It was a bright summer morning in the countryside just outside the small resort town where the MON team were staying. Despite being on vacation, Yuuto found himself being dragged out for a morning run with Blare. The hellhound had insisted that they should keep up their morning routine, plus, she wanted an excuse to explore the nearby area. Kestria and Zombina had overheard the pair discussing this over breakfast and had both decided to join them. The raptor harpy also wanted to explore the area as well, and the zombie just wanted an excuse to spend more time with Yuuto outside of work, seeing she had less chance to do so since the hybrid started dating Lala.
The group had been out for nearly half an hour now and they were keeping up a good pace for the most part. Yuuto and Blare were fairly used to this and were still in good shape, and Kestria was having an easy time of it gliding overhead. Zombina, however, was struggling to stay on her feet as she had a hard time keeping up with the others in her near exhausted state. It was a wonder that nothing of hers had fallen off at this point.
The redhead was panting heavily as she tried desperately not to fall behind. "…Hold up…a second… will ya?" She asked in between gasps of breath. "…I gotta… take a quick break…"
Blare glanced back at the undead woman with a questioning look. "Seriously? We're only about a third of the way done at most." She replied nonchalantly.
"I'm kind of surprised, Zee." The blonde hybrid added with a teasing grin. "I thought you'd be up to it with all the laps Serge makes us do during training."
"WELL, I DON'T RUN NEARLY AS MUCH AS YA TWO LUNATICS!" Zombina yelled in annoyance.
With that exclamation, she started to slow to a halt before she bent over and rested her hands on her thighs as she started to take deep breaths. Yuuto and Blare came to a stop themselves and went back to check on their undead co-worker.
"You okay there?" The hellhound asked in a worried tone.
"…Yeah… just fell like… dying here…"
"Seriously, what are we going to do with you?" The hybrid teased as he unslung the backpack he was carrying and pulled out a water bottle from it before he held it in front of her. "Here, looks like you need it." He added in a more caring tone.
Zombina looked up at the water bottle for a moment before she snatched it from his hand and stood up straight. She had almost ripped the bottle in half as she took the cap off and jammed it into her mouth before she took several large gulps from it.
"Damn, she really isn't used to this, is she?" Blare asked her squad captain as she rubbed the back of her head.
"Weirdly enough, no. Might have something to do with Rigor Mortis if I had to take a guess."
Not long after, Kestria decided to land next to them as she gave the zombie a teasing look. "Hey, Zombina. I didn't realise that running long distance was so hard on you." She said with a smirk on her face.
The redhead pulled the water bottle from her lips and gave the raptor harpy an annoyed look. "You can shut the hell up! You've got it easy gliding around up there!" She shouted as she pointed at the sky.
"Actually, it takes a lot more effort to fly at your slow ass pace than you might think," Kes replied as her smirk moulded into a shit-eating grin.
Zombina merely grumbled to herself about how easy flying liminals have it before chugging the rest of her water.
While the two of them were bickering with each other Blare noticed that the path they were taking was long and straight, taking them through some farmland. She smirked to herself as an idea popped into her head.
Her flame lashes ignited as she focused her attention towards the hybrid of the group. "Hey, Stud. You fancy a quick race to the end of the path while these two rest up?" She asked in an excited manner as her tail started wagging frantically from side to side.
Yuuto glanced back at her before he suddenly triggered his devil mode, now giving her a confident smirk as the chaotic energy started to course around his body. "Sure, I'm game. But how about we make this interesting?"
The hellhound quirked an eyebrow at him. "What did you have in mind?"
"Winner gets to make any request of the loser. Deal?"
Blare gave him a wide grin in response as her flame lashes intensified with ferocity. "You're on!" She exclaimed enthusiastically as she pointed a clawed finger at him. Without even giving him time to respond she turned to face the path ahead and poised herself to start sprinting at any second. "ONYOURMARKSGETSETGO!" She shouted as she shot off down the path ahead of the hybrid.
Yuuto just let a wide grin cross his lips as he used his chaotic energy to propel himself after her. "Don't think a head start will do you any favours, Trouble!" He exclaimed as he sprinted after her.
Zombina and Kestria were surprised by their sudden disappearance and the redhead felt annoyed by the fact that she was left behind. "HEY! WAIT UP!" She yelled at them as she started chasing after the energetic pair, leaving Kes by herself.
The raptor harpy for her part tried to suppress a chuckle as she shook her head to herself. "This can only end badly." She muttered before she flapped her wings and took off after her co-workers.
Blare was at a full sprint as she raced down the path with a wide grin on her face, satisfied that she had enough of a lead on her captain to assure her victory. She couldn't help but think about what she was going to make him do after she won. "I can imagine it now. Having Stud act like a chuunibyou for a week is going to be hilarious!" She thought to herself as she tried to suppress her giggling just thinking about it. "I'll have him be all like-"
"Maybe you should focus less on your request and more on trying to win the race." The blonde spoke up from her side.
The hellhound was taken off guard as she glanced to her side to find Yuuto easily keeping pace with her. "What the hell?!" She shouted in surprise. "How did you-?!"
"Devil powers." He interjected nonchalantly. "Also, while I've got you here, how do you feel about wearing a frilly dress to work for a week?" He asked with a smirk on his face.
"NO WAY IN HELL!" She exclaimed in irritation. "BESIDES, I DON'T EVEN OWN A FRILLY DRESS!"
"I'm sure Tio would be more than willing to help you find one once we get back to the inn." He replied as his smirk shifted into a smug grin.
"Keep dreaming, Stud! I hope you're ready to take some acting lessons from Lala because you're going to be playing the role of Dark Lord of the office for a week once I kick your ass!"
"Fat chance in hell of that happening!"
Whilst the pair were having their shouting match, Kestria was flying over them just to make sure they didn't get into any trouble. She looked down the path they were racing down and saw that there was a tight corner ahead with a steep incline ahead of it leading towards a fenced-off field.
"Hey!" She shouted to get the attention of her squad mates. "Cool your jets for a second, there's a steep drop ahead!"
The pair were caught off by the raptor harpy's sudden interruption before they glanced ahead to see what she was on about. There was indeed a steep drop and they were only about ten feet from it at this point. Panicked by the sudden turn of events, Yuuto returned to his base form and held an arm out in front of his squadmate as he started skidding to a halt. Blare grabbed hold of his outstretched arm with a panicked look on her face as she started skidding to a halt herself. Thankfully they both stopped short at the edge of the drop, both of them letting out sighs of relief at avoiding a potential accident.
"Damn, that was a close one." The blonde said out loud.
"Yeah, thanks for the save, Stud." The hellhound added, still clutching at his arm.
Yuuto calmed himself down and looked towards his squad mate. "How about we call this a draw? No forfeits for either of us."
Blare eventually let go of his arm and rubbed the back of her head as her tail started to wag from side to side. "Sounds like a deal to me."
