Part 1

MC's POV

After having fun with Habetrot and Britomart, I went to what I would call home here. The mansion in which Melusine resides has become familiar to me and I could easily move inside without relying on my eyesight.

Today was fun, but it seemed that the punch line would come at night.

"(At a time like this, you have to summon your beautiful wife Tamamocchi and let her deal with thieving cats!)" Tamamo said.

I could picture her in my mind shadowboxing as she prepared to deal with my 'problem'.

Aren't you going to get your cute ass handed?

"(Oh, you, complimenting me will get you nowhere!)" Tamamo happily muttered.

I was indeed complimenting her ass but the main issue what the other meaning of the sentence. You are going to face a dragon, she has not shown what she is capable of and we all know that escaping is not an option.

"(Hubby, if she starts giving you trouble, we could use 'that'.)" Tamamo offered.

Shuddering while I imagined such a thing, I never wanted to use that 'form' again. I will get access to incredible power... but at what cost? No, I will never use it.

"(Owww, Tamamo was hoping to see you wiping the floor with each of the arrogant knights that think they are better than you.)" Tamamo mumbled sadly.

No no, no matter you try to spin it, that is no good. We are not trying to beat them up to show them who is the best. Our goal is to make them join the Alliance.

"(Tsk, I still believe my hubby is WAY stronger than those knights and should teach them a lesson.)" Tamamo sulkily spoke.

Sacred swords are scary. I would rather not face one of those unreasonable objects.

"(Is it because of that time in the Pendragon House? Hubby, I doubt that spear is something you can use as the base to judge other sacred weapons.)" Tamamo added. "(You also have a demonic spear, cursed swords, and several other gadgets that would make a regular person into a dangerous killer capable of ending the life of regular supernatural creatures with ease.)"

Those two are no longer cursed and for some reason, they ended up as tsukumogamis, for me they are more like familiars than weapons.

"(Tsk, sugarcoat it all you want, but you are just happy to get new waifus.)" Tamamo spoke in an annoyed tone.

I think we need to talk about the influence the internet left on you.

"(Tamamo will not be silenced, the truth must be known, my Hubby is abandoning his beautiful and amazingly hot wife to get new weapons that can turn into beautiful girls!)" Tamamo ranted.

Rolling my eyes at her antics, I wondered how someone with so much common sense as me has to deal with something so crazy.

"(Excuse me!? Did I hear that right? Did these pair of fluffy ears hear correctly!? The one and only, Common sense breaker, is accusing me of something totally absurd! Can't you tell how strange that sounds!?)" Tamamo retorted.

Nope, I believe everything I said is correct.

"(...Tamamo will go take her nap.)" Tamamo sulkily said.

Chuckling at that, I once again felt like speaking with Tamamo was always fun.

Despite saying she was taking a nap, I felt her happy feelings pouring down on me and that was slightly embarrassing. 

Arriving at the door I had to face sooner or later, I tried to open it but-

I was immediately tackled with the force of a truck. You might question how I know, but I will just say I have been testing how tough I was.

I felt like I might spill the contents of my stomach given that impact was concentrated in that position. The small frame of my attacker was considerably familiar and you could see portraits of her around the mansion, but you would find it hard to believe such a cute young lady was capable of tackling me and almost making me pass out. However, everything was normal given that she was a dragon.

"Finally!!!" Melusine happily said.

Crashing into the wall behind me was an unavoidable result given that I was not remotely ready for this. I was able to avoid crashing into the room behind the wall by a hair's breadth. I tried to slowly remove the hands of the girl who was hugging me with passion, but I was unable to break off her vice-like grip.

Accepting my fate, I patted her head and she reacted by tightening the grip of her arms around my waist. It felt like a few bones might break if this continued so I called out the dragon girl.

"Long time no see." I said.

Thankfully, she loosened her grip and her head was lifted. Making a guilty expression, the girl looked fragile and harmless, although my waist would like to retort to that description.

"I am sorry, I was immediately deployed back then." Melusine muttered. "However, everything is ok now. I made sure 'that' would not bother us for a while. I destroyed the landscape a little, but it was necessary to get back here sooner."

Inwardly tying up my inner retorter self, I covered its mouth to avoid saying anything about it.

"Is that so? It must've been tough." I awkwardly spoke.

"Not at all, blasting mountains is not difficult for a dragon like me." Melusine proudly declared.

Earth-chan must be crying.

"...oh, as expected of the strongest knight." I mumbled.

"Forget about that! We are now lovers, I don't dislike getting praised, but isn't there something you should be saying to your beloved after she came home after a long time? Don't try to fool me, I have read many romance novels." Melusine spoke.

A girly dragon knight girl who likes to read romance stories. This girl has way too many attributes. That said, her eager expression was hard to ignore. It is not like I plan to marry this girl out of a misunderstanding, but I guess this is a line that can be used for friends as well.

"Welcome back." I smiled.

Flashing me with a bright smile unbefitting the feat of destroying the landscape, Melusine looked very happy to hear my words.

"Yes! I am back." Melusine said.

...

...

...

"So you have been helping around in my territory?" Melusine mumbled after hearing what I was up to these days.

"There is a limit to the things I can do so I just went around helping in the fields, starting a business, touring these lands, you know, things people usually do in their free time." I said.

"No, no... one of those certainly did not sound like what normal people would do." Melusine retorted.

Why not? I established a business that will focus on selling bride-maid outfits, maid outfits, and bride outfits. They have been very popular so far and I can proudly say that we can open another store soon if things continue the way they are. That said, it bugs me that the clients always request me to help them wear the outfits. I mean, that is good and all, but why do they always choose one size smaller that makes their attributes stand out? It is mystifying. Above all, most of those people are not even getting married so getting a bridal dress makes no sense.

"By the way... Is it just me or there is an issue with the soil here?" I asked.

Thinking about it, I usually provide nourishment in the form of ki. That is enough to make every plant I have found grow. Well, there are a few exceptions but those are pretty rare and unusual cases.

I decided to give it a go after seeing the unusual state of the plants. Old plants did not show it outwardly, but the smaller ones that did not have such a long time after being planted were showing signs of being sick.

"...I don't know." Melusine shook her head. "We never had an issue with it and lately I have to leave rather often so I leave the head maid to deal with those issues. I instructed everyone to cooperate and do everything you asked in my absence so you could've checked by yourself."

Ah, that stunning maid was not trying to offer herself to me when she told me that she would follow every single of my commands. Yup, I should apologize for rudely avoiding staying alone with her. Not every maid will try to seduce me or entice me, I mean, what if it happens every time I got to the Gremory territory or the castle of the bastard Zekram? Not to mention the maid guild, there is no way I could take those into account. Neither are the maids at home. 

"...oh, did you?" I awkwardly looked away.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Melusine looked confused.

"Did the head maid not tell you? I should call-" "Oh, there is no need to call her, they must be getting ready to sleep by now, we should actually let them rest, they work so hard to maintain this place every day." I pushed Melusine inside the room to avoid an awkward situation.

