A Vulpine Spanner in the Works
Chapter 66: The Truth Hurts, Doesn't It?
[Tuare]
Getting back home was a chore and a half as I could feel the changes I was going under throughout my walk. Sounds slowly became louder for me while my sense of smell began to hit irritating levels.
Walking next to me, Saizo took notice of my discomfort and gave my hand a soft squeeze. "How are you feeling right now?" He softly asked.
"A little overwhelmed. Things are getting loud for me," I replied.
"Well, just remember what your mother said, just pick something to focus on and tune everything else out after that. Think you can do that or would you like me to get you home a little bit quicker?" Saizo offered with a smile.
I pursed my lips for a moment in thought before I finally shook my head. "No, I think it's for the best that we just get home normally. Have to get used to the changes, one way or another," I answered, earning a nod from Saizo.
And so, we quickly made our way through the city in an effort to get back to the inn. All the while, I tried to follow Saizo's advice and focus on our footsteps or his scent, with a mixture of the aroma of delicious food from a few nearby inns, taverns, or restaurants peppering it.
By the time we finally reached the Hero's Respite, I was starting to get a minor headache from the constant sensations I was bombarded with. We simply entered into the inn and I gave a quick wave to Morgan, who returned it with a curt nod, before we went up the stairs and into the hallway to our room.
"Still holding out alright?" Saizo asked with a bit of concern.
"Just about. At least it's almost over and I can finally rest from it for a while," I confirmed as we neared the door.
Saizo smiled from this and wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we entered the room and closed the door behind us. As soon as that happened, Saizo let his disguise drop with audible relief and we went to the Sanctuary's door.
When we entered into the sanctuary, mom was already there talking to Meepo until the little kobold noticed me first and pointed it out. Mom quickly turned around and gave us a short wave. "Looks like both of you got here in one piece. That's good to see," she remarked before giving me a smirk. "So, how are you feeling right now? Changes have probably been catching up for you at this point."
I returned the question with a wry grin. "Ninya wasn't joking about how loud or stinky it is in the city," I answered as Saizo and I approached mom and Meepo.
"Then we should try to get a good look at the metaphorical damage," mom said while snapping her fingers. Two things quickly happened when she did this.
The first one was the mirror that appeared in front of me. The next thing was that I could suddenly feel my ears sticking high above my hair. Looking into the mirror, I got a good look at a pair of bestial ears that had fully replaced my human ears. For what felt like minutes, I just examined my ears and even managed to slowly learn how to wiggle and move them.
I looked at my eyes to see that they had fully turned gold with slitted pupils while, opening my mouth, I noticed that a few of my teeth had sharpened. "Wow, this is very… different," I remarked while continuing to note any minor changes that weren't there before.
"Looks to me like you're a little obsessed with your reflection," mom jokingly remarked. I rolled my eyes, but found myself smiling in turn.
"You try suddenly changing races. See how easily you take it," I retorted, making mom suddenly pause as she seemed to be stuck in thought. Then, she shook her head and snorted in amusement.
"Yeah, wouldn't that be weird? Though, your new features do look very cute." One of mom's tails suddenly pointed to my lower back. "Whenever you want, you should probably check to see how your tail is looking. It might take another day or so to fully grow in."
With that being pointed out, I slowly moved my hand to my tailbone and felt a growth under my clothes. Well, my hand wasn't the only thing to feel this contact as the growth also noticed this and slightly moved in response.
I guessed that my surprise was clearly visible to mom and Saizo because both began chuckling. "Looks to be coming in for you," Saizo was the first to respond.
"Perhaps Meepo and I will give you a bit of space for now to spot anything else." Mom then looked down to the little kobold and asked, "Ready to go, Meepo?"
The little kobold eagerly nodded. "Always, Mistress!" Meepo looked up to me and grinned. "See you later, Medium Mistress!" I found myself smiling and nodding at the farewell.
Soon enough, Saizo and I were left alone in the Sanctuary as mom and Meepo went out the door. With that being the case, an idea came to mind and I grinned at the gray-haired kitsune.
"You know, Saizo, I might want a second opinion on what other changes my body has gone through." As soon as I said this, Saizo's eyes widened for a moment in surprise before they suddenly narrowed in interest as a smirk grew on his lips.
"Of course, Tuare. I'll make sure to give a thorough opinion on the matter," Saizo replied, making me giggle as I took him by the hand and we both jogged over to the cabin…
[Seth]
Day 76:
"You're really planning to leave today, Mister Seth?" Nemu asked, a small frown on her face.
I knelt down until my eyes were level with hers and smiled. "Yeah, it's about time for me to finally leave. I have to go looking for my daughter. I'm sorry that I have to leave so soon, I really enjoyed getting to know you and Enri over these few days."
"Yeah, so did I," Nemu softly replied as she looked away.
Putting a hand on the girl's head, that drew her gaze back to mine. "Just because I'm saying goodbye now, it doesn't mean that it'll be a final farewell," I told her while continuing to smile. "We'll see each other again. After all, how else will I have yours and Enri's delicious food?"
That started to draw a smile from the girl. "T-Then that has to be a promise! You have to come back to Carne one day!" Nemu demanded, making me chuckle before I finally nodded.
"I promise, I'll return. I'll even bring my daughter along to introduce you," I answered confidently. That seemed to be enough to satisfy Nemu as she rushed to my chest and hugged me.
It got another soft chuckle from me before I returned it. "Stay safe, Mister Seth," Nemu requested.
"I will," I answered as we separated and I stood up once more. "Besides, I've got Lup– uh, Regina looking after me. Doubt any bad guys will come near with that giant weapon on her back."