They both started laughing at the situation, though they were interrupted as they heard a faint yelling from behind them. They glanced at where they came from to see Zombina sprinting full pelt towards them whilst screaming at the top of her lung, though she seemed to be less concerned about looking where she was going.
"GET BACK HERE! DON'T THINK YOU CAN LEAVE ME OUT OF THIS!" She shouted, annoyed that the pair had ditched her.
Before either Yuuto or Blare could react, the zombie crashed into them, causing the trio to topple to the ground and start rolling down the steep slope.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" They screamed in unison.
They somehow got tangled up together and started rolling over each other, building up some speed as they hurtled to the bottom. Unfortunately for them, there was a wooden fence at the bottom of the slope, and there was nothing else to break their fall. They collided with the fence, sending planks and splinters of wood flying into the air as they crashed through it and finally came to a stop. With the carnage over, Kestria eventually landed on one of the wooden posts of the fence right next to where her co-workers had barrelled through it, squatting herself on top of it as she looked down at the scene before her. Yuuto had landed flat on his back with the hellhound and zombie lying right on top of him, his face now trapped underneath their breasts as he struggled to breathe. Both Blare and Zombina just groaned in pain, or in discomfort in the redhead's case, neither of them unaware of the position the hybrid was currently in.
The raptor harpy looked down at her squad captain with a teasing look on her face. "Looks like you're enjoying yourself down there, Hotshot."
Yuuto would have retorted to her comment but was prevented from doing so with the two sets of mammaries currently suffocating him. The best thing he could muster was a groan of annoyance at her.
Blare groaned to herself once more as she tried to lift herself up. "Ow, that hurt like hell…" She complained as she rubbed the back of her head.
Zombina pushed herself up as she looked down at the blonde underneath her and gave him a toothy grin. "Thanks for the catch, Beesh."
Now finally able to breathe again, he took a deep breath before he looked up at the two women on top of him and gave them a look of annoyance. "Yeah, glad to see you're both okay. But if you girls don't mind, can you get off of me please?"
"Oh, sorry about that, Stud." The hellhound apologised as she and Zombina sat themselves up and to the sides of the hybrid, allowing him to sit up straight as he rubbed the back of his own head. "You alright there?" She asked out of concern as she gently placed a hand on his back.
Yuuto smirked back at her in an attempt to alleviate her worry. "Yeah, I'll be fine, thanks."
The redhead suddenly let out a gut-wrenching laugh, earning a confused look from her co-workers. "Ahahahaha! That was an absolute blast! We should do that again!"
"…Yeah, I don't think my back can take another crash like that…" He replied as he furrowed his eyebrows at her before he let out an exasperated sigh. "Anyway, I'm sure this fence we broke belongs to someone. We should probably explain what happened to the owners before we…" He trailed off suddenly as he noticed that it had gotten darker for some reason. Curious, he looked up above him along with the hellhound and zombie to find a large shadow was cast over them and found it belonged to a particularly tall and muscular person.
The person in question must've been at least as tall as Tionishia, if not taller, though to their surprise her breasts seemed to be bigger than even that of their ogress co-worker. She had two black markings on her face, one under each eye, and medium length spiky hair which was a light pink at the front and pitch black at the back with a rat tail running from the back of her head. She also had two large bovine horns that stuck out from the sides of her head and pointed upwards, two long brown furry ears, a long black and white bovine tail sticking out from behind, and her legs were covered in a light brown fur, both ending in large black cow hooves. Her lightly tanned skin was covered only by a set of tattered navy-blue dungarees that struggled to contain her assets, as well as a brown leather collar around her neck with a brass cowbell attached to it. If they weren't intimidated by the large woman by now, then the axe she held in her right hand would surely do the job. The trio on the ground just sat there in silence as the minotaur looked down at them with her dark brown eyes, staring at them in a way that suggested that she was struggling to hold her temper. Even Kestria kept her trap shut, not wanting to earn her ire.
"So, I take it you're the ones that broke our fence?" She asked the group in an irritated tone.
The MON agents were well aware that she already knew the answer to that question, seeing as they were sat atop what were the remains of the section of fence they crashed through, though the hybrid was smart enough to realise that keeping quiet wouldn't benefit them in any way, so he bravely decided to speak up. "Yeah, we had a bit of an accident during our run. Sorry about that." He replied in as friendly a tone he could muster as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Hmm, is that so?" She asked rhetorically. Before they could respond she grabbed a hold of the trio on the ground and held them under her large and muscular arm, making it hard for them to breathe. "Well then, guess we'll have to sort out a way for you to pay back for the damage y'all caused."
"Hey, loosen up a little! I can't breathe here!" Blare protested in a panicked tone.
The minotaur paid her no mind as she now focused her attention towards the raptor harpy currently still perched on the fence, causing the poor girl to flinch reflexively. "You there, you can either come quietly, or you can join your friends under my arm. Which one will it be?"
Kestria gave her an innocent look as she rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Um… I think I'll take the easy option if you don't mind."
The farmhand smirked back at her, pleased with her answer. "Good answer. Now, let's get a move on, we haven't got all day." She replied as she turned around and started making her way presumably towards the nearby farmhouse.
The raptor harpy just jumped off the fence and started following the minotaur, now walking at her side where her co-workers were currently trapped. She looked down at them and saw that they were displeased with their current position, especially the blonde who currently had his head trapped between Blare's and Zombina's mammaries once more. "Told you guys this would end badly," Kes told them as she gave them a smug grin.
"Yeah, but what else can we do?" Yuuto replied as he tried to free his head from its fleshy prison. "Might as well see what we can do to resolve this."
"This totally isn't fair! I'm pretty sure this counts as kidnapping!" The zombie yelled in annoyance as she feebly tried to free herself from the minotaur's grasp.
"Well, we wouldn't be here if you hadn't blindly charged into us like that." Blare complained to the undead with a look of annoyance on her face.
"Hey, quiet it down, will you?" The minotaur told them in a stern tone.
The MON agents let out audible gulps, panicked by her seemingly threatening request. "…Yes, Ma'am…" They all replied in unison.
Whatever awaited them was just about anyone's guess right now.
The group eventually found themselves on the farm in question. The MON agents were then introduced to the farm's owner, Miyuki Nishiyama. Though despite being the farm's owner, Zombina had noted that he was quite the pretty boy. Yuuto had decided to be the one to explain the situation to him, albeit without mentioning the race they were having.
"…and that's how we ran into your friend," He paused for a moment as he looked towards the minotaur. "Cathyl was it?"
The busty woman was currently leaning against a nearby tree with a moody look on her face. "Yeah, that's right," Cathyl answered whilst chewing on a wheat stalk.
"Right." The blonde then returned his attention to Miyuki. "So that's what basically happened. I'm sorry for the trouble me and my group has caused."
The farm owner just grinned at the hybrid. "Don't worry too much about it, accidents happen. Though there is the matter of expenses for the damage to the fence."
"But that's the problem, we haven't got any cash on hand right now…"
"Hmm…" Miyuki mused to himself as he stroked his chin in thought. "Well, if you don't mind, would you mind helping us out on the farm for a couple of hours? We're a little short on hands right now, plus, it should more than cover the damage to the fence."
