Chapter 60

For a very brief moment, I felt a white hot, all consuming rage. Seeing Kaede flop backwards, a bit of blood spraying from her chest...

I raised my foot up, and with enough force to bury my leg up to the knee, stomped on the cat-folk's back. The brick wall behind me, where they'd gotten the cannons from, ruptured right to the roof, and I could see the canyon wall behind the building from the corner of my eye.

And then I was running towards Kaede, uncaring of the trail of intestines that had tangled around my ankle for the first ten paces or so.

Behind me, Itami was shouting. I didn't care if he was giving orders, to me or his men. But if he was smart...

With a baseball slide, I came to a stop next to Kaede's still body and looked for signs of life.

And nearly passed out when I saw her cough and start to sit up. "ow, the heck, wha?"

The musket ball had hit her right over the heart. But her adventurer toughness had stopped it from going very far. Instead, the iron ball had dug a superficial trench from the top of her left breast to just over her collarbone, explaining where that spray of blood had come from.

"Hold still." I said, getting to my knees and putting a hand on her right shoulder, "Don't scare me like that."

"Ow." She repeated, "Lemme sit up, there's a rock under my... ow okay thank you." She seemed to be in mild shock, "What hit me? One of those 'riffles'?"

"Yeah..." I sighed, getting a couple of my potion pills out, "A little to the right and it might have hit your throat. Open."

"ahhh." She sighed, "At least I can taste these. Have to thank Jirowwwww!" She wiggled a bit as I rubbed a couple of pills over the divot in her shoulder.

"Sorry... I should have paid more attention to them." I sighed, watching the 'salve' and the pill she ate close up the wound.

She reached up and gave me a Karate Chop of Justice (Hestia version), then put a hand on my shoulder and got to her feet. "You're strong, but not a God." She said, doing a bit of a neck side-to-side, "A little stiff, but I'll be fine."

"We'll both do better next time then." I said, applying a headpat, then turning back towards the JSDF. "Let's get back to work."

"I've got a lot to talk about too." Kaede said, her eyes a little troubled, "But yeah. I miss my bed already."

Itami came over (cautiously) as Kaede and I walked back to the pile of dead and unconscious bodies. While I'd been tending to the Crazy Rabbit, he and the others had been getting them sorted into piles. And all the while, the Chinook hovered overhead, the two gunners keeping vigil.

"Sir Itami." I said as we got within normal speaking range, "If everything has gone to plan, I think this may be the end of our mission."

My opinion of him went up a tiny bit, when instead of answering he took a good look at Kaede. And not a 'young woman is wearing amazon armour' kind of look. This was a 'eye to eye' check of alertness, kind of deal when checking for shock. He nodded approval when Kaede gave him a 'V' and grinned like the mini battle maniac that she was.

"I haven't heard official word yet, but we were picking up all kinds of people who were leaving in a rush." His eyes squinted at me from under the gas mask, "Are you sure you want us to let them all go?"

"Ah, my words were a little unclear. I want them all alive." I looked to the crater I made of the one who shot Kaede, "Within reason. What they have here, from what I've heard, would have them all executed. But, we both know that won't solve the problem."

Kaede, who was still holding her nose, asked, "What are they even doing here? And why does it smell so bad?"

"You were told about the bakery incident?" Itami asked, "Well, what they're doing here is part of what made that explosion. Just need the sulphur... I mean wow... they have cannons! That's going to make things difficult later..." He sighed.

"Oh, that makes sense then." Kaede pointed her free hand back the way she'd come, "I have a wagon at the end of that corridor there with barrels of the stuff. And some wine too."

We both looked down at her with a raised eyebrow, "Oh?"

"It's part of my report... you know, when we get to that." She said with a shrug, "Not to sound like I'm whining, but can we go now?"

"Hm." Itami looked at my collection of 'gently abused' captives. "Shouldn't be a problem getting them all in."

