53 - Even if it is said to be free, there are often some restrictions (Patreon)

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I finally came to the dream world.
The fox I received from Uka-san today is nowhere to be seen though, I wonder where it is.

When I thought that, I felt a shock at my feet. When I look down, I see the fox that Uka-san gave me.

“Where have you been? Or rather, where would you be while I’m awake?”
“Kyuun.”

It's a fox that was in the divine realm, so I guess it's a conceptual existence. Well, if it can live without any problems, then it should be fine. If I disparaged it, Uka-san would probably get mad at me.

“I'm going to have taiyaki today... I'll give it to you first.”

I materialized a taiyaki and placed it in front of the fox.
After sniffing it, the fox started munching on it. Even though it is eating things that are on the ground, it eats rather cleanly...

“Kazuki-kun, good evening.”
“Ah, Hiuri.”

Before I knew it, Hiuri was right in front of me.
The fox notices Hiuri and approaches her, snuggling up her feet. Uka-san said that the fox is attached to me, but this fox can become attached to anyone, can't it?

“Hyaa, this kid is?”
“Umm...”

I talked about how I met Ukanomitama at the Fushimi Inari Shrine during the free time today.
Normally, this wouldn't be a story anyone would believe, but since this dream world was already unbelievable, Hiuri here quickly believed it.

“So that’s this kid. What's its name?”
“Eh? Hmm, I don’t know...”

I wonder if it has a name? Uka-san also only called it ‘this child’ or ‘that girl’, so it might not even have a proper name.

“Do you have a name?”
“Kyu─un”

Well, there's no reply though.

“So foxes don’t cry with ‘kon’, huh.”
“That's what I thought too.”

Where did the crying sound of ‘kon’ come from? At the very least, I don't think the onomatopoeia ‘kon’ comes from an actual fox's cry.

“Then let's give it a name. It’ll be here forever from now on, right?”
“It seems so. Unless Uka-san asks me to give it back.”

The fox sitting at our feet. Although it looks like an ordinary fox, in reality it is a messenger of god. However, it seems like it’s going to be a pet here.

“Is it male? Is it female?”
“I don’t know.”
“Kazuki-kun. You didn't ask her anything even though you were going to be taking care of an animal?”

No, but, as soon as we started talking about me getting the fox, that man came and I had to return...

“How do you tell if a fox is male or female?”
“That’s obviously...”

I pick up the fox and look at its butt.
I can't see it because it's hidden behind its tail, but... it looks like it's female.

“Then... let's go with Senko.”
“That might get you scolded from somewhere else...”

Although it is not a fox girl, having Senko-san the fox will get you scolded on many levels.

“What's with that? Then... how about Muu?”
“Muu?”
“It’s a dream fox you received from Ukanomitama, right? Then, it's Muu.”

(T/N: Uka: 宇迦. Dream: 夢. Muu: 夢宇.)

I see... if it were a human, it could be treated as a sparkling name, but it might be cute enough to be given to a pet.

“Are you okay with that?”
“Koya─n”
“I guess you’re okay with that.”

Muu shakes its head vertically. I still don't know if it understands human language.
It didn't seem to understand Uka-san's words very well, and it might be judging people's words based on their atmosphere.

“So... what does Muu do?”
“Nothing. Something about how this world will become stable just by being here...”

It must have some kind of power, and as a result of that power, this dream world should be stabilized just by having Muu here.

“So it's just a pet, huh.”
“I don’t know about calling a messenger of god a pet, but... to put it simply, that’s the case.”

If we take it to an area where faith in Uka-san is deep-rooted, I think it would be revered and worshiped as a divine beast, but since we aren't that religious, it’ll end up being just a pet.
It doesn't run away when I pet it, and I can make as much food as I want, so it's much easier to keep than an animal in real life.

“Then let's prepare some furniture for Muu.”
“You mean like a cushion?”
“Yes.”

I don't know much about fox ecology, so I don't know what they need, but for the time being, I decided to make an animal bed that Muu could sleep on. The image is a dog bed.
After sniffing the bed, Muu fell asleep on it. I’ve heard that domestic cats don't approach new things much, perhaps out of wariness, but I wonder if that's not the case with foxes.

“Ah, Hiuri, today is taiyaki.”
“Ara, Thank you.”

I take out taiyaki of various flavors in a basket. It is a roulette taiyaki where you can't tell what flavor it has just by looking at it, so you can have fun while eating it.

While eating such taiyaki, Hiuri says this.

“Isn’t it about time we make our own house?”
“Our own house?”
“Right. We always come to this white room after all, so why not make this our ideal room? Don’t you want to have some sense of security?”

What we are in now is a white space. This white space has existed by default ever since we first came to the dream world, and we always create scenery by projecting schools, beaches, and the like from this space.

But there is certainly no sense of security. Uka-san's divine realm was also a white space, so the fact that she said this is a pseudo divine realm must have something to do with this white space, but she may not be comfortable to be in a white space all the time.

“Besides, isn’t it lonely to have Muu’s bed alone in this whole place?”

In this white space, there is originally a clock I placed here. Although we added Muu’s bed to this place, its loneliness didn't fade. Rather, these two things feel out of place instead.
In order for the two things to fit in, I need to place more things here. That is, to the point where it can be called a home.

“I guess you’re right... then let's make a room.”
“Yatta! Let's create our ideal ‘my home’”

A house that we can create more freely than in any game. We can even create our ideal house.

“First of all, let's make the room a reasonable size. I’d be happier to have walls.”

The walls of the white space may or may not exist. If I think it exists, there will be a wall there, and if I think it doesn't exist, I can move forward indefinitely.
I prepare a physical wall there. It's a house anyway, maybe wooden walls are fine.

“Nice. Let's use this as the living room. Put Muu over there...”

I make the room according to Hiuri's instructions.
We also prepare a space for Muu. It didn't wake up when we moved its bed, so it might be sleeping unless it has something to do.

“Kazuki, you should properly put out your request as well.”
“No well, I don’t particularly...”
“That’s no good, please properly put out your request.”

It's been a while since I saw her strong-willed side in the dream world. I haven't seen it in a long time, ever since Hiuri became my girlfriend.

“Then I'll put a bookshelf around here...”

The two of us make the room together.

“I guess this is it for the living room.”

Finally, I prepare the sofa and with that, the living room is completed. Although the entrance still exists, the outside is still the white space.
If you look from the outside, it will probably look like a big box. That's because I haven't made anything other than the living room yet.

“Kazuki-kun, please remember this room properly.”
“I get it already.”

I will carve this into my memory so that I can make this house at any time.
That said, I don't have a perfect memory, so next time I'll have to ask Hiuri to remind me of any mistakes I make while memorizing it.

“This is it for today!”
“Huh, weren’t we going to build a house?”
“Let's just make do with one room a day. I'm tired.”

We get a sense of security even with just the living room, so I guess it’s fine.
And to be honest, we will probably only use the living room most of the time. The other rooms will only be flavor rooms.

“...I guess the bedroom will be the last one.”
“Eh?”
“It’s nothing!”

Unfortunately, I'm not a hearing-impaired protagonist, so I could hear it normally, but did she say bedroom? What’s more, the last one... I'm healthy, you know.

“Umm, umm... Muu, come here.”
“Kyu─un”

Muu, who has been sleeping, immediately wakes up and climbs onto Hiuri's lap as she sits on the sofa.

“It's going to be lively with the new resident, isn’t it.”

Hiuri changes the subject. Let’s let her do it.

“That's true. Muu, I look forward to working with you.”
“Kon!”

Ah, it cried ‘kon’.

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