Chapter 30

I matched pace with Duran respectfully, keeping my hands up my sleeves and adopting the 'wise master' walk. My tails however, were doing a very slight 'lean' towards the man, just in case he fell or some such.

"You speak their language quite well." I started.

"You've heard of how they came to occupy that place?" He returned.

"I have. Quite the misunderstanding." I wouldn't insult the man and call it 'war' or 'battle'. I knew it was a slaughter, and didn't want to glorify it even a little. I also didn't want to call it 'tragic' as it might imply pity.

"And even after that, they recovered the wounded, used their medicine, and here I walk. Of course, I had time to reflect while I recovered, and their doctors were happy to teach when they had time." The point of his cane hit the carpet with just a little more force than before, but only once, "I can respect them. Our loss was all the punishment we needed, and like a heavy handed parent, they gave the survivors a pat on the head and told us to do better."

I paused for a moment, though he only turned his head to look at me while he kept walking. Knowing what I did of the history here (not much mind you) and that of Earth (far far more) I could empathize with him. Here, the Empire either made you submit, or made you vanish. And this man understood that. And like the child in his own example, he was trying to do better.

I caught up to him with a couple of slightly faster steps then resumed his pace, "But?"

"Haha. You are as sharp as you look." He chuckled, "Lady Mari happened to mention something in passing, during my most recent visit to 're-hab'."

I knew what he wanted then, but, diplomacy 'suggested' I wait for him to say it. However, "Ah, with the giant blood sucking insects. An annoyance from my world."

"Actually, something more than that..." He sighed gustily, "You see right through me, don't you?"

"You're not fooling anyone I'm afraid." I shook my head, "But, what you are looking for is... not quite so simple." I slipped one hand out of my sleeve to hold up a finger to stall his reply, "What my companion Ryuu did, was a mix of her own ability, our own curatives, time, and luck." I shook my head again, "You have passed the 'time' and 'luck' part of that. But." I put my hand back in my sleeve, "But there is an another way."

It was his turn to stop, and my tails swished at him to stop him from falling over, "Ah, pardon." He said after he recovered, "You truly have a way to restore... this?" He motioned with his limp arm, the polished wood of the nicely made prosthetic hand shiny in the bright lamp light of the hallway.

"To be honest, yes. But there are several... problems." I frowned, "No, it's not price. We honour our warriors, alive or dead. The first, is material. I am almost certain I cannot make it here in this world. I do not know enough about the plants here, and while I'd be happy to learn it would delay what I need to do."

Smart man that I could tell he was, he nodded and (as diplomacy suggested) didn't state the obvious fact I wanted his help, and it would be in his best interest to help me and my party succeed.

"Second problem, is time. You are an older gentleman, Duran-san. Certainly young enough for this to work, but it takes time. It is not a miracle medicine, it simply forces the body to restore itself. What you've lost may take the remainder of your life to return."

"It's true, I do have grandchildren." He nodded, "I may never fight again, but had this not happened, I'd at least be able to chase after the little monsters." He chuckled.

I nodded, certainly understanding that, "Lastly. It may kill you. I've been told the pain is akin to being branded. And while no one in my world has died to the treatment, we are... a tougher sort than most. The pain may stop your heart, though, it is over in a moment." Yes, pain enough to make even an Oni wince could not be good for a man in his mid forties or later. "You're obviously no stranger to pain, but I am warning you all the same."

"I appreciate your warning. But I think I would like to try all the same." He nodded, "I'm still standing after all."

So, yes, again, I followed the 'script' and told him my condition, "Then as soon as I can return to my world, I will make some of this medicine for you."

"I don't suppose you could do something about my eye too?" He nodded, clear that he knew my 'cost' for helping him. "And, I don't suppose you'd be interested in Land Dragons as well?"

A counter negotiation I couldn't pass up for sure, "That I might be able to fix by morning, actually. May I?" I stopped walking and put my hand on his shoulder. When he didn't resist, I reached up and moved his eye patch. "You know, helmets are made for just this sort of thing." I said looking as the ruined eye and the patch of scar tissue that went from the top corner of his eye socket to just past the eye near his ear.