I then pointed over to Lupusregina, well, she wanted me to call her Regi or Regina while were were traveling, and the massive halberd on her back, which got a confident smirk from the red-haired woman. "Yeah, I'm not planning to let anything touch Seth, runt," Regina said playfully.
Nemu giggled at that and nodded. "You stay safe as well, Miss Lupus."
"Will do. Hope that you and your sister take care of yourselves," Regina replied. Nemu and Enri both nodded at this, and the blonde girl walked up to me with a smile.
"Take care of yourselves out there, the roads can be dangerous, especially these days," Enri cautioned.
I nodded and held my hand out to her, which she took in a strong shake. "Thanks for everything. Your kindness was a lifesaver, and I'll find a way to repay you for it one day," I said appreciatively.
"You're welcome, Seth. I hope you can complete your quest soon, and I wish you all the luck in the world with it," Enri replied.
"So do I, Enri." We then ended the handshake and both Regina and I started making our way out of the threshold of the village gate and off to the west.
I gave one final wave back to the kind sisters which they returned, before Regina and I focused fully on the way forwards.
"I would've thought that you'd have said goodbye to your sister before we left," I remarked to my companion.
"Big Sister and I already said our goodbyes before we left. We'll see each other again, so there's not much else to say about it," Regina replied as she glanced over me. "You look to be walking without issue in the gear that Lord Ainz provided you."
"Yup. I'm pretty amazed that all of it fits me so well," I commented. This morning, Regina had given me a pack with the gear that Momonga had wanted me to have.
It consisted of a dark shirt under some extremely light chainmail consisting of a metal that Regina called adamantite. Over that was a leather vest from what was supposedly a dragon. From there, I was wearing gray trousers and a comfortable pair of black boots.
Topping off this outfit was a gray cloak that Regina told me was enchanted with some protection spell. Not to sound too full of myself, but I felt I looked rather dashing.
Aside from the clothes, I was given a pack with some rations, a small bag of gold and silver coins, a few scrolls that were supposed to have some offensive spells on them, two potions for healing. In my hand, I had a sheathed sword which I'd been using for a cane as a precaution.
All in all, I felt like I could take on the world.
I was quite thankful that I felt so much stronger today than I did yesterday, otherwise I would've waited another day.
For a while, the pair of us continued our journey on the road, not encountering much of anyone as we did so. While this happened, Regina and I chatted back and forth, with her telling me more about this country that I might find useful.
It was as we made our trek across the countryside that I couldn't help but find myself amazed by the sight of so much green. From everything I remember, there was never any grass, trees, plants, not even animals back home. Only toxic clouds, gray buildings, and a land that just felt dead.
Looking over to Regina she seemed quite pleased at the landscape. "So, how long were you stuck in the Carne anyway? Seems like you haven't been out traveling in forever with how happy you look," I asked, making Regina look to me with a grin.
"Almost three months or so. Now, we just get to travel and explore, so I am beyond happy about that." Then, Regina gave me a sly grin.
"And from the way it looks to me, you're quite happy to see the countryside. Or are you happy about seeing something else of interest instead?" She teasingly asked while stretching both of her arms into the air, jutting certain assets of hers forwards as she did so.
I blushed and glanced away, earning an amused giggle from the red-haired woman.
"I just e-enjoy the outdoors, Regina," I answered back.
"Sure you do." Then, Regina leaned around me to get into my eyesight. "And, Seth, you don't need to be so formal with me. You can call me Re~gi~," she said with teasing emphasis.
"I-If that's what you want… Regi," I conceded while wondering if Inari would kill me right now for this?
I hoped that I'd even get to see her again after finding our daughter… Yes, she is our daughter, I can feel it for certain now. I just can't remember our daughter's birth, and I know I should.
That got a snicker from Regina as a smug expression appeared on her face. Then, she decided to ask, "So, aside from searching for your daughter, do you have any interest in seeing the sights? From what I hear, E-Rantel is a large and well-populated city that is made of three huge walls that encircle it."
"Huh, really? Why do they have so many walls?" I asked.
"From what I know about the political situation, due to E-Rantel basically bordering two other nations, with one being obviously hostile, it's more of a fortress city. Acts a bit like the first line of defense if an enemy army was to approach," Regina explained.
"A bit odd that so many people would choose to live in a place bordering their enemies. I mean, doesn't this nation have a constant war with the Baruth Empire every year?" I mused aloud. While there would always be the people who couldn't afford to leave the city, that didn't explain why so many others would choose to stay.
"I'd guess that it's trading hub of some sort. It does border multiple nations, after all. Aside from that, the citizens probably don't think that war will ever get to them. Humans can be dumb in that regard," Regina answered with an amused giggle.
She wasn't exactly wrong. People could be illogical and stupid, but that's just life.
"Fair enough. By the way, should I be aware of any other races in E-Rantel like the goblins from Carne? I don't want to be surprised and unknowingly act rude because of it," I questioned since it had been a surprise to encounter my first ever goblins – I think – and I felt that I may have started off on the wrong foot with them.
Though they had been downright friendly to me before we left after we got to know each other, I doubt I'd be so lucky to repeat that feat.
Regina simply shrugged. "From what I could figure out, the Re-Estize is very human-centric. At best, you might find the rare elf or dwarf, but that isn't guaranteed. So, you shouldn't expect to see much diversity in the way of races."
"Alright, guess good to know." Though I did find it a little disappointing since, in all the memories I could recall, there had only been humans…
It has been about two weeks or so since Inari and I finally got together. And in that time, I've probably been the happiest that I've ever been in my life. It felt like I had found the other half of myself that had been missing all my life.
And in return, I did everything possible to try and make Inari happy, even with the meager means I had available. Though, I had the feeling that my girlfriend was happy with any of the affectionate displays I showed her.
At the same time, it felt like Inari has been hiding something from me. She didn't say it outright, but there were these guilty looks she sometimes had.
