A Vulpine Spanner in the Works

Chapter 50: Fox Fever or is it Fervor?

[Teresia]

I sat with my fellow mages as we waited for Guildmaster Theo to finish his conversation with Guildmaster Arlan. During this time, I sent a few of colleagues to see about acquiring supplies from this branch in case Guildmaster Theo wished for us to leave at an earlier time instead of spending the night here. For the rest of us, we either sat around at any of the tables in the guildhall or some of us talked with the mages of this branch to learn of any recent news of the area.

As for me? I spent my time sitting at a table saying a few quiet prayers to my Lady while also observing the area. The guild hall was relatively calm at the moment, but that might change soon with the rising sun. This left me with watching those that were currently here meandering about.

There were a few mages that appeared to have just awoken and were making their way to what I guessed was a place to eat. That or they were heading to some area to continue whatever studies that they were performing yesterday. A few more came into the building through the front door and wandered off.

I noticed another mage that seemed to quickly scurry up the stairway and rush away. I amused myself with thinking that he might have overslept and was late to meet with his associates. Observing people was always an interesting activity since it could point out things that seemed unnoticeable until you took the time to watch.

It was a few minutes longer when I spotted Guildmaster Arlan come up the stars from the vault. He seemed to look around for a moment before his eyes finally fell upon me, then he began walking over.

Guildmaster Arlan approached where I sat at the table with a neutral expression on his face. Yet, most peculiarly, I didn't see Guildmaster Theo with him. Where was he?

"Teresia, was it?" Arlan asked.

"Yes," I replied with a curt nod. "How may I help you, Guildmaster Arlan?" I questioned before adding, "And where might Guildmaster Theo be, as I do not see him with you?"

Guildmaster Arlan gave me a soft smile and answered, "During our discussion about her," Arlan intoned with emphasis, "I showed Theo an artifact in the vault that he took great interest in examining, and since I couldn't have him take it out due to procedure, he decided to remain inside for short while longer." That got a wry smirk to grow on my lips.

It was well known that Guildmaster Theo had an almost unhealthy interest in the arcane, especially if it was something that caught his eye. Usually, he kept his fascination in control when working, but sometimes the thing that took his interest was too difficult to ignore. "I understand as Guildmaster Theo can become enthusiastic at times when shown something that catches his eye."

My ears heard the sound of many footsteps and I looked over to see that the guildhall was beginning to fill with activity as more mages appeared. Guildmaster Arlan took notice as well since he gazed around, "It appears that this isn't the best place to have a private conversation."

I stood up from my chair and Guildmaster Arlan took this as the sign to start walking, to which I followed. "Where might we be going?" I questioned upon walking in stride with the man.

"To my office, Teresia. You see, I had quite a few questions for you, considering the unique connection you have that Theo told me about." That received an understanding nod from me. We walked up the staircase towards a door with Guildmaster Arlan's name on it. He opened the door for me and let me inside before following after and closing the door.

"What questions do you have? I'm not fully certain that I can answer all of them, but I will try my best." I explained while gazing around the room at the multiple shelves of tomes and artifacts. Compared to Guildmaster Theo, Guildmaster Arlan's office was neater and more organized.

"This connection you have with the Fox Princess, how does it fully work?" He asked.

Guildmaster Arlan's question took me a moment to fully answer, "It's not exactly easy to explain without you being able to see what I or other Maidens can. Part of this connection is the obvious; our eyes become filled with golden rings and we receive greater amounts of mana and spellcasting ability than others who have also consumed her blood. For the changes that are subtle; one of these changes involves a new sense."

This change seemed to pique Guildmaster Arlan's interest, "A new sense?"

"Indeed, Guildmaster Arlan. Us Maidens can see the worship given to our Lady in the form of golden motes of mana. This mana appears to be mostly produced from any who give her worship. From there, it appears to coalesce around objects of worship, and it can enter into the Maidens at times, but it mostly floats off in a direction that we infer is whatever direction our Lady currently is at.

Additionally, I believe that our Lady hears the prayers of her Maidens more clearly than her normal worshippers due to our connection. I wouldn't dare to try and test this by calling upon her so callously, but there is this feeling that she would come if asked." I explained.

I turned around to see Guildmaster Arlan pacing in thought. "Interesting. This golden mana, is it emitted from only those who have already consumed the Fox Princess' blood?"

I shook my head, "It matters not if one has consumed her blood or not, only that one prays to her."

"If-" Before Guildmaster Arlan could continue, I heard a commotion coming from outside his office. "What in the world is that?" Guildmaster Arlan pondered while exceedingly calm.

I didn't answer as I went to the door just as he did, before Guildmaster Arlan opened it to reveal the shocking scene of my colleagues unconscious and subdued. From what it looked like, all the mages that had just entered the guildhall earlier had all been party to this unwarranted assault!

"Guildmaster Arlan! What i-"

"[Forced Sleep]." The last thing I saw upon turning to look at the elder mage was a spell array pointed at my face before consciousness left me…

[Guildmaster Arlan]

I watched my spell array fade away as the effect of my spell took hold on the poor girl. I made certain to catch her as she fell so that she didn't end up injuring herself. All the while, my eyes studied the strange white clothing she wore that was saturated in mana, like the golden blood that Theo had shown me.

It was a shame that I needed to petrify the man, but it was too dangerous to let him go. If we found a cure for this magical infection that plagued him and the others, I'd free him and cure the man immediately. But for now, he needed to be kept out of the way so that he didn't end up creating more problems.

After I had dealt with Theo, I discreetly alerted my subordinates to assemble mages that knew the [Forced Sleep] spell so that we could subdue the infected party from E-Rantel while they were unaware. After this, I separated Teresia from the others and tried to get a few questions answered before I subdued her as well. It was a good thing that I did this as the information she gave me was both highly useful and gravely concerning.