"Oh, you seem eager to sleep together." Melusine happily said. "This is great, I get cold during mornings and could certainly use your body heat."

Oh my, I think I dug my own grave.

"How could I intrude in your bedroom while we are not officially married, it is unbecoming of a lady." I muttered.

Since she read so many romance-related novels, this should be enough to make her reconsider-

"I don't mind." Melusine said. "I am cold and lonely so I want to hug you to sleep."

Not going to work, I see.

Well, I will just resign to my fate. I am doing this out of my free will, certainly not because I cannot seem able to get away from the grip of her hand over mine.

If this was someone else she might've crushed their hands.

...

...

...

She was kind of warm and very soft to hug. That said, dragons are certainly amazing. She clung to me so tight I had a hard time getting myself out of her grip, although that only caused her to instinctively seek me so I was soon caught again. It reminded me of what happened one time when a certain chibi dragon goddess did the same so I just let it be. No harm was done and I was not losing anything so I simply hugged her back as I waited for the sun to come out again.

My mind went back to the soil and something bothered me so I considered taking a tour to other territories to check on them. My plan was to kidnap- I mean, ask Habetrot to guide me but instead the girl with a fighter jet complex was the one accompanying me today.

Her hand almost crushing mine must be her idea of a romantic outing so I let her be as we went around Britomart's territory. The places I wanted to check were not a priority on the list of locations to visit so we were just taking a walk.

She would comment now and then about things that she noticed that picked my interest, and would pinch my hand if I saw any maid passing by.

"...this is a date no matter how you look about it." I sighed.

Suddenly, I felt a pull and saw Melusine staring straight at... a weapon shop. Given the architecture of this place, the whole city looked like some fantasy world town, and with the old sign of a sword and a shield, I could not help but remember those famous RPGs. You usually changed weapons as soon as you arrived at a new town, armor and weapons go in hand, and depending on the game, several accessories. Ah, youth. Talking about video games, Tomoe-san has been too into it these days, and even Musashi asked me to talk with the lady. The troublesome part was that she had arrived a few days earlier to seek refuge in my house for a couple of months since she needed to lay low for a while. I did not deny her of it given that she would stay over rather often to play videogames with me or the younger troupe. Given the size of my unnecessarily modified house, I had plenty of rooms and she already had one assigned to her which now that was mentioned, I happened to notice that had enough clothing and daily life products that made you wonder if she only came to stay to play for a little those other times.

Not trying to delve much into a topic that will only make my head hurt, I saw the petite dragon girl hesitate as she stared at the weapon shop with a pair of longing eyes.

"We could take a look a if you want to." I said.

I have the habit of buying different kinds of weapons and keeping them stored. If they are new ones, I ask my dear Shishou to teach me the ropes, although she never lets me go until she has given me her seal of approval in the handling of it. Although my habit was born after I started buying throwing knives in bulk.

"A knight must always escort his lover..." Melusine muttered. "I have decided to take on a proper date and after asking the maids, they strictly advised me on where to and where not to take your lover during a date."

Welp, I am not your lover so you don't have to worry about is not what I am going to say and risk making her throw a tantrum. I also believe you shouldn't have told me that.

"Isn't it nice to try something new? Schedules and the like and nice to have around, but one should always be flexible in these kinds of things." I shrugged my shoulders. "You say it is a 'must' for a  knight, but even if you were wearing your armor right now, you are not simply a knight, you are also your lover's woman, a maiden, a partner, and many other things. It might be basic etiquette but they should really add more to that code where having a good time is what is more important when going out."

You are talking to a guy who once had a date where he almost got hit by lighting 3 times the same day and brushed it off like it was not a big deal.

"However-" Melusine lips were sealed with my index finger.

"Aren't you the type who is usually all about being stronger so people should follow you? You could easily drag me away if you wanted, but you are acting strange. I might not know much about you, but I can say your forward self is one of your greatest traits." I smiled.

Hearing that, Melusine smiled as well.

"You just have to be you." I added.

Doing a knight salute out of nowhere, Melusine took my hand.

"It is as you said, I seem to have lost sight of what I had to watch out for. Allow me to show you the way I do things then." Melusine said. "Fairy Knight, Melusine, will show you around without relying on others."

It was rather strange, but I could almost feel a gallant aura coming from the petite young lady in front of me. It was a little lonely that no retorts would come my way since Tamamo was busy with someone else, but I guess I had to focus on this knight for now. She gave me a strange feeling of closeness. Like I had met her before or rather, her aura is just familiar.

...

...

...

"This large axe can deal considerable damage and it was made with the intention of slaying dragons... or at least that was the idea."

The shopkeeper began narrating about a certain weapon as soon as we paused our steps to admire it.

"However, no valiant soul has dared to face one."

It was a grand battle axe that you could not even calculate the weight just by looking at it. The fact that it was fixed on the wall must've been obviously because of magic since I doubted the ability of the shopkeeper to wield it. Most fairy folks had slender bodies that seemed to lack strength, although that was mostly directed to the regular public. That said, what they lacked in fitness, they made up in magic power. They had large amounts of it in their bodies and that was how they would usually be able to pull crazy stunts. It is similar to how youkais use senjutsu to increase their physical status. Nonetheless, there are always exceptions to the rule. Barghest is one example of that rule, her race was certainly a type of fairy but they seemed to have similarities to Onis so her strength was nothing to scoff at.

"This axe has the hidden potential to slay dragons..."

The shopkeeper who had not laid his eyes on us until now finally saw who he was speaking with.

Raising her chin high in a slight display of arrogance and dignity, I could not help but think that Melusine looked cute while trying to act like that.

One look at the face of the shopkeeper told me that he did not share my thoughts since he became paler than a piece of blank paper. Not like I could not understand him though. He was blatantly blabbering about this axe nonstop and what he was trying to promote was a weapon to kill dragons, which happened to be the exact same race as this little knight here.

Looking at the axe closely, I could discern enough without wasting too much time. This thing was-

"I didn't think I would see the day when a fake would be displayed so blatantly and spoken of so highly." Melusine pointed at the axe.

I almost felt pity for the guy who almost tripped as he backed off, yeah, almost, it must never be forgotten that I am rotten on the inside.

"Th-this is not what it looks like."

That is one cheap line from those TV dramas and it certainly does not fit what is happening.

"Is it not? How odd, I just happened to hear some outrageous things. Killing dragons... the only dragon in these lands is none other than the strongest knight, me, Melusine, so just trying to advertise such an object is a huge crime." Melusine accused. "However, the degree of your crimes could be lowered somewhat given that you are selling a fake."

Yup, this thing is huge but it is nothing special. The craftsmanship is exquisite, but my Akiko can make something better out of the same materials easily. This junk might even break if handled poorly. No, I think I can see a hidden potential if I use it to chop wood.

"No-o, I wouldn't dare to sell counterfeit products..."

"Hoo? So you are saying you were hiding such a dangerous thing and you indeed have a dragon-slaying weapon?" Melusine pressed.

