Chapter 9

To my (pleasant) surprise, when I called Akeno back after our big cross dimensional meeting, Rias and Issei were there still. So was Sachiko, but that might have been because Akeno was letting her rest her head on her lap, and was getting headpats.

"I hope we aren't intruding." Rias smiled, "I know you and Akeno-chan like to chat privately but..."

"Let me just..." I started, getting a very small version of the 'Occulus Projection' box. After a moment of moving about to get it in focus, I nodded, "There you're all in view. It's good to see you again. Heard you were temporarily taking over for Lord and Lady Gremory?"

Issei and Rias nodded, "I thought it was going to be really hard to do." Issei said, "But so long as we pay attention, the estate kind of runs itself."

"We still have the best help on hand." Rias smiled, putting a hand on Akeno's shoulder, "Go on..." Then a little shake of encouragement.

Akeno blushed, and not just a little blush either. A full on shy/nervous/bashful blush that made her almost as red as Rias's hair. "Sensei." She started, "It's been a little while now, and I'm out of school..."

I looked at Issei, who was trying to look innocent by rubbing the tip of his nose with the side of his index finger. "Ah, and you wanted..." I couldn't help but string her along a little, trying to make her admit it. That'd teach her for teasing me and making me take days off...

"We've... tried a couple of times already, but..."

I then looked to Rias, who winked at me while adding in a little eyebrow waggle. Issei also started to blush a little.

"And if we wait much longer..." Akeno was probably taking my silence as a rejection, and was trailing off slowly.

"What about Asia, Koneko and Xenovia?"

Issei's face DID go as red as Rias's hair, but he said (without stuttering), Asia-chan only had to say a prayer, Koneko-chan... didn't have a problem since she's a little like you Sensei..." A pause, and a slightly sad expression that I might have imagined, "And Xenovia-san..."

"She left my peerage, but earned herself a set of pieces." Rias filled in.

"Are you sure then, Akeno?" I asked. I noticed something then, the hand not on Sachiko's head was behind Rias, and so was Issei's.

I already knew the answer, but Akeno nodded and replied, "Please? Things have settled down and..."

"Very well." I smiled, "Sachiko?" I called out to my daughter, making her head perk up, though she didn't shake off Akeno's hand. "Show her." I said, using the True Language. I did my best to cover my discomfort since this was an important occasion.

This time she did shake off Akeno's hand, trotting off 'camera' and quietly 'yipping' at Akeno. "Follow her, she'll show you where I put it. Just follow the instructions."

Akeno stood, "He hardly needs instructions by now..." Rias giggled, making Issei go back to blushing, while Akeno nearly tripped and fell over at the comment.

"For the preparation silly. I had no idea how long you'd take to decide, so storing a finished product would have been difficult." I sighed as Akeno seemed to be leaning away from 'off camera'. Sachiko was probably holding her sleeve and tugging on it, "All you have to do is add water and mix."

"Thank you Ko-sa-ahh not so rough..." Akeno was finally pulled away.

"I'm curious, how much is there of... what ever it is you made?" Rias asked.

"I was expecting four more, but it seems you'll have three spare doses." I said, "Ah, I was wondering when he'd start doing that." Because yes, Issei was starting to emit pink haze like he used to when he had particularly lewd daydreams.

Rias however (gently) took hold of Issei's ear, "He can wait for a little while before we have another. Isn't that right papa-dragon?"

"If you keep that up I'm going to have to change the channel." I said, "But seriously, congratulations. Issei, Rias. I'm sure your children will grow strong and fine."

"Thank you Sensei." Issei said, leaning a little awkwardly since Rias still had his earlobe, "I know this kind of got off topic, but was there anything else?"

I thought for a moment, "Yes actually. Can you get that Occulus to Yasaka-sama? Or work with Gasper to get her something to talk with us here? The other day Kei summoned a bit of foxfire and..."

I wasn't sure how late it was when I was next interrupted. I had my alchemy sets going all at once to make a good bug repellent, along with a few other things we would need 'special' for the trip to the jungle. I didn't know much about -this- jungle, but I did know about the ones on Earth, and they had some interesting challenges for those not used to it. High humidity, insects, toxic plants...

