World Keeper

Chapter 56: A Fox’s Fright

I let out a deep breath when I saw that the wave had been stopped. Although Ryone wasn’t able to save everyone, she still reduced the casualties by a lot. The rest were people that had been too far away from the city to get back in time, or those that did not listen to the warning. All in all, from over a thousand potential casualties, it had been reduced to just under a hundred.

Just as I was internally celebrating getting through this without losing a large number of the elves, Ryone appeared back in the room, rubbing her head in annoyance. “Okay, that was harder than I thought. Was the result worth the headache?”

I nodded my head to the goddess as she sat down on the nearby bed. “Aside from a few, you managed to protect everyone. But… do you guys even get headaches?” Companion physiology is not my strong suit, okay?

Ryone raised an eyebrow at me when she heard my question. “That’s right. Though, I wasn’t sure either until just now. Maybe it’s something that only happens when we descend? Or it just needs me to push myself more to get one. Don’t know, don’t care, going to hide in a dark hole for the next hour or so. If there’s nothing major, don’t have anyone bother me.”

“Alright… Oh, by the way, was going to have the next goddess awakened. Want to attend, or no?” I didn’t even get an answer as Ryone simply faded from view. Guess that’s a no, then.

Well, at least this way nobody can claim I didn’t invite her. Next, I began sending out a page to the other gods, letting them all know what was going to happen. Or, I at least hoped that was what I was doing. Given Ryone’s previous interpretation of my attempt to page someone, I might just be setting off firecrackers in their mind. Either way, at least I’ll be getting their attention?

Sure enough, a few moments later, a piece of paper appeared in front of me. It seemed to just materialize from thin air and land in my hand without a sound, and there were several words written on it. Given the complexity of what happened, and that Ryone was excluded from the group page, I figured that Terra had sent this.

‘Until you learn how to do the mental messaging properly, use this. Just write what you want to tell us, and who you want it sent to.’ I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or upset at this. On the bright side, this did make my job easier, but it was also just short of blatantly telling me that I was still a mental alarm.

Nonetheless, I did write on the paper. ‘Send to all gods but Ryone.’ Did not want to take the risk that this paper could also work as a broadcast to the planet. That would be a fuck up of epic proportions. ‘About to give Udona her personality. Anyone that wants to attend can meet in the living room.’

I waited for several long moments, unsure if the message had gone through. However, soon the ink seemed to seep down through the paper, forming more words on a separate line. ‘Udona? Which one is that? The fox, wolf, or the bear?’ Unfortunately, there was no real way for me to identify which one sent that message. So, I once again sent the message to all of them, letting them know that Udona was the Kitsune Goddess of Life and Entertainment.

Now that I think about it, that might be a rather strange combination of domains. On the one hand, it implies that life is all about having fun. On the other, it encourages people to live life to the fullest, I guess? Either way, I folded up the piece of paper and put it in my pocket, then went to the living room.

By the time I arrived, there were already a few people present. Once again, Bihena was there to watch the ceremony, as was Aurivy. To my surprise, Tubrock was also present. I had almost forgotten that we had already ‘woken’ him up after spending time with Ryone.

Looking around, I gave the three a small smile. “Okay… So, going to do things a little differently with this one. I want everyone here to help me come up with the personality to give her. The only thing that I would insist on is some form of loyalty, so that there isn’t a bunch of drama that could divide the planet or anything like that. Agreed?”

Bihena gave a small nod, sitting on the couch. Aurivy ran over to sit next to her, leaning against the taller woman. Given their appearances, it was almost possible to see the two of them as actual sisters, though there was quite the age gap for appearances. Surprisingly, Tubrock was the first to speak up. “Personality, ya say? What sorts of things can be used?” Given his honestly curious tone, it was likely that he either didn’t suspect or didn’t bother with the implication that his own personality would have been granted in the same way.

Bihena glanced over to the dwarf in the corner, one hand reaching up to rest on Aurivy’s shoulder. “Anything within reason. As for my suggestion, why not use a filial bond? Although the rest of us may be a bit too different, but if she has the setting of Terra’s younger sister, it would make things easier without putting unwanted thoughts in her head.”

After her came Aurivy, whose hand shot up quickly. “Ooh, ooh! Why don’t we make all the beastkin goddesses sisters? That could make things really interesting for their culture, if they know that their goddesses are all one family, right?!”

Bihena looked at Aurivy, taken aback by the suggestion, but ultimately nodded her head in agreement. Turning to look at Tubrock, I saw him crossing his arms, seeming to give this some serious thought. “Aye, that could work, maybe? But as for the other stuff, no clue what should be given to this one. Ya said in your note that this one was the goddess of Life and Entertainment, yeah?”

I nodded my head, waiting for him to continue. However, after a few moments, he simply shrugged his shoulders in defeat. “Got nothing to help ya with, then.” I’m not sure why I was expecting anything different. Tubrock was literally born yesterday, so he naturally wouldn’t have many opinions to offer on this.

Letting out an exaggerated sigh, Bihena took the lead. “Why not just let the system decide, aside from the family bit?”