From what I can surmise, this connection was one that allowed for a magically transmitted communication between the infected and the Fox Princess. Her being able to seemingly steal the mana from those who worshipped her, infected or not, had me ponder if there was some hidden enchantment that was using their faith to allow easier access for their mana to be stolen and converted?

Beyond this, the other matter of concern lay with preventing these infected from contacting this woman. She had to be prevented from knowing of our resistance at all costs. We would have the keep the infected in magically-induced comas, or even petrified like Theo had unfortunately been, until a cure was found. Looking down at the sleeping woman in my arms, I considered the connection to the Fox Princess which she spoke of.

Perhaps the connection could go both ways and be used against her? It would be useful in trying to subdue or kill her. Though, I was more inclined to subduing her because of the immense knowledge on magic that she had. While I am of the belief that knowledge can be dangerous, I also believe that it should not fully be destroyed, if only so that we retain methods to counter future dangers that may utilize such dangerous magic.

I had extreme doubts that this woman was actually a goddess, but if she was, I have enough knowledge of history to know that any benevolent gods have long since ceased appearing to mortals. Since then, there have only been monsters and tyrants that arrived before mortals in one form or another. I believe that, after the other ruinous beings' defeats, this woman uses guile and trickery to appear the benevolent goddess so that none attempt to stop her before it becomes too late to do so.

If I must choose between one tyrant or the other, I will go for the one that is mortal which I know. And this woman in my arms will be the key to understanding this infection and the Fox Princess' power. I'll have to inform Fluder of this development as he may have some useful esoteric knowledge about this that I lack.

The footsteps of boots pulled my focus from the woman and to one of my mages, Farkas, who had been instrumental in organizing this subjugation in such a short window of time. "Guildmaster Arlan, all the infected mages have been captured. What are your next orders?"

"Take the other mages to the first laboratory and ensure that they are kept in continual comas under magic-dampening restraints. I'll come by later to petrify a few to reduce our risk, but leave some others as they as so that they can be studied. As for Teresia here, we need to take her to the warded research room and ensure that she is put into the strongest magic-dampening restraints we have. She may possibly be stronger than all the others due to her enhanced stage of infection." I answered, receiving a nod from Farkas as he took the woman from my arms and carried her away.

I have much work to do if I am to stop this madness.

[The Copy]

Day 42:

Passing by the quickly constructed prison cells outside the temple, I made note of each cell I passed. The first of which was the enclosed building which contained the prisoner who was highest on both mine and the Boss' shitlist. He had been the leader of the Slane Theocracy troops that infiltrated the kingdom and wanted to make off with the (unknown to them at the time) Boss and Ninya so that she could be questioned.

I wasn't feeling that merciful to the man. But we had delayed this long enough as more important matters had to be attended to. One of which was the matter of Haven-Lake. When the Boss had gone out of commission, that had managed to dispel me until I found myself resummoned to fight the succu-bitch. After that, I went to manage things at the settlement and was relieved to hear that nothing disastrous had occurred with mine and the Boss' disappearance.

They had managed to run themselves just fine with the council managing each of the people under their purview. Though, Ken did make sure to oversee whatever decisions that they had made. And on that note, the Boss and I would seriously need to have a discussion on what to do about Haven-Lake.

Sure, the settlement is a couple miles away from E-Rantel and located within a forest, but that would only hide it for so long. We couldn't exactly call it a settlement any longer as it was more of a large village that was turning into a town. It is going to be noticed, either because some hunter or a random adventurer went too deep into the forest and spotted walls where there shouldn't be.

The only question is how we would go about broaching the subject with the Re-Estize, and more specifically, E-Rantel? After all, it was full of demi-humans, a lot of which most humans have only ever fought against and treated as monsters.

It would have to wait for a later day. For now, the time had come to handle the asshole. Entering the building, I saw the two kitsune assigned to guard the metal coffin that held the blond man were standing on either side of it. The only part of the man's body that wasn't encased in the metal plating was his head which had the tips of his guards' tail poised to kill him the moment he tried anything.

Just looking at the man filled me with a revulsion that the Boss had shared. He was almost the spitting image of Clementine if she had more masculine features.

"I hope you haven't gotten too uncomfortable with your lodgings." I teased the man as he looked at me with a glare of cold eyes.

Then, he finally spoke, "You have kept me in these restraints for days, beast-woman. I hope you realize exactly what sort of enemy you're making by doing so."

A mocking smirk grew on my lips at the threat he was trying to make. "Believe me, I know exactly what sort of enemy you are. One that likes to bluster and shout threats against those who are completely out of your league." A vindictive feeling overcame me as I drew closer to the man and taunted, "It's exactly how your sister acted when I broke her."

It pleased me to see the rapid changes of emotion that the man went through; starting from shock, worry, anger, and then ending with a glower.

"Is my traitorous sister still alive?" He demanded.

"Oh, she is most certainly alive, even if she wishes for anything but right now. You see, she decided to try and touch my loved ones, one of which being my kit. A sin which you also tried to commit." With a dramatic snap of my fingers, I projected a scrying spell in front of the man to reveal the cell that the Boss had left the little bitch in weeks ago.

And, like she had last been left, the girl was still facing the wall, her broken face still contorted into a terrified visage. "What did you do?" The man asked in a barely even tone.

"Clemmy, here, was making so many useless threats to me that I continually slammed her face into the floor until she learned to keep her mouth shut. After that, I permanently paralyzed her with a spell and left her alone in that cell, staring at the wall and unable to look away or even blink. It's probably been a month for her by now." I replied.

After a few moments of continued watching, the man pulled his gaze from the sight of his sister and looked at me with daggers in his eyes. "Clementine may be a traitor, but this is just cruel. Just kill her and be done with it."

I poked my finger to his forehead, much to his discomfort, and gave a spiteful grin under my veil. "No. Her ass was mine the moment she touched my people. She's also a horrific and unrepentant murderer, so I still wouldn't let her off so easily as to just kill her."

