Chapter 39

At our current speed, we were maybe three days away from Orario. We could have gotten there by nightfall, if I wanted to change into my giant fox form and run, but Ryuu had quite firmly told me no. She wasn't the boss of me, but she did speak loud enough for the others to hear, and I was given a collection of sad/serious puppy eyes from everyone not to risk hurting myself.

Except from Rory, who was wondering why. But Tuka gave her a Karate Chop of Justice (apparently a multi-universal gesture of admonishment), and that was it.

Sadly, this meant we had to not only walk (though we were all used to that), but that we had to forage a little for food.

"And you say this is a medium snake?" Itami asked.

"And you killed it. Good job not panicking." Aisha said, "I understand why you don't want this kind of thing in Orario, but it's pretty impressive."

Yao had spotted the snake as we'd gotten to the edge of the swamps, where they transitioned from 'bog' to 'shallow wetland', but before it could get close to her, and for anyone to do something about it, Itami had drawn his pistol and put a round square between its eyes. A lucky shot for sure, and Ryuu was there a moment later to cut its head off. But Aisha now held the bit of deformed steel in her palm.

"I'm surprised it... oh, that's an AP round, isn't it?" I looked to Itami.

"I'd almost forgotten you know about this stuff. Yeah, with all the people in plate armour over there, we use special rounds for our weaker arms." He pulled the slide back on his 9mm half way, looked down the barrel, then returned it to his holster and buckled it closed again.

"Why use anything but steel?" Aisha asked, helping me stretch the headless snake out while Ryuu started skinning it.

Itami answered with a shrug, "Production costs mostly. But for the most part so long as the bullet hits it's not really important what it's made from."

Then Lelei showed him up, because it was obvious Itami didn't pay attention in his Physics 101 class, or if he even took it. "The power of a projectile is determined by weight and speed. And the math behind it is an interchangeable formula. If you have a one kilogram rock flying at ten kilometres an hour, it will hit with the same force as a ten kilogram rock flying at one kilometre an hour."

Yes, Momentum = mass X velocity. P=mv.

And Aisha, proving that while Orario wasn't at the point of even having a physics 101 (yet! I was working on it), said, "So... This makes up for being really tiny, by moving really fast." Then she looked at the snake head, "And the steel is harder than lead, so it made it through the skull. Oh, did you want the skull? Does your world take trophies?"

Being a 'medium' snake, Itami could have crawled through the snake's mouth had it been opened. But he shook his head, "Not my thing."

"Besides, we already have a trophy back home!" Tuka laughed, "Oh lemme help." She and Yao helped Ryuu skin the snake, "Wow... thick skin."

Since the fox was out of the bag, I decided to be a little more mysterious, "Right, fire dragon."

Aisha, catching on and wanting to flex a little, "I'd have loved to try fighting one of those! Don't think I'd go for it solo though." She looked down at her quiver, now with only two arrows left, "Wonder if this would have gone through? Oh! Or what you could have made with the scales!"

Lelei, who had been working with Itami to make a fire spoke, "The scales were very thick, and even some of the small ones wouldn't have fit in the forges you used at Alnus."

Ryuu Aisha and I spoke at the same time, "Sounds like a challenge."

I then caught Rory about to kick the snake head into the bog, "Wait wait! Don't do that yet."

"If Itami didn't want it, why keep it?" She asked.

"I want its venom. While I do that, use your silly spear thing to cut this up a little."

After they'd all eaten and we'd kicked the ashes of our fire around to put them out, Ryuu gave me, 'the look'. "Are you sure?"

"I'm feeling much less winded, and who knows how persistent they'll be?" I replied.

"Do you know what caused it?" She asked, glancing a little further upwards to look at my forehead.

I sighed, "That wall was probably something like Babel. Made by, or at least given a little push, by the Gods. And I broke some of it."

"Like how your grip can stick to the tower?"

"Possibly? I'm under different rules here, but still..." I sighed, "Anyhow, we've already got enough cargo to carry, and I really want to go home." I looked at everyone, most of which were looking at 'nothing in particular' in that polite way you did when you didn't want to interrupt a conversation. "And now we have another snake skin, and all that meat."

"If you are sure then." Ryuu nodded.

"So... roll up the skin then?" Aisha asked, "Hm, I bet Welf would rock a snakeskin cape or something. Oh, or Ouka!"

