Kitsune of the Blue Sun

Chapter 160- A Long Journey’s Intermission

[Keeno POV]

Nearly six months passed slowly as we traveled through the snow planes of Odeen.  It was a boring trip, to say the least.  The most exciting thing that happened were the times I got to spend with Ama and the new look of our home.  I always did like mountains, though I had personally never seen ones that were several groups of pillars surrounded my mist, clouds, and valleys of fire.  At least that I could remember.  That aside, we were finally approaching the border between Odeen and Lokir.  We were now travelling on a road with much less snow than any of the rest of the country since Baldr died and approaching a city built into the side of a mountain range.

“Hmm.  Why does this remind me of that checkpoint town at the border of Solheim and Odeen?” (Keeno)

“Every country that has a mountain range on their border with another country has at least one city built there for defensive reasons.” (Margaret)

“Hmmm.  Makes sense.” (Keeno)

We were approaching the gate to the city when Mostima came up to us.

“By the way, what are we going to do about that extra baggage we have?  I doubt they’ll let us in or out on the other side if we have a heavily sealed, dead Lokir noble in a carriage.” (Mostima)

“It’s much less of a problem than you think, actually.  And once we’re out on the other side, we can easily find a good spot to abandon it.” (Margaret)

When we finally got to the gate, two people in armor with Odeen heraldry approached us.  Margaret stepped forward as the representative of the group.

“Envoys of Lokir, you’ve returned much earlier than expected.  Was there any trouble in the capital?  Our noise boxes have stopped working quite a while ago now, so we are in the dark.  Also, we must complete the proper checks.”

“First things first, I’d recommend no checking our charge’s carriage, he’s been…quite indisposed for a while now and we don’t want whatever it is he is afflicted with to spread.  We had a healer check him and were told whatever it is, is quite contagious.  We wish to not spread it to you or this city if we can help it.” (Margaret)

When she finished saying that, both guards moved slightly farther back from the noble’s carriage and nodded.

“Noted.”

“As for news from the capital, yes, there were many problems there.  The most obvious being the eternal spring of Odeen has ended.  But that aside, the Dead Zone has fallen, and the King has died.  I believe the Prime Minister has as well and, at least when we left, the capital nobles were beginning to move against one another in an attempt to usurp power for themselves.  If you’d like my personal opinion, I believe it was some sort of coup.” (Margaret)

Both guards were speechless.  It took several minutes before they rebooted their brains, and they became panicked.

“Get inside the city, we will be shutting the gate afterwards and no one is allowed to leave until we can post some others here.”

The lead guard then turned to his colleague.

“Go report to the captain now!”

The other one nodded and ran into the city.  Our procession followed suit and entered the city.  Once we were all through the gate, it was shut, and the large metal doors closed.  The guard that was talking with Margaret ran into a door next to the gate and didn’t come back.

“So, seeing as the city is now in lockdown, not that it will really do much for something that happened a little more than half a year ago at this point, what should we do?” (Keeno)

“I believe it would be good to have a few days rest.  Even though we took our time, all of us are most likely pretty exhausted from traveling on the roads, so sleeping in proper beds for a change would be nice.” (Margaret)

“Keeno, I think we should also wait and deal with those that are following us before we leave the country.” (Pram)

Prama and Freya approached from the wagon we’d been using for the longest time.

“I agree with Pram.  There is no telling what we are going to face in Lokir, so it would be better to take care of anything that might pose an annoyance behind us.” (Freya)

“Then that’s what we’ll do.  We rest here until those chasing us get close, then we will finish them off before moving on.  Anything to add Mostima, Margaret?” (Keeno)

“Nothing from me.” (Mostima)

“Same here.  I was going to suggest the same thing.” (Margaret)

I nodded.

“Now, an inn, of the Guild.  Where will we be staying?” (Keeno)

“The Guild would be a better option.  The inns in this city in particular aren’t very…hospitable.” (Margaret)

“The Guild it is.” (Keeno)

Moving further into the city we quickly found the Guild building and Margaret and I obtained some lodging for our group.  Once that was settled, several of the Guild homunculi began leading the horses to stables somewhere deeper into the Guild Hall and, using strength that surprised me, pushed the wagons and the carriage behind them.  Another homunculus led us to the lodging we would be using while here.  It was a large room with enough beds to accommodate our entire group.  Connected to the room was a large bathroom with an equally large bath, obviously to be used by large groups.

Several of the knights, after receiving permission from Margaret, took off their armor and sat or laid on a bed, a few falling asleep instantly.  My group all eyed the bath with longing.

“You know I’m not going to stop you, right?  I’m going in there in a moment myself.” (Keeno)

They eyed each other before nearly sprinting inside.

“Why are they acting like that?” (Margaret)

“Because they want to get in and out before I get in there.  They can’t handle how hot I like my baths.” (Keeno)

“It can’t be that bad, and it’s a massive one, so even so it should be fine.” (Margaret)

“Meh.  It doesn’t bother me.” (Keeno)

I chose a bed for myself and put my boots next to it before heading into the bathroom myself.  The others were currently washing off any soap before going to soak in the lukewarm water.  I quickly stripped and followed suit.

