Chapter 131

There was a little 'pop' of displaced air, and it felt like I had just stopped Issei's full power fist with my palm. I knew that Chime was smart, and that even when napping (or just 'resting her eyes') she was listening. And she had taken my 'rambling' about how a dungeon creature might harm Hades by getting into his exposed rib cage to heart.

And well, taken it to Hades's 'heart' as well.

At first, the little lights of Hades's eyes 'blinked' at me...

Then Chime started nibbling on him. With a sound close to that of someone eating a really crisp carrot, or maybe a slightly dried out Rice Crispy square, the champion of all micro rabbits went to work on Hades. The effect was nearly instant, and the God of Death started flopping around on the floor, striking funny poses, making distressed noises, and generally embarrassing himself as Chime sharpened her teeth on him. At one point he smashed his arm off the floor, making Chime appear for a moment, before she ducked back under his metal plated robes and started gnawing on him some more.

This by the way, was one of the problems I had with armour that exposed soft spots. Though, it was something I would readily exploit.

"GAH! MAKE IT STOP! IT'S CHEWING ON MY PELVIS!"

"Friend." I said.

The silence that followed was close to 'hear a pin drop'. Hades had been flopping about on the floor like a fish when I'd said it, and after a moment, Chime hopped out of his chest. She carefully used a hind leg to scratch behind an ear, then hopped off and made her way back to me.

Behind me, Sirzechs and Azazel were both trying to be 'diplomatic', while Hestia wasn't bothering and laughing. "Fine." Hades said after a moment, the chew marks over his exposed ribs smoothing out as he stood back up, "You've made your point." He very much had the posture of a cat who had 'meant' to fall off the couch. "Let us never speak of this again." He dusted himself off with one hand (that was regrowing one of its fingers) and flopped back into his grand office chair/throne.

"You have my word." I said, bowing slightly while Chime shook bone dust off herself.

Hades pointed at me, "Take your dungeon with you. But before you leave, I will have your word you will stop killing people in this realm. Fate has already been twisted back into shape for those you've dealt with, but now that you know, there is no excuse for your careless mishandling!"

"I can't promise that, though, I will do my very best not to."

I felt something settle around me, almost like a blanket made of gauze, and I knew this to be the weight of my promise, "See that you do." Hades said, "Now get out, I have work to do." And he tapped his skull topped sceptre on the floor again.

And with that, the 'props' for my trial vanished, and he slid his huge desk back into place, the endless line of floating souls shuffling over to line up in front of it properly. I turned around, looked at Azazel, Sirzechs and Hestia, grinned, then walked over to the lava fountain. "Give me a hand, then we can go."

Azazel, as soon as we had left, started laughing. Not just a little laugh either, but a full on 'drunken ramble' laugh.

"She warned him!" He said between chuckles, "They can kill gods! It might chew on you while you sleep!" He thumped his knee as he walked, almost losing balance, "And those poses! I haven't seen anything so ridiculous outside of that anime Serafall tried to get me to watch!" He laughed some more, "Come ON Fox, you should have said, 'I warned you!' or something! What a missed opportunity!"

"That went rather well I think." Sirzechs commented breezily, ignoring Azazel completely, "How many does that make now, Lady Kodori?"

"Eight." I said, shifting a tail or two to keep the dungeon fragment balanced on my back properly. "Would have been nice if he helped us get this thing down from there..."

"That might have been pushing your luck." Hagane said, "Comfortable?" He asked.

Hestia, holding Chime again and patting her head now that she wasn't using her cane, replied with a, "Not the most comfortable, but thank you for saving me the walk." giving Hagane's metal shoulder a fond pat, before going back to playing with Chime's ears.

"That really did go rather smooth though." Azazel mused, recovering slightly from his giggle fit, "It seemed almost too easy."

"Bah, he's just a big softy." Hestia said with a laugh, "He puts up a tough front, but anyone who knows him at all knows he's just lonely."

"So the trial, and threatening to keep me down here?" I asked.

"Well, those were real." Hestia shook her head, "I think he just wanted an excuse to test you. Maybe get that promise out of you too. He hates it when the books are wrong." She gave me a curious look, "Did Charon ask for his coins?"

