Vulpine Spanner in the Works
Chapter 9: New Tenants, Unexpected Roommates, and a Fox-Based Moving Company
Day 6:
[Kashia]
Waking up after a well-deserved rest, I yawned and stretched my arms, legs, and tails in bed until I felt a few pops. It turns out that my copy was correct in her observations of my body, much to my ever-growing embarrassment since I definitely wasn't quiet last night. She was most certainly going to rag on me for that, so I'd need to mentally prepare for the taunting the moment I stepped out of my room.
Either way, I couldn't sit around in bed all day since I had a lot of things to do. First, I needed to talk to my guests and get them sorted out. Following this, I'd meet back up with Ninya and check her sister's condition. That would very likely lead to the next task which would be to talk with the rest of the Swords of Darkness. They'd need to understand everything that was going on with rescuing Tuare, even if Ninya was extremely hesitant to talk about it.
Following that, I'd have to look over all the information that my copy had summarized for me and create a plan of attack. I couldn't help but sigh at another long and busy day ahead of me. Yet, just as I was about to move out of my bed, I noticed that I was wearing clothing under these bedsheets. That was extremely odd since I remember taking off my clothes before going to bed last night.
Ripping the sheets off my body, I glared at the new articles that I was wearing which, I knew for a fact, I'd never seen or put on before. For some reason, I was wearing a very short white dress with a red medical cross being emblazoned on my chest. There were matching white high-heeled boots that went up to my thighs. Moving my ears a bit, I quickly noticed that there was a cap on my head, which I could already guess what the design was.
Standing up out of my bed, my mood soured immediately at how this dress was so short that I'd flash someone the moment I bent in one direction or another. Quickly, I opened up my storage space to grab my normal clothes until I noticed that they weren't where they should normally be.
"Motherfucker." I muttered as I marched out the door of my room and into the central room of the cabin where I found my copy waiting in a chair with an amused smirk on her mouth.
"Morning, Dr. Kashia! Did you have a pleasant rest?" My copy greeted with a laugh.
"Where are my clothes!? I look like an extremely slutty nurse in the start of a porno." I demanded as I marched over to the chuckling prankster.
"Actually, that would be the doctor uniform. The nurse uniform uses a miniskirt and bikini top. Still, I thought it would be appropriate for you to wear today since you were going to visit our patients today." She answered with an infuriatingly mocking tone. My only solace from that answer was that I hadn't woken up wearing the nurse's uniform and that no one else besides us could see me right now.
Crossing my arms, I simply looked at her with growing levels of impatience. "I'm not going outside wearing this. Now, where are my actual clothes?" With a sigh, my copy snapped her fingers which caused my clothes to appear on the table.
"Spoil sport." She remarked. I didn't give her a reply as I unequipped the 'doctor's uniform', which more like something a stripper would wear, and reequipped my regular gear before joining my copy at the table. Sadly enough, I couldn't force myself to part with the doctor's uniform and instead just stored it away in my storage space.
"I hate you so much right now." I began.
"And yet, you took my advice last night. I could hear you for a long time before you finally called it a night. You certainly had a lot of fun." I rolled my eyes at the remark and waited for her to continue. "Anyways, you probably want to hear of my accomplishments last night, and let me tell you, I accomplished a lot." She said before pulling out a small stack of parchment that she slid over to me on the table.
"Great. I'll take a look at this later today when I have more time. Until then, I need to meet our guests and get them sorted out. Anything that I should be aware of before I get there?" I asked while leaning back in my chair. My copy waved her hand and casted a quick illusion spell that created a group of five people.
"The first one with dark hair is called Sharyl Hunter." The person my copy pointed out was around 5'8" with long dark hair and blue eyes. She appeared to be in her early 20's, if not slightly younger. "She was captured a few months before we found her from her home in E-Pespel. She used to be a butcher while her husband was a hunter. Sadly, she only has her husband as the rest of her family died to plague or war and she wishes to return back to her home."
"Easy enough. I'll have her teleported back to her home with a sack of coins. I'll also give her an item to alert me in case she is attacked by the slavers again." I noted for later before giving my copy the signal to continue.
"The next one is a half-elf named Poppelia, though she goes by Poppy." The second illusion was a slender teenage girl of 5'4" with odd mint-green hair that obscured her eyes and a pair of pointed ears that slightly stuck out from her hair. "This girl was captured and enslaved at a young age by the Slane Theocracy. Eventually, she was sold to the organization, Eight Fingers, before arriving at the brothel. Her family is unknown as Poppy was captured early enough to be unable to recall their names or faces. Currently, she is unsure of what she wishes to do since this is probably one of the few times in her life that she's ever had a choice for herself."
I couldn't help but feel a sad sympathy for the girl. Living as a slave for most of one's life definitely hurt her psychological development, and certainly ruined her sense of self and freewill. She was going to need a lot of help to readjust to life now. "I won't rush her decision. She'll be allowed to stay here as long as she needs. Though, I will need to find someone that can stay with her to help her psychological development. Anyone that you believe could help with that?"
"I've got an idea. Trabgo is smart enough, and he isn't as burdened by chores like Maup is. He also tends to act as a secondary leader to the other goblins whenever Maup is occupied. Aside from him, another one of our new potential residents could take up the task." I nodded at the answer. While I'd like to have her mentored by Zaryusu, the lizardman was only a guest here, so there was no knowing how long he'd stay, and I couldn't force Zaryusu to accept a task like that when he already was busy with learning and interacting with the village.
