Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

Chapter 11: Celestial Fox (part 1)(slight r18)

I woke up surrounded by warmth like nothing I'd experienced before.

'Oh right,' I slowly gathered my thoughts while fighting off the morning sluggishness. 'I went to sleep in its fur...'

The events of yesterday were far more traumatizing than I would ever assume. Watching gore in movies was nothing compared to having a girl with my girlfriend's face die in my hands, finished with a mercy strike by my own hand.

Unwilling to open my eyes and face the harshness of this strange world, I cuddled myself up even further into the soft fur of the massive fox... But even this warmth couldn't ward off the memories.

After assisting the poor girl on her last journey, I did my due diligence and dug out a total of five graves before burying the entire party side by side. Yet, I didn't move them to their final resting places as they were.

From what little I could learn from this massive fox, they came here to hunt it. And as they failed, all of their belongings fell under the fox's new care. And while it didn't seem to mind burying away human flesh or clothes...

The same couldn't be said about gold and other valuables the warriors had on themselves.

'What are the chances the only reason why it wanted me to gather those, was because it wanted to pay me for the food?'

This thought continued to plague my mind, on the same level as my girlfriend's face.

Just like I couldn't handle the feeling of burying a knife in the soft body of someone looking exactly like my failed love, I couldn't bear the thought of being responsible for the fox's sudden desire to scavenge the corpses.

In the end, though, it is what I did. And by the end of things, the fox proved the worth of its word, offering me to take as much gold as I believed it owed me. Yet, whenever I as much as threw a glance at the scavenged coin...

I couldn't help but see the fat drops of blood dripping down the gold pieces' edges.

'That's the ultimate source of gold, regardless of the world,' I thought back then before grabbing just one thick, golden coin. 'Gold always comes from blood, there's no other way around it.'

I clenched my teeth, forcing all those unsavory memories out of my mind.

Rather than letting my thoughts rot in the depressing place, I focused on the perfect softness and warmth that surrounded me instead.

'Wait, softness?'

I grabbed it with my fingers as if to test the waters. And without even a shred of doubt, what I was grabbing at wasn't just a bundle of fur! It didn't feel like the back of the smaller fox either! In fact, as far as a virgin like me could tell, my hands felt like grabbing at...

Refusing to believe this logical conclusion of my sensory experience, I pried my eyes wide open... Only to stare down the gentle curve of the nape, curving outwards into a fuller shape the further down I looked.

And just like in some cheap hentai written by a teenager with cum-infested brain... Down there was where I found my hands, grabbing at one of the softest and most desirable parts of a female body.

But where did a female of human kind come from? And how did it manage to dive into this massive fox's fur?!

"WHA...?!"

Startled, I screamed out.

As easy as it would be to endure torture or bullying, interacting with women...

Not only was my heart broken, I still had yet to solve the problem with my fake relationship. What's more, the few interactions I had with my alleged girlfriend didn't prepare me for the time when a naked beauty would somehow end up peacefully nodding off in my arms, her back closely cuddled up to my chest!

Following the shout, I somehow managed to roll out of the fox's fur, freeing myself from its warm embrace and the intimate closeness to the naked stranger.

But this wasn't the end of my surprise.

I rolled out of the fox's fur and then just a little bit more for good measure... Only to close my eyes and reach out for my jacket, the remaining upper part of my clothing that I had left after tearing up my shirt before.

"I don't know who you are, but please, stop tempting me and dress up!" I cried out, too stunned by the presence and closeness of a naked beauty to even speak properly.

My body froze.

'If I found myself in the cliche of waking up with a beauty in my arms...'

I gulped my saliva down.

'It will be better not to move around too much, or I will surely end up grabbing that woman somewhere I shouldn't!'

"Human Peter," the massive fox's voice reached my brain regardless of my closed eyes as if that could change something. "What startled you?"

The surprise mixed with curiosity in the fox's voice felt so genuine, I couldn't help but doubt whether what I just saw was reality or just a projection of a forgotten, wet dream.

'As if a naked beauty would suddenly appear in my arms...'

Feeling the shame of how I reacted to a mere illusion, I released a long, disappointed sigh before shaking my head and prying my eyes open.

"I'm sorry, I had to..."

I opened my eyes... and froze again.

It wasn't just some random woman who stood in her birthday suit before me.

My torso convulsed, my knees growing weak as I felt a wave of numbness take over my entire body. Then, just like back at the other clearing, I fell down and threw up.

"Human child!"

Startled, the fox reverted to how it referred to me.

The woman that stood before my eyes as naked as when she came to this world was either a twin or near exact replica of the woman I mercifully killed yesterday.

Or, in other words, it was a near-perfect replica of my girlfriend... Or rather, how I imagined her to look under all the fancy clothes she liked to wear.

Still, her face...

Her face had the same, dumbfounded look that I sensed in the fox's voice. There was no warmth in her eyes, not of the kind I saw when that poor girl accepted her face and even encouraged me in my final act of sympathy.

"My child saw how sad you were when you gave your farewells to that human woman," the fox spoke again, shedding some light on the likely origin of this naked yet forbidden beauty.

As much as my lower body wanted for me to raise my eyes, I couldn't force myself to do so.

Not when even a single glance at the empty expression of this beauty would flood my brain with the images from yesterday.

I didn't know what exactly it was, but something in yesterday's events took root deep in my soul, becoming a seed of terror I would have to learn how to live with.

"Human child. Is this form... wrong?" the fox asked, this time with a voice of concern.

"That's right..." I muttered...

Only to suddenly connect a few dots.

The smaller fox changed into a human form. That I could easily accept as it didn't stray all that far enough from the usual plot development of the novels I enjoyed. But she did so... because she saw me all sad while sending that poor girl from yesterday off?

In other words, this change was her attempt at cheering me up...?

"No, that's not right," I quickly spoke while shaking my head sideways. And just for a good measure, I made sure my eyes were shut tight. "I appreciate the effort. But if you are to take human form, please, take one that's your own. Rather than seeing that woman..."

I hesitated, not really sure whether by "that woman" I meant the poor victim of the fight with the fox of my alleged girlfriend.

"Rather than seeing that woman, if you want to take a human form to cheer me up, how about using a real one? One that's truly your own?"

It was a risky shot on my end. How could I know if shapeshifting foxes actually had any kind of natural form that they had to alter to look the way they desired?

That's right, I couldn't. But something deep inside me simply felt that way. And I knew better than to ignore the feeling of my gut.

"I understand..." the fox replied, its voice... It's a voice filled with some emotion I couldn't really put my hand on. "Child, turn back, turn to how you first appeared in his form."

Another piece of the puzzle for me to gather. When speaking to the other fox, the bigger one still used the same method that it employed to talk with me.

Did it mean that its communication method worked the same as sound? Meaning, anyone in range could hear it? Or was it its intention to share what it said to the other fox?

"Yes, Mother," a new voice filled my brain, a voice far softer, less refined than the one from before. And something in that voice made me open my eyes...

Only for my entire body and soul to unify in a single desire to praise the day when I was born, for the moment came for me to witness the absolute.