"Yeah, roll it up. Someone cover Itami's eyes." Then to Rory, "You better not get motion sick again."

"I said I was sorry." She pouted, making Itami and the girls look at her in shock. Probably not known for admitting fault? "And I feel much better. The snake here tastes much better than my world too."

"Before you do that." Itami raised a hand, stopping me from undoing the top button of my suit, "Are you taking us to the Gate first? Or your home first? To my understanding of the 'plan' they should be well on their way to warming up to each other?"

I thought for a moment, and was about to say 'my home first', but couldn't. The words wouldn't form in my throat. "I promised I'd get you safe to the Gate first. After that, I'd be happy to have you visit."

"She'll probably be buried under her children catching up with them though, so maybe wait a day or two before visiting." Aisha grinned, "Anyhow, burning daylight."

I went back to unbuttoning my under-armour, "Cover his eyes or something, and double check our cargo."

The headache had threatened to return, but by the time I'd eaten the rest of the snake (which actually tasted pretty good to my fox taste buds), it was gone. Then we got everyone who couldn't keep up with me on my back and I was off running again. I wasn't in as much of a rush, but even so we would probably arrive early morning tomorrow.

"I can't believe she ate all of that!" Tuka said, "Aren't you afraid of getting fat?"

"Maybe she's like me?" Rory guessed.

"Perhaps, when the food is converted to fuel in the body, it simply translates to her new size without the mass, but the energy?" Lelei hypothesized.

"So... smaller body, more energy? I wonder if they have coffee in this world?" Itami said.

"I do not know how you can drink that bitter mud water." Yao grumbled.

(Orario, city overview, at about the same time Kodori was wondering the same thing about Lelei's hypothesis)

Around the Tower of Babel, projected by massive screens of Godly power, Ouranos appeared. The day prior, the Guild had announced to the city to basically be sitting down for 'lunch' so they could listen in on what would be an important announcement.

This was good news for the Hostess of Fertility. I mean, if you were told to be sitting down at lunch time, why not do it in a place populated with very pretty girls and good food?

"Nyaa? It's time!" Arnya announced to the patrons, who stopped nibbling on May's latest creation (frozen cheesecake iced cream), looked at the brown haired cat girl, then turned in their seats to face the windows bringing their plates with them to ward off any sneaky food thieves.

"People of Orario." Ouranos started, his wizened face holding a little bit of a smile, "Over the past few days, many of you will have seen some new faces to our city."

Below his face, on a new series of screens, Astraea appeared. The background behind her looked to be the Guild offices someplace, and behind and to her left was Royman. Behind and to her right however, was Suguwara, dressed not in his perfectly pressed suit, but in the 'robe/toga' of a Special Region'. But behind HIM, was Soichiro. The Third Recon coordinator/lifetime soldier was in full batter dress, but it wasn't a fresh uniform. No, his uniform, while clean, showed signs of hard use and combat. And while he had no guns on him, he had the 'Shino set' of baynet blades at his hip, left breast and right bicep.

This was of course to show those with an eye for 'experience' (so like... any adventurer who didn't retire/die after a season in the dungeon) that this was a fighting man who knew his business.

"Today's announcement is to dispel any rumours that may be moving through the air here in our city." Astraea said, "And to confirm the biggest one, our guests are not from this world." She paused, letting that sink in. "However, they are quite similar to us in almost every way." She moved aside and Royman took her place in front of the 'camera'.

"First I will speak of why they are here. And introduce you to them." Royman said, "By our nearest estimation, two seasons ago, a strange artifact appeared in the deep jungles of Telskyura. They call it the Gate, and honestly, there really isn't a better name for it. This however presented a few problems, both for us, and them." He motioned to the two JSDF, "The Gate itself is a portal between two worlds, and when it appeared, the monsters of the deep jungles did as monsters do."

He didn't really need to explain that. This was Orario.

"The assault on their world was endured, but the problem remained. We rely on the Amazons for much of our fighting strength here in Orario, so we sent a group to the Deep Jungles to see if we could do something about the Gate itself. While Ganesha Familia organized an expedition to bring up monsters to transport to their Jungle."

In the pause, Mama Mia sighed, "Of course they'd send Kodori. Trouble magnet that one."

"Nyaa still love her." Arnya said, then eep'ed when Mama's ladle appeared in her hand somehow.

