A Vulpine Spanner in the Works
Chapter 30: The Fox is Out of the Bag
[Kashia]
"What happened? First, you have to suddenly leave for E-Rantel because of something happening there, and now? You've got tails and ears." Peter questioned as he gazed at aforementioned limbs with a worried gaze.
Smacking my hand to my forehead, I sighed for a moment before looking up to my friends. "Peter, to answer the question that you and Dyne have about why I have tails and ears, it's because this is my actual appearance. The human appearance you see every day is just an illusion I cast to fit in. As for why I didn't have it cast when coming back, it's because I forgot since there was a lot on my mind when I was coming back here."
"Wait," Dyne interrupted, "you said the question that 'Peter and I have'. Why not Lukrut and Ninya?" He then turned to said teammates and asked, "Did you two already know?"
Lukrut was the first to answer with a slight chuckle and blush, "Kashia told me after she and I went off alone the first time." He answered.
"I figured out that she wasn't human, and she revealed it to me. It helped that we live together so it's easier to notice certain things." Ninya replied.
Peter sighed as he ran his hand through his hair in thought. "When were you even planning to tell us, Kashia?" He asked as he glanced at me. He looked neutral as he asked this, but I guessed that he may have felt slightly betrayed.
"I was planning to tell the pair of you soon. I just didn't exactly know how to broach the subject considering that, compared to Ninya hiding her gender, I am literally not human. How would I even begin the conversation?" I replied with my own question.
Peter and Dyne both seemed to think about my words with deep thought. Dyne was actually the first to reply, "I can understand the mentality behind your hesitation. You've probably seen a lot of the ways that non-humans can be treated during your travels." Dyne's words managed to reach Peter as he began to consider them in his thought process.
I gave the druid a wry smile as he said this. As, while I hadn't exactly experienced the way that non-humans were treated in this world, only heard of it, that was entirely different back in YGGDRASIL. There, heteromorph Players were continually bullied without rhyme or reason due to there being no consequences in doing so. And, while I hadn't fully experienced that until after I got my Nine Tailed Kitsune levels, it didn't change the fact that there was a stigma to it.
Then, there were those times back on Earth as well…
Walking up to my two friends, I put a hand on either of their shoulders. "It wasn't my intention of hurting you both, I just didn't want to end up losing the good friends I've made since coming to this land due to something that was outside of my control. I guess you could say that I'm afraid of rejection."
Peter rested a hand on my shoulder in return as his expression became one of acceptance, "Kashia, you have to remember that you're one of us. I'll say it to you again and again until you let it stick into your head. We'd never abandon you just because you aren't human. Now, please, can you tell us everything that is going on?"
I smiled at my friends and nodded. "I'll tell you, but we should probably sit down since there's a lot to go through. And hold your questions till afterwards, else we'll probably be at this all night."
"Alright." Peter and Dyne said while Lukrut and Ninya gave a silent nod in agreement. From there, we all sat around the campfire once more and I began.
"As you already know, I'm not human. What I actually am is part of a race known as kitsune, better known as magical foxes with multiple tails. They came into being when the goddess Inari granted her most faithful foxes a divine blessing of magic and intelligence, which also is what led to them having multiple tails. In addition to having created the kitsune, Inari is also my mother." When I said this, Peter and Dyne looked astonished.
Before they could even ask anything, I stopped them, "Like I said before, you two, hold your questions for afterwards." And from there, I told them of the main events that had occurred since my arrival here. How I'd created a giant stone tree at the Great Lake of Tob to impress the Green Claw tribe, the Magician's Guild discovery of said tree.
Then I explained how Theo Rakheshir partially figured out my identity before devoting his service to me. After that was the way that the Magician's Guild started a religion to worship me, or the Fox Princess as they called me. Ninya's forced consumption of my blood that lead to my intervention and chiding of the Magician's Guild two days prior.
And finally, it all led to my battle tonight at the Magician's Guild where I defeated the Punishment Squad and Verona Margrost.
"After taking care of some matters at the end, my mind was too occupied and I forgot about putting my illusion up, leading to you guys finding out about my extra furry bits." I finished, "Any questions?"
Peter was the first to speak up, "There's a lot to sort through with this, Kashia. You're actually a goddess is one of the big things to comprehend."
"Actually, I'm a demigoddess. My mom is the goddess while my dad was just a normal human. It doesn't stop people from worshipping me as one, and I doubt that trying to explain the difference to those people at this point is going to do much to change that. So, I'm just running with it at this point." I answered with a little bit of a cheeky grin.
"Wait, you're part human?" Lukrut asked with interest.
"Yes, though you could more consider it as what contributes to my mortality and mindset. The kitsune half, in combination with mom's divinity, breeds out the human side. You could more see me as a kitsune who just so happens to have a human parent." I answered.
Yeah, dad had an interesting time raising me considering the tail and ears I had.
Dyne then began to chuckle, making us all glance at him with questioning looks. "Sorry, it's just that I now figured out why Lukrut stopped referring to you as his 'beautiful sorceress' and started calling you his 'beautiful fox'." Lukrut gave a bashful grin at this and I leaned into him while lightly wrapping a few tails around his side.
"Can't say that I'm complaining about it." I said with a laugh.
"Neither am I, my beautiful fox." Lukrut said back to me.
"Get a room you two." Peter joked before getting back on topic, "Continuing on from the whole divinity business, your worshippers forced Ninya to drink your blood." Peter then turned to look at my daughter after saying this, "You're sure that you're okay with everything, Ninya?"