"I'll will go with her. Don't give them to the local authorities yet." I said seriously.

"Sounds good. Yeah. We can't blow this place up until we do a little more investigating anyhow..." He sighed, turning to the others who were at 'alert standby' nearby, "Okay, I need three volunteers."

After helping them load the captives into the helicopter, Kaede and I left Itami and his three volunteers to guard the camp. Following her back to the wagon, I started the 'cleanup' process of our mission.

I tapped the crystal around my neck, "Silence is broken."

A pause, then, "I am here with Shinkage." It was Mikoto.

"Ryuu and I are together." Maki.

"And Kaede and I are here." I finished, giving her a pat on the shoulder, "It's looking hopeful, but I think our little side quest is done."

"Oh good." Shinkage sighed, "How did your cleanup go?"

I thought for a moment on how to accurately describe what had happened, and settled with a, "Not as planned, but better than expected."

"Current plan?" Ryuu asked, "We are still helping the JSDF in the slums here."

"Kaede and I are heading to Alnus. I have something to pick up there before I can actually do what I need to."

"We will finish up as soon as is polite, then run back then." Ryuu said.

"More running?" Maki sighed.

"The jog home will do you good." Shinkage said.

Kaede spoke up, "I heard that they have actual baths there too." She gave me a meaningful look.

I couldn't argue with that. "Very well. All hands to Alnus." Mikoto said, "I will inform the... comms officer? Yes, about this. They should expect you. If there are any issues, make them known."

"Agreed." We all said.

Then the crystal in my hand buzzed once, and went silent. "Step over a little." I said to Kaede.

"Hmm?" She didn't question, and moved away a little, but still looked curious.

A few hand gestures later, and I used my 'water spray punishment' on myself. Twice even! "Bleh..."

Astraea's Warrior Bunny smiled, then laughed, pointing and slapping her knee, "You look just like a drown cat!" Before giggling herself down to her knees.

I took a moment to add to the show, shaking myself off with an exaggerated 'wet doggo' motion that went to the tip of my (unsatisfying) cat tail. Kaede's giggles had changed though, and I paused my antics in mid shake, "Kiddo?" She was crying, not laughing.

So, like the big sister I couldn't stop being, I picked her up and continued down the narrow canyon, "Want to talk about it?" I asked.

Being the big sister meant I got cried on a lot. That was okay, I didn't judge, I just listened and applied headpats as needed. Kaede told me all about what had happened, how it happened, and why she let it happen as it did. And I understood it all. Even the bit at the end where she ultimately allowed the other two to leave, without actually knowing the overall plan to 'just chase them out'.

She saw the problems of this world, the monsters it made of some of the people, and had taken a course that fit her own morals. Just like everyone else at the Manor. She didn't like it, but it was the least amount of 'harm' she could do, while still keeping to her own sense of personal justice.

So, after she'd had a few minutes to cry, tell me the story, and get a 'no one is watching so I will hug you SUPER TIGHT' moment, she sighed and started to slide back into her perpetually cheerful persona we all knew and loved.

And all the while, the horses clopped along, uncaring save for the road ahead.

Sometime later, as we started to pass by Italica, we saw another Chinook fly by. "Those are really impressive." Kaede said as she turned in her seat to watch it. "Is that what you're trying to do with your mapping platforms?"

"Not... really?" I shrugged, "I could make such a thing. Eventually. But..." I sighed, "I'd rather not."

"You don't want to become any more famous?"

"I don't, true. But it's sort of... why would we need something like that?" I asked, "People were asking me why I was so dead set on the train, but we actually have a purpose for it."

"Well, it looked like it could carry a lot! I mean, all those prisoners..."

"It would be a very useful thing to have around, but inevitably, someone is going to wonder what they could do with one that isn't on the up and up." I shook my head, "For example, did you see those pipes on the front? Under the windows?"

"I was wondering..."

