Bailey

New chapter is live.

Settle in, take your time, and let's see what waits in the dark 🖤

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I called myself Little Weasel, a skunk born beautiful and different.

I did not know why I smelled good.

I did not know why I was white.

And I did not know why I was so smart.

All I knew was that cuteness was leverage.

It was also a weapon.

And I had both.

That was why humans were willing to let me live.

Because I was worth more alive than dead.

I understood that very well.

So even after losing my freedom, I did not panic.

Until...

I met the man who made me reconsider everything.

The weapon shop stood empty while Corvin and Sunny watched the white skunk lying limp on the counter.

Sunny said regretfully, "So we can't eat it?"

"It isn't really a question of whether we can eat it. It's that eating it would be a waste."

Corvin parted the white skunk's hind legs and took a look, then spoke thoughtfully.

"Male."

Sunny looked at Corvin in confusion.

"Does that matter?"

"Not really. I was considering the possibility of using him for breeding, but just thinking about it sounds troublesome. Selling him directly is probably better."

After explaining, Corvin suddenly thought of something.

"Sunny, do we still have the auction booklet?"

"Yes."

"Let me see it."

Sunny opened the cabinet and searched for a moment. Soon, she found the small booklet.

Corvin took it and flipped through the pages.

Last time, Sunny had no interest in exotic animals, so she had turned the pages quickly.

Back then, Corvin had peeked from behind and caught only two short lines of description.

"Found it."

Corvin quickly turned to the page where the white skunk had been registered.

There was no picture, but the full page was covered in text introducing the white skunk.

Corvin read line by line. Only then did he learn that the white skunk was a hybrid animal, which explained why its body structure and fur color were different from an ordinary skunk's.

Sunny leaned in beside him and read the description too.

Before long, the two of them finished it.

In short, the white skunk's fur and sweat glands were abnormal. Its sweat glands, in particular, could release a pleasant fragrance.

That was why the white skunk had auction value.

Creatures like this, capable of producing an unusual fragrance, were usually coveted by perfume companies.

Yet this one had been thrown into a pirate auction. Only a pirate like Aibe, who had decided on a whim that she wanted a pet, would spend money to buy it.

"It really isn't an ordinary skunk."

Corvin looked at the white skunk on the counter as if he were looking at a brand-new fine blade.

"Eating it would be a shame."

Sunny was also looking at the white skunk, though her eyes saw a bulging money pouch.

Feeling the weight of both their gazes, the white skunk gave up resisting and lay there like a lump of mud.

"Sunny, treat this little thing first so it doesn't end up crippled. Also, do we have anything like chains in the shop?"

"We do. I'll get them."

Sunny had also realized that the white skunk was a walking money pouch, and she immediately became serious.

She went down to the basement and brought back medical supplies and a bundle of chains as thick as fingers.

After returning to the shop, she first treated the white skunk's injuries. Then, afraid it might run, she bound its upper body so tightly it looked like a bundled parcel.

By the time she finished, more than half an hour had passed.

Sunny looked at the result and nodded in satisfaction, but she also thought of an important question.

"Where should we put Bailey?"

In that short time, Sunny had already given the white skunk a suitable name.

Corvin looked around the empty weapon shop.

"How about keeping him in the shop?"

"No."

Sunny shook her head and rejected the suggestion.

Corvin thought for a moment, then came up with a fitting place to keep it.

"What about hanging him in the bathroom?"

"The bathroom..."

Sunny considered it seriously.

Given the fragrance constantly drifting from Bailey's sweat glands, she suddenly felt that the suggestion was quite good.

It would be a little troublesome to take Bailey in and out whenever someone needed the bathroom.

But compared with improving the air, that small inconvenience was nothing.

"Mm. We'll keep him in the bathroom."

With that, she made the decision.

On the counter, the white skunk who had been forcibly given the name Bailey could no longer see a bright future for himself.

'Why are they tormenting me like this?'

'If hell exists, this must be it.'

Three minutes later, Bailey was hung in the bathroom and became a living air freshener.

Corvin went to his room, strapped weights to his legs, then returned to the shop. He trained while keeping Sunny company at the counter.

Only then did Sunny belatedly ask where Bailey had come from.

An exotic animal that had already been sold at auction had somehow ended up in Corvin's hands, and it was injured too.

She was curious.

"It's a long story."

Corvin did not deliberately hide anything. He told Sunny everything that had happened that afternoon.

The way Sunny looked at him afterward became rather strange.

"Bailey was an unexpected gain. When I picked him up back then, I had no idea he was valuable. If I'd known, I wouldn't have thrown him out. Luckily, he still ended up back in my hands."

At this point, Corvin sounded deeply emotional.

He really had almost missed a windfall.

As for the follow-up threat from Aibe and Kazt, once he was back at the shop, Sol was there to back him up.

Sunny nodded with a serious expression.

"Lucky."

Time passed.

By evening, Sol's weapon shop had closed out another day with no income.

Sunny went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Corvin closed the shop door and cleaned the store.

After finishing, he went to the kitchen to help Sunny.

His cooking was not as good as hers, but what he made still tasted pretty good.

"Don't forget to prepare an extra portion for Bailey."

Thinking of Bailey hanging in the bathroom, Corvin reminded her.

"Mm. I almost forgot."

With Corvin's reminder, Sunny took two more steaks and a handful of vegetables from the refrigerator.

Corvin glanced at the food Sunny prepared for Bailey.

When it came to meals, Sol's weapon shop never cut corners.

The two worked in the kitchen.

Elsewhere, Sol had just woken up and was coming downstairs.

His eyes were still sleepy as he went straight to the bathroom.

A few dozen seconds later, a shrill scream came from inside.

"Help me!"

The voice sounded young, like a boy's, and was full of panic.

Hearing the unfamiliar cry for help from the bathroom, Corvin and Sunny both stopped working in the kitchen. They looked at each other, put down what they were holding, and headed for the bathroom.

The two arrived immediately and saw Sol pinching Bailey's head with one hand, as if he might suddenly crush it in the next second.

Bailey's terrified eyes rolled toward Sunny. With great difficulty, he spoke in human words.

"M-Mom, save me!"

Sunny went still.

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