"Sure, I don't mind," Yuuto replied without giving it a second thought.
Blare, Kestria and Zombina, who were all standing next to him were surprised by his willingness to help out on the farm. "Beesh, you can't be serious!" The zombie exclaimed, not the least pleased with his decision.
"Yeah Stud, don't go deciding this all by yourself!" The hellhound complained as her flame lashes burst into life.
"And why am I getting dragged into it, Hotshot?! I didn't even do anything wrong!" The raptor harpy added as she gave him an angry stare.
The hybrid just sighed to himself as he gave the girls a look of annoyance. "Okay, let me put it this way. Either we help out on the farm for a couple of hours, or I can call Smith to bail us out of this situation, and I'm pretty sure we don't want to find out what she'll put us through for inconveniencing her like this."
Panicked looks soon crossed the faces of his co-workers. The last thing they wanted was to get on the wrong side of Kuroko. All they could imagine was a mountain of paperwork stacked on their desks when they'd eventually come back to work. Suddenly a couple of hours working on a farm didn't sound so bad.
"You know, I've always been curious about how a farm is run." The redhead lied through her teeth to avoid Smith's wrath.
"Yeah, working outside does sound kind of fun when you think about it," Blare added as she rubbed the back of her head nervously.
"I don't mind checking out on the cute farmyard animals while we're here" Kestria added with a fake smile on her face.
Yuuto smirked back at them before returning his attention to the farm's owner. "Well, you heard them, Nishiyama-san. We'd be happy to help."
"Great, you guys are doing me a huge favour!" Miyuki shouted excitedly. "The rest of the farmhands should be here soon, so they'll show you what needs doing."
"Hey, Boss!" The group heard the voices of a couple of young girls call out in unison and they turned to face where it came from.
Four liminals were making their way towards them, all of them wearing the same type of dungarees Cathyl was wearing. There was a pan with pale skin, shoulder-length white hair and bright blue eyes, as well as gnarled horns on either side of her head and sheep hooves in place of feet. There was also a tanned-skin satyr with short blonde hair and red mischievous eyes, as well as a pair of horns sticking from the top of her head that pointed backwards and goat hooves for feet. The two girls they heard earlier looked like twins, and were basically smaller versions of the satyr accompanying them, both with shoulder length blonde hair and emerald green eyes, as well as short horns on the sides of their heads and hooves in place of feet. The only noticeable difference between them was that one had a long fringe covering her left eye and her horns pointed upwards, while her sister had her fringe covering her right eye and her horns pointed downwards.
"Hey girls, great timing." The farm owner replied. "We've got ourselves some helping hands for a while, so be nice to them."
The pan was the first to speak up as they met up with the group and directed her attention towards the MON agents. "Oh, well it's good to meet you all." She started in a meek tone as she bowed to them. "My name is Merino; I hope we get along."
The satyr of the group was next to speak up as she smirked at them. "Hey there, I'm Saane. I don't normally work at this farm, but the guys here were begging for an 'extra hand' to help out." She said as her smirk pulled into a lewd grin.
Miyuki just smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "You'll have to forgive Saane, she really loves her inuendoes." In an attempt to steer the conversation back on track he decided to introduce the twins to the group. "The two vegetable lambs are Ton and Cott. Ton is the one with her horns pointing up, and Cott's horns point down if you have trouble remembering who is who."
"Sup," Ton said with a wave.
"Yo," Cott added as she mirrored her sister's pose.
Deciding to be polite, Yuuto took it upon himself to introduce himself, as well as his co-workers to the farm workers.
Once he was done, the satyr was the first to comment on the hybrid himself as she let out a short wolf whistle. "Damn, good job finding such a stud-muffin, Boss."
"Try and keep your hands to yourself, Saane." The human chided her. "I need you to show our newbies here the ropes of farm work."
"Of course, we'll do our best," Merino replied in a sweet tone.
"You can count on us!" The vegetable lambs added in unison.
Happy with his farmhands' response, he mulled over how to best utilise the extra help. "Now, let's see here… Okay, Cathyl. You go take Zombina over there and go get the fence fixed up, and check for any other parts of the perimeter that might need repairs." He said as he hooked a thumb towards the zombie.
The minotaur smirked to herself and a blush appeared on her cheeks before she started making her way towards the undead woman. "It'll be my pleasure." She answered before she made her way to her. As she reached the MON agent, she hooked the blade of the axe she was still holding under the back of the woman's shirt and lifted her off the ground with ease. "I heard you were the one responsible for this mess, seems fair that you'd be the one to help fix it." She said as she started walking off with the zombie in tow.
"HEY! PUT ME DOWN, TITS FOR BRAINS!" Zombina protested in vain before turning to the hybrid for help. "BEESH! GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" She screamed as she flailed her arms and legs frantically.
"Sorry Zee, but you're on your own." The blonde replied without a hint of sympathy as he left her to her fate.
The redhead went on about something to do with betrayal as she disappeared from sight along with Cathyl.
"Okay, next up." The farm owner started as he looked towards the twins. "Ton, Cott. I believe Kestria said that she wanted to see the animals, so take her with you to the chicken coop and start collecting the eggs." He told them as he hooked a thumb towards the avian liminal.
"Sure thing!" They replied excitedly with a mock salute. They then went over to the raptor harpy and each grabbed a wing in their arms. "C'mon, we haven't got time to waste," Ton said in a bossy tone. "Yeah, time's a wasting," Cott added in a similar tone.
"Hey, cool it!" Kes protested as the vegetable lambs started dragging her away.
"Alright, two more," Miyuki muttered as he focused his attention towards the hellhound. "Blare, don't take this the wrong way, but do you mind helping me rustle up the sheep? Something tells me that you might be good at it."
Blare quirked an eyebrow at the human due to what he was insinuating. "I hope this isn't because I have canine features…" She replied in an annoyed tone.
The young man had to be careful about his choice of words. "Well, it'll give you an excuse to run around more if that helps."
The hellhound couldn't help but smirk at him. "Fine, you got me there." She answered as she moved to his side.
Happy with the outcome, he then turned his attention to the last MON agent. "Guess that leave you to help Merino and Saane shear the sheep, Kazama." He said with a wide grin.
Before the hybrid could protest, the satyr quickly moved to his side and pressed her breasts to the side of his chest. "Lucky you, Stud-muffin. You get to have me and little Meri all to yourself." She told him in a seductive tone as she prodded a finger against his chest."
Yuuto could only sigh to himself in disbelief. "I have a bad feeling about this." He complained to himself.
"Please pay her no mind, Kazama-san. I'll be here with you if you need any help." The pan said with a look of determination on her face.
"…Much appreciated, Merino…" He replied with a lack of enthusiasm.
"Good, everyone's got a job! Now, let's get to it!" Miyuki shouted excitedly.