"This was done." Royman said firmly, "The party sent to investigate went through the Gate, informed them, and was informed, of the situations of both sides. Together, they solved one of the problems, and moved the Gate itself to the ruined castle a short way from Orario."

A third set of screens appeared, this time with Loki's grinning face. "Hey Orario! If you haven't tried this? You really should!"

Behind her head, was a top down view of the Gate and the surrounding area. After she moved her head, there was a quiet, "Lady Loki? Please don't upset the platform?" From Finn.

The area around the Gate had been developed a little more, and the beginnings of a simple base had been started. Low perimeter wall, guard house, bits of simple infrastructure. Essentially a 'professional' dungeon camp, or at least, that's how anyone in Orario would describe it.

Ouranos looked like he wanted to sigh, but Royman continued, "Now that the Gate is close to Orario, and as safe as it can be outside our walls, we, the Guild, have started to introduce them to our city. We know, with our dealings so far, and with the party sent to assist them, that they are fair and reasonable folk." He smiled, "And while they do not plan on being here long, they would like to see a little of our world while they are here."

Ouranos spoke next, "To be clear. The Gate itself was made by Gods other than Us." He paused to let that sink in, "But, there is no cause for alarm. This is nothing like the incident with the Dungeon nearly four years ago."

On the lower screen, Suguwara was speaking quietly to Astraea, who nodded and stepped forward, "Our guests have looked into this as well, and the simplest explanation is that the Gods of the world beyond the Gate were simply curious. Every so often, they would reach out and make contact like this, opening a path between worlds to add a little more colour to their own world." A pause, "Like Us, they sought a little amusement as they watched over their Children. They simply decided to do it differently, peering into other worlds to see who would be curious, or brave enough to explore theirs."

"Figures." One of the customers said, "Gods doing what Gods do." Said another.

There was a little commotion from 'off camera' on the lower screen, and Suguwara turned and nodded to someone. A moment later, Astraea took hold of the corner of the 'screen' and moved it a little. Once the wobbling stopped the full array of the available races of Alnus appeared for the city to see.

In front, waving shyly at the 'camera' was Giselle. Behind and beside her were a Harpy, Warrior Bunny, Volralden, Leonoid, Cat folk, a Centaur, Kobold (midget Volralden version), Dwarf, Elf, Orc (pig man), and even a Medusae! Each one of them was dressed as their profession dictated, and while still looking a bit like a group of tourists, there was no mistaking the air of 'civilization' about them.

Normal people with different skins.

"As you can see Orario." Royman said, offering his hand to the wildest looking of the bunch, the Medusae (who was dressed as a maid) and bringing her a little closer to the screen, "They may look different in some cases, but are in no way less civil than us. The Gods beyond the Gate, chose a different path than ours, and brought people from many different worlds to live in theirs."

Beside him, the adorable Medusa maid waved a little shyly, her big dark eyes 'happy to be there', even as some of her 'hair' started to look at Royman's nearest ear with curiosity. Without looking, Royman raised a hand and very gently booped a snoot, making the Medusa pout a little and run a hand over her serpentine hair to get them to behave. She then returned to the lineup behind Giselle, getting a pat on the shoulder from the Warrior Bunny.

Suguwara leaned over and said something else to Astraea, who picked up the narrative again, "Now, for the moment, we are restricting passage through the Gate. They have promised to follow our rules and laws, so we must do the same." Another pause as Suguwara said something, "They are also making ready for visitors, since they never expected a situation such as this any more than we did."

"Hmm, suppose a maid's dress is the same in any world?" Mia mused.

"They have cat people too!" Arnya said.

"And Hume-bunny." A customer commented, "Looks a lot more robust than the ones I've seen in city."

"Is that a man there half horse? And that guy there looks like a Ligerfang on two legs."

"That wolf-man looks like he'd fit right in with Hephaestus Familia."

There were many more comments and mutterings about the variety and looks of the collection of people on the screen, but Mia 'ahem'ed firmly to quiet them down as Ouranos spoke up again.

"Part of this restriction is also for Our safety." He said, "Gods and Goddesses of Orario, we do not know the Rules of their world, and while the Gods beyond the Gate have reached into our world, they have not trespassed. I cannot say what might happen should you enter the Realm of another world." He shook his head, "But, I also cannot stop you if you are curious. Merely warn you that even I have no idea what might happen should you cross over outside the bounds of Our world."

