In a certain office, located in the Kingdom of Nuwanushi, a certain fox demi-human sat at her desk. An extremely bored look was plastered on her face as she wrote meaningless things on a page. During the midst, she heard someone prod on her office door.
After the fifth knock, a vein popped at her forehead. With a booming voice, she commanded the frightened individual at the other side to come in. Complying, a frightened man entered, he was in a receptionist uniform, and in his right hand was a blue glowing orb.
"What is it?"
"Uhm, Lady Kazusa-"
"Yes? What is it?" Kazusa's frustration in her voice grew, she already began to tap her temple. "You know what, just give me that damn orb." With her other hand, she set her hand palm up, curling her fingers to force the scared receptionist to hand it over.
"Y-Y-Yes Ma'am."
"Thanks, now get out of here."
"Yes ma'am!"
"Who is it, and what the hell do you want?"
Through the orb, a familiar voice popped out. Her mind instantly recognized it as Vertealle's guildmaster, The Fool.
"Hello, is this Lady Kazusa the guildmaster?" She asked. 'What a redundant stupid question.' Were Kazusa's first thoughts. Who else could it be? They had a whole damn meeting just over a month ago.
"Who else could it be? Either you're going senile or you're just fucking dumb." Kazusa huffed out. "What do you want? If it's about advice, go find someone else."
"I just wanted to make a report."
"Why are you reporting to a fellow guildmaster? You're not some child."
"Well… You're clearly closely related to the head guildmaster, otherwise you wouldn't be doing investigations, right?" Kazusa's pen stopped at her words. How was the "fool" this observant? Her mind questioned.
"Alright… What is it? If it's something that's a waste of time, I'll fine you."
"Haha… I'm sure you'll find this entertaining, Lady Kazusa."
There was an audible snort from her nose. "That is damn bold of you, just spill it."
"I made the decision to separate Vertealle from the guild. We will only be taking citizen requests, any contact with Mavis the Gold King will cease." Noelle proclaimed, her genuine sounding voice left Kazusa in a small daze. What made her decision? "And… It won't be rebuilt. Mister Allen and I fought his guards. During which, I retired a few of them."
"First of all, slow down. Explain your reasoning before your damn actions."
"My apologies."
"Okay, starting off good. No, you're not. Just explain your stupid reasoning!" Kazusa screamed in frustration. "You're already wasting my time!" She struck her desk with a fist.
For the next few minutes, Noelle regaled Kazusa with her story. Her angry frown slowly softened into a smile, then laughter left her pursed lips. She found the actions and reasons quite entertaining. Her actions and reasons were befitting of the title, The Fool. Although thought out, there were some overboard actions.
"I see. Did you bring any proof of his wrongdoings, Red Hair? Or did you just accuse and deface him?" Kazusa asked whilst resting her chin on her hand.
"Um… No, at first I didn't."
'As expected.'
"But, we caught his lies. My teacher allowed me to use her spirits." Noelle admitted before going into a long explanation. Alice's spirits detected his initial lies of the demi-human farmers he had hired being paid fairly. That much was obvious due to their clothes and messy outfits.
Then, his last lie. Their agreement on not interfering with each other's works. There was no further reason for him to, he was protecting his corrupted guards. Kazusa's curiosity grew at her words. But, to her they were fair in reasons.
Vertealle's king had no reason to interfere with the corrupted guards. The sole reason, or reasons was to protect face, or to hide his wrongdoings. Either reason would warrant a break of their pact.
Kazusa let out another chuckle, then her smile grew wider. "Great work, little girl. Impressive even. I'll write your report. Make sure to get rest."
"Um, thank you Lady Kazusa."
Suddenly, Kazusa's ears perked up, and a realization struck her mind. "Oh yeah. Did you send that white haired girl on her way here?"
That white haired girl she mentioned, now stood outside her party's carriage. They finally made it to the next city. From the surviving villagers, it had no name. They only allowed humans to enter the city, other races had to go around, or face the consequences of trying to enter.
"Um, thank you all again." The older man thanked them while he rubbed the back of his head with a distraught smile.
"No problem, just don't go attacking others out of nowhere, alright?"
"Haha.. We'll try not to."
"We won't, old man… Otherwise we'll have to deal with a crazy b-" His son suddenly froze from Bronya's glare.