"Cease with the gloating. What do you plan on doing to me and my men, if they're even still alive, that is?" The blond questioned.

"That depends on what I learn from you."

The blond scoffed at my answer. "I'm not going to tell you anything."

A chuckle escaped my lips at the man's misplaced defiance. "Who said that I needed your consent?" I immediately began ripping the information I needed from his head as his face became an expression of agony while a hiss of pain escaped from his clenched teeth. Impressive to see that he wasn't screaming.

Let's see, Quaiesse Hazeia Quintia, a member of the Black Scripture organization of the Slane Theocracy. The members of which are considered the strongest among the entire country. Yet, it appears that Quaiesse isn't the strongest among this group.

As for why he and his men came here? Oh, so the leaders of their entire religion wanted what they assumed to be a powerful magical artifact. And…they're also aware of the Boss and her religion.

Guess that's a problem to deal with in the future. I'll have to let the Boss know about everything before we end up getting some crusade formed against us by an entire nation of zealots. At least they wouldn't be able to fully focus on attacking us due to the war they were fighting on two fronts.

One was against the demi-humans attempting to wipe them out from the south and south-west. The other was against the Elf Kingdom ruled by a king said to be the son of a god.

Hmm…

The Boss might just have to look into that. Among other things.

"W-What was that?" Quaiesse demanded over deep gasps. I playfully patted his cheek in response.

"Just me reading your mind. I could've been gentler, but you tried touching my kit, so I wasn't feeling all that nice about doing it. Quite a bit I saw in there, Quaiesse." I replied with a taunting grin. In turn, the blond's eyes became filled with a number of emotions, one of which was horror.

"But that's-"

"Impossible? Unheard of? Unworthy of a non-human like myself?" I interrupted and asked for him, "Sorry to say, but I'm a goddess of magic. There are a great many things that you'd find impossible which I find child's play."

His eyes narrowed, "Then, what now?! You've gotten everything from me!" Quaiesse asked, his eyes flickering to that of his paralyzed sister. Oh, he assumed that I was going to do something like that to him.

Poking his nose to get his attention back to me, I replied, "Compared to your sister, you're a saint. Then again, most other normal people would be, so you don't need to worry about becoming personal friends with a wall. But that doesn't leave you completely innocent of crimes that I can overlook." That got a confused look from the man.

"Crimes? What crimes, aside from trying to take the girl to be questioned?" He pondered aloud.

"A lot of the violence you've committed is mostly justified. Your people are at war, so you're just doing your duty as a soldier to your country. What I can't stand is the murder of fleeing elven civilians." I explained.

Oh, I had definitely seen the time that he and a few of his men had found a small group of elven civilians fleeing from the conflict of both the Elven Kingdom and the Slane Theocracy. Unfortunately, their only method of escape had been a route going south that crossed into the Theocracy's territory.

They attempted to sneak way, but they had been found and captured by Quaiesse before being interrogated for information. Information which was already known by Quaiesse and his men. So, once finished, the man had all of the elves, some of which were children, killed.

After all, in his mind, any elf could be a combatant. The Elf King has shown this quite often as he'd send children off to die instead of fighting himself with his immense power. He didn't want to take the risk, so he had them killed.

In a pragmatic way, his reasoning was understandable. But morally? It was reprehensible. That left me at an odd conundrum as part of me wanted to punish the guy all the more for what he's done. The other part, the one that was reasonable, wanted to give the man a lighter sentence in addition to being able to utilize him in interactions with the Theocracy.

I think I'll leave this up to the Boss to decide as she'd like to know about this beforehand. "I think that I'll put some thought into what your fate should be. But trust me," I gave him a playful flick to his nose, "I can be very creative with the punishments I decide."

"And my men?"

"I'll rifle through their minds as well. Depending on what I find, I might punish them or I'll just teleport them to the Theocracy's border. We'll see. Until then, I hope you'll enjoy your continued stay in your cozy box."

With this, I left the blond to stew in his imprisonment as I traveled to the next set of prisoners on my list to visit.

I only had to walk a bit further before stopping at the containment box which held the pair of frost dragons that had survived. Nodding to the pair of kitsune standing guard in front of the heavy door, I entered it and found the two flying lizards chained to the ground from all of their limbs. They only had enough slack in these chains to make the smallest of movements, such as eating the food that they have been given or relieving themselves.

"Hello there." I said, receiving worried looks from the pair. "I've got a few questions about your little flight that involved raining freezing death on a bunch of people. Mind enlightening me?"

The dragons glanced to one another before looking back to me. Then, the male answered, "Vandelosia, Urbastion, and I came here to collect what we thought would be a powerful weapon. When we saw the humans fighting over it, we wanted to…remove the competition." The dragon replied.

"And what spurred you on to try and fight armies made up of the undead, humans, and kitsune?" I interrogated, my tails at the ready to immediately block any attack that the dragons might make.

"We wished to overthrow our king." The dragon answered, making me motion for him to elaborate, "He believes that dragons must have complete supremacy over all others and form an empire, at the cost of his restrictions and rules. The three of us, now two, had issue with this, but lacked the strength necessary to oppose it."

Oh, little revolutionaries or would-be conquerers. "And what next? You beat your king, and then what? No doubt that there would be a lot of dragons under his command, so what would you do with them?"

That question stumped the two dragons, and slightly surprised me as I almost expected them to declare that they would become the next ruler. The female dragon spoke up this time, "We just wanted to get rid of the restrictions and rules Olasid'arc Haylilyal put upon us. Urbastion wanted to rule in Olasid'arc's place."

This seriously couldn't be their entire plan, right? It had as much depth and thought as a child's. Actually, "How old are you two?"

"Carakos'ars is 19 winters and I am 21 winters." The one I guessed to be Vandelosia answered. Okay, so in the timescale of dragons, I'd guess that they really were the equivalent to children or young teenagers. No wonder this has so little thought.