"That's something that can fire six thousand of those little bullets in a minute. Six thousand of those things that hit you in the shoulder today." Kaede blinked at me, "And it has one on both doors too." I was probably wrong about the gun they used, but the 'Mini-gun' was a common turret mounted weapon. "Those little rifles the JSDF carry? Those fire around thirty bullets in a few seconds, and are properly shaped to kill as efficiently as possible."

She was still a little dumbfounded, but rubbed her shoulder, "Oh... yeah... don't need that in Orario." She shivered a little, despite warm evening. "On the topic of weapons though..." She gave her temporary short blades a pat, "I kind want one of these as my backup."

"Deal." I mussed her hair (carefully avoiding her ears), "When we get back, Welf and I will make you one that'll put those to shame." I let her go, then squinted down at her, "You're going to wear proper armour again though, right?"

She looked down at herself, "Yeah... I'm not nearly as shy as Mo-chan, but this is a little too... breezy for me."

It was just starting to think about getting dark when the little town around Alnus came into view. By this point, even the over-energetic bunny was flopped over my lap and looking basically comatose with boredom. Couldn't blame her... How did wagon drivers do this back in the day?

"Hey tiny." I booped her nose, her eyes blinking open then looking up at me, "We're there. Want to stretch your legs and go find an officer? You said the first two and last two barrels were wine right?"

"And that I could sell them." She grinned, "Okay. Anyone by name?"

"If you're asked, mention that Itami should have called ahead. They'll figure it out from there."

About a half hour later, with Kaede long gone and probably enjoying a bath, I rolled up to the Tavern across from the forward base. Of course, the people of the town were giving me all kinds of looks. I mean, I looked like a maid who had rolled down a hill of rocks, probably didn't smell the best, and had a large wagon. I'd give me an odd look too. But, no one actually stopped me, and when I'd 'parked' the wagon just out of the way of the door, the only 'reaction' I'd gotten from anyone past the 'odd look' was Giselle as she stepped out (looking great in her barmaid uniform).

"You're not our usual delivery person." She said, "And..." She sniffed.

"It's a little bit of a story, Ma'am Giselle." I said with a slightly shredded maid bow, "But I've been told that some of these barrels have wine in them, and was wondering if the owner would like to buy them. After testing for quality, since they were... spoils of war."

She gave me that odd look everyone else had been throwing my way, "Wait a minute... you're-"

I held up a hand and smiled, "Shh. I must speak with the officer in there about the rest of the barrels. And if you could, please book tomorrow off. I have a job for you."

She was still giving me 'the squint eye' but nodded, "I'll ask, but she can be pretty stingy with my time off..."

"I'll pay her, and you, for your time." I said, "Be with you soon."

I left her to ponder on that, and we both turned away from each other to go about our tasks. The little unassuming building across from the tavern was unlocked, but I still made sure to knock loudly, "Special asset coming in."

Soichiro had one hand on the desk, the other just under it, as I entered. But, once I stepped in he relaxed a little. "Ah, you must be one of our special... Why do you smell like a farm?" He wasn't so impolite to cover his nose, but you could tell he wanted to.

"How much do you know about the most recent operation?" I asked, not wanting to step on any toes in regard to 'clearance'. I didn't know if that was even a thing, but...

"Only that it happened, and what has gone by the local comms." He said, "I wasn't involved, so I wasn't told." He shrugged.

"Well, I'll let your superiors tell you what they please. But, I have a wagon with several large barrels of sulphur on it, and was wondering if you knew what should be done about them." I replied, "Our horses have been quite reliable, but I don't think they would enjoy trying to go up the hill."

He got up and rounded the desk, "Let's take a look."

The wine was sold to the tavern owner for 'a pittance'. Apparently it was cheap wine, but could still be sold. I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference, so I honestly didn't care.

That money was used for soap.

The sulphur on the other hand would take time to dispose of. Most of the uses for it were industrial past the point this world was at, but, it could be added to fertilizer. I could use it for skin care products, but a literal ton of the stuff would have me stuck in my lab until my grandchildren were old enough to marry...

