NOVEL SIMPLE An Unexpected Visitor
The accusatory eyes of my Guild force me to tell the truth about Abigail. Meri thinks it’s cute how the Necromancer is too shy to talk to me without the notes, and Zutiria is interested in the girl’s magical power. Sam, however, continues her jokingly jealous pouty act by implying one noble should be more than enough for me.
I settle everyone down and continue trying to convince them that there isn’t any romantic subtext at play here and that I barely know the girl. Sam points out that I barely knew her, and then Zutiria, Meri, and Snow all follow her cue. Ok, so maybe I jump into relationships with the excuse of feeling destiny’s pull, but that doesn’t mean I’m doing that with Abigail. I put my foot down and reiterate that my interactions thus far are strictly platonic, and that’s that.
Skepticism abounds, but the inquisition of my lovers finally subsides, and we move on to more mundane conversational topics.
As expected, Meri is thrilled to be reading the choose your own adventure Dungeon Sluts book and has spent much of the day leading her adventurer through his first playthrough. She apparently named him after me and customized his description so that the adventurer resembles me, and I’m not sure how to feel about that.
After her nap, Zutiria spent most of the day talking to Snow and catching her up on how things work around here. After that, she went to experiment in her lab. The little lady makes it known that she expects a significant improvement to her facilities once we have enough gold, which I promise her will be one of the first renovations we make.
Sam had a lazy day today. Gwin popped by to pick up Sam and Meri’s armors, as well as Sam’s old sword, and her Highness helped the Dwarf carry them out with her. After hanging out, the two came back an hour later with the armors looking as good as new. Meri was very relieved since her armor was made specially by her father. Having someone else work on it was a nerve-wracking experience for the Shield Maiden, but even though she insists she’s an amateur, Gwin proved up to the task. I’m glad that was taken care of. Both girls took a lot of damage during the raid on the Pimpfort. Their armor was riddled with holes and needed patching up. It won’t hurt to keep Sam’s old sword around, either.
Aside from that, Sam admits to mostly just laying around all day and enjoying some time off for once. I give her a piece of advice that she’s not too thrilled about but agrees to regardless. Namely, I don’t want Sam to touch her new sword until I’m home. If they train with Nikita tomorrow, she’s to use her old sword for the time being. Her Highness accepts my request since I appeal to her emotions, saying I want to be there when she first uses it. Not technically a lie, but that sword is a problem, and I need to talk to her about it in person.
Since I’ve only been gone since this morning, we run out of conversation pretty fast especially given how Snow is evasive about what she and the maids have been up to. I ask what they’ll be doing tonight if anything. Snow provides a worrying response.
“Oh, now that I’m caught up with how the Guild works, I was going to lead everyone in a little trust-building exercise that will help everyone get to know me, nyaa...” She clasps her paws together, and with danger in her eyes, she looks at the trio of adventurers. Although Snow smiles lovingly at them, it sends a visible tingle down their spines. “I’m just going to let the girls know what to expect from me now that I’m the... hmm, what’s a good word... ah yes, the ‘Boss Bitch’ around these parts.” Snow giggles in a strangely innocent way.
Meri looks down at the floor, sweating and trembling at the thought of whatever Snow has planned. Zutiria makes no change in her emotions but scoots further away from the head maid on the bench. Sam is conflicted, unsure of whether to be terrified or aroused.
Perhaps because they’re tired, or maybe because they already know their place under the Boss Bitch, Peri and Cherry only tiredly meow in response.
“Sounds good,” Feeling a bit playful, I add, “Make sure to listen to whatever Snow tells you, girls.”
As I turn off Taskmaster, I play witness to Snow’s expression betraying her intentions. The last thing I see is the sadistic head maid looking at my girls like they were a trio of tasty mice. If I didn’t have other plans, I would feel tempted to secretly watch Snow at work... sadly, Abigail deserves my full attention, and so does Opalina after that.
Speaking of, she’s still not back yet. Rather than interrupt their discussion, I make myself comfortable on the bed and try to relax. It doesn’t work, of course. My mind isn’t built for that. Already I’m planning out everything I’d like to say to Duke Gloomcrest and readying counterarguments to use against Count Drisford.
Somehow or another, my mind drifts towards Luxy. I just checked in with the girls, so I get to thinking it would be nice to check in with my divine sponsor, too. Without expecting anything to come of it, I look to the skies and ask, “Luxy?”
After a few seconds of nothing, suddenly, there is something. ‘Yeah, yeah. I’m here now.’ She sighs.
I sit up with more enthusiasm than I thought I’d have for her. “I didn’t think you were back yet. Are you alright? You left at a really awkward time.”
The Goddess makes a grumpy noise saying, “Just a minute...”
Waiting patiently for her to do whatever she needs to, I’m taken entirely by surprise when a small orb of light appears over on the edge of the bed. This orb is different from the one Luxy used to communicate with the girls and me during the Pimpfort. It’s even brighter, and it grows by the second until taking the shape of Luxy herself.
After a beautiful shine, the light fades, and all that remains is a young girl with the same body and hair as Lux Ultima, but none of the godly glow, jewelry, or even her crown-like halo. Instead of her skimpy ornate bikini of the gods, she now wears a simple white robe with gold and blue patterns running along the bottom. I wouldn’t say she passes entirely as a human, her hair is far too flawless, and her skin is without blemish or a single imperfection. Still, a shocking sight.
The Goddess crosses her arms in frustration, and without even looking at me, she says, “My sister came over while you guys were doing the dungeon thing.”
“...Oh, I see.” I mumble, still taken aback.
Luxy turns to face me and angrily raises a brow. “What? You’re acting like it’s weird for a Goddess to take on a mortal form or something.”
“I wasn’t expecting you to just... appear, you know. It’s startling.”