"Continuing on, the next one is a young boy named Aaron." The illusionary figure was that of the boy I rescued at the start of my raid on the brothel. He had shaggy hair the color of rust, and green eyes. The kid stood at a short 5'1" with barely any fat or muscle on his body. "The kid was the child of merchants that were killed by bandits. Those same bandits then captured and sold him to slavers. From the way his injuries weren't as severe as the others, I'd reckon that he'd only been in the brothel for a few weeks. He doesn't have a home, so he wants to stay here."
Another sad tale that I doubted would be the last one I heard today. "Any idea on who he should get paired with?" As this was a child, I didn't have any idea on which villager here could take care and raise a human kid. My copy and I had too many things to do right now to raise a child full-time, and I wasn't confident in how well the others in the village could deal with the task.
"Actually, I have an answer for that." My copy then pointed to the next illusionary image of an older woman with…purple hair? Odd color, especially since they didn't seem inhuman in any way. She looked mature, possibly late 30's early 40's at a tall 5'10". I couldn't help but feel slightly jealous at how she was so much taller than me.
"The woman here is Layla, a former midwife and nursemaid of her village that bordered the mountains south of E-Pespel. She was sold by her village as an offering when raiders came. They took her and some of the village's food before leaving. Afterwards, she was used by them until sold to the brothel. She has absolutely no wish to return to the village that betrayed her, but she is willing to stay here since she's grateful for being rescued." My copy smiled after saying this, and I couldn't help but join her in understanding what she wanted to do.
"Hopefully, she isn't opposed to helping raise a kid that was in a similar situation as her? Even better, a nursemaid would be very useful for taking care of orphans while a midwife could help any pregnant families that came to the village. I'll ask her when I see her." I stated.
"Finally, the last person is an elf ranger that was kidnapped while wandering the capital city. His name is Rush." The final illusion was a tall, thin, blond man standing at 6'1" with an androgynous face and slight muscle in his arms and legs. "He was looking for work until he stayed at one of the inns for a night. During that time, his food was drugged, and he ended up enslaved. The elf was going to be transferred to another brothel until we arrived and killed everyone. He isn't opposed to staying here since we need guards for the village that aren't so…loud like the ogres and trolls are. I talked to him a bit, and he was interested in getting a job."
"That is helpful. I'll finish up confirming all the details before gearing him up and sending him out to pick a house to stay at. We'll also need to draw up plans for a schedule that the village's guards can follow." Having an actual ranger as part of our village would be extremely helpful for reconnaissance as well as for teaching other guards on scouting and survival within the forests. It was a simple fact that the bulk of our guards, the trolls and ogres, were not that skilled at sneaking about if they ever planned to scout the area.
They left large trails, were loud, and had an identifiable stench. Possibly, Rush's skills could potentially rub off on others if he was command of a squad. I'll keep that in mind for later.
With that, I stood up and prepared a [Teleport]. "I'm heading off now. Try to create a rudimentary schedule for the village's guards. Also, I think I've figured out a name that's appropriate to name this village, especially after everything that's occurred." My copy had a curious look on her face after I said this.
"Oh, and that would be?"
"The Haven-Lake Village. We're giving a home and protecting everyone that resides here. It's only appropriate to announce that to those that come here." I answered with a proud smile.
"If that's your decision, I'll let the residents know." With a nod, I cast [Teleport] and arrived in the hospital where the guests were all residing. Inside, the room was large with wooden walls and marble floors. On each side of the room, there were clean beds made of a marble base with a mattress, sheets, and pillows on top of it.
Some of the beds still contained sleeping guests, but most were empty as the large part of the guests were sitting at a few tables in the back which had food spread around each one. There were multiple conversations sparsed out between the tables. Yet, that quickly ceased the moment that I my presence was noticed in the room.
"Good morning, everyone. I hope that you're doing well-" I was interrupted when a young voice shouted out.
"Miss Kashia is back!" Was the first thing I heard as I felt a new weight tightly latch onto my side. Looking down over my chest, I spotted the rusty hair of Aaron as he looked up at me with a grin. I returned the smile and patted him on the head.
"Hello, little one. You look much healthier than yesterday. Are you eating well?" He nodded his head vigorously. I couldn't help but note that this kid seemed to have bounced into a positive mindset much faster that many of the others here. Perhaps it was because he hadn't been as mentally broken down as the others were? I couldn't help but feel like my copy had something to do with Aaron's positive and unfearful mindset.
Did she use something like [Control Amnesia] on the kid? I wouldn't put it past her to try and repair some of the psychological damage on the kid immediately since it's something that I also would've done. Children shouldn't have to see, and especially experience, such horrific acts. It was better to remove such memories from a child's mind. I've seen enough broken children on Earth that never recovered from whatever psychological trauma that they experienced.
Storing this question away for later, I put up a friendly front for everyone in the room. They needed to know that everything was going to be okay, especially after everything they've gone through. "That's good. I'm glad that you're doing much better. Maybe later, I'll have you shown the lake near us."
"You'd really do that?" I nodded before using one of my tails to scoop the boy up and act as a temporary chair to sit on.
"Everyone, I'm giving you all the choice of whether you wish to stay in Haven-Lake Village or if you'd like to leave. If you choose to stay, you'll be given housing and purpose. If you choose to leave, I'll teleport all of you to wherever you'd like to go with a sack of silver and an item to call upon me if you require aid. This is your decision, so don't feel pressured on if you'd like to stay or not." With this announcement, I created a table and chairs which I sat down at.
"When you are ready, take a seat and tell me what you'd like to do." With that, I sat in one of the fabricated chairs while rocking the tail that held Aaron. The first four people to come to me were the people that my copy told me about earlier.