'Thankfully it looks like they'll recover from their trauma.' Lucian said to Fei. He had his arms crossed, and his lips curled into a small smile.
Yes… Thankfully…
'Are you comfortable staying out here with…' He turned to look at Haru, and Bronya. Only two of them could enter the city, Roth and himself. 'Staying out here with those two?'
I-I have no choice…
There must be a way. Lucian's eyes wondered at the three that just left through the city's gates. The walls stood high, they had to move through the front gates to get in. Two guards with long spears stood on either side of the entrance. They wore plated armor, with mean expressions that worsened at the sight of a wood elf and two demi-humans.
'Why don't you transform?' He rotated his neck to look at her. With a finger pointing out like it was a suggestion.'You can come in as a familiar.
E-Eh? Fei took a step back at his suggestion. Transform? Familiar? Like a pet for him? She felt her face turn a little warmer at that.
After a moment, Lucian called everyone to have a little meeting. They met behind the carriage, blocking the view of the two guards. Thankfully even in the tall towers, no other guard stood. In a hushed tone, he came up with that same idea, turning Fei's face even redder.
Instantly Bronya agreed to it, she leaned in forwards to look at Fei's now peach red cheeks. Clear to all, there was more than just one simple reason for her. Albeit, one good point she provided with a finger raised.
"Why doesn't she act as communication between both groups? Little Lucian, act as her eyes in there."
'Do you feel comfortable doing that?' Lucian inquired, glancing at Fei with a serious look appearing on his face. 'I'll try my best to protect you."
I-I'm fine… I-I can do it…
"Well, looks like we're in agreement. Um, Fei do you need privacy to transform?"
"Oh right! You two shoo, Haru and I'll take care of the evidence, shoo!" Bronya waved them off in an exaggerated way. Waving her arms up and down, trying to gust them away. "Our 'plan' hinges on Fei becoming a cute little fox, you can stare at her WHEN she does!" Roth and Lucian looked at each other before walking around the corner. Both shook their heads at her antics.
There were sounds of ruffling, an audible "aww!" After some moments, once again, Roth and him looked at each other once more. Then just a few moments later, Bronya walked around the corner with a furry, small white fox in her arms.
'W-' Lucian's eyes widened at it, it had Fei's signature cut ear. Her ocean blue eyes, everything like her. But now in a small creature form. Seeing his reaction, Bronya lowered Fei to the ground.
"Go, see your new owner…" She whispered to her, a smug grin curled across her lips. She knew if Fei was still in her human form, her face would be entirely red. "Hehe… You're super cute in this form. Hm…"
Um… Uh- Fei's awkward voice resounded in Lucian's mind. I-I…
'Adorable.' Was the sole word that entered his mind. A buzzing sound entered his head afterwards. Her embarrassment hit an absolute peak, her small body froze whilst looking at him with a blank stare.
"C'monn!" Before any of them could react, Bronya picked up Fei. "Up you go! Lucian, careful with her!" Unconsciously he held his arms out, and she was plopped into his grasps. After making sure she was "most comfortable", and their plan sufficiently mapped out, he, Roth and Fei made it to the gate.
"Halt, state your business here." The first guard commanded. He smashed the butt of his spear into the ground. However, there was a small sweat pellet falling down his cheek. 'That is one huge guy.' His internal comments wore itself on his face.
"We're here to pick up supplies."
"Just supplies? There must be something else, for adventurers like you two to come in." The second guard intercepted their giving of Ids. "Pretty odd party match up, a bronze and silver ranked adventurers to be together." He scanned the information on each whilst commenting. His head turned to the side to eye Fei. "Excuse me, Mister Lucian. We do not allow monsters unless they're your familiar inside."
Lucian tilted his head at those words, he then held her far in front of him. "Excuse you, this cute familiar is mine! I'm a beasttamer who recently signed up to become an adventurer!" He exclaimed in an energetic tone. Both Roth and Fei noticed his horrendous acting, there was a force in his smile, but underneath his words there was some "sincerity" when praising her.
"Uh… Alright, just keep that thing in your arms whilst behind these gates."
"Understood, I'll make sure to keep this cutie in my arms." His energetic and joyous tone was not a falsehood, he was in fact, excited to hold the now fluffy Fei in his arms. This must've fooled the guards, they just looked at him with raised eyebrows and a confused look.
"Alright, you can go right ahead. Leave those two." The first guard said whilst pointing at Bronya and Haru.