I had expected that she was going to say something to me, any day now, since she had become more and more bothered about the issue. Turns out that was going to be today as she finally spoke up to me.
"Seth, there is something that I need to tell you, which I've been nervous about saying for a while now," Inari began as I came over to her and took her hands into mine.
"Inari, you can tell me anything. There is nothing you ever have to be afraid to tell me," I reassured her, receiving a smile from her in turn.
Inari took a breath to calm herself, then she nodded and spoke, "To start, I'm not human." That was when I saw a change come over her.
The pupils in her silver eyes turned to slits as some of her canines sharpened slightly. Then, a pair of white-furred ears, like those of a fox, grew on top of her head. Following this, multiple white-furred tails slowly swayed around us. There wasn't any hostility in their movements as they slowly surrounded me like a protective shield, and I didn't feel any fear as I continued gazing into my girlfriend's beautiful eyes.
"There's quite a bit about me that I haven't told you, but it's one of the biggest things to start," Inari said with a nervousness in her voice. "I hope that you aren't mad or that you hate them."
I cupped her cheek and smiled in response. "I could never be mad about this. I understand why this was difficult for you to tell me, it's a lot for anyone to learn," I said before leaning down and pulling my girlfriend into a kiss. "And why would I ever hate any of the parts of yourself that you decide to show me? These tails and ears of yours just make you look more beautiful to me."
My girlfriend's eyes slightly watered before she pulled me into another kiss. We stayed for some time, and I felt Inari's tails finally start brushing against my body, like needy hands that couldn't get enough of me.
When we finally separated, I could see that Inari was smiling. "I'm so happy that I found you, a mortal that I fully love with all my heart and soul," she stated.
"Mortal?" I asked, a little surprised.
"I am a goddess, Seth. I come from a place known as Yggdrasil, otherwise known as the World Tree," Inari replied, making my eyes go wide.
"N-Not that I want to doubt you, but as a goddess, why choose to live like a pauper with me? Why not live with the elites of the world?" I asked. She was a kind and beautiful woman who deserved more than what I could provide.
"Being far from my source of power, and with how little worship of me there is in this Realm, I have limited ability in what I can do here." As if to demonstrate, Inari held her hand in front of me and I watched as a blue ball of fire ignited in it for a few moments before fading away.
"As for why I choose to live as a pauper, it's because it's with you. I don't care how I live as long as it's with you." Hearing this made me love my girlfriend even more as I pulled her into another kiss.
After that, we spent the rest of the day in bed together, just telling each about our lives. I learned more about alternate Realms of existence than I believed possible. And yet, I continued to listen to everything she said.
In a way, I guess I could call it a perfect day.
[Do not tell them anything, Mortal/
I suddenly woke up and glanced around at the small camp that Regina and I had set up. It was still the middle of the night, and I could see that the fire we had made was now smoldering embers. Across from me on the opposite side of the fire pit was Regina peacefully sleeping with her large halberd at her side.
After catching my breath and calming myself down, I found myself pondering that dream. One of the most important things that I learned from it is that Inari wasn't human. She was a goddess from an alternate reality called Yggdrasil.
Inari had told me a lot of things, like how she ruled the equivalent to a small world of people. Another was about how there were more gods than just her, and that the ancients stories of the Norse gods in my world were very real. That had led to a few questions, like how the gods of Yggdrasil weren't already here if we had stories of them?
From the way she explained it, my home was an alternate reality that had split away due to some cataclysm. Most gods had forgotten about this Realm, except for Inari. She had come here two times before, a few centuries ago, but ended up leaving each time.
Even with all the revelations I was told, it had been a wonderful night of us curled up next to each other just talking.
Yet, the only thing to mar this memory was the voice that just didn't belong.
'Do not tell them anything.'
Tell them what? About what I had just remembered? And glancing over to Regina, I wondered if she was the one I shouldn't tell anything to? Or could it be Momonga?
This left me with so many questions that I just couldn't answer. And yet, there was that small voice in the back of my mind telling me that it might be a good idea to stay quiet.
I mean, you can't just go around saying that your girlfriend is actually a goddess and typically be taken seriously. It was a lot to have someone believe.
Maybe I should try to wait for a while until I had a bit more context for the entire situation… and when I could finally learn what this strange voice I heard was? He sounded familiar…
Daddy, can you read me a bedtime story?
I can, but you have to go to sleep after that, kiddo.
I will! I will!
And, for a little while, I was no longer sitting outside in the wild by a dying fire. I was sitting on a bed in a lit room. In my hand was a tablet set on a page to an old story of a knight slaying a dragon. But that wasn't what grabbed my attention.
It was the little girl sitting in my lap looking up at me with a happy grin as her orange eyes met mine excitedly. She had a small set of bestial ears on her head, just like Inari's, that twitched and moved enough for the fur on them to tickle my chin.
A single, golden-furred tail wagged behind her, making me smile. She wore an overly-large, white shirt, one of mine in fact, that was large enough to cover her body like a dress and acted as her night gown.
I went to go pat her head until the vision finally faded, and my hand was only touching empty air. For a temporary moment, my hand grabbed at the air, not yet comprehending that she wasn't there.
Then, I finally grasped where I was and felt a few tears slide down my cheeks. I finally remembered what my daughter fully looks like.
But her name, it still escaped me…
[Lukrut]
It was hard to not feel a little bit of excitement as I walked down the street. I had just left a seamstress a little bit ago after having my custom order given to her.
The only thing that mildly saddened me is that my coin purse was a lot lighter, but that was trifling compared to what it went to. Besides, as a gold-plate, that money was easy enough to make back after a few good jobs.