Sitting in the chair across from me first was Sharyl Hunter. "Hello again, Miss Kashia." Sharyl greeted nervously, "Could I be returned back home to E-Pespel?"
"Of course." I answered before reaching into my storage space. I quickly pulled out a leather sack of coins which I set in front of Sharyl with a clink. Next, I created a [Talisman of an Allied Beacon], a spell used for communication between players. Using it in YGGDRASIL, a player who was designated as the receiver, would be given an alert on their HUD with the location and name of whoever was utilizing it at the time.
I learned the spell because it was a great money generator with guilds. Players that needed help could just pop the item and let their allies know where their location was quickly. Following this, the ally could then cast a teleportation spell linked to that location. It was cheap and effective when I was at a much lower level.
The talisman itself was shaped as a small brass statuette in the shape of a fox. "If you're ever in trouble, hold this talisman and think about me. I'll arrive to aid you in whatever way I can." When I handed the item to Sharyl, she held the object like it was an explosive that could pop off at any moment. Following this, I cast my next spell, [Read Mind] to get a mental image of E-Pespel.
[Read Mind] was a useful spell to have in YGGDRASIL when you were after a quest or item location from NPCs. It didn't have any use on Players since you couldn't collect information that wasn't already preprogrammed to read. I hadn't used it on a person from this world yet, so it would be a bit of a trial run to see how it worked here.
The moment I cast the spell on Sharyl, everything went dark around me as images, sounds, smells, and so much more crashed against my mind. There was so much useless information that I was seeing, but I only wanted to see E-Pespel.
Yet, when this name popped up in my mind, the deluge of information stopped, and instead a picture-still of a city floated before me. Now, I wanted the location of Sharyl's home. Following this command, a shop front appeared in my mind where a man and Sharyl worked together. My eyes quickly memorized the image before I then ended the spell.
The world came back into focus after this, and it seemed like no time had actually passed since I entered Sharyl's mind. Not even Sharyl herself seemed like she'd noticed my invasive procedure which I was perfectly fine with. It was easier to seek forgiveness than permission, and even easier when the person didn't even know you did to begin with.
"Before I send you off, would you like for me to remove the memories of your time as a slave?" The young woman seemed to weigh this choice for a few moments before she shook her head.
"It was awful, that place. I know that these memories will remain with me for the rest of my life, but I won't forget that I survived through all of that to end up where I am now. I feel a greater appreciation for life, now that I've seen the worst parts of it." I couldn't help but feel a great amount of respect for the woman sitting before me. She had a great amount of strength to keep those memories and still remain moving on with her life afterwards.
"Good luck with your life, Sharyl. May you find great happiness after all of this." With a wave of my wrist, the woman was teleported back to that shopfront of hers. I used a scrying spell to keep an eye on the woman as she hesitantly entered the shop. Inside, I saw a man chopping some beef look up. The moment that Sharyl and the man's eyes met, they ran up to one another and embraced.
With a smile, I cut the image and focused back on the growing line of people at my table. This was going to be a long process, but it would be worth it to see these people living better lives.
It would be about an hour later that I had sorted through the 23 people that had been rescued. Of them, 12 had chosen to stay for one reason or another. Some wished for me to remove their memories of their time at the brothel, while others declined the offer with similar reasoning to Sharyl's. One especially heartbreaking case occurred to a young woman named Eliza when she found out that her fiancé moved on after she had been kidnapped with another woman. She returned to Haven-Lake afterwards and asked for me to removed her memories of both her time at the brothel and those with her fiancé.
I felt hesitant about the request, but I eventually agreed to what she had asked. If there were any long-term problems, I could always return those memories back to her to fix the issues.
Following this, the new residents were given housing and jobs, if that was what they wanted. The entire process was pretty streamlined since there was already plenty of infrastructure for new residents. After that, I had Trabgo give them a tour around the area. My specific reasoning for giving Trabgo the task is because I wanted the newcomers to get used to the sight of the non-human residents of the settlement, and Trabgo was one of the calmer and collected residents of our group besides Muap, who was likely busy with other tasks my copy gave him.
Currently, we have the elf named Rush acting as a scout. He left after receiving his job in order to get a lay of the land. Layla, a human, was acting as the head of a temporary orphanage for the younger orphans of our town. She was quite enthusiastic about taking the job when I asked her, which made me think that the temporary position should become permanent. That also took care of five of the children and young teenagers, including Aaron.
Poppelia was taken in by a former baker named Alaya. She's another half-elf that had gotten captured a few months ago when traveling the borders of Re-Estize and the Baharuth. Apparently, the woman used to be a well-liked baker in her hometown until another, more ambitious, competitor had paid off a couple of slavers to grab her while she was traveling to see her relatives. From there, they were able to sell their goods without any competition.
Alaya decided to not return to her former home, in the fear that something might occur if she were to appear again. I couldn't blame her for that, and aside from this, her skills would be very appreciated here because we lacked anyone that actually could bake. Thankfully, in addition to Alaya, there was a man named Desmond Greenhardt who used to be a cook that was willing to give his services to the town.
The two remaining, Eliza and another woman named Juno, were undecided on what they wished to do. Until then, they'd be allowed to live here and decide what they'd wish to do here.
After all the work of dealing with the ex-slaves was completed, I finally arrived back to my cabin, where I found my copy sitting at the table talking with Muap. The first thing I noticed about the hobgoblin was that he wore a rudimentary set of armor over clean, and new, clothes.
