I never wanted to use this...

Part 1

MC's POV

Currently, everyone's favorite cat is subjected to a certain action. Lying innocently on my bed, I am being straddled by a certain lady. Dressed in a light shirt, the girl had black lacy underwear below while lacking any sort of pants. This caused her healthy thighs and rear to have practically zero defenses, but I had thankfully been lying down with my pants on so there was no direct contact. That said, it did not help to make the situation 'tough' for me.

The culprit of my conundrum had her hands on my chest while staring at me with a pair of 'dangerous' eyes.

"So... your desires got the best of you huh." I mumbled.

I had trouble putting my hands somewhere since I will end up touching places that I might have to take responsibility for given our positions at the moment.

"That is wrong!" Natsume exclaimed.

"Dear, you are straddling my waist with only lacy underwear. I am doing my best, but I am a man so reacting will be a matter of time." I retorted. "Besides, for a while now, your hands have been checking my chest and abs. I have been quiet, but since you appeared here 3 minutes ago, you have been silently taking advantage of me."

"...if you are awake, say something!" Natsume rebuked.

"Hoho? So you began touching me here and there because you thought I was asleep?" I raised an eyebrow.

The poor lighting this room had was the moonlight peeking from the window's gaps since I had closed them to prevent peeping.

"...ok, I apologize. I just got a tiny bit curious and thought it wouldn't hurt if I took a peek." Natsume meekly said.

"People see with their eyes, not hands though?" I retorted.

"Urgh, I... your abs look kind of nice so I... without thinking..." Natsume gave me puppy eyes.

I did the most sensitive thing and-

"Ouch!" Natsume covered her forehead and glared at me with tears in her eyes.

"Sweety, It is nice to be praised, but don't you think I can forgive you for doing something like that so easily? Regardless of our ambiguous situation, you are a fair maiden. Being forward is not bad, but do not retort to this. We are not in a relationship so this looks really bad for you." I sighed.

Despite getting rebuked, she looked slightly happy.

"Aren't you mistaking something? I am scolding you." I muttered.

"You are, because you worry about me." Natsume smiled.

"...this might look like the situation has been solved, but you are still straddling me." I decided not to point out her logic being strange.

If I continue the topic given our unique situation, I feel like I might be the one pushing things further.

Stupid hormones.

"This one is your fault!" Natsume muttered something crazy.

"Excuse me!? Where does that logic come from?" I asked.

"Well... I used the summoning circle in reverse like you suggested we do when we are in danger, but I end up like this!" Natsume exclaimed.

Ok, that is probably my fault.

"(No, hubby, there is no way that is your fault.)" Tamamo retorted. "(You are probably thinking that the spell has partially failed and she came here without her full clothing because of it, aren't you?)"

Isn't that what happened?

"(Hmph, this child is not telling the full truth and it is taking advantage of your misunderstanding. No one can use such a sloppy way of fooling others in from of yours truly and expect to not be found out.)" Tamamo snorted. "(I am the queen of deceit, the ultimate kitsune. Whether it is about pranks, jokes, or making naive ones believe nonsensical stuff, there is no one better fitted for the job other than Tamamo no Mae!)"

I think we will tackle your hobbies later, but for now, I will deal with this lewd girl.

"So, do you have another reason for assaulting me during this time? Doing Yobai is not a good hobby." I said.

Bad choice of words though. As soon as she heard that, she glared at me hatefully and grabbed my innocent shirt and began shaking me back and forth.

"What did you tell Lavinia!? She came asking many questions today and every single one of them was related to a night raid (yobai). Can't you stay one day without causing an incident that bites me back!?" Natsume whined.

"(Hubby. This one is on you. Kitsune out. Peace.)" Tamamo went to sleep.

You should be helping me at times like this, not running away.

"...I am not sure what you mean about that. I am just an innocent cat doing what innocent cats do all the time." I looked away.

"Didn't you say I knew a lot about the subject? Well, here I am, doing a yobai on you." Natsume spoke with a teasing smile.

Silently screaming, I wondered how could an innocent (Pfft) cat such as myself get forced into this situation. What kind of karma was the one before me? Which God had decided to play around with my fate?

Just kidding. I am guilty of this one.

"Putting that aside. Did you only come here to assault me or you have another reason?" I asked.

"The gals to actually cast aside my justified anger." Natsume sighed. "You guessed correctly. It's one of those guys hanging around my place. He is loitering around for now, but he did the same yesterday."

"Kya." Natsume yelped.

When I tried to sit up, Natsume lost her balance so I held her back. Our close proximity was rather daring, but this girl has zero defense so she did not try to pull anything other than staring at me with a flushed face.

Biting her lips, she held back any sound from coming out of her mouth when I took her by her waist to move her away from me.

"So you feared him trying anything?" I asked. "The girl who mastered my household technique faster than anyone? I also recall that you also learned Tamamo's 'Castration Fist'."

"Shouldn't you try to console me here?" Natsume sulkily said.

Stretching a little, I went towards my belonging and checked my bag for a bit. Once I got what I desired, I took it to Natsume.

"Here, it is not glamorous but you must be cold like that." I muttered.

I have all types of clothing stored in my pocket storage, but I am thinking of another way to tackle this issue. Call it a petty grudge, but those guys who want to get their hands on my people will not end well. First, I shall use a physiological blow.

"T-This is yours, isn't it?" Natsume checked the coat I gave her.

Sitting on the bed all alone, I sighed and sat beside her. Taking the coat from her again, I put it over her.

