Valeryia was glad she arrived when she did, that cavalry was quite aggressive. They seemed very determined to break her barrier once it was up. Though maybe it was them being upset they were denied killing the group? Didn't matter now though, they had found relative safety here. And weren't pursued either, though that was unsettling as it didn't make much sense to her. Still though, she rested for a bit before going around camp to patches of flora that caught her eye. That was the first order of business as she'd not pass up any opportunity to find something unique. Next would be meeting everyone, and at the same time being nosey with the men she initially assumed to be human. She could tell now that they instead were Yokai.
And at first all was going well enough. As so far, she'd found no flora that was really unique. But it still interested her nonetheless. Being able to document what grew here would still be fun. Then it took a turn for the worse when she was run into by the man who had been yelling earlier, the same man she'd ignored earlier assuming he'd just keep yelling from in front of his tent.
What a wrong assumption to make.
Now she was face down on the ground as she was bent over a bit when the man crashed into her. Along with the fact that she was not at all expecting to be run into. So could not brace her fall in any meaningful way. But in this somewhat compromising position, she could still hear him yelling and threatening a fight, so Valeryia did the only thing she could. Rolled onto her ass and faced the man brandishing his sword, spreading her wings a bit in readiness for whatever he decided to do next.
Though after a bit, the group managed to calm him down enough to make him lower his sword. And also seemed more focused on the group than her as she'd initially thought. Causing her to become a bit more relaxed and start getting back onto her feet, which was a bit of a process for her. Easily could've taken flight from her position to get back on her feet. But not only would that kick up dust and small debris that could annoy the group as a whole, but also possibly agitate the already upset swordsman as he might see her taking flight as a threat.
@FrogRFlowR@Rezod92 She did join the conversation as she struggled to stand up again. "The hornet has a point. Trying what you did on an island native isn't going to help." She quipped, having watched how she approached and attempted to deescalate the situation with seduction. It was somewhat comical.
What Gringor said bothered Takeshi more. "Is the half-naked man correct? Am I really the only survivor from the beach?" He asked them. "What about my father, Lord Hideo Oja? Did any of you see him? What about Lord Shigesato Rekka? Or his wife, Sakura? What exactly happened at the beach?"
Kerry would give Gringor a look that spoke "Not cool, dude". Seriously, his response had all the subtlety of a Minotaur in clay pottery shop.
"While yes, your forces did get trounced, I'm certain that you're not the only one who lived.", Kerry attempted to reassure the beleaguered man. "I'm sure that your friends saw how the battle was going and promptly evacuated the rest of the town to safety....right?"
To be honest, Kerry had only arrived at the tail end of the battle, so she had no way of knowing whether or not Takeshi's people had retreated, which is why she gave confirming look toward Shizuka to see if Takeshi really was the only sole survivor or not.
Getting another good look at the entire taskforce, Takeshi slowly realized something. "...You're no ragtag group of monsters looking for victims. You're an organized force." He deduced correctly. "Who exactly are you? Who sent you here?"
"An Inari by the name of Kyouko sent us here to investigate what's been going in Shizuyama and to help you if need be. And given to what we've just been through, you're gonna need ALL the help you can get, my guy."
Thankfully, Shizuka’s group was able to evade the bombardment and escape the beach without issue. He thought about chewing out Gringor for needlessly antagonizing the enemy forces, but now wasn’t the time for that. Having been protected by Atsuha’s barrier, they made their way to the forest on the outskirts of Sanjo.
Since several members of the taskforce can sense mana and smell, meeting up with Wyn’s group was also not too much of an issue. With the complete force now reunited, they made their way deeper into the forest. Fortunately the Varjans didn’t seem willing to follow them that far into the forest. This, however, only made Shizuka feel uneasy. Why stop the advance? They had taken the beach along with the surrounding area, the islanders were overrun and they could’ve easily cornered the taskforce. It didn’t make sense to him, but he chose not to ponder on it too much. Best to focus on the present rather than the future for right now.
Atsuha immediately saw that her little sister was being carried by Lunatea, who rushed over to her to explain what had happened. A look of worry and shock at first was worn on her face, but it eventually turned to relief and gratitude as she now saw that Hinami was peacefully resting. Indeed, the Jorōgumo was in Luna’s debt. She gained a new found respect and perhaps even kinship with the bunny girl. Shzka thought to console her, but thought it best to leave the sisters alone for right now.
After some time, Shizuka and the group decided to set up camp. Obviously they all needed a breather after the whole ordeal. Shizuka took a head count and made sure everyone was ok, requesting anyone who had healing magic to pinch in where needed. He had a tent prepared for Lord Takeshi, in which Atsuha placed him. Shizuka couldn’t sense any hostels within the vicinity, and apparently so could no one else. So, it seemed it was safe to make a fire. With some supplies they had from the ship, Nyla could perhaps prepare some food for everyone to restore their strength.
Gringor was taking watch, Skarskeek was tending to the fire, and Lunatea was doing her part in assisting with tent pitching. After he was done overseeing the setup, Shizuka decided to check on the other members. He had some words for certains ones in particular. However, he also noticed two new mamono had flown to their aid during the ordeal: A hornet and an owl girl from the looks of it. Kyōkō did mention that more members of the force who didn’t arrive on time may join them later on the island.
Shizuka made his way over to Wyndressa for a moment. Having put her in charge of the other taskforce group, he was glad that everyone was able to make it out of the village in one piece.
”Evening Wyn-san, hopefully you’re holding up pretty well.” He pauses for a moment, as if thinking. ”I’m aware I put you on the spot back there, suddenly splitting the team in two then putting you in charge. It was a split second decision, but you definitely proved that I made the right choice. Good work out there. At any rate, I’m going to check on the others, keep an eye out for anything suspicious you hear?”
Shortly after, the swordsman made his way over to Lunatea and Skarsneek who were sitting by the fire, the former of course sitting in a way that revealed her undergarments. Sigh, mamono and their antics. He also took notice of Nyla cooking, who purposely swayed her hips in a seductive manner. The seduction seemed to have gotten even to Luna, who was staring at her posterior as if in a trance. Shizuka was about to speak to snap her out of it, but before he could something overtook him.
”No! My warrior spirit will shine like the rising sun before dawn!”
The swordsman was covered in a cold sweat, his hand was clenched in a trembling fist, and he was breathing heavily. He then quickly saw that everyone was shooting him a look. He wiped the sweat off of him and cleared his throat.
”So…Luna-chan. I understand that it was you who put the talisman back onto Hinami when she went berserk. You also made sure she was safe until you reunited with our group. In addition to having Atsuha-san’s gratitude, you have mine as well.” He made sure to only stare at Luna's face as he spoke.
He then turned to Skarsneek. ”Skars-kun, I also congratulate you on a job well done. Although, I heard a rather serious wound was inflicted upon you. Atsuha-san was especially worried, but thanks to your tough hide you appear to be fine.”
A sweatdrop appeared on his head and he scratched his cheeks nervously. ”Also, uh, pay no mind to my earlier outburst. I’m…just a little tired is all, hehe…”
His attention was again averted when Takeshi revealed himself to be awake, understandably cautious of his situation. He quickly saw that the others were beginning to diffuse the situation, including the two newcomers.
”Alright everyone, relax. Give the man some air.” Shizuka said, as walked toward Takeshi. He walked until they were at arm's length of each other.