"I only showed him I had them." I smiled, then admitted, "I'm only a tiny bit sorry for the rest of it though. I never thought about it, honestly... This must be what Lady Greyfia meant when she said I was an amateur at politics."

"How are we going to get this rock back to the surface?" Hagane interrupted, "I am eager to return as well."

"Worried about something?" Sirzechs asked.

"Now that I have a fleshy body, I want to take proper care of it. It is well past dinner time."

We laughed a little, "A valid question." Azazel said after a moment, "The 'plan' was to return with the boatman, get to a spot we can teleport from, and return." He motioned towards the dungeon fragment, "I'm not sure that will fit on the boat however."

"Silly children." Hestia said, "You heard Hades, but you didn't listen. He said, 'get out'. Do you know how many times he's said that to a living soul before?"

"Legend says only once?" I guessed.

"And he meant it." Hestia nodded, "Gave you a condition to follow, in exchange. You could have saved yourself the walk and left right in his throne room."

"Well, isn't my hair red." Sirzechs said, "Let's find a spot big enough then."

While Azazel and Sirzechs did what ever it was they were doing to set up a 'long range cross realm magically insulated teleport circle' in a deserted town square, complete with dusty fountain and barren shop stalls, Hagane and I stood off to the side and talked with Hestia. "Thank you, Lady Hestia." I said, "I am very thankful."

"Though, I am wondering how your timing was so perfect?"

Hestia shook her head, "I am not very strong, you see. The belief that sustains us gods isn't what it used to be. But you... When you finally entered Hades's realm, I could finally come to meet with you."

"A restriction?"

"Of a sort. I am simply too weak to leave the 'Greek' realm of influence. But, that doesn't mean I don't have a little influence in the mortal realm." She smiled.

"Ah, the mysterious housekeeper?"

"Who is a little upset with you, by the way." Hestia poked me with her cane, "You haven't left anything for her in almost a week."

"I've been sick." I replied, "And I didn't want to insult her with something of questionable freshness from a store."

"We miss her cookies too." Hagane added, "What? Now that I have actual teeth, I've found one of them to be sweet."

"Hm, can't have that now can we. You'll be quite busy when you get home, and it just wouldn't do for you to be unable to care for your children properly, as a mother." She poked me again, "It's all I can do, in that regard."

I felt a tingle pass through me, despite wearing proper clothing, my breasts were suddenly felt like someone had put ice into my bra. I grimaced a little, "Thank you, Lady Hestia... Oh that feels weird." I shivered, resisting the urge to hug myself.

"If the rules were the same, I could do more, but they aren't." She gave my shoulder a pat, "Only at birth, could I bless you like your Hestia does. So I'm afraid you'll have to wait."

I nodded, leaning my head a little to trap her hand against my shoulder, "It's okay. I will make sure that even this much from you is enough until I get back home." I let her hand go, and she gave my cheek a fond pat.

"We're almost done over here." Azazel called out.

I turned and nodded, "Can someone get into my pocket and get those paper tags? Can't have this thing eating the teleport magic..." I quickly added, "Not you Chime, you ate one of them last time."

After a moment of tag sticking, carefully placing the dungeon segment down and making sure the teleport circle was 'just so', we all got into the circle.

Well, except me.

"There there." Hestia said while I wrapped her up in a hug again, "Yes you've been a good Fox."

"Thank you again, Lady Hestia." I said, letting go but still crouching down in front of her, but not letting my knees touch the ground, "You may be wiser, but you are still just as kind as the one I truly serve."

"Even though you will be grounded when you get home?"

"Especially because I'll be grounded when I get home." I smiled, "Be safe on your trip home, where ever it may be."

"My home is where ever there is a hearth, warmed by family." She poked me in the shin with her cane, "Make sure to return to yours, safely!"

I nodded and stepped over to the circle, Azazel and Sirzechs giving me an amused look, "All set Fox?" Azazel asked, "Might want to wipe your eyes though, can't have your tough image being damaged, looking like you've been crying."

"Heroes without soft spots become villains." I said, though I did wipe my eyes, squinting them as the teleport circle got brighter and brighter. Even with my magical senses muted by Wukong, I could feel just how much power the circle was using.