Ninya gave a smile and nodded enthusiastically. "While it wasn't my choice, I wouldn't want to change it since I enjoy the connection I have with Kashia. The boost it gives to my magic is also a nice bonus."
I patted my daughter on the head as she said this. "I enjoy the enhanced connection we have as well, Ninya." I added before looking to the others once more, "Thankfully, I took care of it so that there won't ever be any repeats in the future."
"That's good to hear." Peter said with a nod, 'But, Kashia, you know that this conflict you have with the Church of the Four Great Gods isn't going to end with tonight? Once word about it spreads, they're probably going to send a lot more than just four of the Punishment Squad to deal with you. From what you said, you petrified the High Priestess of E-Rantel. There's bound to be consequences."
"I am very aware of that little issue. I'm not that worried since, from what I've seen of their best, they don't have a chance of being able to threaten me. As I've given my promise to protect E-Rantel, I'm going to make sure to follow through on making certain that E-Rantel is safe." I replied with confidence.
It's very doubtful that the strongest members of the church were anywhere close to level 35. At most, they'd be in the high 20's to very low 30's. An army of kitsune would easily make mincemeat of them.
Dyne then spoke up with his usual thoughtful tone, "I hope you're right about it, since E-Rantel is going to see an interesting few months regardless."
"With any luck, they won't be the bad kind of interesting." Peter said optimistically. "Yet, tomorrow, everyone within E-Rantel's temple is going to be either freaking out or baying for blood."
"Then I'll have to take care to make sure that it doesn't happen. I didn't start this conflict, but I will make certain to end it if needed."
A moment later, Lukrut wrapped his arm around my waist and asked, "Let's get away from the dour conversation for a minute. I'm more interested in knowing how your goddess mother and your human dad ended up meeting? There's gotta be a story behind that."
"Is that really the thing that you want to know?" I asked my silly archer directly, but the question also went out to the others as well.
"It's not every day you hear about how a mortal managed to become romantically entangled with a goddess." Dyne admitted, "Excepting you and Lukrut, of course."
"He's not wrong, Kashia." Peter added with a smirk. Looking to Ninya, she gave an enthusiastic nod. Of course, Ninya would be highly interested in finding out. I never actually mentioned my dad to her and Tuare, and they hadn't asked due to all the other questions that the pair had.
"Okay, I'll tell you." I conceded before putting together an understandable story to the four compared to how my parents met on Earth. "Years prior, my mom, Inari, had a tendency of walking among mortals in a human guise. It was during one of these excursions in a marketplace that my mom met my dad, Seth, when he was shopping for food.
Dad saw mom, who was disguised as a beggar at the time, and offered to her some food because she looked hungry. After feeding her, dad asked if she had somewhere to stay for the night since it was the middle of winter and, were she a normal human, she'd freeze to death. After spending the night, mom offered to repay him for the kindness that he showed her, which dad tried to refuse, much to his failure. Mom left dad's house after that.
The next day, dad found mom at his front door with a bag of food in hand for him. In a way, I guess you could say that their entire relationship was built on these simple moments of kindness to one another until they just fell in love. It was after they ended up confessing to one another that mom revealed her true form and identity to dad.
And dad found her 'tails and ears made her look even more beautiful'." While saying this, I looked at Lukrut with a grin before giving him a kiss. Then, I continued, "After this, they got married. Then had me."
While the basic gist of what I said was true, I left out a few things. Mom was disguised as a beggar because she was one. She lacked the power to do anything more than maintain her form and perform a few minor feats. Aside from that, she mostly looked like a regular person if her human guise wasn't up.
It was during one of the harsh winters, where the toxic mixture of snow and pollution would rain down as the weather went to the negatives and any without some method to keep warm would freeze to death. Those exposed to the snow would find it to be a deadly nightmare since it would burn your skin once melted and usually forced most of the cheap rebreathers to work overtime since it would clump into the openings and melt in a way to start damaging the tech unlike rain.
Anyone smart would stay off the streets and take shelter until the storm passed. Everyone else would have to figure out some other method to make it through the storm.
At the time, dad had been in one of the cheap markets buying up a small stockpile of food for the harsh week of snowfall that was expected along with a few extra blankets to keep warm. The apartments that most people lived in had a chance for the heating units to crap out, so it was always the better idea to keep things like blankets on hand.
When dad had found mom, she was being mugged for the hooded chem-cloak she had. Dad, ever the good samaritan, stepped in and ran off the pair before mom would've fought back. From there, he asked her if she was alright and was able to get home to shelter from the coming storm.
She said 'no', and dad made what he considered to be the best decision in his life. He offered mom shelter from the storm which mom agreed to. Color dad surprised when, after making it to his home, he found the woman he rescued to be the white-haired and silver-eyed beauty that was my mom.
After that, it pretty much went the way that I had told the others. Mom and dad kept on helping each other, attempting to repay this endless debt of gratitude to one another. When they fell in love, mom revealed her true form to him and dad found her 'tails and ears made her look even more beautiful'.
Even as a little girl, I always found that story to be absolutely romantic. It made me feel that much better about my tail and ears as I grew up, hoping that I'd meet someone who found them to be beautiful just as much as dad did with mom's. Mom and dad always said that I'd find someone who would like them.
Now, I found that someone and he liked all nine of my tails along with my ears.
There may have been that small twinge of doubt in the back of my mind about this. About how everything about this just seemed wrong, but I ignored it and intentionally tried to squash down this pesky and useless thought. Everything that I'm remembering is the truth. None of it's wrong. I don't need these doubts clouding my mind.