His warning settled over the Gods of the City, making it clear that there may be genuine peril here for any God who gave in to their curiosity.

Royman waited the appropriate time for that to sink in, then resumed, "In a few weeks time, once both sides are more organized, we may set up a bit of an exchange event. In the mean time, we hope that you treat our guests with respect, and that we all get along.?

(In Freya's nice office/room/prison.)

"That can't be all." She mused, the sound of quiet music playing in the background, "You said they were not that impressive?"

"The 'Green Men' seem very professional, but they do not have our gifts." Ottar said, "Though, I will say I believe the Demon Fox when she says they are more than they seem. As well..."

"Hmm?"

"What they did not say, was that the Green Men, and the people beyond the Gate are two different people. From the horseless wagons, I can tell that they are from Kodori's home. While the rest are not." He then placed a cup of tea in front of Freya, his huge hands no danger to the fine porcelain.

"Really now... hmm, this may present an opportunity..." She sipped the tea, smiling, "And where did you find this?"

"Lord Jamil's gardens." Ottar replied, "The flowers he grows for his bees are exotic, and thus the tea from those flowers is equally so."

(Kodori, once again a pack fox.)

Since I wasn't going at a near literal breakneck pace, I had a bit more time to think. I could only really listen to my passengers as I ran along, but most of the conversation revolved around the things they were seeing. You know, like proper tourists.

Part of that surprised me. I mean, a little less than a day ago they were in a potentially lethal conflict. Yet now they were just chatting about how nice the ocean view was, or how colourful the birds were, or why the colour of the sky was a slightly different blue than their own.

Why did this matter? It meant they were professionals. That, or mildly psychotic. Able to switch from 'combat' to 'civilian' mindsets without becoming an emotional wreck. Good. It would make a potential dungeon trip much easier to deal with.

"Hey." Aisha swished my front leg as it moved past her, prompting me to slow down a bit, then stop.

Unable to speak, I said, "Grumph?"

"Why did we stop?" Itami asked from above, "I don't see anything?"

"Well, if you look to your left, you'll see the port town of Melen." Aisha said, "It's around here where you'll get the best view, and honestly, I'm kinda hungry."

"Lemme get the rations." Tuka said, "Hmm, do we have time for a fire?"

Having eaten a butcher's shop worth of food a little while ago, I wasn't hungry. But in reply I moved off to the side of the path and used a paw to claw out a small pit. I then lowered myself for everyone to dismount, and with an amusingly familiar 'sitting in the car too long' stretch, everyone danced about to work out the stiffness.

Then with a thought, I very carefully put a ball of foxfire in the pit. Why burn anything if you didn't have to?

"Oh, thank you!" Tuka said, "Let's see... pasta, chicken, beef, annnnd vegetarian?" She handed out MRE packages, "Miss Ryuu? Miss Aisha?"

"Since I'm not seeing anything small and edible running about in the field, sure." Aisha said.

"Vegetarian please?"

While they nibbled on their packaged survival meals (and made sad faces at just how bad they were), I had a pit stop of my own a good distance away from the rest, and returned just in time for them to be packing up.

"At this pace, I'd say... Hour and a bit. As you can see, Orario isn't far from Melen, but we want..." Aisha pointed past a bunch of fields and a small forest, "Over there."

"What's on the other side? Looks like a mountain fort?" Yao asked.

"Ah, that fort guards a bridge towards Rakia." Aisha replied, "About ten days by wagon that way, and you'll get there. Nice place."

"It is now." Ryuu said, "But that would be a good story for later. Itami?" She held out the MRE package.

"Oh, Kodori-san? Could you burn these?"

They put the empty packages into the firepit, and with a satisfying FWOOSH they were gone. I then pawed the dirt back over the pit and knelt down for everyone to board.

While skirting the edges of Demeter's farmlands, (oh, interesting fact, Demeter was the single biggest land owner in Orario. Her fields were actually bigger than the entire city!) we got a few waves from the farmers. It felt good to be popular, even if you were sometimes a titanic fox who could fit any one of those farmers in their mouth.

I was also a titanic fox who was making sure not to trample on the fields. Sure, it added a little time to our trip, but I'd rather waste ten minutes than wreck something that was half way through a growing season.

"All this to support the city?" Yao asked, "And so many different things..."