"-is looking like a good guard assignment. I'll have to get the others to read and memorize it, especially the ogres, but I think that it'll work out pretty well." Muap said as I entered. The hobgoblin jumped in surprise as I closed the door behind me while my copy lazily flicked her tails behind her.
"Seems like you've finished discussing the guard assignment with each other." I remarked as I joined the pair at the table.
"I doubt that I'll ever really get used to seeing a pair of ya." Muap remarked as he focused his eyes on me. "You're the real Kashia, right?" I gave him a nod, which caused the hobgoblin to let out a sigh of relief, "Your copy has been messing with me for the past few days on whether she's the real one or not."
I gave a glance at my copy who giggled, "Sorry, but it's too tempting to mess with everyone about my copy status or not." She answered without any shame, whatsoever. I could only roll my eyes at her audacity.
"Trickery aside, we finished talking over the new guard schedule which'll be a relief to the ogres, trolls, and my boys. They've been quite indecisive about who should be on what shift, so this'll clear things up for them. Besides this, I've learned that you wanted to call this place Haven-Lake. I'm happy that you've finally decided a name, because some of my boys were coming up with the dumbest names before you finally decided."
"Like what?"
"Moss-Log, Trash-Pond, and the Tail Lady's House were just a couple ideas being thrown out. There were many worse names, but I don't wanna bother recalling them." Muap answered with exasperation, not that I could blame him for it if he had to hear all these terrible names. "There have also been questions about what is gonna be happening with the people you've brought here. Mind enlightening me about it?"
"We'll be getting 12 new members of Haven-Lake. Nine are humans, two are half-elves, and one is an elf. I'd like for everyone to treat them nicely, and if not possible, at least with curtesy. They've all had a rough time, so they'll need to be given the chance to acclimate with how things are run here."
The instant I mentioned humans, Muap gained a look of curiosity. "It'll be different living with humans rather than fighting them. None here are that opposed to humans, mainly since they know that you'll deal with any issues that rise up, but they'll be nervous since only Trabgo and I have experience in dealing with humans when they weren't attacking us. I'll see what I can do to keep the peace on that end."
"That's all I can ask." I knew from personal experience that you can't force people to like one another, but you can get them to learn to live together. Which reminded me, "By the way, how well has Zaryusu managed to fit in?"
"The big lizard is quite well-liked by my boys, and he's even gained a few of the ogres' respect due to how well he fought in the mock-fights that we have." I gave him a questioning look which he quickly picked up on, "Don't worry, no one gets too injured. The fights were started by the trolls to work off extra tension and energy at the end of the day. They became popular enough that other races besides them have joined in."
"And these fights aren't getting too out of hand?" I asked.
"Don't worry, we've got rules in place. No killings, fights end by surrender or the opponent can't fight back, and if we're going for fast matches, then first blood. If things start getting rowdy, I shut the fight down." I nodded in understanding.
The trolls and ogres had a society based around strength, so it would be logical to guess that both races might have fights for dominance. It's very reasonable that they started up these fights so that they could release the urge to fight in a more constructive manner. "I'll trust your judgement on this. If you'd like, either I or my copy could create an arena for the others to fight in."
"That'd be very welcomed. It would be better than the dirt circle that is typically used." Muap said with enthusiasm.
"I'll see about talking with Zaryusu later today when I get back from E-Rantel. It's been a while since I've checked in on him and I'd like to get his opinion on how things are run here." Turning my attention to my copy, I said, "Everyone is getting shown the town as well as to their new homes. Try and keep tabs on them while I'm gone in case anything happens, and [Message] me if anything does."
"Got it, Boss." My copy said with a wink. With this answer, I activated my illusion once again before casting [Greater Teleportation] to head back to my room at the Hero's Respite. It was when I arrived that I felt slight disappointment that quickly became overshadowed by happiness.
The reason for this was because I didn't manage to live up to my initial promise to Ninya by coming back before she or her sister had awoken. On the other hand, my apprentice was excitedly talking, mixed with crying, with her sister Tuare.
My arrival didn't go unnoticed as Tuare quickly spotted me before unconsciously pushing herself against the corner of the bed and the wall. That was definitely a leftover psychological effect from her time in the brothel. No doubt, Tuare was suffering a large case of post-traumatic stress disorder. It was a similar reaction to the others that I'd rescued. "Ninya, who is that?" The blonde girl asked fearfully. Ninya turned to see what was causing her sister such an animalistic reaction, before her expression relaxed and was followed by a smile.
"Kashia, you're finally back!" Ninya said while wiping any remnant tears from her eyes. She then turned back to her sister, "Don't worry, Tuare, this is Kashia Blanc, the woman that rescued you. She won't hurt you."
Tuare's body language became more subdued after she was told this, yet her eyes still held slight mistrust. "Sorry about being late, the tasks I needed to do this morning took much longer than I thought it would." I said while pulling a chair over to the sisters and joining them.
"It's fine. I didn't even notice since we've just been talking this entire time." She answered. No doubt that they'd be engrossed in catching up with one another, well, probably more like Ninya's been catching up since I doubted that Tuare would like to talk about everything that had happened to her.
"That's great. It's good to see that the pair of you are talking." I remarked before turning my attention to Tuare, "As your doctor, I need to know if you've been experiencing any leftover pain or injuries? I was very thorough when I healed you, but I'd like to know if there was anything that I missed." Tuare broke her eye contact with me and took on a more diminutive posture in bed.
"N-No, there hasn't been any pain. This i-is the first time in a long while that I-I haven't felt a constant pain in c-certain place on my body. I-I even have my missing t-teeth after I lost them for doing a…bad…job…" The girl's voice trailed off as she began remembering her time in the brothel.