She looks like a cute and soft semi-loli, but she can be pretty mean. The guy is almost ready to cry. No good, rather than feeling sympathy, I feel like joining the fun, this looks like an opportunity to make a ruckus and give a certain peeping tom who interrupted me back then a headache.

"How dare you harbor those intentions against my waifu!?" I suddenly yelled.

Not only the shopkeeper but even Melusine became wide-eyed at my sudden outburst or perhaps at my choice of words. Even I want to hide in a hole... who the heck yells the word waifu without shame.

"Look at this lustrous white hair and this almost glowing skin, these long eyelashes... how would anyone dare to try and harm such a beautiful lady!?" I 'tearfully' complained.

The shopkeeper's eyes were spinning and he seemed to be extremely confused. However, I did not pay it any mind. I had already stood up behind Melusine and while I praised her, I would highlight either her hair or skin while the dragon obediently let me do my stuff.

Good, it seems like she caught my intentions... yeah, ignore the blush, Nora.

"Oh, I am saddened, extremely saddened." I wiped a tear off my face. "How did the world end up like this...? Are there no longer gentlemen in this world? To think of laying a hand on my beautiful waifu..."

God, please kill me. Argh, he ain't alive anymore. Whatever, whatever! Any god that has given me their blessings, please stop me from speaking.

"A dragon she might be, but she is also a proud knight that believes in protecting people." I blabbered.

I was not sure about that one but given that she was doing her job, I believe she must have the minimum level of intentions of protecting the people to fulfill her duty.

"She must be shocked to find out about this..." I lied.

This child did not seem surprised and did not display any ill will at any moment. She even looked ready to mess up with the guy a bit so it is safe to assume that things like these can be seen fairly often. It is a spectacle you hardly see in Urakyoto no matter where you go. They can mess up with outsiders but never with their own. Of course, no one dares to give it a go and get caught by me. I am very capable of harassing people by the margin of the law until they lose their will to resist. Now that I say such a thing so honestly, I can't help but agree that I am rather... no, I am exceedingly evil.

"What to do... my poor girl is filled with grief and is unable to pass down a proper judgment. As her man, I can only assume the lead while she is unable to give a verdict." I sighed exaggeratedly.

This sparked a new light in shop keeper's eyes.

"Oh, I guess I can only go and speak to Morgan-sama about it. Only someone like her who is graceful and just could offer a fair judgment here." I shook my head.

As I prepared to carry my 'waifu' like a sack of potatoes, the shopkeeper called my attention.

"W-wait a moment, my good Sir, there is no need to rush things, is there?"

Speaking in a flustered tone and sweating coldly, the guy called out to me but did not dare to hold me back by pulling my clothes or getting in my way.

Inwardly smirking, I acted my part and showed a confused expression.

"Is there something you need?" I asked.

Getting between the shopkeeper and Melusine, I covered her to avoid him making guesswork from Melusine's expressions.

"Ahem, Sir, I could not help but notice... that you are not a regular fellow. There is a distinctive aura about you, like you are fated to accomplish great things. It is nothing strange for you to pair up with the strongest knight under our Queen."

Aren't you a smooth talker? I mean, I am certainly not a regular guy if you focus on my attributes, but the rest is just bullshit on his part. However, this was mostly between my predictions so I raised my chin and puffed out my chest.

"Such a distinguished person is certainly a reasonable person with a big heart."

Just get to the point dude.

"Ahem, I was just thinking... that you could perhaps, consider this idea of mine."

"...what could you be talking about?" I asked.

"I could not help but notice how you two seem to have been on a date."

"We were, until your tactless remarks made my waifu distressed." I pointed out.

This made the guy tremble but it seemed like he had made up his mind and rubbed his hand in a suspicious manner while nervously glancing at Melusine, who was blocked by me. Noticing that he could not read her expression, he gestured for me to get closer. Acting like I was reluctant to do so, I ended up doing as he asked.

"...isn't there any way we can solve everything without... You know, taking things outside?"

Whispering like he was afraid that Melusine might hear him, the moron seemed to forget how sharp the senses of the dragon girl are. Nonetheless, now that he had spoken, I would not waste this chance.

"...I am not sure I follow." I showed a confused expression.

The classes that I took with the old man were questionable, but he was indeed capable. My ability to act went up by a large amount and I was able to fool people easily nowadays. This guy was no exception.

"...we could, settle this under the table. I could receive your help in exchange for... certain things."

"I don't know..." I frowned at that.

"You don't need to feel guilty my friend."

Who is your friend, baldy?

"I scratch your back and you scratch mine. It is an equivalent exchange. We are both guys, we should watch out for each other backs... I understand that you must be in an even more difficult situation than the rest of us..."

Looking at me with pity, the guy began spouting nonsense.

I had an idea of what he was hinting at. This place looked peaceful on the surface, but there was no way you would be unable to notice a certain strain on the relationship between the populace. It is quite easy for me to eavesdrop with my shikigamis and I have been doing my best to gather information along with Tamamo. It was a fact that the number of men had dropped after that incident where this land was attacked. Their numbers were low, to begin with, but their numbers dropped sharply after their deaths defending their land. This caused the ratio of women per man to increase, and while some idiots saw it as an opportunity and tried to take advantage of it, they went too far.

The queen was not happy with their actions and punished them severely.

I totally believe that Morgan-chan was not in the wrong for trying to set an example for them to avoid any further attempts such as that one, but I am afraid that it did not turn out that well. Thanks to that, those idiots who were like-minded and had decided to exploit the opportunity to make a harem became enraged, although Morgan-chan easily destroyed their attempts to cause trouble and that just earned them their disapproval.

It is quite funny how despite receiving a kinder punishment than what the previous queen would've handed, they still held a grudge against the younger queen. However, I believe that it is because she was not harsh enough is why they are getting ahead of themselves.

This guy, for example, has been blabbering for a while and I just ignore the things he is saying, or rather, I am listening and giving half-hearted replies because the content of his words is boorish.

If it wasn't because I was gesturing for Melusine to calm down, she would've been irritated by this guy enough to tear down this weapon shop. At least, that was the impression she gave off.

I would be alright with that too, but after my customary exploration of my surroundings using my ability, I found something interesting in an out-of-place basement deep underground.

"...so I think we can benefit each other if everything goes well."

As reluctant as I was, I accepted.

His nervous expression from before had disappeared and he looked cocky as he smiled. I honestly felt like smacking his head, but I stopped.

"Please feel free to choose something to your liking, I am sure whatever you choose will be something your dear... eh, waifu? Yeah, your waifu will like it."

Winking at me to signal me that our deal was about this, I once again held back the urge to kick this creepy guy's ass.

Even as I looked around, I saw that around half of his merchandise was not what the tag below it explaining the details of the weapon or equipment said they were.

A sword made of mythril that was just iron polished using alchemy. You could fool people who had no idea about it, but many processes to make medicine used alchemy so I was quite good at it as well as knowing a bit of material thanks to Akiko who like to read all she could about it.