Of course, this is when my backhanded luck decided to balance the scales. I had to shield my eyes from just how bright the circle was getting, when I heard Azazel say, "Sorry, it's a long trip. Three, two-"

"A trip you won't be making!" I heard someone scream.

I had just enough time to turn to face the voice, when my dazzled vision was filled with a giant skull, and I was slammed out of the teleport circle with enough force for me to shatter the fountain, continue on, and land in one of the abandoned vendor stalls, stone and cloth burying me in darkness for a moment. Faintly, I registered the final 'hum' of the teleport circle activating, and a high pitched half insane laughter.

Anger spiked in my chest, and I stood up flinging cloth and stone away from me with my arms and tails, ready to face the owner of that voice. Jeanne de Arc...

"I've watched Georg enough times to know the timing of a teleport circle. And juuuuust my luck you were standing at the edge of it, keeping your oh so precious hunk of rock safe in the middle!" She taunted.

Like before, she was wearing that nice and sensible half plate suit of armour, and was wearing those strange gauntlets with the blinking eye on the back of the hand. Unlike last time, she also had that strange shield, the one Georg had stopped me with, and that my unbreakable grip, my Titan's Grasp, couldn't stick to.

The shield itself was almost as tall as she was, but she didn't have it braced on her arm. Instead she was holding it by the edge, the great monstrous snarling skull glaring at me just as much as she was. On her back was the two handed sword Georg had also used, with the grinning skull on the crosspiece and blood red bronze blade.

"Finally... You are all alone, with no escape..." The insane glow of her eyes sharpened into a dagger sharp hatred.

"You really want to do this?" I asked, taking a deep breath, but feeling almost none of the usual rush of power I usually got, the ghost sensation of Wukong shaking my hand touching my palm, "I thought it was just Heracles who was the meathead."

"Be careful, those are the same tools we used to put the Titans away!" Hestia said from somewhere nearby, "They are just fragments of their original forms, but they are still great weapons."

"Oh, they've met before!" Jeanne laughed, gripping the shield's edge with both hands, spinning in place for momentum, then throwing it at me. "Not only are they powerful, they share that power with the one using them!"

I took a running step forward towards the oncoming shield, then did a baseball slide under it. As soon as I cleared its shadow, my tails pushed me back upright, and I finished my charge, ready to punch some sense into this girl. Once again however, the gauntlets she was wearing simply got in the way, blocking my punch with her left, then trying to hit me with her right. I was about to try again, but she just grinned and held her hand out.

It looked like she was daring me to punch her hand, but I rolled to the side as the shield returned to her like a boomerang, shedding dust and stone as it slammed to a halt in her hand. "Not bad!" She taunted, throwing again, then charging at me this time as I ducked around the oncoming disk.

This exchange went on a couple more times. I would dodge, attack or block, then have to jump away again before the shield returned, or risk getting hit by the sharpened edge of that murderous shield. The gloves seemed to have my number, no matter what angle I came at her from, and even when I tried to sweep her legs out, one of her fists simply planted itself into the ground, and it felt like I'd kicked a mountain.

Limited as I was, I simply couldn't do more than hold her at a standstill. I couldn't stay still long enough to use my usual close combat tricks, and I lacked the magic to summon my ranged abilities.

"Oh? Getting angry? Frustrated? That's how I've felt, every Single SECOND I've been down here!" Her dark red skin almost seemed to glow as her own anger seemed to take hold, "What happened? FIGHT ME SERIOUSLY!"

In all honesty, I was trying to! But...

No. No more excuses.

"Fine." I said, the single word her only warning before I decided to fight dirty.

I ducked under the shield as it flew from her hand again, then tossed a vial of black smoke at her. She swatted at it with her hand, but the glass turned to dust on contact, releasing all the smoke at once in a great 'woomph' of expanding gas. While even I couldn't see through this stuff, my tails and ears became even more useful as the air, the stuff they used to give me that 'extra sense' people thought I had, became denser, more 'informative' to my fluffy appendages.