"To give the pair of you a little lesson, what do you know about power vacuums?" I questioned.

Carakos'ars was the one to reply, "We have no idea what you are talking about. Is it a spell?" Okay, I guess I know what I'm dealing with right now. I couldn't help but rub the bridge of my nose as I now realize that these two are idiots.

"No. A power vacuum is when an entire group, ruled by one being with a lot of power to keep the others in line, loses that position of authority without warning. When that happens, it leaves a position of power that everyone wants to fill, causing a huge number of conflicts. From what I can tell, your society is ruled by strength, correct?"

The dragons gave me a nod, "The strongest has the right to rule." Carakos'ars replied.

"Then this just confirms what I know will happen. You kill your king, neither of you wish to rule," both nodded in agreement, "then your entire little dragon kingdom is going to start tearing itself apart to find out who should be in charge. If you hate your king so much, why don't you just leave and find a new place to live?"

"We were born upon the Azerlisia Mountains. Why should we leave if we just remove the one making the problems?" Vandelosia countered. Oh, my Boss. These two were prideful idiots as well.

"Because it would cause less problems for you." I said with a sigh, like it should be obvious. "Your king, is he planning on expanding his little empire from the mountains?"

"Maybe. We aren't fully certain on what he will do once the entire mountain range is under his control." Carakos'ars replied.

That could be a potential issue. The Boss, and because she knew, then I knew, that the dwarves lived in those mountains. So, what might happen to them? Actually, "What other groups live upon the mountains besides dragons?"

"Frost Giants, quagoa, and dwarves are the ones that are smart enough to talk. Otherwise, I don't know since the rest are dumb prey." Carakos'ars answered.

Then, Vandelosia interrupted and added, "Don't forget the kobolds. I've seen them on occasion if they come up from the depths of the mountains. They taste pretty good."

Carakos'ars nodded in agreement, "Yes, kobolds as well."

Meepo definitely wouldn't be happy to hear them say that about his people. But it could be an interesting idea to see if the Boss and I could introduce Meepo to more kobolds as a method of diplomacy. I'll put a pin in that for later since the issue at large comes from how volatile the factions upon and under the mountains might be right now.

If this dragon king wants to spread an empire, he likely won't be satisfied with just owning the mountains. This was more or less confirmed with the way that these two scaly idiots considered how 'might makes right'. If a trio of young dragons could massacre a portion of a human army by their lonesome, then this Olasid'arc wouldn't think twice about trying his luck against a race he considers weaker than himself.

"As of right now, how much of the mountains does Olasid'arc control?"

"The northern third of the mountains. Progress further has been stalled due to conflict with the frost giants. Besides frost dragons, the frost giants are the other strongest race of the mountains." Vandelosia explained. I couldn't help but wonder if these frost giants held any similarity to the Jotunn of the Jotenheim? It would be interesting to find out, though I highly doubt that the ones of the New World would compare to the ones the Boss and I knew.

Still, Olasid'arc doesn't control all of the mountains just yet, so his ambitions wouldn't start reaching out just yet. The Boss and I had time.

I gave a slight smirk looking at the two dragons, "The both of you have been surprisingly cooperative. Why might that be?"

"You are stronger." Carakos'ars admitted, "You killed the undead controlling all of the other strange undead which killed Urbastion. You could possibly be stronger than Olasid'arc. It would be foolish to go against you."

"Smart." That was the only compliment I had for whatever amount of braincells they had that gave them any sort of survival instinct. "If the pair of you aren't aware by now, I am a goddess, so picking a fight with me would go very poorly for you." I informed the two and got accepting looks from the pair in return, "Now, with the pair of you being cooperative enough to not force me to read your mind, I'll likely be more lenient in whatever punishment I have in mind for you."

"Punishment?" The pair asked, giving me a feeling of déjà vu due to dealing with Quaiesse a few minutes earlier.

"Yes, punishment." I confirmed, "While I can understand how you were raised, through both your instincts and upbringing, to see most other species as prey, there comes a limit to my tolerance. Therefore, I think that the most suitable punishment for both of you is a lot of hard labor."

Both dragons looked at one another in silent discussion. Upon reaching whatever unspoken consensus, they turned back to me.

"W-We will be willing to serve." Vandelosia spoke for the both of them. That got a smile from me since there were so many uses for a pair of strong dragons. Especially lifting.

"Very good. Now, let's hear a little more about your king and his little empire…"

[Kashia]

Day 44:

I watched with pride as Ninya stood before me looking completely human. It had taken a few days after learning the trick to make her tail disappear before she was able to do the same with the rest of her features in tandem. But it had all worked out in the end as my kit had mastered the skill faster than I had expected.

"Great job, kiddo! I knew you could do it!" I congratulated while tousling her hair. This managed to pull Tuare and Nero out of their training as they came over to examine Ninya.

"Thanks. I'm just happy that I finally nailed down the trick to disguise myself fast enough. The only downside is how much of my mana this will burn through if I keep it up for long periods." Ninya replied with a grin of her own before adding, "That, and it feels really uncomfortable. How do you manage to keep yourself disguised for multiple hours every day?"

A shrug was all I could give in reply, "It does feel uncomfortable, but I just power on through and ignore it. That tends to work." I answered.

"You know," Tuare spoke up, "while you look perfectly fine, I prefer the ears and tails on you since they make you look more adorable." Ninya's eyes rolled in feigned annoyance, yet her smile still remained.

Finally, Nero approached Ninya and seemed to make a mental estimation as he put his hand a few inches above Ninya's head before tracing it to the top of his head. "Yeah, you're much shorter now."

"What?" Ninya squawked in slight embarrassment.

"To be honest, I counted your ears as part of your height. Without them, you've lost a few inches, making you nowhere close to beating me in height." Nero teased with a chuckle. I was unable to hide the snort of amusement at this observation.