”As she stated, we are a task force sent here by Kyōkō-sama to aid Shizuyama in its fight against the Varjan forces. My name is Kannazuki Shizuka, the leader of said force. As for the other island defenders, I had urged them to retreat and live to fight another day. I don’t know if they took head to my plea and I am unsure of the fate of the individuals you mentioned. All except for one.
He then placed a hand on Takeshi’s shoulder ”The defenders informed me that your father, Lord Hideo, was captured by Varjan soldiers. So, for now, it at least seems that he is still alive. You have my word that we’ll do our utmost to rescue him and take back the island. I understand you and your people’s relationship with monsters, but please understand that the one’s here are trustworthy and are here to help. They just got done risking their lives to save the nearby villagers! I understand your feelings, believe me. But, for right now, get some rest for tonight and will think of a plan of attack in the morning. Or if you’re feeling hungry you could join us for some dinner.”
Letting go of Takeshi’s shoulder, he then turned to Gringor and Tomi. ”As for the two of you, perhaps instead of engaging in senseless banter, you could stand to read the room a little more. Tomi, don’t think I forgot how you flew off and ignored orders. You certainly took out your fair share of soldiers and aided your allies, but such recklessness can have dire consequences on the battlefield. And you, Gringor, I saw the way you taunted the Varjan troops during our retreat. What would you have done if your actions further endangered the lives of your comrades? I understand wanting to take the piss toward your enemies, believe me I’ve been there, but there’s a time and place for everything. That goes for both of you.”
Finally, he turned toward the two newcomers. The Hornet Kerry Meros and the Owl Mage, Valeriya Harjula.
”I remember Kyōkō-sama saying something about contacting allies other than the ones on the beach. Lucky too, as I heard you saved the others during the retreat. You have my gratitude. If you need to catch up on the current situation, just give me a shout. Otherwise, Nyla should be done preparing our food soon enough.”
After a successful retreat, and camp set up, Wyndressa sat back with a nice skin 'o booze and took in the banter. She watched the flame as she listened. She had almost forgotten about Hilda, now that she thought about it. But, with the situation having gone haywire, breaking off to do some digging was nothing short of suicide.
For now, she took her attention to the two newcomers. "I'm Wyn. Thanks for savin' our arses back there!" She said to the Owl Mage, before she took off to pick flowers, or something.
Shizuka made his way over to Wyndressa for a moment. Having put her in charge of the other taskforce group, he was glad that everyone was able to make it out of the village in one piece.
”Evening Wyn-san, hopefully you’re holding up pretty well.” He pauses for a moment, as if thinking. ”I’m aware I put you on the spot back there, suddenly splitting the team in two then putting you in charge. It was a split second decision, but you definitely proved that I made the right choice. Good work out there. At any rate, I’m going to check on the others, keep an eye out for anything suspicious you hear?”
She looked up from her booze and nodded. "Aye, nothin' to it! Everybody practically worked on their own. So, all we had to do was take heads 'n give them villagers some breathin' room!"
”No! My warrior spirit will shine like the rising sun before dawn!”
The swordsman was covered in a cold sweat, his hand was clenching in a trembling fist, and he was breathing heavily. He then quickly saw that everyone was shooting him a look. He wiped the sweat off of him and cleared his throat.
Wyn couldn't help sensing the Shoggoth's mana working. Between Shizuka's sudden "headache" and the bunny staring at her ass; a thought to cast The Brand on her surfaced. Buuut, between being tired from using so much magic without actually drinking any blood to recharge, and the fact they just dodged a harrowing situation; it was best to let that thought slide by.
Instead...
"Oi, Shoggoth!" Wyn addressed Nyla. "You wanna cut that out, before I do?"
Then, when the guy Atsuha dragged back came barreling out of his tent, babbling and swinging his sword about; Wyn couldn't help but laugh between sips...
"Hm, hope I didn't look like that, back at the docks..." She realized.
Still, when he calmed down and explained his situation; Wyn's mind worked out the beginnings of a plan. Perhaps she ought to approach this guy about killing two birds with one stone later.
Shizuka’s “condition” certainly caught Lunatea’s attention, enough to halt her work on the tents. She looked at his direction, still bent over, raising an eyebrow as she did.
What did he just yell again?
Before she could ask whether he was okay or not, however, he came up to her, thanking her for helping the jiangshi.
“You don’t have to thank me.” She straightened herself, finally covering her panties from his sight. “I’m just doing my job as part of this taskforce.” She wasn’t being humble. She really didn’t think she had done something impressive worthy of praise.
The moment Tomi rested her arm on the rabbit girl's shoulder, Lunatea responded with a glare. Who was she to just casually lean on her like that?! And when she patted her on the head, that glare only intensified.
Still, the rabbit girl didn’t say anything. She was still too tired to enter into an argument with anyone. Especially against yet another seductive monster girl like her. Really, why would she be flirting with the scared and confused man? She knew how much monsters, or youkai, as the locals dubbed them, were hated here.
She did break a smile when Kerry and Valeryia called her out on it though.
The two newcomers to their little taskforce. Now she remembered. They did say there would be more joining them on the island itself.
Lucky they got wings to fly. She had to take a boat to get here.
Soon after, Samael came to her, demanding for them to stay together. Lunatea quickly switched her frown to a smile, patting him on the head as she bent over to be on his eye level.
“Yes, we can do that. Though, I wonder. Why are you here if you cannot fight? I can’t defend you all the time, you know.”
She didn’t mean anything bad by her harsh words. It was simply the truth. She was not some super nanny that could keep him safe while defeating her enemies at the same time. She was just a humble scholar.
Returning her attention back to the half-naked man, she decided to just let Shizuka and the others handle him. Unless they wanted her to hypnotize him, that is.
It was being fairly noisy, outside wasn't it? Nyla had made sure to make certain there was enough cooked food for others (The non eldritch kind) and she was also tending to Kasseros. She had him currently tied up, bound, and gagged in a tent off to the side to make certain he couldn't get away. She had only been feeding him Shogcakes up until now, certain they'd at least have some effect thanks to her hospitality. After all, how could someone actually want to hate such a dutiful maid as herself.
So she'd leave the tent, sliding over to the source of the commotion.
Ah, that nobleman had woken up had he?
Well might as well say hello.
Nyla would appear close to Kannazuki, having quietly squished over to the group.
"I'm...not quite sure what you mean, Miss Wyn. I have been attending to our prisoner." A questionably demure smile would spread across her dusky face as she'd respond. Well, she certainly had some idea what she might be referring to, but that was just a natural reaction after all. Her cakes were good, and it was clearly fine for others to desire them. "But If I may suggest, I could look after our guest here. I am trained for such activities after all...though that means someone would have to check on Kasseros. I suppose it would be whatever master Kannazuki wishes me to do. I could interrogate him instead easily..."
When the Oja freed himself, Tomi smiled then laughed as she propped herself back up, raising both hands at shoulder height and playfully answered Kerry as well as Valeryia who had just joined in;
"Alright, alright. It was only a tease, after all - as if I would mate with this poor, terrified human. What has the world come to when even other Mamonos can't recognize a bit of jest." Tomi added, tragically bringing a hand to her cheek in a sarcastic manner.
"The hornet has a point. Trying what you did on an island native isn't going to help."
"I'm sure you'd rather I had tried it on you." she added, whipping the air with her tail in the Hornet's direction.
If the Rabbit Girl believed Tomi didn't see her smirk, she would be mistaken. But she was already tired of all these interactions and decided to cut the legged meal some slack. Despite Lunetea best effort to seem indifferent, Tomi knew that with that magical clothing of hers, both her and the Dragon were on a similar personal mission of finding a worthy partner.
