A Vulpine Spanner in the Works
Chapter 19: Promotions, Commotions, and a Whole 'Lotta Devotions
[Lukrut]
To say today was different would be putting it lightly. What I had expected to happen today after heading to the guild hall was to meet up with Peter and Dyne who usually arrived at the guild around the same time while Ninya and Kashia would show up together soon after that.
What happened instead was that I arrived at the guild to find Peter and Dyne chatting animatedly with a girl in green. It was when I got closer that I was finally able to get a good look at the girl.
"Ninya!?" I questioned as I examined the very feminine attire that she was wearing in comparison to the regular outfit that I was used to seeing. Additionally, it was quite obvious that she took a lot of inspiration from Kashia's attire with a flair of Ninya's own inserted into it.
Either way, the others finally noticed my arrival, with Ninya looking a little nervous as I approached.
"Morning, Lukrut. As you can see, I decided to change up my outfit. W-What do you think?" She asked while avoiding eye contact with me. I smirked at how, even with an extreme change in appearance, it was still the little Ninya that I knew under it.
"You look great, Ninya." I said as I walked over and patted her on the shoulder, "Though, if nobody knew that you were Kashia's student before, they'll definitely know now."
"Kashia told me that as well." Ninya replied, causing me to chuckle. Of course Kashia said that. She did like showing off and Ninya was her student who she would obviously like to show to the world.
"You know, guys, I feel like our team is going to look fashionably mismatched to everyone that sees us. Kashia and Ninya, especially with that new staff of hers, will make the rest of us look like slobs in comparison." I joked with a laugh.
"That might be true for you, but I'm fairly certain that I look good enough to fit in with the fashionable duo of Kashia and Ninya." Peter retorted with a grin.
"My counter to both of your arguments is that I could care less about fashion." Dyne interrupted, "I once spent three months in the wild in only a bearskin kilt. Though, I guess one could consider it a very fashionable kilt."
"I don't know, are you sure you weren't mistaking bearskin for your normal body hair?" I asked.
Dyne stroked his beard in though before responding dryly, "Who knows? I'm not entirely sure myself." The four of us burst out laughing at his answer. Eventually, we managed to calm ourselves down enough to speak again. While our young mage was here, where was Kashia hiding right now?
"So, Ninya, almost all of us are here. You know where Kashia is? I don't see her with us." I asked.
"I was actually going to ask if any of you had seen her at the guild? Meepo told Tuare and I that Kashia had been called early to the guild this morning, but she didn't come back to the inn, so I assumed she was still here." Ninya replied. I looked at Peter and Dyne who both shrugged their shoulders in response.
"We didn't see her here when we arrived either. Not sure on where she could've gone." Peter replied. That was very odd. Where could our resident beautiful sorceress have gone off to?
"Maybe we should ask around-" Peter didn't get to finish his suggestion as I noticed a pretty redhead in the guild uniform approach us. I knew this redhead to be the one that Peter had interest in, Helena.
And, from how her teal eyes looked at Peter while red filled her pale cheeks, it was quite obvious the feeling was mutual. Dyne and I have been watching Peter's dynamic with the girl, and all I could say is that it was painful to watch how awkward they seemed to dance around one another.
"Good morning, Peter." Helena greeted, making said warrior's eyes widen as he quickly turned around with a smile.
"Hello, H-Helena. You're looking g-good today." Peter responded, the normal confidence of our leader jumping out the window at the sight of the secretary.
"Thank you, Peter. S-So do you." She replied, the blush on her face growing brighter, "Guildmaster Ainzach wished to see you and your team when you all arrived. I-I don't believe you're in trouble, so you shouldn't be worried."
"That's good to hear. I guess that we should probably start heading to Pluton's office then." Peter remarked. Dyne, Ninya, and I started walking towards Pluton's office. Peter almost went to join us when he stopped mid-step in hesitation and instead looked to Helena.
"I-Is there something else that you need, P-Peter?" Helena asked.
"Well, I was wondering…" By now, the three of us stopped walking and now focused on our team leader's interaction. "Do you happen to have any plans for dinner tonight?"
"I don't. My shift ends in eight hours." Then, she surprised all of us by standing on her toes and pecking Peter on the cheek. Our leader then stood still in surprise as Helena quickly ran off with a wide grin on her face.
With a dopey smile, Peter finally turned to us all and raised his fists in the air in celebration while the three of us gave him congratulatory clapping as he rejoined us. At least he finally grew a pair to ask Helena out.
"Seems like you're the love-struck idiot in our group for once." I teased while patting him on the shoulder.
"Guess I am." He accepted without any retort in response. Seems that the emotional high took away his bark for once. Tables have turned now, Pete!
"I'm glad to see you finally mustered up the courage to ask Helena out." Ninya said with a smile.
"I just decided to take the chance since she was right there. Also, nearly dying made me realize that life is too short to wait for something to happen." Peter replied. Yeah, our brush with death put a lot of things into perspective.
"At least you finally did it. Thought I was going to die of old age before you tried to make a move." Dyne added as we started walking to Pluton's office.
"At least you can die now without that regret on your mind. Now, you'll just have to hope to die after seeing our dear leader get married." I stated.
Dyne looked over to me before shrugging his shoulders. "From the rate that it took Peter to ask out Helena, I'll be a skeleton before that happens."
"I believe that you're both thinking too far ahead on something like that." Ninya said with a giggle.
"The wise think about events of the future, not just present. It's just that, in this case, thinking about the future tends to embarrass two of my friends." Dyne remarked in amusement. Our druid being in a comedic mood was never good for my dignity.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"You aren't immune to teasing either, Lukrut. Kashia has you read like an open book. You end up freezing whenever she starts teasing you. I fear that you'll either die of a heart attack if she kisses you or turn into a living statue if the pair of you become a couple." I wanted to argue with him, but considering all the evidence, he was right.
"Yeah, well, I can definitely prove you wrong." I countered. I could definitely remain focused and moving were Kashia to tease me again. Even if she said something with that sultry voice of hers while gazing at me with those beautiful orange eyes that you could just get lost in…
Damn.
"Tell you what, I'll bet you a silver that you won't reciprocate if Kashia teases you again." Dyne then glanced at Ninya and Peter. "You two also want in on this?"
"I'll match that bet." Peter answered with a grin.
"I think that I'll also match it." Ninya said with a moment's thought. Great, if Ninya was confident about this, then I might be doomed.
"Fine. I'm going to prove all of you wrong and get richer from it." I confidently promised. The three traitors looked at me with unbelieving eyes as I pulled open the door to Pluton's office and the four of us walked in.
"Good morning you f- Ninya, is that you?" Pluton asked with a confused expression. I was a little impressed on how quickly he managed to recognize Ninya.
"Yes, sir. I'm actually a girl." Our little mage answered nervously. Pluton's face soon settled back to being serious.
"Guess I'll need to have the guild update your information." He remarked aloud. Then, he gestured for us to come closer which we silently complied with. "Now, I bet that the four of you are probably wondering where your teammate Kashia is?"
"Yeah. We heard that she had been summoned to the guild earlier, but we didn't see her when we arrived." Peter answered for us. Pluton rested his elbows onto his desk before interlacing his fingers in front of his face.