So, I of course put up the idea of sending it to the Blue Pharmacy. And since I'd 'handed it over' to the JSDF, it could be used to buy things from Orario, like more medicine.

Cleanup was going far too well it seemed. I could hear the quiet chatter of my team in the baths while I scrubbed the nice smelling abrasive soap over my skin in the showers. But as I was getting to my single non-floofy cat tail, I felt a familiar pair of eyes settle on me.

"My my." It was Rory, in all her adorable naked killer loli glory. "I heard about what happened." She sniffed the air delicately, "That you had to get quite dirty it seems."

"Working to fix a problem is seldom clean work." I said with a smile and my best 'still a maid' voice, though I started to scrub the soap over my skin again. "While it was an amusing distraction from my usual day to day back home, I wonder why we had to do it at all."

"And what is that suppose to mean?" Rori asked with a frown, scrubbing some of the military shampoo through her hair, though it was from a bright pink squeeze bottle, so maybe it wasn't?

"History teaches us that constant oppression causes rebellion. That no matter how hard the fist squeezes, things always slip through the fingers." I sniffed a little of the soap from the duplicate bottle nearest me, and yeah, no self respecting JSDF would go around smelling like strawberries. I on the other hand wouldn't mind, at least for a day or so.

"Such a matter is for the mortals to figure out." She said without a care.

"Buried under a stone house, covered in oil, set on fire, and the ashes spread around the world in little jars? Would that work?" She paused scrubbing her hair and looked at me with one eye wide. But I returned her careless smile, then ducked past the next room into the soaking area.

Maki and Ryuu gave me a raised eyebrow, "Don't taunt the Apostle?" Maki mumbled as I slipped in next to her, "Huh... you actually used perfume?"

"Out of everyone, she had to deal with the most crap." Shinkage said, "I simply set myself on fire when no one was looking and borrowed an overall."

I could have done that, sure, but I was still trying to be mysterious. "Oh, the old man in charge wanted to talk to us after our bath." Kaede said, her eyes closed as she sat up to her chin in the water, "It's not as nice as back home, but the temperature is just perfect."

Mikoto, our traditional bath expert, was... troubled. "The temperature is good. But the scent is wrong." She poked at the thick rubber sheet 'bag' that held all this nice water, "This material is... inadequate."

"They've been here long enough, why don't they build a proper one?" Maki wondered aloud, "Who knows how long they'll be here, right?"

Rory came in right about then, answering with a, "Something about an 'expenditure limit'." She slipped in next to Ryuu, who would at least not embarrass her if you compared the two. "They put such import on their work here, yet they are given little to encourage them."

Kaede, still up to her neck with eyes closed, said what the rest of us were thinking, "Politics."

Since I was last into the bath, aside from Rory, I was left with a little bit of a... conundrum. My clothes had been shredded by gunfire and shrapnel from the cannon exploding, and quite likely wouldn't get clean even with the washing machines they had here. Everything else was disposable (like my imitation Hostess of Fertility boots) or mana cloth.

But...

The mission was over. So it didn't really matter that if I revealed myself now... did it?

As I considered this in the change room, I spotted one of those one size fits all overalls. I might not have looked as good as Aisha in one, but...

A little later, the six of us were sitting across from the Commander, Mari and Akira Yanagida. The latter still had Mamina behind him, but he was already looking more fit than last I saw him even if he was still in a wheelchair.

We'd all given our reports, added clarifications where needed, apologized a couple of times for causing trouble, and gotten a verbal headpat from the Commander. (He wasn't frowning either!)

"This is troubling, to say the least." He said, "But the results speak for themselves."

"The items we recovered from the formerly abandoned mining town are what worry us the most." Akira said, "The ideas behind our weaponry are fairly simple, but the implementation is another thing altogether."

