I wish I had an uncle like that, there's only my uncle Fuma, Nicole's father, and if I ever tried to scold him like that, my mom would tear my ear off. He's a very serious man. Anyway, let's move on, my treatment of the thugs' wounds has been only superficial, so they should be checked out more thoroughly, in prison.
"Hey, excuse me, uh, I know someone who can deal with him, he's part of the Verra family, I heard an old noble doctor connected to them is being investigated for shady stuff now, so it'll be easier to deal with him, I think"
The three of them look at each other, look at me and look at each other again, then, after a few exchanges of glances, Sarisa speaks to me.
"I do not like having to involve you in our problem, but I'm not sure what we can do, if we call the guards, won't they arrest us instead? Even if he's an idiot, he is an aristocrat..."
"Like I said, I'll take care of it, the group, um, faction, fellows or whatever you call it, that his family belongs to." I say pointing at the said idiot on the ground, "he's already being watched closely, or so I've heard"
"Well, if you insist, thank you! We're counting on you!"
She gives me another big hug... soft, I really wish I had her energy.
"Don't pass the buck to someone we've just met." Lenna says, but Dom holds her shoulder.
"I understand you don't like it, but she seems to have a plan, so just say thanks. For now... we should clean up," Dom looks in, oh, yes, the restaurant is a mess. Come to think of it, I may have contributed to the debris, when I took control of that fireball, it clearly got bigger, luckily the small explosion only damaged the floor, and the thugs of course.
Ah, I didn't get to finish eating... the lasagna was delicious, maybe I can get some more when this is over, yeah, what a good idea! I can use that as an excuse to come back, I might even take the opportunity to get to know them better. When I think about it, I'm actually a little grateful to Lance... until I remember what he tried to do to Sarisa and the feeling dies, should I break a few of his fingers?
Suddenly I feel a chill... I only thought of breaking his fingers as a joke to myself, but I felt disgusted at myself for suggesting such a thing, a part of me wants to punch myself in the face right now...
"'Okay, please take care of them, I'll be back as soon as I can." I say goodbye for now as I run towards the castle.
I'm not sure where I am, luckily the huge castle can be seen from most of the capital, but running down the street will get a lot of people looking at me... especially the closer I get to the castle, and parkouring across rooftops in crowded areas could get me arrested.
'I need to go faster, stealthier, a more direct route... eh?' my vision suddenly goes black...
But... huh, I don't feel lost, it's almost like I'm swimming, but in the air, only it's not smooth air at all, it feels more like I'm crawling through debris, but at the same time I'm moving very easily and softly... contradictory sensations, how strange.
I don't really feel in danger, and because it's a strange sensation, I get a little distracted, but when the excitement ends, I start to panic, stop it, I want it to stop now...! just as quickly as I came in, I emerge from the ground.
"AAAHHH!!!" Uh, ok, I couldn't help it, I don't even care if there's anyone around, what the hell was that!? I... I went into the shadows? awesome! and how scary! where am I? I'm in an alley and there's a lot of noise around here, first I lean against a red brick wall, drop to the floor and take a few minutes to calm myself and stop shaking.
With my breathing a little more under control, I get up and follow the noise to... a huge street, or rather the main avenue of the city, as the imposing gleaming castle rises only a few hundred feet in front of me...
I have no idea where I was before, but just a few minutes ago I could barely make out some of the smaller details of the castle, even with my very good eyesight, and now it's suddenly right in front of me. Mmm... oh well, something else to experiment with later.
I hurry, but unfortunately, I have to listen to all the voices around me, why are people so noisy? I try to distract myself by looking at the castle... I wonder how castles are classified, are there castle catalogues?
Well, this one looks like a gigantic mansion, only with dozens of huge towers surrounding it, with impressive baroque, the main feature being a lot of shiny windows and stained glass, with natural crystals all over the place, huh, they look pretty good overall, although if you look closely in some places, it looks like they just took a crystal from somewhere and stuck it randomly on the walls, but I guess they must have some function.
Once I had the castle in front of me, I ignore the impressive entrance gates and follow the wall around it to the right for a few minutes, eventually finding a still impressive but much more modest gate guarded by four guys in armor... are all the guys in armor knights? Or do the guards, soldiers, policemen, marines and so on also wear armor? I mean, those full-body plate armors?
Which, by the way, don't look very practical, most of the guards just wear uniforms, you know, cloth and one or two pieces of protective gear, it must be a very useful material for them to wear all the time, or is it for aesthetics?
Mm...