"Ha!" She screeched, "Smoke like this is nothing compared to the ash of Asphodel!" She blocked a couple of my punches, edged away from a kick, then started to reach out for the shield with her right hand as it returned.

This time however, I shaved the timing down to the barest minimum, the razor edge just missing one of my ears as I used the distraction of one of her hands to focus all my attention on her right leg, the leg furthest from the hand that could still 'see'. She dodged my first punch, moving her leg back, but I hooked my foot behind her ankle and my second punch found her kneecap.

"ARG! DIE FOX!" She didn't throw the shield, but brought it down towards me. The attack had more range than her fist, but was slower and I had no trouble backing off. She used the space to throw again, but again, I weaved to the side, hopped forward, and repeated the process.

Again, I smashed a fist into her knee, shattering the stone under her foot, as well as her kneecap. Another scream of pain, but instead of another throw, she waved her shield to try and disperse the smoke. Of course, a shield used for waving around, was a shield not being used to block, and I tossed another vial at her.

"That won't work a second time!" She growled, ducking under the spinning glass.

Except all my 'trick' potions are on a timer, so instead of exploding on contact, it exploded over her head. And this time it wasn't smoke.

"WHAT IS TH-!"

My sticky bomb only contained enough to trap part of a limb. An arm, a leg, a face, but it was worse than fly paper and the nice minty smell would encourage monsters to sniff at it. It sprayed out of the bottle in an arc, covering the side of her head, the sword, as well as her neck and shoulder. I tossed my second vial of the stuff as she tried to claw the gunk away from her nose and mouth.

I didn't bother to ask if she gave up, since one of her gauntlets was now plastered to her face, and the other was holding her shield. Instead, I ducked in and drove my fist into her other knee, dropping her to the ground with a muffled scream of pain. I made sure the job was done by kicking that same leg again.

She dropped the shield, bringing her other hand to her face and ripping backwards. Blood, skin, hair, the titanic strength the gauntlets had given her were too much for her own body, and I was now looking at little more than a grinning skull. "I'll KILL YOU!"

With her hands stuck together, it would have been a simple task to beat the stuffing out of her. But that wasn't my goal. I was done with this girl, and I was going to put her away for good. She tried to hit me, but her broken legs sapped any meaningful power from the strike, let alone accuracy. Carefully, since I didn't want to get any of the gunk on me, I caught her upper arm, put my hand on her shoulder, and dislocated it. Ignoring her scream of pain, I flopped her onto her stomach, grabbed her ankle, and started dragging her.

A few minutes later, her screams of how she was going to murder me, break every bone in my body, hang my entrails over every mountain in the world in alphabetical order, and generally ruin my day changed.

"No!" She screamed as the sound of rippling water started to fill the air, "You can't! I'm not ready!"

I looked back at her, making her yelp in pain as I twisted her leg to roll her over. The sticky bombs had hardened, encasing her hands, cementing them to her armour. "I'm done with you." I said quietly, "I'm done with the 'hero faction' trying to kill me because I'm not human, or in some way useful to them." I shook my head, "I'm done looking over my shoulder, because some group of warmongers didn't want to play nice, then complained about the price of losing." I looked towards the water, "Cao Cao is in prison. Georg is contained. Heracles is doing community service. Guan Yu is teaching the beginner spear class for young Valkyries. Leonardo is going to school and living happily with his mother." I looked back at her, "While you are down here, perusing a pointless quest for revenge!"

I judged the distance to be about a kilometre. Being down slope would make it a bit easier too...

"Please..." She said, her faceless skull crying as I looked back at her, "Don't make me forget?"

"For violating the agreement of being a good guest. For involving innocent women and children in your plans. For attempting to kill me on multiple occasions. I am letting you get off easy."

"no... no no no!" She said over and over as my grip tightened.

"I sentence you to forget."

And like Ottar did with me, I took two running steps and flung her towards the water.

I wasn't quite on target however, her long scream of dread stopping for a moment as she bounced off the beach once, before skipping into the black waters, sinking down like a stone in her armour. I made sure she wasn't coming back to shore, watching for a moment, then turned around.

And caught a slipper to the face.

"Ow?" I caught the simple woven straw slipper before it could hit the ground and looked for Hestia. Because who else could throw a slipper with unerring accuracy, but the Lady of Hearth and Home?