Mamina, not 'officially' here, spoke up, "Not really, right? I mean, you put a 'boom' behind the 'shot' and it goes forward, right? I mean, like an arrow, except the 'boom' is the string and the 'shot' is the arrow."

The three JSDF opened their mouths, closed them, and frowned at almost the exact same time. "She's not wrong." Yanagida said.

Maki, our 'known Earth Native' (since I was being mysterrrrrrious still) spoke up, "They haven't really figured out all the moving bits. A cannon barrel exploding means they cast it poorly. But yeah, a rifle is just a more advanced version of a flintlock. And a Cannon is just a reusable fireworks mortar."

"The powder itself though..." The Commander grumbled, "That kind of chemistry would likely be from Rondel."

"Lelei mentioned that not all students pass." Ryuu said, "But not knowing everything doesn't mean they have learned nothing."

"There was a mage at the Italica incident." Mari said, "It's not impossible for sure."

We all had a moment of quiet, but Mamina added in a little of her own 'local' sensibilities, "I'm surprised you took so many prisoners." She said to me, "Wouldn't a place like that have a person who can mix this black powder stuff? Get rid of them, and..." She didn't finish, but her point was clear.

I replied with my best Akeno smile, "We were hired to clean up a little, not murder everyone who seemed problematic."

Akira gave Mamina's hand a single, subtle, pat. But then nodded in agreement with us, "We may not have captured any ring leaders, or scientists, or even mages. But with all of the noise that you made, you spooked an awful lot of potential agents. We discovered several dens in Italica, past that of the tunnel you found." She nodded to Shinkage, "We also found a few hideouts in and around Sedara itself. Add that to the descriptions Kaede-chan gave us, and I think we'll do well on our own now."

"It will take a little time to question everyone we captured, but this will go a long way towards securing this side of the Row Stream." The commander said, "We'll be sure to cleanse the abandoned mining town as well."

Maki spoke up, "If Arpeggio has had any success with that metal finding spell of hers, why not see if you can re-populate it again? It was taken over because it was abandoned."

"I'll mention it to Lelei." He nodded, "Speaking of..." He focused on Kaede, "We got the report from the mining village you were at."

Kaede looked a little ashamed, but only a little! We could tell she stood by her decision.

"Why did you let them go?" He asked. There was no accusation or scorn in his voice. This was a serious question between adults, not parent to child.

"They've been driven to this." She said with almost no pause. "The empire hunting them all down or subjugating them. The 'nobility' not making it any better. The Apostles not caring about anything but their 'job' to oppress their ability to fight back. This isn't a 'new' problem for them." She paused then, took a little breath, then added, "Killing them wouldn't have solved anything."

The Commander nodded, satisfied, "From the reports, had you," He pointed to me, then Shinkage, "Not found their hideout, you would have." He gave Kaede a smile, then looked left/right at his officers. "I think that's all for tonight. Will you be staying the night, or returning?"

"Most of us will be returning." I said, "But I..."

I slowly let all of my shifted features return back to 'Kodori', and though I had to move a little forward in my chair to let my tails out, it felt good to be 'me' again.

"Have work to do still." I smiled.

Then pouted, since only Mamina seemed to be surprised at the change.

"I told you. That kind of suspicion is bred into us." The Commander smiled while Mari had a little 'fu fu' moment and Akira laughed briefly.

"There there." Maki gave me a headpat, "I think I'll stay the night, join the morning drills, and maybe spar with Shino, if she's around?"

The Commander nodded, "And the rest?"

"I will stay behind as well." Shinkage said, giving me 'the look', but not commenting further.

"Very well. Feel free to drive that wagon through the Gate on your way back, we'll have a soldier go with you to Nazza-san's Pharmacy." A pause, another left-right look, "Dismissed."