"Try not to have too much fun, Stud." Blare teased her squad captain before she made her leave with the farm owner.
The hybrid just groaned to himself at being left alone with someone like Saane. Merino might've been with them, but he doubted that she could do anything to stop the satyr's antics. He knew there and then that this would probably be the longest two hours of his life.
Back where the MON agents had originally crashed through the fence, Cathyl was busying herself by hammering in a new wooden post with the butt of her axe with great ease. While she was doing that, Zombina was carrying a number of wooden planks over her shoulder and a bucket of nails with a small hammer in it in her other hand. She was already exhausted from their run earlier, and now she was being forced into manual labour because of a little accident. She grunted and breathed heavily as she hauled the planks and nails towards where the minotaur was currently working. Cathyl just looked back at the zombie and shook her head to herself in disbelief.
"Seriously, it's like you've never worked a day in your life." She said as she gave the redhead an annoyed look.
Zombina continued to pant heavily as she reached her destination and placed the planks and bucket onto the ground before she placed her hands on her thighs and took in several deep breaths. "Ya know… I couldn't actually tell ya… seeing I can't remember… a damn thing about… when I was still alive…" She complained in between deep breaths.
The minotaur's eyes widened in realisation, now regretting her choice of words. "Oh, I'm sorry. That was pretty insensitive of me to say…" She said in a remorseful tone.
The redhead just merely laughed at her response as she took a seat next to the fence and gave her a toothy grin. "Don't worry about it, I came to terms with it a long time ago. Being undead isn't actually that bad once you get used to it."
Cathyl just nodded in understanding. "Well, it's good to hear that you're okay with it." She replied before she picked up on of the planks and held it against the two poles it was to be fixed to. "Anyway, this fence isn't going to fix itself. I'll hold the planks while you nail them in."
The zombie groaned to herself for a moment before she picked up the hammer and a nail and got to work. For a few minutes, the pair kept themselves busy as the nailed in several planks of wood to the poles, though Zombina quickly got bored with this. She glanced over at Cathyl and remembered that she had blushed when the farm owner had talked to her. Maybe she was imagining it, but she had a feeling that something was going on between them, so in an attempt to alleviate her boredom she decided to have a little fun with the minotaur.
"Hey, Cathyl." She spoke up to get the farmhand's attention. "Is it just me, or is there something going on between you and Nishiyama?" She asked with a teasing grin on her face.
Cathyl's eyes shot wide open and her face went bright red at the zombie's accusation. "What?!" She exclaimed with an embarrassed look on her face. "No way! Like I'd go out with that thick-headed playboy!" She protested though it did little to help as her cheeks went a brighter shade of red.
Zombina's grin only grew wider at the minotaur's reaction. "I bet you let him milk you too."
"L-L-Like hell I'd let that beansprout touch my jugs!" The farmhand shouted as she only grew more embarrassed, which was accompanied by a gut-wrenching laugh from the zombie.
The redhead just knew that she'd have a ton of fun with this current situation.
Back on the field near the farmhouse, Miyuki was busy herding the sheep to get sheared, with a little help from Blare. The hellhound had found herself in the role of a sheepdog as she circled around the flock with directed help from the farm owner. She had to admit that she was actually having a lot of fun running around the sheep to try and get them into the holding pen Nishiyama wanted them to go into, it was almost like a game for her. With every move she made the flock would back away as they were guided towards their destination. Miyuki was impressed with how the MON agent was performing, he had to admit he felt slightly disappointed that she couldn't stay on full-time. Regardless they finally got the sheep into their designated pen to be held in as they waited to be sheared by Merino and her group. With that, the hellhound jumped over the fence and stood to the farm owner's side with a satisfied look on her face.
"Nice work, Blare," Miyuki said as he gave her a congratulatory smile. "you looked like you were enjoying yourself out there."
"Yeah, it was a good workout if I have to be honest." She replied with a big smile as her tail wagged frantically.
"Good to hear. Though I've been wondering, what do you do for a living usually? Do you work at a gym, or are you some sort of professional athlete?"
"Oh, nothing like that." She replied in a modest tone. "I just work as an anti-liminal task force agent for the ICEP's Monster Operations: Neutralisation unit."
Miyuki's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait a minute, you guys are MON agents?"
"Yeah, all four of us." The hellhound answered as she rubbed the back of her head. "In fact, Stud and Zombina are Squad Leaders on top of that."
"Well, I'll be damned. But hold up a second, isn't Kazama human? I thought only liminals could legally take down other liminals." He said with a look of confusion on his face.
"Normally that would be the case, but Stud is actually only half human. He's technically classified as a hybrid." Blare explained to him matter-of-factly.
This only raised more questions for the farm owner. "So, what's the other half?"
The MON agent merely smirked at him. "I'll let Stud explain it when you next see him."
The human just scratched at his head as he let the information sink in. "Well damn, you guys really are an interesting bunch." After a moment he brought himself back to reality and turned to face the hellhound once more. "Anyway, now that the sheep have been corralled, we can go and deal with the cows. They'll need milking today."
Blare quirked an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure that's alright?" She asked as she raised her padded hands. "My hands aren't exactly delicate, as you can see."
Miyuki just chuckled to himself. "I wouldn't worry, we use machines for the cows, far quicker that way. Though the sheep are another story, I'm sure Merino, Saane and Kazama will be just fine."
"Yeah, I'm sure Stud can handle himself." She replied as she rubbed the back of her head nervously. "I'm more worried about what that satyr girl has planned for him…" She thought to herself as the pair went to milk the cows.
Meanwhile, at the chicken coops, Kestria was busy helping the twins with collecting eggs from the henhouse. All the hens were clucking to their heart's content as the raptor harpy busied herself with gathering the eggs from the unoccupied nests, though she wasn't exactly happy about being here.
"This is totally unfair! I didn't even do anything wrong, and I'm being forced into manual labour because a certain zombie can't control herself!" She thought as she pouted to herself.
Just then, one of the roosting hens gave her a long-agitated cluck.
Kestria looked back at the hen in question and gave it a look of annoyance. "Well cluck-cluck to you too, Madam. I don't want to be here as much as you don't want me here."
With that little spat out of the way, she picked up a small stack of egg trays filled to the brim with eggs with her wings and made her way out of the henhouse. As she stepped out into the coop itself, she saw that Ton and Cott were stacking other egg trays onto a small trailer attached to the back of a quad-bike. The vegetable lambs saw her and waved at her in unison to get her attention.
"Hey, Kes. Just leave the egg trays over here." Ton said with a massive grin.
"Yeah, we'll stack them up while you collect the last bunch of eggs from the henhouse to the far right," Cott added with an equally wide grin.
The MON agent sighed to herself in resignation. "Fine, just let me drop these off first…" She replied dejectedly.
As she started making her way towards them once more, she heard a high-pitched chirp from behind her. She glanced down to see a little yellow chick looking up at her with its beady little eyes.
"Well, aren't you a little cutie," Kes said to it with a warm smile on her face.