I might have been tough enough to (potentially) ignore those hazards, but I didn't know about the others. A little chat with Aisha gave me a few ideas. For example, one of the reasons she was just so sexy, was the application of a thin skin oil. It wasn't just to make her muscles stand out more (which it did) or make her smell nice (ditto). But the thin oil almost every Amazon wore was also an insect repellent. The 'original' recipe was almost exactly the same as the ones on Earth. Animal fat. Over the decades and centuries, things were added to make it smell nice, or keep longer, or just be more effective.

But while I was busy making Sweetgrass scented oil, my 'interruption' arrived, hopping into my lap with a little 'yip' of warning, before changing shape into a four year old Kei. "O-ma." Kei yawned, clinging to my middle and shivering a little since they were suddenly without a fur coat.

"Kei." I said, giving my alchemy table a quick look to make sure nothing would set itself on fire, before wrapping the child up with a hug and my tails, "What's wrong?"

A small face rubbed against my abdomen, while little arms hugged me as tight as they could, "Nothing is wrong." They said, "But... you're going away again, aren't you?"

"For a little while, yes." I said, applying headpats to Kei's pointy white ears.

Uh oh. I felt little spots of warmth against my belly, "sniff but... Is it because you're a hero?"

"Those with strength must use it responsibly." I said after a moment, lifting Kei up a little so I could hug them properly.

"But... can't you just stay?"

"A good person who does nothing, is evil." I said gently, "The Amazons need our help. And if we don't help, then are we still heroes?"

A deep philosophical question for a sleepy four year old, but the reply was a pouted, "no..."

I didn't say anything more, but stood and just held Kei close while I finished the last batch of stuff from my alchemy lab. When I had finished, they'd fallen asleep on me, returning to their fox form and becoming a little ball of near-albino fluff against my chest.

I -was- going to ask if Kei wanted to look at the stars with me, but since my audience had fallen asleep, I simply took a small peek myself. My 'star charts' were very simple affairs, taking small circular 'pictures' of the night sky, as projected by my telescope. It wasn't difficult really, I mean, a white sheet and a pencil was all you needed (past the simple mirror box on the end of the telescope).

So, I found the right one for the time of year we were in, adjusted the telescope to point it at the right spot in the sky, and lined up my copy with the dots that were being projected on the wall... No change...

I suddenly felt lightheaded with relief, letting out a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"O-ma?" Kei suddenly changed back to 'Renard' form, taking a moment to rub their cheek against me, "Is something wrong?"

"No." I said quietly, "go back to sleep. I'll take you to bed."

"okay... can you stay?"

"Tonight? For sure." The stars were (again, unless I was a poor hand at this) exactly where they should be... There was no 'distortion' no 'nothingness'. I could certainly sleep soundly knowing that.

My late night meant Haruhime had gone to sleep without me, meaning that Aisha had taken my place as 'body pillow'. I thought it was adorable, since Aisha could (and did) sleep on her back, meaning my wife had curled up into the tall Amazon's side, not quite using Aisha's arm as a pillow.

But, since I'd promised Kei I'd sleep with them, I took a mental picture of my two lovers and walked silently to the children's room. With seven children, you would figure we would have seven beds, each with different styles depending on the child and the amount of 'I want that' grabby hands they made at certain colours.

Well... We (Haruhime and I) tried that. We really did. Those seven beds were lined up in singles or pairs along two of the walls of the room. But, after a night or two, they'd all just gotten together (or asked Fen-chan) to drag all the mattresses and blankets to the middle of the floor, and slept in their usual giant bundle of ears and tails. We fixed it a few times, asked them to try sleeping in their own beds. But again, they went back to the middle of the room and curled up there.

So, we gave up on it. The beds were still here, just in case. But since the room was just meant for sleeping and storing clothes, it honestly didn't matter. They woke up happy and alert (except Yuki, who needed a little time to boot up in the morning), so we (Haruhime and I) figured we'd let them grow out of it on their own instead of pushing them to adapt.

Fen-chan, their guardian and probable accomplice for this sleeping arrangement, was curled up at the edge of the mattress island. None of the children were curled up on him, but that was also something we didn't bother to police. He of course noted me entering the room, Kei's fox form sleeping in my arms, and wagged his massive fox tail exactly once, just to make sure I knew he was alert. Once I set Kei down, and gave him a headpat, he vanished, leaving me to take up 'guard duty'. Which I did.