"That was needlessly cruel." She chided me, accepting her slipper back, and boffing me on the leg a few times with it, "Bad Fox! You could have done that from half the distance and not missed the water.

I accepted my punishment, letting her bap me until she ran out of breath, then helped her keep steady as she put her shoe back on. "Lady Hestia."

She gave me a raised eyebrow and a frown, "Yes?"

"Can you keep watch over her? When she gets back? I know you can't do anything to keep her memories or the like, but..."

"Yes child, I can. And just because you asked all humbly and such, I will." She sighed, exactly how my Hestia would, "You children are so troublesome."

"Thank you."

"Now how are you going to get back? Hades may have given you leave, but making too much noise might change his mind."

"He did mention I caused that mess. Well, now I've fixed it..." I shook my head, "I have a better idea though, since I don't want to wait in line for an audience." I took out my phone, noticing that it had a little 'E' where the connection bars usually were, "Being a proper host, and a decent hand at making food for my guests, has accrued some small favours." I dialed a number. "If this young follower of yours could entertain you with a few stories? Could you keep me company while I wait?"

"Oh very well." She smiled.

"So there I was, being pulled out of the water while holding on to a fish I somehow managed to drown. And the captain of the vessel says, 'First I see what looks like a swearing ball of fur fly over my ship. Then I pull up a girl who managed to drown a fish. She's got a nice-'"

Story time was interrupted by the silvery chime of horseshoes as they echoed through the nearly silent city of the dead. My ride had arrived.

"You know, I never liked this place." Cime said, though his voice sounded like it was a couple of streets over. There was a snort in reply, "Yes, its like the fey lands, with all the twists and turns, but smells worse, has terrible food, and drinking the water is like going on a two week bender without actually getting drunk." Another snort, the sounds getting closer, "Yes, I would be lost without you. I'll be sure to brush you when we get home."

"They sound like a nice couple." Hestia laughed quietly.

"And a good team." I agreed, watching them come from the opposite direction from where their voices were coming from, "Cime, good to see you two."

The massive combined height of the horse and rider trotted up to us. Without a word, Cime, dressed in his usual all purpose mailman overall and abused baseball cap dismounted, and the two of them bowed, both going to their knees for a moment before Hestia. "Lady of Hearth and Home, it is good to see you."

"Now now, no kneeling for me." She chided, though, she did stand up and shuffle over to them, her hand bushing over the horse's nose, and giving Cime's shoulder a pat, "It has been ages since I met the two of you last... Though you weren't together at the time."

They both stood up, though the horse kept her face within easy reach for more pats, "If it weren't for your guidance that day, I'd have remained lost in the woods." He said, "But I found the most reliable guide, after getting kicked a few times I must admit."

The horse turned one of her glowing red eyes at him, and made an amused noise. "Well, I'm glad it all worked out." Hestia nodded, "Those cheeky fairy types. They know the rules, but have a hard time with translation. Guests do like to leave occasionally."

I stood there amused, before finally commenting, "I suppose that's why your number still works down here."

"Indeed." Cime looked at me, "It is good to see you, even down here. I'm hoping you aren't trying to escape, because that's extra." He grinned, "I would still be willing to do it regardless."

"No no. She actually has permission." Hestia laughed, "Won through diplomacy, wit, and the best little rabbit ever."

Cime looked doubtful, "I see... Sounds like a story."

"I can't speak of it." I said, "Part of the condition for letting me leave." I replied, holding up my hands in mock surrender, "Lady Hestia, will you be okay from here?"

"Of course." She smiled, "Make sure to keep your word, and I'm sure you'll get home."

Cime got back onto the Horse, and offered a hand down to me. I made sure to give Hestia one last hug, and the horse a pat on the nose (getting a sloppy lick over the face in return) before accepting the hand up and seating myself behind him.

"To my workshop, if you would be so kind?" I asked, my hands holding his hips, while my tails latched onto the saddle. I had no idea what kind of trip this was going to be, but I was not letting go.

"Certainly."