Yeah, I really don't need these stupid doubts confusing me. So, I'll just forcibly ignore them until they finally just disappear.
"No wonder you were so happy when I said that to you. It was just like when your parents fell in love." Lukrut remarked, making me feel a mixture of nostalgia and happiness while my tails wagged in turn.
"It really was. You made a dream of mine come true since I was a little girl." I was happy to note that if there were any doubts in the back of my mind about this, then they had been throughly crushed before I could even notice them.
"That's very touching to see." Ninya commented.
"It truly is, kiddo." I said back.
"Since we know how your parents met. Do you have any other family or is that just it?" Peter asked curiously.
"I had two sisters. Sadly, both died years ago in addition to my dad. So, my only blood relative still alive is my mom." I answered. That seemed to sour the mood of everyone after hearing me so casually admit this.
To be honest, mom always did tell me that I had a pair of half-sisters out in the world when I was a kid. It wasn't until years later when playing YGGDRASIL that I finally met them in the game. They had also acquired the [Daughter of Inari] class like I did. It was such an amazing coincidence!
I was so happy to meet and talk to my sisters whenever I played the game. We got close enough that we didn't even use each other's game names and instead called each other by our actual names.
My eldest sister's name was Mariko while my second eldest sister's name was Yumi. I was so happy to know that I had two big sisters that really cared about me! It's why I took it really hard when Mariko stopped logging in after a while.
Yumi told me that Mariko ended up dying after being shot for her money and rebreather while walking down the street. A while later, Yumi was repeatedly killed by a guild of assholes during a guild war until she quit. I went on a one-woman war against their entire guild until they broke apart.
I think that a World Item might've been involved, but I'm not sure. What I do know is that I avenged her in game. Sadly, the same couldn't be said about what happened to her in real life. Apparently, some scientists found out about her two tails and ears and tried to capture her.
From there, it was all over the news with Yumi's corpse strapped to a gurney and paraded about as a subhuman creature that had been discovered hiding in a cave system of Japan. Unfortunately, she had died during the attempted capture, but they planned to study her body for science.
That night, I curled up into my bed with my Meepo fox and cried myself to sleep, just like I had after mom faded away and after dad had died. I still miss my big sisters.
But I now have the family that I found for myself. I have my two amazing daughters, my mate Lukrut, and my two friends Peter and Dyne. And likely in a few short years, I'll have a few more kids to call my own.
"Sorry for bringing up bad memories." Peter said with regret.
"It's alright Peter, you didn't know. I've had years to get over it. And besides, I pretty much see you guys as my family, so I've gained more people in my life right now than I've lost." I said to reassure our team leader.
What I said did put a smile on everyone's face before Lukrut chimed in, "If you see us all as family, I really hope that you don't see me as a sibling. Otherwise, that might make things a little awkward."
We all took a moment to process my silly archer's words before bursting out into laughter at it.
"Way to go ending the moment, dummy." I joked with a grin. Lukrut smiled and kissed me back, something which we both began to really get into until Peter loudly coughed. When we broke apart and looked over to him, we could see the look of exasperation on his face.
"Can the pair of you get a room or something? At this point, I doubt that we're going to get anything further from you, Kashia, with the way that the pair of you compete in trying to eat each other's face." Peter said, making Lukrut and I laugh before standing up together.
"Okay, we'll table this conversation for later." I stated.
"Right. Just another one of the enthusiastic walks that the pair of you love to take together every night." Dyne teased.
"We're just trying to remain physically fit." Lukrut answered.
"Is that what they're calling it now?" Dyne retorted with a cheeky grin.
"Guess so." I said as I pulled Lukrut away quickly. While doing so, both Lukrut and I began laughing as we half-walked/half-ran towards the copse that we made our nightly spot when we were out here.
Upon entering the tiny tree line, Lukrut asked, "Kashia, you know, you've said a lot about this embarrassing outfit of yours that you've worn when in your goddess persona. Since you've done so, I'm very curious on what it looks like." I rolled my eyes at my mate's question and might've said no if Lukrut hadn't decided to kiss me passionately enough that the pair of us were out of breath by the time we separated, making me a little hot and bothered.
"Please?" At that point I sighed and nodded.
"Fine. But if I do this, you are not allowed to laugh." I relented before backing away from Lukrut and reequipping to the divine stripper outfit. With the hat slightly obscuring my vision, I had to move my head up slightly so that Lukrut's eyes could meet mine. Holding my arms out and giving a playful twirl until I met Lukrut's gaze once more, I put my hands on my hips and gave my mate a smirk.
"What do you think?" I asked.
Lukrut's eyes wandered on my form before returning back to mine. Then he gave me a lewd grin. "If I wasn't a believer in my foxy goddess' religion before, consider me converted right now." He answered. In response, I gave him a coquettish gaze before sauntering over to him with a sway in my step.
"Oh, if that's the case, then this goddess has a very important mission for her most devout worshipper. Shall you accept this goddess' most holy request? " I asked with a sultry divine tone as I put a finger under Lukrut's chin.
Lukrut, playing along in response, answered, "This goddess' most humble servant is ready and willing to accept anything she might ask of him." The grin he gave me was infectious, but I tried to maintain a straight face.
" This goddess is quite pleased to hear such a response from her worshipper." As a playful reward, I kissed his lips through my veil before pulling away, "As for her request, the Fox Princess is in need of a steed tonight with quite a bit of endurance. Do you think that is something which her devout worshipper can provide?"
"That is something completely within this humble servant's power."
