Chapter – 26
As befitting a place long known as the capital of the human kingdom, there were truly a great many humans.
Children who looked similar in age to my current disguised appearance ran about everywhere. On one side, people had spread out their wares in long rows, loudly hawking their goods. There were those riding horses through the streets, others hauling carts piled high with cargo behind oxen, and still others selling food that sent up billows of steam. The variety was impressive.
[San-gun. There are quite a few martial artists around here.]
[Martial artists, huh. They’re not the ones who challenged us at the gate and got knocked out with one hit, are they? You mean humans like those big guys?]
[Well, they have to be at least that much to be considered actual combat power. Can you tell who they are?]
[That’s easy enough.]
I swept my gaze around and picked out those who looked like martial artists.
[That one has a sword at his waist, another has a huge saber strapped to his back. And that one over there isn’t carrying anything, but all three of them have far more energy than ordinary people.]
[Correct. But there are more than just the ones you pointed out.]
[What?]
[The ones you noticed are martial artists above a certain level. You can roughly tell which sect they belong to just from their clothing.]
Hearing the fox’s explanation left me dumbfounded.
[…Are those below that ‘certain level’ really martial artists at all?]
[Humans can’t just gather qi effortlessly, you know. Some are still training and gathering it, and others practice what they call external techniques, focusing on physical strength rather than internal energy. And remember what I told you before? Humans gather far less qi than spirit beasts.]
[Right, you did say that. Hmm… Is it similar to how long it takes an animal to become a spirit beast?]
[It’s faster than that. Of course, only for those born with talent.]
[I see. Clothing, huh.]
I carefully observed the humans the fox had pointed out, then turned my head away.
‘So that means those guys are all at least reasonably skilled.’
The so-called “martial artists” I had encountered so far were nothing like those weaklings you’d have to distinguish by clothing alone.
Whether Blood Cult members or orthodox martial artists I fought personally, every one of them had been strong.
That was why this surprised me. To be that weak and still be called a martial artist?
‘If I look closely, I can sense some condensed qi, but…’
Even so, I could hardly tell the difference from ordinary people. They might be a bit stronger and sturdier, but to my eyes, it was no more than the difference between an ant and a larva.
[Hah. To think they’re called martial artists at that level…]
[Humans are physically weak, after all. But you know their strengths, don’t you?]
[Of course. Their clever minds, their tendency to form groups, and their skilled hands—those are things other animals can’t easily match.]
[And the truly gifted ones grow frighteningly fast. Fast enough to look down on most spirit beasts.]
[That much?]
[That much.]
I nodded at the fox’s serious assessment.
I couldn’t deny it—after all, I’d experienced it firsthand.
[Enough with the heavy talk. Want to eat something?]
The fox immediately carried me toward a stall where steam rose thickly into the air.
“Two dumplings, please.”
“Right away, sir!”
The fox took some coins from her pouch and handed them over. The vendor accepted them and passed us two round, white items, half-wrapped in paper and still steaming.
“Here, try it.”
“Mm… It smells a bit nutty. And meaty.”
Carefully holding the white, round thing with both hands, I blew on it to cool it, then cautiously took a bite.
“…It’s bland.”
“Eat a bit more.”
“There’s a slight sweetness, I guess, but…”
What was I supposed to discover by eating more? It was obviously going to taste the same.
Thinking that, I took a few more bites—and then suddenly widened my eyes in shock.
“Hot—!”
“It’s hot, so cool it before you eat.”
The fox blew gently at the steam rising even more strongly, but I couldn’t focus on that.
“What… is this…?”
This was truly a taste I had never experienced in my thousands of years of life.
The filling inside the fluffy, softly cooked wheat dough was nothing short of shocking.
The flavor and texture were clearly pork. Softer than wild boar, so this must be the kind of pig humans raise.
But it wasn’t just pork. Salty and sweet, mixed with a fragrance no meat alone could produce—it was a completely new taste.
And the vegetables mixed in with the meat added a different texture, preventing the bite from becoming monotonous.
This was nothing like the snacks the fox usually gave me.
Those had been sweet, savory, and crisp—delicious in their own way. Tasting sweetness that was hard to find in nature had been enjoyable.
But at heart, I was still a carnivore. I enjoyed such flavors, but I couldn’t say I truly preferred them.
In that sense, dumplings were… truly, truly perfect. They were incomparable to noodles.
“What is this? Huh? What is this?!”
“It’s a dumpling. A dumpling.”
“Dumpling?”
“Yeah. You like it?”
Did I like it? What kind of ridiculous question was that?
[I regret not demanding this as tribute before. It’s that good.]
It felt like I’d suffered a massive loss over my thousand—no, my entire spirit-beast—years of life.
“One more, please.”
“One more?”
“Yeah!”
“Didn’t anyone else give you something different?”
“There wasn’t anything I wanted, so I didn’t ask.”
Feeling regret as I looked at the dumpling, now half gone, I ate it slowly. Ah, it’s delicious—but it keeps getting smaller.
“You don’t have to ration it like that. I’ll buy you more.”
“Tasty things are too precious to waste.”
“I said I’ll let you eat as much as you want.”
[Do you even know how much my ‘as much as I want’ is?]
[…I do have that kind of ability, San-gun.]
[Then I don’t have to hold back?]
[San-gun. There are things far tastier than this.]
“Really?!”
“Really. Once we get back, there’ll be piles of delicious food waiting.”
“Wow!”
[Then let’s hurry back to Cheonwolru, Cheonwolru!]
[Hey, San-gun. Weren’t we going to look around Luoyang?]
[We can do that later with Sehwa! Food first!]
[Once we arrive at Cheonwolru, I’ll put in requests with the cooks, so calm down a bit. Have some dignity.]
Only then did I come to my senses. Looking around, I noticed humans gazing at me with warm smiles.
“……”
Was it because my body was younger? I found it harder than before to control my emotions.
Humans truly were tiring, incomprehensible beings. Suddenly exhausted, I buried my face into the fox’s shoulder.
As my view disappeared, laughter broke out around us.
“Oh my, how cute.”
“What an adorable child.”
“Is this your first time eating dumplings, young master?”
“Haha, seems so.”
“Then this one’s on the house! Seeing a child enjoy our dumplings so much makes me happy!”
“Oh. Thank you.”
I could feel the fox grinning as she accepted the dumpling. Sensing she was enjoying the situation, I pinched her.
[Let’s get out of here.]
[Why? It’s free food.]
[Hey. Didn’t you say you’re well-off? Are you really in a position to fuss over free food?]
[Then let’s say I’m gratefully accepting their goodwill, San-gun.]
[I seriously want to bite you. Do you want to try being bitten?]
[If you return to your true form here, everything will be exposed, you know?]
Fox… I’ll definitely pay you back for this humiliation.
Thinking that, I tightly grabbed the hem of her clothes. She must have sensed something ominous, because she quickly spoke up.
“Well then, we should be going.”
She said it loudly, as if for the crowd to hear, and hurried off.
Good. My chance.
[Ugyagyagyagyak!]
[Hurry.]
[No, seriously, putting qi into your pinch is going too far—aaagh!]
[Be grateful I’m not biting you in my true form.]
The fox let out a pained groan and handed me the dumpling. Looking at the steam still rising warmly from it, I added,
“I’m letting it slide because there’s a dumpling.”
“Ugh…”
Food should be eaten while it’s still warm. That’s respect for a fallen prey.
I bit into the dumpling while it was still radiating heat.
Mm. Still delicious.