The other half was mostly just low-quality objects like for example a bracelet that could make an illusion that you had long hair or some poison resistance that worked by poisoning you first. They were honestly just trash in my opinion but I saw a pair of rings that were said to be able to locate each other. They were said to be a unique pair that some lovers wore until they died and their historical value was high as well as the price, but it was just some bullshit since I saw a box full of them hidden behind the counter. For sale's convenience, I will call them GPS rings, since they were similar to the token I had gotten years ago.

Once he saw me looking around, the guy looked nervous whenever my eyes landed on something remotely expensive or any of the fake goods.

"I want that..." I pointed at the rings.

"Excellent choice, a pair of rings for a pair of lovers, the story about them is quite..."

Sighing in relief, his expression distorted into a smirk briefly but I just ignored it. 

While he was busy, I summoned several shikigamis small as bugs, and let them disperse in the store. Melusine looked at me doubtfully but I just gave her a slide-long glance as my index finger was put over my mouth. My expression might've been a giveaway that I was up to no good because Melusine smiled at that and gave me a thumbs up. It was odd, to say the least, but I felt it, how well I would get along with this one.

"But... I think this might not be enough..." I sighed.

The guy's expression distorted briefly but he immediately showed me a flattering smile.

"...it is my fate to solve my race's problems." I put on a forlorn look. "Nekomatas are few in number so my job is to produce descendants with as many women as I can."

Not shit, I get letters about it almost daily from that idiot nekomata. That is without counting the attempts from the cats from the neighborhood who want to get into my pants or the cat at home whose pheromones are making her try all sorts of stuff I will not deny I almost fell for.

"It is why need more of these rings... however, since they are so unique, there is no way there exist more. I will have to settle with other items..." I 'regretfully' informed.

Looking around, I checked for the most expensive-looking stuff and noticed some jewelry from hard-to-obtain materials. It was pretty rare to see it since it was what people call a supernatural jewel, and it was poison to humans so it was not famous in the human world.

The guy trembled when he saw me pause at that collar.

"W-wait..."

Running at a speed unbefitting his belly, the shopkeeper ran behind the counter and pulled out a box that from my earlier peek, should have over twelve pairs of rings.

Heh, unique my ass.

"Th-they actually form a set and the maker had worked on these before finishing his masterpiece..."

Holding back my intentions to slap him for his nonsense, I ended up this farse by taking the box.

...

...

...

"...you are quieter than I expected." I asked.

Looking for a quiet place to examine my reward, I asked Melusine who had obediently followed me.

"I am just considering a few things you said before." Melusine nodded.

In a small park where elderly people walked around, we were rather inconspicuous but I placed a barrier around us to make people ignore us. She was technically a knight under the queen despite looking like a cute loli.

"You think I should not have done what I did?" I inquired.

It is true I acted in an unusual way and I regret using the word 'waifu' so many times, but I also had the idea of testing this girl's character. She did not seem as upright as Barghest but given how I literally accepted a bribe and she said nothing, she must either be carefree or has a dark alignment.

"Hmm? No, it is ok. I am aware that he was not a good fellow." Melusine said. "You will not be punished by any laws."

As she said that, I slowly put back the card I took from Shirone-chan's Monop*ly to get out of jail. It seemed I will not need to use it once again.

"However... that was... FUN!" Melusine suddenly said.

Wut?

"Can we do it again?" Melusine pulled my clothes.

"No, aren't you a knight? Shouldn't you try to stop me?" I asked.

"But it was fun..." Melusine sighed. "I get that the strongest species like me is going to be relied on a lot, but I also want to play!"

Can't judge her since I mess with people a lot.

"Why are you working under the Queen then? Don't you want to go outside and explore the world?" I inquired.

I am not sure if the queen had some sort of trump card to keep this child at bay, but I was certain that in terms of speed, this dragon would be unmatched.

"I have been to the outside world already for several years, and I have seen civilizations changing over time." Melusine muttered. "However, I have been unable to find what I was looking for so I went to sleep. I am not sure how long I was asleep, but it was the previous Queen who found me."

The more I hear about that lady, the more amazing I think she was. Her accomplishments were more than enough to make up for the problems of her personality I managed to dig up. Nonetheless, the fact you never heard anything negative over the current one means that the Queenie must be pretty capable... well, that is ignoring the problem with the male population. That shopkeeper even handed me an address I could go to join the cause or something. Since I had no interest in hanging out with a bunch of guys I was planning to ignore it but thinking about it, solving that issue for the Queenie should earn me some brownie points. She seems to keep her eyes on me often so I am sure my exploits will not go unnoticed. It would also be nice to support the current ruler of a country instead of trying to usurp the throne with the resistance I ended up joining hands with.

"I see. However, since you were outside, shouldn't you find fun places to be? Nowadays it is strange to actually not find a place without entertaining gadgets." I recall the holy land, Akihabara, the place where only those with pure hearts can find peace of mind.

"I tried to mingle with humans in the past, but they were always scared of me. That includes most of the races I found." Melusine said. "How dare they to run as soon as I show myself to them? I skydive straight to their locations with such a hopeful heart but they just called me a monster and other hurtful things."

Pouting, the dragon girl expressed her dissatisfaction.

Not shit, anyone would get scared if a girl appeared out of nowhere like that. If she is cute I might just think it is destiny and make her wear a maid outfit and hire her. Common sense, right?

That said, looking at Melusine's forlorn expression, you could that things were not that simple. I guess I could push it and ask her but this kind of thing is not a light topic so I better refrain.

Given how the mood was getting heavy, I had a suggestion in mind to cheer her up.

If we are talking about making a girl happy, it has to be that.

"If you look so down even I will get sad, it will ruin your pretty face." I stood up and pulled her hand. "Why don't you... come with me... and... blackmail people with me?"

It is obvious that messing up with other people is what one has to say.

Her eyes immediately began shining and she agreed with a big nod.

"You really are my destined partner, you understood me so easily." Melusine smiled widely.

Looking at her radiant smile along with her clothing, you would normally assume she was a well-behaved lady from some aristocratic family instead of a dragon girl with a fighter-plane complex and a hidden thug-like personality.

It baffled me how this child could his daughter. I mean, that guy usually speaks in a refined manner and you would normally imagine him as a gentleman of some aristocratic origin. However, not only did that guy end up irresponsibly leaving an offspring alone to do as she pleased, but he never showed any sort of concern for her by asking for her well-being. I have decided, I will find a way to bully that guy. Albion, you bastard, your daughter is a dangerous girl.

Part 2

3rd Person POV

"So he was not with you today..." Morgan flipped the page of a book.

Sitting on a chair in her chamber, Morgan was checking the contents of a book while Habetrot was reading a book far bigger than her.

"No, so I have no information about his 'wicked' plans." Habetrot rolled to one side as she pulled a page and managed to flip it over only to roll back so she could continue reading.

