Chapter 25

While I'd been trying to make friends with Giselle's pet(?) wyvern (yes, more than one wyvern is still wyvern), I'd asked a few questions. First, it was 'do they like headpats' since I was trying to make friends. But as it devolved into Giselle basically treating them like giant flying dogs, I got a little more serious.

Some of the obvious questions were skipped. I mean, I could tell they ate anything they could catch, were really strong, reasonably tough, and were pack hunters. No, I asked the questions a hunter would ask when they wanted to hunt them.

They nested on cliff shelves or small caves. They pair bonded, but not for life. So the 'death' of a partner wouldn't be the last mate the survivor would have. And some males would kill weaker males for the female. However, the males would never consider attacking a female, since they were a bit larger and much meaner.

They would lay anywhere between one and ten eggs, and the males were usually the ones sitting on them. This was lucky for the Empire, since it was the smaller, weaker half of the pair guarding them, and the eggs were VERY valuable. They were much like birds, and would 'imprint' on the person/dragon caring for them, and would become loyal 'pets' if trained properly.

Unless the owner was abusive. That was usually the last thing the owner did, since dragons in general were VERY smart, and were instinctively ambush predators.

Of course, this meant that my giant 'wing' glider was attracting attention...

"I see seven!" Maki said, "Aisha?"

"Two more to the right!"

Lelei, riding on her staff still, got a little closer, "They will try and chase us away, and if we don't turn around, will attack."

"Turning this thing is a VERY long process!" I called back, feeling the wind coming off the low mountain starting to pick up, "Can you scare them off? Bright lights, flashes, noise?"

"Actually trying to avoid a fight? I thought you-"

"Shut UP or I throw you at them!" I said over my shoulder to Rory, "Lelei!"

"I can run distraction, but they are persistent hunters." She said, "If you aren't confident about fighting them?"

"C'mon Boss." Maki said, putting her white fox mask on then aiming down the length of her sword sheath, the little iron sight on the crosspiece freshly painted with a little red, "No one told us not to, and they are in the way of the goal."

"I just want to see what one tastes like." Aisha laughed, "Just let me know if we have to jump off so I can pick a spot to land."

"Lelei! Two on the right, then come back and help!" The mini mage and I nodded at each other and she veered off, "Maki! Don't waste power."

"Hold things steady then!" And beside me, the red crystal of her sword pommel glowed, a killer icicle the length of my hand spinning into reality and hovering in place waiting to fire.

"If one gets close, I'm going to kill it!" Aisha said, "Otherwise, I'll keep her from falling off."

"Thank you!" Maki said, still holding fire.

It was hard to judge the distance like this, but it looked like they were circling upwards rapidly, maybe three hundred metres away. But with Maki and Lelei I didn't think that would be much of an issue.

Then to my right, I heard two things. First, was a kind of multi-layered explosion. Like... 'boomboomBoomBOOM'. Glancing that way, I saw Lelei re-mount her wand and use it like a broom again. Then I heard a roar from the one that wasn't now falling from the sky with most of its chest missing.

And then it let out a slender lance of fire at Lelei as she sped away.

"Dragons?" Aisha said, "Well that's not good."

"Drakes." Rory corrected. "Not too uncommon for wyverns to have a little true dragon blood in them."

"Thank you." I said, actually sincere since that actually sounded like actual advice. "Don't miss!" I said to Maki.

"Aye-sah!" Maki said, her killer icicle suddenly speeding away.

Below, now maybe fifty metres closer, one of the drakes suddenly had a case of cold shoulder. Its wing suddenly stopped holding air, and it screeched as it tumbled from the sky. "Good shot!" Aisha cheered, "I don't suppose you could..." She nudged me.

"Haruhime will kill me if you don't come home." I replied, "Let Maki thin them out a little first!" With Maki firing, she was no longer holding the back quarter of the glider up with her foxfire, and we were starting to tilt just a little, losing altitude slowly.

Maki fired twice in quick succession, and another one started to tumble from the sky, "I am so glad Welf tweaked this thing before we left!" She laughed, "Much more responsive!"

"Your weapon matches better with your magic ability!" Aisha said, "Well?" She nudged me again.

I was scanning the mountain for a reasonable place to land. Yes, I was indulging Aisha's recklessness. I mean, we probably didn't have to fight them all... But I did want more monster materials, and I couldn't skin them while I was flying.

"I'm aiming for that spot!" I said pointing.