Tomi was famished by now, having been awoken from her earlier nap. There was no way she would fly off to hunt her own meal and since the man was not an option she thought about that Shoggoth from earlier. She was talking about cakes awfully often, maybe now was the time to inquire about them. But her train of thoughts were cut short when Shizuka arrived. Tomi smiled and attempted to slip away when he addressed the others, but was quickly stopped.
”As for the two of you, perhaps instead of engaging in senseless banter, you could stand to read the room a little more. Tomi, don’t think I forgot how you flew off and ignored orders. You certainly took out your fair share of soldiers and aided your allies, but such recklessness can have dire consequences on the battlefield.
"Oh come on - no one was hurt, right? Well, apart from Varjans... and as far as this human go; We are -" she said, but quickly whispered to herself "...or at least I am... - Mamonos!" she sheepishly walked towards him with pitiful eyes.
"Would you rather I go against my very own nature, Shizuka-sama? Would you rather I waste away?"
...To which Shizuka only stared with very, very apparent judgement at Tomi before turning to the Owl and Hornet and addressing them. Defeated, Tomi looked down and sighed.
"Maybe I should have stayed in my lair... I wonder how my treasure's doing?" she said to herself while walking towards Nyla's tent.
A few seconds later, a sad looking and defeated Tomi would be entering the Shoggoth's tent. "Nylaaaa..." she lamented "Shizuka went at it again, can you believe -" but there was no one here. Indeed, for in Tomi's flustered state she missed the Shoggoth joining the group back outside. Curious, the dragon walked in slowly at first, but curiously looking around. There were plenty of clothing, mostly of the Maid variety. There was also a lot of books, one of which caught her eye; a book on relationships between Humans and Mamonos - what a find ! Not only that, be Tomi also seemed to spot one of the infamous pastries on a nearby table. Hungry, and thinking 'What the hell, how bad can it be' she sat down and snacked on the Cake while reading the book. Her dragon superiority complex seemed to give her no qualms about 'renting' someone else's space to the extent where she also probably planned on resuming her nap right here after the snack would be done.
Shizuka had explained to the team that the voyage would take roughly two days, as per the captain. Once they reached shore, they would head to the rendezvous point and survey the situation at Sango Port. Nyla had already explained that each of the taskforce members would have their own cabin aboard the ship, save for the Hangai sisters. Atsuha had oddly insisted that she share a room with her younger sibling. After the briefing the members were free to head to their rooms or roam about as they pleased, Shizuka went to his cabin to put up his weapon and to review some documents in regards to the situation in Shizuyama.
After shifting through a few papers he noticed a plate covered with a fancy top, which he recognized as belonging to Kyōko's house. At that point, he remembered that Nyla had left each person a piece of her cake as a form of courtesy. A peculiar sense of nervousness had begun descending upon him; 'Should I even bother opening it?' He thought. After debating it for a moment, he decided to at least take a gander at the food.
After removing the top, he blinked for a brief second. The item had the basic shape that you'd expect from a typical slice of cake, however, it had some distinct differences. For starters, the texture just didn't seem quite right. It was slimy and purplish in appearance, much like her actually. It had an extremely pleasant and sweet aroma to it, like it just came right out of the oven. Although, Shizuka had doubts that it was even made using an oven. When he thought about how Nyla actually concocted the confection, it made him even more uncomfortable. He felt that not eating it, or even sampling it was a wise decision. It's not like he was hungry away! He quickly placed the lid back on the plate and left it where it was.
However, his unease did not subside. In fact, it actually got worse. He soon realized why; the true source of his anxiety was fast approaching the door to his cabin. He didn't notice sooner due to being too focused on the 'cake'. Shizuka was a man who faced death more times in one day than most did in a lifetime, but after hearing a gentle knock on his door his heart nearly jumped out of his chest!
Shizuka tried his best to gather himself, the sweat started to roll down his face and his eyes were like cornered prey with its back against the wall. "Uhh...yes? C-Come in.." He weakly stuttered. He realized only too late the mistake he made by uttering that statement…
After watching her Mistress disappear over the Horizon, Nyla got to doing her rounds. Making sure if everyone on board was comfortable and had no special requests she could take care of. She did remember Hinami's request for more cake, so she had made a mental note to make sure to deliver a fresh batch to her later.
For now, though, she was approaching master Kannazuki's cabin.
"Greetings, Master Kannazuki." The maid would slide into the room, head bowed with a smile as she'd greet. "Forgive the intrusion, I simply was making rounds and making sure no one had any...special requests I could fill." She'd lift her head, folding her hands in front of her in typical demure maid fashion. "...hm? Whatever is the matter? Your mind seems elsewhere, Master. Ah, I knew it. You are sick or something aren't you? You were spacing out earlier, too." She hadn't immediately noticed the cake at least, but now she seemed concerned that he was unwell in some fashion.
"Uh...Good Evening, Nyla..." Shizuka barely got out. Much to etiquette, their employer's maid greeted the swordsman with a bow, stating that she was making her rounds and checking on each of the passengers. However, it quickly became apparent that she may have had another agenda in mind.
Nyla-san, I assure you that I'm quite fine. I was simply going over some documents in regards to the situation in Shizuyama." Shizuka would have to do better than that, he's dealing with a mamono after all! They're not known for taking no for an answer.
"Your dutifulness and concern is greatly appreciated, more than you may know. But in terms of my health, I feel great. I certainly can't lead the taskforce into battle while under the weather!" He hoped that maintaining a positive tone and steadying his speech would help stay her. The beads of sweat rolling down his face and his quick breaths weren't helping though...
"Perhaps one of the other members would more benefit from your assistance?"
"Hmm..." Nyla would frown slightly as Kannazuki responded, though it was difficult to tell what exactly she was thinking. Her eyes studied him quietly for a few seconds, taking notice of his manner of breath and sweat....but her eyes would eventually fall upon the seemingly unopened and untouched cake. The Shoggoth would immediately huff, clicking her tongue lightly. A tentacle would reach over, pulling the lid off the cloche and revealing the untouched cake underneath.
"Master Kannazuki lying about your health will only make things worse." She'd respond in her usual respectful, polite fashion though there was a bit of forcefulness to her words now. "Obviously you seem to lack an appetite, as well as seem to be running a fever like I assumed earlier. It would be prudent to attend to whatever ails you sooner rather than later. Now if you'll allow me to examine you...tsk tsk, I don't have the time to change into my nurse uniform..." A slimy tendril would wrap around Kannazuki's leg, and a second would quickly wrap around his waist as she'd attempt to pull his clothes off.
Much to his fears, the earlier spiel didn't work (probably due to the untouched cake and sweating). Immediately following Nyla's declaration of giving him a check-up, Shizuka found himself being wrapped up by a few tentacles. He felt his clothes suddenly being forcefully taken off. He had to admit, this certainly wasn't how he envisioned his night to go...
"Gaah! Nyla, please wait! I'm sweating because, you see, it's actually rather stuffy in here! The ship had more insulation than I initially realized." He said as he struggled to break free, and keep his clothes on. "As for why I hadn't eaten the cake, I was actually about to turn in for the night in just a little while after I finished looking at all the paperwork! It isn't healthy to eat right before bed, wouldn't you agree?" He saw that he situation was getting worse by the second. Well, they say that desperate times call for desperate measures. But, he'd rather it not come to that.