The little chick chirped back at her as it jumped around in excitement.
"Well, as much as I'd like to fawn over you, I've got work to get on with. See you later."
As she turned around and started to make her way towards the twins once more, she heard several more chirps from behind her. She looked back and now saw a small group of around ten chicks looking up at her.
"Hey, I know I have feathers and all, but I'm not one of you guys. Go and play with your moms or something." She said to the group of chicks.
They all just chirped happily at the raptor harpy as they bounced up and down excitedly.
"Look, I'm sorry but I have work to do." She said despondently as she made her way out of the coop.
Kestria made her way to the trailer without too much trouble and placed her stack of egg trays next to the others by the trailer, much to the delight of the vegetable lambs. "Nice job, Kes," Ton said enthusiastically.
"And you managed to make a few friends too," Cott added with a smirk on her face.
Kestria looked down and behind her once again to find the group of chicks from before still on her heels. She didn't really mind all that much, though she was confused as to why they were even following her. "Why are you little ones even following me around? Am I that interesting to you?" She said to them with a quizzical look on her face as she crouched down and wrapped her wings around her legs.
The chicks began to chirp happily again as they moved closer and started nuzzling against her legs and feet. One even managed to hop onto the top of her knee and flapped its tiny wings happily at her.
The raptor harpy's cheeks went red as her heart melted at the adorable sight. "Aww, that is so cute." She cooed as she dipped her head to get closer to the chick, who responded by nuzzling up against her nose. "Seriously, I'm almost tempted to take you guys home with me." She added with a loving smile on her face.
"Wow, those little chicks have gotten really attached to you, Kes." Ton commented with a sense of wonder.
"Well, you won't be able to do much with them clambering around you like that," Cott added. "The best thing you can do now is to keep an eye on them, like a chick sitter or something like that."
"Is that so?" She replied as a smirk crossed her lips, happy to hear that she had an excuse to exempt herself from manual labour. "Well, I guess I'll have to play mother hen for a little while." She added as she slowly stood herself up, giving the chicks enough time to back away from her. "You hear that, kids? You're going to be members of the Poultry Patrol for the day."
The chicks started to bounce up and down excitedly once more while letting out happy chirps.
"Alright cadets, line up!"
With unexpected coordination, the chicks lined up behind her in single file, all waiting for the raptor harpy to take the lead.
With a nod of confirmation, Kestria raised a wing with a wide smile on her face. "Poultry Patrol, move out!" With that, the raptor harpy set out to explore the farm with the group of chicks now following her in single file.
The vegetable lambs just smirked at each other as the group left. "At least it'll keep the chicks out of the way while we work," Ton said to her sister.
"And Kes too. She was kind of slowing us down anyway." Cott replied. "Hopefully they won't cause too much trouble for everyone else."
With that the twins got back to work, unaware of the trouble the feathered friends were about to cause.
Inside one of the large steel sheds, Merino, Saana and Yuuto were busy shearing the flock of sheep Miyuki and Blare had corralled for them earlier. It was a simple enough job and the hybrid found that he had a knack for it. The pan and satyr were surprised by how calm the sheep were around him.
"There you go." The MON agent muttered to himself as he finished shearing the wool of the last sheep that was assigned to him.
Merino looked to him and was impressed by the job he did. "That's really impressive, Kazama-san. Are you sure this is the first time you've sheared sheep?" She asked with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"I'm pretty sure, not really one for the country lifestyle myself if I have to be honest."
"Well, that's a shame. If you were going to stick around, I would've made it worth your while." Saane interjected in a sultry tone as she gave him a seductive look.
Yuuto sighed to himself at the satyr's continued advances. "For the last time, I already have a girlfriend, and I'm not interested in having anyone on the side either." He replied to her in an annoyed tone.
The satyr just smirked back at him. "Are you sure? You'll never know unless you try."
The hybrid just groaned to himself at her response. He just wanted to get this farm work over and done with so he could get away from her.
Merino and Saane finished shearing their sheep in quick order before the pan stretched her arms up to loosen her muscles. "I think that's it for the shearing, all we need to do now is milk them."
"Sure thing, I'll go get some buckets for us," Saane replied as she walked up to her and whispered into her ear. "But you forgot one thing though, there's still one more person that needs shearing." She said in a suggestive tone.
The pan's cheeks turned crimson at her comment. "S-S-S-Saane, a-a-are you sure I should ask him?" She asked in a meek tone.
"I don't see the problem," She replied with a devious look on her face before she instantly replaced it with an innocent look and started making her way out of the shed. "anyway, I'll be back in a bit!" She added with a wave.
Merino tried to stop her, but the satyr was already out of sight before she could do anything. It was just her and the MON agent now. She sighed to herself before she looked over to where Yuuto was seated. She had to admit that he seemed quite dependable and that he did a good job at sheering the sheep, not to mention that she thought he was quite handsome. She suddenly thought about him caressing her skin in an intimate fashion as he would shear her skin bare. The thought was certainly steamy and she instantly got embarrassed as she literally tried to shake the image out of her head.
The hybrid noticed this and gave her a quizzical look. "Hey, Merino. Are you alright?" He asked in a concerned tone.
The pan took a deep breath and composed herself as she stood up and faced him. "K-Kazama-san, I-I-I was wondering if I could ask a favour of you…" She asked in an embarrassed tone, unable to look directly at him as she fidgeted and squirmed in place just thinking about what she wanted of him.
He gave her a friendly smile to help put her at ease. "Sure, I agreed to help you out, so there's no need to be shy about it."
Merino smiled to herself at his response and looked him in the eyes. "Well… I was wondering… seeing as you did such a good job shearing the sheep… I wanted to ask if you could shear me too…"
Yuuto quirked an eyebrow at her. "I beg your pardon?" He asked out of confusion.
The pan thought it would be easier to show him, rather than explain to him what she meant. With some trepidation she removed the braces from around her shoulders, letting her dungarees drop to the ground to reveal her naked form, only obscured by the thick woollen fur that covered most of her body. The hybrid was shocked by her sudden decision and shot to his feet as his whole face went red with embarrassment.
"Woah, just hold on a second!" He exclaimed as he held up his hands in front of him. "Why are you asking me and not one of your friends?!"
"Well, I can't ask Nishiyama or Cathyl seeing that they're dating, I'd feel bad about asking Ton and Cott seeing they have the same problem as I do with getting woolly, and as for Saane… well, let's just say I think she'd enjoy it a little too much…."
"…Yet you're fine with a complete stranger doing it?"
She quickly moved towards him until she was in his personal space. "Please, Kazama-san! I can't ask anyone else!" She exclaimed with a pleading look on her face.
The sudden invasion of his personal space caused him to move back a couple of steps, which led to him hitting the edge of a nearby table. He looked behind him to see a pair of sickles just lying there on the table. He suddenly got an idea as he looked back at the pan in front of him with a serious look on his face.
"Merino, I need you to stand still where you are and close your eyes for me." He said in a commanding tone as if he was giving an order to one of his squad mates.