"There is more on the other side too." Aisha called up, waving back to someone, "Though there's more livestock than crops on that side."

"Melen also supplies a great deal of fish to the city." Ryuu added, "If there was any luck involved with the dungeon, it was where it ended up."

We made a right turn a little further on, and we were on the path leading towards the ruined castle. There was a lot more traffic than usual too, and I had to slow down a little. A long line of wagons filled with stone blocks were ahead of us. But after noticing the giant fox, they wiggled a little more to the right to give me more space on the left so we could run past. It took about ten more minutes at reasonable speed to get to the clearing around the castle, the same one that Ryuu had started her assault from, and the same one where Ottar and I had our fight.

"Wow, they've really started to fix the place up." Aisha said, "Though, you left it even worse than you found it last time."

In reply, I licked the end of my nose, then nudged her with it. But yes, there, clearly visible, was the Gate. Around it, already well under way, was the castle and many work crews, unloading stone, moving it along, rebuilding walls, and generally making it a little more monster proof. Even this close to the city, the wild animals could be rather large, but to my knowledge none of them could jump or climb very high.

And yes, already in place on small watch towers, were JSDF. And of course, they were looking right at me, since I was kind of towering over just about everything around me save the trees behind us. "Don't worry, they see us." Itami said, "Lemme just..." I heard a little click and some static, "Copy? Copy? Is anyone receiving?"

There was a pause, a click, a repeat, then a reply of, "This is Gate base Beta. We read you. Identify."

"This is First Lieutenant Yoji Itami, special asset team. Yes, that's us on the giant fox." The radio clicked and he poked me, "Signal or something?"

I turned my head so I could focus an eye on him, then back and lifted up a tail, a bit of black and purple fire hovering over the end. "We see you." Then in a less official tone, "Sweet mother... is that Kodori?"

Aisha laughed, "Well, she is a mother, and occasionally pretty sweet."

Ryuu facepalmed, Yao and Tuka blushed, Lelei raised an eyebrow and Rory giggled. Itami just sighed, "Yes, it is. We're coming ahead."

"Copy that. Welcome back."

There was little more than a skeleton crew of soldiers at the new base, but it looked like nearly all of the engineer team was on sight and supervising the adventurers who were unloading stone, tearing down old walls, or rebuilding new ones. Of course, I caused quite the stir with my size, but since I took the final walk up to the base slowly, the soldiers were informed, and the adventurers already knew who I was.

And to my surprise, there were two very familiar faces among them. Goibniu and Stonebelter. As usual, the catboy was hiding behind the God, while the God let him and looked grumpy at everything. But he was talking with the head engineer, and they had a weird 'grumpy old man' vibe going on. I could practically see it in the air around them.

I couldn't get closer though, since I still had people on my back. I kind of wished I could just ask 'where do I park', but decided to just get close to the gate house (freshly built with stone, but lit with magic lamps), and kneel down.

Itami was off first, greeting one of the JSDF (fully armed I'll add), "Sir." They shared salutes, "You're well ahead of schedule. We expected you in a week."

Lelei was off last, and she used a little magic to lift my bundle of equipment up and hover it over towards the nearest wall corner. I started to shrink down, and when I was the proper size for it, I gave her a little brush with my side and a tail or two in thanks.

"We had a bit of a... breakdown in diplomacy with the Amazon City." Itami answered, "Walking became impossible, and we made good time."

"Noted. I've been told to get you into the loop." A bit of paper ruffling, "We've initiated relations with Orario, and the city has warmed up a little to our presence. We've recruited local talent for reconstruction, and aside from a couple of small incidents with the local wildlife, we've had no issues."

While they went on, I had returned to my usual two legged form and started putting on my equipment. I almost wanted to just put on some mana cloth and leave the rest of it off, but well, appearances were important.

"Was it bad? I've seen some of the local wildlife..."

"No casualties, just a bit of brown pants."

"Understood. Do I have other orders?"

"No sir. Current orders stand."

"Right." He turned to look at me as Lelei and I went to join the little huddle of women around them, "Well, seems we made it back, and in one piece."

I nodded, feeling a little tingle as my obligation to return them to the Gate left me. "Good. But now what?"

"Well, my current orders were to return here, go through, and wait for more orders. Usual stuff. File a report, take the rest of the day off to clean up, then be ready-op ASAP."