The trip back was hard to describe. Weird sights, sounds, sharp turns, confusing twists of vertigo, until finally we hit 'normal' space, the bright silvery 'ting' of horseshoes hitting the pavement next to a 'Welcome to Kuoh' sign on a lonely two lane road someplace.

"Hm, did we miss?" He asked, leaning down to look the horse in the eye.

"Snort?" Followed by a shake of her head and mane.

"No." I said after blinking the Star Trek warp space effect from my eyes, "Little Kunou is holding the land right now."

"I see. Would it trouble you for an introduction?" He asked with a laugh, "Certain rules you see."

My wits returned after such a wild trip, I realized it was rather late at night. A moment later, as I went to double check the time on my phone, it exploded with a continuous string of little beeps as it caught up with all my received text messages. "It's a little late for her, but, I'll have her come to the shop tomorrow, and co-incidentally, order something for a rush delivery." I hopped off the horse, gave Cime a handshake, the horse's head a hug, and bowed, "Thank you Friend Cime. And I'll make sure my order is only large enough that you can't fly it here. And have cookies for the trouble."

I got another lick on the face for my promise, "Be seeing you then, Friend Kodori." And with an easy turn in place, horse and rider left me there at the border of town.

Fox2: /set all kuoh

Fox2: I'm back, don't panic, sorry I missed dinner, please no bully.

After sorting through a heap of texts that basically said 'oh good/glad you're okay/yay we can go to sleep, I started texting back to Rias, and Sirzechs.

Fox2: Yes, had a little problem at the last second. It's been handled. Is it in storage?

Boss: It is. Be sure to thank Mikochu for her work, as well as my brother. And if you feel like it, SmugSensei.

Fox2: Certainly. Walking back from the town's border. Back in about ten minutes.

"We were just about to go back down when you called." Sirzechs said as I walked into the ORC. You're looking a little more... worn out than when we left."

"Jeanne, the last unaccounted for member of the hero faction is now swimming back across the river Styx." I replied, "Her last attempt to catch me off guard worked, but she couldn't stick the landing."

"That's a relief." Azazel said, "You didn't get close to the water yourself did you?"

"Not even a little." I shook my head, "This does however mean I have one extra thing to do before bed." I looked away from them before they could ask, deflecting the obvious question, "Thank you for getting the prize back up here though."

"A petty effort for a friend." Sirzechs replied with a smile.

"I could use a drink after that." Azazel sighed, "It's been a while since I've seen you even start to go all out."

"Brother you didn't!" Rias looked shocked.

"Only for a moment." Sirzechs shook his head, "Part of the price of helping Sensei out, and getting a... concession from Hades."

Rias sighed in relief, "Good. The whole point of being at peace is so you never have to do something like that."

"I'm glad my sister still worries for her poor brother." Sirzechs laughed, "Azazel? Mind a little company for the evening? I'm feeling the need for just a little more time off."

"Sure." Azazel looked to me, "Nah, you'd just say no."

"You're right, I would. But, I do have something for you. But only if you promise to write down what you think of it, before you continue to get drunk."

I was ready to catch Delly, Sir Skitters and Chime when I finally opened the door to my room. Loaner decided to hop onto my shoulder only after I'd collected the other three in a hug. Ryuu and Shinkage looked amused as I hugged my odd assortment of new friends, and then helped me take off my equipment and hang it properly once they'd all made sure I was still alive and well.

"We were worried when you didn't come back with them." Ryuu said, "But they asked that we hold off on your last request until we knew for sure."

"Good." I nodded, stretching and feeling a few sore spots, "I can't really speak of how the meeting went, aside from bringing back the dungeon fragment. But after that, Jeanne, that crazy girl I fought at the hotel, got into a fight. I tossed her into the river Styx," I looked at Ryuu, "It's part of a soul's return to the living," she nodded and understood I'd explain after, "then called our local delivery service. He can get anything from anywhere, to anywhere, so long as it's properly protected."

"And Hestia?" Shinkage asked, "I... I really liked her." She looked thoughtful, "I've never had a grandmother, or even a mother really, but I imagine she's the perfect fit for it..."

"I'll tell you all about her while I round out my night." I captured Loaner and made sure to give him all the ear scroofles, "I'll have a message for you to deliver when I'm out of the shower. But have cookies ready when you get back."