" Then, this goddess shall begin the process of riding her valiant steed." Saying this, I used one of my tails to gently push Lukrut onto his back and began…
The pair of us were sweating and breathing hard after our 'attempts to remain physically fit.' My eyes met Lukrut's loving gaze as he studied at me with a satisfied smile, one that I matched. Gently, Lukrut pulled my veil aside and fully kissed me on the lips until we finally separated.
"Was this humble servant able to satisfy his beautiful goddess?" Lukrut asked while pushing a strand of my hair behind my ear.
" Yeah, this goddess was extremely satisfied. You did admirably as my mount, Lukrut." I answered as I rested my head against his chest.
"Happy to see that I'm still able to please my beautiful fox." He stated before adding, "Though, we might need to fully separate soon if we don't want to risk becoming parents." I grinned at him.
"Give it a little bit. This is very comfortable and I doubt I could even move at the moment." I replied as I snuggled into his body with a soft sigh.
"How could I ever deny my beautiful fox her wish?" My mate questioned, making me giggle as I soon rested my eyes after this. My one solace about the divine stripper outfit was that at least Lukrut liked it, though he'd probably think that I'd look amazing wearing a burlap sack. That's another thing that I loved about him.
A few minutes later, and I clocked out for the night with a smile on my face.
[Nero]
Day 23:
As Yamato and I walked through the forest this morning, I noticed an amazing change in comparison to all the previous days before. I could actually see parts of the sky through the tree branches! It meant that we were starting to leave the heavy center of the forest and were starting to reach an edge of it.
"Hey, Yamato. How long do you think it'll be until we arrive at the lake?" I asked. The gray fox looked over his shoulder at me with a neutral expression. I don't know if it was due to me spending enough time around him or if it was due to Yamato being a magical fox, but I was starting to get a feel on the minute expressions that he tended to make.
Right now, he was feeling a bit annoyed at my question.
"Likely within the day so that you stop asking such an inane question." Yamato replied, making me roll my eyes at his usual gruff response.
"At least we're almost finished with this walking. I'm starting to get a little sick of this constant forest scenery." I remarked before deciding to ask, "So, you mentioned that there's this giant tree that Inari's daughter, Kashia, created which is on the lake. Is there anything else there or is that just it?"
"Aside from the tree that the Princess has created, there are also the bridges along with the golden palace which she crafted afterwards. Other spots of note at the Great Lake of Tob would be the four, once five, tribes of lizardmen that inhabit the lake." Yamato answered, making me curious.
"What happened to the fifth lizardman tribe?" I asked.
Yamato actually smirked at this question. Either because he found it amusing or it had something to do with the answer. "The Princess has the admirable habit of gathering more allies under her banner of protection. Of which, the Green Claw tribe took up her offer to live in a settlement to the west of the city of E-Rantel."
"And she does this type of thing a lot?"
"Yes. And she will likely continue to do so the longer she stays here. I hope that the Princess is able to accomplish whatever form of end goal it is that she is trying to reach." Yamato finished with a tone of slight reverence.
Guess that my taskmaster of a teacher has a real soft spot for this woman. Though, I really had to wonder why she chose to make this settlement in the Re-Estize? From what I've heard from any of the gossip that spread around…back home, the kingdom was going to be conquered by the Emperor and his army soon enough.
"What made Kashia want to build her settlement in the Re-Estize? Wouldn't it have been better to make it in the Great Forest of Tob or within the Empire?" I asked, voicing this question of mine.
"The Re-Estize was the land that she first arrived at. From there, she chose to lay her roots near E-Rantel due to connecting to the city's inhabitants. It also helps that a religion based around the Princess has sprouted up within the city, with its membership growing daily."
That sounds reasonable enough. "And Kashia has no worries that E-Rantel is the first city that the Empire will reach once they finally win?" This question actually got a surprising chuckle from Yamato.
"Nero, do you really think that your entire empire has even the pittance of power needed for the Princess to glance in their direction, let alone be worried about them? She would not even need to meet them on the field of battle as she could send a small contingent of her loyal servants to deal with whatever army that the Baharuth could possibly field." Yamato said with absolute certainty.
And that made me wonder, just how powerful were the kitsune if they could take on the might of the entire Empire without Inari's daughter, Kashia, getting involved? I know that Yamato is extremely strong, considering how he can toy with me like an infant while handicapping himself to use only one tail during our fights. But how many people could he take on at once before getting overwhelmed, if he could get overwhelmed in the first place?
"To be honest, Yamato, I wouldn't know. Just comprehending that kind of power is a little beyond me. It's already hard to imagine an army bigger than a hundred people or so. And apparently thousands get sent to the Katze Plains every year. It's just a bit much to think about." I admitted.
The gray fox thought on this for a few moments before asking, "Consider it my simple curiosity, but what did your people think about the continued war that your empire engages in every year against the Re-Estize?"
"There were a lot of differing opinions about it. Some people thought it was our patriotic duty to aid the Empire in fighting against her enemies. Others felt that it was just a waste of resources. Then there were some that only saw it as a lottery, with anyone called to the front being one of the unlucky chosen."
"And what do you think of it?"
"It's the stupid war that took my dad." I replied bitterly.
Yamato nodded at this; his curiosity now fully sated. "I see. I am…sorry for bringing up unpleasant memories." The fox apologized which I waved off.
"You didn't know. Besides, I've had a lot of time to deal with it." I responded, thinking onto that dull ache which first came with a courier arriving to our village to announce the casualties in battle. When Dad's name came up, Mom wailed the hardest among us. Grandpa spent a long time trying to console her.