In reaction, Ninya's face took on a reddened hue as she crossed her arms across her chest and dispelled the illusion. Once more, her bestial features returned, with her ears putting her right around Nero's height. "Seems to not be the case any longer." Ninya countered.

"Still taller, though." Nero taunted back with a fit of infectious laughter which we all joined in. Even Ninya ended up giggling at this.

As we petered out, I patted Ninya on the back before leaning over and whispering in her ear, "I don't have a spell to permanently magically increase your height, but I could add an inch or two to the heels of your boots if you wanted to mess with Nero.." A mischievous look appeared in my kit's eyes as she glanced over to Nero.

"Maybe a little later." Ninya whispered back as Nero watched our conspiratorial plotting with a suspicious glance.

When the pair of us finally finished our plotting, Nero asked, "What is it that the pair of you are whispering about?"

"Nothing you need to know about at the moment." I replied with a teasing grin. The boy gave us an unconvinced look.

"Right." He said dryly, "Well, while you two continue with your suspicious plotting, I'm going to go back to practicing."With that said, Nero walked back to the spot he'd been at before and went back to working on his spell array once again.

Tuare gave Ninya and I a raised brow, and I replied with a finger to my lips, earning a snort of amusement from my older kit. Then, she walked over and joined Nero in practice.

"Guess I should get back to work on increasing my proficiency with [Kitsune Illusion]." Ninya remarked. I gave her a hum in response.

"Actually, I would like to work on the next skill I wanted to teach you. I have a plan for training your [Kitsune Illusion] tomorrow." I countered, getting a look on interest from my kit. Tomorrow, the training method I had in mind for Ninya was to send her to Elwuld and have her remain in disguise for a long as possible while interacting with the village.

It would also help to get her adapted to her senses so that she wouldn't deal with sensory overload whenever she was in E-Rantel.

"And what skill would that be?"

I found myself smiling before I answered, "You're a kitsune, kiddo. All kitsune should know how to enter their fox form." Ninya's eyes widened at the news, and the slight wag of her tail told me that she was a little excited about it.

"How does it work? Will I end up becoming a massive fox like you? Am I using magic to actually transform?" Ninya asked in a deluge of questions.

Giving her a pat on the head, I calmly replied, "For your age and single tail, you're likely going to be a little larger than a regular fox. As you get older, and you acquire more tails, your body's size will grow to reflect that. It would be a long while before you grow to the size that I am, or was, since I'm confident that I've gotten bigger since gaining my tenth tail." I found myself looking back at my tails for a moment as I said this.

"As for transforming yourself, it's more mental than magical. When kitsune change to their bestial forms, you're just willing your body to shift. It's mostly instinctual since becoming a fox is a bit more natural and easier than becoming humanoid." I answered, earning a questioning look from Ninya.

"Do you mean to say that say that changing back to a humanoid form is harder? You're starting to make me worried about being stuck in a fox-like form." Ninya asked in concern, getting a giggle from me.

Shaking my head, I replied, "You won't have trouble changing back since, even if you weren't born a kitsune, you've still spent your time in a humanoid form. You have a clear idea on your body's humanoid template. The same can't be said for some other kitsune."

"Why would that be?"

Recalling memories I had of mom going over some of these topics with me when I was a little girl, I answered, "When kitsune are born, they can either come out in a humanoid form or a bestial form. It's really dependent on a few factors. For instance, if the kitsune mother spends more time during a pregnancy in a bestial form, then the likelihood of her children being born in a bestial form is higher. The same applies for the mother being in a humanoid form.

Because of this, some kitsune born in their bestial forms find trying to change to a humanoid form to be difficult or impossible since they can't visualize the mental template for a humanoid form. At least, that's for the first transformation. It becomes immensely easier after that as those kitsune now have a clearer idea on what to change into."

That explanation helped reassure Ninya, which was pleasing to see. "So, just visualize, huh?" I nodded in answer.

"Just visualize. Think of becoming a fox. Your hands and feet becoming paws, your body becoming coated in fur, your jaws elongating and becoming stronger." I said, putting the idea into her head as I shifted into my own bestial form, gaining a lot of height and filling the room with my size as I looked down at my kit as she took my form in. "Just picture that little fox in you that just wants to come out into the world strutting on her four paws with her muzzle high in the air." I coaxed gently.

"That's what you look like as a fox? Kashia, you're huge!" Nero commented from where he stood as he looked at all the details of my bestial form. I laughed at the boy's observation.

"Oh, you've never actually seen me in this form before, have you?" I asked rhetorically, "Indeed, I am much larger than other kitsune in their bestial forms. Though, I'd like to believe that size would come second compared to how beautiful my bestial form is." I teased and watched the blond become red in the face.

He rubbed the back of his head and nervously added, "Well- I mean- your uh, foxlike form is beautiful. It's just…surprising to see how big it is."

"Don't worry, Nero. I'm only teasing you." I said warmly. I lowered myself down until I was laid upon my stomach, then I rested my head upon my front paws. "Go ahead, kiddo. You can do it. I don't expect you to immediately, but I know you'll figure it out eventually."

With a confident nod, Ninya closed her eyes and attempted to transform.

For what felt like minutes, I watched Ninya continue to concentrate with her eyes tightly shut. I heard her whisper to herself in a mantra, "Think of the fox within me." While watching Ninya, I couldn't help but think that this was how my mom felt when she was trying to teach me how to transform in our little apartment.

There was that nervous energy where I knew that my kit could, and eventually would, transform, but I wasn't certain on how long that would take. To be entirely honest, I expected that it would take her a few days to master the ability. Yet, I felt my heart continue to thump fast in my chest as I unconsciously began wagging my tails in my growing excitement.

A few minutes more, and it happened, much to my surprise! Mid-chant of her mantra, Ninya's body shifted from being humanoid to becoming that of a brunette fox just a bit bigger than a regular adult fox at a height of two and a half feet. Yet, for a kitsune, Ninya was still at an adolescent stage. She'd probably gain a few more inches when she became an adult before her growth became determined by centuries lived and tails gained.