I have to agree with Nicole that I need to learn more.
"Um, g-good afternoon," damn, I'm falling back into the habit of stuttering, well, I'll forgive myself this time, there's usually only one guard at this door, I guess it's normal to be extra vigilant when there's trouble.
"... Oh? You are Miss Seina, good day to you," just when I thought everyone would ignore me, a guard recognized me and I recognized him, well, sort of, I've seen him before but I have no idea what his name is, how come people have such a good memory? I tend to forget most people's names. I think he's only seen me once or twice with Nicole around here.
"Hi, um..." No, I can't remember his name, whatever, let's divert attention. "Excuse me, I have a problem with a nobleman, can I come in?" I wanted to tell them what happened, but I feel like they won't help themselves and maybe they don't even care.
"... I see that Miss Nicole is not here today"
"Yes, she's sleeping at home, I'm looking for Ilona today." Didn't I just ruin Nicole's reputation...? No, everyone here should know how lazy she is.
Suddenly they all turned their heads towards me, not in a hostile way, but, uh, with a much more alarmed posture because I had mentioned that name?
"... Well, let me just inform her that you're here, and excuse me, but right now you can't go in without Miss Nicole"
"That's fine, thank you very much." I'm actually very relieved, I usually run into her while talking to my cousin, so I've never been to the Dark Brotherhood's department, I have no idea where she is, and even if I could find her by her smell, I doubt the thousands of guards, knights, wizards, soldiers, servants, assassins and who knows what else would appreciate someone hanging around the place.
The rest are still watching me, so... I'll wait leaning against the castle wall, a bit away from them.
About 20 minutes later, the knight appears next to Ilona, I take a moment to look at her again... a human woman of five feet seven inches, long jet-black hair tied in a simple ponytail, black eyes, an attractive sharp face with many freckles on her cheeks and around her nose. She wears a woman's suit that is a bit dirty and wrinkled, similar to Nicole's, but with the emblem of the Dark Brotherhood on it.
“Seina.” She smiles a little at me... she looks even more tired than my cousin, well, Nicole said something about forcing them to give her time off, I guess Ilona wasn't as lucky.
"Ilona, good day"
"So, what's up? Oh, good day to you too"
"Well, how to start... a nobleman named Lance, do you know hi-" she interrupts me.
"Yes, I know the idiot, what did he do, do I have to bring knights?"
I guess the brat isn't very popular. "He and a bunch of his people are tied up in the street, in front of a restaurant they tried to destroy."
"Hm, sigh... Tell me on the way. People! Call twenty men and bring a couple of carriages.” Wow, how trustworthy, I wish Nicole would act like that a little more... or better not.
Only a few minutes later, a platoon of men in armor and three large carriages were assembled. "Okay, Seina, which way?" She asks.
"..."
"""..."""
"You have no idea, do you?" Asks Ilona with a smile, but with tired, resigned eyes, as if she expected it.
"N-no, but I remember that you could see the right side of the castle, quite far away, but I think still in the central area, over... there," I point in the general direction. " When I find the scent, I'll let you know."
“Can you track down a restaurant even with the hundreds of restaurants in that area alone?” She asks doubtfully.
"I don't think so, although I think I can get there by following the scent of the crabsnake they cooked"
"Crabsnake? Well, if you're so sure..."
"I'll lead us on without too many detours, I think, I also remember the nice herbal smell of Sarisa, the, um, waitress at the place, it was like that smell you get when you wake up after it rained all night and the plants gave off more scent than usual, which combined nicely with her amazing shampoo of some flower I don't know. There's also the smell of garlic, cumin, oregano, coriander, and other spices, but at the same time a clean, natural, pleasant scent of Lenna, she's the, um, cook? I think, uh, yeah"
"..."
"... Was that too much informat-"
"Yes"
"So, what did Lance do?" Asks Ilona, who is sitting next to me in the driver's seat.
"Well, let's see, first he went into the restaurant and knocked my juice glass on the floor..."
Talking about this reminds me again of the delicious meal I left half finished, I can't help it, I was taught never to leave leftovers on the table, unless it's something inedible.
"I went to see what was going on and saw the brat threatening Sarisa, the waitress, talking nonsense about how he was her new master and that she had to obey him or he would destroy the place or something, he even slapped her"
I still shudder a little at the memory, a slap might not be the most damaging thing, normally, but it is certainly shocking to see and hear.
"... Brat?"