With a ruffle of mana cloth vanishing, and a quiet 'tic tic' of my fox claws on the marble floor, I was suddenly in my fox form. I took a moment to stretch a little, just to feel like I'd 'moved in' to my new form properly, before curling up in the biggest clear patch on the mattress island. Out of habit, I counted tails and ears once, then set my head down.

Aside from waking up surrounded by little foxes, the morning wasn't much different than normal. There was an extra step or two playing with them, causing enough giggles to draw the attention of Haruhime and Aisha, who were wondering why the children were making happy fox noises first thing in the morning.

Unable to resist, I'd gotten hold of Haruhime with my tails and had her join me in wrestling with our children. While it did make us a little late for breakfast, we were all in high spirits for the day.

After breakfast, we'd gotten together in the living room for one last planning session. The obvious topic...

"So, who's going to actually go there?" Welf asked, "I mean, 'Amazon Law' means the men aren't."

"Unless you want to be chained to a post until you escape or die." Aisha shrugged, "I mean, men aren't mistreated, just... not treated well."

I refrained from the comment of 'some people just like that sort of thing'. Instead I asked, "Well, who -wants- to go? Or rather, who thinks they're up for the trip?" I lifted a hand, "Since I kinda need to be there, I'm going for sure. Aisha? What about other races?"

"Meh. Considering the distance, and the danger, Telskyura doesn't get many visitors. But, considering the distance and danger, actually making it there commands a bit of respect." She rubbed her chin a little, "Look... I can see I'm not really getting through here..."

She sighed, rubbed the bridge of her nose a little, then started over.

"Everything is a competition there. If you want to argue over something that isn't purely domestic-"

"Domestic like what?" Maki asked.

"Like who's turn it is to do dishes, or other 'internal' matters in a Room." Aisha replied, "For those, the Room leader's word is law. And if you disagree with her choice? You either leave, or fight for the leader spot." She sighed, "Outside the Room, in the city at large, things are less civil. If you offend someone, you might get a warning before they try and punch you. If a merchant caravan comes in, and you want something? You're going to have to survive getting to the front of the line to get it."

Since she was the centre for attention, she stood up and started pacing in the middle of the floor, "Hunting is almost always a single Room affair. And if another Room is hunting the same thing you are, you better be able to defend yourself, AND your kill. Failure to do so means you'll probably go hungry, and have wounded to bring home. And if you back down? Expect to be laughed at when you get home."

"Urg... sounds like the worst parts of Orario." Ouka grimaced.

"To an Amazon, strength is life. The strong survive, the weak do not." Aisha said, "Here in Orario, there are three types of Amazon. Four, if you nitpick. Some are here for a bit of experience and money. Maybe someone back in Telskyura stole their quarry, or beat them up for spare change. They'll come here, get stronger, and return to try and show their rival who the boss is."

"Fame and fortune." Shinkage shrugged, "Easy enough to understand."

Aisha continued on, "Others are here 'for fun'. To get stronger in the dungeon, and bring someone home with them. A strong male, their child or in rare cases both."

"Rare?" Welf asked.

"Unless you are really strong, and I mean strong enough to overwhelm a room full of people like me, you'd be nothing more than labour during the day, and if you were lucky, you might be used for a bit of fun." Aisha shrugged, "We don't hide that fact, so the men don't exactly flock to the city."

Everyone looked to Okakai and Fukawa, who calmly sipped their tea in unison, immune to the scrutiny.

"Third are the 'runaways'. Like the ones we have living here, and maybe even Tiona and Tione. For one reason or another, they just don't want to go back. Oh, they might pretend they're the 'For Fun' group, but they know they won't go back. Some even try and hide the fact they're Amazons."

"Because of the forth group?" I guessed.

Aisha grimaced a little, "Yeah... Part of the Fame and Fortune thing, is bringing home wayward sisters."

"The curse of living in isolation." Okakai rumbled.

"Sustaining yourself is difficult." Fukawa added.

"It's how the Kuro Fox tribe used to be." Haruhime said sadly, "But the Amazon have been like this for over a thousand years."

"That's not all. Think about it. Under normal conditions, we can only birth girls. The only two options are to mingle in the world and be isolated 'in the open', or, band together and be isolated 'together'."

Maki frowned, "Yeah... I can see that. I mean, any child I have will have a tail like me." She reached back to bring her two tails around so she could pat them. We basically only had humans around back home, and they were... not so accepting of people who were different."

Delly spoke up, giving Maki's shoulder a pat, "While we stayed away from people, deep in the more hidden places."