Still, examining her form from what I could see, she had a beautiful brunette coat that would only become heavier as the winter came. One interesting thing to note were the patterns of white lines in her fur that were extremely similar to those in mine, though they weren't as bright of a glow as the ones in mine. I wonder why that was?

Ninya's eyes soon opened and she looked down upon herself as her tail wagged in excitement. "I did it!" She exclaimed while twisting left and right to get a good look at herself.

Unfortunately for Ninya, she didn't have much time to continue this inspection as Tuare made a squeal and rushed over to where Ninya was before picking her up. "You look so adorable, Ninya!" She exclaimed while hugging her struggling sister.

"Tuare! Come on! Set me down!" Ninya complained as her paws scrabbled at air, which Tuare ignored, getting a chuckle from me as I watched the events with no intention of interfering.

"Nope. Not on your life. You're too cute to let go right now, little sister." Tuare replied, getting a very foxlike whine from Ninya.

Out of the corner of my eye, I found Nero approaching me while looking at the exchange. Then, he quietly asked me, "Are they always like that?"

"You should've seen Tuare when I first showed her my true form. My heart goes out to Ninya, but if it's a choice between me being the target of Tuare's extreme cuddling or Ninya, then I'm going to have to throw Ninya under the bus with this one." I replied before getting a strange look from Nero.

"What's a bus?"

"Oh, yeah, you don't have those here. Guess an understandable way to phrase it to you would be to throw her under the wagon." I corrected myself. While I did love it here compared to Earth, there were a few things I did miss about it.

Modern conveniences were a big one. I definitely missed being able to take a warm shower on demand. I mean, I can always take a warm bath if I wanted or make a replica of a shower. But I wouldn't have the same temperature control as I would with modern technology.

Another is reliable and speedy communication delivery. From what I understand, [Message] is not a reliable communication spell for those of the New World since they are unaware of who the [Message] is coming from unless if comes from those of Yggdrasil and YGGDRASIL. Then, there's the issue of the spell possibly not reaching the intended target.

If it's required, I'll have to create an entirely new spell to facilitate communication in the New World or get to the bottom of why the [Message] spell is so unreliable. Perhaps it has to do with this realm being magically weaker than the rest of Yggdrasil or it's due to Tier magic not being native to this realm?

That will have to be another item to add to the growing list. I had a few things that needed to be taken care of before then. One of which will be to meet with King Ramposa about the Swine Prince. The next is to handle the Slane Theocracy due to their meddling. I can already predict that they will be bolder in their moves against me the stronger my religion gets.

But for today, I'll enjoy my time training the kids and worry about other matters tomorrow.

[Baharuth Empire – Outskirts of Tob]

[Worker Group: Foresight]

"Thank the gods that we're more than halfway to this place!" Imina complained as she hopped off the cart and stretched her legs. "Riding in that cart was getting uncomfortable and tiring."

Roberdyck chuckled as he got off as well, "Riding in a cart for days on end might seem bad, but we should be thankful that our client didn't make us walk the entire way here."

"That's something I'm happy about." Commented Hekkeran as he and Arche got down together. "It's already going to be one hell of a time traversing the forest and its dangers. Some cramped legs due to sitting too long will seem miles better than the trek we're going to have to make."

Arche remained quiet as she looked at the forest with a look of heavy concentration. It was a few moments longer before the others of the group noticed their youngest member's silence.

"You alright there, Arche?" Roberdyck asked, grabbing the girl's attention as she looked over to the cleric.

"Sorry, were you asking something?" Arche said in apology, causing Roberdyck to look in the same direction the younger blonde was. Then, after getting his investigative fill, he looked back to the girl.

"I've noticed that you've been looking in the direction of the forest repeatedly for the past few days with a look on your face. Especially after we saw that pillar a few days ago." Roberdyck replied.

A small frown grew across the girl's face as she thought about it. The night that she saw that golden pillar of pure mana in the west, she had quickly vomited out her dinner. That amount of magical power was something she had never thought to be possible, not even in her fantasies.

And yet, there it had been. Something from miles away that she had been able to feel and have such an adverse reaction to. How might she have reacted if she had been right next to the source of it?

That night, all the worker groups had been in deep discussions over what it might've been. It had come from the Re-Estize Kingdom, but that only added more questions. Could it have been a weapon that they had created?

Such talks filled the campfires that night.

Yet, it was only a few days after the event that Arche could see a growing power in the form of mana start to take shape in the direction of the giant tree-like object that they had been able to spot in the distance within Tob. It worried her, yet it wasn't enough to dissuade her from taking this job as she needed the money desperately.

"Ever since that night we saw the pillar, I've been able to see a lot of mana coalescing within the forest. I have no idea what it is, and it worries me." She answered, receiving looks of concern from the others.

Taking a few glances around to make certain no one could overhear, Hekkeran asked, "The job did want us to investigate the weird structure at the lake. That could be the reason for this mana as structures don't just appear out of nowhere without some magic being involved. Might that be the reason for what you're seeing?"

Arche could only shrug. "I started noticing it the night after the pillar, so I can't say for certain."

Roberdyck rested his chin in his hand while thinking, "It's a conundrum. We can't exactly just quit this job. That'd ruin Foresight's reputation and could be hazardous to our lives if the client took offense to it."

"I'm in agreement," Imina said. "Doesn't mean that we have to fully consign ourselves to death. We could try to leave early if things become too perilous."

Hekkeran nodded to this, "Our client just wants us to take a look. If we see anything that is too much, we'll leave. But as a precaution, we'll let the other teams go ahead of us" The blond recommended pragmatically.

"At least we have a plan." Imina remarked and glanced over to the other teams that were disembarking from their carts and preparing themselves for the next step of the journey. "And to be honest, I'm happy that we're the ones with this informational advantage instead of the others."