"...I think you assume that I am asking you to keep an eye on him while you have told me already that you will not do it." Morgan commented.

"Is that so? But I feel like you have something against him." Habetrot said. "It is quite different from the way you accepted his presence in our lands."

"I have nothing about him, however, I feel like it is important to always keeps taps on someone who has summoned so many familiars to roam around." Morgan muttered. "That is illegally eavesdropping on conversations."

"The pot calling the kettle black." Habetrot sighed.

"...Habetrot, I feel like since you have been hanging around with him you have been colder to me." Morgan glared at her friend.

"That is your imagination." Habetrot glanced at Morgan. "It certainly has nothing to do with me learning how often you keep peeking at him."

Snorting, Morgan did not retort to that.

"You were cuter before." Morgan sulkily said.

"Hearing that makes me so sad." Habetrot said in a deadpan tone. "My only choice is to go with him and have him call me cute until my cuteness goes back to regular levels."

"You are cheekier as well." Morgan sighed.

"...Morgan, is there something worrying you?" Habetrot asked.

"You were definitely more cute before." Morgan bitterly mumbled.

Closing her book, Morgan snapped her fingers and a chair floated towards Habetrot who also floated with a resigned look. Giving one last look at the book she was reading, the petite girl put aside her reading desire and jumped towards the chair that moved closer to Morgan.

"The land is being corroded at alarming speeds even as we speak." Morgan said. "The previous methods we have been using to suppress it are being rendered useless."

"It seems we can no longer deal with the negative energy swallowing the land." Habetrot mumbled. "Morgan... is the encroachment spreading on the land at the same rate as under it?"

Smiling bitterly, Morgan shook her head.

"It is not enough to affect people's livelihood for now, but I cannot say that it will be like that for long. It is just a matter of decades before these lands lose all their fertility and are unable to produce the necessary harvest to feed the population." Morgan pulled out a map.

The map was the type to show in detail the whole land of the fairies. It was currently 70% green and the rest was pitch black.

"...Morgan, there is nothing we can do about the point of origin, but shouldn't we be concerned about the other Shrines?" Habetrot inquired.

"I periodically visit them and when I am unable I send the other knights." Morgan tapped the map and several spots shining in yellow appeared on the map. "Nothing suspicious has appeared until now."

"...yet, in that Shrine..." Habetrot tapped the map as well and a purple spot shone on the pitch-black side.

"...I understand what you mean." Morgan sighed. "Nonetheless, there is no way to confirm what happened there. How it started is important, but it was due to my negligence that it occurred and that cannot be denied."

"It was not your fault Morgan, it was a remote shrine to begin with and even those standing guard were just skipping their work." Habetrot mumbled.

Shaking her head, Morgan had a troubled look.

"It was still my responsibility. If I had prepared in advance for this situation, right now, things would not be like this." Morgan said.

"Morgan, this could not be predicted by anyone. Even your mother had no foresaw such a thing." Habetrot muttered.

"Even if she was criticized, she left everything ready for me... yet, I am failing as a ruler." Morgan mumbled.

Sighing, Habetrot was unsure what to say next. Despite her tough exterior, Morgan felt the weight of her mother's expectations and would find herself pressured to fulfill her duty.

"Morgan, your mother... she was experienced and that is why she was able to make plans ahead of time. Even then, the sacrifices she had to make back then were too great. Her knights all perished protecting this land and even life was extinguished." Habetrot spoke. "You should not be put on the same level as her. Her long years of ruling as the queen gave her wisdom incomparable to anything you can simply study in a few years like you have been doing."

"Hohoho, you should listen to the little one, O' Queen."

Not looking surprised in the slightest, Morgan glared at her bed and soon a figure appeared. Pink hair with a pair of fluffy- extremely fluffy fox ears as well as a very soft-looking tail, a young woman wearing a modified shrine maiden outfit presented herself by sitting on the bed with her legs crossed.

"I expected you to simply eavesdrop on us and never show yourself." Morgan spoke. "What do I owe the honors, O' Fox."

Looking incredibly confused, Habetrot was certain that the intruder inside the chambers of the queen was a big deal, but feeling a somewhat familiar feeling from the fox lady, she could not muster an attack. The fact that her friend only replied with a rather annoyed tone instead of simply making the alarm sound or attacking at once made the petite girl baffled.

"Well, it might've taken me several hours to break through your defenses to reach your room, but I am not the type to simply eavesdrop like some people..." Tamamo smirked. "I decided to offer a piece of advice once the opportunity presented itself, but this cute girl beat me to it."

Scoffing at the pink-haired young woman, Morgan just snapped her fingers and from the magic circles that appeared on the ground, two sets of armors appeared and pointed their weapons at the fox.

"Is there a reason why I should not kill a trespasser like you?" Morgan asked.

"Scary~ This is why people like you never get married~" Tamamo grabbed a pillow and used it to cover her chest and half of her face. "Threatening this poor little me, what is such a fragile and cute wife material such as myself do~"

Sounding as pitiful as she could, Tamamo smiled behind the pillow and in one movement, she threw talismans to the sets of armor.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Morgan felt a change in the sets of armor against her will, they tried to fight back but they lowered their weapons.

"Oh, my~ Look at this! It must be my Heroine EX skill acting up. Things turned in my favor because I am obviously the main female lead!" Tamamo threw the pillow away and clapped happily.

Her eyes the size of a dot, Habetrot watched everything unfold and when her eyes landed on Morgan, she quickly looked away. She could've sworn that she had never seen such frustration on Morgan's face.

"...did you come here to annoy me?" Morgan asked.

Putting on her cold exterior, the queen did not leave any openings as she crossed her legs and haughtily looked down on Tamamo.

"Oh my, oh my, is this animosity I feel in your tone? How could the little poor Tamamo-chan even hope to get the mighty and amazing queen of these lands angry? I am just a small-time fox..." Tamamo pulled out a handkerchief and began wiping her fake tears.

Doing her best to avoid looking at the vein that popped on Morgan's face, Habetrot felt like she should leave but could not see a path where the other women's attention would turn to her if she did it.

"What business do you have with me, fox?" Morgan asked in a chilling tone.

"Hoho, no need to get angry, that was just some Tamamo joke." Tamamo chuckled. "I was just around the neighborhood and decided to pay a visit to my friend!"

Directing an inquisitory glare at Habetrot, the petite girl immediately shook her head, as she denied knowing the fox.

"She does not seem to be your friend." Morgan said.

"I never said it was her though." Tamamo pointed at the queen. "We have been through a lot, and we could be said to know a bit of each other than what others know... didn't we share our secrets with you the other night?"

Furrowing her eyebrows, Habetrot could not understand why the fox was smiling in a strange way as she said that, when she tried to look at her friend for an answer, a hand was put on top of her head to prevent her from looking in that direction. It was for a second, but Habetrot thought that she saw a faint blush on her friend's face.

"Morgan, are you-" Habetrot asked out of concern, but she was dragged toward the door with a chair and all.

By the time the small girl noticed, she saw the door slamming shut.