"It has been three days since we arrived here and... they have delayed the so-called festival by one day. The next village chief has been very kind to offer us free housing since we arrived here, but due to the limited space, only one person per house." I glanced around the room.

The room had a small kitchen and a bathroom, and it was quite comfy for a wooden building with a simple design. The only furniture here was the bed and a table with a couple of chairs near the kitchen.

"I don't trust that guy. His smile seems fake." Natsume grumbled.

There was something inconvenient, it was that there was no electricity in this room. We had our ways to charge our electrical equipment, supernatural and normal ways, but it was still difficult to get accustomed to such an unfamiliar setting after depending on electricity and Youjutsu to take care of many things.

Finding her still a little uncomfortable after mentioning my new 'bestie', I wondered how to get back at those people more nastily- I mean, fairly.

"I got an idea, but it might damage your reputation." I suggested.

Curious, Natsume leaned toward me and I whispered my idea. The girl's face reddened at once but she did not seem to dislike the idea.

"...it is not a bad idea. I also do not mind what they think of me." Natsume showed her approval.

"You know that I am just being scummy, right?" I asked slightly surprised at how easily she agreed to it.

"You are kind of possessive of us." Natsume held her chin thoughtfully. "Rather than trying to bind us, or restrain our movements, you come to dislike to a great deal what troubles us if it is life-threatening. If I think about it, you are like a mother hen sometimes."

"...Now I am a bird? I think I need to reinforce my cats' attributes." I seriously pondered. "Urgh, adding 'nya' to the end of my sentences is a bit..."

"Pffft, that! Do that!" Natsume chuckled.

Her laugh reminded me of one of my 72 reasons why I only do that to tease Kuroka-chan.

"Well, I should not tease you too much or you might begin to sulk." Natsume gave me a sidelong glance. "That is kind of cute in its own way, but you will tease the heck out of me in revenge."

Snorting, I looked away.

"Honestly, I do not dislike your possessive side. I can at least tell that you are interested in me." Natsume said. "Well, you are protective of all of us so I feel kind of jealous when you pay attention to Lavinia or Shigune, but I guess that part of me has come to terms with the fact that you are not a man of only one girl."

"Wow, you just called me a scum." I mumbled.

I could not get angry or anything.

"Now now, I am not trying to hint anything by that." Natsume muttered. "I understand that your overprotective behavior is part of your desire to not lose anything or anyone again."

The girl took my arm and pulled me closer. I thought she would go for the 'kill' now that I was slightly distracted but she simply snuggled me.

"You could've given me clothes my size anytime, but you chose to give me yours... are you being considerate?" Natsume leaned on my shoulder.

"Is there any girl who would be happy to get some guy's stuff? I am just lazy to use magic. I only use it from 8 am to 5 pm, more than that is employee abuse." I muttered.

"I would not be happy with anything from some guy." Natsume exclaimed.

"See? I am not trying to-" I tried to say.

"I would be happy if it is you who gave it to me. Being near the guy they like, for any girl in love is enough to make them feel safe. Now, not only you are keeping me company, but you also gave me this coat. I can't say I am not greedy, that I want more, that I desire more, but I will be by your side for a long time, it is ok to take it slowly. For now, that is, but if you take too long, you might find yourself targeted by several girls... Me included."

Turning her head towards me, she sent me an alluring smile my way.

Her words made me think, made me ponder, and made me wonder what is it I should do. They want me to do something grand as shower them with my love. However, can I do that? To equally offer them attention, to equally make them happy.

"Hey!" Natsume called out. "You got that spaced-out look on your face and that can only mean one thing. Stop it, don't go making baseless assumptions. We don't want to trouble you. If it will hurt you, we would rather not pursue you. You don't have to think about anything too complicated, we can take it easy."

Thinking about it, I just let my mind run amok so thinking it is not the best approach for me.

"See? Let your problems come at you, don't go looking for them." Natsume said.

"That sounds irresponsible, you know? Onii-san is worried about what kind of advice you are giving, and to begin with, troubles don't come looking for me-" I was trying to speak when-

Just like a while ago, a young woman fell on my lap after appearing in the air. Her blonde hair glistened with the moonlight.

"That was fun." Lavinia giggled.

Her nightgown was semi-transparent, but thankfully she was not going commando.

Sighing, I moved the girl who was looking at Natsume with surprise. It seems that she did not expect her to be her as well.

"Ah!" Lavinia hit her open palm with her fist in realization. "So this is a yobai!"

Her eyes seemed to have stars in them as she alternated her gaze between me and Natsume.

I gently moved her to sit on the other side I had Natsume and I glanced at the young woman who just gave me terrible advice.

"You were saying?" I narrowed my eyes at her.

"H-Hahaha, what a coincidence." Natsume sweated coldly.

As I prepared to open my mouth to give her a piece of my mind, the events repeated but this time, a petite figure appeared before me.

"A-Awawa, this was not what I was aiming for!" Nanadaru-san got up from my lap, where she handed, at an incredible speed and took a few steps away. "I-I can explain it, there was this guy loitering outside my room and-"

I half-expected this so I did not blame her. It was kind of refreshing to see her reaction and I almost shed a tear when I saw that she was wearing pajamas with cat designs that even came with a cat-eared hood.

"This is... normal." I nodded. "Now, you were saying?"

Looking at Natsume with a smile, the girl could only look away. I did not get the chance to say anything else because I felt a presence here.

"It seems they sent a guy here as well." I mumbled.

"Is he into you?" Natsume had a teasing smile but soon looked away after I glared at her.

"No, it must be because they see my presence as an eyesore. That said, it must be this guy acting by himself." I explained. "He is carrying a sickle in his hands so he is definitely not scouting like you said the other guy did."