"As for the cake, I promise that I'll eat it first thing tomorrow right before we arrive on shore! Besides, I've eaten plenty today as it is! Just please, enough with the tendrils!" In case his pleas didn't work, Shizuka started to channel a bit of chi into his hand. Hopefully, the force of the shockwave he'd unleash would be enough to only break him free should things take a worse turn...
"Master Kannazuki," She'd say, seeming none to pleased by his protests. Stuffy in here? Well, it was quite warm and pleasant to her, though perhaps that was just her nature as a slime or some such desiring more warm environment. Well, regardless she was fairly certain he was lying about all of this. Why else wouldn't he eat the cake? Unless...he didn't...like it. The thought alone made Nyla redouble her efforts. "Hm...no, very well if its that hot in here, then fresh air should be prudent, correct? Sleeping in such conditions will only make your health worse so we can get some fresh air out on deck-ah..."
Of course, she hadn't been holding to him tight enough to resist such a release of energy. She hadn't expected such fervent resistance. If nothing else it made her pause for a moment to re-evaluate.
"...Master Kannazuki, you realize I am just concerned for your well being, yes?" She'd state, now standing between the human and the door. Her words were calm and they certainly made sense, but the general vibe she was giving off was of someone not having any of whatever nonsense he was saying. "Now, either you can hold still and let me thoroughly examine you for any signs of illness or you can eat part of the cake to convince me otherwise. I assure you, it is perfectly safe, or do you mean to tell me you do not trust Mistress Kyouko's loyal servant who would never do anything to harm any human on this mission?"
This seemed to be a very much 'final warning' statement before she got more forceful.
Thankfully, his gust blast was able to free him from Nyla's tendrils, and it didn't cause any damage to the rooms or injury to her to boot. However, it did little if anything at all, to deter her advance to 'examine' his body for sickness. At this point she offered him an ultimatum: either eat some of the cake or either spend the rest of the night being pinned down for a full body physical. Shit, he said silently in his mind. Why is this happening? Although, given his situation, he couldn't be too surprised. What did he honestly expect with a boat full of monstrous supernatural entities with such an infamous reputation Well, at any rate, this had to end one way or the other. One of Shizuka's most important lessons he had to learn in his life is that sometimes, you just had to bite the bullet.
He sighed for a moment, then adopted an expression that said, 'why the hell not', and picked up the fork that was next to the plate. Using it, he cut a piece of the cake large enough to where it should satisfy the maid. He did his best to keep his hand from shaking; he slowly brought the piece to his mouth and then began to chew. He noted the sweet, flavorful taste it had and how the texture was nearly flawless. It was, of course, never the taste that he was worried about. After a few more chews, he gulped it down.
"There. As you can see Nyla, I'm perfectly fine. Now, have you any further concerns for tonight? If not, I'd need to make sure all information is reviewed for our dock at the destination point."
Little did the poor swordsman know that a little later on, he start feeling strange sensations swelling up inside of him…
"Ah...you ate it~" Nyla's mouth would contort into a decidedly off-putting smile as she'd seem to visibly relax after Kannazuki ate part of the cake. "Fufu, well, I suppose I should apologize for being clearly in the wrong here, Master Kannazuki. I suppose I am still working on the whole...'don't be overbearing part' Mistress Kyouko-sama has been telling me..." She'd sigh, regaining her composure as she'd offer the young human a bow. "Well then, seeing that my services are not needed here, I should find lady Hinami. She was quite enthralled by my baking skills and I wouldn't want to disappoint If you have need of a little something else later...hehe, I'll find you~" That probably was not the most comforting thing to come out of her mouth this entire evening.
The maid would thus, proceed to leave the room and Master Kannazuki.
Having finally de-escalated the situation, Shizuka calmly watched as Nyla left the room. Good thing, too, as he was slowly starting to lose himself to the side effects of her dessert item. When humans ate food filled with monstrous energy, they themselves filled with monstrous thoughts. The swordsman's heart started pounding fiercely, and he felt his pants getting tighter. He began to be filled with lascivious thoughts involving the maid who just left his cabin. He broke into a cold sweat as he feel to the floor on both knees, struggling to resist the carnal feeling welling up inside of him.
But, Shizuka wasn't an ordinary human, he was trained in how to utilize his chi and various meditation techniques. He calmed himself and began to focus his energy, as his body would digest the physical aspect of the food, his chi would filter out the demonic energy until it fully dissipated. It seemed to be working so far, the thoughts that started to take him over were now fading, and the tight feeling down below started to fade.
The warrior shuddered to think what would've happened if he ate the entire cake, however...
"Kyōko-sama, I didn't sign up for this..." He uttered weakly.
He then turned to Skarsneek. ”Skars-kun, I also congratulate you on a job well done. Although, I heard a rather serious wound was inflicted upon you. Atsuha-san was especially worried, but thanks to your tough hide you appear to be fine.”
"Yea, I was lucky." He waved his hand and touched the bruise gently. Inwardly, however, he felt a burning annoyance as to him being hit in the first place. While no fighter, he prided himself on being able to dodge well or protect himself.
Well, this certainly woke him up. Looks like he has plenty of things that still need to get to work.
A single eye twitched towards the high orc and saw the brief cut. It was all but nearly healed save for the tiniest of scab and was certain that whatever that even managed to do that, would've done worse if he took that to the chest.
Sticking another stick to feed the flame, Skarsneek turned that annoyance into a much more malicious intent. At least there wasn't a shortage of acceptable targets for him to vent that anger.
Though it'll be a tough ordeal.
"And you, Gringor, I saw the way you taunted the Varjan troops during our retreat. What would you have done if your actions further endangered the lives of your comrades? I understand wanting to take the piss toward your enemies, believe me I’ve been there, but there’s a time and place for everything. That goes for both of you.”
Hmph. Gringor quietly brushed that admonishment away. What was the Varjan going to do at that point, throw more rocks at them?
But enough of that, there was a fight still to be attended to.
Getting another good look at the entire taskforce, Takeshi slowly realized something. "...You're no ragtag group of monsters looking for victims. You're an organized force." He deduced correctly. "Who exactly are you? Who sent you here?"
"Are there more of your tribe?" Gringor addressed Takeshi brushing the question aside, he came here on a whim anyways and would've fought the local monster girls if Kyouko hadn't hired him to do it to the Varjans instead. So he'll do what he do best. "If we rally what's left, and get more, we can have another go at them."
After having Hinami returned to her, Atsuha held her tightly in her arms. She looked with sober, yet relieved eyes. Hinami seemed to be fine all things considered, she was sound asleep and her chi flow was normal. Atusha gently ran her hand down the side of Hinami’s head, since she was an undead she felt cold to the touch. That wasn’t anything Atsuha wasn’t used to though, she was just happy to have her sister back.
While setting up camp, Atsuha had placed Takeshi inside of his own private tent as per Shizuka’s request. After one was made for her and Hinami, she placed her sister there to rest and stayed with her for a little while. She was still worried somewhat with her condition; thankfully she had a spare talisman with her for just such an occasion. However, what was to stop it from happening again? She could make more ofuda, but the risk of having her sister enter into her form was too great. She needed to think of a more effective method for the coming battles. She had to admit, this wasn’t quite what she signed up for. Certainly didn’t expect to be fighting in what amounts to a full scale war! But, it was too late to back out now and it’s not like they had any way of leaving the island regardless.