All shared a silent agreement on that opinion. While none of the group were cruel or malicious, they were all well-learned in the competitive nature of being a worker. Being cutthroat allowed one to make a decent living, especially when workers had to compete against the likes of adventurers or mercenaries.

Adventurers had the advantage of being part of the Adventurer's Guild who ensured that their members played well together. Their only downside is that the lower ranked members could only take jobs appropriate for their rank; typically, the extremely low-paying jobs.

With workers, they had less oversight, but the lack of an organization meant that jobs had to be sought out by workers instead of being given by the guild. The other downside from a lack of organization meant that there wasn't as much protection from bad actors becoming workers. Really, the best protection came from how much workers talked to one another.

If one team had earned enough bad blood, then everyone would hear of it, clients and workers alike. Most wouldn't even consider black-listed individuals or teams as workers at that point. But that took time, and wasn't fully guaranteed to work if the worker team had a good enough reputation to mitigate it.

But that was a hell of a lot better than mercenaries. While not all mercenaries were terrible people, enough of the rejects of both adventurers and workers found their way among them alongside criminals who liked to have a legitimate job in addition to their illegal activities. Mercenaries had the most freedom of the three groups. The only reputation that mattered for them was if they accomplished jobs or not.

The downside is that mercenaries were more often to be hired for dangerous work or warfare since they didn't have much of a choice for jobs unless they actually had a decent reputation beyond their job performance. They certainly would be paid well for the work, but constant high risk for rewards wasn't for everyone.

The one rule that workers learned quickly is to never fully trust others on the job unless they were part of your team. While not all teams or individual workers were malicious enough, it only took one 'accident' from the wrong team to end your career.

"Even so," Roberdyck countered, "we can't expect that all of the other teams lack such knowledge, so stay cautious."

Team Foresight nodded in consensus before they headed over to where the other teams were beginning to gather. In their minds, they hoped that there wouldn't be anything too dangerous at the lake, maybe even something profitable, but they prepared for the worst.

[Gazef Stronoff]

Day 45:

Flying to location that had spawned the golden pillar was a unique experience for me. While I was aware that the Magician's Guild had spells and objects that could allow for flight, I had never thought that I would be riding one such object.

To say it was astounding was an understatement. The distance we managed to cover in just a few days was almost humbling in a certain view. If I wanted to try and match such a speed, I would require one of the finest bred horses in the kingdom, and even then, it would tire long before this flying carpet would.

If we had an army equipped with flying transports like this, then it could change battlefield tactics in an unprecedented manner. Steeds that would never tire, be bothered by terrain, or require housing and upkeep. It was a fanciful future to imagine.

Yet, I was well enough aware of how much time and effort it took to craft weaker magical objects, let alone ones of greater quality, the best of which were national treasures. I was intimately aware of the value for such objects due to the five great treasures of the kingdom that were left in my care by his Majesty. Two of those objects I had brought along with me on this assignment; the Amulet of Immortality and Razor Edge.

I decided against bringing along the three other treasures due to the implications that could arise. The nobles and commoners would question why I was bringing all of the treasures with me to investigate this magical oddity within the kingdom? It, in turn, could spread panic as my countrymen would begin assuming the worst.

It's my duty to both protect and ensure that the people feel safe, even at the cost of my safety. That's why I pledged my service, after all.

This led to my current objective, confirm to his Majesty that whatever caused this pillar wouldn't endanger the kingdom. And we were getting closer from what one of the mages, a man named Hawthorn, confirmed.

With such powerful magic, I pondered if the origin of it was the sorcerer I encountered over a month ago; Ainz Ooal Gown? There hasn't been any sign of the mysterious man who saved both Carne Village and myself from the Theocracy soldiers.

If it was, I prayed that he wouldn't be an enemy, as I held doubts that I could defeat him in combat, even with all five of the treasures at my disposal. What a troubling thought. Yet, aside from the sorcerer, there was also the woman that claimed to be a goddess; the Fox Princess.

Ever since she dropped Alecto into the throne room, cursed with magic beyond the abilities of the kingdom's own mages to dispel. The fact that in one day, she had single-handedly taken down Eight Fingers' leadership, and then exposed multiple other nobles as being part of the organization, had upended the political landscape in ways I couldn't even fathom.

Multiple factions of the nobility were in disarray as prominent figures of their group were to be arrested and investigated if they hadn't already been. I wasn't part of the nobility, and never would be, but I could understand how all of this scheming may hurt the common folk.

I had a great deal of sympathy for his Majesty and all of the headache that came from this.

"What in the world?" A mage commented, pulling me from my contemplation as I looked ahead to see multiple things of interest and concern. One large subject of concern was the calvary of Prince Barbro's army packing up and in the process of leaving…in the direction of the capital.

Days prior, we had passed the regular infantry of the army heading in this direction, with the assumption that his Highness had rushed ahead with his faster units to investigate the pillar as we were doing. Yesterday, we had seen scattered units of the calvary riding back in the direction of the infantry. While there was a smattering of interest in understanding why this was, we had little time to waste since we needed to the origin of that pillar with utmost haste.

I had hoped that I might be able to ask Prince Barbro what had occurred when next I saw him, but none of this explained what was going on.

Further past these men, I saw what appeared to be a settlement in the distance. I knew from the most recently updated maps that there shouldn't be anything out here. What was going on?

"Neville, can you get us down to the front of that army? I wish to ask Prince Barbro what is happening." I asked the mage controlling this transport.

"Of course, Gazef." The man agreed as we lowered a bit ahead of the traversing army and I got off the carpet. Ahead, I heard the commander call out, bringing the army to a stop, yet I found that odd. I would've expected Prince Barbro to make the command himself.

As the commander brought his horse ahead to meet me, I felt an odd worry in my gut. A few moments later, and I stood before Commander Ashton appearing a mixture of surprised and dour.