"What I will say next to the four of you must not leave this room. It could cause a panic. Do you understand?" I felt my breath hitch as Pluton said this. What happened? Is Kashia safe?
I noticed from the corner of my eye that while Peter and Dyne also showed worry, Ninya seemed to be a lot more terrified. Almost like she knew something we didn't.
"We understand, sir." Peter replied.
"Last night, a large group of adventurers went to subjugate a cave that had been discovered to be the base of bandits. Only one survivor managed to escape the slaughter that occurred."
"Slaughter?" I asked, my worries growing greater and greater.
"Yes. It turns out that the adventurers had come to the cave at the same time that a vampire had just finished butchering everyone inside."
By the gods.
Vampires were rare, so rare in fact, that to encounter one by accident was just universally bad luck. Some places even considered them to be myths, and they might even be right if it weren't for stories of new attacks that would be heard every once in a while.
Vampires are a species that have been hunted for years due to how most of them would go on rampages and slaughter whole villages of humans if allowed to. In addition, a single bite would put you under their thrall, easily allowing a vampire to build up an army. The only vampires that lived these days were either smart enough to stay hidden or so powerful that they didn't need to. It didn't help that vampires got stronger the older they became.
Copper and silver-plate adventurers had absolutely no chance of surviving an encounter with a vampire. Even a young vampire could rip through a group of either rank with little effort.
Gold and platinum-plates weren't much better. At that rank, you were more likely to escape with your life than to actually beat a vampire. It was at mithril-plate that a person had even odds against a vampire, and that was with a group. Orichalcum and adamantite-plates could take on vampires with good odds of beating them in a group.
Now, the only question was what involved Kashia with a vampire?
"Kashia, due to recommendation from Guildmaster Theo Rakheshir, was promoted to mithril-plate today. At the same time, I summoned all mithril-plates that were within the city to deal with this vampire. It was during this meeting that I had with all of them that Kashia brought in two associates of hers that had experience with this vampire before from their home country."
"Associates?" Ninya asked for us since Kashia hadn't told us of any associates she had in this country. While I tried to hide it, I felt a mixture of disappointment and slight jealousy at hearing about her working with others. It was stupid and childish, but I just couldn't help it.
"They are newer members of the guild. A man named Momon and a woman named Nabe. From what I learned, this vampire, named Bathory, is extremely powerful. Enough so that she had apparently fed on an entire city that Momon used to call home. Additionally, we were told that Kashia, Momon, and Nabe were the only ones that stood a chance of beating Bathory. They refused anyone else to come along and join them. The three of them left the city soon after the meeting to slay Bathory." Pluton finished.
I know that Kashia is powerful, she admitted it herself. But even with magical protections, if a vampire got into melee distance, she'd likely be torn apart!
Dammit! Why am I too weak? She didn't even bother to tell us, most likely in an effort to protect us. Something that she's been doing since we met her.
She needed someone to protect her in return. And I couldn't do that because of how damn weak I am! All I could do against Clementine was stand there and listen to my friends get cut apart.
All I'd do against a vampire is get sucked dry of blood or wait for Kashia to save me.
I could feel my fist curling in frustration at how useless I've been recently. I need more strength to protect my friends, to protect and be an equal to Kashia.
I need more power…
[And where will you get it, boy?]
I was pushed out of my thoughts when I heard that voice. Something horrifically ancient and inhuman. And, looking at the others, I was able to tell that none of them heard it like I did.
What was that? Or was I just hearing things?
"-that she will be back?" I finally focused back on the conversation, unaware of what I may have missed.
"I couldn't tell you. While the trip to the cave is less than a day, a fight between Bathory and Kashia, Momon, and Nabe could take much longer. We leave it in the hands of the gods at this point. I can only pray that they come back alive, even with the confidence that they sported about their success." Pluton answered Peter with a grim expression.
"Then there's nothing more we can do…" Peter said in dejection, a feeling that I shared. Nothing more we can do but wait.
It wasn't long after that we left Pluton's office and gathered at one of the empty tables together.
"That meeting put a bit of a bad taste in my mouth." I stated to the others.
"You won't find any argument from me on that. Sadly, there's not much we can do except wait and see what happens." Dyne responded.
"Yeah, can't say it feels good knowing that we are being left behind. Frankly, I feel we'll need to do a lot of catching up if we don't want to be a hinderance to Kashia." Peter said, which I completely agreed with.
"For me, it's extremely easy to know the gap between Kashia and myself." Ninya began, "But at least it makes it easy to understand when I need to improve."
But there was only so much that talk could take us, and I wanted to be alone for a bit to sort out my thoughts.
"I think I'll head off a bit earlier than usual. I don't exactly feel like taking a job today and I'd like to do some thinking. You guys fine with that?" I announced while standing up from the table. The others were understanding of my reasons.
"Then we'll see you tomorrow?" Dyne asked.
"Of course. Can't leave you guys to have too much fun without me." I answered. "Have fun with Helena tonight, Peter."
"I'll tell you how it went in the morning." Peter traded back, making me smile before I walked away from the others and out of the guild.
At times like these when I just wanted to think, I went out of the city to a small patch of trees on top of a hill to the west where I left a few targets to shoot at and practice.
I like this little bit of sanctuary to myself where the only bit of noise comes from the animals around me, the winds blowing through the leaves of the trees, and twang of my bow followed by the thump of my arrow's impact.
As I drew back my bowstring with an arrow nocked in place, I took a breath and held my position. The seconds ticked by, yet I still didn't move.
My lungs became heavy as my body demanded air. The muscles in my arms, shoulders, and chest burned, but I remained as I was. Even more so, I pulled the bowstring back further in defiance to my body's wishes.
And finally, when my vision was on the verge of swimming, I released the arrow and watched as it flew into the center of the wooden target, piercing through it and going two inches or so into the tree behind it.
Yet, even with that perfect shot, I still wasn't satisfied. The arrow could go deeper. All these years of practice and I could still only go a few inches deep.
I should be able to fire an arrow through the target and the tree.
Nocking another arrow, I fired it at the first, splitting apart the shaft of the prior arrow and pushing the first arrowhead deeper into the tree.
That's still not good enough. Nocking another arrow, I fired again.
Thump!
Not good enough. Still not through the tree.
Thump!
I should be better.
Thump!
I need to be better! So, I don't just stand frozen and listen to my friends dying!
Thump!
I was a failure! I was useless! I did nothing and couldn't save anyone!
Thump!
Not Ninya!
Thump!
Not Dyne! Not Peter!
Thump! Thump!
And especially NOT KASHIA!
Thump! Crack!
My bow exploded into multiple pieces as I had to look away with my eyes closed to prevent any wooden shards from blinding me. When I looked back, my left hand was bleeding from a wooden shard that had entered it while part of my jacket's sleeve was ripped from the snapped bowstring whipping across it.
I grimaced, both from the pain, as well as the realization that my trusty bow, which I had gone on so many adventures with and had become attached to, was nothing more than broken pieces.
Gently, I pulled out the wooden shard in my hand and pulled out a bottle of a healing potion from my satchel before uncorking it with my teeth and pouring the blue liquid onto my injured hand, washing away some of the blood. I watched as my wound slowly closed itself until only a small ache remained.