The message was to all of the Hero faction that I'd met, and were still among the living. It was a simple... courtesy I suppose you could call it. 'Jeanne tried once last time, but is now crossing back over the River Styx. Remember her, since she will have forgotten.' That's all. Children and memory were the only ways for a mortal to achieve 'immortality', and this was the only way I could really help her.

Yes, I did still feel bad about killing her. And almost as bad when I threw her into the water. I was sure her bloody pleading skull would haunt me for a while, but at least now she would get a second chance, with the added bonus of someone watching out for her right from the start.

After that, I talked about what had been discussed before Chime had sharpened her teeth on Hades, tended to my milk (noting that yes, it smelled and looked exactly how it should have) made cookies, dinner (for me since the others had eaten) and ordered something for rush delivery.

"So the plan is the same from here?" Ryuu asked.

"Yes." I said, turning off the computer and getting into bed, "The next moon phase will hopefully be another piece of the dungeon. And so long as we can find the other two pieces, and that it really is only two more, we'll be done in just over a month." I sighed.

"Cheer up boss, don't lose your motivation now." Delly buzzed over to my pillow and gave my head a pat, "Say... Where's your charm?"

"Broke at some point..." I yawned, "lemme sleep without it on. Itches."

"Means it's working." Delly gave me a tiny bop on the head, then strung a new jade pendant over my head.

After the frostbite/burning sensation passed, I was of course wide awake again.

"Don't worry Boss." Delly endured my death glare with aplomb and poked me in the nose with a tiny finger, "Just let me take care of all that 'awake' you hav-"

November 16

I woke up a little later than usual, but still in time to make cookies. I honestly wondered if I'd miss making them so much when I got home and was instead feeding my children, now that I'd been doing it for the last few months...

After breakfast, we went to the shop to more or less pass the time with random busywork. Working with HIDA to update Hagane's body, measuring out metals to get them ready to alloy, and just filling time until our first guest arrived.

"Kunou." I greeted, setting down my tools and accepting a hug, "Good to see you too." I of course gave her the proper ear scratching she deserved. "Your guest should be arriving soon, if you wanted to have a cookie and wait with us."

"We would like that." She replied with a smile, "How is your charm working? You're making cookies again right?"

"That's something Hestia did for me." I said, "As for the jade token..." I checked it, and yes, it was no longer pure, but not nearly as bad as the last one after sleeping, "It's clearing up." I nodded.

She was interrupted from replying by the ringing of magic horseshoes, instead saying, "They're our guests?"

"New owner means new agreements." Delly said as she helped Sir Skitters thread some of his silk through the mini-loom.

Kunou and I stepped out greeting the horse and rider, "Lady Kunou, of Kuoh." Cime greeted.

"Mr. Cime." She replied, looking up to me, "Um..."

I knelt down so I could mumble into her ear, "I would like to extend a formal invite to the city of Kuoh, for any business you have here as a recognized messenger of all parties..." She repeated my words, and I continued, "as agreed to by the prior land owner, and the one before that."

In plain speech? Keep doing what you've been doing before I took over.

"We thank you for your invitation to continue conducting business here in Kuoh." Cime smiled, dismounting and giving her a bow, "As before, we find the conditions of this agreement, agreeable." He straightened up, and dusted off his hands, "Now to slightly newer business?"

Kunou looked up to me, and I nodded, and she in turn nodded to Cime. And just like that, the formal air dissolved, and she went to greet the horse while Cime and I got my parcel out of the saddlebags.

The rest of the school day passed as normal, though, as soon as the bell rang to signal the end of the day, I finished up the plate I was working on under the power hammer and switched to quieter work.

"This stuff is much heavier." Delly said, "But at least I can touch it without worry." She set down one of the smaller plates I'd done a little while ago, made of pure adamant.

Shinkage picked up a bit of it herself, "You're making replacement plates with this? Hmm, adapting to the new weight will be... bothersome."

"Heh, well at least you'll still have the nice slim figure." Delly teased, "Even though you won't be able to walk on some floors."