Merino was surprised by the sudden request but she nodded and complied with it, slightly widening her stance as she shut her eyelids tight. "A-A-Alright, but I think it might be easier if I lay down on the table." She said as she started to get nervous about the whole thing.
The hybrid nodded to himself before he turned around and picked up a sickle in each hand. "Good, now hold still and don't move a muscle." With that, he triggered his devil mode, the sound of the chaotic energy sparking around him causing the pan and the flock of sheep to flinch momentarily.
The farmhand started to get really worried by the sudden new sound. "K-K-Kazama-san, what was that?" She asked as her voice became shaky. "M-M-M-Maybe we should-"
She was cut off as the MON agent rushed towards her in a flash of crimson, surging past her as clumps of wool freshly shaven from her skin flew off her in an instant. Yuuto stopped several feet behind her in a low stance with his arms spread wide with the sickles still in hand and a smirk on his face, while the pan stood there in shock, now feeling a weird tingling sensation on her skin. The flock of sheep stared in amazement at just what happened. If they were able to, they probably would've given the hybrid a standing ovation.
Yuuto stood up straight and twirled the sickles in his hand momentarily before he looked back at the pan with a smirk on his face. "There, that should do it." He said in a confident tone, his voice now reverberating with the chaotic energy.
Merino looked herself over in surprise, noting that she had been shaved bald from her shoulders down, apart from around her nether region. "Wow, that was amazing…" She replied, now feeling slightly wobbly after the experience. "But how did you-?"
"Devil powers." The hybrid interjected. "I'm technically part elder devil, so I can do stuff like that." He added as he started to make his way back to the table.
As he walked past, the farmhand couldn't help but smile to herself as her cheeks went bright red. She then realised that she was still standing there naked in front of the MON agent, and in a fit of embarrassment, she quickly made her way back to where her dungarees were and slipped them back on. "Th-Thank you for doing that for me, Kazama-san." She said to him as a smile crept onto her lips once more.
Yuuto returned to his base form and placed the sickles back on the table before he turned around and gave her a cheesy grin. "No problem, though I'd appreciate it if you didn't ask me to do stuff like that in future." He said as he glanced away from her, his face turning bright red once more.
"Oh, of course." The pan replied as she snapped herself back to reality and recomposed herself. "I'm sorry about making such a bold request." She added as she squirmed in place once more.
"Don't worry about it, let's just forget that it ever happened." The MON agent said as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
Just as they finished their conversation, Saane came back with several metal buckets in each hand. "Hey, I hope I didn't miss anything while I was gone." She said in a suggestive tone.
The pan flinched at her sudden arrival. "S-S-Saane, we were just organising the wool, that's all." She replied in a meek tone.
The satyr looked around and was fairly sure that the wool had not been touched in her absence, though she did take note of the fact that her workmate was slightly less woolly than she was earlier. "Is that so?" She asked with a devious look on her face. "Well, that is a shame. I was hoping I would walk in on something juicy." She added before licking her lips, hoping the pan would spill the beans on her latest shearing.
"I-I-I assure you that nothing happened while you were gone." Merino protested.
Saane let out a sigh of defeat, disappointed that she wasn't able to coax an answer from her. "Alright, have it your way then." She replied with a hint of disappointment. "Well, in any case, we should get started on getting these girls milked." She placed most of the buckets on the ground, leaving one in her hand as she made her way to where the MON agent had been seated earlier. "Stud-muffin, get your butt over here so I can show you how best to milk these sheep." She said to him in a sultry tone.
Yuuto let out an exasperated sigh as he made his way to his stool and took his seat. "Alright, but don't try anything funny." He said to her in an annoyed tone.
Before he realised it, the satyr took a seat in front of him, right between his legs. She then looked back at him and gave him a smirk as her cheeks went red.
The hybrid's cheeks also went bright red at the sudden act as he furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What do you think you're playing at?"
She made herself comfortable as she rubbed her posterior against his crotch. "I'm worried that you might be a little rough seeing you haven't milked sheep before." With that she put the bucket down before she unstrapped the braces of her dungarees and let them drop to her sides, now freeing her bare breasts from their confines. "So, I figured it'd be best if you practised on me. Don't worry though, I like it a little rough." She answered in a seductive manner as she gave him a wink.
"…Yeah, I'm going to have to say hell the fuck no to that idea…"
Before the MON agent could protest any further, Saane grabbed a hold of his wrists and started pulling his hands towards her generously sized mammaries. "Don't be such a prude, Stud-muffin. I promise that we'll both enjoy the experience."
Yuuto started to pull his hands away in protest. "As I said before, I already have a girlfriend." He said as his tone became irate.
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her." She replied with a devious look on her face as she tried to pull his hands back towards her breasts.
Merino was flabbergasted by what her workmate was trying to do. The satyr may have been rather forward with her sexual desires, but this was a whole new level of perverseness, even for her. "Saane, what do you think you're doing?! Don't you think you're taking this a little too far?!" She yelled in embarrassment.
"Hey, it's not my fault you couldn't convince the guy to fondle you, so don't go trying to ruin my fun out of spite," Saane replied as she continued to struggle against the hybrid's protests.
"Well, I didn't consent to this!" Yuuto yelled in annoyance.
"Quit being so stubborn already! It's just a little bit of fun!"
"I could say the say about you!"
Whilst they were in the middle of their strange game of tug-of-war, they heard a chirp coming from the entrance to the shed. The trio stopped what they were doing and looked towards the entrance to find a couple of chicks scurrying around. They also noticed that Kestria was leaning around the corner with her phone out, the camera pointing at them.
The raptor harpy looked down at the chicks with a panicked look on her face. "Keep it down, Kids. You'll give away our position."
"Kes, what the hell are you doing?" The hybrid asked as his whole face went bright red.
Kestria flinched upon hearing him, now realising that her cover was blown. She then recomposed herself and smirked at her squad captain. "I could ask you the same, though I think Grim might have a few things to say about what I just filmed." She replied as she waved her phone from side to side for emphasis.
"…You wouldn't dare…" He said to her in a threatening tone.
His squadmate panicked again and quickly made her leave, along with the two chicks that had snuck inside with her. "Poultry Patrol! Tactical retreat!" She yelled at the top of her lungs for some strange reason.
"Oh, no you don't!" He exclaimed as he tried to get up, but he was prevented from doing so by the satyr still holding on to him.
"Not so fast, I'm not done with you yet." She said to him in a suggestive tone.
Yuuto let out another exasperated sigh as he furrowed his eyebrows at her. "Yeah, I'm sorry about this."
She quirked an eyebrow at him. "About what?"
Just then he triggered his devil mode once more and gave the satyr a mild shock with his chaotic energy. After a moment Saane fell forwards and landed face first on the floor with her buttocks stuck up in the air.
The MON agent jumped up and looked towards Merino. "Don't worry, I just paralyzed her, she'll be fine in a few minutes." Without waiting for a response, he rushed towards the entrance in a flash of crimson and made his leave. "Kes, get your poultry ass back here!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.