Looking up to the target, I noticed that while the last arrow was a few inches deeper than before, it still hadn't gone through the tree.
Fuck. I lost multiple arrows, a healing potion, and my bow for this to be my result? All that came from all of my effort was a FEW INCHES OF PROGRESS!
Screaming out in rage, I punched the ground in frustration multiple times, barely noticing the pain from it. I just wanted to hit something!
Breaking my arrows, my bow, and myself barely produced a tangible result! I need more strength! I need more power!
[Once again, I ask, where would you get it, boy?]
That ancient voice spoke once again. I didn't get long to contemplate it as the horizon lit up with a pillar of light from the sky, followed by a beam of light that shot off across the horizon.
They remained for a few seconds more until fading away to nothing.
That wasn't just magic. I know and have seen enough magic to know that that wasn't just a spell. That was godly. And it was in the direction that Kashia had gone to fight that vampire…
My eyes widened as I got off my feet and was about to start running towards Kashia, because I knew it had to be her involved with that! I had to get to her!
[And then what? Get in the way? Force your love to protect you? Die? You are too weak, boy.]
Those words halted my steps, then I snarled in rage, "And what do you know?!" I shouted in anger at the air at this voice that I could hear while others couldn't.
[I know of power. I've eaten its roots! Gnawed its bark! Drank its sap! And I know the feeling of being held back. To be restricted by chains of metal, fate, and innate limitations.]
The voice roared and thrashed as it coiled in my mind, but then it settled, and I felt the attention of something enormous and incomprehensible weighing down upon me.
"If you're so powerful, then why are you talking to me? I'm just an average archer who couldn't even help his friends when they needed him." I demanded before once again remembering my own uselessness.
[I had power, then it was taken! I was bound by ancient roots, broken into pieces, forced to watch as infants played with my shards like toys! I was forced into slumber, dreaming of revenge! But then I woke… You called to me.]
"I called to you?"
[Yes, boy. You called to me. You desired power, you still desire it. You desire to protect your friends, to keep your lover safe, to become as strong as her.]
This voice was right. I don't want to hold any of them back, especially not Kashia…
"That is all I want."
[Then I'd like to give you some power. A seed to start. One to nurture and tend to until your roots grow deep and strong! Your branches scrape the sky! Your leaves blot out the sun! Your tree shakes reality!]
"What would you want in return? This sounds too good to be true…" And it did. But then, I looked back at that arrow sticking out of the tree. All of my efforts for just a few inches.
[Power is its own reward. My reward is to see your strength grow. And your reward is to protect your loved ones. You do want to protect her, right?]
The image of her appeared, unbidden, in my mind. Her golden hair flowing around her. Those captivating orange eyes full of warmth and life. Her beautiful smile filled with joy.
[To keep her safe and happy?]
And then, the image changed to that night. Her smile gone, replaced by a frown marring her lips. Those orange eyes dulled as they filled with tears and sorrow. Her voice filled with pain as she wept.
I didn't want to see her like that again. I didn't want her to be in so much pain. I wanted to protect her smile.
My heart already knew what my answer would be.
"I want to keep her safe." I answered, looking down at my hands.
[Then take your seed and grow…]
The voice disappeared as the overwhelming presence finally lifted off of me. I almost thought that I may have been going insane.
Then I felt a burning on my chest that caused me to cry out in pain as I fell to my knees gripping the area. I ripped my armor and jacket off and pried my shirt away to reveal my bare chest.
To my horror, I found what looked to be the round shape of a glowing crimson tree seed, the size of my fist, embedded into my chest. I kept screaming, in both horror and pain, as the seed slowly sunk into my chest until I could no longer see its shape, only its unearthly crimson glow. Then, a pulse from my core rippled through my body as the glowing red formed into the symbol of a seed with small roots growing from it onto my chest.
Finally, the glow faded away until it became a simple crimson. The pain finally ended there as I hunched over the ground with my hands supporting me as I breathed heavily. Sweat dripped down my brow as I felt my heart start to slow down to its regular beat.
Looking down, I put a hand to this brand on my chest and started tracing the symbol with my fingers. If there wasn't any proof of the voice and its claims before, there was now. And that meant I could become so much stronger now.
I would finally be able to protect Kashia.
[Unknown]
[Yes, grow strong. Let your roots spread out. Become greater and revel in it! And then, when you've finally ripened…]
[I'll consume your roots. I'll rip off your bark. I'll drain your sap. And then, I'll reclaim what's mine. What they took from me! What these weaklings of this world claimed from their betters! What that skeleton hoarded with greed. What that fox flaunted with pride. Oh yes, she'd have an especially unique punishment with this boy at the helm.]
[All that is required now is to wait. I've waited so long for this. What is a little time more?]
[Kashia]
Day 14:
I felt so bored waiting at the tree line in my human form. I'd been up for a while now, especially since I spent some time going over a few of the recent changes that had occurred at Haven-Lake. Namely, our new residents.
Since yesterday, my copy had spent time migrating the lizardmen of the Green Claw into the houses next to the lake with little issue. Shasuryu had been extremely helpful in the process as he was able to direct his people without argument since they all trusted in his judgement. It also led to my copy and I finally assembling a council of sorts.
Maup had pretty much taken charge of most of the goblins, hobgoblins, ogres, and trolls. Part of it came from them all knowing him the longest. The other part was due to him having the ability to speak on their level and translate the more confusing concepts and instructions that they were given into simpler terms. I never knew that having a translator for idiots would be useful until I dealt with some of the dumber ogres and goblins.
Alaya, the half-elf who I'd rescued from the brothel, found herself becoming a voice for the humans, elves, and half-elves of the village. Aside from those three races, she'd also spoke for a few goblins that had started learning baking from her. While they weren't the best bakers, they were certainly working on it.
Finally, Shasuryu had become the obvious voice of the lizardmen. At the same time, Zaryusu had a seat for two reasons. One was that he interacted with the widest number of races as a diplomat of sorts, even after his original tenure of diplomat in the village had ended.
It was a pretty good system, especially because we received more and more goblins, ogres, and one new elf. Apparently, Rush, the only other full elf in the village had found her after she managed to escape from her slavers who were a group of people from the Slane Theocracy. Following that, Rush brought her back here.
She didn't say much about how she escaped, probably traumatized about it. We did manage to get a name from her, Aurelianne.
Additionally, my copy informed me that she had finished summoning a few level 70 kitsune to act as bodyguards for all the people I ordered. The sane and logical side of my mind thought that having level 70s acting as glorified bodyguards was overkill. The instinctual and primal side felt that it wasn't enough. Both sides managed to agree that it would be best to wait and see if any other kitsune were needed. But currently, the protection detail would suffice as of now.
After that, I watched one of the arena tourneys which ended with Zaryusu winning again.
From there, I had to take a few more ice baths to settle my urges before going to sleep. It was getting harder to control myself, and I hated that I might end up proving my copy right one day. How much longer would my body's biological betrayal last? If I was lucky, it would only be three. But if I wasn't…
I covered my head in my pillow and screamed in frustration.
And that's what led to right now. Me alone, waiting for Momo to show up with Narberal. I wondered how the others were doing right now? Tuare was likely on her shift at Celly's. Meepo would be watching Tuare in addition to a kitsune. While it was probably overkill, at least Tuare had 100 levels of protection between her.
