Chapter 172 - The Coming Together of Ideas

After a delicious, hot meal and booze, most of the Greyrats wandered off to the hot spring leaving just Ghislaine, Hilda, and I in the dining hall. Letting out a satisfied sigh, Ghislaine asked if there was any way she could purchase the ale we had with dinner by the barrel. Nodding my head, I told her that I knew most of the brewmasters in the city thanks to my father-in-laws. Remembering that she was supposed to have bought a few barrels of the ale she liked already, I asked if we needed to pick them up since she did not have them with her.

"About that…", Ghislaine said, with an embarrassed expression, "I…I did not reach the brewery before I blew all my money on gambling."

"You what…", I sighed, thankful she put me in charge of her money, "You were a woman on a mission when you left us, what happened?"

"Yes, how did that happen?", Hilda inquired, "Sauros should have stopped you before you started, why did he not do it?"

"We stopped at a Slave Trader so he could look for potential replacement servants for the mansion. While he was being shown around, I saw a posting down the road for the brewery I wanted to buy from. They are offering a discount if you bought six or more barrels, which was an amazing deal.", Ghislaine stated enthusiastically, "I thought about going back to ask Cole for the extra money I needed, but then I saw a group gathered around some people playing dice. Since I felt lucky, I tried earning the money by rolling the dice a few times. At first, I was doing great, but just before I got what I needed…I lost everything in one roll."

"You told them how much you needed, right?", I inquired.

"Yes, how did you know that?", Ghislaine replied, with a confused look.

Explaining to her that the men played her for a fool, Hilda told Ghislaine that they led her on till she was hooked. Once she was comfortable, they knocked her legs out from under her and stole everything she had. Asking how they could have done that without magic, as she did not see them use a spell to manipulate the outcome, I told her they likely used loaded dice.

"Fuck…", Ghislaine groaned, slamming her head onto the table, "I did not think to watch for that, they seemed like honest people."

"Ghislaine, promise me you will not gamble anymore. This is the fifth time someone swindled you out of money this year.", Hilda scolded her, "You will not be able to retire comfortably at this rate."

Promising to abstain from gambling ever again, at least when money is involved, Hilda swore to help stop her in the future. Thanking her, Ghislaine turned to me and requested that I continue safeguarding her money from her stupidity. Agreeing to her request, I told them we should get moving as I wanted to check out the store the innkeeper told me about.

—Leviathan and Serafall's Store—

Walking down the sidewalk toward the shop, I noticed Yasaka, Serafall, and Runeas were outside talking with the remnants of the Shinto Pantheon. Dressed in clothing I assumed they were selling, somehow Serafall convinced Yasaka to make the Fallen Gods dress up as Magical Girls. Quietly approaching them, as I wanted to hear what they were saying, I pulled out my phone to snap some photos of their outfits.

"I cannot believe I am wearing this!", Amaterasu shouted, with a cherry-red face, "There is too much skin showing, and this outfit is too breezy!"

"At least it suits you…", Hachiman sniffled, looking back at Takemikazuchi, "I hope none of the other Pantheons see us. We are already at the bottom of the barrel, this would erase the remaining sliver of respect they had for us."

"Agreed…", Takemikazuchi acknowledged, "Hand me my stupid wand…"

"You all are ruining the Magical Girl image I am going for, at least pretend to be cheerful and energetic!", Serafall scolded them, "In case you forgot how to smile, this is how you do it!"

Giving them an almost angelic smile, none of them could manage to come close to her. Cramping up as they attempted to mimic her, Yasaka and Runeas began choking as they held back their laughter. 

"I see you are making them earn their keep.", I chuckled, as we walked up to them, "Oh Zeus and Odin are going to die when they see this."

"PLEASE DO NOT TELL THEM!!", Hachiman and Takemikazuchi pleaded, "Anything but that!!"

"Cole!!", Serafall shouted, running over and jumping on me, "It has been ages since we saw you, how have you been? Why have you not come to see us like you used to? Do you not like us anymore? Was it something those old hags Leviathan and Lilith did that up-"

Watching a fireball come sailing out the front window, it slammed into Serafall and sent her skipping into a dumpster across the street. Calmly walking out the front door like nothing had happened, Lilith and Leviathan greeted me with a warm smile.

"It is good to see you Cole.", Lilith said, with a hint of sadness, "I hope you have been well."

"I have been fine, but it does not seem you five knuckleheads have. If you want, you are more than welcome to join me on some of my trips.", I offered, wanting to cheer them up a bit.

"That sounds like a lot of fun!", Serafall replied, quickly recovering and rejoining us, "By the way, who are these people with you? More ladies you are picking up?"

"This is Hilda Boreas Greyrat and Ghislaine Dedoldia, they are from the world I am currently traveling through. There are a couple of troublesome entities in their world that might have leads to the Gods I am after.", I explained, knowing I would have to give Ghislaine and Hilda a full explanation on Ciri and I's identities, "As for if I am picking them up, for the moment I am testing the waters. Hilda recently lost her husband to a Minotaur Attack, and Ghislaine is still very free-spirited so settling down is out of the question for now."

"May I ask who all of you are?", Hilda inquired, unsure of their relation to me.

"My name is Yasaka of the Youkai Clan, I am Cole's newest wife.", Yasaka replied, with a bow, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"I am Serafall Sitri, but you can call me Magical Girl Sera!!", Serafall proclaimed, "These are Runeas Gremory, Lilith Lucifer, and Mira Leviathan, Lilith, Mira, and I are all interested in marrying Cole one day, Runeas is still undecided since she does not know him that well. She does think he is fun to hang out with though."

Taken aback by how quickly she spat that out, Lilith and Leviathan smacked her upside the head. Telling her not to speak for them on matters of love, Serafall rubbed her head and ran over to me pretending to be upset.

"Cole, they are being big fat meanies again!", Serafall insulted them.

"This bitch!", Leviathan growled, forming another fireball.

"I will have a word with your father about this…", Lilith threatened her.

"Alright, you should hold back a bit with your insults, Serafall. I am older than all of you so it is worse for me.", I chuckled, patting her on the head, "Moving on, you ladies went ahead and opened a shop here in my capital city. Why did you not tell me? I could have helped you set up the storefront or displays."

"While we are grateful for the offer, this is something we wanted to do ourselves.", Leviathan answered, as I used one of my Quirks to fix the broken window, "I am proud to say we have additional investors now too, Yasaka is selling some of her clan's goods here now."

"Instead of opening our separate stores, the Elders and I decided to extend an olive branch to the Devils by offering to sell our goods through them. So far it has been a very fruitful business relationship, money and goods are flowing through my territory at a blistering pace.", Yasaka said, motioning for us to come inside, "Please, let us show you around the store!"

Taking her up on that offer, the three of us headed inside to check the place out. Following close behind us, everyone shuffled in except for Serafall. Stopping at the door, she turned to look at the Fallen Gods for a moment. Doing a mental headcount of all of them, she realized that one was missing.

"Where did Inari go?", Serafall inquired, "Has she not come out yet?"

"She was having trouble with her outfit remember, the chest area was too tight.", Amaterasu stated, looking at her meager chest, 'I never have those sorts of good problems.'

"Oh, I will go help her then.", Serafall said, "Remember everyone, energetic and cheerful!"

Giving her another cramped smile, Serafall let out a deflated sigh. Realizing that they were not doing what she wanted, the She-Devil threatened to make figurines of all of them in different Magical Girl outfits. Conjuring up a few images of them in compromising poses, their attitudes quickly changed. Doing as she requested, the deities silently cried inside knowing that the legacy of the Shinto Pantheon would disappear in an instant once this got out.