I think the worst part of the annual war is that bodies are rarely ever brought back from the front lines unless it's someone of high importance or nobility. The rest of the bodies are burned and destroyed as best they can be to prevent the corpses from coming back.
From what I heard, the families at the start of this war were the luckiest since they had the highest chance of a body being returned. But after a little time passed, those dead bodies began to start resurrecting into the undead mid-transit.
Following this, the policy to destroy any corpses was enacted. By now, Dad's bones and ashes had probably been trampled underfoot into the mud by all the later armies. Something that had happened to countless other fathers and sons during this war.
"Even if you do not yet have the skill, I can see that you have the mentality of a warrior to continue on from the harsh misfortunes of life. It is an commendable trait of yours that you would do well to retain in your life." I was stunned to hear an extremely rare compliment come from the gray fox's mouth.
"Thanks." I replied and the pair of us were silent for a little longer until I decided to ask, "Hey, Yamato. On the mention of family, do you have any?"
Yamato was silent for a short moment in contemplation. When he finally came to a decision on what to say, he spoke, "The only family I have left is my idiot of a little brother. Other than him, neither of our parents roam the realms of the living, nor have I a mate or kits."
"Sounds pretty lonely." I remarked.
"It is the hand that life dealt me. While I cannot control the events that happened, I can control how I react in accordance to them." Yamato answered in a resolute tone before he turned his head to me and finished with, "But that is enough discussion about such trivial matters. We must focus on the task at hand."
"Right. Always business with you, isn't it?" I asked aloud. That question was one that Yamato didn't even deign to give a response to.
[Pluton Ainzach]
It was pure pandemonium as I made my way to the Adventurer's Guild this morning. At first, it was the random person or two running up and down the streets, followed by a large amount of frenzied discussions that happened around me.
But as I got closer to the district containing the guilds and businesses, I found it harder and harder to make my way through as a crowd grew in the streets and became denser the further I went in. At the same time, the conversations grew louder and I was able to pick up bits and pieces that I overheard.
"-guild was attacked by the church."
"-goddess called the Fox Princess fought-"
"-Verona Margrost got petrified in front of the Magician's-"
"-Goddess resurrected the dead-"
On and on, these conversations streamed past my ears and I was only able to get a basic understanding of what happened. None of which managed to fully explain the events that transpired since last night.
What I did understand is that the Magician's Guild was attacked by the Punishment Squad of the church led by Verona Margrost. Some people died in the assault until the Fox Princess of all people stopped the attackers. Then, Verona was turned into a statue and the Fox Princess resurrected those killed in the assault.
All of this was immensely worrying, and I knew that I had to get to the Magician's Guild quickly to sort this out as multiple gold and platinum-plate adventurers had been given the job of guarding the guild from assault. People who I was responsible for as their guildmaster. By the gods, this was turning out to be a troublesome day.
It took some effort, along with a bit of shoving while also throwing my authority around, to make it through the crowd and arrive at the front steps of the guild where I couldn't stop my eyes from widening in shock.
"By the gods…" I muttered to myself as I gazed upon the small plaza in front of the guild's building. All around, I could see the signs of battle from the scorch marks against the stone floor that a few mages were doing their best to remove, the dried bloodstains that a mage was using a water spell to clean away, and the cracked ground or broken wall of the guild building that some more mages were using earth or transmutation spells to fill in and smooth away the damage.
Yet, the main attraction was the stone statue raised upon a pedestal that faced towards the crowd. The statue was Verona Margrost who stood frozen with a look of terror upon her face as she gazed up to the sky, looking for some salvation that wasn't there. I knew in an instant that this truly was the high priestess of the E-Rantel's temple.
The statue was too lifelike and imperfectly perfect as only a once-living being could be. It was both horrifying to look at, yet also impossible to look away from. Underneath the statue, carved into the pedestal the Verona stood on, were words:
Here stands Verona Margrost.
High Priestess of the Church of the Four Great Gods. This monster is responsible for ordering the murders of many innocent men, woman, and children.
Let her punishment stand as testament to her crimes. As is dictated by the Fox Princess.
It was chilling to read those words. While I am aware that the church is not the good and pure organization that they claimed to be, it's hard to hear that Verona Margrost, the kindly high priestess was able to order the deaths of innocent people. At the same time, I couldn't exactly find it within myself to refute the words of a goddess when she states exactly why she had punished someone.
"It has to be a sick joke. How could High Priestess Verona ever be guilty of such a thing?" A man asked. "It has to be some prank these mages have conjured."
"Did you even see her at the temple today?" Another responded in turn.
"Why hasn't anyone done something yet? She can't just be left there!" A woman asked.
"They can't. Heard that a bunch of priests and clerics came over to break her curse and were unable to. Couldn't even pull her from the ground since she's merged with it." A female adventurer answered. Hanging from her neck was a silver-plate, and putting her face to name, I recalled it was Sansa Amhardt.
"We should storm the guild and demand that these practitioners of dark magic fix this!" A zealous man stated to which Sansa scoffed.
"You and what army? They're mages, so they could likely mow down a large portion of any group mustered against them, if not all of them, with their spells. And that's without bringing the Fox Princess into the mix. She's definitely real and is willing to retaliate on any who try attacking her people." Sansa explained before adding, "And besides, she brought back a few adventurer friends of mine who the church thugs murdered last night. So, she obviously ain't all bad."
"She can resurrect the dead?"
"Yeah, everyone saw it, including some of the city guard!"
Shaking my head, I began making my way up the steps towards the guild. I saw how none of the mages stopped me as all of them gave me a knowing nod. Seems like Evelyn let the mages know of my 'unofficial' alliance that I made with her.
