“Oh, hello. Are you a new transfer from another branch?”

“Huh? Why would you think... oh, the mask?”

“It’s a design I’m certain I would’ve remembered, so you’re clearly-”

“It’s just a new mask, same Glatisant underneath. I figured the ears and the two ranks would give it away - if not my voice”

“Oh, you finally incorporated your insignia into something besides a tiny charm? Good for you. Sorry I didn’t recognize your voice, I don’t have a good memory for voices. Accents and strange speech patterns I’ll remember, but a pretty normal voice, no”

That makes sense. It took me about a century to be able to recognize and differentiate human faces, so I can imagine someone having similar issues with voices, especially since devilkin are innately capable of telepathy, further reducing the need for them to learn auditory communication skills.

“Sorry for assuming... anyway, yes. I had Reymir make me this mask, just picked it up a few minutes ago. I probably should’ve done that after turning this in, but... I found the main ledger for the Silvermoon Owls’ base, alongside a bunch of other documents”

“Oh, excellent. I’ll give those a quick once-over, and we’ll see if you can rank up before you go on leave”

“Sure, I can wait”

And wait I did, lithely leaping on top of a tall bookcase, where I stretched out and waited for about half an hour. My eccentric perch had become so well known that the guild put a cushion on top of just this one bookcase for me, and I wasn’t going to complain about having a more comfortable place to wait. When my name was called, I was about to roll off, but noticed that someone was actually looking at the books on the shelf some thirty feet below me, and elected not to use him as a landing pad.

“Uh, excuse me, you might want to move for a moment, you’re standing exactly where I’ll be landing when I jump down”

“It seems to me that you should’ve thought of that before you climbed up there”

“Perhaps, but in all my years here, I’ve never once seen someone try reading the books on this shelf. Plus, Lavi is waiting for me”

“Lavi? Who cares, you’ll have to let that bitch wait because you decided to be a moron who can’t get down on your own”

Pardon me, what? Did this guy with a bronze insignia on his cloak pin just say that? And considering the fact that he had to be shouting up at me, I suspect a lot of other people, Lavi included, likely heard those words.

“Hey, Lavi? Permission to land on this guy?”

“Yeah, he’s wasting the time of guild staff and multiple guild members, while insulting both a staff member and a blood gold shadow. Use him to break your fall, cut him up, poison him, however you want to handle him is up to you”

“Huh? Gol-”

While the guy beneath me was busy processing Lavi’s words, I was in midair. He didn’t notice me until I landed on him, one solid Nothing-tipped finger boring deep into his left shoulder through his collarbone, as a reminder to think before pissing off those the guild values more than it values him. It took him a second or two to notice the wound, but once he did he began screaming his head off. However, instead of putting pressure on the wound to staunch the flow of blood, his first reaction was to draw his sword and swing it at me, but he only got halfway through the swing before the venom I’d put into his wound killed him. I’d been planning on letting him live until I decided if I wanted him dead or not, keeping the venom inactive and eventually either activating it or making it dissipate harmlessly. But he answered that question for me, and was now lying flat on the floor.

“Well, with that interruption out of the way, congrats on reaching copper, and congrats on what I believe is your thousandth guild-sanctioned kill. I think you wanted to go on leave now, so I’ll process that while you commission the next mask, and I’ll see you in a couple of months”

“Thanks for that. See ya’ later”

“Oh, uh... one more thing. You don’t have to answer, but... I read over Count Narfthtah’s diary… the torment… how do I say this… you wouldn’t happen to know a human alchemist named Tama, right?”

“That name sounds familiar… ah, I remember! During my entrance exam, there was a cat whose collar showed that he belonged to Pill Master Tama. I’m sorry, that’s all I’ve got for you right now. If you want to make it a silent shadow mission for me, I could go snoop around the Alchemists’ Association, and see what I can learn there”

Fortunately, I had prepared for such a question over the last few years, so I wasn’t particularly flustered by it... at least I don’t think I appeared flustered. I was surprised, sure, but I recovered pretty quickly and had a suitable answer prepared, hopefully avoiding any more suspicion.