{Looking as lovely as ever, Keeno.}

“Why thank you Ama.  By the way, how is it going with the others?  It’s been a while since I heard anything.” (Keeno)

{They are doing well.  Red has started working on keeping her mana tethered to three knives now, Emma has started working on necromantic theory.  Ortilinde is making a lot of progress in her mana control, so she’ll soon be moving to spellwork.}

“That’s wonderful.” (Keeno)

{It really is.  It reminds me why I like teaching magic so much.  Seeing people progress through their effort is so rewarding.}

“Hehehe.” (Keeno)

I finished washing off the soap and moved to the bath proper.  Seeing as I didn’t want to trouble the others, I sat down as far as possible from them.  After about two minutes of sitting and soaking, the water began to slowly boil, a slightly better but still lukewarm temperature.  Letting my control over my body heat loosen a bit, letting the water start boiling even more and a lot of steam began to rise.

“Ahhhhh.  Perfection.” (Keeno)

“I see, that’s what you meant earlier.  I think even I would struggle with how hot that water is.” (Margaret)

I opened one eye and looked over at the edge of the bath next to the others.  Margaret stood there, hiding nothing.  She had her long golden hair undone from the usual ponytail, letting it flow, reaching the small of her back.  The longest strands just an inch from getting tangled in her tail.  She was surprisingly slim, with just the faintest outline of muscle on her abdomen.  Her chest was also more well endowed than her armor would suggest, not that I particularly cared, Ama’s were much bigger and more attractive.  Though, from a third-party perspective, she was quite attractive looking.

{Ya know, it’s kind of surprising none of the people you’ve chosen as companions have been called out to by others.  I mean, I understand why, but I honestly suspected there would be more idiots than you’ve actually run into.}

“I’ve been keeping those kinds of thoughts out of my head.  If I didn’t, we would have already invited a lot more trouble.” (Keeno)

{Ah…sorry for messing up then.}

“It’s fine, Ama.  I know it will happen eventually, even without this fact put out into the universe now.” (Keeno)

{…I’ll make it up to you when we see each other again.}

“I’ll take it, not that you really need to.” (Keeno)

{Let me spoil you!}

“Fine, but only if I get to spoil you back.” (Keeno)

{I’ll agree to that.}

“…I know I’ve gotten used to it normally, only hearing one side of their conversations, but it adds a whole new layer to the awkwardness when they flirt like that in a bath.” (Margaret)

“Tell me about it.  And this is tame compared to other times.  As embarrassing as it is to admit it, when we were still living in Solheim, and we shared a bath on especially cold days their flirting could lead to very…frustrating moments.” (Pram)

Freya then, very discreetly, moved Pram’s tail around her waist.  The others next to them didn’t seem to notice, but I did.  I couldn’t help but smile.

‘Ama, I know it’s a drastic change of topic, but what can we do to help Freya?  Though she isn’t showing it, we all know she feels like she isn’t accomplishing much.  What can I do to show that she is more important than just being here for Pram?’ (Keeno)

{I’d say, next time something happens, and it focuses on Pram, let Freya handle it instead of you jumping in and taking care of it.  It’s mostly just a mental shackle, so if she does something like that, it could shake it loose.}

‘Alright.’ (Keeno)

I slowly slid further into the water, the only thing visible of myself through the steam being my face from the nose up, and the blue tips of my tails.  After soaking for a good long while, I decided it was best I got out before I got too comfortable and fell asleep in the perfect warmth.  After getting out of the water and drying off, I got dressed and sat on the bed I chose earlier.  The others followed shortly after.  Once all of us were out, all the men of Margaret’s group went in only, after several minutes, for us to hear yelps as some of them discovered the place I was soaking in.

“Heh.” (Keeno)

“Can you please not laugh at broiling some of my men.” (Margaret)

“Don’t think I didn’t see that small smirk you had, you found it funny too.” (Keeno)

“…Anyway, seeing as we have the time, want to spar tomorrow?” (Margaret)

“Sure.  I could use the exercise.  It’s been too long since I had a decent fight.” (Keeno)

“Sparring, eh?  Mind if we join in too?” (Freya)

“The more the merrier.  I’d love to see what all of you can do.” (Margaret)

“Then it’s a plan.  For now, though, a bed calls my name, and I am going to answer.” (Keeno)

The others nodded and all chose beds.  Thankfully, Pram and Freya chose separate ones.  Ones next to each other, but still separate, so we wouldn’t have a repeat of that again.  Though I know they have more than enough self-control to not do something like that while we are in this big of a group.  Anyway, the second my head hit the pillow, drowsiness hit me, and I quickly fell asleep.

Chaos Realm:

Order: Payto.

Yes?

Order: *Blushes*

Ah.  I’ll join you in a minute.  I need to check on something.

Order: What do you need to check?

I’ve been searching and I finally found Nykuro’s Fated One.  Just one hiccup.

Order: And that is?

They are another God of Chaos names Swil.

Order: Aren’t the two of you friends though?

Yes, but that’s not the problem.  I genuinely don’t know what happens when a family member of one God of Chaos marries another God of Chaos.  Does something happen and their Seas of Chaos mix?  Does nothing happen? Am I just overthinking everything?

Order: Most likely the last one.

I’m inclined to agree.

Order: Then how about this; we take a bath together and have some “fun,” then we contact Swil and have Nykuro meet them and see what happens from there.

Sounds reasonable to me.  We’ll do that.

Order: Then lets go.

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