Chapter 305 – Re: Veal

Day 45

"Thank you for your help. It was really useful to have a bit of foreknowledge of future events here." Sui said to Kathleen. They were standing outside of the mana pool, chatting as Constantine was activating their portal out of here. Sato and Lina were beside her, while Returner, Riana, and Mi were beside the wizard, watching him prepare this high-tier magic spell. 

"My pleasure, darlin'. I think you handled them well. They left here with smiles on their faces, and a little more than slightly drunk. That was a good call sending them with the extra alcohol for his forces. They drank the night away not far from here, only starting to stumble towards their next destination around noon." Kathleen replied, smiling down at her. She and Rou had the same accent, which made her miss him even more.

He is safe, at least he was when I checked earlier. That's all that matters right now.

"151-proof whiskey enchanted to taste like fine wine will do that to a person. So this is goodbye?"

"For now. I have a feeling we will meet again someday. You make sure you smack that lummox of a brother for me, ya hear? While I might not agree with him having a gaggle of women, the fact that y'all still seem to love him despite the fact that he just left out of the blue makes me feel bad for ya."

"It's all these skills he has gained... It's been really taxing on his mind and body."

"You don't need to be making excuses for 'em. I know well enough how troublesome it can be. It's why I ended up staying in worlds for years on end instead of jumping immediately to the next world as soon as I completed whatever story I was sent to change. Gave my body time to become more accustomed to my powers. Though I guess that is where my gods and these DEN ones are a little different."

"I guess. I'm still coming to terms with everything myself. I might have been an ancient goddess... but my memories are so full of holes they might as well not be there."

"Ahh, you will be fine. I'm happy to see he has a wife like you at his side."

"A wife like me? You know, we are not actually married."

"Hah, sure, hon. You sleep in his bed, and are running his little kingdom while he is away. If you’re not his wife, then what in the hell are ya?" Kathleen said, slapping her hard on the back. "Anyway, enough gab. Is everything ready Johnny?"

"Been ready since yesterday. We could have been out of here already if you didn't insist on making sure those pointy-eared racists didn't attack the village last night." The man called Constantine said, dropping the butt of his cigarette to the ground and stepping on it.

He then waved his hand, activating the portal he had created with the aid of the mana well's power. He could do this himself, but it was taxing, so they had lent him the use of their energy reserve so they could hop through the multiverse to his Earth. The portal expanded into a small oval near Riana's tree, drawing all the nearby light into it, throwing the world around them into darkness. Blue mana sparked, making a humming sound that reverberated through her core. It looked like a crude, yet more powerful version of the portals she used to use for teleporting between Earth and the Parallel World.

"What kind of sister would I be if I didn't make sure my brother's people were safe? Come now, even a cynic like you can see the charm in this little place. Would be a fine spot to raise our kids, wouldn't it?"

"Wha? K-Kids? What are you talking about!?!" He said, dropping the pack of smokes he had been holding. 

"Hah! You should see your face right now. Don't worry, I'm too old to think about having kids. Maybe in my next world I'll consider it, though you will probably be an old man by then. What do you think about being a daddy when you turn eighty? I'd have my nice twenty-something-year-old body again. Think you could keep up?"

"Gods woman, I can barely keep up with you now. Let's go, I swear the air in this place has addled your brain. You seem to have baby fever or something."

"Hah, maybe I do. Seeing my brother growing his family is making me think a little differently. Anyway, Sui, everyone. Thank you for the assist here, and take care of yourselves."

"See ya!" Sui replied as the pair of them stepped through the portal. It closed with a loud snap a few moments later, the returning sunlight blinding her for a moment. 

"Are they gone?" She said, breaking the silence once her eyesight returned.

"Yes. No traces of them remain." Returner replied a moment later. She then started casting a series of spells to block the magic Constantine was using to travel here and look around.

"Alright! You can come out now!" She shouted, releasing her own magic. The door to Sei's tomb opened above them, and Pande stepped out of it.

"Time Loop!" She said, recasting her blessing on the tomb as soon as the woman had stepped far enough away from it, resealing Sei's body inside. 

"Interesting magic. I didn't know any but the Gods of Time could actually do that. Am I safe from Smokey and Duck Lips?"

"For now. Returner?"

"We have a barrier over the village now, so they should be blind to you as long as you don't leave the walls. I can't guarantee they won't find you, as they used a style of magic different than my own, but it is as safe as we can make it." She replied, landing on Riana's shoulder. The pair of them looked exhausted from the extra mana expenditure, but it was necessary to hide this dragon from prying eyes.

"Ahh... that would be the best boon I have heard in many saecil. My thanks."

"Thank Rou when you see him next. He is the only reason we have any inclination to help you. Now, what can you do to make yourself useful to him in repayment? And so help me, if you say being his concubina, I will drop this barrier and set off a flare so they can start chasing you again."

"You are his head wife, yes? I am sorry, I have dishonoured you by not coming to you first. I wish for him to be my husband as well. Please, let me show you how sincere I am in my wishes." She said, collapsing in front of her and grabbing her ankles.

"Get off me! Argh! You're like a spider monkey! Wait! Why are you kissing my feet!?!" Sui replied, trying to shake the woman off. She'd always thought it might be interesting to have someone kiss her feet in supplication, but now that it happened, she found it very unsettling.

"How else would I show you I am sincere in my need?" Pande replied, looking up at her as she released her grip.

"Just... stand up. I'm going to regret this... but why would you need to be one of his wives?" 

"Because he is blind to my eyes. I have no idea what he will do, and it is terribly frightening and alluring at the same time."

"What?"