At that moment, a thought had occurred in Atsuha’s mind. She never actually tried this before, but it was worth a shot. Anything to protect the most important person to her.
Placing her hand over the ofuda, she muttered some type of strange incantation. As she did, the talisman began to emit a bright red glow. It then became more and more transparent until only the characters that were printed on it were visible, which still maintained a red aura. The characters then began to circle around Hinami’s head for a bit until they seamlessly flowed onto her forehead, forming a tattoo of sorts. The glow eventually then vanished.
There, that should do it, she thought. As opposed to relying on a flimsy piece of paper, this should be a much more reliable method. At least, she hoped. This was still untested, and its strength depended heavily on the balance state of her sister’s chi. She would just have to monitor her sister more closely in the coming days. A person’s chi is intertwined with their emotional state, if Hinami’s temperament got too out of control then -
”Mmph” It seemed that Hinami was stirred out of her slumber. ”Nee-san?” She sat up and yawned, wiping her eyes with her wrist. She looked around for a moment, quickly realized that she was no longer on the battlefield.
”Nee-san. Why are we in this tent for? I-I remember being on the battlefield, I was fighting. Those Varjans, they…they killed all those people. It…it made me angry. I was fighting an archer, then after that, everything got hazy. Aah!” She held her head, the characters began to glow a bit.
Atsuha quickly held her sister to ease her distress. ”Everything’s ok now nee-chan! We were able to evade the enemy soldiers and made our way into this forest. Thanks to you, some of the villagers were able to escape as well. So, please, don’t worry about anything right now. Get some rest, Hinami-chan.”
”Atsuha-san…thank you.” The glowing stopped and Hinami had settled down. She then laid back down, and appeared to have fallen asleep as quickly as she had awoken.
Placing another gentle hand on her sister’s forehead, Atsuha looked her over. Her face still showing a bit of concern and soberness. Hinami’s in no condition to be back on the battlefield, she thought. She decided it would be best to keep her out of the field for right now so she could properly monitor her condition until she was sure it was stable. Would probably be best to make the request to Kannazuki. As she began walking out of the tent, she looked back at her younger sibling once more before heading out.
Hinami seemingly turned over in her sleep, now on her side. However, she was actually quite awake and had a few tears dripping from eyes. ”Nee-san. Why…do I taste…blood?”
She saw Skarsneek sitting by the fire, and blushed a bit. She thought about spending a bit of time with him, but right now her main concern was her sister. She made a note to come to him later, however, and check on the wound he received in the earlier skirmish. Thoughts sbout what happened on the voyage still fill her head
Making her way over to Shizuka, she noticed there appeared to be some sort of commotion. She then saw that the man she rescued, Takeshi Oja, had awoken. He, understandably, was quite flushered upon discovering he was in the company of various yōkai. She then remembered his delirious words from the beach.
”Oja-kun, I’m glad to see you’re alright. You probably don’t remember, but I’m the one who saved you on the beach earlier. You gave me quite the scare, I must say. Covered in wounds and arrows with that broken armor. Thankfully my magic saw you through. My name is Hangai Atsuha, by the way. Why not calm down a bit and join us for a late dinner?” She said as she clasped her hands at her waist, similar to how Nyla usually does.
She may have carelessly forgotten, or perhaps it simply didn't occurred to her, but deciding to bring herself around the group of monsters may lead to some interesting...complications. Monsters can sense when someone has had 'relations' with another. They might have some questions for the spider and the goblin later on...
The other yokai chastised the golden Dragon for teasing him, which confused Takeshi a bit. Weren't yokai supposed to be salacious creatures eager to devour men? These ones appear to be behaving more civilly than he expected. The Dragon sulked into a tent for being rebuffed, and Takeshi felt a little sorry for the girl. Hold on a moment, was he really going to sympathize with a yokai that made a move on him?
"An Inari by the name of Kyouko sent us here to investigate what's been going in Shizuyama and to help you if need be. And given to what we've just been through, you're gonna need ALL the help you can get, my guy."
”As she stated, we are a task force sent here by Kyōkō-sama to aid Shizuyama in its fight against the Varjan forces. My name is Kannazuki Shizuka, the leader of said force. As for the other island defenders, I had urged them to retreat and live to fight another day. I don’t know if they took head to my plea and I am unsure of the fate of the individuals you mentioned. All except for one.
So an Inari yokai by the name of Lady Kyouko was the one behind this... taskforce. What could she possibly get out of helping Shizuyama? Well, the answer was clear as day. If aided by the yokai, Shizuyama will have no choice but to be friendly to the creatures. The plan was so simple, easily spotted. It was almost an insult to even try this tactic against Shizuyama.
But... things have changed. Everyone in the beach knew there was no stopping the Varjans, everyone knew Shizuyama was lost when the shinobi informed them of the large fleet coming to conquer the island. Regrettably, Takeshi admitted that the Hornet was right. If the island wanted to fight off the invasion, then they were going to need plenty of help. Even from the yokai. But the young Oja was not going to say that out loud and give satisfaction to this taskforce.
The man, who called himself Shizuka, also said that there could be a force that also fled from the beach landings thanks to his urging. But even with the survivors, they will not be enough to stem the Varjan tide. Unless, as previously stated, yokai also came to help. More importantly, however, how did Shizuka convince them to disobey his father's orders and follow yokai advice? Takeshi sensed deceit.
”The defenders informed me that your father, Lord Hideo, was captured by Varjan soldiers. So, for now, it at least seems that he is still alive. You have my word that we’ll do our utmost to rescue him and take back the island. I understand you and your people’s relationship with monsters, but please understand that the one’s here are trustworthy and are here to help. They just got done risking their lives to save the nearby villagers! I understand your feelings, believe me. But, for right now, get some rest for tonight and will think of a plan of attack in the morning. Or if you’re feeling hungry you could join us for some dinner.”
As if Shizuka was reading his mind, the swordsman tried to assure Takeshi that he and the yokai were here to help. The young Oja was skeptical, this could all be a ploy to switch Shizuyama's stance on yokai. But they did rescue him and according to Shizuka, also saved the villagers of Sanjo Town. Whether they were genuine or not, Takeshi was indebted to them now.
But that was a side thought, Takeshi was more fixated at his father's capture. "My father's alive? Where did they take him?" Takeshi demanded from the azure swordsman but the latter did not know. Only that he was captured during the beach landings. Takeshi would breath a sigh of relief for his father being alive, if not for him being a prisoner and all. Still, Lord Oja's survival gave his son hope that maybe, just maybe, everything can be restored.
His thoughts were broken when a Shoggoth slithered to Shizuka's side to inform him of some things. Her mere presence gave him shivers, and more reason to distrust the azure swordsman. If they were together, and it looked like they did, then Shizuka may not be entirely in control of himself. He scooched himself away to address the other members of the taskforce.
"Are there more of your tribe? If we rally what's left, and get more, we can have another go at them."
"We'll need far more than that if we want to fight off the Varjans, half-naked man." Takeshi replied. The young Oja believed Gringor to be human, but he had a sinking feeling that there was more to this barbarian than meets the eye. "But... I do know some people. People I didn't see with us when the Varjans arrived in Sanjo. I have no idea why they couldn't make it or where they could be right now, but it is possible that they're all still alive." He continued. "...I hope they're alive."