In the end, it would all be worth it since I'd finally figured out a gift to get for Kashia's upcoming nameday. I've no doubt that she'll love it once I finally gave it to her. Until then, I'd need to keep everything under wraps from Kashia. A bit easier said than done, but what else can I do?
On the flip side, it was pretty interesting to see that Tuare had finally gotten her furry bits after so many weeks. I did not envy the adjustment period that she was going through when comparing to to Ninya.
Hope that it's faster for her.
Turning down another street, I was happy to note that there wasn't much foot-traffic right now. That meant I'd get back to the inn a lot sooner than expected.
"Just the mortal I wanted to see," I heard Ratatoskr's voice spoke from behind me. That caused me to quickly turn around to see the large, squirrel god standing on the ground looking at me.
Glancing around, I was thankful that there weren't a lot of people on the street right now, else we'd be getting a lot of attention. "Uh, hello, Ratatoskr. Why did you want to see me?" I asked.
"Well, ya' see, I've got a few questions for ya'. We can do it here and get gawked at by the humans around or we can go somewhere private. Your choice," Ratatoskr replied, causing my brow to furrow.
Why did he have questions for me? From what I can remember of our last encounter, he did say my 'roots were strange' or something along those lines. Maybe it had to do with that?
"Sure," I replied before suddenly finding myself falling through a portal with a shout of surprise until I suddenly landed face-down onto grass.
"What the hell was that for?" I groaned before looking up to see the furball strutting over to me on his hind legs. And looking around, I realized that we were somewhere outside E-Rantel since I could see the city in the distance.
"It's because I thought it was funny, among other reasons," the little rat replied, making me glare at him. "But beyond that, ya' haven't been entirely honest, have ya'?"
"What are you talking about?" I shot back as I pushed myself up into a kneeling position.
"When we last spoke, ya' said ya' didn't know why ya' had a connection to Yggy. That's some bullshit. Now, talk!" Ratatoskr demanded loudly, confusing me even further.
"And I still don't understand what it is you're asking! I never heard of this Yggdrasil until Kashia spoke of it!" I growled back fully annoyed at the [little bastard].
That was when I felt pain against the side of my face before I began sliding across the ground. It took me a moment to comprehend that Ratatoskr had just smacked me in the face with his tail. "What the FUCK?!" I roared at the furry prick as the taste of blood filled my mouth. I began pushing myself to my feet at this point.
He seemed barely bothered as he slowly began walking over to me. "Understand this, pretty boy, I just had to prevent a jailbreak of an entity so far beyond your comprehension that it would terrify ya'. This being, Nidhoggr, has eaten entire Realms, like plucking apples from a tree. And the other Nine Realms that exist now are all that remain from it."
Ratatoskr's teeth chattered together, and I began to feel an utter dread in the pit of my stomach, either from how angry he seemed or from knowing that an entity that could eat worlds almost freed itself from wherever it was imprisoned.
"And this jailbreak attempt was through a corrupted root of Yggy's that came from this Realm. And, more specifically, that root was somehow connected to ya'! So, TALK!" The squirrel god shouted at me.
"I keep telling you, I don't know what you're talking about," I said, which turned out to be the wrong answer. A moment later, Ratatoskr's form blurred, and I suddenly felt the air get punched out of my body, causing me to keel over until another hit to my face launched me across the ground.
"Ya' are really trying my patience, pretty boy. I'm not in the mood for games. If ya' don't tell me soon, then I'll just have to assume that ya' are working for Niddy. That being the case, I'll either have to seal ya' or kill ya'. That means no more family, no more friends, no more time with Sugar Tits," Ratatoskr threatened.
I found myself looking at the [little bastard] with sheer hatred. "Don't bring up Kashia or my friends!" I snarled back.
"And if ya' cared so much about them, ya' would just tell me what I want to know," the squirrel retorted.
"SHUT UP!" I shouted, pushing myself to my feet as I let a root grow out of my palm that I threw at the furry prick. Yet, he simply dodged the attack with ease and charged at me.
Yet, at the same time, I suddenly found myself feeling weak, weaker than I have been in a long time. Then, I felt the annoying rat tackle into my chest, knocking me onto my back with him standing on top.
His tail was pointed in my face, with a few roots in it suddenly growing into deadly spikes mere inches from stabbing me. "Last chance. Then, I put ya' down," Ratatoskr threatened with a final ultimatum.
I felt a stinging in my eyes at the thought of never seeing any of the people I cared for ever again. "I-I don't know about Nidhoggr! And if y-you're asking about my root abilities, then I c-couldn't tell you. I only got these abilities a few months ago," I said, hoping that it would appease the god.
"And how did ya' get them, pretty boy?"
That caused me to pause because I didn't truly have an answer for it. At best, there was only one possibility. "I-I'm not fully sure. Days before I c-could conjure roots, a-a voice spoke to me." As soon as I said this, Ratatoskr' tail slightly pulled away from me.
"Go on," the god urged. "What did it say?"
"It… It asked me if I wanted power to protect the ones I cared about. I-I said yes," I answered which got Ratatoskr to pull his tail away from my face.
"Do ya' know how stupid it was to go accepting power from unknown entities? Why in Hel's frozen tits would ya' do something so stupid?" I found myself looking away from his pitying eyes, either from shame or because I hated those horrid looks of pity.
"B-Because I'm useless and weak!" I finally admitted, feeling my cheeks become wet. "Y-You're a god who was born powerful. M-Me, I'm just a regular human."
Tears began to fully stream from my eyes as I recalled my failings. "I spent years trying to get stronger after failing my mom, and you know what happens? I get paralyzed by a murderer's blade before being forced to listen as my friends were going to be killed behind me, useless as always! Kashia had to save us!" I found myself shouting as I said this.