"He is an enigma, and I cannot see what he will do next. Everything around him is no longer pre-ordained; the timestream splits, and the branches change to places I cannot follow with my sight. You should not be in this world, yet you are. She should be dead, yet she lives. This tree should not exist, yet it does. That castle, this village, all fates have changed around him, and it makes new ripples and streams that I cannot see but know I should follow. That is why I wish to be closer to him, to mate with him if he is willing. To see what this new reality would become while I stand at his side." She stated, pointing to her, Returner, the mana pool and everything around her as she spoke.

"Huh?"

"That, and since he is a nondraco, it would cause my father endless grey hairs. That would be worth it all on its own. Can you believe he is trying to set me up with a fire dragon? They are so dull and boorish. I'd much rather be beside someone who time seems to break around. Much more interesting life." She continued, smiling happily, like this made all the sense in the world.

 "Yeah... I regret asking. Just... try and make yourself useful around here. Rou respects competency and drive more than some girl with daddy issues."

"Daddy issues? What is this? Are you saying I should call him daddy? That seems very improper. Maybe Father Dearest would be better."

"Do you think Rou would accept Ee and me more if we called him daddy?" Mi asked her.

"I'm pretty sure if either of you call him that, he would never change his mind about treating you as his daughters rather than wives," Lina replied instead, speaking up for the first time since they had come out to see Kathleen and Constantine off. "Though you can call me mommy if you want. I hope one of these babies is a daughter." She added, rubbing the slight bulge of her belly.

Sui just sighed. 

Day 46

"And just where do you think you're going?"

"We are going hunting. We still look like young girls, so we want to see if we can evolve as you and Kichi did. If we become Half Lords or Ogres, maybe Rou will stop thinking of us as his children." Mi said, hefting her bone staff over her shoulder. Ee nodded as well, the other woman holding a pair of massive steel and spirit stone pickaxes over her shoulders, the tools made by Emery the smith. She was also covered head to toe in plate armour forged by the armoursmith, imbued with power and speed-boosting tempers from the alchemist. 

"You know you will have to find some powerful monsters to push yourself to the next level. Is this really worth endangering your lives?"

"I will not let him think of me as nothing but a little girl! While I know his mind is older than I am, our bodies in this world are the same age! Just because you are his first wife doesn't mean we cannot be his second and third wives." Mi said, anger lacing her voice.

"I know we have a real connection. I felt it in the mines weeks ago. If I evolve, he will see me as a real woman and not just a child. I know it!" Ee added.

Sui sighed, already unable to convince them that she wasn't actually his wife. She then turned to the third member of their party. "You too, Sato?" 

"Yes. He knows my heart is his, but he just will not accept that. Sei wanted us to be with him, but our time was cut short before we could tell him as much. I do not wish to be with any other male in the village other than him, nor do I want to find another female to replace Sei. She was as much as sister to me as a lover and I will honour her passing by joining with that man even if I have to pull him to bed by the hair. I want to name our daughter Sei in her honour, you see."

"Fine... Though I'm not sure Rou is going to think the same way, I won't stop you. Good luck on your- Ruby? You too?" 

"Is that so surprising? I owe him my life for saving me and the kindness he has shown me." The redhead said, standing beside Sato. She was decked out in a set of rabbit plate armour the women who left the village wore, dorky bunny ears included. She had a sword strapped to her waist and a wicked-looking blue scythe, both of which came from Velvet's treasure trove. 

"But you're a human; you don't level up as we do."

"I can still help protect the ones he loves and show him that I am serious about being one of his wives. I might just be a farmer with a few warrior skills, but I will protect them with my life if needed. That is what he does, doesn't he? Protect those he cares for?"

"Well... yes, but other than being an ogre, he is also filled with other skills, not to mention he is a Paladin."

"Then I will become a Paladin as well, if not by skill, then by deed." She said with conviction, slamming the scythe butt into the ground, causing a jet of water to encircle the blade. 

Damn... if I were still a goddess, I would have loved to have a Paladin like her. She reminds me of Rou in many ways. 

"Fine... but if you get yourselves killed, don't expect me to resurrect you. You all better come back here alive. You can be in several pieces, but alive is the key part." She said, trying to make a joke. She wanted to go with them, but she had a village to take care of, and a chaotic dragon lady to keep in line. Not to mention an ever moodier Dorian who was getting close to popping. Things were going oddly with that pregnancy, and she needed to stay nearby to assist in the delivery if it happened sooner than expected.

"Just... be safe, okay." She added, hugging each woman in turn. She had grown closer to each of them and didn't want to see them get hurt. Without Rou nearby, there was no black knight who could ride out to their rescue if they got in trouble. 

"We will. Besides, Rou already hunted down the most powerful beast in the region, and Kichi, Aya, and Kia took out several other powerful ones. Between the four of us, there shouldn't be much left that would give us any trouble." Mi said.

With that, the four of them walked out of the mansion, leaving her behind. She watched until they left out of the village gate, then turned around to resume her work. She would have to take care of the rabbits herself now, or have someone else tend to them. That shouldn't be a problem. The gate guard rotation would have to change, and then there were the goblins down in the mine. She would have to shift some from the land clearing efforts to keep up their progress down there. Or not, since the land clearing was probably more important to the village's overall growth. 

"ARGH! I'm not a leader! Why is everyone so fixated on getting in Rou's pants that they have to throw everything into chaos!" She growled. She used to like causing a little chaos herself, but now, on the other side of it, she was changing her mind. It was bloody exhausting.

Damn you, Rou. Get yourself together and get back here soon. Don't make me teleport to your eye and drag you back here myself. I don't want to be in charge anymore!