"Basically, yes. That's exactly why. Not to brag, but an Amazon child will be just as strong as any boy her age, or stronger. And that stands out. And not every man wants nothing but daughters." Aisha sighed, "But yes, to anyone who's going. Don't show weakness, don't show your back to an enemy, and do not be the first to run away."

"Which brings us back to topic." I said, "I'm going, who's coming with me?"

Ryuu raised a hand, as did Aisha. To my surprise, Maki did but Delly did not. I looked to Haruhime, but she shook her head as well. I was a little sad, but knew she was thinking of the children first. And from the corner of my eye I saw Shinkage raise her hand.

"Delly?" I gave her my best five degree head tilt.

"I'd love to go, but, my talent with monsters will hopefully be useful with the Ganesha teams." She smiled, "I'm still unable to influence them like I can with our Phoenix or whatever stray animal we have up here, but I can hear them."

That made sense. She'd be far more useful here, helping Shakti.

"But!" She broke my train of thought, "I will work with Fels if he needs me to."

I looked to Asuka, Mikoto and Chigusa. Mikoto answered for all three, "We will be needed here. We must still pay our taxes, and without you we will be without a teacher in the school."

That was fair. I looked to Haruhime, but didn't need to ask, just nod leave just how thankful I was plain on my face. I looked to the two Oni.

"If we came with you, there would be problems." Fukawa smiled slightly.

"And even we don't have that much endurance." Okakai added.

A few of us laughed, some nervously, others not so much. "Well, stay up here, just in case they try and be sneaky again. Usual discipline for anyone you catch." I smiled.

"What exactly are you going to do about them?" Bell asked, "I mean, is it a good idea to leave that unresolved?"

"I trust the Oni to encourage people not to be a repeat offender, while giving them the option to be a repeat offender." I smiled wickedly, "But speaking of that... Lilly? I have a little job for our Best Supporter."

"Lilly is ready to support!" A pause, "So long as it isn't about leaving the city?"

"In a round about way." I smiled, "But if that's all?"

There were some nods, and everyone started to leave. Lilly stayed behind, and I went over to her and knelt in front of her favourite spot on the couch. "I need a little local information gathering done. I've been busy, so I haven't kept up."

"Miss Kodori can't use the crystal network?" She asked.

"I could, but I want this to be... a little more proprietary. Just a little though. I don't need secrets, just some information you'd have to ask for, since most won't notice or care to write it down when they see it." I gave her a headpat, "So here's what I need..."

While Lilly went to do that, I went to gather the Haruhime and our children. I suspected that Gasper would come through for me, and I wasn't surprised (but very happy) that he did.

"yawn..." Gasper had grown a little over the last few years. But only a little. He was just as adorable as before, but he'd unmistakably become a 'man'. Sure, he was still short, effeminate and drew headpats towards himself like some kind of fluffy magnet. But there was just something masculine about him now. "Sorry Sensei." He mumbled, noticing he had not just me, but all of the children and Haruhime watching him through the Occulus, "Ah!" He hastily scrubbed his hand over his head to try and fix the bed-head.

"Oh, I'm like that when I wake up too!" "Me too!" "Not me!" "my hair's always messy..."

"Did you manage to get in touch with Yasaka-sama?" I asked, feeling the urge to pat his head, even across dimensions.

He stopped panicking about his hair, "Ah, yes I did. I'm actually there now, if you wanted to talk to her? Though... she might still be sleeping."

"Could you? Though if Kunou is there with you, I can talk to her instead?" I asked.

"I hear my name?" Kunou spoke from just off camera, "Oh! Is that her?"

"Ahh!" Gasper was suddenly displaced by a blond/red haired young lady with nine fluffy tails and an easy smile.

"Sensei!" Kunou, the daughter of Yasaka and fellow nine tailed Kitsune, waved at me cheerfully.

"O-ma! Ha-ma! Who is that?"

Kunou was then having a 'squee' moment at all of our children making a 'what's that' hand gesture at her and trying to get closer to the small occulus projected screen.

Haruhime and I couldn't help but giggle at that. "That is Kunou." I said, "She's young, but has nine tails, see? And even though she's young, she is very brave and smart."

Kunou managed to recover from her cute overload, and had to have another one when all the children waved, a cacophony of 'hello' 'big sister' 'auntie Kunou' and 'pleased to meet you', happened all at once.