Like a child, she pouts even further and gets on the bed, facing me on all fours as she slams her fists down against the mattress. “Well, get over it! I gotta tell you about this junk and I... I dunno, I felt like talking to you in person again.” She frowns before sitting down properly, her eyes glued to the red blankets below.
“Fine, fine.” I sigh and rub my brow, shaking off the remaining shock. “Did things go alright?”
“Yes. We had a really nice time together.” Luxy responds with a confusing amount of anger for such a statement.
“Then what’s the problem?”
All at once, the Goddess lets out a thousand emotions that she doesn’t know how to process. She’s angry, upset, happy, sad, scared, and she’s venting it all on me. “Because we never have a nice time together! Not anymore, at least. I thought she got wind of me helping you so much and that she was gonna come brag about all the new gifts she gave the Demon Lord to make up for it, but we just hung out for a few days, and she didn’t even bring him up! This has to be one of her tricks. She HAS to know that I’ve been meddling in your life, she... uh... she... GAH! This is all too much!” After constant babbling, Luxy comically falls over on the bed and starts slamming her fists and feet into it like a toddler.
Seeing her this upset and confused brings out a nurturing side of me that I can’t hold back. I reach out and start stroking her head as reassuringly as I can. “Calm down, Luxy. I can barely follow you.”
The Goddess raises her head to look at me, aghast. “...It has been close to 3,500 years since a lowly mortal has dared to touch me. Let alone with such familiarity!” Unimpressed with her theatrics, I narrow my brow and take my hand away. Blushing, the Goddess instantly adds, “I didn’t say to stop!”
With an amused smile, I start stroking the Goddess’s hair after she sits up and turns her back to me, no doubt to hide how crimson her face has become. As I lavish her with attention, she prattles on how Tenebris Primis arrived unannounced, and the two spent the last three days just hanging out like surprisingly ordinary girls. They talked about some funny stuff happening in the Realm, gossipped about Gods of other Realms, and played a Dwarven tabletop game together. I have to admit, that’s a pretty outrageous thought after seeing all the terrifying depictions of Tenebris Primis scattered throughout Castle Mourneheart.
Once done with her rambling, Luxy looks over her shoulders and asks me for my thoughts, “Well?”
“I don’t understand. It just sounds like you had a nice couple of days with your sister.”
“Ugh. You don’t get it. She’s the Goddess of Darkness, you know! Tricks... lies... deceit... all that stuff! Not only that, we’ve been pretty much angry with each other for the last few centuries now... that’s why you’re in this situation. It’s suspicious, she even wants to hang out next week, and I have to paint all these damn miniatures for this game she wants to play! That bitch challenged me not to paint them with magic, too...”
“How lovely for the both of you. Now that you’ve made up do you think you could walk back on the Hero of Light business, and Tenebris can take away the Demon Lord’s powers?”
My joke eases her frantic mood, and she gives me a reluctant smile. “Bit too late for that,” Luxy says. “Nice try, though. I don’t think we’ve like... made up or anything. Even when we fight, we’re still sisters. We kinda have little breaks like this. We’ll be back at it again soon, I’m sure...”
“Ah, well. If you suddenly solved your differences, then I guess you’d have no more reasons to give me any special treatment, and I wouldn’t get to give you head pats any longer.”
Blushing, Luxy becomes aware that I’m still touching and stroking her hair. She must have gotten used to it, and pointing it out just brings up her embarrassment back to where it was before. She turns her head away in a fit, saying, “Shut up! I still didn’t say you could stop!”
I laugh a little bit and tell her, “I’m glad you’re ok, Luxy. I know you’re a God and all that, but you left really abruptly, and it’s been days. Even with everything going on, I was worried about you.”
“...You’re so weird,” She crosses her arms again. “It’s like you said, I’m a God. What’s the worst that could’ve happened?” Then, the Goddess sits silently in contemplation before sighing and slumping her shoulders. “...Thanks for listening to my problems, though.”
“Seems like you needed it, so I’m happy to help.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t have many options. My angels are too stuffy and worship-y to actually listen to me, same with all my clerics and priests, and it’s not like I can complain about my sister to my sister.” Luxy laughs at the thought.
“On that matter, what do you plan to do about her?”
The bratty Goddess turns to face me and tilts her head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“You were afraid she caught on to you helping me, right? Are you going to help me less from now on so that we don’t risk it?”
Luxy narrows her clear, blue eyes and looks down to the bed below. She weighs the options before shaking her head. “I could just be being paranoid. No, I’m going to keep this status quo of ours going from here on out. By the looks of things, you’ll be fighting the rest of those criminals, so you can expect some more of those special dungeons at the very least when you corner the big ones. As far as any other favors, we’ll see how it goes.”
Hearing her words fills me with a warm sense of relief. “I’m glad to hear it.”
The Goddess then surprises me by smirking and reaching out to pat me on my head in an almost motherly way. “You did pretty damn good, by the way. Keep it up.”
“Thanks.” I smile back at the little Goddess before blindsiding her and changing the topic. “So, about that sword you picked out for Sam-”
“No one was using the damn thing!” Luxy instantly grows defensive and puts her hands on her hips. “I gave it to Roy so that future generations could put its power to good use, and you damn mortals have treated it as a religious artifact ever since!”
“Yes, but just teleporting it out of the Royal vault may cause problems for us...”
The Goddess of Light sighs and begins to glow. “I was trying to help, alright? You guys can figure out the details!” With an angry huff, Luxy disappears by way of a flashing light just as randomly as she appeared. It’s not like I was going to ask her to take it back. We’ll use the damn thing alright, but still...
Before I can linger on the problem of the stolen sword, Opalina opens up the door to tell me, “She’s ready now, sweetheart.” A mischievous smile rests on her face, and impish curiosity flashes in her eyes.
