It was about two weeks after I had begun life at the academy.
That night, there was a full moon.
The full moon.
A day when the round moon hung vividly in the sky.
That day, unlike usual, I felt strangely out of sorts.
It was as if someone inside me was calling to me, as if I could faintly hear such a voice.
And when night came, sure enough, the voice reached me.
‘Have you grown accustomed to this body now?’
It was Wolyeong.
‘I’m becoming more or less used to it.’
‘You don’t have to speak so stiffly.’
‘How could I not? You’ve lived far longer than I have.’
‘It makes me uncomfortable. So you may speak casually.’
‘……Yes. No, wait. Yeah.’
‘Much better.’
At those words, I swallowed a breath somewhat awkwardly.
Even if she told me to speak casually, the other party was the original owner of this body.
Moreover, she possessed a presence that could not be explained merely by saying she had lived a long time.
‘But how are you able to talk to me?’
‘Originally, my demonic power grows stronger on nights of the full moon.
Because of that influence, the energy of my soul must have become clearer as well, allowing us to converse.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. Right now, you only have one tail, do you not? On a night when the full moon rises, even in that state, you will be able to use the power of two or more tails. In other words, up to the power of a two-tailed or three-tailed fox.’
‘……? That’s amazing.’
‘Indeed. That is the power of the full moon. Demonic power becomes easier to control than usual, and you can do things that are normally difficult.’
‘Once a month, huh.’
‘That’s right.’
I fell silent for a moment.
Every time the full moon rose, I could use power stronger than usual.
It sounded like good news, but at the same time, it also sounded dangerous.
‘What about the possibility of going berserk?’
‘Looking at your current state, it is close to zero. No, there is none.’
‘……Is that possible?’
‘Even I find it surprising. That you have such a high synchronization rate with my body.
If the synchronization rate were not high, going berserk would be possible.
But not for you.’
‘That’s good to hear.
But you told me I didn’t need to use honorifics with you, so why do you talk like that?’
‘This way of speaking has been fixed over long years, so it cannot be helped.’
‘……Come to think of it, how many years have you lived?
Where I’m from, there’s a story that a fox gains one tail for every hundred years it lives.’
‘I see. This world is not so different from yours. One tail is gained every hundred years, and after living a thousand years, one becomes a nine-tailed fox.
If one lives beyond that, the number of tails does not increase further, but demonic power continues to accumulate.’
‘So you already knew I came from another world.’
‘Of course. Did I not say that when you entered this body, a fragment of my soul entered you?
At that time, I became able to read your memories, and thus I learned of it.’
‘Then how many years have you actually lived?’
‘Hmm. I stopped counting at some point, but would it not be over ten thousand years?’
‘You’ve lived much longer than I thought.’
‘Indeed. In that time, I saw and experienced every corner of this world.
That is why a tenth tail appeared.’
At those words, I fell silent for a moment.
Saying she had lived long did not simply mean she was strong.
It also meant she had seen many things, and parted with many things.
‘……You were bored.’
‘Yes. In the past, there were humans who served me, but as time passed, they gradually disappeared.
I ended up parting even from those I had been close to.’
Then Wolyeong added in a low voice,
‘Except for that Spirit King fellow.’
The Spirit King.
So such a being really existed.
If spirits existed, it did seem likely that there would be a king of them as well.
But when that name came so naturally from Wolyeong’s mouth, I was once again made to realize just what kind of existence the original owner of this body had been.
‘In any case, I am enjoying myself inside you. I ought to express my gratitude.’
‘I don’t think I’ve done anything worth being thanked for.’
‘Every day is not boring. To me, that is the greatest entertainment there is.’
‘If that’s the case, I’m glad.’
‘Though I never imagined I would become a popular animal at a place of learning for students.’
‘……Please let that slide.’
‘That is the most amusing scene of all. I would never miss it.’
‘……Sigh.’
‘Hahaha. Seeing that reaction makes it even more amusing.’
‘I guess I should just give up now.’
‘Indeed. If you cannot avoid it, you should enjoy it.’
‘You know even that?’
‘It was the saying I liked best among your memories.’
It seemed she truly did know my memories.
No, simply saying she knew them was not enough.
Wolyeong seemed to understand, to some extent, the way of speaking and knowledge in my memories, even fragments of the world I had lived in.
‘Still, if anyone tries to harm you, I will help you at any time. I swear it on the name of Wolyeong.’
‘Is that name famous in this world?’
‘Of course. Nearly all long-lived beings should know it.’
‘You really are impressive, as expected of someone who’s lived so long.’
‘Thank you for the praise.’