Tuka leaned over to Aisha, who leaned a little closer, "He means ready as soon as possible for the next silly task they might have for him. They're very demanding over there."

The two soldiers professionally ignored the giggles at their expense. "Right, well, I'm sure by now someone knows where we live. If you've got time, come visit. I've probably got a mountain of work, dinner to cook, and a pile of children to cuddle as soon as I get in, so maybe wait a day or two."

"Understood." He bowed to me, and I returned it, "Pleasure working with you Ma'am."

"You too, and the rest of you. Good job surviving. Yes, even you." I said to Rory, "Ah, can I step in to chat with those two?" I asked the guard.

"Lemme... oh wait, no, you can deal with them. We've been told, and I quote, 'stay out from underfoot' from those three there."

I watched Itami and the Girls march towards the Gate, all of them waving once more over their shoulders before they vanished into the weird blue nothingness inside the Gate. Once they were gone Ryuu Aisha and I went over to see Goibniu.

Stonebelter, in his adorable catboy who was shy about everything way, looked at the three of us and stopped clinging to the God's shoulder. A moment later, he was giving me a hug, "Aunty Kodori. Nnnnr."

"Hello Stonebelter." I replied, giving him very careful headpats. He was a grown adult, sure, but he was a little behind mentally. Who was I to say no when someone so innocent decided to adopt me as their Aunt? Not me, nope. However, since I was the responsible adult, I had to ask, "You're not working right now, are you?"

He rubbed his face against the fur of my vest one more time with a 'nrrrr', then let go. Just like that, he switched from 'happy' to 'business' and said, "No, they are talking about the next thing. I just had to look at the stones for that over there." And with the usual, almost gravity-like pull, he went back to clinging to Goibniu's shoulder and went silent.

"Kodori." The two old men said in sync.

"Master Goibniu, Sir." I said in turn, "Getting along I hope?"

"To my surprise, yes." The God nodded begrudgingly, "These JSDF know how to keep it simple at least."

"A good engineer knows his job is done, not when there is nothing to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." The Pit Boss quoted, "I had my doubts too, but the kid knows his stuff."

"thank you." Very quietly from Stonebelter. "sir?"

"Ah." Goibniu nodded, "We're done for the day, we'll be back. You know where to find us."

"Hai, Kami-sama." Then to me, "No problems?"

"Not with your part in it, no." I gave him a thumbs up, "Then we met an 'enemy' but that was after the plan was over. If you get some free time, or just take time off, come visit."

"I may have to fake an injury to get time off." He sighed, "But I just might do that." He turned and sighed, "Time to yell at someone..."

"We will escort you back." Ryuu said to Goibniu as he and Stonebelter started towards the city.

"Suit yourself."

Aisha must have noticed my slowly growing impatience, because she asked Goibniu if he wanted to skip the walk and get there faster than a wagon. Again he was 'meh whatever you like' about it, but got up on Aisha's back. This left poor Stonebelter without a shoulder to perch on, but I offered him my back and all the fluffy tails, and with that we were running smoothly back to Orario. Poor boy didn't like the speed, and hid his face while we travelled, but was quiet after the initial squeak of alarm. Once at the city's gate, we were greeted by the usual Ganesha guards and let through with a pleasant wave, and Goibniu opted to have the Guards walk them the rest of the way home.

But not before saying, "I'd like to talk about them later. Come by when you have time."

Oh, and a very precious, "Bye bye Aunty Kodori."

We watched them go, and I looked to Aisha and Ryuu, "I'm up for a bath, how about you two?"

"Lady Kodori?" It was a guild representative, stepping out of the nearby gate house (which doubled as a post office and general administration building for in/out traffic at this gate) "A word please?"

Turning to him, I did my best not to sigh, "Can it wait until tomorrow? I haven't slept in... five days?" I looked to Ryuu and Aisha, "Four?"

"Long past bed time." Ryuu said.

The Guild employee looked at us, then to his clipboard, and said with that same professional calm, "I seem to have just missed you. A shame. Tomorrow around lunchtime?"

"Sounds good." I nodded.

(Tomorrow around lunch time.)

Eina was greeted at the Manor's gate by Bell, who, in his usual way, let her in with a smile, a warm greeting and Chime. The three of them walked past Gros, who was watching the land dragon roll around in his sand pit (and not actually lamenting about it, since the dragon had apparently asked somehow), past the Takemikazuchi Familia as they trained in a little battle circle (along with their newest members Kaede and Momiji), and finally past Takemikazuchi himself, who was standing at the Manor's door watching his Familia.