“Alright, have a good vacation. Take care of yourself, and maybe bring in the little one sometime. Here’s the proof of your advancement to copper, and... I’ll consider making that an official mission once you’re back”

I took the small wooden plaque and ran back to Reymir’s workshop to pick up the copper mask. She was surprised to see me back so soon, but she knew I was going on break that day, so she didn’t hold me up for long. Just a few minutes passed before she handed me my new mask, and I stowed it away in my spirit realm with the spare blood shadow insignia. I trusted Reymir, but not enough to show her my face... not that my face really matters, I can always change it if needed.

Once I had my new mask, I left the compound, made sure the only tail I had was the one covered in my own fur, and headed north towards the palace. Tilly had gotten me an ID that listed me as a caretaker for the palace ratcatchers, meaning I didn’t have to sneak in and out anymore. I still often snuck in just to avoid the inspection bottlenecks that sometimes backed up for hours, but... this time I didn’t. I did, however, shift to my real form when I got away from prying eyes.

In that form, I calmly walked through the palace grounds, meandering a bit on my way to the imperial residence, turning a half hour walk - or a roughly five minute run - into an almost two hour long stroll. After all, it was early afternoon, Tilly was going to be working, though she did announce that today would be her last day of work before handing her duties over to the prime minister for a few months. 

I got to my destination, jumped in through the open window, and found Yuri lying on her side in the huge bed on the far side of the room. I couldn’t tell if she was awake or asleep because she was facing away from me, so I padded a bit closer until I could hear her slow, regular breaths, and knew she was asleep. Given that, I made sure not to make a sound as I jumped up onto the bed, picked one of the many pillows, kneaded it into shape, and curled up for a nap myself. 

Some time later, I awoke to find a pair of soft hands lifting me up and placing me on another soft, squishy surface. Opening my eyes, I saw that Tilly had come in and sat down on the bed next to me, her crimson robes left partially open to make room for the pregnant belly I had been deposited upon.

“It’s been a while, Tama. Last time I saw you was, what, six weeks ago? Back then, while it wasn’t much room, there was still enough room on my lap for you to sit there. Now there’s no space there at all that’s not taken up by our kids”

[I don’t mind being here either, it’s warmer than your lap was]

“Then why didn’t you snuggle up with Yuri?”

[She was asleep, I didn’t want to surprise her like that]

“Well, I’m awake now, some come here”

Yuri’s soft voice came from behind Tilly, and I heard her rolling from one side to the other as Tilly stood up so she could face her wife.

“Now hold on, I just got a break from work for a few minutes, I want to have Tama for now, you can have him when I go back for the last meeting of the day”

[Do I not get a say? I wouldn’t mind sitting in on the meeting like this]

“Like... like this? I suppose it’d be okay, I’m pretty comfortable around the various heads there... it should be fine to not close my robe... I’m wearing some less formal pants, but I’m not naked underneath... yeah, why not?”

I wasn’t thinking we’d go in exactly this position and state of partial undress when I said like this, I meant more just like sitting in as a sort of comforting accessory that happens to be alive but well trained.

[I mean if you’re uncomfortable with that, close the robe and I’ll settle on top of it all the same, I don’t mind]

“But then I can’t feel your fur or your purr”

[So you like my fur so much you’d forgo your usual modest wardrobe to feel me more?]

“I... you make me sound like a pervert, but yes, that is the case”

[Would you rather I settle around your neck like a scarf?]

“Please, not that. My back and shoulders are killing me as it is, I don’t need more pressure on those muscles. Enough, it’s time for me to go, we’re attending like this and that’s that!”

She stood up while speaking in a firm and confident tone, but that was unfortunately undercut by the deep red blush on her cheeks. Yuri covered herself and looked to be going back to sleep, while Tilly strode to the door and opened it to come face to face with the maid who just happened to be dusting the intricate carvings on the door. More specifically, the Oryctolaguan maid came face to face with me, given how short she was. 

Well, technically, Tilly was also able to look straight ahead and see the maid’s soft-soled shoes, but only during the brief moment when she jumped almost twice her height in fright. But upon landing, she immediately transitioned into a bow well past parallel to the floor, with her fuzzy tail suddenly becoming the highest part of her body as her long ears brushed the ground while she stammered an apology.