Once my hand was away, the patch in place again, he laughed, "HA! Shows what you know! Damn mace took my eye, and my helmet that time! But you should have seen the other guy." He grinned like a kid, showing off to his dad or something.

"You're in luck, though, you might think otherwise until it heals." I nodded, "Ah." I looked at the nearest maid and said the first word anyone should learn when getting started on a new language, "Excuse me."

This one was an orange haired warrior bunny, who, even in the frilly maid dress couldn't hide the 'Amazon build' of wiry muscle. She seemed caught a little off guard by my calling her, since her arms were full of bed sheets or some such, "Yes? Ah, Lord Duran." She bowed to him as best she could with the armload of linen.

Duran nodded and grinned, "Little Mamina." He started, saying something else I couldn't catch, but was casual in tone, before nudging me in the leg with his cane to 'pass the torch' to me to speak.

"Looking for Hagane." I said.

Her red eyes sparkled a little, and she nodded, "something something your room, down something right."

I bowed to her, "Thank you." And hoped Duran would know where that was as the maid continued and we carried on.

"That's close to my room." He said, "So long as you don't leave me behind, I can show you."

"Oddly enough, the metal cat is the one who warned me about leaving people behind." I smiled.

Due to his 1/4 pace, it took a little while to get there. But we made light conversation. Most of it was a repeat about the nobles Ryuu had told me about, but also about the new arrivals. It was all coloured by his attitude though, and he was describing them like, "Him? He's a reasonable fellow." Or, "The guy's an ass."

When we rounded the next corner, I was reminded of my stay in the underworld with Rias and the rest. It wasn't nearly as exaggerated or opulent, but there was a maid standing outside of what was clearly a guest room. She was one of the ones who took part in 'operation dress up' but I didn't know her name. She knew us however, and spoke to Duran while giving him a perfect maid curtsy. Duran replied with a couple of words, then a question that used the name Hagane, and she motioned to another door.

"Is there anything I should do?" He asked as the maid opened the door for him.

"Wash your face really well, and make sure to have a dry cloth handy. I'll only need a moment."

He nodded and entered the room, the maid following behind him. I myself went to the door she pointed at and tapped on it, "Coming in."

"And so I am not forgotten." Hagane greeted. It was almost as if he had been moved with our pile of equipment, and not gotten up at all. "Ryuu will be back shortly, while Aisha and Maki are 'exploring'."

The room looked to be a converted barracks. It was narrow, the walls were obviously painted stone, and all the furnishings were 'nice' but made for single people. But, it was clean, well lit, and still had a wash basin and mirror. But, there were only two beds, so I assumed the other two were in the next room or some such.

I knelt next to Hagane, and flopped over his back while wrapping him up with my arms and tails. "If it makes you feel any better, the 'politics' are mostly done. We'll be heading back to Alnus around noon tomorrow, after a couple kind words to the other nobles."

He carefully shifted his body, like he was getting comfortable under a blanket, "Ah, hollow platitudes. But?"

"But we were quite well received I think. We might be able to move the Gate before Shinkage gets back with the caravan."

"The difficult part is after that, you know." He lifted his head so he could look at me with an eye.

"I know. But we will endure."

He grumbled and put his head back down, "I had hoped we'd never have to deal with 'humans' again."

"If it happens, we'll be in a better position than this world at least. But speaking of position. Can you roll over a little? I need to get into your storage."

"You are lucky your coat is comfortable." He said, his metal body shifting as he got into a 'sphinx' posture, "Med-kit?"

"I'm about to buy a couple 'land dragon' eggs. But I need the clear-all." I undid the hidden bolts that opened up one of his back's armoured plates.

"Ah, Duran? I like him. Speaks plainly, doesn't waste time. He also thinks I look handsome."

"Well, you do look handsome." I nodded, opening up the small compartment inside, and fetching one of three little bottles. These were 'super specialized' potions that were not suitable for 'combat recovery' but 'down time' recovery. One, obviously, was the 'occular clear all'. Special medicine that only worked on the eyes. So long as the 'orb' was there, it could recover a person's eyesight. If it wasn't there, well, that's in the territory of a lizard tonic.

