The women I set free are obsessed with me

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"Rin?"

An unexpected situation arose. Rin blocked Persi's approach, eyeing her like she was facing down an enemy.

The atmosphere froze over. Persi glanced back and forth between the tail and Rin.

"Like, what are you doing?"

"Don't cling to Master."

"Why not?"

"You might do something bad to him."

"Excuse me? Say that again, I dare you."

With just one sentence from Rin, Persi, who had proclaimed herself the cat princess, instantly became a potential criminal.

No one would feel good after hearing such words. Persi raised her tail and crossed her arms.

"Do something bad? Me? Ha, as if. This is so ridiculous."

Persi's demeanor shifted from the tail-wagging sweetness she'd shown Karami. Though now known as the arrogant princess of the cat café, she was a veteran who'd been through hell and back in the alleys.

To Persi, the fox girl before her seemed utterly insignificant.

"If any drama goes down, it won't be 'cause of me. It'll be because of you, pinky."

"What?"

"The rumors are all over, you know? About you holding the bleeding boss in the middle of the street. The boss got hurt 'cause of you, right?"

There had been quite an uproar at the time. People said the pink fox had finally eaten its master. They'd pretended not to know for Rin's sake, but here she was, baring her fangs and showing zero gratitude.

"If you're so worried about the boss's safety, you should be the one to stay away, not me."

"…"

Rin, who had been glaring silently at Persi, suddenly dropped her head. It was clear she still lacked the street smarts to beat Persi at her own game.

It seemed Persi had clearly won, until Rin looked up tearfully.

"Master… is that true? Is Rin putting Master in danger?"

"Huh?"

"Should Rin stay away from Master? Can Master live a normal life if Rin's not around? If that's the case… alright, Rin will disappear."

As Rin wiped her tears with her sleeve and tried to leave the shop, Karami, who had been enjoying the cat fight up close, panicked and grabbed Rin's hand.

Rin continued with a pitiful expression, looking like she might burst into tears at any moment.

"Let go, Master. You shouldn't be with Rin. They say you'll be unhappy if you're with Rin."

"Unhappy? That's absolutely not true."

"But Auntie Persi said so… It's all because of Rin…"

"There must be some misunderstanding. Miss Persi, no matter how angry you are, you shouldn't hit someone's weak spot. That was too much just now."

"What?"

"Apologize to Rin."

Persi was taken aback. After all, Rin had clearly started the argument first. She had treated an innocent person like a criminal. Even if you asked a passing dog tribe member, they would side with the cat people.

But what Persi overlooked was that the master-slave relationship between these two was not ordinary, and Rin's cunningness was beyond imagination.

"Miss Persi. Now."

Having been too dulled by the prolonged peace to notice sooner, she finally realized it.

Victory goes to the one who makes the first move.

Playing the victim.

All of this was the crafty scheme of that sly fox. Persi clenched her fists, trembling with anger.

"…I'm sorry. I lost my cool and said something I shouldn't have."

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you clearly. Could you say that one more time?"

Persi gritted her teeth.

"I said I'm sorry."

"It doesn't feel very sincere… but since you're Master's employee, I'll let it slide this time. Meow-meow auntie."

The melancholy that took hold of Rin had disappeared long ago as she said that. In addition, for a very brief moment, Persi caught it.

The corners of Rin's mouth curling up in a place Karami couldn't see.

Rin pressed his arm tightly against her body.

"Let's go, Master. We're disturbing the aunties who need to greet customers."

"You're right. Well then, we'll be going now."

"Byebye, meow-meow aunties~"

As the two were about to leave the shop, Rin slightly turned her head. Moving only her lips without making a sound, she used magic to plant a voice in the cat people's minds.

—Don't covet Master, just wag your tail hard for the customers. You cats.

***

"Rin, don't say things like that anymore."

I spoke up once we'd put some distance between us and the shop.

Rin, who had been wearing an untelling smile, changed her expression. She put on an innocent look like she didn't have a clue.

"Don't say what? What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. Do you think I don't know?"

The starting point of that whole mess was Rin. It was clearly her fault. Treating someone who had done nothing wrong as a criminal was crossing the line.

Even though I knew this, I had to take her side because my relationship with Rin was the top priority.

"But Rin was really worried about Master… When I think about what happened before, my chest gets tight… I was scared Master might get hurt again…"

"You need to be more aware about who you say these things to. Miss Persi is an employee I hired. Don't pull this again next time."

"Rin was just worried about Master. Tch, fine."

Rin clicked her tongue, seemingly displeased with my scolding. Yet her body remained completely pressed against mine.

It was because of that… As Rin had grown, there was something against my arm that hadn't been there a month ago. A soft sensation that would land me in jail if I mentioned it out loud.

"Rin, why don't we make some space?"

"Why?"

"It's a bit uncomfortable with you clinging so close."

"Don't say it… You've started hating being close to Rin?"

"That's not it…"

"I'm just teasing. I'm sticking close in case something happens so I can respond immediately."