My team would either be taking a job right now, worrying about me or wondering what I was doing. I hope that Ninya/daughter is doing alright and isn't too upset at my sudden departure. I'd really have to make it up to all of them, especially my mate. I'd have to really make it up to him.
I slapped myself back into sanity and leaned against a tree. Did this world have any form of contraceptive, normal or magical? Am I going to have to conjure up the magical equivalent of condoms in the future? I'm getting more and more worried that I'll end up entering some hormonal frenzy and sober up the next day pregnant with a little sibling for Ninya.
Closing my eyes once again, I started my counting meditation again. I managed to reach 139 before I smelled Momo and Narberal's arrival followed by hearing their movements. Opening my eyes, I gave the two a smile.
"Morning, Momo, Narberal." I greeted the pair.
"Good morning, Lady Kashia." Narberal replied with a bow.
"Hello, Kashia. Good news is that I was able to resurrect Shalltear last night." Momo responded. I was glad that Momo managed to get a happy ending with all of this.
"That's great to hear, Momo. Were you able to figure out what happened to cause Shalltear's mind control?" I asked.
"Unfortunately, no. Shalltear couldn't recall any of the events that lead to her mind control or anything that happened afterwards. In addition, Demiurge couldn't find anyone that may have fit the description of fighting Shalltear, yet. They may have used some form of invisibility to hide their presence or they abandoned their injured or dead comrades and blended in with the local populace." Momo answered.
"Well, even if you couldn't find whoever did it, at least you have Shalltear back. So, I consider that to be a win." I remarked.
"That may be so, but I can't let an assault on my subordinate go unanswered. I must find whoever did this and deal with them appropriately." I gave Momo a raised eyebrow at this.
"Momo, if you didn't find the culprits behind this, what would you do?" I asked with some concern.
"I'd continue looking. No one can hide forever." I walked up to Momo and pushed myself higher up on my toes before rapping my knuckles against his helmet. He slightly shook his head in shock before looking down at me, "What was that for?"
"Momo, you're obsessing. The worst thing that you could do right now is let an unknown foe get into your head like this. 'Don't feed the trolls' has always been a relevant saying that you are ignoring. Take the win, fortify your people and defenses, and be prepared for any further unseen event. But don't obsess over what you don't know or can't change, in this case, whoever mind controlled Shalltear. Even for an undead skeleton, I doubt that would be healthy for your sanity."
Momo was silent for a bit before he finally answered, "I'll take your advice into consideration."
"I only ask that you do, Skele-bro." I said while holding my fist out to him. He bumped it back with a nod.
"Onto other matters, shall we make our way back to E-Rantel?" Momo asked.
"I'm ready when you are." I answered before perking up with a grin, "Oh, I can even introduce you two to my friends while I'm at it. I'm pretty sure that you'll like them." As I said this, the three of us started walking back to the city.
"Seems like you are quite fond of these new friends of yours. What are they like?" Momo asked with some amused mirth.
"Well, Peter is our team leader who does pretty well with making decisions in hectic situations. Peter has a strong character and is willing to get into the thick of a fight to draw attention from our ranged members. He also likes to make running bets with our other teammate, which leads me to Dyne. Dyne is our resident calm and earthly druid. He's a big guy who can appear extremely serious until he cracks a joke at the most unexpected moment."
"Then, there's my cute and adorable little apprentice, Ninya the Emerald Mage. She can be very shy and easy to embarrass in front of new people, but I've been trying to work on building up her confidence. She's also quite smart and eager to learn new things which makes showing her spells so much fun. She always gets this little expression of wonder in her eyes which-"
"Are you sure you're talking about your student at this point?" Momo asked with a chuckle, "You're starting to sound like a parent trying to show off their kid." I had the decency to look a little embarrassed at Momo's remark.
"Maybe I did ramble a little bit about her." I admitted, "Anyway, onto the final member is Lukrut. I'm quite fond of my flatterer of an archer. He's very obviously infatuated with me. I just love to tease him since he reacts so uniquely to my flirtations. Really though, I'm thinking of taking him back to my place soon enough and-"
"Kashia!" Momonga said while shaking my shoulder and bringing me back to my senses. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly.
"Not really. How do my eyes look?" I asked while showing him.
"They are fading from gold to orange. What's happening?" I noticed that even Narberal was looking at me with some concern.
"I think that my body's…time of the month is happening. And considering my race, I've been losing control of myself as time goes on. I've been taking a lot of ice baths, but it seems that it's only a delay tactic. I'm unsure of how long this cycle is going to continue, but I don't know if I'll be able to outlast it before…" I trailed off with a red face.
"…You decide to copulate with someone. And from the sound of it, you seem to have already made the choice on who." Momo answered.
"I really fucking hate these hormones, especially if I have to deal with this every damn month!" I moaned out while rubbing my temples. "I'm not ready to start taking care of a baby, yet."
"At this point, I'm not sure which of us has it worse? My emotions might be supernaturally dulled, but at least I don't have to worry about becoming a hormonal mess every month that risks getting pregnant." Momo contemplated, causing me to roll my eyes.
"How about we trade? You can become a horny skeleton each month with every bone but the one that matters, and I can become an emotionless kitsune with a negative sex drive." Momo put his hands between us in surrender.
"When you put it like that, I'll stick with my issues."
"Coward." I taunted, causing the both of us to laugh until Momo's curse kicked in. I really needed to figure out some way to fix that.
"Umm, Lady Kashia, if it's not beyond my place, I could try asking some others in Nazarick about methods to help with your predicament. I'm not certain of kitsune biology, but likely one of the other Pleiades or another inhabitant from the floors could be of assistance. My sister, Lupusregina Beta, for instance, is a werewolf which might share enough commonality with kitsunes to be of use." Narberal nervously said with a light blush on her face.
I gave the woman a thumbs up, "That would be amazing, Narbee! Thank you." I said with a lot of appreciation. I don't know if the information would help or if I'd even get it before I lost control, but it was the thought that counted.
"You're welcome, Lady Kashia."
After that embarrassing conversation, we spent a while longer walking until we finally made it back to the gates of E-Rantel. What annoyed me was that, upon getting close enough to the city, I started feeling that same warmth of worship growing within me. I made sure to have an illusion hide my eyes because I just knew that they'd be flashing like lightbulbs at this point. I also did my best to hide reaction around Momo and Narberal since I really didn't want to bring up my other issues, or reveal my demigoddess status to the pair.
When we finally made it to the Adventurer's Guild, the three of us entered the building and made our way to Pluton's office. Something I took note of was all the stares that the three of us were receiving, and they were definitely not the normal stares of lust or interest that I was used to. It was more like shock and awe.
I didn't have long to contemplate this as we finally entered Pluton's office. Upon stepping inside, the three of us were greeted to Pluton in discussion with an obese man in expensive clothes that would probably be able to feed a peasant for a year.
His face resembled a fat bulldog's. The only hair he had on his balding head were white wisps on the side and a tiny mustache and goatee. He reeked of oil, either secreted from his body or remnants of what he had eaten prior. This man was almost the stereotypical epitome of a fat and rich noble.