That wasn't part of the kit. That took months to grow a limb back, and if you couldn't get them someplace safe, there was no point.

The second bottle was a 'Coma' potion. As the name suggested, it put the person into a coma. Near total body shutdown. It was for those cases where you didn't have the right items to heal a person, but didn't have time to stop them from dying either. I'd been given a mild dose of this when I'd been brought home from getting tortured. It helped stop me from bleeding to death on the 'table' so to speak. But it was also useful for poison, where an immediate cure was unavailable and you didn't want their heart to spread the poison through the body. Funny fact, it was based off the same 'poison' Juliette took to pretend she was dead.

The last one? That was for Shinkage. Her body was special, and she'd only been wounded enough to bleed twice in the time she'd been here. Sure, she healed fast enough to make most potions pointless, but in the case she was wounded enough to actually be life threatening? This was for her. To anyone else though? It would probably kill them. Yes, even me. It was an Elixir that was so distilled it might as well have been syrup. Based off my research into the Phoenix Tears.

The three of them were VERY clearly marked, and packed in such a way that Shinkage would have to be destroyed, for them to break as well.

I closed Hagane back up, then gave him a well deserved headpat. "Thank you. Back in a few minutes."

"This is going to cause trouble you know." He said, settling back down.

"Yeah, but that's okay. I like him too, and he was a good soldier following a bad leader." I stood and went for the door.

Duran, like me, and anyone else who'd been subject to this stuff, really hated it. It felt kind of like you just poured wet sand into your eye, stung like you'd just had a fresh onion spray you in the eye, and the worst part? You could not use water to rinse it clean either. No, you had to let the higher salt content of your tears to wash it away.

But, with very clear instructions given to the maid before I treated him, she made sure he couldn't do something silly like use plain water. Though, the maid also made sure to give him a nice lap pillow to keep his head down and keep that dry cloth I said to have on hand at the corner of his eye to leech away the excess. He'd thank me in the morning.

The next morning, after using the wash basin, the low tech bathroom (similar to Telskyura, it was basically a trench you poured water down to wash into the slightly deeper trench they called the sewer around here), we got into one room and had a little huddle.

"You know." Aisha said, looking at the nice clothing we'd worn yesterday, "I don't mind dressing up. But I'm feeling that it just isn't me."

"So, either barely dressed or dressed in the skins of your enemy?" Maki teased. "Though yeah, I agree. Thanks for not insisting on a skirt or something."

"I've seen you in a dress. It's not for you." I smiled, "Must to Sona's displeasure."

"She couldn't take me anywhere." Maki shrugged.

Ryuu didn't need to comment. She did however reach out for one of my tails to give it a pat in thanks.

"I think, since we played pretend with them, we should show them what we really look like when we go about our business." Aisha said, "I'm gonna keep the dress if I can though."

"Oh good. The amount of frills on the four of you was making me wish I had an eyebrow to twitch."

"You know." Maki looked to Hagane, kneeling and giving him the headpats he always deserved, "It's not fair we're the only one's dressing to impress." She looked around the 'treasure pile' he was on and picked up her sword. "And I have just the thing."

She then gave the pommel of her sword a twist and opened it up. Inside were a couple of things. First, the 'capacitors' that let her store magic in them for the spells the sword had etched into it. She'd outgrown them, but they were still useful. Second though was a bit of gargoyle skin, courtesy of Gros of course, that was used to sharpen her sword.

I wasn't sure exactly what I was feeling when we all exited the room. We had dressed in our battle gear, and taken as much care as we reasonably could to clean it up. Being the one who made most of it, the various treatments I'd rubbed into the leather, fur, scale and cloth of the armour made sure it didn't smell like we'd just raided a Wyvern nest. Maki had used her clever little tool kit to sharpen every blade that needed it. Aisha and I had applied a significant amount of effort to polish Hagane's metal frame and what ever metal armour we wore. And Ryuu had applied a very diluted solution of an already mild perfume she'd been given (but not used) to make us all smell nice, no matter how savage we looked.

I think, when the first maid who spotted us nearly dropped the tray she was carrying, I figured out what I was feeling.