"Excellent. It would tarnish my reputation as a doctor if you still had any remaining injuries that I missed." I said with a small amount of pride.
"M-Miss…why d-did you save me? W-Why do a-all this work for s-such a failure of a-a worker like me?" I tried to hide the look of pity that my face wanted to form. This girl didn't need pity, she needed help and safety.
"Don't ever think of yourself as a failure. You did what you could to survive in a horrible situation and that is behind you now." I said calmly with a smile to the girl. "I see it as an obligation to help people if you have the ability to do so, and you are no exception." It was easy to notice how Tuare tried to avoid eye-contact with me as I spoke to her.
"Please, sister, you don't need to worry. You're completely safe here because Kashia and I will make sure that nothing can hurt you." Ninya added with a light reassuring squeeze of Tuare's hand. After Ninya said this, my ears picked up light growling of a pair of hungry stomachs that soon became audible to the two girls.
"Have either of you had breakfast yet?" I asked in amusement. The sisters shook their heads, causing me to chuckle. "I'll go fetch us all something to eat." As I said this, I took a sniff of the air and discovered the scent of beef, potatoes, and dried fish. Not the worst breakfast, but it wasn't the best. "Be right back." I stood up from the chair and left the room.
Walking to the bar of the inn, I couldn't help but overhear some interesting conversations.
"Did you guys hear, all of Dragon Furnace were slaughtered in the cemetery the other day." A gruff male voice said.
"Shit, Zeran was the one that made all of my armor. He sold such good product for such a cheap price. I'm gonna be so screwed when I need to get a new set of armor." I female voice said with great disappointment. "How did you even find this out? They'd only been missing since yesterday."
"I've got a friend that works his watch at the cemetery. He told me that the adventuring group Swords of Darkness hauled the bodies out yesterday. Either way, I'm staying out of the cemetery from now on. The shit pay that the guards give is not worth dying for to whatever is killing people in there."
"Really makes me wonder how the Swords of Darkness managed to survive going there? They're just a group of silver-plates without any major achievements to name." The woman pondered.
"That's the thing, they've got a new member to their group. Her name's Kashia Blanc, and from what my friend told me, she put a molten crater into that cemetery the first time she came there." I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at knowing that such a simple act on my end could inspire such stories about me.
"Really? Isn't that the new girl with the massive t-" And just like that I'm tuning out. It was appropriate as well since I arrived to the tavern section of the inn where I quickly strutted over to the bar where Morgan was "busy" cleaning tankards. With the amount of times that I've noticed him cleaning those things they probably should have holes in the sides from all the friction.
"Morning, Morgan. Is breakfast still available?" I asked as I took a seat at the bar. Morgan raised his gaze to me before setting the tankard aside.
"Yeah, we've still got breakfast. You just need to have the coin for it." He answered with a smirk.
"Great. I'm going to need three plates." I said, much to the man's curiosity. "What's with the look?"
He snorted while shaking his head. "It's nothing. Seems that you still have a few guests staying with you. Reckon that one of them is that kid that was with you yesterday." He remarked as he gathered some wooden plates which he placed beef and potatoes on it. Guess he must've run out of the fish. "Still, ain't my problem. As long as you're paying the rent, I don't care."
He slid the three plates to me across the bar's counter and I handed him back the copper pieces that were owed. "Thanks for the food. See you later." I said while scooping up the plates so that one was balanced between the crook of my arm while the other two were held in my hands. This would be so much easier if I could just use my tails, but I'm trying to keep my disguise up, so the tails are a no go.
Walking back to my room, I stealthily used one of my invisible tails to turn the handle to my room and entered with the food in tow. "Grub's on. You wouldn't believe the incredible journey it took to arrive here. There was dangerous terrain along with the innumerous amounts of enemies that I had to fight and claw through to bring this delicious breakfast to you."
"I highly doubt that. The bar is only about fifteen feet away from us." Ninya stated.
"It was a harrowing fifteen feet." I retorted before arriving next to the two girls. I noticed out of the corner of my eyes that Tuare was trying to hide a smile at mine and Ninya's interaction. Handing the plates to each of the sisters, I finally joined the two in my empty chair and we all began eating.
As we ate, Tuare and Ninya chatted with each other while I remained silent and simply watched. These two needed all the time that they could get with one another and I'd give them as much as needed. Or, at least, that's what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, I needed to discuss important matters, starting with Ninya.
"Hey, kiddo, mind if I talk to you outside for a quick minute?" I asked while setting my plate aside.
"Uh, sure." She answered before looking at Tuare, "I'll be right back."
"D-Don't worry, I'll be right here." Tuare replied with a reassuring smile to the young mage. With that, Ninya and I got up and left the room while closing the door behind us. I then had us walk down the hallway until I felt like we were far enough away.
"Ninya, in your personal opinion, how well do you personally feel that your sister is holding up psychologically?" I asked as I stopped walking and leaned my back against the wall of the hallway. I chose to stop here specifically because I couldn't smell or hear anyone close enough to listen in on our private conversation.
My apprentice was silent for a moment as she considered what to say, then she looked at me and answered, "She's been extremely reserved and submissive since she woke up. At times, it seems like Tuare is afraid that I'll be upset with whatever she might say or do. She's been walking on eggshells around me, and while it's been lessened after we started talking, it's easy enough to spot. I'm worried for her, yet I don't know what to do to help her."
An expected answer, disheartening, but very expected. Someone that went through trauma like that would need years of therapy and help before they might regain a semblance of their former personality, and even then, it wasn't fully certain that said person would even be able to return to their former self.