"Nora-kun, is there a bad guy coming to harm you?" Lavinia furrowed her eyebrows. "There was this creepy guy at my place that made it difficult for me to sleep so I thought I could sleep here..."

This was nothing new since this one was one that even Raikou-san had trouble stopping given the lack of ulterior motives she had when she entered my room at night.

"I-I was hungry so I thought of summoning Shiki-kun to make me something, but I ripped the wrong paper..." Nanadaru-san apologized. "I had trouble stopping Poh-kun from coming out to attack the loitering guy so maybe this was for the best. A-Ah! I did not mean to say I was planning to land on your lap! It is not like I was unhappy, but... but..."

Blushing madly, the girl had trouble formulating the last of her sentence.

I had conflicted feelings regarding this one but it was actually not out of character so I only sighed.

"I think I got to deal with these guys somehow." I stood up.

"Nora-kun looks manly!" Lavinia commented happily.

"No, isn't that an evil look? He looks like he is about to massacre those guys..." Natsume retorted.

Rude.

"He looks like an evil CEO about to do a l-lot s-stuff to the female main lead..." Nanadaru-san had a dreamy look on her face. "W-Wait, wouldn't that mean that his targets are us...? He will take us one by one? No, he is much stronger than us so he will surely decide to attack us all together... he will use his bottomless stamina to do this and that..."

I knew that letting this child read manga was a bad idea. Her hobby led her to the 18+ section and now she daydreams a lot.

"No, no, he is not going to do that." Natsume suddenly stopped to think. "Although I would not mind..."

You fail as the straight man here, you are supposed to retort, not become the person that needs to be retorted.

The easiest choice would be to kill them, but there is a couple of things I need to sort out before we act.

Lisa is taking care of Aika-chan as her m-mother, pffft, oh, dear, I know that I will get punished for laughing back then and above all, to make her take that position, but she was the best choice to keep her safe since I am a little afraid that X village tries to target me. I am not sure if it can suddenly appear but protecting her while I deal with that place seems dangerous. That said, we altered her appearance with magic to make them look alike.

Sighing, I changed my outfit with magic. A fox mask that is normally worn during festivals and a green coat. Along with black gloves and boots, this became my new appearance.

I doubted they would be able to see me, but one can never be too careful.

"Wait here." I said.

The girls simply nodded and all sat on the bed watching me leave. I felt a little bad so I left them snacks and game consoles to entertain themselves while I worked my magic.

...

...

...

Making all the bastards faint, I took them to one of the guy's house's and put them on one bed. A simple hypnosis spell put them into a trance and I had them take off their clothes and lie down naked in bed together. I am lacking in this area so I could only leave vague memories of them doing this and that, but the human brain is good to come up with ideas to fill the missing spaces.

These guys were clearly different from regular humans and I could tell that their bodies were altered somewhat, but they were amateurs and lacked any sort of training since I could sneak up on them and easily knock them out.

They did not pose any threat to me as they were, but I assumed that their modifications had to give them some sort of power to make them gifted. Physically, they were better than your regular human from what I observed these days.

Deciding to test their limits more, I left the room and began formulating plans.

...

...

..

The next morning there was unrest in the village, and people were roaming outside. My door was knocked. One knock, two knocks.

Opening the door slightly, I saw the next village chief. He is the guy who received us the other day and his name was Kamiya.

"*Yawn* Oh, hello chief. What brings you here...?" I spoke in a sleepy tone.

Looking at him through the half-opened door, he seemed to be furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

Perhaps that guy was not acting on his own after all.

"People are missing. Hachi was supposed to deliver milk to everyone in the village, but it is already this late and he has not started. He has always been on time for this so everyone is worried that something happened to him."

Which one of the guys was him... Ah, the sickle guy.

"Several of your friends are missing, we just found out, we will form a search party. However, I want you to remain calm..."

"Huh? Missing? Who could be missing...?" I spoke in a worried tone.

The deep worry in my tone sounded like the real deal, and the training I received from the old man was playing an active part. Kamiya bought my act since he continued his words without changing his expression.

"Most of the pretty ladies that came with you are missing."

Looking apologetic, he relayed the news to me.

"Don't worry, as your sworn brother, I will make sure all of your women are found."

There was a hint of ill will when he mentioned being my sworn brother, but he hid it pretty quickly. He had a way with words and his charisma was high as well since the other people who won the lottery had taken a liking to him as well. He easily acted the part of a benevolent and responsible host. My 'reputation' had followed me even here 'somehow' and I got some unfriendly looks from the elderly and some of the women, but he stood up to me and began speaking on my behalf.

It almost brought tears to my eyes. I was about to... laugh my ass off. I mean, for such a retired place and lacking proper traffic people, they got the news too fast. It smelled fishy and I did not like it, despite being a cat.

"Oh, they are not missing, they spent the night here." I opened the door some more

Just in time, Natsume hugged me from behind with a sleepy look.

"Ah? What is going on...?" Natsume yawned.

Her sweaty figure and she panted slightly surely looked lewd. My poor young body had trouble not reacting but through sheer force of will, I calmed down.

The girl put one hand around my waist as she leaned on my body and made sure to glue our bodies together.

"Oh, it's the next village chief." Natsume waved at the guy with her other hand. "What is with all the ruckus...?"

"It seems you all were missing..." I shrugged my shoulders.

"S-So you were here, Natsume-san."

Coughing to cover up his surprise, Kamiya awkwardly scratched his cheek.

"It's Minagawa-san for you." Natsume corrected the guy.