With the hybrid gone, Merino crouched down next to her workmate and gave her a disapproving look. "Normally I'd feel sorry for you, but in this case, you pretty much asked for it."
Saane just laid there as she tried to make sense of what just happened. "Heh, I knew there was a spark between us." She replied in a seemingly delirious state.
The pan just sighed to herself in disbelief. "You never learn, do you?"
Back outside, Blare was sat outside leaning against a wooden post as she took several gulps of water from one of the bottles the MON agents brought with them. She was relaxing after finishing her chores with Nishiyama, and she was just waiting for the other MON agents to finish their jobs. Suddenly she heard heavy panting from nearby and looked to her side to see Zombina slowly making her way to the hellhound as if ready to collapse. Thankfully the zombie made it to her and slumped down against the fence next to her.
"Looks like you had fun." Blare teased as she pulled a fresh bottle of water from the bag Yuuto had been carrying previously and handed it over to the redhead.
Zombina wasted no time as she snatched to bottle and nearly ripped it apart in her attempt to open it before she downed the whole thing. "Yeah, if ya call being bossed around by a goddamn slave driver fun." She complained as she continued to take deep breaths to recuperate herself.
"Well, you shouldn't have knocked us down and broke the fence then." The hellhound replied with a smirk on her face.
"Hey, I'm a victim of circumstance here ya know. Anyway, do ya know where Beesh and Kes are at?"
"Hmm, last time I checked Kes was with the twins near the chicken coops. As for Stud, God knows where he is right now." She answered as she thought to herself where he possibly could've disappeared to.
Just then they heard the stomping of feet from the same direction Zombina had just come from, and they saw Kestria running towards their general direction in a panicked state with a flock of chicks on her heels. Not far behind, Yuuto was chasing after her in his devil mode with an angry look on his face.
"Take a chill pill, Hotshot! I haven't done anything wrong!" She exclaimed as she ran past them as fast as she could.
"Slow down, Kes! I just want to talk!" The hybrid shouted back in a threatening tone as he was closing in on her, also running past the zombie and hellhound pair without acknowledging them.
As they disappeared around the corner of one of the barns, they looked on in confusion at what they just witnessed. "Zombina, you saw that too, right?" The hellhound asked with a quizzical look on her face.
The redhead suddenly burst into laughter at what she saw. "Expect Beesh of all people to keep things interesting around here!" She exclaimed as she held her sides tightly.
"Shouldn't we go stop them? They might break something at this rate." Blare said in a worried tone.
"Nah, I'm sure they'll be fine. Besides, I'm too tired to do anything right now." Zombina answered as she calmed herself down.
The hellhound took a moment to sigh to herself. "For once, I'll have to agree with you."
As Kestria was running for dear life, the chicks continued to follow her as they gave her distressed chirps. She looked over her shoulder to look down at them and gave them a confident smirk. "Don't worry, Kids. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you."
The chicks chirped happily at her as they kept up their pace.
She then looked behind her to see her squad captain still chasing after them with a determined look on his face. The raptor swore that the chaotic energy around him had intensified since she last checked, this wasn't a good situation for her at all. Suddenly the chicks started letting out panicked chirps at her.
"What's the matter, Kids?" She asked as she looked down at them.
She then looked up again and found that she was running towards a barn entrance with a line of fences running forwards from either side. The raptor harpy skid to a halt before reaching the entrance. Unfortunately for her, the barn doors were locked, so they couldn't hide in there. The fencing at either side of the group meant that they could only come back the way they came, and unfortunately for her, Yuuto had blocked the only escape route. Under normal circumstances, she could've just flown away, but she couldn't bear to abandon the chicks after they became so attached to her.
They were trapped.
Kestria turned around to see her squad captain blocking their only way out, breathing heavily as he gave her a piercing gaze. "Just give up the phone, Kes. No one needs to get shocked if I can avoid it." The hybrid said as he tried to keep his cool.
To her surprise the chicks moved in front of her and formed a wall between their mother figure and the man blocking their escape, all of them jumping up and down as they gave him defiant chirps.
The raptor harpy couldn't help but smirk at him, now feeling like she had the upper wing in this situation. "You're welcome to try, Hotshot. But I doubt you're willing to harm the kids just to get at me." She replied in a smug tone.
Yuuto looked down at the chicks in front of her and saw them huddled together, shaking in fear. He felt guilty as hell for scaring them as he did and he returned to his base form before letting out a sigh of defeat. "Damn it, using emotional blackmail like that is so unfair." He complained out loud.
Kestria gave him a triumphant grin as she placed her wings on her hips. "All's fair in love and war. I can't even begin to imagine the look on Grim's face when I send her this video of you and the farmhands."
"Kes, I'm begging you, please don't send it to her. I'll do anything." The hybrid pleaded.
"Anything, huh?" She responded as she quirked an eyebrow at him. "Well, I suppose you paying for my meals for a week might just about cover it." She said with a devious smirk on her lips.
"DINNER'S READY!"
They suddenly heard Ton and Cott yelling in the distance and they turned to face where it came from. This grabbed the attention of the chicks in particular and after a moment the small group scurried off towards where the shouting came from as fast as their little legs could take them, all chirping happily as they did so. This, unfortunately, left their mother figure defenceless.
"Hey, don't abandon me like this!" She shouted at them in distress. "I thought we were a team!"
Before she could protest any further, Yuuto rushed towards her in a blur of crimson and snatched her phone from behind. She spun around on her heel and saw her squad captain with her phone in his hands, busily tapping away at the screen as he went about trying to find the video file.
"Hey, that's mine!" She shouted as she flew at him and tried to snatch her phone back with her talons, but the blonde merely dodged to the side effortlessly to avoid her. She skidded to a halt and attempted to launch herself at him once more. "Give it back!" She shouted as she thrust a talon at him once more.
The hybrid merely spun on his heel to avoid her strike and as she flew past him, he gave her a quick pat on the back, which immediately shocked her with chaotic energy. Now paralyzed the raptor harpy fell to the ground face first, now unable to move. Now free to do as he wished, Yuuto found the video and promptly deleted it, also making sure that there wasn't a back-up of it anywhere and happy to find that his squad mate didn't have chance to send it to Lala.
Satisfied he returned to his base form and placed the phone in front of Kestria. "Nice talk, Kes." He said with a smirk on his face as he walked off, holding his hands behind his head. "Anyway, I should head back and help out Merino with the sheep. I'll see you in a bit."
Unable to do anything else, Kestria looked up and gave him a peeved look as he left. She wasn't left alone long as the chicks finally came scurrying back to her, presumably done with eating their grub as they chirped happily at seeing her again, now standing around her once more.
"Oh, now you guys come to my aid." She said in an annoyed tone.
The little chicks all nuzzled up against her as if apologizing for leaving her.
The raptor harpy couldn't help but smile to herself as she nuzzled them back. "Damn it, I can't stay mad at you when you're this cute."