"She's in the common room." Bell said, turning left after the mud room.

Quite familiar with the Manor, Eina had no problem finding it. Once there, she couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

Because there, in the middle of the floor, was a giant fox (car sized version), and all of her children. Someplace near her exact middle was Haruhime, and she was reading a story for the children. New to the group was Amani, who was sitting to Haruhime's left, following along with her finger as she learned to read. But otherwise, Kodori was just laying there and being a giant couch for them.

Well behaved children all of them, they were either listening in, or just laying back against Kodori's side and enjoying O-ma's fur. Even the ones who saw Eina just waved instead of calling out to her. This of course got the others to notice, and Haruhime finished her line and looked up as well.

(Kodori)

I of course felt Eina step onto the property, but I was in my happy place. After getting home yesterday, zombie shuffling my way through greeting everyone, getting a hug from all those who wanted it, a bath, dinner, and I think getting to bed, I'd ended up here in the living room just after breakfast. Since then, I'd been content to lay here and be a couch.

"Eina-san." Haruhime greeted, "How can we help you today?"

"Well, since we apparently just missed her on the way into the city, it's really just the usual paperwork. Of course, Royman is very curious about how things went in Telskyura, and would like advice and input about our Guests from beyond the Gate."

Ever proper, even when she didn't want to be, Haruhime looked at me, into the eye that was facing her and said, "Ko-san, don't be impolite to our guest." Then to the children, "Come now, give her a little space."

Reluctantly, as the slight weight of our children left my side, I got off my belly, pushed a little with my front legs, then with a ruffle of reality, I stood on two legs again, my body covered in an all black house robe, "Eina." I nodded, my tails reaching out and gathering up my children, Haruhime, and even Amani since she was close enough.

"Ahh, I've been captured!"

Cutting through the giggles, Haruhime said, "Now now, go play for a while, Amani? If you want, go join Takemikazuchi-sama and his Familia outside."

All at once the room was cleared of children and we found places to sit on the couches. "I've brought tea." Bell said, arriving from the direction of the kitchen, Jiru on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Bell-san, I'll warm it up." Haruhime said.

"Okay... I think I'm ready to deal with the administration." I said, "You won't like some of it though..."

"We already understand that working with Amazon can be unpredictable." Eina nodded, "And while we don't need all of the details, we would like further impressions about the guests and their world. If you wanted to go into detail, we won't stop you of course but for the moment, we just want honest opinions."

"If you wanted to stay for lunch, I can give you the short form now, then the whole thing when we have everyone in the same room." I said, "Usual after dungeon meeting."

She considered, giving Chime a thoughtful pat on the back, then nodded. She then touched a crystal pendant that was wrapped around her nice tie, "This is Eina."

"Go ahead." It replied, the crystal lighting up a little with each word.

"The meeting with Hestia Familia will take a little while. I expect to be done in about..." She looked at me and I held up three fingers, "Three hours. I'll be taking my lunch here as well."

"Noted. I'll send someone to cover your next meeting." And the crystal went dark.

"Well, now that I've called in, please."

With a wave, Haruhime summoned up a little ball of purple edged gold foxfire and warmed up the tea. Bell served it, and let Jiru crawl over to my shoulder.

"Bell? Put out the call for lunch, Eina's staying and we'll have my report right after." I said, giving Jiru a pat and getting a happy 'blublelele' from him.

"Yes Miss Kodori. I think today is left over stir fry and flat bread? I will have to check."

He waited until the tea was warmed up, poured it for us, another for himself, and took his teacup with him as he left. "Well, here's the warm up then." I started.

NOTES!

Finally back home, marking the 'end' of the first season of the fanfic. Woo! Go us! Just a nice cleanup chapter before things start swinging again.

In other news, for those who actually go to my Ko-fi (no pressure, just letting you all know), I've recently posted our Favourite Red Oni, (unless he smiles), Okakai! I think the artist did incredible on this one. And if anyone wanted to leave a comment on him, (or any of the others) I'd be happy to pass that on to the artists.

So yeah.

Daeore on Ko-fi to look at art!

Daeore on Inkitt to look at my book Were Too?