"If you're quite done for the moment?" I Ahem'ed.

"Kunou-san." Haruhime started once Kunou recovered again, and Gasper sat back up, pouting at being shoved to the side, "I would like your help with something very important."

"Haruhime-san, yes, I would be happy to help." Kunou smiled, "Anything for the wife of my mother's saviour."

"Thank you, Kunou-san." Haruhime smiled her best smile, making both Gasper and Kunou blush, "My children, and myself, require instruction in the Kitsune ways. Ko-san has opened the way for me, but my toes have only just stepped over the threshold. Our children are growing into their power, and we need guidance."

"I thought it would be best if someone who actually knew more about this kind of thing taught them, than me, who only sort of gets it." I said, spreading my arms out and capturing all the children and Haruhime, "What do you say children?"

"Please teach us?"

Gasper took over again, since Kunou had all but passed out at the third hit of cute fluffy overload, "I've already shown Yasaka-sama how to use the projector, and if she needs help, I gave her my card." He smiled proudly.

He'd come a long way from remote devil work for sure. "Thank you Gasper." I nodded, "And the other project?"

"We'll be working on that when I get back to Kuoh. Oh, I looked over Hagane's old body. Just to make sure it hadn't rusted in place and all. I'd forgotten how much work you put into the outer shell!"

I felt a little pride, since Gasper, no matter how young he was, was close to equal of the best minds of the great war. He lacked experience, but made up for it with innovation for sure.

"Thank you, Sensei." I said, "Ha-chan? You can work out which ever time works best for you and Yasaka-sama?"

"Of course." A pause, "Did you... need the Occulus right now?"

I thought for a moment, "No. Later tonight I will, but for now..." She smiled at me, gave the tip of my nose a kiss, and gave me a little push. I took the hint, "Well children? Ready to go to class?"

Lilly came back at lunch, a roll of paper in hand. I gave it a look, re-wrote it under a very short polite letter, and applied another headpat to Lilly's perpetually curly hair. I then called for Loaner, three times no less, relayed to him a message, and tied the letter to his (somehow still) pure white rope collar.

After class, I once again went to the Loki Castle. The guard at the gate gave me a lazy salute, then asked, "Business?"

"Need to talk to the sisters." The fact he stopped me from stepping onto the property meant I had to stay off the property and wait.

"Ah, well, they umm..." He looked nervous, "Gave me a message for you."

I looked at him, "Was it, 'we're sorry for being grumpy with you'?"

"Not... as such."

"Was it, 'Go sit on a spike'?"

"Closer, but no."

"Go fuck yourself you stupid fox?" I guessed one more time, accepting the punishment of my tails for swearing.

"Even closer, but no."

Figuring my tails would strangle me if I got any more graphic with my guesses, I asked instead, "Well, in that case, if you could give them a message?"

When it was clear I wasn't offended, he stopped sweating and nodded, "I can, sure."

"We're leaving tomorrow morning by wagon."

"That's it?"

"That's it." I nodded. "They can do what they want with that information." I reached into my coat and held out a little cloth bag, "Have a cookie. You look nervous."

My next stop was on the other side of the city, in the entertainment district. This one... I was a little more cautious. I didn't want to suddenly have a fight on my hands and cause paperwork... Unfortunately, the recent fight here had shown me it wasn't so... black and white here in this part of town. Unless it was Aisha or a small handful of other Amazon, I had no idea if they were friendly or not.

However, I did have contacts.

"Welcome, honoured guest." My contact, the Matron of the brothel Haruhime lived in years ago, greeted me as I walked in, "You are early, but if you wished to see who was available?" She smiled, knowingly, the girls who were available to 'entertain' me standing up and lining up in front of me.

I walked past them, though not without giving them all a little friendly touch with a hand or tail, just to show I wasn't ignoring them (they were all quite pretty and had all earned professional courtesy), and stopped in front of the Matron herself.

To her, I not only touched her face, but took one of her hands in mine, "If I could have a moment of your time?" I made sure to get close enough to feel her body heat, but not actually press up to her (that would have been rude, and not flirtatious).

Someone giggled behind me as the Matron did her very best not to back up, blush, or push me away. "Y-yes certainly..." She managed a sharp look past me, but then turned, holding my hand still, "This way, please."