"Never mind, um, ah yes, ripped off part of her clothes, I don't want to think with what intentions, and after he ordered his men to destroy the place, basically the... guard? from the place and I beat the hell out of them, they're tied up in the street"
"Mmm... that makes things easier then"
"Things?"
"Oh yeah, he and his family are part of a certain noble faction, you know, the one full of old idiots like the doctor you kicked out the other day, basically senile old men trying to gain power, don't worry about it"
"Eh, if you say so..." She looks a bit dodgy, and her description was rushed, obviously this noble faction is more trouble than she's trying to make it seem, oh well, not my problem.
After leaving the castle, or rather the castle wall, we rushed for more than an hour, when I finally find the scent of the sisters, I lead Ilona and the knights there. That was quick, I didn't know carriages could go that fast.
When we arrive, I notice that several people are guarding the pile of bound bodies, some of them, including the brat, are already awake, but they can only writhe and scream threats to everyone around them, well, luckily my darkness handcuffs work very well and don't show the slightest sign of breaking, I definitely should have gagged them too... Oh well, hopefully they'll be taken away soon.
When the carriage stops, I get out and hurry to the restaurant, I'm greeted by the sight of... a nice, big, sexy butt. Uh... Ah, my mind went blank for a moment.
"..."
... I should have reacted already, why is it so hard to look away? Oh, is it because her underwear is ordinary? White panties, which don't even have any decorations, they look like the comfortable type to wear every day. I guess, in their own way, it's attractive to have something in sight that's not meant to be seen...
"Cof, cof... Sarisa," I call to her.
"Oh? Seina!" She turns around, gives me one of her sweet smiles and comes to hug me, eh.
"H-hello, um, wait wait, first of all, why didn't you change your clothes?"
I say, pointing at her lower half, whose skirt is still torn because of that idiot Lance, who by the way is finally being gagged as I look outside.
"Clothes? OH! I knew I forgot something! h-hey, why didn't anyone say anything!?" she turns to the other people... who I just noticed are there, wow, that butt stole all my attention, huh.
There are about 10 people helping to clean up the mess, the smashed tables and chairs are taken outside, while others clean up the mess on the floor or remove debris from the walls, Lenna is behind the bar reading something, though our eyes cross... 'Hey, she's looking at me, should I say hi? But we saw each other a while ago, should I do it anyway? But I don't want to wave at her and have her ignore me', fortunately I don't have to torment myself with such useless thoughts, because Lenna waves at me, I return the greeting and she continues with what she is doing.
Eh... I thought I was getting better, but I still have those stupid thoughts, mm, one day I'll get over them, maybe. Oh yes, Sarisa.
"Please cover yourself for now," I ask, watching the other people simply avoid Sarisa's angry look.
Mmm, they didn't help before when they attacked the place, but now there's manpower to spare, those- wait, no, this... It's not like that at all, it's like that one of the few times Nicole managed to force me to go to a fancy restaurant and a guy started fighting with a waiter, we all stood in shock, including me, without doing anything, just watching, not necessarily because we didn't want to help, but because we didn't know how to react at all, I think, except for Nicole, who, after a while of them not stopping, got tired and beat the hell out of both of them.
That day made me admire her even more for that simple but brave act, and made me promise myself that I would never stand by and watch in a similar situation again.
So maybe that's what happened with these people, let's look at it positively, they're helping now, so it's okay.
I want to help, but now there are a lot of people here...and I don't know where to start, I mean, I could move that broken table out into the street, but there are already two men doing it, won't I be in the way if I try to help? Or maybe they'll think I'm being disrespectful if I do their job and just magically pull the table out? I feel like I'm thinking too much again. I'd better just go outside and, um, keep watch, I guess.
Some time later I say goodbye to Ilona and return to the now clean restaurant, but not before looking at the sign with the name of the place that I missed earlier, it's a bit deteriorated but still reads 'Milk Taste', nice and easy to remember, I like it.
I walk in just in time to see Lenna pushing Dom towards the exit, I step aside, looks like she's had enough and kicked him out. He waves goodbye, I wave back in return, finally we can sit down and talk!
"I'll get you something to drink, how about something hot?" Lenna says, I nod and she goes into the kitchen. I sit in front of Sarisa, who changed into a simple dress that fails to hide her curves, nice dress.
"..."
"..."
We are silent, me because I have no idea what to say, she just drinks a milkshake and looks at me, smiling.