Before heading to the 'guest dorms', I had to make a stop at the kitchen. The 'semi-retired' cafeteria lady (yes, she was JSDF, and could probably have put anyone on base over her knee if she wanted, but this was her 'desk job' until she retired), was happy to give me a lesson in the local cuisine. This would be important for my actual mission after all.

What I knew of Hardy, aside from her being a Goddess of this world, and previously unwilling to cooperate with the JSDF in regards to the Apocrypha. Was that she would possess a body, and basically take it for a joy ride for a little while in 'payment' for the audience.

Lelei had told me all she could about it. How the Goddess simply enjoyed 'wearing' her body. Having a lavish meal, asking Itami for sex, etc etc. And while Itami turned her down, Hardy didn't press or overstep, and brought no harm to Lelei.

She'd also been able to talk to Hardy while she'd been possessed, and even been allowed to speak when she had something to add to the conversation. So Hardy, overall, seemed reasonable, if unwilling to shoulder any actual responsibility for the Gate, or the fire dragon waking up, or all those other little things she'd done for amusement.

I wasn't hopeful, but I could at least try. But to put the odds in my favour, well, I'd do what I did with anyone I was trying to impress or curry favour with. And cook them something nice. I had a great track record so far. I mean, Kyoto? Saved with cookies. Kuoh? Inspired an entire generation of chefs at a high class hotel chain. The Underworld? I impressed all four of the Satan with my cooking. Hades? I heard Cerberus loved my doggo biscuits. Orario? Cheesecake, all by itself, was one of the most asked for items at Hostess of Fertility.

So yeah, I was hopeful that my track record so far would carry at least a little weight.

When I got to the dorm, Maki's first comment was, "You're not going to meet the Goddess of the Underworld dressed in a One size Fits all overall, are you?"

Shinkage, since she'd set herself on fire, and likely burned her clothes away as well, chuckled quietly. "Wearing the same thing as me would be... gauche."

"I had no idea they could get that small." Because yes, Shinkage was also wearing one, and the 'fits all' was not an exaggeration.

"I'm sure I can make even pure black look stylish." I shrugged, "I mean, had I known I'd have to spend part of a day near a town sized manure pit, I'd have brought spare clothing..."

Maki and Shinkage sighed.

"How is it that you still can't add colour to your cloth?" Maki asked, "I mean, you've made the 'gold fox ball' for the children to play with. Your foxfire is purple and gold. And when you change into a fox, you have silver on your face." In an uncommon, but not unwelcome show of 'personal space invasion', she poked me in the cheek a couple times, "You've got to have some colour in there somewhere!"

"Black goes with everything." I countered.

"But it needs something to go with." Shinkage retorted.

Someplace deep in my soul, I felt hurt. The dragon who's only care about clothing was 'not frilly', had just given me fashion advice.

"Suppose I can practise then." I sighed.

I'd tried my best, honest!

But in the end all I'd managed was 'black with gold and silver tie dye'. My mana cloth battle kimono looked as if someone had taken some gold and silver paint and thrown it at me. Every attempt at 'detail' basically made the cloth come apart, or not become take the shape I wanted.

Trying to 'correct' the colour after the fact just made it warp and twist over the cloth, like the gold and silver were stuck between two layers of glass and someone was pressing on it. To be fair, that's basically what mana cloth was. My two elements, with Air being the 'cloth' and 'void' being the colour.

It would do.

The next morning, after making one last attempt at something that didn't look like black cloth after silver and gold paint had been thrown through a jet engine near it, I stepped out of the dorm feeling rested, if exceptionally 'loud'.

Shinkage, the cheater, was in her adorable mechanic's overall still. "You will simply have to practise more." She said with her usual 'old man' voice.

Maki only laughed and waved, "Going to join the morning exercises, maybe hang out with Shino."

"Be back before dinner." I said.

"Yes mom!"

Even Shinkage laughed at that one.

"Have everything?" Shinkage asked as we watched Maki trot off towards the airfield.

About the only 'real' clothing I had was my belt of pouches and potion loops. "You?"