"A-Ah, right! Sorry, we are all usually speaking on a first-name basis so I just did it out of habit. I treat all my guests like they are close friends so..."

Glancing at her awkwardly, he showed an embarrassed smile.

He had good looks and a charming appearance. He was supposed to be the most popular guy around here and he was even known as the doctor of this place. It was nothing too fancy but he had knowledge passed down through generations of his family and he had taken care of injuries and illnesses of the villagers since he was young as he followed his father. Nowadays, he is the guy who handles the miraculous medicine so his fame was growing steadily from this village to the city.

Nonetheless, the usually friendly and cheery girl just-

"Haha, is that so? Everyone makes mistakes." Natsume chuckled as she tightened her grip on my waist. "However, from where I come from, it is extremely rude to call people you barely know by their given name. I would advise you to practice not getting over-familiar with your guests or it can cause you serious trouble."

"A-Ahaha, I will take it into account."

Awkwardly laughing, the guy got his bearings again.

"However, the others are still missing, we have to..."

"Oh, they are right here too, although they can't meet you since they are asleep." Natsume glanced towards the room.

Lying on top of a broken bed, Lavinia and Nanadaru-san were sound asleep. From the distance, you could see them all sweaty like Natsume, causing any onlooker to have wild ideas about what happened.

Moving slightly, the next village chief did not miss the chance to stare inside my room as well. His eyes did not stop from lingering on Natsume's defenseless appearance so I used my body to shield her... for her sake, and his. Natsume seemed to be interested in beating the shit out of him.

"What in the world...?"

The surprise on his face seemed rather honest.

"We kind of broke the bed last night... Hahaha..." I laughed awkwardly.

"This guy just keep asking for more even though they were exhausted, even I could barely last until a while back..." Natsume sighed. "Thankfully, the sun is out again, otherwise, he would just ask for another round."

Blushing madly, Natsume playfully began hitting me.

"E-eh... I-Is that so...?"

Standing in front of us, Kamiya did not seem to know what to do. Natsume's words seemed to be causing him severe damage since I could almost see numerical values in a red hue appearing repeatedly above him.

Don't let it fool you, he is not simply 'interested' in Natsume, he very interested. He has been trying to court her using any method possible. Nonetheless, to feel pity for him would be too much. He has tried to flirt with Nanadaru-san (only for her to escape and hide behind me until he left), Lavinia (she ignored him as she tried to get my attention whenever we saw something new as we walked around), Toujou-san (it was amusing to see Ikuse-san stand up in front of the guy and proclaim that she was his girl and I got it all on camera), Lisa (she got pestered a lot, but he stopped after she used me as a shield when we were having lunch and began feeding me like I was her lover), Nanami (she boldly proclaimed that I was the master of body and only I could crawl my hands over her sexy body, the idiot literally proclaimed that exactly as I said) and even Felis (I almost thought I would see a bloodbath, but she just acted like a pitiful and shy girl and snuggled me, causing me to internally open my mouth in surprise and Nanami to outwardly do that as well).

"Oh yeah, have you considered checking all those guys houses'?" I advised.

"Eh? What did you say? T-Their houses...? N-No, I will do so right now..."

Slightly spaced out he bowed awkwardly and left. He gave us one last glance before disappearing from our view and I felt his immense envy and hatred directed at me.

"Natsume." I called out.

"Yes, dear?" Natsume asked.

"He left, you can take your hand off anytime now..." I suggested.

"You never know if there is someone looking at us..." Natsume said.

Closing the door, I looked at her.

"Tsk." Natsume clicked her tongue. "Even though our reputation is being tarnished, you are not giving me a reward."

Sighing, I hugged her as she froze in surprise.

"Thank you for your hard work." I kissed her forehead.

Letting go of her, I looked at the sleeping duo.

"I am not asking for a kiss on the lips, but maybe one on the cheeks would've been nice." Natsume grumbled. "Even though you made us do all that..."

"You make it sound misleading." I said. "I only made you do exercises until your body gave out."

"You left our bodies all sore." Natsume complained.

"I massaged you to take care of any pain and I also provided ki to recover your stamina so besides being sweaty since it was necessary to fool the guy coming to check on me, you should be perfectly fine." I muttered.

Covering her face with both hands, Natsume embarrassedly glanced at the sleeping duo through the gaps of her fingers.

"I did not expect to receive your lewd massages with them looking at me would be so embarrassing." Natsume complained.

"Huh? What lewd massage?" I tilted my head curiously.

"This idiot is unable to understand the kind of effect his hands have..." Natsume grumbled. "By the way... Is this the highest intensity massage you can give?"

"Uhmmm? Ah, no. Venelana-san, my boss, forbids me from going all out. I had to work pretty hard to divide my skills into levels so I could divide my courses into easy-to-pick choices for the clients." I explained.

"...With clients, you mean, women, don't you?" Natsume raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I never massage guys unless it is a medical emergency " I shrugged my shoulders. "I am not a fan of the idea of touching a guy, and it is obvious that they also would rather have a lady massage them. Oh, but I do get customers for acupuncture from both sexes, it is a course that is not requested often though... I get many female customers that request massages mostly."

"Let me get this straight, you put your hands on the bodies of several devil females? You used the same massage you used on us, on them?" Natsume asked with a smile that was not a smile.

Taking a step back unconsciously, I gulped.

"Usually Venelana-san instructs me to tone down my technique with newcomers to the salon, but most older customers ask for a higher grade one, Venelana-san included. I usually apply the highest grade one to a few people. You received one that is not even graded since I cannot push it too far with newcomers." I explained.