Smug. Yes. That was it. Call us savage, call us brutes. Let their eyes and bellies fill with bile at the sight of us. Our deeds will prove them wrong. We were adventurers, who prided themselves on being adaptable. Yes we could 'mingle' with high society, but that was just part of the job to us, not the job itself.

So, with Ryuu wearing her Fenrir fur vest and spider silk 'armour' in the form of an upside down flower. Maki in her 'dungeon commando' slightly modified due to damaged pants, boots, vest, metal bracers and sword. Aisha wearing the re-worked armour of what she had slain with her own hands and two handed sword of dark purple adamant. Hagane, his sharp edges gleaming even brighter than his Gremory Red anodized body of adamant and ensorcled steel. And myself, wearing the vest, coat and leggings made from a demi-god I'd decapitated myself, along with rune inscribed gauntlets, bracers and shin guards...

We marched to where we'd been instructed the night before, the centre courtyard, to re-introduce ourselves to the nobility of the world here.

To say we alarmed more than a few people would be an understatement. The 'house guards' of the various nobles, the maids, the nobles themselves, they were all in a flutter about our appearance, and mostly for different reasons. Kaine gave us only a mildly disapproving look, but that might have been because we'd polished everything and smelled nice. The various guards, all soldiers, were either impressed or wary. The JSDF already knew about us, but that didn't stop some of them from giving us very discrete thumbs up when no one else was looking. The maids were as professional as always, but I could tell that us being armed set them a little on edge. The men and women of the nobility either appreciated the look, or hid whispers behind their hands.

Poor Sugawara however looked... distressed. Itami even gave him a pat on the shoulder. But, someone was missing, and the funny thing about that? When he got there, he'd steal the show even over our little display.

Tuka, ever the ray of sunshine, was first to approach us. "Wow! You look even better than when you arrived."

"We didn't have almost three days of hard travel through mud and jungle on us." Aisha grinned, "Even your pretty face would suffer after a trip like that." Our Amazon then applied one nose boop to the cheerful elf (who reacted with a half second of adorable cross-eyed-ness before covering her nose with an 'eep'.)

"Sugawara-san." I greeted as he got closer, "Itami."

"Are you sure this is how you want to go about things?" The diplomat asked. His tone wasn't judgmental, or even resigned. Just curious.

"This is who we are." Ryuu said, "But thank you for your support."

He nodded, "Part of my duty, just like yours." He seemed to understand our intent perfectly.

"Well, you already have a few admirers." Itami said quietly, since others were slowly starting to gravitate towards us, "Lelei-chan, Cato-san and Arpeggio-san are already working with some of the locals to get started on the surveying. And, we're expecting someone from the Capital over the bridge in an hour or so as well."

"Really? So soon?" Maki asked.

"Yup. Surprised me too, but it's not like back home. People don't put work off even if they're well paid." Itami smiled meekly.

Sugawara gave him a look, but nodded and said, "Apparently those eggs you acquired are in high demand. I can't say I approve..."

"Of what? Proper animal husbandry?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"No. But from Lelei's report of them, they were fire breathing wyverns. Considering their history, that may cause problems down the road." He explained.

"I plan on asking Giselle when I get back to Alnus, but I suspect that fire breathing winged cavalry will only become an issue after you retire." I countered, "But, if all goes well, the JSDF will continue to keep the peace, and dragon breeding will become more of a hobby than a job." I smiled.

For the next half hour we all had our little interactions with the nobles while we poked at the food that was left out on a long buffet table. Maki stuck by Hagane, content (and more comfortable) with the occasional visit from curious people, instead of seeking attention. Ryuu, already familiar with everyone here, was now deflecting people towards me. She was capable of dealing with politics for sure, but now that I was here (and she no longer had to) she was exercising her right as big sister and making work for me.

Aisha, unsurprisingly, was attracting the attention of the male soldiers. Not the ones on guard mind you, but the nobles like Duran, who'd earned their place by strength of arms and not just by birth. Though, it wasn't just her looks (tall and exotic) that got their attention. They were asking about the Amazon, and where there might be more of them.