She led me past the counter, through a curtain, then beyond a sliding rice paper door. Once there, she turned, gave me that same sharp look, but laughed quietly after I shrugged at her.

"I can't remember the last time I'd been approached like that." She said quietly. The room was like a very small Japanese apartment, with a small nook for a bed, and a little room for tea and 'non physical' entertainment. (Or physical entertainment, if you didn't mind a low table or rough tatami mats.)

I smiled, kneeling down as she went about making tea over a very small magic stone fire (and by small, I mean 'just enough for the teapot' small). "Well, I needed your attention, and a little privacy. I could have just asked to meet you in the back room, but that would have been... boring." I laughed a little.

Her face turned into a pout, "So you didn't want to enjoy a little time together?"

"Past a nice conversation, a little business and good tea?" I looked at her as if she'd grown another head and horns.

"Alas, Haruhime-san would likely be very disappointed in us both." She giggled, a youthful sound even though she was likely a half century old (and not looking a day over 25 due to being an adventurer). "So what business do you bring, if not the usual to be found here?"

"Well, I'm looking to get a message to Brisid. My usual messengers are occupied, and I didn't want to just... wander the district asking randomly. Or trust anyone else who might misuse my message."

"Ah, about the... noise the other day?"

"Exactly that."

"I will do my best, and deliver your message by the end of the day, if not sooner." She smiled.

"Thank you. Simply say: We are leaving tomorrow morning." I accepted the teacup, waiting for her to sit across from me and raise her own before taking a sip, "That's all. She will know what it means, and act as she wants."

"Leaving the city? Even after the business from the other day?"

"I made it clear that it would be the last time they caused a problem if they tried again." I frowned, "And hopefully, no one else gets any ideas."

"Very well." She nodded, blinking when I put a small pouch of coin on the table between us, "I couldn't possibly..."

"Don't get your hopes up." I winked, "I'm already married." I set my cup down while she blinked, then started to laugh quietly, "If you wish to consider this free, then take it instead for when I next send my messengers to you for grooming. They love it here, though they won't admit it."

She nodded, taking the pouch and making it vanish between her breasts with hardly a sound. "I look forward to their visit then. They are wonderful guests. Be well, Kodori-sama." She bowed as I stood and left, closing the door behind me.

(Loaner)

Being a messenger fox meant you had to deal with people. After only a handful of missions, you were likely to meet at least one problem or another. Today, my problem was guards. Oh, sure, I could have just found a gap in the wall, a roof across the street that was higher than the wall, or just waited for the guards here to blink at the same time so I could go past them.

But, my instructions had been clear. I had to do this publicly, without being sneaky at all. This meant I was now sitting in front of Folkvangr's main gate, being stared down by two very grumpy looking adventurers. They were being very rude too. After almost three years of Kodori being back, and myself and her lesser spirits running messages around, everyone knew what my presence meant. These two however, didn't seem to care.

To be fair... the last time I had direct contact with them, their Familia was nearly destroyed... But it's not my fault they were being stupid...

"What's the problem?" My ears twitched at the familiar voice coming up the path towards the nice (gloomy but nice) cathedral building in the middle of the property.

"Allen, sir!" One of the guards replied, motioning with his spear at me, "It's one of the Demon Fox's messengers."

"We are making sure it does not enter." The other said.

He wasn't, not really, but (sigh) I was playing nice today. Most developed eyes gifted by evolution, wasted on silly two legged apes. Though... did Cat people evolve from apes?

Allen, one of those I didn't like much, but at least smart enough to tell me apart from those common spirits Kodori created, gave me a good look. "Come in." He looked to the two guards, "This one is just a smart fox, not one of those... things."

If I didn't pride myself on my work, I'd have bitten him. JUST a smart fox? The nerve... But, I followed Allen inside, the words of his invitation settling over me and granting me a small measure of protection, but also limitation. I was now a proper Guest here.

A few paces past the gate, a good twenty metres from the Cathedral, Allen stopped, looked down at me, and asked, "Can I accept your message?"

My opinion of him went up a little, just for that simple courtesy. You would not believe how many people have just demanded I speak to them. So, I got a little closer, and when he didn't back up, I tapped his boot. "This message is for Freya. I accept escort, or blindfold if you wish."

He didn't seem surprised by my speech, but nodded, "The Demon Fox is bold, sending you here."

Another tap, "The message is important, and it would have been rude to send a simple spirit."