I nodded my head lightly, pulling the paper back out. Summoning a pencil to write with, I sent a message to Terra. ‘We decided to use the setting of the beastkin goddesses all being your sisters. That okay with you?’ This was a rather major decision, and I didn’t want to go through with it without getting her approval.

A few moments later, I got a message from Terra, verifying that she was alright with having more sisters. “Alright then, let’s bring her in.” Closing my eyes, I focused on moving Udona from the storage room to the living room.

Her arrival was accompanied by a small popping noise, and when I opened my eyes I could see the golden haired kitsune standing in front of me. Like the last time I saw her, she was still wearing a dress of animal furs, her eyes still carrying that same vacant look. Her delicate features appeared very attractive, combined with her hourglass curves. Although her chest was smaller than Terra’s, it would still be the envy of many women back in the Earth I came from.

After looking into her jade green eyes, I closed my own and focused on the personality that I wanted to give her. This would be the first of the girls I made that did not have an instant love towards me of one sort or another. In a way, this was a test to see how things went without that added in. If Udona caused trouble for everyone and wouldn’t listen to reason, then I would reset her. It’s regrettable, but it was something I had to be ready to do.

Once again, the golden light descended, making Udona’s hair seem to glow brilliantly as it set about its work of breathing life into the Goddess of Life herself. Tubrock seemed especially attentive to this process, eyes shining as he watched from beginning to end. Only when the light began to fade away did it even register to him that he should be blinking.

Bihena was also staring intently, but her gaze seemed less focused on the light, and more on the person within it. When Udona stepped out from the pillar of light and looked around, it was Bihena that was most focused on her. However, her first words were… not what I was expecting.

“Where am I?” She asked, looking around, her eyes wide and showing fear. Bihena leaned forward in surprise, bringing both her hands down into her lap. She quickly shot a look over to me, and I was already writing in the paper to call Terra. If the system really did make Udona see her as a sister, that should calm things down before she freaks out.

Sure enough, Terra arrived a couple of minutes later, only to find all of us looking at Udona, who was crouched down in a corner with her arms around herself. Her body was visibly shaking, as if she was barely restraining herself from running away. However, when Terra arrived, Udona happened to look up and see her come in. “Terra!” She cried out, running quickly over to the catgirl goddess and hugging her tightly.

Taken aback by the sudden charge, Terra was stunned for a moment. It was only a short while later, after her eyes unfocused for a split second, that she wrapped one arm around to pat Udona’s back. “What’s wrong?”

“I… where are we?” The kitsune goddess asked, looking up into Terra’s eyes. Even though I was off to the side, I could see the wetness on her cheeks.

“We’re home, Udona. Where else would we be?” Terra seemed slightly confused by the question. At least that meant she didn’t know about whatever memories or personality quirks the system gave Udona.

“H-home?” She looked back towards the rest of us in the room, then to Terra again. “T-this is home? But then… who are they? Why are they in our h-home?”

Terra simply sighed, shaking her head. “Of course, it’s because this is their home, too.” The fox girl seemed confused by that, looking at us again. Terra glanced in my direction as she continued to hold Udona with one hand. “Mind if I go explain things to her for a bit? She’s not going to be much good to you in this condition for anything, anyways.”

I nodded my head, and Terra smiled, turning to lead Udona out of the room. From how they were walking, the kitsune goddess was constantly doing her best to walk in front of Terra, standing on the opposite side of her from all of us. When they were no longer here, there was a period of silence from everyone left, until an awkward cough came from Tubrock.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say that doesn’t normally happen, aye?” He glanced at the rest of us, who shook our heads in unison. “Well, that’s good at least. Glad I didn’t end up like that one.” With that, he shook his head and left the room.

“Uhm…” Aurivy glanced between Bihena and myself. “Is Udona going to be alright?”

“She’ll be fine.” Bihena assured her, patting Aurivy’s shoulder again. “She just had a bit of a shock, is all. After Terra’s done explaining things and getting her adjusted, she should be fine. She’s the Goddess of Entertainment, so maybe she’ll be able to come up with some fun games for you to play together?”

Aurivy’s eyes practically glowed at that moment, and she nodded her head vigorously. “Right! I’m sure she’ll be lots of fun later on! I just hope she gets better soon. And… it’d be best if neither of the other two had reactions like that. Maybe we should make them a little familiar with us when setting their personalities later, so that that can’t happen?”

Bihena blinked in surprise, but soon nodded her head. “That sounds like a good idea.” She then put on a sarcastic grin as she reached up and pinched one of Aurivy’s cheeks. “You know, you’re smarter than you look.”

“Nuuuu!!” Aurivy flailed her arms pitifully as her cheek was pinched. “Stopf it!” Bihena just laughed, releasing the girl’s cheek and standing up to leave the room. Aurivy sat there, rubbing her cheek with her head lowered. As for me… I was thinking about what I should do next. Things were definitely starting to get interesting in the Admin Room.

And also, I had to ask myself why Irena wasn’t present. I had expected her to be here for this event, but instead she was absent. I made up my mind that my next course of action would be to visit the Underworld again to meet her, and see what was going on.

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