“No, it’s fine. Your name was... Lactuca, right? Could you assist me in walking to the third audience chamber?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’m hon-honored that you re-rem-remembered this h-humble serv-v-vant's name. Please, I will h-happily assist in a-any way Your Majesty re-requires. Ahh... i-if I may be so b-bold... a-are you planning to sh-show up as you are? W-would you like help in fix-fixing your attire?”

“I don’t mind the question, but I’m fine with my current appearance”

While discussing her impromptu fashion statement, Tilly was walking down the hall while supporting herself with a hand on Lactuca’s shoulder. The few heads we passed definitely turned to stare at the cat with a throne no other cat has ever come close to rivaling, nor would one ever do so in the future. However, none stopped nor said a word, and we reached the passage leading to the back of the third audience chamber without incident, whereupon the maid opened the door for her and turned to leave.

Unfortunately, while walking through the doorway, Tilly bumped into the frame and lost her balance, taking a couple of stumbling steps as the handful of people waiting at the table inside jumped up to help. They, of course, wouldn’t have been in time to help, but... they weren’t the closest possible helper.

I flicked my tail, and a line of solid Nothing was drawn next to her, creating an invisible handrail for her. I’d spent years honing my control over the Nothing element, and the solid form that had been, well, kinda cloudlike if not compressed into a thin blade, was now able to be made into walls if needed, and I could absolutely support someone’s weight with a suspended piece of it.

Tilly grabbed onto the small rod she felt appear in her left hand and used it to stabilize herself, surprising the people who were stumbling over their chairs. After all, to their eyes - and even to her own eyes - she just grabbed at the air and somehow used it as a handhold to pull herself up from. It wasn’t the first time I’d done things like this around her, though usually I was just catching dropped objects by making use of solid Nothing’s variable elasticity.

“I’m alright, sorry for startling you. Shall we start, or is anyone missing?”

“We actually have more here than expected”

“Ignore the cat, he-”

“Might be a spy, yes. All the more reason he shouldn’t be here”

“He’s the cat of the alchemist who saved my life multiple times, even going so far as to die in my place. If this cat with no spirit realm and no interest in looking at documents or history of walking in on meetings is a spy, I’d say he’s a pretty ineffective one. Let’s get on with this so I can finally rest, shall we?”

“Apologies, Your Majesty. The agenda for this meeting is a few unusual events and persons causing changes in local power balances, where we’re unsure if we should leave them be or intervene. First, landslides in the Fermount area have closed off some roads, and crucially, both sides of a mountain pass are blocked, trapping the largest group of mountain bandits, since they occupied that pass”

The general idea of most of these agenda items was “this thing that’s happening is bad for both the common folk and those harming the people of the empire. Do we improve the situation for both of them or leave it for a while to hopefully drive away/kill off the latter group?” to which the answer was almost always to solve the issue, since it’s not worth killing the citizens to deal with the bandits. However, one time, the agenda item was quite unique.

“This one is quite perplexing. Starting a bit before the end of last year, at least twenty medium-large or larger bandit groups, including three designated as untouchable, have each been exterminated overnight, all by a single person. From the testimony of the people captured by the bandits, he is a human male in his prime, but with snow-white hair and a short, neatly-trimmed beard. He wears fancy white clothing with blue accents, and it somehow never gets stained with dirt or blood. His powers are a mystery, though it’s speculated to be inertial control given some of the feats he has performed, and his level is entirely unknown”

“How can it be unknown? Surely some people could sense his aura, right?”

“That’s the baffling thing, everyone without fail said they couldn’t. Purely based on his reported feats, where some claim to have seen him teleport, and a consistent claim is that he can fly, we can estimate the lower bound of his level to be about level 50 with the strength to defeat people a tier above, with teleportation pushing that lower bound to level 80. But we just don’t know. He refuses to answer most questions about himself, only saying that he’s a man who cast his name aside”

A man I knew to be the head of military affairs slammed his fist on the table, before speaking in a gruff tone at an excessively high volume.