Sometime later, all the MON agents had gathered together as they were all finished with their chores. The group were sat under the shade of a nearby tree to recuperate, along with the group of chicks who had grown attached to Kestria who were either scurrying around her or perched on her lap.
"Kes, I've been meaning to ask," Blare spoke up. "what's with all the chicks?"
"Oh, they think I'm their mom and they decided to follow me around. It's kind of cute if I have to be honest." The raptor harpy replied as she stroked one of the chicks with the digit of one of her wings.
"Can't say I'm surprised; you do seem to have the qualities of a large chicken." Yuuto teased with a smirk on his face.
Kestria elbowed him in the shoulder and gave him a look of annoyance. "I'm still not talking to you after what happened earlier." She told him in an irate tone.
"Like how you're talking to me now?" He asked as he gave her a smug look.
She merely looked away and pouted to herself, preferring to pay attention to the chicks scurrying around her.
"Geez, how much longer is Nishiyama gonna be? I'm starving here." Zombina complained out loud, much to the annoyance of the others.
"He said he was going to get something for us for helping him out today, so we might as well hold on tight for the time being." The hybrid told her. "Honestly, I'd like to head off as soon as possible as well, I'm worried that Saane might try something else if we don't leave soon."
"Yeah, turns out that satyr girl was trying pretty hard to make a move on Hotshot," Kestria told the other girls with a smirk on her lips.
The redhead let out a gut-wrenching laugh at that comment. "No matter what we do, Beesh, you always seem to draw women to you!" She exclaimed with a toothy grin.
The hellhound let out an exasperated sigh. "Can't say I'm even surprised anymore at this point."
"…It's not like I ask for the attention…" The blonde said in an embarrassed tone as his face went bright red.
Just then Miyuki came driving up the main dirt path through the farm in his blue pick-up truck with Cathyl sat in the back, holding a carrier bag in one of her hands. The truck came to a halt in front of them and the pair got out before making their way towards the MON agents.
"Good job today, everyone. I really appreciate all of your help." The farm owner said to them with a wide grin on his face.
"It's no problem," Yuuto replied as he and his co-workers stood to their feet. "just happy to help."
"Easy for you to say…" Zombina grumbled to herself.
"Anyway," Miyuki spoke up once more. "to thank you for your hard work, here's some fresh cheeses straight from our own cows." He said as he hooked a thumb at the bag Cathyl was carrying.
The minotaur furrowed her eyebrow at her host. "You do remember they're only here because they broke one of our fences, right?"
The human rubbed the back of his neck as he looked up at her. "Even so, the work they've done has more than made up for the cost of repairs, so it's only fair to give them something for their hard work."
Cathyl gave him a huff at his response. "Can't say I agree, but fine, whatever you want." She then looked towards the MON agents and held out the bag full of cheeses towards them. "Here, before I change my mind."
The hybrid of the group stepped forward and took the bag from her with a polite smile on his face. "Thanks, and sorry for the bother we caused earlier."
"When you guys broke the fence, or when you were chasing the harpy around the farm causing a ruckus?" She asked in an irate tone.
He stepped back and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "…Yeah, sorry about that too. But anyway, we should make a move soon, I don't want to impose on you any longer than we already have."
"Don't worry about it, I'm happy for the help," Miyuki replied as he gave him a thumbs-up. "Anyway, take care on your way back, and it was nice to meet you all."
"Likewise. See you soon." He said as he and the MON agents started to make their leave.
Just as they were about to head off, the group of chicks started to follow the raptor harpy, chirping at her.
Kestria stopped and looked down at the chicks with a sad smile curling onto her lips. "I'm sorry kids, but I've got to go home now, and I can't take you guys with me."
The chicks jumped up and down as they let out distressed chirps at her.
The raptor harpy's eyes started to water up as she felt guilty for abandoning her little flock. She then looked towards her squad captain and gave him a pleading look. "Hey, Hotshot. Do you mind if I have a minute with them?"
Yuuto looked back at her and gave her a warm smile. "Sure, but don't take too long."
She nodded in response before she knelt down and spread her wings wide as she returned her focus to the chicks. "Come here, you guys!" She exclaimed as she started to cry.
The chicks scurried towards her with happy chirps before jumping into her wings and nuzzling up against her.
Kestria nuzzled them back as they sat there in her crossed wings. "You little ones take care of yourselves! I'm really going to miss you!" She said as floods of tears came streaming down her cheeks. After a moment the raptor harpy eventually placed them back on the ground and stood to her talons before she made her leave and waved a wing at them. "Bye, kids! Be sure to grow up big and strong!"
The chicks jumped up and down as they chirped at her happily once more. Miyuki and Cathyl were also waving them off with smiles on their faces. "Goodbye for now!" The human exclaimed.
"And make sure you stay out of trouble, you hear?!" Cathyl added with a teasing grin.
The MON agents waved back at them as they made their leave. Now out of their sight, Kestria started weeping to herself as she dried her eyes with one of her wings. The hybrid couldn't help but place a hand on her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"Kes, I'm sure the chicks are going to be just fine." He told her with a warm smile on his face.
Kestria recomposed herself as she looked back at him with a sad smile. "I know, but still…"
"Damn, talk about a tiring day though, and it's not even lunchtime yet," Zombina complained to herself as she held her arms behind her head with a grumpy look on her face.
"Well, at least we got some free cheese out of it," Blare added as she looked at the carrier back her squad captain was holding. "But speaking of freebies," She continued in a sly tone as she bumped shoulders with the hybrid. "I heard from Kes that you got a fair bit of attention from that satyr girl and pan girl earlier, Stud." She said to him in a suggestive tone.
The raptor harpy perked up and bumped his shoulder from the other side as she joined in on teasing him. "You're telling me, Saane was going for him with everything she had." She added with a teasing grin.
Yuuto let out an exasperated sigh. "…Yeah, don't remind me…" In an attempt to improve his mood, he stepped away from his squad mates and triggered his devil mode once more. "Anyway, I just want to get back before Lala starts to worry about me." He said to them before he started to sprint off back towards the inn.
"Oh, no you don't, Stud!" The hellhound shouted as she sprinted off after him. "I want more details on what happened with you and that satyr girl!"
"Hey!" The zombie exclaimed as she chased after them. "Slow down, ya two! How aren't ya guys exhausted yet?!"
Kestria just sighed to herself at being left along before a smirk crossed her lips. "They never learn, do they?" She muttered out loud before she took off into the sky and flew after them.
Despite all the running they did, nothing quite gets the blood flowing like a hard day's work.
A/N: Wow, it's felt like forever since I wrote the last chapter. Anyway, sorry for the delay, this ended up being longer than I initially anticipated, though I'm happy with how this chapter has turned out. Next chapter will be taking place at the shrine Ils Nineta works at, so expect some shenanigans there.
As always feel free to drop a follow or favourite if you like the story so far, and I'm open to critique through reviews and suggestions for the story.
Thanks for reading, and I'll catch you next time!