He frowned, but kept walking, "Keep up."

My only information about Folkvangr was what one could see from outside. It was nice, clean, had a huge training field that was much like the one at the Manor (thick clay), and lots of little thoughtful things to make the place beautiful. I'd only seen its equal in a Greek garden, someplace, with its form and function so perfect. The inside of the cathedral was... more function over form. It was still pretty, but it was obviously meant for living, and not a place of worship. Nice marble, bright copper or gold trim, woven tapestries for art all over the walls, and from someplace, music. Ah, I was even there when they made that recording...

After a couple of hallways, we stopped at the only guarded door I'd seen so far. Allen was the only key that was needed though, and the two adventurers moved aside after opening the door. There were two more guards just inside that door, and two more at the end of another short hallway. Ah, inner sacntum. Seen this kind of thing before, many times.

The second door had the faint scent of perfume coming from it, and the unmistakable air of... 'woman'. It was also the origin of the music I was hearing throughout the cathedral. Someone had gotten clever with acoustics.

"My Lady, it's me, Allen. I have a messenger."

There was a sigh, a gentle splash of water, and a quiet, "Enter."

The heavy door opened, and Allen stepped inside. Only after he had crossed the threshold did I do so as well, making sure to be a proper messenger and have eyes only for the recipient. Had I been (heh) a real boy, seeing Freya stepping out of the bath would have been quite exciting. Since her demotion, she had lost none of her famed beauty, or poise. I'd seen perfect statues that were only 'close' to this physical form. The only flaw I saw, were her hands. My eyes managed to pick out very small scars, little cuts, over the otherwise perfect fingers.

"Oh... its you." Freya sighed, "What could she possibly want now?"

Allen (who was in fact a real boy, but wasn't drooling at least), replied with a quiet, "A message, for you My Lady."

"And I have just gotten clean..." Freya picked up a super fluffy towel (the ones that cost at least three times what a normal cloth towel did, if Lilly's complaining about replacing them had anything to say about it), "You may approach."

For all her arrogance and pride, Freya knew about my 'limits', and wasn't shy about my proximity. Not shy, but maybe 'disgusted'. Whatever, she was a god of war, fertility and beauty. Not art. So I forgave her. Instead, I carefully hopped up onto the nearest end table, sat like a good foxxo, and lifted my chin so she could see the note that had been tied there. If she was careful, she wouldn't even have to touch me to get it. Bah.

"How considerate... Something to get the fire started..." Freya said, tugging the string, undoing the knot and taking the letter. My duty however wasn't done until she actually unrolled and read it, so I waited until she'd looked over the paper, frowned, then said, "She's leaving the city." A pause, "And she's trying to bribe me."

"My lady?" Allen asked.

She read from the page, "While I hope you continue to follow the Guild's rules, I have taken it upon myself and gathered a little information for you, so you might enjoy yourself while you do so." Freya 'humphed', an almost cute noise from the statue like figure, "And there is a list... Oh..."

Allen was still confused. But being a fighter, he probably had no idea about the finer things in life. Freya on the other hand... Nice music, a familiar smelling bath foam, Softy battery lamps instead of magic stone ones, new books... These were all things Kodori had encouraged the invention of, or invented herself... here at least.

"What's on the list, My Lady?"

"It's all the days the merchants restock their wares. Including Ihy's studio recording days. The days the public press is set to release some upcoming books. The day Enki's newest idea is poured out of the Soma fermenting vats. Soma's newest wine..."

"A distraction then?" Allen guessed.

"Yes. But with this, unless of course she is wrong, we will be first in line for these products, should we desire them." Freya, to my surprise, didn't toss the list into the fireplace. Instead, she looked at me, "Your job is done. See yourself out."

Unable to refuse such a dismissal without being a poor guest, I hopped off the table and waited for Allen to open the door for me. Behind me, as the door closed, I heard Freya say, "We're going shopping."

The Gods here, much like back on Earth, were very set in their ways. But they could all be distracted by something shiny. Kind of like very important cats. My job however was done. Now I just had to hope someone would be kind enough to pay me for my efforts. Maybe Eina would do so? I did have a message for her too, and was generous with headpats...

NOTES!

Well, another one done, and the trip starts next update! We have five in the party so far, with the potential for at least two more, maybe a dozen, who knows?

Daeore on Ko-fi for Kodori Art, and on Inkitt for my actual book!