"Ah, Kashia, Momon, and Nabe! It's wonderful to see that you all managed to survive." Pluton said with a warmth that made me assume that he was too used to hearing news of adventurers dying.
"Even better, we managed to slay Bathory. She'll never be able to harm another person again." I answered with a smile.
"Excellent. I'll also go out on a limb and assume that the reports of massive lights in the distance from E-Rantel were all of your doing?" Pluton asked.
"Indeed." Momo answered, "While Kashia and Nabe added to the spell's power, I broke the sealing crystal containing the 8th Tier spell that I had been holding and unleashed it upon Bathory. She was vaporized in the blast."
That was when the noble broke out into a smile and began clapping excitedly. "Wonderful, wonderful! Now I know that Pluton wasn't lying about his claims! I always loved hearing stories of powerful adventurers who go off to slay monsters, and now I'm actually meeting some!" He stated with a childlike wonder. It would've been comical even, and anyone else might consider this man just a regular noble who found a new bauble to look at, but I knew better.
There was a calculating intelligence in his eyes that his demeanor couldn't hide. He was planning something.
"Thank you. Though, I believe the three of us are at a loss since you know who we are but we can't say the same." I responded as friendly as possible. I don't know what game he is trying to play, but it's best to not let him know that I'm onto it.
"Oh, how rude of me! I usually have much better manners." He the stood up and gave an exaggerated bow. "My name Panasolei Gruze Day Rettenmaier. I'm the mayor of E-Rantel. I wish to say that I am humbly thankful for your service in protecting my city."
"You're welcome." Momo replied, "But what brings the mayor of all people to the Adventurer's Guild today?"
"An excellent question! You see, as while the Adventurer's Guild isn't affiliated with any single country, it does have methods that help to establish trust and cooperations with the cities that each guild branch is established in. Rankings are one of them!" Panasolei answered with a flourish of his hands and cane.
Pluton seemed to grimace at the cringeworthy actions of the mayor, and I couldn't blame him. But he decided to speak up at this point, "Yes, Lord Rettenmaier is correct. Every rank, up to mithril-plate, is decided solely by the Adventurer's Guild. Once you get to orichalcum and adamantite, the decision needs to be made and agreed upon by both the guildmaster along with the ruling authority in whatever city. This helps to curb on excessive promotions as there comes some weight and political power with orichalcum and adamantite ranks, and helps inform hosting countries of the strength of our guild members."
Oh, I get it. It's meant to be a way for cities and such to be aware of if the guild branch in a hosted city had the ability to try and take over. That, and it put onto orichalcum and adamantite-plates a giant neon sign saying, 'recruit this person into your country's military, immediately!'
"And that's what leads us to you three!" Panasolei announced, "With careful consideration, I have agreed with Mr. Ainzach to have the three of you promoted to adamantite-plate! Congratulations!" He said with a twirl of his staff before pointing the jeweled head of it to Pluton. "Let's give these three their new plates!"
"O-Of course, Lord Rettenmaier." He said, caught off-guard and annoyed at Panasolei's actions, not that said man even seemed to notice. With that, Pluton reached into his desk and pulled open a drawer before taking out a box and setting it down onto the desk.
He then opened the box and turned it to us, revealing three pristine plates of dark-blue, almost black metal. "It is always a privilege for a guildmaster to award an adamantite-plate. You three are the first I've ever awarded with this in my entire tenure. I'm both honored and proud to do so now." Pluton said with complete sincerity.
Momo, Nabe, and I walked over to the box and traded out our two copper-plates and one mithril-plate for the adamantite.
"Thank you for this promotion." I said with a serious tone while internally, I was cheering for joy that I finally managed to get the highest rank in this guild in only two weeks. Wow, I really wonder how the others will react to this? Additionally, I wondered why they pushed us to adamantite-plate instead of orichalcum? I think there might be something else going on that they just weren't telling us, but I decided to keep my opinions quiet and savor the moment.
"We'll wear these with pride." Momo finished while Narberal gave a nod.
"Now, aside from this, I also with to award the three of you with 100 gold coins, each. The city of E-Rantel is in your debt, after all." As he said this, Pluton three weighty satchels of coins from behind his desk and set them down in front of us.
"In addition, I plan to host a feast at my estate tomorrow night which all of you, as both adamantite-plates and heroes of E-Rantel, are invited to along with any guests you might bring. I hope to see you there." He's trying to show off the new adamantites to the city while wining and dining us.
I couldn't help but glance at Momo since going to a dinner event in a suit of armor likely wouldn't fly well. Even worse would be if he went as his normal skeletal self. I could just imagine him drinking wine and eating a boar leg and all of that food falling through the empty cavity that was his insides and just piling at his feet.
"It would be a pleasure, Lord Rettenmaier." Oh shit, Momo is seriously going to attend? I'm more interested in seeing how he manages to pull it off, like the main part of such an event: eating something.
"If Momon wishes to attend, then I shall follow him." Narberal stated.
"I can't resist the offer of free food and drink being given so graciously. Though, I believe I'll bring a guest with me." I answered.
"Marvelous!" He cheered while clapping excitedly. "I'll see you then, Heroes of E-Rantel!" With that, the fat noble left the room with a bit of a skip in his step. Upon the door finally closing, Pluton rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"While today is one to celebrate, you three should take care to be careful now." Pluton warned.
"Why is that?" Momo asked.
"As you've become adamantite-plates, that also means that you've entered into the realm of politics. Nobles and those in power will begin scheming around you three. Panasolei is no different. Be careful, because people will begin to watch your actions closely."
"We'll take that advice to heart." I replied. Guess the universe planned to push me into the political state with or without my consent. At the very least, I had the leader of one political party in this city under my command.
Bless us with your wisdom and power, Fox Princess.
I did my best to hide my reaction from everyone as my mind was assaulted by 15 people chanting prayers in my name. These magical nerds were really making me feel great. They are doing an amazing job at making me lose my goddamn mind!
"-hen good luck on your continued adventures. I hope to continue witnessing your legends grow." Pluton finished as Momo and Narberal nodded. I quickly followed suit, wondering what I may have missed.
We then exited the door of the office and came outside to bear witness to all the adventurers in the guild with their gazes fixed upon us. It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop in the room. That was when one adventurer started clapping, followed by another, followed by everyone else as they began cheering us.
I guess that getting adamantite was something to celebrate in any guildhall considering how rare it was. That was when a familiar group of adventurers broke through the crowd, making me smile.
Ninya was the first to tackle me into a hug, followed by Lukrut, followed by Peter, and then finished by Dyne.
"We heard from Pluton about everything. You really worried us all there." Lukrut said with a grin.
"I'm glad you came back to us, safe and sound." Ninya admitted, "I was worried when Pluton said you went off to fight some extremely powerful vampire."
"It'll take a little more than a single bloodsucker to take me down." I teased in response. Eventually, the four of them let me go and gave me a little room.
"And it seems that you came back with an adamantite-plate in tow." Peter remarked, "Guess we'll need to work even harder to catch up to you."
"Wow, I've heard about adamantite, but I've never seen it in person. It's a lot darker than I imagined." Ninya said while looking at the metal.
"And you two must be the ones that went with Kashia to fight that vampire. Thanks for watching her back." Peter said after noticing Momo and Narberal. Momo seemed a little thrown off at the gratitude directed towards him.