"Just what I thought. Ninya, I'm going to completely honest with you, it will probably take years before Tuare can move past everything that happened to her, and that isn't a given outcome. For all we know, she might never fully recover." It tugged on my heartstrings to watch some of the hope drain from Ninya's eyes, but it was something that she needed to hear.
"This is why I'm going to offer something to Tuare that I thought you should hear about first." When I said this, Ninya's eyes regained some of that lost hope. No doubt that this was due to all the miracles that Ninya had been seeing me perform just today.
"Do you really have a way to help Tuare?"
"Yes. What I plan to offer her is a clean slate, so to speak. I know a spell that can alter her memories of the time that she was taken so that it would be completely gone. She'd know of everything that occurred before and when she was taken, and she'd remember everything during and after her rescue, but everything in between that would be a complete blank." Even as I said this, the metaphorical gears in Ninya's head began turning at the thought of my offer.
"Would this possibly hurt her? Could anything go wrong with using the spell?"
"No. The spell won't do anything more or less than what I want it to. From Tuare's perspective, it'll be like she was taken from your village, lived out a blank period of time that she'll be unable to recall, and then finally freed by us. She'll know that she was enslaved, but she won't know any of the details." I answered as fully as I could. All of this could be said without any doubt due to the people who wanted me to erase their former memories of the time in the brothel.
"I trust you. But would you let me be the one to tell Tuare? She trusts me, much more than you, and it'll make talking about your offer much easier for her." I nodded at her request. It was completely understandable, especially because Tuare still had greater trust in Ninya than anyone else.
Placing and arm over Ninya's shoulders, I had the pair of us walk back to my room together. Ninya knocked on the door to alert Tuare, then she slowly opened it and we walked inside. After this, the two of us sat in our empty chairs and looked at the blonde girl. I was pleased to see that Tuare had been eating more while we were in the hallway.
I noticed that Tuare seemed like she wanted to ask us something, probably about what we might've been discussing outside the room, yet she held her question back. Ninya, noticing her sister's curiosity spoke out, "Tuare, is there something that you want to ask?"
Surprise filled the blonde's features before they settled for a relieved smile, "I-I was wondering what it was that you and M-Miss Kashia were talking about?"
"Actually, we were just going to talk to you about it. Kashia was telling me about a spell that she knows which could be used to help you." Ninya began.
"W-What would I need help with?" Tuare asked with interest.
"Kashia knows a spell that could remove the terrible memories of your time enslaved. You wouldn't be burdened by everything that happened, and you'd have an easier time adjusting to life now." I kept my gaze on Tuare's turquoise eyes, watching their reaction. What I saw was a great rush of emotion, from fear, to wonder, and finally they remained on hope and excitement.
"That could be done? I wouldn't have to remember all of the things that happened? Would I lose more than just my time in that place?" Tuare questions quickly became aimed at me and I noticed that her stuttering or soft-spoken tone were being reined in.
"I'll only remove the memories of your time enslaved, nothing more and nothing less. From your perspective, the past two years of your life will be like a foggy dream. You'll know that you were taken and eventually rescued, but all the time between that will be gone. This is what I'm offering you but it's your decision on whether or not you wish to go through with this. I need your consent on casting this spell on you." My answer seemed to put the girl at ease because she leaned back into her bed and seemed to be staring upwards at nothing.
"Ever s-since you brought me h-here, I've only been afraid. I-I know that Ninya and you won't l-let anything happen to me, but it doesn't change that." She was silent for a moment, as if thinking what to say next, "I-I don't want to be afraid anymore. I want to t-talk and laugh with Ninya like we used t-to. Please, c-could you remove these m-memories?"
I gave her a nod at the decision. My ear twitched when it picked up a soft sigh of relief that came from Ninya. "This won't hurt a bit, so just relax." Following this, I placed a hand on Tuare's forehead and cast [Control Amnesia]. The effects of this spell, while normally unseen as it affected one mentally rather than physically, could be seen in the way that Tuare's expression and posture became completely calm.
I've heard and seen how mentally stressful times could make a person appear older than they actually were, but it was something new to watch Tuare. In moments, the memories and experiences that had haunted the girl faded away from her mind. The stress and horror that had added years to her appearance slowly left her face, making her look younger and much closer to what her actual age should be.
Tuare stopped looking to empty space after the spell's effect had worked its way through her. Instead, she gazed at Ninya with eyes that were no longer filled with the learned fear that she'd gained in the past two years.
"Tuare, how are you feeling?" Ninya asked nervously.
"I'm not afraid anymore." She answered with a great smile as she pulled the bedsheet off herself and changed her position to now sit on the edge of her bed. "I feel better now, Nin." Tuare then pulled Ninya into a hug while I watched the interaction with a proud smile on my face.
"Sis, I'm so happy that you're feeling better now." Ninya answered in turn. "I was worried that you might not recover after everything." I took this time to interrupt their moment with a slight cough, earning the sisters' attention.
"Hey girls, I think it's time we discussed your housing." I stood up as I said this and pulled open the door to the sanctuary. "Come in, I've got some places to show you inside since the pair of you will be rooming here." The sisters broke their embrace while Ninya took Tuare by the hand and led her to the magical room.
Once inside, I led the two across the garden to the cabin in the middle. The entire time, Tuare couldn't stop looking around the realm in wonder. When we all arrived together in the cabin Tuare finally spoke, "What is this place? It looks amazing. And I never even knew that there were plants like this that existed."
