My Dad is a Popular Manga Villain - chapter 19

The next day, Albin joined the hunting party as they set out.

The count’s attendants had already scouted the area in advance. They had identified a fox-shaped monster near the count’s hunting grounds. It was presumed to be a low-tier creature, and its fur was particularly unique. The count intended to have its pelt turned into a shawl or collar for his lover.

Low-tier monsters had about the same strength as regular wild animals. Given that this one took the form of a fox—an inherently weak creature—the count’s attendants, who had some magical abilities, were more than capable of handling it.

If it were a mid-tier monster, the hunt would require priests and warriors. However, such creatures were generally not the targets of noble hunting expeditions.

After confirming the fox’s usual range, the attendants and servants had several preparations to complete before the count and his guests arrived to participate in the hunt.

They needed to set traps, track the creature’s movements, and drive it into a designated area so that the nobles could easily spot their prey.

Before that, the count and his guests would socialize, as hunting was primarily a social and recreational activity for the nobility.

However, due to the heavy rain the night before, the weather was freezing. The cold wind bit at their faces as they rode, making the hunt more of a torment than a pleasure. The rain-soaked ground was slippery, and leading horses on foot wasn’t particularly enjoyable either. Some guests simply found excuses to stay in their carriages or loiter in sunlit areas, occasionally feigning enthusiasm for the hunt while still fulfilling their social obligations.

The attendants, however, had no choice but to endure. They muttered a few complaints under their breath before dispersing.

Albin studied the hunting party and curiously asked, “Is Mr. Padma not coming?”

One of the attendants beside him asked, “Who?”

Another answered, “The new steward. I heard he stayed behind at the villa to prepare some secret seasonings for the count. Maybe he’s just slacking off.”

Once the topic was brought up, the conversation quickly snowballed.

“The count really values this new steward, but Padma is always smiling at everyone. He’s much more approachable than the old steward.”

It seemed Padma was well-liked, and many were eager to speak on his behalf.

“It makes sense that the steward wouldn’t come.”

“I heard he’s skilled at preparing monsters. He’s served nobles before and even had a letter of recommendation from one when he arrived.”

The attendants and servants chatted away, but Albin wasn’t paying much attention.

He wasn’t feeling well—his head was dizzy, and his body felt unusually heavy. Maybe it was just the cold. Even though he was bundled up in thick clothing, he was still shivering.

He forced himself to stay focused. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying close attention to him, he quietly slipped away from the group and ran into the forest.

He found one of the traps that had been set earlier by the attendants—a one-way cave where the baby had been placed.

Foxes were naturally wary creatures. If the other traps failed or the hunters missed their shots during the chase, the plan was to herd the fox toward this area. The baby’s cries would lure the fox into the cave, leaving it with no escape.

To avoid alerting the fox with human presence, no one was stationed nearby.

Seizing the opportunity, Albin picked up the baby and examined him. Fortunately, the child was unharmed and still sleeping soundly.

Just as he was about to leave, he turned and saw an elegant, slender fox.

Its fur was an unusual shade of pale pink, interwoven with white. Its four legs looked as if they were clad in white gloves, and a bushy tail with a white tip curled gracefully behind it.

Its eyes, like delicate pink crystals, gazed at him intently. However, the black cross-shaped pupils within them were eerie, marking it unmistakably as a monster.

Albin froze on the spot, locking eyes with the fox.

Stare—

A monster… A fox… Was this the prey the count had set his sights on?

Was a pink fox a unique species of monster? He seemed to recall seeing a similar fox in the memories of a little boy from the Blood Wine Pool slums.

Then he remembered what Padma had said about monsters killing the bait once they realized they’d been tricked.

Clutching the baby protectively, Albin quickly reassured, “I’m not here to capture you! I just came to take him away…”

He spoke in puffs of white breath, like a tiny chimney in the cold air.

The fox, observing his cautious demeanor and seemingly sincere expression, was momentarily surprised.

This child followed the hunting party just to rescue this baby?

No, impossible.

Humans—even human children—are deceitful by nature. I won’t be fooled as easily as Jade.

Flashes of memory surfaced in the fox’s mind.

Back then, he had been a young fox, prized for his unique fur. A noble had taken notice of him early on and had him captured for the hunting grounds. At that time, he was indeed only a low-tier magical creature, barely stronger than an ordinary fox. After being relentlessly chased to exhaustion, a little boy had appeared before him, seemingly helping him escape.