She nodded, "Let's go collect our guide." We took one step, then Shinkage stopped.

"Hmm?"

She then made the universal posture for 'I want up'.

"Of course." I chuckled, my tails gathering her up and perching her on my shoulder. "Sorry you had to do so much walking yesterday."

She started to play with my ears, and after a moment she said, "You are now forgiven."

"Oh! You came back!" Giselle, was surprised to see us, "And so early too!" A pause, "Wait... why are you familiar?"

"Giselle, this is Shinkage. Remember how you said necromancy was forbidden? Well, this is where some of the soul came from." I introduced my shoulder ornament.

"Hagane is... something like a brother, but closer." Shinkage explained, "He was right though, you seem familiar, and much more likeable than Rory."

Giselle did a Special Region styled End Zone dance, "Yes! I can be popular too! Take that Rory!"

We watched in silent amusement as the Barmaid dragon newt celebrated, but after a moment I did a polite ahem "Did you tell your boss you'd be away for today?"

She stopped and blinked at me, "Wait..." I could almost hear her brain cells click together as she realized, "That was you last night?"

"One of my many talents." I smiled, "The question remains however?"

"Oh... yeah I asked, but she wanted proof..." She mumbled, "Said nobody would want to hire someone like me..."

I opened my pouch and took out one of the local gold coins and handed it to her. Shinkage chuckled, "I suppose that makes us Nobody."

Poor downtrodden immortal half dragon killing machine that she was, could almost not believe her luck. But after a very sincere headpat, she made sure the Tavern's 'today's special' billboard was in place, then walked back into the Tavern.

Inside, I could faintly here a happy (not mocking!) 'I told you so! Here!' and an equally faint (but also not mocking) 'Don't be late for tomorrow morning!'

And then Giselle was out again, ready to work. "So! What did you actually need me for?"

"Well, I was hoping you could call a couple of your wyvern, and give us a lift to the place Lelei and the rest talked to Hardy." I replied, giving her my best 'yes I'm serious' Akeno smile.

"I think she just blue-screened." Shinkage said as Giselle seemed to stop breathing.

So, I booped her nose to check if that was the reset button, and said, "Yes I'm serious."

"Ah... um... okay." She sighed, "Do you need me to come with you?"

"I'd really like it if you did." I said.

"Okay..."

We didn't have to wait long in the 'killing field' before a pair of wyvern started to approach from over the horizon. I could have been mistaken, but they looked to be the same pair that I'd met (and given belly rubs) when I'd asked Giselle for a lesson on them.

And while the wyvern hadn't changed, Giselle had. No longer was she wearing the nice barmaid outfit, but a...

Well, there really was no way to say it other than, 'a leather bondage suit made just for her'. It was a pure white leather... thing... that was laced at the front, had a sort of cloth skirt that was open at the front, and a skimpy bikini style bit of leather (or thick cloth) that covered her groin.

To be fair, she looked great in it! Unlike Rory, she had actual curves that this weird outfit showed off. But I couldn't help but wonder why the heck someone would wear it.

Not only that, she had a scythe. Yes, a 'grim reaper' type scythe.

"Your 'holy weapon' and 'uniform'?" I asked.

"Well... kinda?" She sighed a little, "The weapon is. Hardy is the Goddess of the underworld, and well, this is Her weapon of choice."

"Strange how even in another world the weapon is the same." Shinkage mused, "And the dress?"

Giselle sighed, "Lady Hardy likes other women. So I have to dress like this to keep her happy. So do all the other Priestesses."

"Well, it does look good on you." I nodded, making sure to sound sincere (since I was). "Is that why you don't want to go visit?"

"No!" She waved her hands in front of her, "It's not that, I mean... I don't um... swing that way? But She's um..." She sighed again, "I haven't been doing well as an Apostle. I keep trying to impress Her and do what I'm supposed to do. But..."