"And speaking of the woman I love; she soon ends up having to fight a murderous vampire. All the while, I can only watch from the distance and pray that she makes it out alright since I'd only get in her way! And then, she has to fight a demon which I know affected her heavily afterwards. All I could do was comfort her, I couldn't protect her! What would you have me do?!"
I was breathing heavily after that outburst while Ratatoskr remained silent. After a few more tense moments, he finally spoke again, "Ya' are a fool, not a malicious fool, but a fool nonetheless. Ya' almost singlehandedly doomed every living being in the Ten Realms. But ya' are young, still untempered by wisdom, only following your emotions to protect the people ya' care about and a pretty girl."
A spell array appeared around Ratatoskr's front paws as he continued to look at me with sympathy. "I can understand your mindset, and if I was a few millennia younger, I'd probably be the same." The god then shook his head, "But I'm not, I'm old, and with age comes experience."
"W-What are you going to do?" I asked.
"Attempt to purge Niddy's essence in ya' if it's still there, even after resealing the scaly bastard. This is going to hurt… a lot. Think of it as a lesson on why ya' shouldn't make deals that sound too good to be true," the squirrel answered, making my eyes widen.
"Wait, w–" I didn't get to finish as the spell array burst and I felt utter agony fill my body!
A scream tore from my throat as my limbs spasmed. Then, the torture finally ended and I shuddered for a moment. Additionally, different parts of my body made a few small twitches which I couldn't control while an immense exhaustion filled my mind.
"Should about do it. Hope it wasn't too bad on ya'?" The fucking rat asked. I was too weak from that spell of his to do anything but glare mildly at him. "Fair enough."
He then patted my cheek and sat down on my chest. "Alright, pretty boy, here's what's gonna happen. I'm gonna hang around this Realm for a few days, checking to make sure that Niddy didn't leave any other surprises here. I plan to be keeping an eye on ya' in the meanwhile." Hearing that was a mixture of worrying and annoying.
What he said next made it worse. "I'll also probably be telling Sugar Tits about this. Need her to know about the Realm-sized shitshow that almost happened," Ratatoskr said.
"N-No!" I begged in a hoarse voice. "D-Don't tell Kashia. Please!" I couldn't stand the thought of hearing her disappointment in me.
"Sorry, pretty boy, but there are some things that even I can't keep to myself. Sugar Tits needs to know this," Ratatoskr said before his beady eyes gave me a pitying look. "She probably won't hate ya' for what ya' almost unknowingly did, and she may be disappointed, but I doubt that she'll leave ya'."
I didn't want to listen to his consolation speech to me. I just wanted to escape this moment right now, and my only method to do so was to allow my body to fulfill its urge to fall asleep. While closing my eyes, I hoped that I would wake up to something better than this.
Why did this day have to go so wrong?
[Kashia]
As I returned back to my room at the Hero's Respite, I couldn't help but wonder if I should start looking into buying an actual home in E-Rantel soon enough? I mean, even though there was always the palace on the lake or my large cabin in Haven-Lake, with how often my daughters, Lukrut, and I were busy in the city, it was a good idea to have some type of permanent address here.
This place was nice and all, but I felt that we needed a bit more space, even with my Sanctuary being a home in and of itself.
After all, I couldn't really change the underground levels due to how the spacing of the pocket dimension worked. At least, I couldn't right now. That might change soon enough once I get the [Wish Upon a Star] mana-converted spell finished. Then, I could just wish for YGGDRASIL gold to begin expanding the space.
So, that left me with the next option available, buying a new home. Another reason that I wanted a new home – which was related to space – is so that Lukrut and I had our own room. With how both of us had to leave the inn whenever we wanted to have some fun, this would save us so much hassle and embarrassment.
I began to smirk at this thought in amusement.
Another thing that came to mind is how to help with Tuare's transition into a kitsune. While she appears to be dealing with it a bit easier than Ninya, I still wanted to be certain that she was okay. Thankfully, Saizo's been helpful in telling me if anything was wrong that my kit didn't want to inform me about.
As I continued to walk down the hall to my room while pondering these thoughts further, my nose picked up a few scents coming from said room that filled me with concern. The first of which was Ratatoskr. I wanted to roll my eyes at the headache he would likely be causing me.
But that stopped with the two other scents intermingled with the rodent's. There was Lukrut, and then there was Lukrut's blood. My eyes widened at this and I quickly rushed over to my room and pushed the door open.
My eyes quickly searched the room until they settled on our bed, where I felt my heart speed up in horror at the sight…
"Lukrut?!"
Laying on our bed was my silly archer, yet he was unconscious and covered in both blood and bruises. Sitting to the side of the bed was Ratatoskr who gave me an uncharacteristically serious look. Yet, I couldn't care in the slightest as I slammed the door closed – almost breaking it – before rushing over to the bed in an instant as my human guise fell away.
I quickly cast [Healing of Freyja] upon him, watching as the bruises and cuts faded away or closed themselves. This just left only the dried blood on his face that I began wiping off.
"Lukrut…" I said with worry as he still hadn't woken up just yet. But it looked like his sleep wasn't a peaceful one as he grimaced and groaned while a sheen of sweat covered his face.
Quickly looking over to Ratatoskr, I asked, "What happened?" From the way that I could smell some of Lukrut's blood on him, I assumed that the squirrel had been the one to move him. Otherwise…
"A lot, Sugar Tits. There's quite a bit I need to tell ya' while I was away, and I'll need ya' to be quiet and let me say everything before ya' do anything. Alright?" Ratatoskr replied, which I nodded to as my eyes slightly narrowed.
"Good," the squirrel sighed. "To start, when I left, it was due to feeling an oddity connected to this Realm. So, I went to find it, which turned out to be some form of corrupted root that was parasitizing Yggy. So, I spent my time following after it."