Even so, I thought about what they said on how the Fox Princess brought people back from the dead, my people. I was both thankful as well as curious as to what she did to resurrect my fellow guildmates?
During the talks that Theo and I have had over the years on multiple different subjects, my friend has brought up the subject of reviving the dead a few times. From what I know, one of the methods to do so involved a powerful spell of the 5th Tier that could bring back the fallen if the body was in a good enough condition. But the knowledge and skill to do so was beyond any normal mage, and that didn't even take into account that there was some sort of cost behind the spell.
From the records Theo had, such a spell would heavily weaken the newly revived for quite some time after. And it seemed like that wasn't the case with whatever the Fox Princess did since otherwise the gossipers outside would also be speaking of it.
Approaching the front desk where a man in a dark robe stood as a secretary, I asked, "Could you possibly tell me where Evelyn might be?"
"She'll be in her office currently. Will you need aid in getting there?" The young man asked, to which I shook my head.
"I remember the route from last time. Thanks for your aid." I answered.
"You're welcome, Guildmaster Ainzach." With this, I walked away and made my way up the central staircase and down the hallway to Evelyn's office, all the while thinking on what chaos was likely to occur after last night's events. Already, I can imagine that the church was running about like headless chickens as they rushed to fill in Verona's current vacancy.
From there, the Magician's Guild was going to be receiving a large influx of visitors. Either from curious passersby, vengeful followers of the Four Great Gods, potential converts, and political entities. I don't typically use the term lightly.
But this was going to be a clusterfuck of the most epic proportions.
Arriving at the entrance of Evelyn's office, I knocked on the dark wooden door and heard the voice of said woman say, "Come on in."
Twisting the brass handle on opening the door, I found Evelyn sitting at her table furiously filling out documents before she stopped and looked up to me. The strange conical hat of hers was hanging off the back of her chair while her red hair was held back in a bun.
I took note that her eyes, while slightly tired, held an excited look within them. Even so, the obvious signs of lack of sleep did not take away from the hospitable look she gave with a smile slightly obscured by her veil.
"Good morning, Pluton. I've no doubt that you have question about the events of last night." She then gestured to a chair in front of the table.
I gave a nod in answer as I closed the door behind me and joined Evelyn at the table. "I've been hearing all sorts of things from the gossip outside. But I felt it better to get to the truth of the matter from a more reliable source."
"As is your right to know. It was members of your guild who got killed last night after all, even if it was only temporary." Evelyn said in agreement. "Last night, Verona Margrost and a team of the church's Punishment Squad came to the guild in order to slaughter all of us. At the start of the attack, five adventurers fell; four dead and one critically injured.
By that time, I and the adventurers still inside went out to aid in the fighting. It was when one of the executors, a pyromancer, was about to send a wave of fire at us that one of my Lady's servants, a fox with four tails known as a kitsune, blocked the spell with a shield of water. From there, the kitsune and I had the adventurers retreat inside and inform the rest of the guild." As I watched Evelyn say this, the golden rings in her eyes seemed to glow brighter in recollecting the moment.
"My Lady's servant and I fought together, but after the other Maidens tried to join us, the kitsune had us retreat inside to safety so that she could deal with the threat herself. Unfortunately, one of the executors was able to get inside after breaking a portion of the wall down, and might have killed us Maidens if not for the timely intervention of the Fox Princess.
From there, She broke the limbs of the intruder before blasting him out of the guild and following afterwards. We remained back as my Lady easily defeated all of the executors. When we went outside, followed by the rest of the worshippers and your adventurers, we found the Fox Princess having healed the critically injured adventurer outside, Verona Margrost petrified, and the executors either dead or incapacitated.
After that, She resurrected those four adventurers who had fallen while also giving Her followers a new tome of magic on healing. She wished for us to use the knowledge we gained to help others. Once done, She declared the city to be under her protection before She took the executors and left."
"And do you have any idea what she plans to do after having made this declaration? Because there's a lot unknowns right now and we are likely to be smack dab in the middle of it." I asked as I considered the ramifications of the Fox Princess having fully announced her presence. If there were people who doubted her existence before, they could look right outside the Magician's Guild to see the proof with their own eyes.
Unfortunately, Evelyn gave me a shrug. "The plans and ideas of the Goddess is beyond the scope that us mortals could comprehend. She could be ensuring this city's safety, declaring Her ownership of it, or even be using this as a stepping stone to fully rule the Re-Estize. It is not something I plan to question as I know that any decision that She makes will result in trying to help as many people as possible."
I couldn't help but sigh at the answer. All I got from Evelyn's answer was a non-answer that I've received from priests and priestesses before. Taking a breath to recompose myself, I spoke once again, "Even if you can't predict your goddess' long-term plans, if you had to make any guess on what she might do next, what would you think it might be?"
"The Fox Princess wishes us to learn healing magic in the aid of others. Likely, She might even walk among us to do so Herself. It would certainly help in garnering more good will and faith among the people of E-Rantel. Other than that, I have no idea." Evelyn replied, making me feel slightly better that this goddess' priestess had an inkling of future events.
"Hopefully, she does it soon since the city is going to be like dry tinder waiting to be lit. All it would take is one little spark to set it off. And if I had to guess the ones to light it, then it'd likely be the priests and priestesses in this city's temple of the Four Great Gods." Based on the reaction of the crowd outside, this tension was already brewing up.