That boy had tricked him into trusting him, only to capture him again and have him killed—his pelt intended as a gift for his noble foster mother.

But in the end, that little boy became prey himself, offered up as a sacrifice.

Humans are vile creatures.

Disdain filled the fox’s gaze as he looked at the white-haired boy before him. Let’s see what game he’s playing.

After all, his plan was to be captured and served on the humans’ dining table. Pretending to fall for this child’s ploy wouldn’t interfere with that.

It might even help Jade finally see this human’s true nature.

Feigning gentleness, he asked, “Where do you plan to take this child?”

Albin was stunned to hear him speak.

He blinked in disbelief and murmured, “A talking fox? A fox spirit?”

The fox scoffed internally. So he’s pretending he hasn’t spoken with Jade before? How naive.

Still, he played along. “I am speaking in the language of monsters. You can understand me?”

“I thought I could only speak Parseltongue, but it turns out I can understand the language of monsters too…” Albin pondered.

Wait. Jade was a monster too.

So that meant… he wasn’t a Parseltongue at all? He was just someone who could understand monsters?

Albin was utterly disappointed.

However, Albin still answered the fox’s question:

“I’m taking this child to the Temple of the Love Goddess. I heard they take in homeless children. If he stays here, he’ll surely die. His father was a slave, unable to protect him, and the nobles don’t even see him as human.”

Albin couldn’t comprehend the existence of slavery, let alone the fact that a slave’s child could be treated as nothing more than a tool.

Seeing his frustration, the fox poured cold water on his hopes.

“Even if you save this one child, there will always be others who are used as bait and discarded. I’ve heard of such things countless times.”

Albin lowered his gaze, holding the child tightly in his arms.

“I know…” There were too many things in this world that he found unfair and unreasonable.

He recalled what Latour had told him: If he could become the Holy Son, the entire kingdom would obey his commands.

He murmured, “If only I could successfully become the Holy Son of the God of Wine…”

The fox was taken aback.

The last boy who had deceived him was dragged off to be sacrificed. He had been utterly terrified, struggling desperately to escape, and when he was submerged in the Blood Wine Pool, he had suffered greatly.

Even cunning nobles tried to flee from such a fate—so why was this child so eager to be sacrificed?

“I’ve heard that being sacrificed has a very high mortality rate and is extremely painful.”

At the mention of sacrifice, the fox instinctively revealed a look of disgust.

“I’ve experienced it once. It was indeed very painful. But if I succeed, I can order the nobles to stop doing things like this.”

The fox glanced at him.

“You’re so naive. Even if they promise to stop, what’s stopping them from ‘accidentally’ hunting a monster during their expeditions? A child getting bitten and killed by a monster—how is that any different?”

Albin frowned deeply.

“They’re so awful,” he muttered. “How can they do this?”

“That’s just how humans are.”

Albin thought for a moment, then suddenly had an idea. “Then I’ll forbid priests from providing them with an antidote! If they eat monster meat and can’t be cured, they won’t dare to consume you anymore, and they won’t need to sacrifice children either.”

He couldn’t completely eliminate the problem, but it would at least significantly reduce it.

His crimson eyes sparkled with excitement at his own idea.

His face was flushed, and his expression seemed off. The fox immediately noticed that he was probably unwell.

“Thank you, Mr. Fox. You’re so smart! Talking to you has helped me think of so many things, and now I feel even more motivated!” Albin gave him a weak yet radiant smile. “I will do my best to become the Holy Son!”

The fox stared into his bright, pure eyes. Even with his long-standing distrust of humans, he couldn’t detect the slightest hint of deception in them.

Suddenly, he remembered the dream that Jade had told him about.

In that dream, this child was willing to offer up all his blood—and even slay a god—to save all monsters.

As a monster who had been hunted and consumed by humans, the fox deeply resented those who sought to devour him. He loathed how humans treated monstrous transformations and mutations as mere curiosities, as things to be experimented with or joked about.

Why had the curse not fallen upon those humans instead? Why were such vile creatures still considered “people”?

His heart burned with hatred. If humans loved consuming the flesh of monsters so much, then they should eat his flesh and die from it.

He hunted those greedy humans.

He was both prey and predator.

So he simply couldn’t understand how this human—someone who had been consumed by monsters—could still have such kindhearted thoughts.

To him, Jade’s so-called prophetic dream was nothing more than a foolish fantasy. He had believed that this child must hate monsters as much as he himself hated humans.