"Greetings, Ashton. Might I ask what is going on? I expected to see Prince Barbro leading the army. And why is it that you're heading back in the direction of the capital?" I questioned.

Ashton took a moment to take a breath as a weariness came over his features, "Hello, Gazef. Looking between you and the mages over there," Ashton said with a nod of his head to the mages still waiting on the carpet, "I assume that his Majesty sent you here to investigate the golden pillar?"

I gave a nod. "Well, I can spare you the time wasted in learning it yourself. Seems that the Fox Princess may have been behind it." That did not bode well in the slightest, "Doesn't really matter at this point since his Highness decided to meet with the people of that settlement behind us and threaten them."

My eyebrow rose at this, "What happened after that?" Asking this, I couldn't help but ponder what rash thing Barbro tried to do?

"That was enough to get the Fox Princess to intervene. From there, they talked, and from what the men who were with him at the time said, he told the goddess that she could work for him or die, but he would kill those in the settlement for potentially being traitors. You can guess how well she tolerated such a threat."

My brow scrunched in thought at just how daft Barbro was to threaten a being of unknown ability and power. He had seen what sort of enchantment the woman had put on Alecto, so that should've instilled some measure of caution within the man!

"So, his Highness died?" I speculated.

"No, the first thing that happened is she disagreed," Ashton's eyes seemed to harden for a moment at the recollection, "then the Prince ordered her killed. She quickly captured Prince Barbro and his men in conjured chains. Then, she told everyone that the Prince has been working with one of the heads of Eight Fingers for years before summoning a meteor over the heads of the biggest concentration of the army as a threat."

That was terrifying to imagine, but what worried me further is what occurred after. "Please, tell me that no further hostile actions were taken?"

Ashton shook his head, "Part of our calvary fled, the rest of them stayed. Of those that did, many were uncertain on what to do, but then Prince Barbro ordered a charge to kill the goddess and the settlement under her protection. Only some of our troops committed to the charge. It ended in minutes as she burnt those ahead of her to nothing, not even corpses remained, and those she didn't were torn apart by large foxes with multiple tails."

My blood seemed to turn cold in my veins, and I mentally conjured the image of an enemy who could appear within the throne room of the capital without any notice before burning the royal family and all the nobles of the court into ashes. I had little clue on what magical protections could be used to counter such a thing. Prince Barbro just endangered the entire kingdom with this action!

And this also leaves out the claim that he worked with Eight Fingers. Every claim so far from Alecto has been correct. What would it mean for the kingdom once news of Prince Barbro's affiliations is spread? We were already on the cusp of civil war between the factions of Prince Zanac and Prince Barbro.

This could trigger such an event immediately as Prince Barbro's faction attempted to put him on the throne immediately to fulfill their own interests. That or it could cause a revolt amongst the common people. The third, more worrying option, is that the nobles could declare the royal family unfit for the throne due to two of them being part of Eight Fingers. That could break into another civil war.

I worry how the people will survive such a thing.

"And Prince Barbro?" I was almost hesitant to ask.

"The Fox Princess used her magic to turn his Highness into a pig. From there, she said that she planned to meet with his Majesty in a few days with the Prince in tow." Ashton answered before motioning to the army, "She gave the troops a day to rest and recover by her settlement. Hell, she even had food and supplies delivered to us. But with the Prince beyond our reach and many of our calvary scattered or dead, we're heading back to the capital to regroup and hear our next orders from his Majesty."

The commander looked down in thought before meeting my eyes once more, "Besides, our original reason for marching the army was to see this Fox Princess and question her. We more than saw her, and our questions about her strength have been answered. We are hilariously outclassed."

Just as I feared. "Has she become an enemy of the kingdom after the Prince's stunt?" For once, since the start of this conversation, I received good news as Ashton shook his head.

"Not that I could tell. In fact, it seemed like she wanted to help us, potentially even become an ally. But that's beyond my decision to make."

I nodded in understanding, "Even with some of my initial questions and concerns answered, I'll still have to go investigate for myself. Do you believe that the Fox Princess would be amenable to that or would it be a waste of the lives of myself and the mages?" I asked.

Ashton gave me a wry smirk, "Seems that not even the fear of death or transfiguration can assuage your sense of duty, Gazef. Wish I had more men like you at my command, we'd probably be unstoppable." I gave a soft chuckle at his joke, "I believe that you would be safe to investigate, just ensure that you do everything you can you to not piss her off."

"Thank you, commander." I said in gratitude.

"You're welcome, Sir Gazef. Good luck." Following this, Commander Ashton turned his horse back to rejoin his army while I went to rejoin the mages.

What manner of chaos am I to be mired into?

A/N: Well, I managed to get this out the day before Christmas for all of you. Funny enough that is chapter 50 and I think this may be the last chapter of the year if I don't surprise myself by pumping out another one earlier. If it is, then I guess I'll wish you all a Happy New Year in addition to a merry Christmas.

As for a year in review; holy shit, I've done a lot more writing in this year than I have in a long time. Couldn't do it without your support, be it like, comment or so on, so thank you all for that. The holier shittier moment is that my little fanfic helped inspire others to make their own, which is humbling in its own right. You guys are awesome.

Onto other news, I'm pretty positive that this story will be finished next year, so we'll see what happens on that end. I'm likely going to rachet up the passage of time, but I'm not sure on how to do so in an organic method. I'll probably figure it out eventually. We will definitely be seeing more Norse mythology in future chapters, though, so count on that.

If I do manage to finish this story by next year, I'm mostly certain that I'll continue the League of Legends fic I've left in the metaphorical storage closet buried in dust. Blame Arcane for getting me interested in it again. That, or I'll do the Fate/Nasuverse fic that I've had rumbling in my mind for some time.

At least with both of those fics, I have a clear idea on the ending. One of which I've already written. It's just the method of getting there that's difficult.

Either way, thanks for everything.