‘But you’re much weaker now, aren’t you? Can you help me?’
‘No matter how weak I have become, ordinary beings are no match for me.’
I quietly shut my mouth inwardly.
If her weakened state was still at that level, how strong had she been in her prime?
‘At times, I may be able to borrow your body and come out. Would that be all right?’
‘You’re the original owner of this body, so of course.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Maybe because it’s the full moon, we can talk for a long time.’
‘Indeed. The moon. And the full moon, at that, is extremely important to me—no, to us.’
Us.
That word lingered strangely in my ears.
I still did not fully understand this body.
But at least in this moment, I felt as though Wolyeong and I were beneath the same moonlight.
‘……I want to be able to handle demonic power freely as soon as possible.’
‘What are you talking about? You can already do that.’
‘Huh?’
‘Did I not say so earlier? That your synchronization rate is high. That means you can also control it with certainty.’
‘I was scared, so I haven’t really used it properly.’
‘That is the problem. Try it tomorrow, if you must.’
‘But if I actually do that, the surroundings will……’
‘Ah, I see. So that is why you have not truly attempted it.’
‘I’ll have to try it someday.’
‘I guarantee it. It will go very well.’
Just like that, the two of us became rather close in a single day.
Then, I decided to carry out an idea that suddenly came to mind.
The transformation art I had tried for the first time when I came to this world.
Although the result had unexpectedly been the form of a woman, it had still undeniably been a success.
Now that the full moon had risen.
And if, as Wolyeong said, my demonic power was easier to control.
Couldn’t I try it once more?
‘……Should I give it a shot?’
I carefully raised myself so as not to wake Elysia.
Her room was quiet.
The moonlight coming in through the window drew faint silver lines across the floor, and Elysia was asleep, breathing evenly.
I looked at her for a moment, then slipped silently out of the room through the window.
When I arrived in the garden, the night air seeped through my fur.
The full moon was shining brightly in the middle of the sky.
As I received that moonlight, I felt the demonic power deep inside my body ripple quietly.
‘It really is…… easier to handle than usual.’
I steadied my breathing and, just like that day, created a mirror with demonic power.
A soft light gathered in the air, and a mirror like a smooth water surface slowly took form.
It was far more stable than the first time.
There was less wavering, and its shape was clear.
I stood before it and closed my eyes.
The appearance I had seen on that first day.
Long silver-pink hair.
Pale pink eyes tinged with a faint golden light.
Pure white skin, and a face so beautiful it seemed somehow unreal.
And the fox ears that had remained because I was not yet fully accustomed to transformation.
I recalled each part of that figure one by one.
Demonic power slowly spread from deep within my body.
From the tips of my fur, from the end of my tail, I felt as though my entire body were melting into the moonlight.
And the next moment.
I succeeded.
In the mirror, there was no longer a silver-pink little fox.
Instead, a woman stood beneath the moonlight.
Silver-pink hair that fell to her waist swayed quietly in the night breeze.
Her pure white skin glowed faintly in the moonlight, and on top of her head, silver-pink fox ears she had failed to hide rose slightly, while behind her, a single tail emerged.
I did not know what the outfit had been modeled after, but it had formed on its own.
I stared blankly at myself in the mirror.
‘……So I really do become this form.’
It was clearly my body, and yet it still felt unfamiliar.
Then Wolyeong’s voice reached me.
‘I, too, often transformed into a woman in the old days, but this is not bad either.’
‘Even you approve?’
‘I say it because it is worthy of approval.
The form is stable, and the flow of demonic power is not bad.
It is much better than your first attempt.’
Receiving even Wolyeong’s recognition, I felt secretly proud.
Of course, on the outside, I tried to act as nonchalant as possible.
‘Hmm. Well, that much is nothing.’
‘You are quite pleased right now.’
‘……Don’t read someone else’s mind so naturally.’
‘I am inside you, so it cannot be helped.’
I let out a small sigh.
But I did not feel bad.
Rather, a corner of my heart felt a little lighter.
The power I had feared without reason was moving according to my will more easily than I had expected.
At least in this moment, it felt not as though demonic power was swallowing me, but as though I was handling it.
Before Elysia could notice, I checked my reflection in the mirror one more time, then quickly released the transformation.
The silver-pink hair, the white hands, and the woman’s form with fox ears remaining all melted away into the moonlight.
At the same time, the mirror scattered, and I returned to my original form as a small little fox.
‘……Good.’
I would have to give this form a name too.
It was still too early now, so I would think about it slowly.
I gave my tail a slight wag.
There was one more thing I had learned today.
On nights when the full moon rose.
I could do far more than I had thought.