”Oja-kun, I’m glad to see you’re alright. You probably don’t remember, but I’m the one who saved you on the beach earlier. You gave me quite the scare, I must say. Covered in wounds and arrows with that broken armor. Thankfully my magic saw you through. My name is Hangai Atsuha, by the way. Why not calm down a bit and join us for a late dinner?”
Takeshi's brows raised upon meeting the Jurou-gomo yokai, who claimed that she was the one that rescued him in the beach and healed his wounds. Her appearance was fearsome, even by the standards of her species, but Takeshi found himself a bit enchanted anyway. And his memories did somewhat recall a beautiful face similar to Atsuha's back when he was nearly dead. He supposed that was her.
"You... have my deepest gratitudes then, Hangai-san." Takeshi formally bowed at the spider yokai. "I suppose... I'll have dinner then." He can't believe what he just said. Was he really going to break bread with yokai? Sure, they saved him and ready to help Shizuyama and all but wasn't he going against everything he was taught his entire life? Well, it can't be helped. It wasn't like he could just whip out his sword and start attacking his saviors. "I-I'll be over there if any of you need me."
Takeshi's inner conflicts made him awkward in talking to the taskforce. Finding a spot a bit outside the center of the camp, he had decided to sit near the drinking Wyndressa. "...It is strange to see a human woman amongst a group of yokai." He remarked, assuming incorrectly about the white-haired hybrid.
@FrogRFlowR Valeryia smirked at the dragon's remark about trying her seduction on her. "Is that a promise?" She asked in a bit of a seductive voice. She knew what the dragon was going for. But it didn't hurt to still put the invitation out there.
@Hammerman@Dark Cloud But now that it seemed like the commotion caused by the Oja-clan noble had died down, and the noble himself was more relaxed than just moments ago. She sought to go around and introduce herself since now seemed as good a time as any. Plus maybe it was better to introduce herself first. Then go looking at plants. And since she already met Kerry on the way over, her first choice was the bunny. Because not only did she sense that she was a caster of some sort, but as a bonus she'd also get to meet one of the male monsters since he was near her.
Win-win in her book.
Upon getting closer to the pair, she spoke in a pleasant tone. "Hello, my name is Valeryia Harjula. Its a pleasure to finally get to speak with you since I know my appearance earlier was not ideal for greetings." And now that she was closer to the pair, she noted how cute they both were. Which had compelled her to hold them in her wings, but restrained herself from doing so. For now at least,
Takeshi's inner conflicts made him awkward in talking to the taskforce. Finding a spot a bit outside the center of the camp, he had decided to sit near the drinking Wyndressa. "...It is strange to see a human woman amongst a group of yokai." He remarked, assuming incorrectly about the white-haired hybrid.
Finally, a good laugh. It'd been far too long, what with all the fighting and village rescuing and dealing with that horde of joyless cunts. "Oh, sure. Let's go wit' dat!" She covered her chuckle with another swig. It'd take much longer for Wyn to get drunk on this stuff. But, it helped take the edge of, little by little.
"So, what's wit' dis place, anyways? Why all da isolation? Ye know ye'd have an easier time with those Varjan focks if ye' had friends. If ye' catch me drift?"
@Slypheed Valeriya's introduction took the wererabbit by surprise. She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings as she was busy talking with Samael.
"Oh, hello." She replied coolly. It wasn't in her nature to add a smile to her greetings. "Yes, that was… quite the unfortunate timing for our first meeting."
"Thank you, by the way, for your aid. Without your help, we might have retained some casualties back there. My name is Lunatea Vern Farnsworth. Pleased to meet you, Miss Valeriya."
She put one hand on her chest and gave a bow, flashing her panties to anyone looking at her behind, as usual.
She then gave a good look at the owl lady. Hmm, that's an unusual amount of fur for a monster in this era. Normally, a monster girl will show more skin than fur, with the latter just being there to cover up their naughty bits. She supposed she simply hadn't encountered enough monster species to give her judgment. Like she said multiple times to herself, she was an anthropologist, not a biologist.
"Please, do not be alarmed by his presence." She placed a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Yes, he is a male monster. And yes, that is not supposed to be possible, unless he's an incubus, which he clearly isn't. But he's not some freak of nature. He's a perfectly good natured person."
"Please, do not be alarmed by his presence." She placed a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Yes, he is a male monster. And yes, that is not supposed to be possible, unless he's an incubus, which he clearly isn't. But he's not some freak of nature. He's a perfectly good natured person."
"Speaking of which...", Kerry announced, deciding that now seemed like a good time to talk about it. "Is anyone else here floored by the fact that there are FOUR male monsters here? I'm still trying to make sense of what I'm seeing. The Great Change made every monster on land, sea or air female. How did you guys avoid it? Just you four existing has world-changing implications if either the Order or Demon Lord catches wind of you. Hell, the Order, and by extension the Varjans, might just try to kill you to prove a point, perhaps on some belief that the Demon Lord isn't all-powerful or some stupid shit like that."
"Eh, got me, I was born this way." Skarsneek shrugged his shoulders at that question, cats out of the bag anyway at this point. "Nothing too special, Dad's a retired fighter and mom's an innkeeper. Maybe the Chief God order had a sense of humor, and decided to make male monsters as a middle finger to the Demon Lord."
"But either way, I doubt the Varjans can tell the difference between me and a regular goblin. They'll kill me on principle alone." Skarsneek then glanced to the sides, thinking he really need to get back into practicing in fooling others thinking he was a female goblin. Most of the Red Hill never even knew he was a male aside from his family.
Maybe they knew but didn't care? He had a brief thought on that before shrugging. It might be possible, they're goblins.
As to others wanting them to study? Well, he's always on the move so they hadn't really pinned him down just yet.
"Hey, how a lug like you avoid getting caught?" Skarsneek directed his attention to Gringor, disliking the orc on principal but also looking for a chance to find more information. "You look like you'll fall for the old sleep-slattered meat in the middle of a road and an obvious rope trap."
"I'm fast." Gringor irritably replied at that, having a feeling that the annoying goblin would continue to needle him over everything if he kept quiet and since he can't outright bash Skarsneek noggin in, he'll go with the option that gave him less of a headache. "Some hunters from Demon Lord, some human warriors, and one hero. I beat them all and make them part of my tribe."
"You lead your own tribe?" Skarsneek eyebrows rose at that, he had assumed Gringor just ran away and remain alone. Something that was dispelled with a huff from Gringor.
"Of course, unlike goblin."
That struck a nerve in Skarsneek but if Gringor noticed, he didn't care.
"Also took other orc tribes, Irontusk, Stonebreaker, Pants taker-" Gringor listed a few tribes that took some actual effort from the top of his head. Though honestly, most were just ragtag bunch numbering less than a handful. "Watch over many paths, make people pay when they try to cross, escort them if they do, beat them if they don't."
"But it was boring," Gringor said as he turned his ax and brushed away some dirt from it. "No more fights, and no other hunters come."
"So I made Halua tribe leader and went off."
He also started numerous fights during his random trips to Zipangu and only then did he get his fun first fight but that turned sour when the mamono ogre he was fighting was already drunk. Hardly a challenge.
If Takeshi was listening, he would've noted that there was an incongruency in that Gringor wasn't a human but rather, a male mamono. Something that's outright impossible.
Sam's hand laced itself around his friends leg at the approach of another pulling her close to him, a defensive response indeed yet he relaxed as soon as Samael realized this other mamano hadn't solely taken an interest in Lunatea. "I dunno bout any of that stuff, but I know from wandering that lots of girls chased me." he then gave Luna a little space and giggled "But they never could catch me, well..." his gaze shifted to Luna to whom he smiled warmly at "Maybe one did but I'm happy she did."