"Yes, well, Kashia protected me during the battle a lot more than I protected her." Momo responded humbly.
"Thanks regardless for any aid you gave our friend." Then, Peter held out his hand to the tall skeleton, "I'm Peter."
Momo returned the gesture before replying, "Momon. And this is my partner, Nabe." He gestured over to Narberal who gave a curt nod of her head. "From what Kashia has said about you four, I'll assume that you," Momo nodded over to Dyne, "are the one called Dyne."
"That's right. Nice to meet you." Dyne answered. He then nodded over to Ninya.
"You must be Ninya the Emerald Mage." This caused Ninya's face to turn red before she looked over at me.
"Kashia, you really told him that name?" She complained while the other guys snickered. I couldn't hide the smile of amusement on my face.
"Obviously. I can't let people think of you as plain old Ninya. As your teacher, I know that you'll be famous soon enough. And you'll need a strong title to go with it." I answered with a laugh at my embarrassed little Emerald Mage.
Then, Momo looked at Lukrut, "And that would finally leave you, the one Kashia likes, Lukrut. Correct?" My jaw just dropped while a blush filled my face as I looked at the skeletal idiot with, apparently, no filter. This dumb motherfucker… It didn't help that my friends immediately looked at me as I tried hiding my face in my hand.
"So, you really do like me, huh?" Lukrut asked as he got closer.
No. Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes, you do. Maybe. Giving that small concession to my instinctual side allowed it to take a mile. "What do you think, my silly archer?"
"I think, if I wanted to, I could be the first person in all of E-Rantel to kiss an adamantite-plate and survive the aftermath." He answered as he grew closer.
"Oh, Is that a fa-mmph!" I wasn't able to finish as my silly archer silenced my next words by pulling me in by my waist and kissing me. My eyes widened in shock for a moment, but then, I began leaning into it. I rested my arms on his shoulders and interlaced my fingers behind his neck. I could feel my tails writhe and twist in pleasure.
I could hear some of the adventurers watching giving hoots and whistles. But I stopped paying attention when he started using tongue.
He keeps up like this and I'll make sure that he lives up to the second syllable of his name.
And then I finally managed to come back to my senses and realize that I was passionately making out with Lukrut. In front of everyone. I'm going to kill Momonga later for this when I had the chance, but for now, this wasn't exactly unpleasant.
Finally, we broke apart for air and he rested his forehead against mine while gazing into my eyes. I probably looked like a tomato at this point to everyone that was watching, and considering that all the guild members were looking at us right now, that was a lot of people.
"Proved you wrong, huh?" He teased with a satisfied smile.
"G-Guess you did, Lukrut." I responded with heavy breaths. My heart was still thumping and hadn't managed slow down yet.
"So, what would you say this makes us now?" Lukrut asked. Good question. I know exactly what my instinctual side would say. And while I'm hesitant in all of this, I've pretty much realized that I'm getting fucked, one way or another. Might as well do it on my own terms at the wheel instead of the passenger's seat. That seemed to settle the instinctual side as it pulled back from where it had been pushing on my mind.
"It still makes me a sexy sorceress and you my lovestruck archer. But I think I like that." I answered before taking control and kissing him back, much to the victorious roaring of my instinctual side.
When we finished, he spoke with a voice full of mirth, "I think that I could live with that."
I then turned my attention to Momo and gave him a wide smile before telling him, in a sickly-sweet voice, "Momo, just so you know, I'm definitely going to find a way to pay you back for this."
The second he understood what I meant; Momo immediately started pushing Narberal away from us. "Time to leave, right now, Nabe."
"Master, what is-"
"No time for questions! We need to go!" Momo interrupted and rushed both her and himself out of the guild as fast as he could.
I already knew what I wanted to do to him. His armor was going to be flashing like an RGB keyboard when I met him next. Enjoy your reputation as the Black Knight being destroyed. He'd be called the Glowing Rainbow Warrior when I was finished.
I can already imagine it. His greatest feat would be his ability to light up a dark cave with obnoxious, ever-changing lighting.
"Those two certainly ran off in a hurry." Peter remarked.
"Momo just knew better." I said with a bit of an ominous tone.
"Right…" Peter trailed off.
I gave a look around at all the people still watching us and felt like it would be a good idea to go somewhere more private. "I feel like we've given our coworkers enough of a show today. Want to head off somewhere with not as many listeners?" I asked.
"We could always head back to the Hero's Respite. Should be pretty empty around this time of day." Dyne answered.
"Then let's get going, shall we?" I said with a grin. And that's what led us to start walking through the crowd of adventurers and out of the guild.
Throughout that entire time, Lukrut had his arm wrapped around my waist with my body held close to his. It was as we walked that my nose also picked up a few things. One of which was that I could smell kitsune in the area. Looking around at a few locations that I could pinpoint, my eyes met with one kitsune keeping pace with us on a roof. Another on the opposite side disguised as a dog.
A third above us in the form of a bird. And finally, I spotted a simple man with red hair streaked in blue along with blue eyes in shabby clothing. When I noticed him, he gave me a wink before melding away into the crowd.
Yet, aside from the kitsune, the other thing strange that I smelled came from Lukrut himself. He smelled like a typical human, except for a strange scent that I could not identify, and considering how the knowledge of everything I smelled was essentially hardwired into my brain, that was throwing me off.
I decided to push that thought to the side and just enjoy the moment right now. I got promoted, I was spending time with my team, Ninya/daughter, and I guess you would call it my boyfriend, huh… That would take some getting used to.
"You look like you're deep in thought? Something on your mind?" Lukrut asked. I gave the blond archer a coquettish glance and smile.
"Why do you ask? Wondering if I'm thinking of you right now?" I retorted.
"You could be." He said with a sly grin. I playfully flicked him on his forehead.
"Aren't you bold? For all you know, I have Ninya on my mind." I said while pulling my surprised apprentice to my side. But that did make me wonder how long I would end up hiding my bestial traits from everyone? I could only do it so long while living with Ninya and Tuare before they eventually figured out that I wasn't human or I slipped up and they discovered that I was a lot fluffier than they thought.
"Kashia, don't drag me into your lover's spat! This is your problem." Ninya said with a laugh.
"And unfortunately, you don't have a choice on if you want to be involved. Your lovely teacher requires the assistance of her precious apprentice!" I dramatically proclaimed. "Now, help your teacher win this argument!"
"Wow, Kashia." Dyne commented, "It's quite low of you to drag others into your own troubles in paradise." The druid then began laughing with Peter in tow. It was at this point that I realized that this simple moment was one of the best I've had in this new life, possibly even my prior life. Just enjoying time with my friends that I never was able to have before.
I think I would be satisfied living a simple life with all of these people. Sadly, I doubt events in my life at this point would ever allow for such simple living, but that made moments like these all the better. This wasn't just a game anymore. This team, my team, were people I don't think I could imagine living without being in my life at this point.
That was why I was going to need to come clean to them sooner or later.
But for now, holding Ninya to my side while resting into his shoulder, I hummed in contentment. I could save talks like that for later. I'm allowed to be selfish every once in a while.
May our goddess reign with power and the wisdom to wield it!