And since Ryuu was done with being the centre of attention and pushing work on me, I was dealing with the most questions. Sugawara was being a good sport and standing in as translator, and most of the questions I had to answer were 'resource' related. How much we were willing to pay for raw gold, how much would Lelei's new 'invention' cost to use, etc etc.

I won't bore you with how proper and polite it all was. But I felt we were at least making a good impression with how even handed we were being. One thing that surprised me though, was that not a single person asked if we could teach them how to do what the Mages were doing. It made me a little sad, and angry when I thought about why. Were the Apostles so strict in keeping technology away from the People that only Rondel could stop them from suppressing it?

I was actually just about to ask, and potentially be undiplomatic, when a maid entered with the declaration of, "Lady Pina Co Lada has arrived from the Capital!" And next to her, his prosthetic arm hooked around her own, was Duran.

And while the Emperor's daughter was certainly impressive in her full suit of armour, what really caught people's eye, was Duran's own eyes, both of them. I could do nothing about the scar around the eye itself, but it was clear he could see from both eyes as he walked in with Pina. And the first thing he did, once he had let Pina's arm go, was look at me.

That's all. Just a look.

But then almost everyone in the room looked at me as well. So, I drew myself up to my (slightly above average height, even in this world) and said, "I'm pleased it worked, Duran-san."

That feeling of smug satisfaction had returned, as I used all that polite noble atmosphere as a shield to keep anyone from asking questions. It would be rude to assume, worse still to ask directly, and with so many people around, the pinnacle of impropriety to just demand an answer. Even Sugawara was a little wide eyed, but he narrowed his eyes at me a little when I winked at him and walked towards the two new arrivals.

"Lady Pina, I am thankful you have graced us with your presence." Miyu beat me to him, but that was okay. Sugawara was tailing me and translating as well, even if he sounded a little upset. "And Lord Duran, something seems different about you this morning."

It was clear Miyu was being politely sarcastic, but Duran still grinned like a young boy and nodded, "When I looked in the mirror, I thought so too." He then knelt down (with help from Pina) and looked right into Miyu's eyes, "It's good to see you this morning, Lady Miyu." A pause, "Oh, ah, could you..."

Pina helped him back to his feet again, "Pardon for the late arrival, but when I walked past Lord Duran, he seemed to insist on sharing his sudden good fortune." She looked past Miyu to Sugawara and I, "Sir Sugawara, Lady Kodori."

"Good fortune he has already promised to pay for." I nodded, "Lady Pina, Lady Miyu, Lord Duran." I addressed them in order of rank. Yes, Duran was King of his own lands, but this was the Empire, and the next in line for the throne outranked him, while the Hostess outranked him in her own home. Stupid political mental lint...

Our conversation was slowly drawing people to us, eager to listen in (politely). "It's good that you are here, Lady Kodori. When Sir Itami contacted me in the Capital, he mentioned your sudden acquisition of wild Wyvern eggs. In light of your service with the plague of insects, I took it upon myself to personally ask the various breeders under my Father's command to see what they could do."

"I am thankful for your effort, truly." I bowed, "But, forgive me. I plan on taking them all to Alnus first, to talk to Giselle about them, just to make sure they are healthy."

Sugawara quietly 'ahem'ed, "I've sent word to Alnus already. Considering she can fly, I thought it faster for her to come here. Of course, that is only if she can barter some time off from her job."

There was a mumble of 'visiting Apostle' nearby.

"Quite thoughtful of you." I nodded, "But yes, I would hate for such a trade to be tainted by... bad product."

Pina nodded, and said "I will make sure our own wyvern breeders show the same level of consideration when choosing what eggs to trade."

We shared a nod of mutual understanding. "But, if Giselle is coming here, then I think my party and I should meet her at the forward base?" I asked, looking at Sugawara, "I think we've accomplished all we can for the moment."

"If you want," Duran started, "I would be happy to help keep track of who offers what for your quest with Master Lelei."

"I would be thankful for that." I nodded, then knelt in front of Miyu, "Lady Miyu, thank you for your hospitality. May we take our leave?"

She smiled and nodded, "You may, and please, if you have time, return to visit." She lowered her voice just a little, "We are quite fond of Hagane, and Lady Ryuu was quite entertaining with her stories of your homeland."