Of all the creatures to come to their aid, a Hornet was among the least likely. Yet there she was, in all her buzzing, chitinous glory, and Cambiel wasn't going to complain about it. Anything that kept the Varjan horde from getting closer to him was a welcome sight.
The feeling wasn't mutual, it seemed, as the Hornet went wide-eyed upon seeing that the Goblin and he were boys. "I....have.....questions, but now is not the time." she told them, which made Cambiel shudder. That was not a conversation he was looking forward to.
The hornet grabbed Skarsneek by the shirt and hoisted him up. "Try to keep up, choir boy" she snarked.
"I'll try not to leave you behind." Cambiel fired back. He would have to ask her to a race later. Not now, though. War zones were bad places for friendly competitions.
And like that, they were off. With a final insult to the commander from the hornet, which brought a smile to Cambiel's face despite himself, the trio flew out of reach of the Varjan invaders and off to rejoin the rest of the troops.
As the warband (as Cambiel had come to think of them) set up camp and made themselves comfortable, Cambiel took it upon himself to set up a few traps. You never knew when someone was sneaking up on you until it was too late, and it didn't hurt to have the security.
The situation was completely beyond his pay grade. Monsters, helping humans against other humans? Order forces attacking not only another anti-monster faction, but implying Angels typically helped monsters? In one day, his entire world had gone topsy-turvy. He didn't know what to think. Until now it had always been so simple: monsters want to kidnap and defile humans, angels are supposed to stop that. The only time he was meant to fight against humans was when they were working with monsters. Nothing in his training had prepared him for the day he would have to help monsters protect humans against other humans.
It also left him in an awkward position. His orders were to spy on the monster warband and find out why they wanted to help humans. Assuming he found out why they did that, what then? He couldn't just leave these poor souls to be butchered by heretics, or made into the playthings of the Demon Lord, but the longer he stayed, the more the locals would associate his presence with the presence of monsters. Getting angels associated with the Demon Lord would devestate the Chief God's chances of converting the island in the future.
He was in the middle of setting up a ward on the south side of the camp when he heard a kerfuffle coming from the camp. At first, he thought it was the Varjans, and he was ready to storm back into camp and give them the what-for. His disappointment when he overheard that it was just that the prisoner had woken up surprised him. He was always keen to crack a few heretic skulls, but he never thought he was that bloodthirsty that he would be disappointed to miss a fight. What was he, an orc?
He could only hope that this mission was over quickly. Last thing he needed was to "go native" with a bunch of monsters.
Time passed, and eventually Cambiel had the entire camp site surrounded in traps and spells. Satisifed that not even a dormouse was going to be able to sneak up on them, far less a Varjan assassin, the angel turned back towards the camp and made his way over to the fire, hoping to avoid anyone's notice - especially the Jiangshi. After his little mishap on the boat, she probably thought he was a complete simpleton.
"Is anyone else here floored by the fact that there are FOUR male monsters here? I'm still trying to make sense of what I'm seeing. The Great Change made every monster on land, sea or air female. How did you guys avoid it? Just you four existing has world-changing implications if either the Order or Demon Lord catches wind of you. Hell, the Order, and by extension the Varjans, might just try to kill you to prove a point, perhaps on some belief that the Demon Lord isn't all-powerful or some stupid shit like that."
When he heard that, Cambiel wanted to turn around and walk right back out into the woods. This was the conversation he had been dreading. Would they even care? Knowing monsters, they would probably just laugh at him. But she had asked, and he had to give an answer.
"There used to be a lot more angel boys," he began, his voice quiet and solemn. "But the Great Change..."
He coughed, as if the words were stuck in his throat. This was harder than it seemed.
"The Change... There were a lot of..."
He stopped again. He couldn't do this. He wouldn't give these brutes the excuse to make fun of him. Even if he wanted to tell them, he couldn't, not without giving away where his allegiances truly lied.
"There aren't many of us left." he mumbled weakly, hardly able to force the words out of his mouth. And that was it. Maybe some day he would be comfortable enough around these guys to tell them the tale of what happened, but today was not that day. Today, he would just gaze into the fire, and remember all the brothers he lost.
"Hinami-chan, my sweet little Hinami-chan. We seem to have a problem here. Can you guess what said problem is, hmm?" While Atsuha's voice was gentle, one could hear the annoyance combined with a bit of disappointment in her tone.
"A problem, oh my, that doesn't sound good…" Hinami placed a hand to her cheek while having a cute look of concern on her face. "Did one of our teammates get seasick and fall overboard?
"No dearie." Atsuha said.
"Is there a hole in the ship and we're all in danger of sinking?"
"I'm sure we would've been made aware of a problem like that by now!"
"Oh. Do you, perhaps, have the runs sister?"
"What the fu- *cough* I mean, no little sibling." Her patience was wearing thin. "Do you perhaps know where all the food went, dearie?"
"The food? Well, I'm pretty sure I ate it all." Hinami said innocently.
"Indeed. With that being said, I don't believe that I've eaten yet." Atsuha said, eyes closed and arms crossed.
"Goodness sister, then you really shou-" Hinami paused for a moment with a silly, dumbfounded look on her face. She blinked twice, then her expression changed to that of an embarrassed smile. "I do believe I see the problem, sister…"
"Good, very good dearie. Indeed you didn't even leave me a slice of that cake Nyla le-"
"Ahh, the cake!" Atsuha was quickly cut off by her sister. "I need to go find Nyla and ask for more of that delicious cake!" Without delay, Hinami practically jumped out of the room and began scurrying around the halls of the ship, frantically searching for the Shoggoth maid. Little did she know she was about to crash into a certain Eros angel...
"......" Atsuha was left speechless at her sister's behavior for a moment. "Eats up all the food, leaves me with nothing, and she's the one who's hungry?" Hinami was quite lucky that her sister loved her the world over. All she could do was sigh as she too left the room to search for food.
Perhaps she could coax one of the boys into sharing some of their leftover food. There was Shizuka-san, although he seemed like the type to always have a stick up his ass. He was out of the question; he'd probably just tell her to be more responsible and to manage her sister's behavior better, the prick. There was Sam, but that damn rabbit was watching him like a hawk and would likely thwart all of her advances. She had half a mind to eat her, although that would just put her into even more trouble with that silly ponytail ronin. The angel was cute, bit she felt that he was just as bad, if not worse than their task commander
She was completely lost in thought as she walked. There were the two other boys, the goblin and what was it? The high orc? Skarsneek seemed like he knew how to have fun, and she had been secretly eyeing that high orc male since he arrived at the port. Maybe just maybe…
She decided to see if she could pay them a visit, she could feel their auras nearby as she walked further down the halls.
Cambiel had planned on making this journey a quiet one. There was no need to draw any unwanted attention to himself; he’d done enough of that just by being an angel. Maybe the crew would need some help? Ships always had odd jobs in need of doing, and it would give him an excuse to avoid his monstrous companions if he was hauling ropes or moving boxes instead of just stewing in his quarters.
Unfortunately for him, he didn’t even have the chance to make it to his quarters before someone bumped into him – literally. He looked up from his new position on the floor to see what looked like a human standing over him. Only looked like one, sadly. From her aura, her humanity had abandoned her long ago.
”Oh my goodness! Are you okay?” the words were out his mouth before he could stop himself. ”I didn't hurt you, did I? I’m so sorry, I should have been looking where I was going!”