And another reminder that my life could no longer be simple…
It was a little while longer before we managed to arrive into my room at the Hero's Respite and entered my sanctuary. Instead of the cabin, I decided to conjure us a table and chairs in the garden to enjoy the artificial outdoors.
"Kashia, I think you miscounted." Peter remarked after everyone but I had sat down, "You created a table for us but you only made four chairs." Oh, I had a reason for that. While I may have given up part of the game to both Lukrut and my instinctual side, I could still have some fun.
"No, I didn't. There are chairs for everyone here." As I said this, I made my way over to where Lukrut was sitting, used one of my invisible tails to slightly pull his chair back, then I sat in his lap. "See, chairs for everyone."
"That doesn't seem like it would be productive for any talks we would have if they involved Lukrut." Dyne remarked with a knowing glance.
"I don't know. I think it would be very productive." Leaning my head back to look up into Lukrut's brown eyes, I gave him a teasing smirk before wiggling my hips, "What do you think? Think you'd be able to be productive?"
"Hell no." The archer instantly admitted as I heard his heart thumping faster. Giggling at his answer, I conjured a chair next to him, wiggled my hips in his lap once more, then got off of his lap and sat in the chair I just conjured. I gave Lukrut a knowing look at how he was now crossing his legs.
I win this round.
"Well, now that we an all start talking, Kashia," Peter decided to proceed, "would you mind telling us what happened during your battle? Pretty much everyone in E-Rantel saw those two massive lights on the horizon. Even more is that pretty much all the adventurers knew that you, along with Momon and Nabe, were involved considering that someone let it slip that you all went off into that direction to fight something."
"I'll admit that it was probably one of the harder fights I've had since coming to this country." I said, deciding to, if not tell them the full truth, at least tell them a half-truth. "The official version of events that we told Pluton was that we went out and fought the vampire we had been sent to kill. Momon had to break a sealing crystal containing powerful magic to unleash a massive blast of which Nabe and I added our magic to to enhance it. She died after that."
"And the unofficial version of events?" Ninya eagerly asked.
"My first question before I answer that is if any of you could explain what those lights looked like when you saw them?"
"I got a pretty good look at those lights since I was outside the city at the time." Lukrut spoke up, "I saw a pillar of light descend from the sky at the same time as a massive beam of light streaked across the horizon. I couldn't even comprehend the amount of destruction that must have been occurred. You could almost say it was like an act from the gods." I noticed that there was something off in his eyes as he said this, almost like he was thinking of something else.
Then, his eyes fell back to me and he seemed to lose a bit of that introspective glint in his eyes.
"You're right about the destruction. The field we encountered the vampire in is now a crater, while the forest behind it became a ravine stretching into the distance further than I could see. That pillar of light was Momon's doing. That beam though, that was completely my own magic." That got everyone's attention as they looked at me in a new light.
It was one thing to tell them that I can cast spells which could alter landscapes. It was another, entirely, to partially bear witness to it.
"When you told us before that you had spells that could rewrite maps, that was one of them?" Ninya asked with wide eyes.
"Yes. That was probably one of my most outright powerful and destructive spells called [Grand Catastrophe]. I don't use it often because of how destructive it can be. It doesn't differentiate between friend or foe, the environment, anything at all, really. It is pure annihilation." And that was the truth.
After seeing the consequences of casting that spell, I now know that it's something to be used as a last resort. In YGGDRASIL, I could fire it and forget. The spell would create some programmed destruction but mainly just send out a wave of damage. Here? My actions would have lasting consequences that would scar the land.
"Where did you even learn a spell like that?" Dyne asked with a thoughtful expression.
"I learned it through conflict. Multiple territories in my homeland were not kind to the weak. Either you thrived or you died. Especially when large-scale wars occurred." Come to think of it, all the shenanigans that Players in YGGDRASIL typically got up to would be apocalyptic in an actual world like this.
Players dropping meteors and raising undead armies in the span of minutes was relatively tame in normal PvP conflicts. In this New World, the plot to raise a simple army of the undead was considered city-destroying. God help them if a person used a large-scale instant death AoE attack.
"But those magic attacks that were used by you and Momon did end up killing the vampire, right?" Ninya asked.
"No, she was still alive." I answered, causing all of them to immediately start asking questions, "Relax everyone. We did end up killing her." That, thankfully, calmed them all down, "She survived our initial assault due to being a true vampire of immense power. She had an extreme factor of regeneration and healing that we had make her use up before we could finally finish her off."
"What I don't understand is why such a powerful being like that vampire was even wandering around close to E-Rantel? If even you were having such great issues putting the creature down, could there possibly be more creatures like it that might follow?" Dyne pondered with worry that wasn't exactly unfounded.
I know that Momo's guild is here, with a multitude of powerful NPCs residing within it. There was also the possibility of other Players and their NPCs who came in the past or came with mine and Momo's arrival here.
What I know for certain is that this world's people are not ready for any battles between us otherworlders with each other, much less going into conflict against them.
"I couldn't tell you since I have no idea. What I do know is that this battle made me realize that I need to get you all stronger for any potentially powerful foes or chaotic events in the future." I announced to the others with a self-admittedly evil grin.
"How would you go about doing something like that? I mean, taking tough jobs can help one grow stronger, but there's a limit to it." Peter questioned while looking at me intently.
"Back home, there was a term we used for such a thing when one wanted to get stronger quickly. I plan to power-farm your asses until I'm satisfied." I answered.
Lukrut looked over to me with a cocked head and confused expression before asking, "Power-farming? What does power have to do with harvesting crops?"
"We won't be harvesting crops, my dear Lukrut. What I mean by the term 'farming' is the process of repeatedly performing an action to cultivate a resource. Power-farming is where you perform said definition to the absolute limit to cultivate a resource as fast as possible." In this case, they would be farming levels for me, since they were my 'crops' in this metaphorical.
"And exactly what action would we be performing to the extreme?" Ninya asked nervously, a feeling shared by everyone else at the table. I couldn't help the evil giggling I released.
"You all are going to be training your abilities and fighting monsters non-stop for the foreseeable future. You'll wake up, run a mile, eat breakfast, receive individual training regimens for a few hours, fight enough monsters to earn lunch, train individually, fight more monsters to earn dinner, run another mile, and then you'll get to sleep."
All of them looked at me wide-eyed and worried. Ninya especially, since she knew how much I ran her ragged during her lessons with me.
"Are you even certain that this is possible?" Peter asked.
"This is definitely possible, especially when I make sure that none of you run out of stamina or mana during our training sessions. Besides, your opinions are no longer a factor in this. All of you enjoy the break right now, because after tomorrow, your asses are all mine. Any questions?"
"Is there anything that you'll want us to bring?" Dyne asked.
"Bring whatever you'd normally take with you on a job. Aside from that, I'll provide everything you'll need." I answered.
"Well, we were all planning on training to get stronger. At least our adamantite-plate has a plan for us on how to do that." Peter spoke optimistically. We'll see how he feels after the first day.
Dyne gave a smile at Peter's reassurance, "We can't just let Kashia leave us in the dust. I'm hopeful in seeing how far all of us can go."