"If there is an opportunity, I will return and tell you a few stories as well. I have to keep in practise you see." I stood, then did a quick look around the room, meeting the eyes of my party members, then looking at Sugawara, "I'm reasonably sure we can find our way to the base, but?"

"Itami should really get back to work." He smiled, "He'll meet you at the castle gate."

The Humvee wasn't actually here, so we ended up walking back to the forward base. That was fine. The weather was nice and Italica, while primitive, was a nice place. And though we didn't have the three Mages, Pina and her horse were added to the party of Itami, Tuka, Yao, and those of us from Orario.

"Careful, Lady Kodori, he's not the friendliest of horses." Pina said as I tried to make friends with the big war horse. She wasn't actually riding him either, choosing instead to lead him and walk beside Itami.

"She's like that with all the animals." Maki said, "We've quite the collection at home."

Since everyone here knew we were from another world (that wasn't the JSDF homeworld) Maki was talking openly. "Most animals know better than to bite." Aisha said, but yeah, why DO you make a point to make friends with all the animals?"

Pina's horse was trying to ignore me, but wasn't moving away from my hand as I gave the side of his face and neck a rub. "I appreciate animals that don't want to kill me. I mean, consider what we do back home?" I gave up on the horse, but it was that exact moment he decided to give the side of my head a friendly nudge with his nose, "And I wasn't allowed to have pets as a kid."

"What other sorts of animals do you have at home then?" Pina asked, "Good boy, making friends." She gave the horse a pat as well.

"Depends on your idea of 'animal'." Maki said, "We have two Needle Rabbits, who are just as smart as a person, but can't talk. Then our friend Gros, a gargoyle who can talk, and sounds like an old man."

"They look like monsters, but are not." Ryuu said, "And while strange, they're good friends."

"Got those weird Phoenix too." Aisha said, "Really tall birds that can't fly, but like to sneak up on you and zap you with lightning, or ice, or just poke at your pockets for loose snacks. Those are animals, but probably smarter than they should be."

"Your fault for walking near them with snacks in your pockets." I said, "But anyhow. Pets aren't really popular back home, but those that have them treat them well."

We rounded the last corner on our way to the JSDF Italica base, and spotted a pair of guards by the garage. They were a different pair, but it was nice they were taking their job seriously with my prizes. As we got closer, they stood a little straighter for a moment, then one of them turned, "Sir. Apostle Giselle arrived moments ago, and is waiting inside the Mess."

"At ease." Itami said, as if the soldier's professionalism was giving him a headache, "No problems?"

"No sir. One of the maids came by on the evening shift and covered them up with some fresh straw and a little perfume, but otherwise no one has touched them."

"Good good. We'll have them out of here in a day or so."

"Yessir."

With only a moment's pause for Pina to park her horse, we walked past them, and past another pair of guards into the building itself. "Wow... serious about standing guard?" Maki asked.

"The commander said you've earned our best effort. So, you're getting our best effort." Itami shrugged, "I even agree. Those mosquitoes were a royal pain." He looked to Tuka and Yao, "Want to go find Lelei? We'll be heading back as soon as Giselle inspects the eggs I think." He looked at me and I nodded, confident that Duran would do his best for me on this matter now that I'd 'bought' his loyalty to my cause.

Giselle was stuffing her face. There was no real polite way to say it. She had three trays of food and was alternating hands, trays, and foods with every bite. I'd heard she was a glutton, but wow.

Over the sound of furious 'NOM NOM NOM' noises, Itami sighed and said, "She's like this every chance she gets. The only reason we don't stop her is because they have bets on how much she can eat in a set time." He motioned to a group of soldiers (who's food trays were long empty) and one of them was holding a stopwatch.

"We can wait." I shrugged, "Suppose everyone has their weakness."

"I'm more impressed on how she can eat that much at once, and not get food everywhere." Aisha mumbled, "I mean, she's like your kids were when they were learning to eat on their own, except... no mess."

"Good thing she didn't visit that meeting." Maki laughed, "The nobles would have lost it."

"Politely, but yes." Ryuu sighed.