Hinami unwittingly bumped into someone while daintitly scurrying in the hallways, the other person waa sent tumbling down but she didn't even flinch. She did, however, stop to assist the lad back to his feet. "Oh no, I'm the one who should be apologizing! My sister would scold me, mowing people over in such a fashion!"
Hinami blinked a few times, having finally realized just who it was she bumped into. Her expression quickly turned from one of concern to one of bewilderment.
"Waah! You're that angel from before! Oh no, oh no, oh no!" She clumsily backed away in fright, almost falling over in the process. "Pl-Please don't purify me! I promise I haven't done anything bad! Well, I did eat all of sister's food... But that was an accident I swear!
The girl’s reaction both confused and disturbed Cambiel. What exactly did she think he was going to do to her? And more importantly, why?
“I’m not going to… ‘purify’ you, miss,” the boy said, as he slowly got back on his feet. His voice was quiet and shaky, like he was afraid to speak. “Do not be afraid…”
That was something else that threw him off. Why was she so scared of being ‘purified’, as she put it? What lies had she been fed about angels and purity that made her react like this at the mere thought of it?
Maybe establishing some familiarity would help her see that he wasn’t going to hurt her. It couldn’t make things any worse, and besides, he didn’t want people to just call him “angel” the whole time he was here. “My name is Cambiel. It’s very nice to meet you.”
If Hinami's undead heart could still beat, it'd burst out of her chest at this point. She saw that the young angel seemed to be getting suspicious of her, contrary to his initial politeness and sincerity.
"Waah! I told I didn't do anything! All I want is more of Nyla's cake. It was sooo delicious, soft, sweet, and full of flavor." One would wonder if the innuendos were intentional or not. "B-But I can't have any if you kill me! Well, I mean I'm dead already, but that's beside the point!"
She paused for a moment, as if trying to think of something in spite of her panicked state.
"Oh! I know, if you spare me I'll share some of Nyla's cake with you! It's really tasty and I'm sure you'll like it. So, whaddya say? Pretty please?"
She posed a formal bow with her hands clasped together, though they were still concealed within her long sleeves. Her head was titled and she wore a cute, albeit nervous smile.
"Cake", huh? He had been around enough demons to know what that was a metaphor for. And to think that way about another woman? Truly, the Demon Lord's wickedness ran deep. Still, there was a certain comfort in the knowledge that if the zombie woman was more interested in other women than men, then he didn't have to worry about her attacking him. He let out a sigh of relief. Cross one potential threat off the list.
But what she said next caught him completely off guard. The colour drained from his face as she actually offered to, uh, "share" her girlfriend with him in return for sparing her life. Did they know nothing of love? How could she sell her partner out like that?
"H-how could you even suggest such a thing!?" he chided her. "That's supposed to be something special between you and her! If she... if she gives you her "cake", that's supposed to be for you and you alone! You can't just give it out to strangers!"
If he was going to spend time with these monsters, he could at least teach them about courtly love!
Hinami displayed complete confusion at Cambiel's protest and explanation as to why she shouldn't share Nyla's cake with him, or anyone for that matter. Her confectionery was indeed special and delicious, but why does that mean that she shouldn't share hers with anyone? Isn't sharing a good thing?
"It's really tasty, but I don't mind sharing at all! And I'm sure she'd appreciate everyone enjoying it in any way. Besides, she's already shared it with everyone anyway. She'd said that everyone could have some!"
Cambiel's skin went almost as pale as Hinami's. He opened his mouth to retort, but the casual way the undead spoke of such debauchery had left him completely speechless. They had barely got on the ship, how could this Nyla figure have been around that many people already?
And... oh no. Was he to expect a visit from Nyla later? If so, he had no idea what to say to do. He certainly couldn't "eat her cake" as it were, but at the same time, he couldn't hurt her without jeopardizing the entire mission. A purification ritual? Too much magic. The others would notice. An impromptu marriage? He didn't know how he felt about being married to a monster, let alone one he never met before. Curling up in the corner and crying? Wouldn't work, but it might make him feel better.
No, there was only one thing for it. He had to stay as far away from this "Nyla" as possible.
"I don't want it!" he yelped, taking an involuntary step back. "You... you should really save that sort of thing until after you're married, you know..."
Nyla was in quite the good mood as she left Kannazuki's cabin. It was always so much fun and gratifying to watch humans eat her cake...well, she was a monster so of course it was. Still, she did think that perhaps she had been a little...overbearing? Looking back a bit she had been a bit forceful, and remembering Kyouko-sama's words of being a little more...noticeable of others actual wants made her question herself, if only a little.
Well, it was probably fine. She had to check on the others, too. Even if she had already done so, a maids work was never done-
Squish
"Ah~" She barely managed to stifle quite a noise as she'd feel someone run into her again, this time from the front. Unfortunately for Cambiel, he had just backed right up into the very person he wanted to avoid, squishing against her body, the back of his head squishing against her chest.
"A-Ahem...apologies I was lost in thought." She'd look at who was in front of her. "Oh, Lady Hinami. It's good to see you again." She'd bow, not bothering to remove Cambiel from in front of her, which consequently mean unless he moved himself he'd find Shoggoth boobs pressing against the top of his head again. "I was just finishing my rounds. I have time for a break if you want some more of the cake." She'd look to Cambiel, smiling her usual demurely questionable smile. "Oh, Sir Cambiel. You're free to join us as well."
Hinami wasn't having any luck understanding Cambiel's words. Were all angels peculiar like he was?
"Why wouldn't someone eat cake unless they were married? I know that cake is very important at weddings too, but it's not just the newlyweds who partake in it, correct? Isn't it shared among all the guests?"
Before she could ponder further, Nyla had apparently made her way down the hall and accidentally bumped into Cambiel. Making an audible squishing sound upon contact. Hinami's eyes lit up like a child in a candy shop.
"Nyla! There you are, I was looking for you! I was hoping you still had some more of that delicious cake!" She turned back to Cambiel for a brief moment.
"I offered to share some with Cambiel, but he refused and started saying weird things. Like that the cake was special and should be kept only between you and me, and that I shouldn't be eating it unless we're married…"
Cambiel had never heard of such a mockery. The monsters knew of marriage, but they profaned it in such a disgusting manner. Was nothing sacred to the Demon Lord?
But before he could chide Hinami, he felt something soft push against the back of his head. He turned his head, only to come face to breast with a creature he had not seen before. Instinctively, he flinched away from her and opened his mouth to apologise profusely for his indecency.
But before he could stammer out the first “I'm sorry”, he heard Hinami refer to the mysterious woman as “Nyla”. Any words died in his throat. This was Hinami's girlfriend? And to make matters worse, the two were soliciting each other right in front of him! He knew monsters were libertine, but this took the cake, no pun intended.
When Nyla asked if Cambiel wanted to join them, Cambiel was as confused as he was horrified. It was bad enough when Hinami offered, but Nyla too? What was their game here?
"I-I'm a novice, so I w-would only get in the way…" he stammered out, his normally pale cheeks turning bright red.
Hinami just couldn't figure out this Eros angel guy.
"A novice? You mean...at eating cake? Well goodness, it's just like eating anything else. You just put in your mouth and chew! It's not that difficult..."
She then turned to Nyla
"Nyla, do you have any spare forks so I can show him?"
She was afraid of him at first, but it seemed now she just thought of Cambiel as silly.