Off on my left this time, I saw Lelei pull up sharply, let herself slide off her staff, grip it as if she was about to thrust it like a spear...

And then four circles appeared in front of the ornate staff head, a ripple of... something zipping away from her are incredible speed. The drake that had tried to cook her was turned inside out explosively, and with a practised(!) motion, Lelei had put her staff back under her rear, and was flying back in our direction.

"Wow!" Aisha laughed, "I wanna buy her a drink!"

"Can't let her show me up." Maki laughed, shifting her feet carefully and taking aim again.

The impact was close enough for me to hear over the wind this time, "Three for three. Good work rookie!" Aisha laughed, "But I think it's time I start a score of my own." There was a 'thump' as the rope she had been wearing around her waist flopped to the 'deck', "I want you to miss that one there!"

"You're seriously going to jump? From here? Quite brave of you!" Rory laughed, actually sounding impressed. "Are all adventurers this reckless?"

"Just me baby, just me!"

"3 2 1 firing!"

There was a little lurch as Aisha hopped off of the platform. She didn't yell, or make noise past that of her clothing fluttering in the wind. For all her excitement, she was a professional, and such things might have alerted her prey to her intentions.

A moment later though, she did call out, a sound barely heard over the sudden roar of one of the beasts as Aisha landed on it and started... well, I wasn't sure, since she was behind us.

"I can get maybe two more before they'll be too close!" Maki said, "Hope you can carry two people!"

"I suppose I'll try." I sighed, starting to pull in my glider, the smaller surface area helping me control it, even as we started to drop faster.

"Don't worry about me. Something like this is nothin-"

"Okay!" I said suddenly, my tails grabbing Maki, my hands pulling the rope around our hips apart, and my body pitching forward, taking both Maki and I off the platform and into open air. This of course left Rory on what amounted to a platform the size of a double door, with nothing but the wind holding it up.

Maki was laughing in my ear as the sound of Rory's swearing was carried away on the wind. A half second later, she'd wrapped her legs around my middle and laid her sheathed sword over my shoulder, "On the left!"

Now without the massive glider holding all my attention, I could work on something simpler. It was easy to project a kind of 'drag chute' behind me, much like I first had when I'd had Tannin throw me at the Gremory Castle. This spun us to the left, and Maki lined up a perfect shot, feeding a killer icicle to one of the drakes just as it opened its mouth to let out a blast of fire.

"Keep spinning!" She directed, her sword pivoting up a little and letting out another icicle. There was a roar of pain, "No joy! DROP DROP!"

I 'cut' my projection, and we went from 'drift' to 'fall' just in time to have a huge beaked mouth GRRAWWWR-CHOMP empty air above us. It spattered a bit of blood on us as it went by, and I let out my projection again to spin us around.

"Good!" But just as we were lining up on it, a black and crimson streak slammed into its back right where the long neck sprouted from the shoulders. "KILL STEAL!" Maki shouted as the beast went limp from the shoulders down and tumbled from the sky.

There was another one of those layered explosions above us, an then a loud, "YEAHHHHHHHHH" as two halves of another drake and Aisha, her boots planted firmly in the middle of her 'target's' back, with one hand on each of the wings, pulling them backwards as if she were about to rip them off, or steer her mount towards the target. But by the way the beast's head was flopping around in the wind, she was riding a corpse.

"I love that crazy girl." I said, looking around for a moment, then starting to turn towards the landing zone, "Are we clear?!" I asked Maki.

"I see nothing above!" She said over the wind, "Need more lift! Too fast!"

"Just stay right were you are." I laughed, clapping my hands together, then spreading them out slowly, a wave of my aura thickening the air in front of me and slowing us down. I led with one foot, let it touch the ground, then slowed myself with a few quick steps.

"Ha! You're last to touch down." Aisha laughed, hopping off the drake's body, "Great kill count though kiddo!"

Lelei touched down next to us, her nice magic staff hovering to a halt and letting her hop off as if it were any other day. She hardly had to pat her nice robes to get them back into place, though she did have a bit of blood spatter on them. "Your sword is very effective." She said as Maki detached herself from me, take her mask off, and put both on her belt.

"We call them killer icicles for a reason." Maki nodded, "You got three?"

Lelei nodded, looking towards Aisha, "You took four, she took one, and Rory one."

"All accounted for then." I nodded, "Suppose we can stop for lunch here? You said you wanted to eat one."