Mmm, maybe she's waiting for me to start? But what should I say? I can hardly remember what friends talk about, mmm... should I ask her about music? Although most of the songs I know suddenly popped into my head, so I wouldn't know what to say if she were to ask me back. How about fashion? Again, I wouldn't know what to answer, I usually just buy what I like, checking if it's well made or looks good on me, not caring to much about things like season or colors.
"So... Seina! What are you thinking about?" she asks.
"What to talk about."
Eh, for better or worse, I answered honestly without thinking.
"HAHA, you don't have to stress so much! Relax... also, thanks for helping us, even if Lenna denies it, we didn't know what else to do, no one wanted to get involved when we mentioned that we were being harassed by nobles, even the damn guards looked the other way!"
Good! The conversation is flowing, the hardest part is over, now I just have to talk, much louder than normal (which will be the average volume) and answer her, hopefully I will pronounce everything understandable and there will be no problems, it is more tiring to talk about something specific than just saying hello and getting to the point like when ordering food...
"Something else to tell my cousin, she works at the castle, so at least you don't have to worry about Lance anymore, I think- eh, I'm sure"
"Your cousin works in the castle? Unbelievable! Wait... a castle must have a million employees, right, she's important?"
"She's a court magician"
"... What?"
'She didn't hear me? Damn it, try harder to vocalize the words, Seina!' I clear my throat and repeat.
"My cousin Nicole works as one of the court magicians in the castle, I think she can handle corrupt guards and solve problems with idiot nobles like Lance"
"I heard you the first time, but... aren't court mages legends?"
"... Legends?"
"Yes, I heard that only the strongest and smartest academy graduates have a chance to compete for one of the positions, and even then, only one in a thousand gets the job"
"Really? Well... I don't know how hard it is to get the job, but even though my cousin is very strong, she a normal woman, I think?"
I answer, trying not to laugh a little, remembering how I had to bathe and dress the supposed legend a few hours ago.
"You think so? I'd like to meet her sometime"
Oh, now's my chance! If I invite her home, we can get to know each other better, and I could introduce Nicole to a friend for the first time! But, ugh, too many buts today, is it okay to invite her? I just met her today, I think I'll wait a bit.
"I think she's tired now, but I'll introduce her to you sometime"
"I'll look forward to it!"
"Sorry for taking so long." Lenna says as she puts the drink in front of me... wow, I feel my eyes go wide and my ears twitch, it's a frothy coffee with milk, with a light purple color, it's made of, mmm, lavender, I also smell walnut, honey, vanilla... in a few seconds it became my new favorite drink, at least talking about scents.
General POV
Meanwhile, the two sisters sat side by side and watched as the previously awkward fox-kin forgot about her surroundings and looked at the small cup in front of her, from different angles, while taking several long, deep breaths, still without touching the cup, her expression became much more natural, softer, her eyes sparkled a little and an extremely captivating smile appeared on her face.
"L-Lenna." The younger sister said suddenly, without taking her eyes off the beautiful fox tail that was wagging happily back and forth, with curious little pauses every now and then.
"Hmm?" The older sister replied more quietly, but secretly fascinated by the scene, partly because of how adorable and childlike the girl looked, and partly because it was her drink that managed to put her in such a state.
"That latte better taste better than it smells, or you'll break her heart"
That seemed to break even her tranquility, now both sisters were nervous, watching expectantly as the fox-girl took the cup after her umpteenth scent test and slowly brought it to her lovely lips, after caressing the cup as if seeking to warm her hands.
"..."
"..."
"Sip... ... mmmhh~~." With the most adorable whimper they've ever heard, the sisters breathed a sigh of relief as the adorable creature in front of them began to happily wag both the tail and the entire body, a barely contained expression of elation adorning her face along with a pretty blush on her cheeks, still holding the cup between her two hands with extreme care.
"What did you think?" Asked Lenna, though it didn't really need to be asked.
"Sip... haaah~," came the reply.
"... Seina?"
There was no answer. One thing the person in question hadn't realized was that just as she could suppress her senses from overwhelming her, she could also unconsciously do the opposite. Right now, all her concentration was on her sense of taste, as she tried to decipher how what her tongue was tasting was so good. Her sense of smell, with long, slow breaths to fill her lungs with the pleasant scent. And finally, her sense of touch, as the warmth of the cup containing such delight is transmitted to the palms of both her hands.
So, the question didn't even register in her mind.
"Our new friend is so cute! Better let her finish." Sarissa replied as she shared the rest of her chocolate milkshake with her sister.
A while later, Seina could be seen taking much smaller sips than before, as if she wanted the experience to last as long as possible. Not even thinking about the fact that she could just ask for more.