"I am hearing a few things that I must tackle. In particular, you have been mentioning the name Venelana quite often, and I think she was the mother of one of your friends... Nora, even if she is a widow..." Natsume mumbled.

"I am not sure what you mean...? She is just stressed due to all the problems she is facing on daily basis. After her husband's death, his harem has not stayed idle. Those women acted like they followed Venelana-san's lead before, but now there is a fierce fight under the surface." I sighed. "I am doing my best to help her, but those ladies desire riches and authority previously wielded by Zeoticus-san."

"...I see." Natsume sighed.

"Well, she is just using her rights as my boss to order me to massage her. I have also been made to do the same to one of the ladies that was taking a neutral stance on all this and for some reason she decided to support Venelana-san later. I guess Rias-chan's mom is pretty good at negotiation." I muttered.

"Wait a minute! Things had started to make sense but you just said several things that I can't ignore." Natsume exclaimed.

Pointing at me with her index finger, Natsume had a hard-to-describe expression.

"Just because she is your boss, she can't ask you to do any of that!" Natsume fumed. "Argh! Why do I bother explaining this to you!?"

Grabbing my hand, she pulled me towards the door.

"Wait, where are we going? You need to put on some clothes first!" I said.

It is just a worry for my friend. I would certainly hate if those guys from the village saw her like she is dressed.

Listening to my words, she (still dragging me) went towards my belongings and pulled more appropriate clothing. Over my shorts (she did not take them off) she wore a pair of pants and took a t-shirt.

"Help me." Natsume raised an eyebrow at me.

"No, you can do it just fine if you let me go." I said.

"I have the feeling that you will run away if I let you go." Natsume replied.

Tsk, smart cookie.

Awkwardly as it was, I managed to help her dress. Changing hands to hold mine, she did not allow me to escape. In a jiffy, we were at the door again.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To my room, you will thoroughly use every level on me." Natsume declared despite looking a little fearful.

"No, why...?" I inquired.

This was too sudden.

"I feel like I am losing to that woman." Natsume did not say anything and pulled me along.

The looks I got from the villagers as we passed were amazing. On the way, we heard a ruckus and people commenting about the unexpected finding of the 'missing' people. The only looks hard to bear were my companions. Toujou-san looked at Natsume and soon her eyes gained some sort of understanding before nodding thoughtfully and peeking at Ikuse-san with a shy look. That said, the hurtful looks came from Felis-san cold that made me wonder if she would shoot me if I stared at her for any longer. Nonetheless, I got some thumbs up coming from Nanami and Aika-chan, while Lisa's interested gaze sent a shudder down my back.

This is how our third morning in the village came out to be.

Natsume could not handle the massage and ended up begging for mercy so she was left in the care of Nanadaru-san who offered such a thing as the rest wandered around the village aimlessly. I had gotten an idea of what was going on in this place but there was something I was missing so we had not acted until now. I had found clued regarding Aika-chan's parents, but they were nowhere near this place. I used my ability and no matter where I looked, they were not in this village. That said, there are areas quite a bit of distance where we are not allowed to go that have quite a bit of security that does not match these people's abilities so entering there will surely trigger an alarm that gives me a bad feeling. I must not tell Shishou I was helpless or she will start with the intermediate studies regarding runes. Last time, she held me in the Lands of Shadow for 3 months.

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3rd Person POV

"Ahhhhh!!! What am I going to do!? I had finally found the stupid village and it suddenly vanished. I can't go home and eat that delicious udon until I finish my mission..."

A lone figure could be seen grumbling as she sat down on a large stone. She had pink hair held with a fan-shaped hair ornament and blue eyes. She wore a blue sleeveless kimono that accentuated her figure.

"I mean, I could go back, he would never reject my presence there... but I am supposed to be reliable. The reliable Musashi! That is how I must be seen, otherwise, I would give him a bad example."

Sighing helplessly, the figure crossed her arms and legs.

"I wonder if I could find a wild Nora while walking in the forest... Nah, no way will happen."

Shaking her head, the figure immediately shot down her train of thought.

"I guess I will have to use one of his bentos again. I have almost eaten them all and I am not sure if I will have to spend a lot of time wandering..."

Hanging on her waist, there was a pair of katanas, but a small pouch as well. The figure swiftly pulled a boxed bento far bigger from the pouch and placed it on top of her crossed legs.

"What will I eat today~? Argh!"

While opening the lid of the bento, a sharp pain came from one of her eyes. She unconsciously brought her right hand towards her right eye. Immediately, she turned her head sharply in one direction.

"Someone is observing me?"

The pain subsided slowly and Musashi sighed in relief. Removing her hand, she kept her right eye closed.

"That did not seem like the village. Did I stumble upon some reclusive magician or did I enter the territory of a powerful youkai by mistake? I should contact HQ to make sure I don't- Haaaaaaa! My food!"

Glancing below, she noticed that with her earlier reaction caused her to throw her food on the ground.

"Now I am angry! The precious food that Nora made for me! Grrrr! I won't forgive that guy."

Growling hatefully, the figure directed her gaze toward the culprit (?) of her pitiful situation. Standing up, she gave one last tearful look at her bento box. On the lid, the message, 'Eat everything and don't forget to brush your teeth, don't forget to take a nap either so you have plenty of energy', and the figure sadly sighed.

"I shall not forgive him."

Without care for what kind of enemy she would face, the figure went towards the location of the gaze she felt earlier.

"I, Musashi, will not accept this unless I properly punish him for his transgressions."

Part 2

3rd Person POV

"Is Natsume-san not joining us today?" Kamiya asked.