"Okay."
Finally, they were inside the walls. Stalls lined the sides of the dirt path, unlike Vertealle's poorer district many were neat and tidy. There was a friendly air amongst all the stall owners. As they walked forth, each pair of eyes laid upon them. Maybe it was due to the way they looked, or the fluffy being in his arms.
U-Um… We need to grab some dry rations. Fei's voice popped inside Lucian's mind. He looked down at her with a slight head tilt. R-Remember? We're trying to make as few stops as possible… U-Um… We're- we're just stocking up till full… Again.
'Right! Thanks for the reminder.'
U- W-Wait…
'What's wrong?'
"Kid, let's ask around. Bronya already gave us our list."
After a quick walkthrough of their necessities, they began their search. Beginning with asking strangers, they all took a step back when he asked and a constant stutter made it difficult for a clear line of communication. Eventually, in a fit of annoyance, Lucian took charge.
With the help of a white fox now on his shoulder calmed those who they got attention from. Despite him denying advances from some, Fei fell slightly off his shoulder sometimes in fear. But, after half an hour, they found a stall that sold exactly what they needed.
"Looks like we got everything." Roth mumbled, double checking every little item before turning his head at Fei. "Let Long Ears we're stocked up on resources."
After a few short seconds, her report was shot towards Bronya.
'Can you please get something to shut Haru up?!?! She's starting to get on my nerves! What is with this golden haired freak?! What gives someone the ability to try and pull at my own ears too?! Oh no. Oh no, no no no. This littl- Give me a second Fei.'
Slight buzzings and curses later, she came back in a huff.
'Sorry about that. Oh right, Little Fei. We should grab a request whilst we're at it.' Bronya's voice popped inside her head. Why do we need to? Fei wondered, her thoughts leaked out to Bronya. With a visualization of her appearing mentally, she explained. 'Well, we need to get some cash… At least Rothie and I… We kinda blew it on random items…'
…
'Don't give me that silent treatment! It was necessary okay?!'
Is there an adventurers' guild nearby?
'I'm pretty sure there is. Even in smaller cities, ones that aren't affiliated with kingdoms there should be a branch of the guild. Ask Rothie, he'll figure out where it is.'
Fei felt some sense from her explanation. There was a split second before she could connect to Lucian's mind that became occupied by Bronya. Turns out, due to the closeness of the city, they'll report all doings to Vertealle's branch.
If a branch that's not connected to a kingdom, they'll go through the closest major branch to make reports and request signings.
'Get allat?'
Y-Yes… I did.
'Good, go, I don't want ya to read my thoughts anymore.'
We just… Need to get a request? I thought we were going to get supplies and go…?
"White hair, what's wrong?" Roth asked as he felt her eyes fixated on him.
U-Um… L-Lucian can you tell hi- him Bronya wants to g-grab a request? They're… apparently out of money.
'Eh? Uh, sure.' Lucian cleared his throat. "Bronya wants to get a request. That's what Fei said."
"Request? The guild is closeby, follow me."
'He knows too, let's get going then.'
In just a couple of minutes, they walked into a small version of the adventurers' guild. There weren't many people inside, only a receptionist and a couple adventurers. With an excited look on the receptionist's face, she greeted them with excessive energy. At the sight of a fluffy white fox, her voice grew louder.
Whilst Roth went to the request board, the receptionist ran up to Lucian. Pleading sat beneath her eyes, whilst an urge to pet the top of Fei's head. She had to stand at the tips of her toes to make eye contact with her.
"Um, she's very shy when it comes to people… You should stop it." Lucian claimed whilst waving his hands in front of him.
"Aww, can I at least touch its paw?"
'She's not going to stop, you might as well go ahead…' Lucian thought with an invisible face palm. This receptionist has been non-stop for the lapse of time Roth has looked at the request board.
… Fei felt her heart jump multiple times, each one with increased intensity. I-I don't want to… She quietly mumbled internally, accidentally closing between her and Lucian's neck.
"Aw… That's enough cuteness for me today, sorry for bothering you two!" With a gigantic grin, the receptionist walked back to her spot.
'Well, luckily for me…' He thought, and in an attempt to actually do it, he raised his hand up with a certain attempt. Just as he was about to be successful, he felt Roth's giant figure right next to him.
"Kid, take a look at this."
"Eh? What's that?"