"To answer your first question, this is a private realm that was conjured by me. The only way into this place is through the doorway that we just came in." I answered while striding to the trapdoor in the cabin. "And, for the other remark, this place has been a storage area for many of the things I've collected over the years. The floor that we are on now is the garden which is where I grow alchemical agents and such in. Maybe later, I'll show you some of the rarer plants that reside on this floor."
"This floor? How many floors are there in this place?"
"Eight. This floor is called the alchemy floor for the obvious reasons." Pulling the trapdoor open to reveal a set of stone stairs, I began walking down while motioning for them to follow when I stopped. My nose began twitching as I smelled something which immediately triggered what I'd forgotten when I first entered this realm yesterday.
Oh dear lord, I fucking forgot who I left in here.
"YIIIII!" I suddenly felt a small warm thing tackle itself into my chest, causing me to fall on my ass before I slid down a few steps. At the same time, Tuare and Ninya screamed in surprise which was beginning to give me a headache due to the pitch of their voices. I tried to look over my sizable bust to spot the new hanger-on.
Thankfully, what had jumped onto me had finally moved into my vision without me needing to bend over in an embarrassing position. I could only see the head of what had tackled me, a very small, very scaly head with a long snout. "You've come! You've come! Meepo felt so horrible for not being there when you finally came back to your sanctuary! But Meepo is here this time, Meepo has been working more closely to the second floor entrance in wait for you!" Following this declaration, the scaly head buried itself into my clevage.
"What is that thing!?" Ninya shouted from the top of the stairs while a spell was quickly being prepared in her hand. I simply held my hand up in a stopping gesture before standing up and pulling out the creature that was burying itself into my chest.
"Come on out, I've got people for you to meet and it doesn't make a good introduction if you are buried in my boobs." As I said this, I grabbed the reptilian by the scruff of his clothing and pulled him out.
In my hand was a small red kobold with a pair of orange reptilian eyes. He had multiple small horns on the top of his head, but two that spiked from the sides of his nose and one under his chin gave the impression of a mustache and goatee. He wore a blue robe that had a bandolier over it that was filled with small vials.
Even as I held him in this embarrassing position, the kobold's tail wagged excitedly like a dog's. "Nothing to worry about, this is just a resident of my sanctuary that lives here." I then looked at the kobold and said, "How about you introduce yourself to our guests." He quickly nodded his head excitedly and I lowered the kobold to the ground. It was easy to that he was quite small, especially because he only came up to a little under my knee.
"Greetings, friends of the mistress! This one is known as Meepo Breepo. Meepo is a lucky one chosen by the mistress and fate to act as her aid and companion within the Fox13itch Realm!" He then bowed to the confused sisters before running back to my side and scrambling up my body like a squirrel until he rested comfortably on my shoulder. "Mistress," He whispered into my ear, "what had become of your tails and ears?"
"I'll tell you later." I whispered back. "For now, I'm called Kashia Blanc, not Fox13itch."
This little guy was an NPC under my control. In YGGDRASIL, NPCs, better known as non-player characters, were typically inhabitants and creations of guilds, either due to randomly spawning within a guild to give it life and presence, bought with gold as mercenaries, or custom-created by players in the guild. Under normal circumstances, player not in a guild would find gaining an NPC for themselves to be incredibly difficult, usually requiring finagling or using a World Item to do so.
In my case, I earned myself an NPC from a guild after performing a job from them to help in a largescale guild battle. I had been very careful when choosing this job, with a personal requirement being that I wouldn't help in raiding a guild base. I did this more to protect myself than anything else as while an open battlefield could be altered and controlled to my leisure, a guild raid involved fighting on an enemy's home field and I don't like fighting without knowing the battlefield.
Anyways, as my reward, the guild created me an NPC with 30 levels on it and with all my input on customization. At the time, I was interested in methods to make money since I was trying to fund my sanctuary's expansion, so I agreed. Following this, I had Meepo Breepo created with 10 levels in [Alchemist], 15 levels in [Craftsman] and 5 levels in [Magic Craftsman]. All of this was to make a worker that could create potions and items which I could later sell after questing or grinding.
I had last left Meepo in the sanctuary realm with programmed orders to create potions, magical items, and to replant used resources. To be quite honest, I hadn't even remembered that Meepo was here since I had only seen him as a bot that was just part of the environment. Shit, I didn't even realize that he could be alive in this new world since I'd completely written him off as essentially a walking toolbox.
I feel like a terrible person now. And, I definitely need to get to my vault since I'd left a sorta NPC in there to guard it. Well, not left, he did come with the vault, but you know what I mean.
"Umm, Kashia, what did he call this place?" Ninya tentatively asked.
"Nothing, just a bit of an inside joke between us, isn't that right, Meepo?" I answered, hoping to whatever god was listening that Meepo could actually pick up on improv.
"Yes, mistress, just a joke between you and Meepo." I internally sighed in relief when Meepo said this. All it took was one fuck-up for the carefully constructed persona I've made for myself to be destroyed and Meepo was probably the only being here that could make that happen.
"So, have you always had a kobold living in this place? Where did he come from?" Ninya asked as she and Tuare came down the steps together. I gave a glance at Meepo and thought about the backstory that I'd given myself before answering.
"Meepo's family have acted as friends and servants to mine for years." I couldn't help but notice that his tail started patting my back as it wagged from excitement. "When I left to travel the world, Meepo wouldn't let me go on my own, but he also didn't like sunlight or to be away from a workshop for too long, so we made a compromise. I gave him a complete workshop in this realm, and he'd make sure to take care of the place while I'm away." I really hoped that Ninya accepted this answer because this was already an awkward situation for me as it is.