“Someone with that kind of strength, if they’re not working for us, is nothing but a threat. We need to find him and make him join us, or kill him if he won’t”

“I don’t see the issue, he’s cleaning up bandits, not harming anyone else, he’s not even taking the valuables the bandits have collected. Sure, he’s a vigilante, but he’s saving us a lot of resources and is improving the lives of the empire’s citizens”

“We should still reach out and ask if he’d join us, we could use someone of his strength and drive”

Tilly cleared her throat, and the room fell silent, waiting for her to speak. I picked that moment to stand up, stretch, and start climbing towards my usual perch on her shoulders, and with all eyes on me, my paw slipped on her collarbone and I slid down her chest, being careful to not use my claws to grab onto her. I stopped sliding when I landed on her belly, this time with only my head poking out from the slightly open collar of her robe. It was quite warm, albeit slightly damp with sweat, and when Tilly began to scratch my ears, I decided to settle down and stay there.

“Ahem, sorry about that, I wasn’t expecting him to move but this is fine. I was going to say that we should leave this vigilante alone”

“But, Your Majesty, we-”

“Stop. If this man has the power to annihilate massive groups of bandits led by a tier 7 cultivator, he can overpower anyone in our military, and ignore our numbers too. We’d have no chance of coming out with anything better than a pyrrhic victory if he became hostile to us. If he has nothing better to do with his time than to clean up bandits without taking their loot, he’s not worried about cultivating, so we can’t tempt him with our resources either”

The other men and women in the room didn’t seem convinced, and a woman with rabbit-like ears, another Oryctolaguan like the maid, hesitantly spoke up.

“We could still try, right?”

“Initiating contact is simply against our best interests. As mentioned before, the odds of bringing him to our side are low, while the cost of making the situation worse is too much to risk, and that’s assuming he’s just a tier 6 with abnormal strength. Since he’s not worried about time pressure, he’s either reached tier 7 himself, found he can’t leave this realm, and has given up in despair, or he’s gotten stuck at the peak of tier 7 with a shattered core, or is a tier 9 introductory immortal, if not a tier 10 true immortal”

“An immortal? Is that really even plausible?”

“Since we’ve never heard of this man before now, it’s not that unlikely for him to be a visitor from another realm. Most of the ones who come are here purely on business for the inter-realm organizations they’re affiliated with, and the ones who aren’t and also aren’t hiding themselves completely, well... aren’t likely to be here unless they’re not worried about their life span”

“Which means... fu-”

The man who was about to curse stopped himself with an obviously fake cough, and hilariously, asked for Tilly’s permission to curse. Tilly, the one who taught an immortal a few new ways to use expletives. Behind her prim and proper smile, she has a vocabulary that’d put any soldier or sailor to shame.

“Permission granted. Frankly, given the situation, it’s quite justified. If he turns out to be an immortal, and he becomes hostile... we’d be absolutely fucked. There’s no better way to put it, we’d just be fucked, and not the pleasurable kind”

“So, what the hell do we do besides shit our pants?”

“Well, for starters, we ignore the thousand or so bandit deaths he’s likely to cause, especially since he’s probably already saved several thousand peoples’ lives in the long run”

“Can’t we ask anyone for help?”

That’s quite possibly the dumbest suggestion I’ve ever heard, and Tilly must’ve felt the same, given her sarcastic response.

“Oh, sure, let me just send a letter to the immortal we, like any good empire, have on retainer... whom the fuck would I be asking for help when the potential opposition might be an immortal?”

“Well... according to rumor... your mysterious male consort...”

“I... look. I know the rumor. I’m not going to confirm or deny if he is an immortal, but I will say two things. First, not all immortals are equal, and he’s likely to be considered incredibly weak by most immortals. Second, if he was an immortal, he’d be very restricted in what he could do to help any mortal country, immortals are supposed to stay out of the affairs of those who don’t cultivate”

Uh... I kinda made that up as a completely bullshit excuse back when I was meeting Tilly’s father... I guess she took it as fact. Oops. I’ll have to correct that later.

CaTastrophy427

Long chapter this time, didn't feel like splitting it, so y'all'll be getting another one. Good news is, I've done a bunch of outlining so the next few chapters should be smoother to write. Uhh... not much else to say, check out my other novel and my discord. Oh also, I made a Ko-Fi page, so that is an option for anyone who wants to support me by fueling my gacha addiction helping me buy a new laptop since my current one is dying. I think there'll be a little button below for that, but absolutely no pressure. I'm 100% fine with that page bringing in nothing at all, I just thought it'd be better to have it than not in case someone was feeling generous.