The other thing about Giselle, aside from the shameless face stuffing, was her outfit. She wasn't wearing the maid uniform of the tavern she worked at, but instead... well, it was basically a frilly bathing suit that left nothing to the imagination, and showed off all of her tattoos (or markings? Whatever, you called those yellow markings over her body). All in white, it was like a dress that had a totally open front. This left her breasts basically exposed, and her panties the only thing keeping her modesty. The only thing keeping her top on was a crisscross of black lacing.

Kind of reminded me of...

"Hurrm, reminds me of Ophis." Hagane said as I thought of it.

Giselle picked that exact moment to notice us, and stuffed one last thing (an entire onigiri) into her mouth, stood, swallowed and waved, "I didn't know how long you were going to be, so I had lunch."

The JSDF with the stopwatch clicked it, while the others around him made various noises of success/failure at their bet.

"We're on a little bit of a timetable." I said, ignoring the apostle's visibly distended belly. "But if you're still hungry, we can wait a little longer?"

She seriously looked like she was going to sit back down, but shook her head, "If I go get more, I'll get yelled at." The lady behind the food counter nodded at her fiercly. "I was told you had eggs?"

Itami, since it was probably him who sent the message, nodded, "Short dozen in a wagon in the stable. Could you take a look?"

"Sure! Always fun to listen to them before they hatch." And with that, we started back out of the mess hall.

Even as she rubbed her belly, we could see it slowly return to the slender figure she had when I first saw her. "How does that even work?" Maki asked, "If I ate that much..."

It was only now that Giselle looked embarrassed, "Honestly... I don't even need to eat. I feel hungry, but that's all it will ever be." She sighed, "No matter what, an Apostle's body returns to what it looked like when they get the gift of their God."

Aisha, unable to stop herself, or not wanting to, said "Explains why Rory has boob envy."

Giselle gave Aisha a wide eyed look, then laughed, "Don't let her hear that! But yup, she's always been like that." She puffed out her chest proudly, "No matter how strong she is, I'll always look better than her!"

"I agree. But I'm biased." Hagane said, "And I still have wing envy."

"Aww, there there." Giselle gave him a headpat, then looked at us seriously, "You didn't wipe them out, did you?"

It took me a second to parse that, but I shook my head, "No no. There were a lot more eggs there, and I don't think we killed any females? You only said they were larger."

"Well, that's good then. It's not really my duty or anything, but I do feel a little responsible for them all." We all stopped at the end stall of the garage where our wagon was, "Pina? Your horse is glaring at me again."

Having kept silent until now, she replied with, "He glares at everyone. Except myself, and Lady Kodori apparently."

"I didn't even have to use cookies." I smiled, the others from Orario chuckling.

Giselle kept the wagon between her and the horse (who was tied to a post, but was muscular enough that it probably didn't matter if he really wanted to break free), "Oooo these are in good condition." She said.

"I was also hoping to trade with some of the breeders in the Capital." I said, motioning to Pina, "Lady Pina said she had already contacted some of them for me."

"Ah, you're not just in it for a hobby then." Giselle nodded approvingly, "Pina?"

"Yes, that was the intention. I was hoping, could you stay and make sure all the eggs offered in trade are good? It should take no longer than two days to get all of those interested here." Pina explained.

"Sure! Always nice to meet friends of my distant relatives. Been so busy working that I haven't kept in touch." She grumbled, "Who ever invented 'interest' should have been killed before it took hold."

"I'll tell your boss that you've taken a job for a couple of days." Itami said.

"A paying job." I corrected, "Rare talent requires compensation... eh?"

Giselle, between the words 'Job' and 'Talent' had come over to me and given me a hug. She held off the 'squee' until I'd finished talking too! "It feels so GOOD to be appreciated! Everyone bullies me all the time..." She pouted as I applied a headpat to the poor Apostle.

"There there." I tried not to laugh, "But thank you for staying to mediate. You know Lord Duran?"

"Him? Of course! He's a regular, and tips well after he visits Doctor Mari."

"He may have some land dragon eggs for me later as well."

"Wow... what did you do for him to offer those?" Giselle detached herself from me and went back to giving the eggs a pat.