"But not even Rory could handle the JSDF now that they've come and upset the balance here?" Shinkage ventured.

"Urk.. yeah... basically exactly that." She gave me a pleading look, "Are you sure you want me to come along? I can just tell my wyvern to drop you off there!"

"If you can put in a good word for me, I'd be thankful." I said, giving her shoulder a pat, "Also, I heard everything from Lelei, about how her and the others met with Hardy. I intend on cooking for Her myself, and having a chat with Her about the Gate." I gave Shinkage a 'back me up' look.

"Her cooking is quite famous back in Orario. And even on Earth, though almost no one would know it was hers now." Shinkage said, "She's impressed Gods and people alike."

The wyvern landed a short distance off with a grumbly 'THUMP' of scale and wing, shaking themselves off and getting closer to us. As soon as the two of them had gotten close enough to Giselle to make little grumpf? noises at Giselle for headpats, she perked up and started to sparkle at me, "Deal! I'm in!"

"Good. Now lets give these two a thank you scratch or two, and get on our way."

After giving the wyvern a headpat, chin scratch, nose boop (no you may not nibble Shinkage) and some wing brushes, we got into the air.

Since I had no idea how to 'steer' a wyvern (other than say, kill it and ride it straight down... but that probably didn't count), I hoped Giselle (who was actually flying on her own) had firm control over them since I didn't want to walk to the main temple of Hardy. Since it was a little north of Rondel, well, it would have been a chore, and I was already starting to feel the beginnings of adorable children withdrawal.

But as we passed over the farmlands around Italica, Italica itself, and headed towards the same mountain range, I stopped worrying and just took in the sights. It was a very pretty world. With lots of big fields, pretty mountains, animals big and small, and a huge diversity of people. I kind of wished I'd brought HIDA along for this trip. Her battery would last a day or two for sure!

Though, if I had to resort to 'plan B' with my visit with Hardy, she might end up broken. Hm, I'd have to see about getting a spare cellphone or two from off the base...

Flying was kinda boring...

Are we there yet?

Huh, the wyvern nest I flew over is ignoring us...

We flew for maybe another hour before Giselle started to drift downwards. Rondel, from up here, looked just as amazing as it did the last time I was out this way. It wasn't just the magic, or the science, or even the weird design. It was the fact that that city alone stood against the stifling of the Gods and their Apostles when it came to trying to advance the world. Even a little bit.

But, ultimately, it wasn't my problem to fix. I could slip a few hints in, and hope they weren't caught in a dark alleyway someplace by someone like Rory... But that was about it, without going full on 'occupation' with schools and such.

I stopped looking towards this world's 'jewel' of Rondel, and forward. We were descending towards what looked like a large town set deep into a forest. Greek architecture was the closest I could think of when looking at the buildings, but it was a little rounder, smoother. The forest, and town, had several finger-like hills of rock jutting up from the ground, and they had been incorporated into the city itself, with what looked like...

Y'know, I had a spyglass for this kind of thing...

Aha. There was no doubt this was a 'holy city'. Those spires, and many of the buildings, had something similar to a 'crucifix' on them. Except instead of someone nailed to a cross, it looked to be a woman with wings, and the 'cross' was a downward pointed diamond. It was very pretty, but the icon was all over the city itself. That must have been Hardy.

Past the city itself, was a vast scrubby mountain range made up of orange and white stone, but I didn't really have any care to visit. What I wanted looked to be in almost the exact middle of the massive city. A huge domed building that not only had one of those icons standing almost as tall as the building itself out in front, but the same figure carved into every flat wall behind each pair of Greek/Roman pillars.

We were almost there now, and I took this moment to activate the sealing charms on my forearms, locking away my Kitsune abilities.

NOTES!

And so we go visit the Goddess of negligen-I mean the Underworld.

See you next time.

Daeore on Ko-fi and Inkitt etc etc.

Discord aKAQg4bnYu

Thank you for reading. :)