"...did you come here to humiliate me?" Morgan asked.

"Not at all, but consider this a payback." Tamamo smirked. "I can't say that your actions did not a little 'flavor' to what happened, but... you got in the way of something I have been eagerly expecting."

"Just two horny people doing unspeakable things in the open..." Morgan snorted.

"Heh, and what sort of things were we doing that you get to call them unspeakable? We were just having a little fun..." Tamamo chuckled.

With arms crossed, she puffed her chest.

"Hey now, don't stare. Only he can fondle them as he wishes to... or could you perhaps be curious how it might feel to have him do it...?" Tamamo said. "He works in the massage industry so you can get a ticket for one of his special massages if you are lucky."

Feeling the frigid gaze on her Tamamo dropped her joking tone.

"He is quite easygoing and nonchalant about it, but I cannot say I share the same sentiment." Tamamo said. "You let him inside these lands and let that dragon girl take him as a groom for a reason."

"And? I believe anyone could guess that given how much free reign I have given him." Morgan spoke.

"That is why I am here." Tamamo muttered. "Even someone like me can go around without restriction. I certainly have the skills, but I cannot arrogantly say I am capable of evading every single mean of detection that exist. Not to mention, I was able to sneak into your castle. Your home base, only a third-rate magician would leave their base unprotected."

"So? I am simply letting you move as you please." Morgan mumbled. "I have no interest in restricting your movements more than necessary."

"You have no interest in telling us what do you have planned for us?" Tamamo furrowed her eyebrows.

"Didn't you eavesdrop enough to get an idea?" Morgan replied.

Snorting, Tamamo shook her head.

"Unlike him... I don't mind causing your little queendom to disappear so stop playing games with me." Tamamo narrowed her eyes.

Both sides glared at each other and they both released their pressure slowly.

"Are you representing his will?" Morgan asked coldly.

"Do you think I need him to crush you all?" Tamamo smirked provocatively. "If I have to weigh him and you people on a scale, I would easily sacrifice you all without batting an eye."

"You are a monster." Morgan said.

"A monster? Hoho, that is a nostalgic name. If you want to riddle me up, you better cough something better." Tamamo chuckled.

"You are really annoying." Morgan glared at the fox.

"Oh my, I guess we share the same thought." Tamamo replied with a glare of her own.

Once they had glared for a while, Morgan grabbed the map on the table and threw it at Tamamo. The smart fox immediately pulled a camera from her boss and took a dozen of pictures to the map.

"What is that?" Morgan asked.

"One can never be too cautious. What if as soon as I caught it you burn the map as you laugh maniacally and gloat from my frustrated expression? A fox has to be prepared." Tamamo put the camera inside her cleavage with a sly smile. "Fufufu."

Giggling at the end, Tamamo seemed to be considering details beyond the current conversation given the blush that momentarily appeared on her face.

"You are free to compare that with what you have gathered so far." Morgan ignored what she saw. "There is no need to think so hard about this since... I believe that with the information you eavesdropped, you should be able to understand what is going on and what I would like your help with."

"Oh? Our help? That is... rather unexpected." Tamamo raised an eyebrow.

"A queen has to use every pawn at hand to archive victory." Morgan muttered.

Ignoring the heavy killing intent directed at her, she checked her drawer and pulled out a notepad. Giving it a last glance, she threw it at Tamamo. The fox used her tail to catch it as she continued to glare at the other party.

"I am not asking you to fight for my sake. That is my responsibility." Morgan said. "However, that person should be able to arrange a refuge for my people in case I fail."

With eyes narrowed, Tamamo peeked inside the notepad and her eyes widened. Her ears twitched but she nonetheless tore the first page and burned it at once.

"I was told that a proper reward should be given so I was given these..." Morgan snapped her fingers and certain objects appeared on top of her desk.

Five boxes with a strange design, with a black and white theme. One-half is black while the other is white.

Curious over the boxes Tamamo walked over and tried to poke one in hopes of opening it but it did not budge.

"I tried to pry them open by making boulders rain on them but it was in vain." Morgan commented.

"As expected of such a brutish queen, you tried the most muscle-brained approach." Tamamo smirked.

Doing her best to ignore what she just heard, Morgan observed the fox as she tried to place pieces of paper with unknown signs on them, but the boxes were not opened no matter what she did.

"I shall take these. I will also convey what I saw and heard here to him." Tamamo tapped each of the boxes and they disappeared one by one.

"Convey, is it?" Morgan mumbled.

"I made myself clear before. I will put him above any of the people here." Tamamo said.

Sighing, Morgan sat down again with her eyes closed.

"However..." Tamamo smiled bitterly. "My hubby is such a busybody. He will not only guarantee the safety of your people, but he might as well end up solving your problems."

Widening her eyes in surprise, Tamamo's words caused Morgan to feel conflicted. While she was relieved that she had another card to play, she found the last bit unnecessary and ridiculous.

"I don't recall asking you to tell him that. I am the Queen, and as such, it is my duty to-" Morgan swallowed the rest of her words as Tamamo pointed at her with a rather smug smile.

"Too bad for you~ My hubby can be quite brutish sometimes and the wishes of a lady such as you will be easily be ignored." Tamamo raised her chin high. "You are expecting a princess carry? Carried like a sag of potatoes you shall be. Not laying a hand on you in a fight? My dear hubby will smack you so hard that no ID will be enough to prove your identity. My hubby is the type to do the most unpredictable stuff and at the most unpredictable timing. Listen here, little one. I am not sure what troubles your mind, but falling for his dashing appearance after he saves you in a pinch is forbidden, ok?"

Saying that, Tamamo left the room. Only to find herself in trouble because she triggered an alarm.

"...I am the ruler of these lands. It is my duty to protect and save my people... not to be saved." Morgan picked up her precious book and continued to read, but those words at the end did not stop ringing in her head.

---------------------

MC's POV

"...so, how did you end up like that?" I asked.

Despite Tamamo having part of her clothing torn and entering the room with the tip of her ears with a small flame just like a candle. The sulky expression of the fox made me notice that had suffered defeat and was now pouting.

"Mukyu! How does that woman dare to have the guards chase me all over the castle for hours before finally appearing and informing the guards that I am an acquaintance." Tamamo licked her index and thumb finger and pressed the tip of her ear on fire to extinguish the small flame.

"...you had fun." I laughed awkwardly.

"Not as much as my hubby who went on a date with his new lover!" Tamamo snorted. "I bet you had so much fun that you forgot to check on what you said you would look into."

Crossing her arms the fox turned her head away from me.

I could only smile awkwardly at her display of jealousy since I did spend some time going from store to store blackmailing- I mean, collecting gifts. However, Nora-kun is a responsible guy even if some people laugh at me for saying it. I had some time to do a small investigation on the soil so I did not fail in my goal as Tamamo said.

The fox... went to visit the Queen without telling me. I am not sure what she had in mind or so I would like to believe.

"You are really overprotective." I sighed.