Ratatoskr then jumped from the bed and onto the windowsill next to it, looking out upon the street with a contemplative gaze. "It was a single root, yet it led me all around Yggy's body until I entered a cave to find this root completely covering it. That is when it attacked me," the squirrel said while looking back to me.
"It attacked you? Why?" I questioned.
"Because, turns out that Yggy's old enemy Nidhoggr was making an escape attempt using this Realm to do so," Ratatoskr answered, making me eyes widen. With the way his counterpart in YGGDRASIL had required a literal army of Players to fight against him, what would his real counterpart be like if even a god like Loki could causally overpower me without even being hostile?
"As soon as I discovered this, I used an ability of mine to escape the cave before immediately diving down to the wurm's prison. It was there that Yggy and I found the root growing from Niddy's body and went about destroying it and then reinforcing the scaly prick's prison. From there, I went about checking to make certain that the root of Niddy's was completely gone." Ratatoskr then met my gaze.
"After doing a good enough check, I went back here to where I had originally discovered this connection to cover my bases. Do ya' know where this connection originally started from?" As Ratatoskr said this, I followed his gaze as it glanced over to Lukrut, and I felt a horrid chill go down my spine.
I protectively cradled my mate into my arms and narrowed my eyes. "What are you implying? That Lukrut did this?!" I demanded.
"Yes, that is what I'm saying. Wish I could tell ya' in an easier way, but I've never been one to beat around the bush. Niddy almost escaped because of the pretty boy," the rodent replied, which I just found impossible to believe.
Shaking my head, I argued, "Lucky would never try to endanger anyone like that. He also wouldn't free an ancient, world-eating dragon from its prison. You have to be mistaken!"
"Never said that he tried to do anything. The only thing pretty boy's guilty of is being an idiot. A few months ago, he accepted a deal from an unknown entity for power." Ratatoskr then looked back to me and asked, "Didn't ya' find it strange that he suddenly developed those abilities of his?"
I froze at the question. I didn't want to agree with him… but he was right. It had made me wonder how he was able to do what he did and why I couldn't understand whatever magic it was that he utilized to cause it?
"I-It was strange…" I found myself softly admitting.
"Strange and dangerous. It made him the center of an apocalyptic event. We're lucky nothing worse came from it," the rodent agreed as I looked down at Lukrut and cupped his face.
"Why would he ever do something like that?" I asked, momentarily glancing up to Ratatoskr before focusing my gaze back down upon my mate. "He isn't greedy or power-hungry. Lukrut's a good man."
"Then ya' should be happy to know that he only accepted a deal because he wanted to protect ya' and his friends." Even with the reassurance, it felt hollow knowing that Lukrut had endangered himself for me and the others.
And yet, that didn't explain his current condition. "What caused his injuries?"
"…I'll admit that I may have gone overboard in my questioning." As soon as those words left the furry pervert's lips, a few of my tails stabbed at him, and I watched Ratatoskr dodge and weave between them.
"You hurt my Lukrut?!" I shouted at him.
"Only because of what was at stake!" Ratatoskr said in between dodging the strikes of my tails. "Ya' have no idea what could've happened had Nidhoggr escaped!"
Before I could say anything back, he appeared standing on my chest while holding my face with both of his paws. "Kashia! What I did to the pretty boy was a mercy!" My eyes narrowed as he continued, "Which would ya' have preferred; me killing him or putting a permanent curse upon him like I did for that succubus?"
I was emotionally charged and angry, but that question made me stop and look at the squirrel while thinking about the 'what if' scenario. He could've been taken away from me or made to suffer an eternity. That made me hold him all the tighter in my grip.
"Sugar Tits, ya' are a goddess now, and that comes with the responsibility to make the tough choices. Ya' can be like Thor, whose only difficult choice in life is what his next fight will be since his daddy rules Asgard instead of him. Or ya' be like your mom, who had to decide on sacrificing most of her Realm – and the inhabitants still there – to save the rest or let everyone in her Realm die." Ratatoskr crossed his arms and looked at me with a solemn expression as I still remained silent
Mom had to make a decision like that?
"Ya' want to be the goddess of this Realm? Then fine. Hell, I'll even help ya', but before that, ya' need to know about your responsibilities, and the tough decisions that ya' will need to make in the future." Ratatoskr then pointed to Lukrut and stated, "What I did to pretty boy is a choice I saved ya' from having to make, and one that he will hate me for, not ya'."
It was at that moment that I finally saw beyond the perverted personality of his and realized just how ancient Ratatoskr is. And that caused me to feel like a child being lectured by an adult.
I couldn't even imagine having to sacrifice millions, possibly tens to even hundreds, just to save the rest. Yet mom did as the ruling goddess of an entire Realm. In a way, I think that there was just this unconscious belief that my powerful magical abilities would just allow me to prevent such a decision.
"Think ya' could handle being this Realm's goddess, otherwise ya' can throw in the towel now and let fate decide on who will rule this Realm. And trust me, there will be a lot of corpses by the time that is done," the squirrel said as he then jumped off my chest and onto the windowsill once more before looking back to me.
"I'll let ya' think about it and spend time with pretty boy. The purging I did to his body should've removed whatever taint Niddy left in him, but he'll be out for a little bit. If ya' want, I'll help ya' with learning how to be the ruling goddess of this Realm, since ya' are taking too long right now." A portal then opened by Ratatoskr and he finished with a few final words, "I'll give ya' a day to think about it before I come back. Make your choice of what ya' plan to do."
With that, he entered the portal and left the room, leaving Lukrut and I alone together once more. I had a lot to think about…
[Lukrut]
I woke up with a start to find Kashia sitting next to me with a smile. "Morning, Lukrut," she warmly said, even though I expected some form of disappointment in her eyes.
