also packed with Vitality to help them cope with the exhaustion.

Fortunately, that was the perfect way for them to be able to finish this work over time and not be forced to do it in one session.

”She is tired, so escort her to her room. I will also go to my room and sleep.” The bird lady gestured towards him.

”Try not to cultivate or do anything Qi related. I have no idea what it would do with the tendrils.” Witch Aiko grumbled. She didn’t want to see those tendrils regenerating again, or she might flip the table and bash whoever came with that Contract!

”En.” The bird lady chuckled. She was aware this was not a simple situation, so she didn’t even plan to use her techniques and other things while this was going on.

”Good.” Witch Aiko nodded her head.

...

They finished the food and Witch Aiko stood up.

The bird lady also stood up, trying to leave on her own, but it wouldn’t be her butler if something didn’t happen.

He swept her off of her feet and carried her in princess carry.

”I can go on my own!” The bird lady protested.

”You are going nowhere in this state.” The butler refuted her words like he was not really her butler.

”It’s a good idea to get a room.” Witch Aiko smiled at them sweetly and gave them the sign of approval.

”Don’t misunderstand. Her family is grumbling, so it’s better that I escort her.” The butler was trying to explain that it was not like what she was thinking, but the Fox just kept smiling.

”I understand. I understand.” Witch Aiko smiled teasingly.

She, in fact, didn’t understand that they were in a platonic relationship, which was very different to what she was used to...

”...” The butler didn’t even try to explain again as he felt like this situation was hopeless...

Witch Aiko waved them goodbye and waited in the study for something to happen.

Unfortunately, nothing happened and she slowly fell asleep on the table...

-----

The butler escorted his lady to her room. She was blushing the whole way, making everything difficult, especially her soft touch was quite rousing.

”Thank you...” The bird lady smiled bittersweetly.

”Anytime.” The butler smiled normally, but he understood her worry.

”Do you think the Foxy will accept the rewards?” The bird lady pursed her lips.

”You are saying it like you have the contract already cancelled.” The butler chuckled. It was so like her to worry even before anything happened.

”Well... I do feel changes inside my body, so it’s only a matter of time.” The bird lady nodded her head seriously.

The butler was startled. He was doubtful that a Fox would be able to completely clear her Contract, but now...

”I don’t think she will accept your daughter.” The butler shook his head. While her daughter was enthusiastic at first, she was quickly reminded how hungry she was for the Crow Clan head position.

”You think so too?” The bird lady clicked her tongue. ”She is a fool.”

”But still your daughter.” The butler shook his head.

”She is yours too.” The bird lady rolled her eyes.

The butler just shrugged.

...

After escorting his lady to bed, he returned for the teasing Fox.

However, the moment he entered, she was already sleeping on the table.

The butler raised an eyebrow. His lady told him about the changes, but he didn’t expect that it would wear out both of them.

He gently picked up the Fox and carried her to her room before sealing it, so that others wouldn’t be able to enter it. He made sure of that since some Clan Elders were making moves behind the scenes.

The butler also did the same with his lady’s room, so that nobody would bother either of them.

-----

*Nom**Nom**Nom*

Witch Aiko woke up to a delicious meal, so she immediately munched on it without even asking why and how she was able to get into her guest bed.

She shrugged all those worries with a good meal and burped happily.

Moving out of the room, she met the butler.

”My lady is ready any time.” The butler bowed gently. He already noticed the changes in his lady’s temperament, so he was quite happy.

”Okay, I think we can do the final push, or maybe two, I’m not sure if I will be able to do it in one sitting.” Witch Aiko would have to sever all those connections at the same time, but she only had 8 [Little #### Nightmares], so she would have to make some kind of plan on how to do it.

She already had a few ideas, but she wouldn’t rush anything. The important part was to do this safely since regenerating all of them would probably kill the bird lady...

Obviously Witch Aiko didn’t want that to happen, so she would do her best while clearing those tendrils!