A series of faint snores reached my ears. The girls were sleeping, all of them, and even the hero was lying down on a thin blanket two, maybe three paces from my imprisoned body.

It had been nearly an hour since they went to sleep without giving a single care about dangers like robbers, beasts or at least demons. They just slept as if they were staying at an expensive inn or even at a castle, protected by thousands of soldiers.



«How confident can they be ...»



I tried to free myself once again, but the two arms slung around my body didn't move the slightest. The girl named Myra treated me like some plushie. After healing me, she had not only fed me, which I had been more than thankful for, she had also pet me and tried to give me a whole series of girlish sounding names.



«She would probably be a decent person if it wasn't for her bad taste ...»



After her idea of naming me 'Princess' had been protested against by the whole group, she had come up with names that were even worse: Beauty, Sugar, Little Miss, Lady, Happy, Sunshine, Apple, Berry and Sunset. Luckily enough, the girls denied each and every one of these curses.

In the end, it was the hero himself that gave me a new name, without ever asking for my opinion on that matter. He had thought for a just a few moments, before finally announcing the curse he had decided to place on me: 'Let's call her Ahri. It is the name of a fox that is famous in the country I come from.'

The stupid girls didn't even question this decision of his. Then again they probably never did, considering how all of them were totally fine with being part of a silly harem.



«What is so special about him? Look at him! He is pathetic! He is even drolling and grinning in his sleep!»



I couldn't understand why such an average-looking guy would gather the attention of all those girls, who were all beautiful in their own way.



«Is it just because of his strength? They should follow Karion then!"



An image appeared in front of my inner eye. It showed my beloved in between all of these girls. They fed him like they had fed me, they touched his muscular chest and even kissed him.



«... I should kill them all.»



Suddenly, Myra turned around, dragging me with her. She mumbled something about a 'Masaru' which probably was the idiotic name of the even more idiotic hero, before falling silent again. Her arms, however, had loosened a bit. They were still overpowering me, but I was able to free myself by using all my four legs to push her arm away from my small body.

When I finally dropped to the blanket she slept on, I was already deprived of nearly all my strength. I wasn't too exhausted, however, as if I could have denied me from getting revenge.

The hero was just lying there, defenseless and waiting for me to end his life. But how could I even do that? I had bitten him for half an eternity without him receiving much more than scratches that weren't even showing blood. There probably were countless blessings protecting that body of his, far too much of a defense for a little fox to ever overcome.

I slowly stepped closer, paying utmost care on making as little noise as possible. Luckily enough neither the hero nor the girls seemed to realize that something was off.

Now that the hero wasn't wearing the grey and blue armor of his and only his white cloak was spread over his body as a makeshift blanket, he looked even more pathetic compared to before.



«Without that armor of his, he is bound to be weaker!»



Even though he wore no protection now, I knew that just biting him would not be enough. Those teeth of mine weren't nearly sharp enough to accomplish such a task. The hero would wake up before I would be able to do any real damage, that is if I could hurt him in the first place.

It was only when my eyes gazed on his face, which was lightened by the gentle, almost burnt out campfire, that I realized that there was no need at all to use my own body to attack him. There were countless weapons for me to choose and this fire was just one!

Now that I had found my plan, I naturally didn't hesitate a second longer. My tiny feet were already walking towards the fire. I bit down on one of the half-burned sticks and pushed it into the remaining cinders to ignite it again. After what had felt like hours, the wood finally caught fire. I bit down on the stick one again and carried it over to the deeply sleeping, unsuspecting hero.

The fire slowly conquered the rest of the stick, making it hotter and ever hotter. When I finally reached the hero, after that probably was mere seconds but felt like ages, I could already smell the tips of my hair being attacked by the fire.



«Hot! So hot! I have to hurry up!»



I couldn't make it much further. When my whiskers started burning away, I hurled the cursed stick onto the hero and retreated immediately. My murder tool only landed on his stomach, but it was effective nonetheless. The silly cape of his burned like tinders and within a heartbeat, it had already spread onto both his chest and his legs. I had won!



「Burn you fiend! Burn to death! I will spit on your ashes!」

"Wha- what ..."



«... fuck.»



"Fire! I'm burning! I'm burning!!"



Almost immediately, the whole camp was awake. The girls panicked screams ringed in my ears, the hero, however, was much worse. He ran around like a beheaded chicken while trying his best to fight the fire that had spread onto his underwear. In his desperation, he rolled on the ground, cursed, screamed and slapped himself, but all of this only did little to help him out of his misery.

When he finally managed to extinguish the fire, his underwear had already become victim to the flames. Half of his body was covered with burns, even the part the girls traveling with him probably cared most about.

Naturally, he wasn't exactly pleased. He screamed in pain, hit his fists on the ground and screamed a little more. All of this was accompanied by my energetic curses and cheers, or rather yelps.

It was the same girl that had saved my life, that now betrayed all my hope. She chanted her healing spell and fixed the pitiful body of his within mere minutes. I couldn't help but add her to my curses.

 

"It is all good, Ahri!" He exclaimed after calming down a little. "You don't have to be afraid anymore!"

 

Still nude, but with now healthy and scar-free skin, the hero bent down to me. He lifted me up and kissed me on the forehead, before embracing me tightly. I was so shocked I couldn't even react to it.

 

"Thank you, Ahri! If it wasn't for you alarming me, who knows what would have happened to me! I knew you loved me!"

 

«... what?!»