Really, it could've been anything at all, yet she just continued to smile at me while her eyes held nothing in them. Why was that? And more to the point, why did something feel missing?
"Kashia?" I asked, a heavy tone in my voice. "How much did the squirrel tell you?"
"Everything, Lucky. He told me everything, such as the power you attained to try and protect me, the attempted jailbreak of Nidhoggr, and what he did to you." As Kashia said this, a frown filled her face while her eyes showed the first bits of emotion I had seen in them since waking up.
It was intense anger.
Then, it quickly disappeared and she looked at me with a smile once more, the emotion leaving her eyes again. "But that doesn't matter now. What matters is that you're safe and that you and I are still together," she stated while taking my hand into hers.
"But shouldn't you be upset? I-I almost expected it," I responded hesitantly.
"Why would I be? You obviously did this because you love me. How could I ever be upset with that?" Kashia replied as she leaned close to me. Yet, something still was bothering me. Something about her just wasn't there.
"Because I endangered myself, at the very least…" I explained, earning a shake of her head.
"You showed how much you love me with that act. I could expect nothing less from the man I love," Kashia said as she moved her head closer to mine. And as she leaned closer to kiss me, I finally put my hands on both her shoulders and pushed her back, much to her confusion.
"What's wrong, Lucky?"
My eyes narrowed at the question. "The Kashia I know is definitely not this vapid or agreeable," I growled back, earning an amused sigh from the woman.
"Oh, well, what a shame. And here I thought that you'd only care about an attractive lover giving you her attention," the Fake-Kashia remarked offhandedly.
The world around us suddenly changed to reveal a familiar forest of blood-red trees. Now, I could barely pick out a single white tree, but I did notice a few of the red trees now turning black.
I quickly pushed myself away from the Fake-Kashia and back onto my feet. At the same time, the fake's hair and fur lost some of the golden luster in it, turning a pale yellow. A glowing red seemed to bleed out from her pupils and overtook all the golden within her irises.
"I love her personality and mind, neither of which you have. You're nothing more than an ugly fake," I retorted with a glare.
"W-Why would you ever say such cruel things to me, Lucky? I-I thought y-you loved me?" Fake-Kashia mocked in a whimpering voice before breaking out into laughter.
"Then again, for a failure like yourself, it's probably a miracle that Kashia even likes you." A sneer cruelly twisted the fake's features before she taunted, "Oh, I know! She probably only cares about you because you can give her a good dicking."
Even though I knew she was a fake, it still hurt to hear those words from her voice. And that just went on to anger me. "Shut up. You don't know anything!"
"I know that you're still a weak failure, even before the vermin used his purging spell on you," Fake-Kashia said, which made me come to a sudden realization. And one that slightly terrified me
"You're Nidhoggr, aren't you?" I accused the fake, earning a mocking clap from her.
"Who knew that you could actually have a brain? I'm almost impressed," Nidhoggr answered in amusement.
"How though?! Ratatoskr said the he purged whatever essence of yours was in my body," I questioned as Nidhoggr began walking towards me while I started moving back.
Nidhoggr then made the Fake-Kashia tap her head. "Think, Lukrut. Wasn't it just strange how weak you suddenly became weak around the little bastard? Just think of your body as a little house that I can come and go from as I please. As soon as I knew what the little bastard was up to, I temporarily pulled myself – and the power I've been loaning you – out of your body."
As he said that, I suddenly felt very weak as I fell to my knees. "W-What?" I asked in shock.
Nidhoggr continued their pace until he stood before me. Then, he knelt down and lifted my head up to meet the eyes of this fake's face. "Did you actually think that you had been growing stronger due to your own efforts? You are nothing but an average human that was playing at power. Unlike your friends who have actually been growing stronger, you've just been stagnant while borrowing my power."
Suddenly, I heard familiar laughter and looked to my left to see Peter, Dyne, and Ninya laughing at me. "Even your friends find it amusing, Little Lukrut. Then again, if I recall correctly, the children in your village had a different name for you, Unluckrut."
"Wow, it's funny to think that he's been dragging our team down all these years, "I heard the Fake-Peter remark.
"Funny?" Fake-Dyne questioned with a chuckle. "It's more disappointing than anything else. We should've kicked him out ages ago."
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to ignore their words, but I just couldn't escape their voices. And then, Ninya spoke up, "Unluckrut is so worthless that even I, someone years younger than him, am already stronger. Pathetic!"
"Unluckrut! Unluckrut!" The three of them chanted, just like the kids in my village.
I quickly clapped my hands over my ears to block out their voices, but that only made them get louder. "Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!"
"So, you see, you need me. I'm the only reason that you can continue playing pretend." I shook my head at Nidhoggr's words.
"No, you're lying! They aren't real! I don't need you, and I'll tell Kashia and Ratatoskr everything when I wake up!" I shouted back. Even if I'm not strong, it doesn't mean that I would allow this monster to do whatever it wanted.
I would stop him, one way or another.
"Funny, who said that when you wake up you'll even remember any of this?" As soon as he said this, dread took over my mind. "I will remove any memory of what happened, leaving only the stress, fear, anger, and sorrow for you to remember."
Next thing I knew, I felt a fist to my stomach, making me nearly vomit. "N-No…"
"What do you think is worse; to fear going to sleep knowing what's waiting for you or to be terrified of something that you can't even remember?" Nidhoggr then stomped on my back, crushing me against the floor as I screamed in agony. That was when I felt Nidhoggr lean down until his breath was tickling my ear before he used the Fake-Kashia's voice to whisper, "Want to know a secret? Actually, want to know two of them?"
"G-Get away from me," I choked out, which Nidhoggr giggled at with Kashia's voice.