"Sure." Aisha grinned, taking the sword off her back, "Let's get you some loot first though."

"Ah, the meat isn't very good, and generally makes you sick." Lelei said.

"Upset stomach, cramps, dysentery?" That last word, for those who don't know, is the old way of saying 'the shits'.

"Yes. As well as vomiting, muscle cramps and various other complications of the digestion." Lelei said.

Maki hmm'ed, "Probably just need to cook it hotter. Maybe?"

"Get started on the skinning, and cut me something from its shoulders and chest. I'll make an oven." I grinned, "Challenge accepted."

I had just finished punching a small oven shaped hole in the nearest cliff wall, when someone huffed and grunted themselves over the edge of the cliff back the way we'd flown in. Oh right... almost forgot about her.

Of course, I paid her no mind as she stomped angrily past the two drake carcasses Maki and Aisha were skinning (with Lelei taking notes all the while), and continued cleaning out the makeshift oven (since I didn't want to have anyone eating a pebble or something).

"You DROPPED me!" She shouted as she stopped next to me, just out of arms reach.

"You said, and I quote, 'Don't worry about me'." I looked at my work, gave it a nod, and faced Rory, "So I didn't."

She growled up at me while I looked down, keeping my face passive. "You would think you'd know what a joke was!"

"And you would think that after so long, you'd know not to act stupid in a combat situation. Have you learned nothing from how the JSDF operates? Have you not noticed how we," I motioned to Maki and Aisha (who were bringing over a slab of meat) "deal with threats?"

"I am an Apostle of-"

"I, I, I. Me, me, me. Blah. Blah. Blah." I lowered my tone just a little, putting on my Serious expression (you know, the one I rarely needed to use on my seven children), "I do not care about your 'station', or your 'rank', or what God you follow. We are trying to get a job done. We do not have time for your jokes, your posturing, or your obsession with trying to look better than everyone else. Ever since we arrived, you've done almost nothing but try and provoke one of us into anger."

Without pausing to interject, Maki and Aisha took one look at what I'd done with the mountain, and slid the slab of meat into the 'oven'. Without looking, it was suddenly lit with a burst of my purple and black, gold edged fire.

"I don't really mind you doing so. It's funny to watch actually." I continued, "But I'd like you to ask yourself, is it wise to pick a fight with a near total unknown, just because you want to show off?" I turned away from her, "Food will be ready... soon. So unless you are going to take a swing at me, right now, go away until I call you."

And with a huff, Rory turned and stomped off.

Lacking anything but some sort of mountain shrub that Lelei said was edible for spice, the meat was... meh. Having to cook it in a primitive oven, the meat was tough and chewy and dry like the white meat of turkey. But since I didn't want anyone to spend the rest of the trip to Rondel wearing brown pants, I had to overcook it out of caution.

However!

There were a few iguana-like lizards who came to investigate the corpse pile we'd made of the three wyvern who didn't fall further down the mountain than we cared to go to get them. These were a little better than the snake from Telskyura, and were easier to cook since they were much smaller and could be put on a stick (or Maki's sword).

The wyvern themselves however... They made up for their lack of taste with potential usefulness. Their bones, like most birds, were hollow... mostly. The shoulders and spine were solid, as were the hips and skull. Its limbs however were almost like a honeycomb inside. More fragile than normal, but stronger than a true bird's bones.

Sadly, aside from the skulls, there was little of the bones I could use for any sort of crafting. I was sure with a little work however, I could make a pretty neat helmet or pauldrons from the super tough beak or skull. The claws might have some use too...

The scales though were the real prize. With Maki and Aisha skinning them, we had enough scale to make a LOT of armour. If I could get them treated properly before the magic in them faded, I could probably do something crazy... like make something that could actually fly. Maybe.

But for now, while we digested, Maki and I used our foxfire to sterilize the hide and scales, just to get most of the smell off. Lelei helped after a little instruction, and assured me I could rent a little space in town for proper processing.

"So, now that we've all eaten, and aren't sick. Are we ready to finish the trip?" I asked.

"You left Rory with our platform." Maki said, "So... plan B?" She looked off the side of the mountain, "I don't think I'm ready for this kind of fall yet."

"Not to mention, we're carrying like... three extra people's worth of weight in drake bits." Aisha said, then to Maki, "Wimp." Who then stuck her tongue out at the Amazon.

"We don't need a platform. It just made it easier." I shrugged, "And going down is much easier for me."