But now, looking into Albin’s clear, unwavering eyes, he suddenly felt that maybe—just maybe—it wasn’t entirely a lie.

A part of him wanted to believe Jade’s words, while another part of him still couldn’t trust humans.

As Albin bent down to leave the small cave, the fox blocked his path.

“Do you want to take me with you?” The fox feigned weakness. “I am very injured right now. You might as well hand me over to that noble. That way, the baby will survive, and the noble will reward you.”

He limped forward, pretending to be injured to show that he posed no threat.

“Or you could take me to a priest. My fur would fetch a great price, and you’d never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of your life. You might even get to taste my meat. The priests would provide you with an antidote. Only nobles get to eat such delicacies. Compared to being eaten by those despicable nobles, being eaten by you wouldn’t be so bad.”

He continuously tried to provoke Albin’s hostility toward monsters.

Albin quickly and gently placed the baby down, then rushed over to him.

The fox sneered inwardly.

See? Humans are all the same.

“You’re injured?” Albin asked, anxiously reaching for the fox’s leg. “Where?”

He looked at the leg the fox had been limping on but saw no visible wounds.

“Is it broken?” When the fox nodded, Albin recalled a bit of first-aid knowledge from an elementary school emergency class.

Ignoring the cold, he took off his thick red scarf and wrapped it around the fox’s leg to stabilize it.

The scarf was much longer and thicker than necessary, and by the time he was done, the fox’s right foreleg was wrapped into an enormous bundle—so large that it looked even bigger than the fox’s own head.

Albin, however, was very satisfied with his work. Feeling a sense of accomplishment, he earnestly advised, “You’re so smart, so you won’t get caught, right? Make sure to rest and recover properly! My elders always said that bone injuries take a hundred days to heal. Don’t be so pessimistic! Your fur is only beautiful because you’re alive.”

The fox, now immobilized in his over-the-top bandaging, just stared at him: …

Did he not hear a single word I just said? Did none of that even shake him?

He was a monster! What kind of human would bandage a monster’s wounds?

He still didn’t want to believe in humans, but deep in his heart, a thought quietly emerged—

If only the person I met back then had been this child.

Perhaps he wouldn’t have been deceived.

Just as this thought emerged, a scene suddenly surfaced in his mind.

From a first-person perspective, he saw Albyn anxiously clutching the hem of his clothes, yet his expression was unusually determined, as if he had made up his mind to do something.

Doubt flickered in his heart—had he seen this child before?

Was it the past, the future, or was it a dream like the ones Emerald had?

As he wavered in thought, Albyn picked up the baby again.

“Oh, Mr. Fox,” Albyn suddenly remembered something he wanted to ask. “Since you live in this forest, have you seen a long-haired man with white hair and red eyes? That’s my father. He walked into the forest last night, and not long after, a heavy rain started. I don’t know what happened to him.”

The fox lifted his gaze and replied, “I haven’t seen him.”

Albyn nodded, looking disappointed.

“Then, goodbye, Mr. Fox.” Unable to wave due to holding the baby, he tilted his head and winked at the fox instead.

Albyn turned and headed in the opposite direction of the hunting party, intending to secretly take the baby away.

The fox glanced left and right. Even after Albyn had left, he still couldn’t sense any other human presence.

He stared at the red scarf wrapped around his front leg, feeling strangely unsettled, as if he had been tricked—but at the same time, not.

Was that child really just here to save the baby?

Watching Albyn disappear into the distance, the fox clenched his teeth and stealthily followed.

It had to be a trick!

The real trap must be up ahead!

Albyn, however, clearly wasn’t very good with directions and wandered aimlessly through the forest, unknowingly moving deeper into the untraveled areas.

His steps became unsteady, and he found it harder and harder to breathe.

He tried to recall the rough map in his mind and did his best to head toward the outskirts.

He had already arranged for a coachman to pick him up—he just needed to make it out of the forest.

Just a little farther…

When he noticed the trees ahead thinning, signaling the edge of the forest, excitement surged within him. He quickened his pace.

The moment he stepped out of the woods, his foot struck a rock. He stumbled, barely managing to stay upright as the rock rolled away.

Regaining his balance, he carefully surveyed his surroundings.

What lay beyond the forest was not the meeting point he had envisioned.

Instead, he found himself facing the entrance of a massive cave.

Tensing, he peered inside.

And there, within the darkness, he saw a dragon.

A silver-white dragon with blood-red, star-like eyes