Shinkage tried to grab Delly, but she wasn't nearly tall enough to catch the flying fairy, "At least snacks don't go to my hips. Unlike you."

"Lilly and Welf." Ryuu commented, closing the crucible oven door for me after I grabbed the melting pot.

"Aren't they though." I chuckled, "Oh, Chime? Can you go be adorable by the door so Akeno doesn't walk in here while I'm pouring this? Thank you."

Chime vanished around the corner, and I heard a surprised but pleased, "Of course I'll pick you up." over the sound of hissing molten metal cooling in the ingot trough. "But if she thinks this will distract me, well..."

Akeno rounded the corner just as I finished, the potential danger of spattering metal gone. "I hear I have to thank you for putting the latest fragment away properly." I started, "Thank you Akeno."

She tried to pout, "You at least got some sleep after worrying us all to bits?"

"Thanks to the most handy fairy a girl can have on staff." I nodded, "Have a cookie while I wash up."

Yes, most of the rest of the day was spent handling 'social stuff'. Mostly a more personal version of 'yes I'm fine, honest, no really'. In the evening, we went to the Hyoudou house, and started to get back into training again. However, with my magic limited and my newer kitsune abilities basically off all together...

"Sensei!" Issei dropped his guard and rushed over to me, "I'm sorry, I..."

"No worries." I said, dusting myself off after getting punched across the room and into a wall, even after blocking properly. My armour and adventurer toughness made the trip more 'bruising' than anything, but I still only weighted a hundred odd kilograms with all my equipment on, and Issie was punching as hard as anyone I'd ever met, and was almost as fast as Kiba.

"You're still not able to use your other abilities?" He asked.

"I shouldn't. What ever Wukong did to me is weakening, but I'm sure everyone will be disappointed with me if I just break the limitation."

"That's right, Sensei." Rias said, "You'll just have to manage a little while longer." She gave Issei a pat on the head, "You're still improving." She smiled.

Unlike before, where his mind would wander off into a pink haze, he simply accepted the headpats and smiled, "Thank you, Rias."

"Well, I can't deny that you're getting better. But your form is still rough, no matter how much you boost, if your form is sloppy, then you'll be an easy victim to someone who is able to keep up. Like me, when I can use my magic properly again."

"Yes Sensei." He nodded, "Um... would you like to continue?"

"S..." I was about to agree, but I felt a tingle on my back, a small hand over my status, grabbing my attention with the lightest of touches, "Hm, seems I'll have to pass. Take a break, then try and get that last move past Ryuu. She'll correct your sloppy form." I made eye contact with Ryuu, letting her know why Issei was coming over to her, then said, "Clearing the field."

Alone in my room aside from Jiru (who was still the best moss ever), I took Hestia's card out from the stack of Tarot, and focused on it. Contact was swift, and Her smiling face, welcoming us home from the dungeon changed to a concerned one. She was sitting down in the nursery, Kei, our seventh child held against one of Her breasts. It filled me with joy to see any of my children, even though I still felt a tingle of guilt that my Goddess had to step in to help so... directly.

But just a tingle of guilt. She was after all, the best Goddess ever.

"Lady Hestia?" I said quietly, not wanting to disturb feeding time.

"There's been a little bit of a problem over here..." She said, looking unsure, "Ganesha sent word that there were some trespassers in the Zoo, near where the circle is set up."

I felt my heart turn to ice, "Was it..."

She shook her head, "No, they were just seen. No property damage or the like, and the Lamia and her children are still okay and all accounted for."

I sighed in relief, "Did anyone get a good look at the intruders?"

"No. But Ganesha says its safe to assume that someone knows about it now." She frowned, "Don't swear in front of the children."

I covered my mouth for a moment, then, "Ask Ganesha to do his best, and that I'll send the next bit of dungeon tomorrow evening." I sighed, "And..."

After dinner and before bed, I worked on one of my blank Tarot cards, carefully etching in a new picture.

NOTES

Uh oh, who might this picture be for?

Next episode, we are taking a trip back to Orario, for a little montage of 'what's been up' back on the home front.

Daeore on Ko-fi if you want to toss a coin to your writer.

Daeore on Inkitt, if you want to read my book, 'Were Too?'