Having called upon all the visitors and winners of the lottery, the young man directed his question at Nora, who was looking around curiously.

Their location was still in the village, but close to the outskirts.

"Nah, she is in no shape to move. I went a little too far and we kind of went for a few more rounds in her room. Again, sorry, but the bed was... Hehe." Nora laughed awkwardly. "Oh yeah, didn't she ask you to call her by her last name earlier...? I seem to recall that."

"It is... ok. It was an old bed anyways..." Kamiya politely waved at Nora to not worry. "Yes, but... you and I are friends so I thought..."

Standing a few steps behind Nora, Tobio and Sae were chatting and focused on their own world. While Nanami and Felis were sorting their belongings. Lisa sat on the roots of a tree that had grown above ground and was enjoying the shade of a tree to read a book as Aika tried to peek at what she was reading. Lavinia seemed to be watching over the younger girl with a smile on her face, finding her attempts entertaining enough.

The older lady attracted the attention of some of the youths that were going to join in their next event, villagers and visitors included, but whenever someone tried to get close to her, she would sigh in disappointment and that was enough to stop anyone in their place. The female camp would give sharp looks to the male camp, but they were too busy waiting for a chance to even notice.

"We share many similitudes and hobbies." Nora nodded. "But you know how it is with ladies like her."

Sighing like it was not something he could change, Nora just shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh yeah, I should pay for the beds. Tell me the amount, I will pay you in cash." Nora flashed a smile.

"No, no, how could I charge you for such old beds?" Kamiya politely denied.

Listening to them, the youths accompanying them could not help but comment.

"Weren't those beds made last week?"

"They used the sturdiest wood around too."

"Has one ever been broken? The old man has amazing skills and never in my life I have heard of anything he made being broken..."

"He must be a beast..."

The gazes directed at Nora became filled with certain emotions such as awe and fear. The male camp stopped paying attention to Lisa as soon as the female camp began looking at Nora with curious eyes.

"Hahaha, brother, you cannot be like that! We are offering you a place to stay, if what we offered you were to be destroyed and we charged you for it, we would be seen as people who are trying to scam others."

A cheerful voice soon intruded into the conversation. Loud enough to make several people turn to see him, the black-haired youth that appeared had similar traits to Kamiya, but he looked younger.

"Azuma, I told you to escort the Shrine Maiden, what are you doing here?" Kamiya sternly spoke.

"Relax, brother. She is just exhausted from praying during the whole night. It is for the sake of the festival and she has been pushing her body to make it happen." The youth, Azuma, muttered. "The elders are guarding her while she is resting so she will not be able to accompany our visitors this time. I know the trails of the land better than you and since I am free, I thought I would come with you."

Before Kamiya could say anything else, Azuma went towards Nora and heartedly patted his back.

"You don't need to worry about anything, we will cover anything since we are the hosts." Azuma commented.

The strength used was too much and Nora was almost sent head-first to the ground. A smirk formed on Azuma's face momentarily, but he hid it at once.

As Nora stumbled, he regained his balance a few steps later. Lavinia noticed this instantly and walked towards him with a worried expression.

"Nora-kun..." Lavinia called out.

"Ahaha, you need to put more effort into exercising! Look at you, all skinny! Muscles! You need to put on more muscles if you are a guy! Like I do!" Azuma flexed his muscles.

His gaze lingered on Lavinia but the young woman paid him no mind. She went towards Nora at once.

"Are you ok? Do you need me to help you walk?" Lavinia offered.

Rolling his eyes, Nora smiled wryly.

"This is nothing. I can walk just fine." Nora muttered. "On second thought..."

Pausing for a moment, Nora raised a hand and signaled Lavinia to come closer with his index finger. Not doubting him for one bit Lavinia happily did what he asked. As soon as she did, his arm went over her shoulder and pulled her closer.

"I think I might need some help to walk." Nora smiled. "You don't mind, do you?"

Slightly surprised, Lavinia did not answer immediately but soon a smile hung on her face as she nodded enthusiastically.

"Nora-kun can always rely on me for whatever he needs!" Lavinia enthusiastically said as she patted her chest.

Her actions could be easy as a friendly exchange but for the pair of brothers, it was seen as a couple flirting.

"...I" Azuma wanted to say something else.

"Enough, don't act impulsively." Kamiya sternly warned. "It is not the time. The ritual must be ongoing and the Miko has to be offering her prayers when the god is awake, otherwise, it would be a waste of time."

"However, he..." Azuma gritted his teeth.

"You have to get rid of the idea of getting a virgin." Kamiya whispered. "I don't know about the Sae girl, but he had sex with most of the women he brought with him. I tried getting him drunk on the first day they arrived to get more info about them and he bragged how he had tasted them continuously ever since they had some vacation time from their university."

Looking left and right, no one seemed to be paying attention to them so Azuma pulled a map.

"Doesn't it anger you? You had your eyes on the Natsume woman." Azuma mumbled. "We still got the other visitor and the Tobio guy, we can lead Nora around and make it an accident."

"What if that causes them to leave before everything is ready? We must not rush things." Kamiya said. "Killing is out of the question. Although immobilizing him would not be a bad idea..."

Hiding his dubious expression as soon one of the female visitors stared at him, Kamiya sent her a gentle smile and waved his hand. The woman blushed and averted her eyes shyly.

"Brother, is there a need to be afraid of them anymore? You know that I am the chosen one and as soon as my power awakens fully, I alone can...!"

Glaring at his younger brother, Kamiya inwardly snorted.