"The first secret is that I plan to do this every time you go to sleep. I'll continue to batter and bend you until you finally break. Perhaps it will be a week, perhaps years, but eventually you'll fold under my attentions." My heart was beating horribly upon hearing this. "The second secret is that I plan to break Kashia for daring to steal my belongings. Maybe I'll shove that seed she stole into her body, turn her into my own little World Item to use as I see fit. Regardless, I'll be using your body to do it."
"Oh, gods, no! STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM KA—" I said before I felt a painful kick in my side that launched me in the air until I smashed back to the ground and rolled with a pained groan to a stop at the feet of the fake versions of my friends.
"Anyway, let's begin, Unluckrut. I'll have your friends do the honors," Nidhoggr said, and I looked up to the three fakes to see malicious grins on their faces as they pulled out their weapons.
I squeezed my eyes shut, praying that this would be over soon before I felt the first blow.
Waking up with a start, I was breathing heavily as I looked around to see that I was in Kashia's room at the Hero's Respite. I was actually in bed, making me wonder how I got here, unless the rat had been kind enough to just dump me here.
But soon enough, I felt a small squeeze of my hand, and I turn my head to see that Kashia was sitting at the side of the bed. For some reason, I felt this odd sense of déjà vu that filled me with a sense of dread. Then, it instantly disappeared with her reaction.
Her eyes became filled with concern. "You idiot. Why would you do something so dangerous to worry me like you did?" Kashia asked me as she put her hand to my cheek, and strangely enough, I found myself calmer from her chastising me than anything else.
"Ratatoskr told you, didn't he?" I returned.
"Damn right he did," Kashia admitted. "Hearing that you made some deal for power with an eldritch dragon scared the shit out of me, both because you did it for the sake of our friends and me, and…"
Her voice wavered as I saw her eyes begin to water. "Because you didn't trust me enough to tell me about something this important."
It was hard to avoid the urge to look away from her golden eyes, but I managed to maintain my gaze. "I thought about telling you a few times, but I just didn't for some reason. M-Maybe it was because I was embarrassed about what you would think," I admitted.
"I would never think any less of you, Lucky. I love you, and there is nothing that would change that. You are one of the most important people in my whole world," my beautiful fox said, making me feel like a fool. "I don't care if you're the strongest or weakest man in all the Realms, I just want you."
Kashia then pulled me into a hug and I soon wrapped my arms around in turn. "I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you," I softly said in her ear.
"Then we shouldn't keep such large secrets from each other anymore, something that even I am guilty of at times. We need to trust that we can tell each other things without believing it to be a burden on the other," Kashia said as she pulled her head from my shoulder and rested her forehead against mine.
"I'm willing to be open with you if you are, Lukrut."
"No more secrets," I agreed with a smile that my beautiful fox returned.
She kissed me for a moment before fully pulling herself onto the bed. Then, when she was laying beside me with her tails encircling us, Kashia began, "Since I asked for this, I'll start first. My home was a world known as Earth…"
[Rigrit]
Travel certainly is a pain in the ass when you hit my age, even with a magically extended lifespan like mine. When it's not my back giving me grief, it ends up being my hips and knees that just make things inconvenient for me.
Maybe, after all this possible world-ending nonsense is over, I should go journey for a permanent cure to back pain? That, or I'll just find some magical artifact that can restore my youth. Has to be something like that in the world, especially with some of the tales I've heard of the lands to the east.
But who knows, maybe this goddess, Kashia, might have some magic to fix either of those issues. After all, immortality sucks when your body's too old to enjoy the benefits of a long life.
Still, even if there are the annoyances, I can't deny that I've led an interesting life.
I've fought ancient monsters from another reality who claimed to be gods, attained a great amount of magical power, have a powerful dragon as a close friend, mentored and befriended a vampire, traveled all over the land. Those were just a few of my many exciting feats in my life.
It was still astonishing to learn – after Tsu explained it a bit more after his initial summary to me – that our reality was being connected to nine others by a giant tree of all things. More than that, there were actual gods in these lands, not just a few invaders with a lot of power at their disposal.
Sadly, this also came with the problem of these other Realms – as Tsu called them – eventually taking notice of this Realm. Once that happened, this place would be like a slab of meat thrown in the middle of a pack of wolves. Fought over and torn apart as different factions tried to claim it.
And one of the only ways to prevent this, much to Tsu's displeasure due to that pride of his, is to help a young goddess – who was essentially a child – become strong enough within a few years to ward off any invaders. I believe that it was going to be very hard to top this upcoming event in my life.
Hopefully, all this nonsense gets solved quickly enough. Once that happened, I had a lot of interest in these other Realms that Tsu spoke about. Whole worlds to explore and adventure in.
I'd probably be occupied with these new lands for an eternity. I couldn't wait.
Slightly altering my mount's course, I smirked at the headway I've made. The undead wyvern I rode was a great decision to acquire.
It was probably what made my time to arrive in the Re-Estize take a little longer than necessary. I had to spend about three days locating a flying monster that could actually carry me. I had been quite fortunate to find it.
Following this, it was just an easy necromancy spell to reanimate it, and then I was finally off. Even got to scavenge some nice treasures from its nest after going through all the work of putting it down.
From there, my only delays came in the form of avoiding populated areas of the Slane Theocracy. Damn zealots might've started a panic before attempting to shoot me down, thinking a monster was coming to attack. And unlike the Re-Estize, they actually had people that could actually hit me while I was at this height.
But that stopped being an issue once I crossed the mountains bordering the Slane and Re-Estize. Now, I was about a day's ride or less away from the capital.
Once I finally got there, my only concern would be in finding Inberun and the rest of the brats. Doubt it would be that hard considering how much attention they tend to draw.
Well, either way, it was certainly going to be fun to see the surprise on all the brats' faces when I show up.