"I can carry someone as well." Lelei offered, though she just took a step closer to Rory, volunteering herself instead of leaving that on us. I'd have to give her a headpat later.

"Right. Let's make sure that's wrapped up, and we'll start down. Unless there is some kind of insane crosswind, we'll touch down about... there. And we can walk the rest of the way." It would be maybe two kilometres on foot, so no big deal.

With Maki and Aisha holding the ball of wyvern hide/scale/skulls together, I wrapped it up in my aura much like I had the Balor skull. This would help our precious loot stay together, though as Aisha picked it up and I added some layers of 'cloth' to make it into a backpack, it made me think of Lilly.

This time, I wrapped my arms around Maki, and let Aisha cling to my back. Then, with a mock salute to Lelei, I raised my arms and imagined I was holding a parachute rig. Layers of mana-cloth extended from my hands, inflated, and with a good jump, the three of us were airborne and gliding down towards the 'main road' that led to Rondel.

Rondel... from the air, it was a HUGE town. It looked to be at least three times the size of Italica, with many large buildings, aqueducts, temples, small fortresses, houses, bridges... And that wasn't including the expanse of farm fields lining the long winding river that slithered its way along the base of the mountain range that ran behind the town. Compared to Italica (again, but since it was the only other city I'd seen so far) it also seemed to be far more advanced, but...

"Do you think anyone actually planned this place?" Maki asked, speaking what I was thinking, "I like the Roman style, but from up here it looks like whomever laid out the streets was drunk and was using the wrong hand to write with."

"I know what's going on here." Aisha said, "I mean, it's flat, but much like Telskyura. I'd bet that a bunch of people were involved in planning this disaster, and couldn't agree on anything. So they just used what ever space they had and made do."

"But, if you notice." I pointed with a tail since my hands were still holding my 'parachute', "Waterwheels, aqueducts that all flow in one direction, no city walls because of they're built partially on an island... It's a great place for a city, and at least one person had their head on straight when they put it together."

The three of us 'hmm'ed' in unison.

"Anyhow, about two minutes until we hit the ground, let's hope Lelei can get us a lab or something quickly." I smiled.

"Yeah, this ball of bits smells terrible, even after you dried all the blood off it." Aisha grumbled.

Even with the lack of a real city wall (there were towers, but they reminded me of Wizard towers, not guard towers), there was only one real way into the city and that was over a reasonably wide causeway over the deep and clear waters of their 'moat'. And again, without the city wall, there was really just an ornate archway that marked the city entrance.

"Lelei." I started, raising my voice just a little since I was the one carrying the bundle of wyvern bits and no one wanted to get close to me. "Why is this city so... exposed?"

"Rondel's only care is for learning. We do not get involved in the Empire's politics, and accept almost everyone who is willing to learn. As for exposure, this is the most concentrated population of magic users on the continent." She explained as we started over the causeway.

"Very few people in their right mind would dare attack this place." Rory said, "Especially since most of the scholars here value their research over their own lives."

Lelei nodded, "And we tend to hold grudges. No land holder would want a sudden blight on their fields, or their drinking water to turn their skin pink." She had a tiny little smile on her face, similar to Haruhime's little mischievous grin.

"Right." Aisha nodded, "Don't poke the nest of mages."

Speaking of, there were actually guards at the 'gate'. Both of them were dressed in a robe, held a long sturdy staff, and had a pointy wide brimmed hat upon their heads. Clear advertisement of their profession, but I did spot the hilt of a sword peeking out from under one of their robes.

They took one look at our party, then focused on Lelei, "Lelei La Lelena. (something) Rondel." One of them said before turning to Rory, "Lady Mercury, (something something)." Then they looked past them at us.

Lelei intervened for us before Aisha could speak, "These are my field research companions. Aisha, an Amazon, as well as Kodori and Maki, Kitsune." She also spoke in Japanese.

The two of them looked at us three, then the wyvern sized ball of scales on my back, then in a reasonable Japanese, "And..." They were trying not to take too deep a breath as the wind blew past us, "What was your topic of study this time?"

"Application of magic upon creatures with the ability to fly, even though they really shouldn't be able to." Lelei said smoothly, even though this was the first I'd heard of it, "We need a workshop, with a furnace, kiln and preferably running water."

"We'll have someone guide you. Ah... You wouldn't happen to want to visit Sage Kato? He's in the city still."

"He will know I'm here before long." She again smiled that tiny smile, "I've already found something interesting."