"I just hope that we can survive what Kashia considers 'training'." Ninya remarked with the prior knowledge of what a small workout with me was like. "At least we'll probably jump up a few ranks if we get through this alive."
Then, I felt Lukrut grab my hand and I saw determination burning in his brown eyes. "Kashia, I promise that I will get to your level of power. That way, you can let someone else shoulder your burdens instead of doing everything yourself."
While I knew he made an almost impossible promise, I felt I could put at least a little faith into this dream of his. Having a goal to strive for was helpful in keeping oneself motivated.
"Then I'll be waiting for that day to happen." I replied. I was quickly surprised as he pulled me into a kiss and my mind went blank for a moment. My animalistic side made me moan in pleasure, much to my embarrassment.
Long moments passed, then he pulled away with a hand cupping my cheek while giving me a boisterous grin. "I won't make you wait long, my beautiful sorceress~." He whispered to me.
Claim him now! It's time to mark him as your own! Mount him!
No, I'm in front of all my friends. I'm not an inhibition-less animal. I've ended up at first base which is as far as I'm comfortable going right now, all things considered. I used to be a guy a few weeks ago and this was far from anything I considered in my life.
Want! NOW!
NO!
I then shoved that primal hunger far away, aware that I couldn't do this forever.
"Kashia, I also have something for you." Lukrut said, pulling me out of my internal conflict.
"Y-You do?" I stuttered out, my mind still slowly coming back to me.
"It was originally meant to be a gift for your promotion to silver-plate. But I guess we can change that to adamantite-plate." The archer answered as he reached into the pouch on his hip and pulled out a small, silver cylindrical object with an orange jewel embedded in the center.
"What's this?" I asked while accepting the object he placed in my hand. I took the time to examine the beautiful object and spotted small hinges on the side of it but I couldn't tell what opened them.
Lukrut pressed his finger on the orange jewel in the center which caused the hinges to snap open. "It's a dwarven hair binder. I noticed how you liked keeping that same hairstyle of yours, so I wanted to get you something to make that easier while also fitting your beauty."
As Lukrut finished his explanation, I gave him a smile and then pulled my hair free of its binding before bunching it up and putting the binder against it before pressing the jewel once again.
My ears heard the click of it snapping together and I shook my hair to get my hair to fall back into its normal state. "How do I look?" I asked.
"Absolutely beautiful." My lovestruck archer answered with complete honesty.
"Thank you." I said before another matter came to my mind, "Lucky, do you have any clothes that would be presentable in a high-class event of nobles?"
Lukrut gave me a disappointed look before he sighed and shook his head. "I've never needed them so why would I waste the money?"
"Guess I'll be making you some." I stated.
"Wait, what? Why?" He asked suspiciously.
"I, along with Momo and Nabe were invited to a feast being hosted by E-Rantel's mayor, Panasolei. I'm allowed to bring a guest, so you are going to be my plus one. Understood?" I commanded in a tone that left no room for argument.
Lukrut stiffened up and answered immediately, "Yes, ma'am." Then we both heard the others snickering before breaking out into full-on laughter.
"W-What's so funny?" Lukrut asked.
"Oh, you know…the wonders of love!" Peter teased as he, Dyne, and Ninya all pulled out some bags of coins before tossing them over to the dismayed archer.
"What's the money for?" I asked.
"I think that Lukrut should tell you. He's the one that agreed to the wager." Peter answered while I glanced over to Lukrut with a narrowed gaze as he began looking exceedingly guilty.
"It's no-nothing, Kashia." Lukrut answered.
"Oh, I think it is something. We'll have a lot of time to talk about it as I get you fitted for your new clothes." I stated while getting out of my seat and then dragging him out of his chair by the back of his collar towards the cabin.
"All of you are traitors! I'll remember this!" He shouted back to them, making the three burst out into further laughter. He can shout all he wants; I'll still get to the bottom of this bet that he made.
[Momonga/Ainz Ooal Gown]
It was worrying with how much of a slip-up I made with Kashia. I didn't realize that she hadn't told her friend Lukrut how she felt. It's hard enough to figure out women for me at the best of times, and Kashia was basically impossible to predict around. Especially with those hormonal issues she said she was having.
While I know that she wouldn't hurt me with this payback she warned me of. Humiliating me wasn't off the table.
I'll probably need to try and let her cool off for a few days. Unfortunately, the small issue with trying to let her cool off is that Narberal, myself, and her would be going to that feast being held by the mayor tomorrow night.
If it weren't for the fact that I'd be hurting my persona's standing with the nobles of E-Rantel along with missing out on attempting to establish connections and increase the adventurer Momon's standing, I'd have cancelled my attendance. Now, I'd have to juggle keeping my human identity intact while also either avoiding or appeasing Kashia.
"Momo, it's Kashia. You there?" Kashia asked with a [Message] which made me want to sigh in frustration. Maybe I could try to reason with her now?
"Yes, Kashia? Do you need something?" I asked, wondering what she may have just done that could affect my persona.
"I think I figured out a way to make up for what you did to me earlier today." I paused when she said that. Thank God, there might be a way to keep my dignity intact before she did something. Unless, what she wanted might be just as humiliating for me…
"And how might I make up for what I did?" I asked with a bit of hesitation.
"I plan on taking my team out training for a while. You wouldn't happen to have a necromancer or two lying around who I could borrow for a while, would you?" I could feel my nonexistent eyebrows raise at what she was asking. I did have a few liches around that I could spare, but what did she need them for?
"I'm not saying no, but why do you need to borrow some necromancers from me?"
"For their training, I felt that having my team continually fight against monsters would help to increase their levels. Unfortunately, I'm not kitted out with that many mook-making spells, and those that I do have, there are some moral implications in having my friends kill them. But skeletons, zombies, and what have you? They are mindless and soulless. No moral dilemmas included. So, what do you think?"
This was the easiest deal I could ever agree to in my life or, well, unlife as it was now. I lend her the services of a few necromancers I could afford to lose and get the humiliating Sword of Damocles removed from my head. I'd also get some test data on New World inhabitants' ability to grow.
"When do you need them?"
"I'll give you the location tomorrow after I've finished making it. I'm planning on building out a replica dungeon for them from YGGDRASIL. I just need to populate it with continuously spawning enemies."
That was actually an interesting idea. While New World inhabitants were innately weaker than Players and NPCs, I think it didn't help that this was a world that didn't follow the rules of programming that YGGDRASIL did. If one went to a dungeon here and killed all the creatures, they wouldn't just respawn with all the loot of the dungeon. This world was finite that way.
Damn, now she actually has me interested in seeing how far this could go.
"Kashia, what would you say if I threw in a few summoners as well?"
"Ooh! Are you just being generous or is there something else that you have in mind?" She teased which made me feel a small amount of amusement.
"Actually, I have a few ideas…"
"Lay them on me, Calcium Caster."
And with that, the two of us spent the night devising all kinds of ideas for this dungeon that her adventuring team would be fighting through. To be honest, this was probably some of the most fun that I've had in a while.
It reminded me of the days when my friends and I were first building up Nazarick from the simple dungeon it originally was to the powerhouse that it had become. Adding traps, figuring out where to position our NPCs, wondering where we should store our treasure…
Now, I felt slightly giddy in seeing how these adventurers of hers would fare in this dungeon we were creating…