Hearing my words, Tamamo's tail and ears twitched but she nonetheless did not turn her head my way and continued sulking.

"Did you pick a fight with her on purpose? No, I would be able to tell if you had gone and done something like that..." I mumbled. "Did you try to act like a bad girl to make me look better later on?"

The way she started whistling awkwardly proved I was spot on so I continued to stare at her without saying anything.

"...it was not a lie." Tamamo said. "I was not lying when I told her that I could easily sacrifice all of her subjects for your sake."

That's heavy and I would not doubt the words of the amazing fox.

"That so?" I mumbled.

Sighing, I walked towards her and hugged her.

"You are not a monster. You are a lovely fox shrine maiden." I muttered in a low tone near her ears.

The fox who had immediately leaned on me trembled but did not back away.

"Before you ask..." I said. "I knew because it is you. Tamamo would never tell me that she got called that and it affected her."

"...hubby can be such a bully." Tamamo sighed.

If Tamamo needs to sacrifice thousands of people for my sake... I just have to find a way so that she does not have to. No matter what everyone says, she will never be a monster to me. Maybe a lewd and slightly dumb fox.

"I feel like you were thinking something wonderful but you still insulted me at the end." Tamamo pinched my thigh.

Smart fox.

"Why don't you stop sulking? I brought you some gifts..." I said.

Separating with reluctance, I snapped my fingers and two bags appeared in my hands. The one on the right was slightly bigger and I handed it to her.

The fox immediately snatched it away and checked the contents. It was a similar shrine outfit to the one she wore but in red this time. I had Habetrot make this since a while back but she had not been able since I had some strict requirements. I had acquired the materials a bit before this situation unfolded.

"I hope you like it, it was made with a special fabric that has slight resistance to magic. It is not as crazy as the body suit Shishou made for me since it is not the same material, but it won't tear like those 18+ doujinshis." I said. "It also has a couple of spells-"

Before I finished, the shameless fox had gotten naked for some reason, changing underwear and all. Her previous stripped panties with white and blue patterns were changed with ones with red and white. She immediately wore the outfit and summoned a mirror to check herself. I half looked at it since her panties were 'coincidentally' thrown at my face.

There was a lot of to retort, but this is Tamamo so a lack of common sense in her actions was a given. I would be worried if she actually acted all proper and normal.

Before I could continue explaining, the fox grinned mischievously and disappeared from my view. Not a second later I dropped my hand in a karate chop in front of me. My pants end up falling at the same time as Tamamo became visible again.

"...the outfit comes with an invisibility spell that also erases the sound of your steps and hides your presence, however, since it is a fabric new for Habetrot, she said that the level of the spell was low and one hit would reveal the user." I sighed. "So be aware of not getting hit."

"Isn't a little cruel that the way to teach your cute wife is by hitting her head?" Tamamo tearfully covered her head with both hands.

Snorting at that, I crossed my arms as I glared at the fox.

"Then how about not trying to sexually harass me as soon as you get the chance?" I muttered.

"Tamamo was just trying to change your clothes, no second agenda." Tamamo pitifully complained.

Rolling my eyes, I noticed a small cut on my previous outfit and accepted her explanation despite knowing the fox's lies.

It was obvious she did not see it because she widened her eyes when I picked up my pants and the damage of the fabric was seen by her.

"Just a little fight I had with Mordred." I said.

Deciding to ignore Tamamo's killing intent directed to most likely Mordred, I lamented the destruction of another pair of pants. They could be fixed, but the fact I let it be damaged means I am still long way to go. The goal is to evade Shishou's attacks after I call her Thighs Shishou.

"Relax, she just came looking for a fight and we just brawled." I calmed down the fox. "It was actually kind of fun so no harm, ok? Here, this is your other gift. Cheer up."

Tamamo looked at me suspiciously but grabbed the gift. The other bag was smaller and a lot more fancy. A smile found itself on my face as Tamamo smirked.

"Hubby♡" Tamamo licked her lips. "What am I going to do with you...? ♡ ♡ ♡."

"You should check if it fits you..." I muttered.

Obviously a lie, since I know every inch of that fox's body. I dare to say that even more than her.

"Fufu, yes. It would be a shame if it is too big." Tamamo half closed her eyes and looked at me. "I should not waste any time by going to another room, right?"

You just got naked a second ago, but I will not retort that.

"It would be a waste of time." I replied.

This time, however, she snapped her fingers, and a curtain where I could only see her silhouette descended.

Finding her idea interesting, I grabbed a chair and took a seat in front of the curtain. The fox seemed to be eagerly waiting for me since began undressing slowly. Detaching piece by piece, I could slowly see her figure more clearly. Her curves were perfect and the foxed seemed to have added some sort of light on the other side since I could make every detail of what was taken off just from the silhouette. Her knee socks were slowly removed followed by her bra. Released from their confine, her breasts literally jumped out. The fox took her sweet time with every action so I could burn into my eyes her figure, but all have to finish sometimes, she ended up removing her panties after bending down without bending her knees. An interesting way to show off her flexible body.

What followed was the fox showing up that string pantie as she slowly tied it to her waist. The small amount of fabric did not seem to surprise her at all as the movements did not stop. She followed by putting on the bra that made her bust firm, but the size made it seem like it was now bigger than before. The garter belt came later as the lace was put on her waist, she played with each of the four straps a little to show off. Tamamo used a chair as a foothold to put on the stockings one by one, and by the time she snapped her fingers, the curtain fell.

What I saw almost made me lose my mind, the already exciting figure of Tamamo became more dangerous. The garter belt adjusted to her enchanting waist was a sight to behold and the stockings on her legs almost made me unable to look away.

"Black is really nice..." I admitted.

"Hubby, you usually keep most of your fetishes hidden, but to think you would buy me something like this..." Tamamo came towards me.

"Next time I will buy you a pair of gloves to finish up this, want to tag along?" I asked.

As she leaned toward me, we shared another kiss.

"I will go to the ends of the earth for you." Tamamo looked at me. "...I am not sure if I will be able to wait."

Knowing what she meant, I couldn't help but agree. Even now, my hand hands were halfway down her back.

"I am not planning to make you wait long, but..." I smiled bitterly.

"...Yasaka is not willing to admit anything." Tamamo sighed. "You are really an awful man, thinking about another woman when you have me here all for yourself."

Her tone was light-hearted but the pain hidden in it could not escape me.

"Do you regret falling for me?" I asked.

"Never." Tamamo immediately answered. "Even if you have a mean personality to ask stuff like that, Tamamo would never feel regret. There is only one person I would fall for and that is none other than you. Next time you ask something like that, I will try my secret technique, Castration Fist on you."

"Sorry, I just love to hear you say that." I smiled wryly.

"Hmph, I guess you can be forgiven." Tamamo snorted but she still kept her position.

It was a little uncomfortable, for her who was leaning forward to match my sitting figure so I pulled her until she was straddling me. We shared a look and then we kissed.

...

...

...