No sooner had she finished speaking than a gust of wind blew, sending an outdoor signboard flying towards me. Just before it could hit me, Rin kicked it hard with her foot.

Bang!

The signboard flew in a high arc and fell somewhere in the city.

"See?"

"…"

"It's all to keep Master safe. Rin won't budge on this."

Rin asserted her position with a determined look. It seemed that the day I got hurt had become a severe trauma for her, judging by how obsessive she was being.

Her tails had indeed increased to five. Having passed the halfway point, the intensity of the misfortune Rin brought had likely increased. Even when she just had three tails, I had nearly died.

To me, Rin was paradoxically both a life-threatening danger and a protector from danger.

"Haah, alright."

I guess I have to stick close if I want to live.

What choice do I have?

With my permission, Rin grinned as if she had been waiting for this and pulled my arm closer to her. I let out a heavy sigh and headed towards Seira's workplace.

At the border area filled with various races, we found Seira handling immigration inspections, as expected. I waved my hand and called out to her, feeling glad to see her.

"Miss Seira."

Seira's ears perked up at the sound of my voice. She immediately turned her head in my direction. The moment our eyes met, her eyes widened.

She dumped her work on a nearby employee and strode towards us.

"You…! Where the hell have you been all this time?"

Since it would be troublesome to explain everything, I slightly lifted my shirt to show the scar on my stomach. I gave Seira a brief explanation of what had happened a month ago.

"So you've been at the Celestial Pavilion all this time? Not secretly running away?"

"Why would I run away? I'm as clean as they come. Where else could you find someone as law-abiding as me? I was at the Celestial Pavilion with Rin and came to find you as soon as I woke up."

Seira blinked.

"Miss Rin?"

Seira, who had realized Rin's presence a beat late, widened her eyes even more than when she had reunited with me.

"…Miss Rin?"

"Hi Seira~ Have you been well?"

"Is this Rin…? But her height is…"

Rin, who had been looking around to see if anyone was watching, spread her five tails like a fan.

"Ta-da~ Seira, Rin's tails have grown."

"Five tails?"

"Well, you know how it is, kids grow up fast at this age."

I tried to brush it off by getting ahead of the conversation, but Seira wasn't buying it. She whipped her head around to glare at me.

"Don't talk nonsense. You clearly said she was a three-tailed fox last time! This is completely…!"

"Wow~ Who would've thought, right? Turns out Rin was born a gumiho. Totally blew my mind too."

"I know right, Master~ Rin was super surprised."

Haha. Take that.

Before, I was alone, but now I have Rin backing me up with her newfound shamelessness.

No, she was always shameless, but this was different. It wasn't the innocent shamelessness of a child anymore, but the sly cunning of a fox.

As expected, Seira was at a loss for words. Taking advantage of this, I changed the subject.

"You wouldn't believe how shocked I was coming back after a month to find the house gone. I heard you destroyed it?"

"Who told you that?"

"Rin did."

Seira massaged her forehead like just thinking about it gave her a migraine. Then, unable to hold back anymore, she exploded.

"It's all because of you two! I specifically told you not to go up to the second floor, but you just had to show up bleeding!"

"Now now, Seira~ Don't be like that. Didn't we nearly die because of you?"

"Because you two stirred up trouble! I lost my house overnight! I couldn't even get support funds because I was harboring a pink fox! I'm still staying in the department's night duty room!"

"…"

Seira poured out her anger and sorrow without filter. I had never seen her this emotional before. The misery of a civil servant struggling to make ends meet day by day was truly pitiful.

It was hard to say anything in this tense atmosphere. Rin caught my eye, nodded like she'd made up her mind, then transformed into her young, one-tailed self.

"Sewa, Rin's sowwy. Rin was bad. Look at Rin's face, can't you forgive?"

Clever kid.

She had figured out that people were weak to young children.

"No. Go away, I'm not in the mood for this."

But the baby Rin's aegyo alone wasn't enough to dispel Seira's anger. This moment showed how important having one's own home was, whether in modern times or the medieval era.

Rin shook her head at me, indicating this wasn't working. Since the slave had messed up, it was time for me, the master, to step in.

"The cat café has been bringing in quite a lot of income recently. It's thanks to everyone working hard while I was away."

"So what? Are you bragging about having money?"

"The problem is that even though we have money, we don't have a place to stay. Inns won't take us, and no one's selling houses. We don't have many acquaintances to buy a house under their name either. I guess it's just Mr. Bolt and you, Miss Seira."

"…Like I said, so what?"

"I hear the third district is quite popular? There are many famous shops nearby too. Oh, I just noticed it's close to your workplace too, isn't it Miss Seira?"

By the time I brought this up, Seira had gone quiet, just listening. Then I delivered the final blow.

"How about we look for a house in the third district under your name, both to find a place to live and to apologize to you? Ah, but since you're working, it might be hard for you to go house hunting…"

"I will take half the day off."

We signed a contract for a new house that very day.