The two guards nodded, and the one who wasn't speaking turned, pointed their staff into the air, and let out two very bright signal flares. "Just walk ahead, and a guide will meet you." They said, "And... please don't let any of that spill." they said to me.

The guide was one of those little guys... A Pooka. This one had bright green skin and little black horns, and unlike the one at the medical office, was almost Lelei's height. He spotted us, seemed to know exactly what we needed and with a quick word to Lelei he turned and started walking.

The city itself had a nice high energy vibe to it. The people were either smiling, or had their head buried in a book. The background noise was just below 'market place' volume. And the streets were really clean. On a more 'spiritual' level, part of my Kitsune senses, the air was filled with stray magic. It wasn't uncomfortable, or bad, but it was the equivalent to having a lot of static in your laundry. Certainly not harmonious, like Kyoto. I'd have to be careful with my enchantments if I did any here.

"Here you go ladies." The Pooka said as he came to a stop in front of a white stone building with one of those iron banded wood doors. "Thank you very much." He added when Lelei gave him a coin.

"Inside." Lelei said, "We aren't ready for attention yet."

They all entered first, leaving me to try and figure out how to get a car sized bundle of scales, hide and other such things through a door that was just a little bigger than your standard fire door from Earth. "Aisha? Maki? Gonna open it up."

"I'll get the vents." Lelei said just loud enough for me to hear, "And start the water." A pause, "Or go to the aqueduct..."

"So, now that we have all this inside... You mentioned we weren't ready?" Aisha asked, "Close your ears." She said to me before dumping a bucket of clean water over my head and back while I stood over a well placed 'janitor's drain' in the corner of the room. (It was basically a the kind of drain you'd find in a VERY small standing shower, but without the shower.)

"I am the youngest to have ever gained the title of Master. I couldn't tell the guards nothing, and been able to rent this workshop. But too many eyes will slow us down." Lelei explained.

"Ah, the trials of fame." Rory laughed.

Maki Aisha and I nodded, understanding all too well. "Since you're the expert, how do we go about our quest? This is fun, and maybe profitable, but isn't why we're really here." I nudged the nearest bit of wyvern loot with my boot.

"We have several hours until nightfall. That's when most of the students and teachers step out to round out their day and relax." Lelei said, "We will use that time to ensure the materials here. Then we will head out to the administration building. Unless she has died or retired, the lady at the desk will be far easier to deal with than the one who works there during the day."

I was surprised just how... meticulous she was with this. She already knew what to do, how to do it, and when it would be best to do so.

"uwu..." So yes, I applied that headpat I'd been meaning to. Maki and Aisha didn't even laugh. Though Lelei did brush my hand away after a moment with her staff, "Is there anything you need that isn't in this room?"

I looked around for a moment. We had the aqueduct about three paces away from the door outside and the buckets to get it inside. A reasonably good pottery kiln in one corner, and the beginnings of a forge in another corner. They were even well ventilated with (tap tap) iron pipes leading out through a central chimney. "Another desk like that one if you can." I pointed to a single desk that was... well loved, but still sturdy and level, "And a couple of barrels. Empty and as big as you can get them." I looked to Aisha, "Could you?"

Aisha flexed one of her nice bronzed arms, "Sure thing."

"Maki and I will stay here to get started. It's nothing you haven't seen before, so don't worry." I assured Lelei, since I was sure she'd want to see exactly how I went about my work.

Lelei nodded, and I offered her the silver coins from what we'd earned. She took them, then started for the exit with Aisha following behind.

"Are you going to help? Or sit there looking bored?" I asked Rory, who had been sitting on that desk while we'd been organizing.

Wordlessly, she stood and left as well, closing the door behind her.

"Wow..." Maki said quietly as we started to unfold one of the wyvern hides, "I can't tell if she's catching on, or planning to murder you in your sleep."

"Me either." I sighed, "Anyhow, watch out for the edges, and lets start plucking."

Only Lelei and Aisha returned later. Aisha carried in one barrel, while Lelei made one float inside by using her staff to levitate it. When I gave them a head-tilt, Aisha replied with, "She stayed out to go drinking or something." She then shrugged and tapped the top of a barrel with her palm, "Where do you want it?"

"What I really need are the metal hoops holding them together." I said. I gave the barrels a look, noting that they were fairly new and had three bands of metal around them, "But, just break one apart, we'll use the other for something else."