"...and that is what happened." I shrugged my shoulders helplessly.

Despite almost falling, Tamamo stopped things from going further than kissing. We sobered up from our lust by taking a icy cold bath and we sat each at one side of the bed as we held hands. I was sharing my memories with her after she had shared hers. Nonetheless, even if we could share our memories thanks to Tamamo's spell, we liked to voice out what happened.

"You really left her dumbfounded before escaping." Tamamo chuckled.

My fight with Mordred was more like a street brawl, a little refreshing since she would not go down easily like those street thugs I would usually get tangled with.

"I mean, we were not really serious about the fight so using any means to escape should be fair." I said.

"There are not many people who can create shikigamis, give them an animal form just so you can throw them at someone." Tamamo retorted. "You caused cats to rain on her and she was so surprised that she was unable to catch you."

"I still feel like it lacked impact..." I sighed in disappointment.

Maybe I could also throw stairs, mirrors, and black cats as a combo. The lucky set.

"Then, was she...?" Tamamo asked.

"There are signs of mind pollution. No doubt about it." I replied.

"I see." Tamamo nodded. "It is something hard to notice at first glance since I was unable to sense something like that at first glance."

"I doubt the queen has noticed it either and she meets them more often than me so don't get so down.

She did not say anything but her tail was a giveaway.

"It is similar to those people but..." Tamamo mumbled.

"There is more than one branch in that cult, since they all have different methods to try to accomplish their goal, we are bound to find different methodologies in their planning." I commented.

Nodding at that, Tamamo scratched her head like the topic was complicated but soon sighed.

"Not much we can do about it." Tamamo snapped her fingers and several boxes appeared before me.

"The queen said this was your payment for lending her a hand." 

I looked dubiously at the boxes, but another thing that Tamamo made appear picked my interest. She seemed to hesitate before giving it to me.

"...I did not mention this since I am a little baffled about it." Tamamo apologized.

With her ears down and looking extremely scared, Tamamo was almost trembling.

"You don't need to apologize, if Tamamo hid it... then it is obviously for my sake." I chuckled.

My answer took her by surprise since her eyes were open like saucers.

"...are you not angry?" Tamamo hesitatingly asked.

"Why would I?" I inquired.

"...we promised to share everything yet..." Tamamo furrowed her eyebrows.

I guess she is bothered.

"If the day comes that Tamamo who would easily face the whole world for my sake, to scheme and try to end my life, that means I became something that deserved such a treatment." I said.

"There is no way you-" Tamamo tried to speak but I sealed her lips with my index finger.

"Then, since I am not a bad guy, there is no way Tamamo had something bad in mind when she did what she did." I smiled.

Winking at her at the end seemed to do the trick since did not make a bigger fuss.

The notepad she handed me lacked one page since I could see the place where it was torn, but I did not say anything and read page by page what it said. It made me sweat coldly and a smile found itself on my face.

"...this is too elaborate to be a prank." I closed the notepad.

I had a ton of questions and felt like marching towards Morgan's castle and starting to ask questions one after another, but I held back and just kept the notepad in my storage.

Trying something I have been doing daily since I got here, I sent signals to the outside. I was hoping to contact as many people I could get the help of as possible, but given how it was impossible to communicate with the outside... that is strange.

"Tamamo... the outside and these lands can be said to be isolated from each other, isn't that right?" I asked.

"The multiple layers of the barrier prevent any form of contact with the outside." Tamamo muttered. "We have tried before and there is no way to connect with the outside."

"Is that really possible? The ley lines can be clearly felt if you focus." I pointed it out below.

Furrowing her eyebrows, the fox seemed to understand the issue at hand.

"Do you think you could try that method to send messages to the outside? I will record it while you do it." I said. "Things will get more complicated than I could ever imagine so we might need more help than I had prepared."

As I was saying this, I got curious about the boxes. If the notepad had such a thing, maybe the boxes hid some sort of mystery as well. With one look I could tell that I would not be able to open it easily. Using brute force would not be good, since these were a reward after I properly help the queen, it should open itself when the job was done. Nonetheless, I could peek using my ability.

"...wut?" I raised an eyebrow incredulously.

I mean, I was honestly not expecting that.

Why the heck are there maid outfits and bunny outfits inside?

-----------------

3rd Person POV

"I trust you will not back down at the last minute."

A hooded figure spoke as he observed the broken shrine in front of him.

"...and I trust you will not fail to meet my expectations."

The voice came from a communication devise placed in front of the shrine.

"I still find it amusing how you wish to destroy your own kin."

Chuckling, the hooded man said.

"...I allowed you and three of your people to enter the fairy land, I trust the process will be smoother now. Since the excuse of the delay was that I was not performing the ritual correctly."

Ignoring the previous question, the voice from the devise asked.

"Ah, you do not trust our skills? It is but a trifling matter. Awakening a deity using our methods is not a big deal. We had kidnapped a primordial goddess of darkness for some time so we learned how the deities of your world work."

"Oh? You did? What did you do with her...?"

Clearly curious over the topic, the voice from the devise inquired.

"A meddlesome bug got in our way and we had to let her go."

A snort could be heard from the devise.

"So she escaped thanks to external help. That is actually rather impressive. From what you have told me, your might is beyond common sense and not many dare to face you straightforwardly after knowing the extend of your abilities..."

"There is an organization that vehemently opposes us, and they are the responsible from throwing that walking disaster at us."

"Oh? I thought that chaos was your desire..."

Clicking his tongue, the hooded man recalled the encounter back then.

"His strength was pitiful compared to the members he was with. However, a bug that should've been crushed easily just would not die. I pulled his arms until they came off, but he still did not stop. I stepped on his legs until his bones were shattered but that did not slow him down. In just seconds he was as good as new and he did not seem to suffer from any side effect. His actions bought enough time for his allies to kill mine... and while I was ready to take the goddess with me, he got in the way and took that woman with him."

"...I assume he is not human. Was he a vampire?"

"No, he belonged to another race. Nothing to do with your kin that can manipulate blood at will."

"...was he using some sort of artifact?"

Snorting, the hooded man did not reply.

"Now I am curious. What kind of person would give you such a headache...?"

"I managed to learn the name later on and he seems to be a target of one of our organization's Bishops. Nora Shiki, self-proclaimed cat. If you ever meet him, I would recommend staying away as far as possible since he is a disaster incarnate."

"@&#-@++#("

Cursing angrily, the voice from the devise sounded exasperated as the communication was cut off.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Author's notes

Hello there, how are you?

I planned to go back to delivery on Sundays, but the heat has been messing with me. Plenty of migraine that took me down for several days so I did not have much time to write. Wish I did not have that issue, but whatever. Kind of the reason why is so short, sorry about that.

Hope you enjoy the chapter.

The scene with Tamamo came to me since I read the manga and decided to give Tamamo more screen time. I hope it was good enough. I am knew in this kind of topic in English so some terms might be off. Consider it as a practice which is why I wrote it and... man, I really want to get where I write smut.

See ya.