"You'll... see later." Maki said, "So, are we done here for now?"

We all looked to Itami, "I can't think of anything. Can you?"

"Aside from waiting for the nobles to turn up what we need, I can't think of anything." Aisha said, "Of course, it's more waiting..."

"This will take days, but not weeks." Ryuu assured.

"Then let's collect the mages and go back?" I said, "just let me get this out of here..." And I went to dig our barrel of wyvern scales from the wagon, along with a couple of the other bits, like the skull Aisha wanted for a helmet.

"I'll pull the Humvee around." Itami said.

Due to the extra cargo, we couldn't fit everyone in the back. Lelei, as usual (apparently?) was driving the Humvee since she was there to do so, while Itami rode shotgun. Aisha, Yao, Tuka, Cato, Arpeggio, Maki and Ryuu as well as the cargo were taking up the back. This left me and Hagane to run along side the Humvee.

Sure, I could have, maybe, crammed myself into the back, but after all this good fortune, I had this creeping feeling something was going to go wrong. Besides, the last time I had just... run for the fun of it, was when I'd 'kidnapped' Eina and ran back to Orario with her on my back.

So after a brief (and pointless) lesson about 'turn signals', Hagane and I started running. It was two or so hours later, over the long stretch of traffic free road, that we got within sight of Alnus and the long empty field Lelei had called 'the killing field'. I glanced over to Itami, since I was running on the passenger side, and saw him facepalm.

A moment later, he rolled down the window, "I think we have a problem!" He said over the sound of the engine.

I looked ahead, adjusted my running stance a little so I wasn't so low to the ground, and spotted what he was talking about. Of course, it was Rory.

Standing there, all dramatic and stuff, holding her silly plank of metal on a stick halberd, she was standing on the single road leading into Alnus. I didn't hear what Lelei said when she turned her head to Itami, but Itami replied with a, "Stop for a second."

So our little caravan rolled to a halt, and I stood next to Itami's open window, "I want you guys to just go past her."

Itami looked VERY distressed, but Aisha reached over from the back compartment to tap him on the shoulder, "Let it happen Itami. One way or another, someone needs a lesson."

"I'm going to have to report this you know." He said, looking like most people would when two super human people were about to throw down.

"Tell me something Itami." I said, looking him in the eye, "When the JSDF came here, how do you think the Empire's soldiers felt when you brought all your fancy weapons against them? Overwhelmed? Helpless?" I shook my head, "You taught them all a lesson, and now, you have peace, or a sort."

"She needs that lesson." Ryuu said.

"She's going to want to come with us when we go through the Gate." Maki said, "She's a thrill seeker, and won't let you tell her no."

"But she's going to have to understand something about us Adventurers." Aisha chuckled darkly, "And it's better she learns now, than later. You know, before a monster eats her or something."

Itami looked... conflicted. He probably knew that he couldn't really do anything about this. That all he could do as ask politely for us not to. So, he sighed, looked up at the roof of the Humvee, and said, "I can probably keep people from panicking so long as you keep it away from the town." He looked me right in the eye, with that fearlessness that only a professional soldier could muster after living in a world like this, "Understand?"

"Perfectly." I nodded, "Just drive past her, and make sure there's still hot water when I get up the hill." I looked past Itami, "Lelei? Here." I handed her the cross dimensional Occulus for Fels, "Get it done."

"Of course." She said.

And then Itami rolled up the window and the Humvee left us behind.

Us? "Hagane?"

"I'd like a word with her as well, if there is anything left."

And we walked towards Rory, the Humvee ignored as she waited for us.

NOTES!

Yeah, this is happening!

Also, the day after this update hits the shelf, I'm going in for a minor surgery on my shoulder. They need to install a Hook Plate, so the dislocated bone goes back to what it's supposed to be doing. It's a minor (in and out) surgery, but my recovery may reduce me to one handed typing for a little while. That said, I'm still going to try updating.

Because I'm hard core like that. It's not going to kill me, and thus I write.

Anyhow, :) in the mean time, I'll see what I can do for getting more art online. There's already one more that's almost done, or maybe even done by the time I post this. Party on, and see you... hopefully, in five days.