"And serve the mistress, Meepo has!" As he announced this, he leapt over my shoulder and landed between Ninya, Tuare, and I. "Meepo's created so many potions and items while here. Shall Meepo show you what Meepo's made?"
"Certainly. The girls need a tour of this place since they'll be residing in the top floor cabin." I answered before stepping aside to let Meepo lead us. Excitedly, the small kobold began skipping forwards down the stone-brick hallway. There were three doors in this hallway, with two leading different sections of this level and the final door opening to a set of stairs to the third level.
Meepo quickly arrived at the door on the left, hopped up, and grabbed the doorknob while using his weight to pull the doorknob down to open it. "He seems a little…" Tuare began.
"Eccentric. Are you sure that he's all there?" Ninya finished.
"Of course, he's just excited at meeting new people. I hope." I whispered that last part as we followed after the kobold. It was when we arrived inside that I finally got to see how much this little kobold had done while I had been away.
On this floor, I stored and created many of the more intensive potions that I or Meepo could produce. When I had left this place a month or so ago, I'd just shoved everything that could fit into multiple chests and left it as is. Now, instead of a bunch of scattered chests, there were wooden racks lining the entire room like library bookcases that were filled with potions that had been organized into different categories.
It was a massive and I couldn't even guess the amount of time that had been spent organizing everything like this. I didn't even get a word in as Meepo rolled over to us on a stepladder with wheels, grinning like a child during Christmas as he did so.
"You like? Meepo spent the past three days organizing all of the potions and ingredients on this floor for when you'd return!" The kobold stated proudly. With a set of raised eyebrows, I nodded in answer.
"This is extremely impressive." I answered while my eyes were still transfixed on the rainbow of vials filled colored liquids. When I'd left, there had definitely not been this many potions stored in the chests. "Dear lord, how many potions are even here now?" I muttered to myself.
Yet, while I was amazed at the organization and quantity, Ninya and Tuare were completely in awe at the potions themselves. Ninya had already gone next to one of the shelves and began studying the liquids inside. "I've never seen this many potions together in one place before." The girl asked.
"By Meepo's count, there are over two thousand potions here. Some of Meepo's pride and joy, it is." Meepo replied as the stepladder that he was on began rolling without anyone or thing pushing it…magic? Probably.
"You…you have a literal fortune down here depending on what these potions can do!" Ninya said in shock. Meepo and I looked at one another before we shrugged.
"I am a powerful mage and royalty, though everything here was made by either Meepo or I. To be honest, I haven't really worried about things like money for a long time. At this point, we're just making potions as something to do and in case we ever actually need them." My answer still didn't seem to change Ninya's reaction at the fact that I had an, at least for normal adventurer like her, absurd amount of wealth.
"This is still so much." Ninya muttered.
"Miss Kashia, how long have you been adding to this collection? It must've taken ages." Tuare asked in interest.
"A few years. Building up a supply like this takes time, especially if it's only two people." As I said this, Meepo rolled over to us.
"While the results of Meepo's and mistress' work is quite a sight to see, Meepo would now like to show you the ingredient and production room! Follow Meepo!" Suddenly, the stepladder rocketed past Tuare and I to the door and then outside to the door across the hallway. Unfortunately, Tuare and I couldn't help but wince as the moving stepladder crashed into the door with a thud, followed by Meepo's body slamming against the same door before falling off the stepladder onto the floor.
The noise was even enough to drag Ninya's attention away from inspecting the numerous potions. She quickly joined Tuare and I as we watched Meepo moan as he pushed himself back up onto his feet. "Meepo still hasn't fully worked out the stopping system for the device. Unfortunately, Meepo only built the device yesterday."
After saying this, the kobold climbed back up onto the stepladder and turned the door's knob before using the stepladder to push the door open. The three of us quickly made our way to the production room, where I say many shelves and containers filled with different ingredients. In the center of all this was a table filled with many different alchemical tools and objects.
"Making and organizing this room took only two days. Meepo didn't have to organize as heavily because the ingredients could be stored in containers with one another, unlike how the vials and bottles need greater space due to their fragility." As Meepo said this I couldn't help but wonder how many of the ingredients here were irreplaceable.
While here in this new world, I couldn't be fully certain on if the ingredients I had in this realm even grew out in the new world. For all I know, everything here could be the last of what I had. "Hey, Meepo, I want you to cut production of potions that require ingredients which can't be replaced by things we grow here."
"Of course! Meepo'll even take the time to organize the ingredients here based upon replaceability if you wish." I gave the kobold a nod. "Excellent! Meepo'll will finish work on this floor by tonight. Though, that will slow down organization of items and resources on the other floor."
"Sounds fine. Do what you feel is best. I leave the care of the floors in your tiny humble hands." At least this would give me the chance to take stock of the supplies that I had here. It would give me an idea of what I could still work with, especially because the healing potions used specific stones that I had doubts could be found in this new world.
"With that being the case, Meepo hopes that you'll be kind enough to not view the other floors just yet. It's still so disorganized, and Meepo wants everything to be perfect for you, and especially honored guests of yours, to see."
After all the time that Meepo had saved me in organizing this entire place myself, I felt it was fair to honor the little guy's wishes. Also, I was slightly worried that not accepting his request would piss him off and I had no damn idea where everything had been placed just yet.
"If that's what you would like, then we can wait for you to finish before touring the other floors." After giving my answer, Meepo started to hop excitedly on his stepladder…until he made a misstep and slipped off the stepladder only to fall onto his back.
"Meepo meant to do that!"
Quickly turning to looked at Ninya and Tuare, I spoke, "Well girls, what do you think about your new roommate?"