Evelyn smirked at my musings, "Worry not, Pluton. My Lady made Her declaration of protection for not just external threats, but internal as well. I maintain my faith in whatever may happen next, but I'm not completely slothful as to let my Goddess do everything Herself when I have my own capabilities to aid Her." Upon saying this, she collected a few documents of parchment and handed them over to me.
Curiously, I took the offered parchment and quickly began to read it, then I realized exactly what these documents were. "These are orders for healing potions from multiple different pharmacists and alchemists across the city. What do you need all of these potions for?"
Evelyn gave me a kind smile as she answered, "It will take some time to have enough mages trained in the healing arts my Lady had gifted us, but that does not mean that we are without any method to fulfill Her wishes. All around the city are manufacturers of healing potions.
For most people, especially peasants, a healing potion is something that they'd never see, much less afford, in their lifetime. And paying the church's fees may also be beyond what they could pay. So, why not perform a little altruism while also gaining the hearts and minds of the people in turn. We'll be giving free healing potions to those in desperate need."
The idea certainly had merit to it. Receiving free healing was almost never heard of, and any parent whose child was sick or injured would be extremely thankful to anyone that managed to save their child. But still, "The amount of gold it would take to afford all of these potions is astronomical. How would you possibly be able to afford it?"
From the document details, it seemed that Evelyn was putting in an order of over 1,500 healing potions. Just on average, that's 1,500 gold for the entire lot of potions which doesn't account for changing variables like differing prices and stronger or weaker potions used.
It was a fortune!
"While the Magician's Guild does have funding issues from the kingdom, that does not mean that we flounder under such a handicap, only that we find new avenues with which to make funds. While it's unknown to me as to how other branches attain their money, the Magician's Guild in E-Rantel has a nest egg of sorts containing 1,549 bronze coins, 965 silver coins, 687 gold coins, 67 platinum coins, 5 mithril coins, and 13 gemstones worth 100 gold each."
I couldn't help but feel amazed at that amount, while also wondering as to why the Magician's Guild might have so much issue with funding while owning such a hoard.
"That nest egg is ridiculous. How is it that you possibly have money issues when you own easily more than 2,000 gold coins?" I asked.
"This nest egg has been added onto since the Magician's Guild was first founded. We have kept it secret, both due to the nest egg being for dire emergencies of extreme need, and because of what might happen should the Re-Estize government or nobles discover how much wealth we've squirreled away for safekeeping." And I nodded in agreement at Evelyn's words.
If that hoard was discovered, then the nobles would try everything to tax and drain such wealth until not a copper was left.
"Additionally," Evelyn added, "it's quite difficult to convert such wealth in a short timeframe without raising suspicions. Thankfully, Lady Annabella was quite amenable in agreeing to buy a lot of our funds from us. She also helped in getting a few prices on these potions lowered for us since we're buying in bulk."
I smirked at Evelyn's resourcefulness in the matter, "You were able to get all of this accomplished since last night?" I asked.
"Ignoring sleep, I was." The redhead admitted, "I've had couriers running throughout the city all of last night and this morning to accomplish this. By the end of today, the Magician's Guild will be a few thousand gold poorer, but we'll have recouped that by attaining the hearts and minds of the people. I think it's a good trade."
"At least there's a plan in motion. I've no doubt that Baron Argost will be thrilled to hear of what happened and of what you have in store." I remarked.
"Indeed. Lord Argost along with Lord and Lady Reylans will be extremely valuable in tiding over the nobility. How have things been going on your end?" Evelyn asked.
"Oh, talk of the Fox Princess has spread around the guild like wildfire. News and information about her will be everywhere within two to three months. After that, it'll be out of my hands." I answered.
"Excellent. Not much to do now other than act and react in turn."
[Yuriko, the Guardian Shadow]
I couldn't help but smirk as I listened in on the two humans as they discussed their plan to aid the Princess. It was quite sound and well-reasoned with only a small chance of failure. From my years of living, I've learned that its better to utilize simple plans compared to overarching grand schemes due to smaller chance of failure. Whereas with highly complicated schemes, one small thing out of place or an unforeseen factor could cause such a plan to break into pieces.
The plan of Evelyn and Pluton was as simple as they come. Spread word of the Princess across this realm while also increasing her standing among the people in this city.
There came a layered use to each individual plan that easily formed together into a valuable whole. Pluton's adventurers would spread out the initial word of my Lady which, while hard to believe at first, would then be enhanced once the second wave of news came of the Princess' and her followers' charitable acts within the city.
From there, the news would spread itself. Even if some rumors might verge upon the absurd, it still put the Princess into the minds-eye of the public. And with deities like Lady Inari and her daughter, the beliefs and thoughts of mortals was quite valuable. The Princess will become the prime goddess of this world, with Lady Inari following in turn as belief in her daughter would transfer as belief into her.
While I may not be one of the lucky few to have received visions or orders from Lady Inari, Puraimu was. From what we've been told by him, our Lady is impatiently giddy and excited to eventually be able to physically interact with her daughter. As such, she wants absolutely nothing to get in the way of such an event.
And as it is the wish of our Lady, it becomes our wish as well. And even aside from meeting the Princess, Lady Inari wants to finally meet her granddaughters and the Princess' mate.
While I have nothing against humans, something about that man just smelled wrong to me, and I have no way to truly describe it. But be that as it may, it is above my station to tell the Princess about who she should take as her consort or not.
My only place is to protect the Princess and her family and help to ensure Lady Inari's successful manifestation in this realm. From there, Lady Inari would help groom her daughter to be the perfect ruler of this realm. And after that?
I am unsure, but I eagerly wait to find out.
