Chapter 248: A Foxian Tale of the Haunted 『 Part Twenty-three 』
「 Teased by Tail in such a manner, Huohuo finally couldn't hold back and let out a sudden "pfft" of laughter.
"They were all forcibly brought back after being possessed by you, weren't they?" Huohuo wiped her tears haphazardly with the back of her hand, yet the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curve upward slightly. "That hardly counts as coming back…"
"Oh, for crying out loud! Just tell me, did they come back or not?!" The flames of Tail surged upward with a whoosh of intensity.
Huohuo suddenly reached out, gently cupping that cluster of ghostly green fire. A warm sensation radiated from her palm, as if she were once again grasping a ray of sunlight.
"Tail, you aren't a Illusion… You're the real Tail! You really are Tail! You came back! Where did you go all these days? I thought… You had already…"
"Already died? Hey, I haven't exactly been living the high life either." Tail recounted the events following the explosion one by one, though he deliberately omitted the part about hiding in Hanya's gourd, speaking contrary to his heart:
"I was originally planning to skip town, but, well, I couldn't exactly rest easy about you, could I? I came back specifically to check if a coward like you could actually handle things, see if you'd made any progress."
Huohuo hung her head in guilt: "I'm sorry. Huohuo hasn't made any progress at all."
"No, you're selling yourself short. That wasn't just progress; you were practically audacious! You dared to do such a dangerous thing all by yourself? I suspect it's not that you lack courage, you just lack a brain!"
"…Well, w-what else could I do?" Huohuo muttered softly, looking even more aggrieved. "I also felt that Cirrus was lying to me, but what if I missed the chance and couldn't find you again?"
"Don't mention that. Huohuo, is it really because of me that all these people left you?" Tail suddenly asked with grave seriousness.
Huohuo's tone was firm: "At least right now, having Mr. Tail willing to come back for me… I am very satisfied."
Tail gave a soft laugh: "Since you put it that way, this Great Uncle won't feel guilty then." 」
「 .....」
〜Delicious in Dungeon World〜
"Phew—"
Marcille sat upon her pack, staring unblinkingly at the screen in the sky showing the scene of Tail comforting Huohuo, an uncontrollable, doting smile spreading across her face.
"Those two finally got back together! And to think I was worrying about Tail for nothing all this time."
"Ah~ honestly!"
Seeing this, Marcille couldn't help but complain about Tail again.
"That guy clearly cares suuuuuper deeply about Huohuo, yet he insists on putting on that 'this Great Uncle doesn't care' act! He really would die for the sake of his pride!"
"Die?"
Laios was currently focused on gnawing on a slab of roasted monster steak. Hearing this, he looked up, sauce still smeared on his horn.
"Die? Who died? A monster? Is it the type that needs to be bled out in advance?"
"Laios!"
Marcille stomped her foot in anger.
"You haven't been paying attention to Tail and Huohuo at all, have you? I am discussing the relationship between them!"
"Who says I haven't been paying attention? I've been wanting to understand the Heliobus species this whole time, okay?"
Laios swallowed the chunk of meat he had been chewing and spoke with solemn earnestness.
"An immortal and indestructible monster—that would be considered a rarity in any world, right? I've always wondered if meat roasted by a Heliobus would have a different flavor profile…"
"Hmm…"
Senshi also brought up an idea.
"Or perhaps if we let it possess the ingredients directly, could it substitute for marinating and season the meat automatically?"
"Wait! You two shifted to the topic of eating way too naturally!!"
"More importantly…"
Chilchuck narrowed his eyes.
"Marcille, I've noticed you've been paying very close attention to Huohuo and Tail these past few days, to the point of forgetting to eat or sleep. Could it be… you're envious?"
"WHA—! I-I am not!"
Marcille's face instantly flushed crimson.
"I just think… as companions, if everyone could be like them—able to come back together even after being separated—wouldn't that be wonderful!"
"Mm, indeed."
Senshi nodded.
"Though our party is still a long way from separating, isn't it?"
"Who knows?"
Chilchuck shrugged.
"Anyway, if Laios suggests eating bug-type monsters again, I'll be the first to bolt."
—
「 The urgent matter at hand was to get out first. Tail let out a roar, demanding the Heliobus occupying Huohuo's body to scram. Frightened by Tail's intimidation, the Heliobus fell for the trick as expected, panicking and fleeing in a desperate scramble.
Huohuo, with quick eyes and hands, immediately captured the defenseless Heliobus into her gourd.
Once Huohuo regained her senses, the group immediately analyzed the current situation: Although Cirrus didn't know Tail's whereabouts, it had indeed figured out how to divert everyone's attention—luring the group to Cloudford with a single sentence was indeed its strategy to lure the tiger from the mountain.
Hanya instructed everyone to head to the Seat of Divine Foresight immediately to invite the General; the "endgame" he had been trying to delay was happening ahead of schedule.
Returning to Fyxestroll Garden, they found that Cirrus had actually recalled the Heliobi that the group had previously collected back to its side.
It spared no effort in mocking and ridiculing Tail, having learned from its previous failure and completely abandoning the plan to incorporate Tail. In its view, Tail, possessing superfluous emotions, was nothing more than trash, no matter how strong he might be.
"The Ten-Lords Commission's formation is still active; Heliobi cannot leave Fyxestroll Garden. Your scheme is nothing but the struggle of a trapped beast," Hanya reminded it coldly.
"I never intended to leave. I awoke from the Creation Furnace and came to Fyxestroll Garden for only one thing—to do battle with your Luofu General." Cirrus spoke unhurriedly.
"Your General is fond of delaying tactics, so I simply went with the flow, offering strategies to you all, causing the Heliobi to gather here and become my power!" 」
「 .....」
〜Gintama World〜
Gintoki lay lazily on the sofa of the Yorozuya, lowering the Shonen Jump in his hands, his eyes fixed tightly on the sky screen showing Cirrus's supremely arrogant face.
"Sure enough, this guy is a standard villain from a shonen manga!"
Gin-san suddenly sat up, his gaze rarely serious for a moment.
"That obsession with 'fighting even if it means death' isn't actually too terrible."
"It's absolutely terrible!"
Shinpachi retorted quietly from the side.
"This guy calculated against everyone! It didn't even spare its own kind!"
"Calculations are calculations, but at least it didn't lie to itself."
Gintoki shrugged.
"Compared to those hypocrites who spout pretty words while stabbing you in the back, this kind of 'I'm just here to throw down' villain is actually more… tsk, how should I put it? Slightly relatable?"
—