While Aisha did that, (and no, she didn't just AISHA SMASH, but disassembled it neatly), I started to explain some things to Lelei. First and foremost, why I just ruined a perfectly good barrel.

"You can probably tell that there is an awful lot of magical noise in the air." She nodded, no surprise there. "So, I'm going to use the iron as a kind of insulator, to keep stray magic, or Ether if you want, from ruining the results..."

The first warning that we may have gone a little past our planned time limit was Aisha's stomach rumbling. In my defence, Lelei was a wonderful student, and was teaching me just as much as I taught her, just by telling me how she'd go about things if our roles were reversed. Even Maki was learning things!

Poor Aisha though, aside from doing menial tasks, holding stuff steady, or testing some of our work (like, can someone who doesn't have any real magical aptitude use this?), she had little to do.

So, she pulled the 'I'm taller than you' card, "Alright you guys. I'm getting hungry, and while this is fun, and maybe profitable, but isn't why we're really here." She winked at me.

Lelei and I sighed, then put all our work into either the barrel or the iron loops on the desk. We'd gotten all the scales we could off the hide, and with liberal use of water, foxfire, and heat from the kiln, had gotten the smell off the hides, so there was that. "Food or 'administration' first?" I asked.

"Both." Lelei said, "There are places to eat close to the admin building." She paused, "Did you bring your first project?" She asked, taking out the scale she'd enchanted back at Alnus.

"Of course."

"Good. It will help. Ah... who will stay behind? Even if we are renting this place, the lock is rather simple."

Maki and Aisha looked at me, and I smiled, "Don't worry. I have just the thing." My tails sped up their constant sway for a moment before a pair of little foxes hopped out of them and onto the desk. I gave them both a pat, put them on the ground, then fed them a little more mana to grow them to 'large dog' size.

"Ah, an application of Eter and... no... how...?" Lelei faltered when she couldn't make sense of them right away.

"It is a little more, and a little less than the glider. They have a little of my will, a little of my spirit, and a little of my mind. They'll keep watch, and nip at anyone who tries to get any ideas. Won't you?" I asked the foxes, getting silly smiles and tail flailing from them.

"Oh stop playing with yourself." Aisha rolled her eyes while Maki laughed.

Now that evening had fallen, the 'background' noise of the city had increased. That wasn't all. There was now the scent of all kinds of foods being cooked coming from... everywhere. It might have been me spending time inside that little building with the not so nice smelling monster bits, but my nose was picking up almost everything.

Of course, my stomach decided that it was time to raise a hand.

"Sounds like a den of foxes in there." Aisha teased.

"No it doesn't." I said, "And I should know, I've had a den of foxes in there."

"Lelei? Why are there so many places to eat?" Maki asked.

"Culinary research is still a valid topic." Lelei said, "Even more so with the JSDF bringing their own methods."

We three nodded, "Good food is an adventure all its own." Aisha laughed, "Just ask her, she saved a city with cookies once!"

"It was a lot of cookies though." Maki agreed.

"Yokai are easily bribed." I nodded, "Let's not go anywhere where you left Rory though?"

"I agree." Lelei said, "Cookies though?"

The place Lelei led us to was kind of a micro-pub. Only a handful of tables with one wall open to the outside, a small Bar, and a kitchen with a rather 'modern' cafe styled food window. Since none but Lelei knew the language, she ordered 'the missed lunch special'.

Over dinner, which included bread, stew, some kind of low alcohol beer that tasted like sweet onions, and a little fruit tart, I told a highly edited, no cities named, no people named, story of how we'd saved Yasaka with cookies.

It was actually kind of unsatisfying to tell it like that. But, the sacrifices we make to be myyyyyssssterrrrrrious.

"Now that we have eaten, we are going to the main administration building for new research and development." Lelei explained after we'd all finished using an actual public washroom.

"You know, I'm starting to wonder why this place is so clean." Maki mumbled.

"Most people cannot afford the tuition fees." Lelei said, "And instead do community service to offset the costs. Those that do are given a small room and food as well."

"That's actually kind of clever." Maki replied, "Sounds like-"

I was about to stop her, because I could just tell she was about to say 'Japan', where the students were mostly responsible for their schools cleaning. But then I felt a sudden gathering of power, like all of that magical static in the air was being given purpose.

"LELEEEEIIIII!" Someone shouted.