Yet, to get there, we, the dutiful servants of Lady Inari and Princess Kashia, must help to pave the path for them.
To do so, I would send a [Message] to the Princess and inform her of an optimal path for her to take. Once that was complete, I would spread word among the others and let them plan accordingly.
[Kashia]
After waking up from another fun night and getting ready for the day with Lukrut, I found myself being contacted by a [Message]. Upon answering it, the kitsune, Yuriko, who I left to watch the Magician's Guild answered.
' Princess, while watching the humans at the guild, I heard of an interesting way to enamor the people of E-Rantel to you. The best method would be to go about the city and personally heal the afflicted. This would also have the side benefit of potentially lowering the tension within the city due to your justified actions of last night.'
'Sounds interesting. I think I could make some time a little later to do so. How are things within the city currently? Anything I should be worried about?'
' While there is the obvious tension as I have mentioned before, none of it has led to any violence at this point in time, but it isn't certain. It would be wise to take caution with your next actions.'
'Thanks for letting me know. Continue as you were.' I concluded while mulling over what I had been told.
' By your command.' With that, Yuriko ended the [Message]. While I considered what I was going to do with today. The best way would likely be to send my kitsune to scour the city for any in need of aid, then I'd likely also set up a large group to continually patrol E-Rantel and make sure that my city was safe and protected so that my worshippers can continue to pray in my name. And after enough people are offering their worship to me, I could get a few to worship mom as well?
Oh, it would be so exciting to see mom again! We'd be reunited again and have so much to catch up on. I could even get to show off my eight new tails I've acquired since she last saw me! The best thing would be if mom called me her 'little fox' again. But in order to do that, I needed to acquire more worship to become stronger and, in turn, make mom stronger.
After all, even if I was nervous and hesitant about everything at first, this religion business really all started because I wanted to be able to see mom, and possibly dad, again.
Yeah, that would just be wonderful. Mom, dad, and myself all together again. It's really what I've always dreamed of since I was a little girl. And now, that dream was starting to become a reality. This is what I've always wanted.
Th- This…is/ n't…right…
"Ready to go, my beautiful fox?" Lukrut asked, dragging me from my thoughts as I looked at my archer who had a large smile on his face that made me feel warm inside whenever he focused that smile upon me.
"Yeah, I'm ready to go, my silly archer." I replied as whatever I might've been thinking was quickly forgotten as I was helped to my feet. "You know, there's one convenient thing about Peter and Dyne knowing about my actual appearance."
"What might that be?" Lukrut asked.
"That I don't need to keep my disguise up all the time now." I answered as a few of my tails slid around different areas of his body to aid in my response. "While convenient, one thing I don't like about the disguise is how cramped it makes me feel after a while."
In turn, Lukrut wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to his side, making me laugh. "Well, I'm glad that you don't have to deal with that issue as much anymore. This humble servant wouldn't want his beautiful goddess to feel uncomfortable now, would he?" He huskily whispered into my ear as I suddenly became a little needy.
" If that's the case, then this goddess will require her humble servant to relieve her of a new issue that has just come up. " I whispered back in my divine tone.
"Then I'll just have to fix that. But are you sure that we should make the others wa-" I cut him off as I pulled him into a passionate kiss until we finally separate.
"We can hold off on training for 20 or 30 minutes." I said back while letting one of my tails cast [Silence] on the area once again.
[Nero]
Quite a bit of time had passed since Yamato and I had started traveling again today. Looking up through the tree canopy, I found that the sun was high in the sky which told me that we had been going like this for the past four or five hours.
Throughout all the time, Yamato remained his usual stoically quiet self while I had tried to continue making small talk, much to my continual failure. It seemed that the gray fox had used up most of his ability to communicate after talking to me this morning. But that didn't stop me from trying. It was at least better than just remaining quiet.
"What will we be doing once we arrive at the lake? I can only assume it might be something different." I asked.
"You do not need to know what your training might be. All you need to understand is that whatever I require of you to do is all in the goal of furthering you as a paladin of Lady Inari. Though, I do have one question for you."
Cocking my head at the gray fox, I asked, "What kind of question?"
Yamato gave me a hint of a grin, "How well are you able to swim?" He asked with a tone that felt a little malicious.
"I wouldn't really know. We didn't have any ponds or lakes nearby my village to swim in." I answered with a growing suspicion.
"Then it will be a good experience for you to learn. A warrior would not let something like a little water drown him." As Yamato said this, one of his tails wrapped around my waist and he took off charging through the trees while I found myself screaming as I looked at the fox like he'd gone insane as another tail he had another of his tails rip my sword from my hand.
A moment later and I found myself flying through the air after Yamato released his tail's grip from around my waist as my world seemed to be spinning. Then, I felt myself splash down into cold water as I felt myself begin sinking a bit into the water until I tried clawing my way towards the surface.
Whatever it was that I did seemed to work as I grew closer and closer to the surface, yet I felt like I was moving too slow as the air ran out of my lungs. Just as I felt that I was doomed, Yamato's tail ripped me from the water and I found myself held above the lake while gasping for air.
"What the hell was that, you stupid fox?!" I demanded.
"You needed a bath since I have had to deal with your stench for days. Besides, you should not be complaining as we have finally arrived." That's when I actually took a moment to look at my surroundings.
It was a massive lake with multiple bridges spanning across it which all led to a mountainous tree reaching high into the sky.
Even with the annoyance that Yamato put me through, I couldn't help but smile at having finally arrived.
A/N: Alright everyone, last chapter until my 2-3 week hiatus concludes. See you all then.
Stay frosty my friends.