"That is if you can awaken it." Kamiya replied. "Until then, we have to rely on him. We are already past the point of return..."

Finishing his words, Kamiya called out in a loud tone.

"Everyone, as you know. We will give you a tour of the mountains, but please be aware that wild animals are roaming around. Among our ways to secure food, hunting has been one of our primary customs." Kamiya spoke. "We might run into some wild animals and they will not necessarily be friendly given our history so please be careful to not get too far from our sights. Everyone in the village knows how to hunt so we have ways to respond to any eventuality."

Listening to Kamiya's words, there were whispers among the listeners and some worry could be felt by the visitors.

"You can trust me when I say that we make sure that you enjoy this outing. There is a river nearby where you can soak your feet or pass time doing as you please. Swimming is possible and even fishing can be done. We also can provide you with the proper equipment." Kamiya explained. "This is no excuse for the delay in the schedule, but rather, it is part of what we were meant to do during your visitation."

As he continued to speak, Kamiya managed to get everyone's silent approval. Watching this, Azuma only snorted.

"I won't be listening to you all the time..." Azuma mumbled. "You can stay here happy with your title of the leader of this village, but I have a greater future waiting for me. I... just need to awaken and..."

Mumbling incoherently, Azuma shook his head and went to pick up his gear. While he walked, he pulled the map that his brother did not bother to even see and saw several marked places.

"You forced my hand..." Azuma muttered. "If I can't get close to her because you are here, I just have to make it so you are not then. As long as I get my hands on her, nothing will matter, I am close to awakening it, I can feel it. After getting her, I am leaving this place..."

Too distracted with his thoughts and glaring at Nora from time to time, Azuma failed to notice a certain maid paying attention to his every move.

------------------------------

3rd Person POV

"Anego." Yume called out.

Waiting in her office (room), Shirone turned around to receive Yume. Her gaze sharp, Shirone calmly awaited the report she had to receive.

"As expected from one of the swiftest children under my command, you are early, Yume-kun." Shirone graciously nodded.

"'-kun'? Ahem, never mind. Anego! We have finished gathering information, here is the file." Yume gave the white cat a thick report of many pages.

With her eyebrow twitching, Shirone decided not to question if Yume was playing around after seeing her eager face.

Sighing, she began reading page by page.

"Well, done." Shirone nodded satisfied.

"Hehe~" Yume giggled. "Then~ As you promised...?"

Sighing, Shirone tapped her desk following a sequence, and soo, a secret compartment opened up. Shirone pulled a small ticket.

"Use it wisely." Shirone muttered as she handed it to Yume.

Grabbing the ticket with stars in her eyes, Yume could hardly hide her excitement, but noticing the look that Shirone was giving her, one of regret, Yume coughed and put the ticket away.

"I will do so." Yume tried to foreign a dignified appearance.

Shirone rolled her eyes and before she could even give her next order, hurried steps could be heard getting closer. Narrowing her eyes, Shirone was familiar with the sound, but there was also the sound of something getting dragged. In a matter of seconds, like they were competing against each other, Ayanami and Charlotte entered the room all sweaty.

"I got here first, yes." Ayanami proclaimed.

"T-There is no way. Ahhhaaaa. I got here first!" Charlotte muttered while trying to catch her breath. "Besides, I was on my way first but you came rushing all of sudden."

Mildly complaining, the duo bickered.

"The winner was going to be who arrived first." Ayanami said. "Charlotte was slow so I had to use the chance to arrive first."

"Ahem!" Yume coughed loudly.

The bickering duo finally noticed Yume who was smugly looking at them and both immediately despaired.

Dropping on their knees, the files they brought scattered.

"My 'Game-all-day-with-Nora-ticket'..." Ayanami mumbled.

"I won't be able to have him coach me personally..." Charlotte sighed.

"You guys, he would do all that if you simply ask him." Shirone retorted. "To begin with, he might be busy lately, but he does have free time to rest."

"... the second place is mine." Kanna's sleepy voice caught everyone by surprise.

Directing their gazes toward the girl who had just finished putting her file on top of the desk and slumped on the floor. Patting (?) herself, the girl began undusting herself.

Briefly recalling the dragging sound from before, Shirone stared at Ayanami, Charlotte, and Kanna.

"...you were playing without me." Shirone pouted.

Blinking, Charlotte followed Shirone's actions and soon found out what happened.

"So that is why it seemed difficult to move..." Charlotte stared at Kanna.

The girl in question just flashed her a victory sign with her right hand.

"I thought my skirt needed to be fixed, but it was you all along. To think I did not notice until now... as expected of the one with the best stealth among us, yes." Ayanami stared at Kanna.

Flashing another victory sign with her other hand, Kanna looked sleepy but a smug smile could be faintly seen.

"You are just playing around..." Shirone began picking the scattered pages. "We need to put more thought into this, Nora is counting on us."

Saying something that would make the youth tilt his head out of curiosity, Shirone quickly ordered the files with the help of Ayanami and Charlotte who lent her a hand.

A quick reading later, the girls, minus Kanna who took out her futon and was sleeping soundly, began discussing the 'threat'.

"He entered Urakyoto but has not been causing trouble." Shirone mumbled.

"That is what I heard from the citizens, yes." Ayanami muttered. "They said that he has been simply sightseeing."

"Hmmm, I wrote down all the places he has been going but they mostly the grocery store or the open market." Yume added. "Those are his activities during the day."

"The inn he is staying at has nothing negative to say about him, but they did mention that he left yesterday night in a happy mood, but came back with a neutral expression." Charlotte commented. "It is a one-sided assumption on the innkeepers' side, but he has the faint idea that he was aiming to meet women at the red light district."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Shirone pondered for a while.