Without thinking, I put my hand on Maki's shoulder to get her behind me, my tails wrapped Lelei up protectively, and I faced in the direction of the sudden gathering of power. Encased in my tails, I could feel Lelei start to gather power, but then...

Something exploded against my chest.

It felt like someone had taken a very heavy pillow and hit me, but aside from that I hardly noticed. Through a sudden burst of fire and smoke, I caught a glimpse of brown hair, and a yellow cape speeding towards me about as fast as Lelei might have moved while on her staff.

So I extended my hand-

"Wait!" Lelei said (louder than I'd ever heard her speak before).

Something 'smacked' into my palm, there was a clatter of wood behind me, and I just held my pose as the smoke cleared away. Aisha stepped forward from my right, her (yeah, might as well admit it was no longer Welf's by now) sword drawn and ready, while Maki stood back to back with her, her sword and sheath off her belt and ready as well.

Muffled by my palm, the person who's face I just caught mumbled something. If I had to guess, it would have been something like, "wha happen and why is it so dark?"

Seeing no threats, my tails relaxed and I put the person on their feet, but didn't let go. "Lelei?" I looked over my shoulder.

"Please let her go. This is my sister, Arpeggio La Lelena."

By now we'd gathered a crowd of onlookers who were, (like a city of learning suggested) intelligently hiding behind anything they could. So, not wanting to do more harm than I might have already, I let this person's face go.

The brown hair and yellow cape belonged to a rather pretty lady with red eyes and a 'fancy' scholar's robe. She would be much nicer looking too, if her nose wasn't bleeding and my palm print raising a bruise over her face. She said something, her voice already taking on the 'bloody nose' tone.

Lelei replied calmly, then said something else that made the taller woman 'urk' as if she were being disciplined by a parent. Then something else that had her almost curling up into a ball on the spot. The next thing she said made her look like she wanted to cry.

"Hey, go easy on her." Maki said, "No harm done."

"Let's get off the street." Aisha said, "Maybe take care of her nose?"

Lelei said one more thing, and I had to stop this new person from scrubbing a sleeve over her bloody face, if only to preserve her nice robe. Lelei offered her a little handkerchief instead. A moment later, someone (a merchant? Citizen? Random male who needed to lose a bit of weight?) offered Arpeggio a long staff with a crystal that looked like a swirl of water on top. She sniffled a thank you (I think) and we started walking again.

"I take it this happens a lot?" I asked.

"Yes. We have had many magical duels." Lelei nodded, "Every time I visit."

"Here." Maki said, "Get her to wash her face, and have her eat these." Maki handed Lelei a pair of potion pills.

We waited outside another of those public washrooms, and the transformation from 'car crash victim' to 'perfectly fine' was rather shocking. Though, it may have been amplified by the fact Arpeggio was now sparkling at us.

"She wants us to go to her lab after we've tried for some funding." Lelei said, "She knows about your 'magic stone' as well."

"Was that wise? Involving an outsider to the JSDF?" I asked.

"Her field of expertise is alchemy and minerals. We argue a lot, but I do try and take care of her when I can." Lelei said.

"Sure." Aisha nudged me with an elbow, "When she doesn't know what something is, she asks an expert."

"Precisely." Lelei nodded.

That made perfect sense. I mean, a magic stone is a crystallized collection of mana, that everyone in Orario uses for alchemy. I managed to resist giving Lelei a headpat though.

"Well, if I can get my hands on some things, I might be able to recreate those pills." I said, "If nothing else, I'm sure that would get someone's attention."

"Maybe the wrong attention. But yes, I agree." Lelei nodded, saying something to her sister. Her sister looked at me, replied with a single word, got a nod in reply... And she started to sparkle at me again.

"Someone's happy at least. You okay Fox?" Aisha asked.

I looked down, brushed a hand over a few particles of soot that had clung to my Fenrir hide coat and replied with, "I'd say a determined level one. Maybe an early level two."

Lelei interjected with, "A ranking system from your world?"

"A little more literal than that, but yes." I nodded, "She's really strong for being a non-adventurer."

"Yes she may be perpetually poor slob who can never find a man, but she is diligent with her studies." She then gave her sister a headpat, but since Arpeggio didn't know what Lelei said, she just looked thankful for the attention. Probably for the best, I'd seen a hardened Valkyrie dissolve into tears for that kind of talk.

NOTES!

Next episode, dealing with 'the administration', a little more world building, and more stuff! Then after that... maybe I'll look into Orario, see how they're doing?

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