"The security in that area is much better than before thanks to Nora adding people to deal with drunkards and troublemakers." Charlotte said. "The entry is also a lot stricter than before thus I reckon that 'he' had a harder time getting in the red light district. I would say that Nora had done well. Yasaka-sama left the bare minimum of security in that area to grant them enough freedom, but while it seems like Nora is going over authority and adding more security, he had been thinking of the well-being of the women who sometimes get harassed by bad crowds. There are many humans that are used to doing what they please in the human world because they have money and even try to do the same here by shielding themselves behind companies that have ties to Urakyoto, but Nora has been someone who does not show mercy to people like that. It is amazing how that one time that he was not here, a girl working for Sora-sama got stalked and almost attacked in the human world by an important executive of a well-known company, and as soon as Nora found out about it he purged the company from that guy and those with a similar mindset. They received the full weight of justice and end up in jail for a long time."

Sighing in admiration, Charlotte had a reminiscing look.

"...I can only hear you praising Nora, but you should know that we came here to discuss the threat." Shirone retorted.

"S-Sorry." Charlotte blushed.

"Ahem, I think he faced difficulties entering that area so perhaps he will try again." Yume coughed. "It is all speculation though. Should we engage in combat and question him in person?"

"We should not do it in the inn or we might cause trouble for the innkeeper, yes." Ayanami added.

"Something seems strange about him..." Shirone mumbled. "I guess we should go there and confront him."

Nodding to herself, Shirone glanced at her team.

"...you girls took off your suit." Shirone pouted.

"A-Ahaha." Yume looked away.

Charlotte and Ayanami averted their eyes as well.

"...Kanna thinks it is uncomfortable to wear." Kanna muttered.

Finally awake, she stretched her body and stood up.

"So, are we going to beat up anyone?" Kanna asked as she took a boxing stance.

Sending punch after punch, she was doing a splendid job at beating the air. Watching her with interest, Ayanami moved in front of her and began doing the same. There were now two girls trading punches as they faked getting hit without touching each other.

"...I am considering beating you up." Shirone mumbled.

This caused the two boxing girls to turn towards Shirone and taunt her with several poses that were clearly not only boxing ones.

"Could you girls get serious?" Charlotte held her head in exasperation.

"...very well." Shirone gave the duo of taunting girls one last dirty look before inwardly thinking of a prank to get back at them.

"W-Well, I think we should at least ask him to leave. A peaceful resolution is Nora's way of doing things... Pfft." Yume tried to advise only to be unable to hold her laughter.

Not only she, but the rest of the girls tried to hold back their laughter.

"Nora and peaceful do not go on the same sentence unless you add 'not peaceful'." Shirone muttered.

"W-Wait, that is a little cruel! He is truly a pacifist at h-heart... Pfft." Charlotte could not hold her laughter.

It took several minutes before the girls managed to get their bearings again.

It was decided that they would scout the 'threat' in person before they left. Shirone seemed rather excited as she took out her favorite camera and prepared to take pictures of her first solved problem. Although a detail that none of them touched, or rather, never informed the cat girl was the appearance of this 'threat'.

...

...

...

"...no one thought of telling me about this?" Shirone inquired in a deadpan tone.

Standing on top of a roof, the group was watching from the distance the so-called 'threat'.

Not taller than 150cm, he had white hair and golden eyes. Trying to talk to a passing kitsune, he smiled cheerfully as he tried to tell a joke. His appearance could be considered attractive but the kitsune only had a troubled smile as she refused to give in to whatever the boy was asking her. In the end, the kitsune left after excusing herself.

"N-No, well, we didn't know how you would react..." Yume mumbled nervously.

"We didn't mean anything bad..." Charlotte said.

"Nonsense! Look at what I am seeing!" Shirone pointed at the boy. "White hair! Cat ears! Golden eyes! That bastard wants to steal my identity!"

"Huh?" "Eh?" "No no..." "Zzzzzz."

The group thought they were ready for whatever she would say, but they had underestimated what the cat girl would come up with.

"This can't go on! He is even trying to flirt with a kitsune! Nora is the only one who has a legal permission to do that!" Shirone spoke angrily. "The nerve of that copycat!"

Finishing saying that Shirone jumped down the roof and began running towards the boy.

"That can't be real, can it?" Yume mumbled.

"...unfortunately, it is a thing. I was there when Yasaka-sama was forced to give him that." Charlotte said. "Amagi-sama made her do that after the events of the Hidden Village. I have no liberty to speak about the events but I can at least tell that because of the destruction of the Sessho Seki, the birth of new nine tails is no longer possible without a mate and given the importance of them, they seek worthy subjects. During their search for possible subjects, Nora appeared and... well, things happened."

"Let's not think too deeply about this, yes." Ayanami wisely said.

-------------------------------------------

3rd Person POV

"Yes, Ma'am. I will make sure of it. No, ma'am, I will not delay my scheduled time again. Yes... I will not call you like that again. Yes, I will pay for our next dinner as an apology." Nora hung up his phone.

Downheartedly lowering his phone, Nora sighed.

"Nora-kun, is everything ok? Is someone bullying you?" Lavinia asked.

Leisurely strolling through the woods, the group was about to reach the river they were supposed to visit first. There was a clear division in the group as the villagers failed to enter the immediate circle of Nora's group, although they were happily chatting with the other visitors. It was hard to do so since they practically formed a circle around Nora.

"She is not trying to be mean to me..." Nora mumbled. "...although I can't deny that she enjoys seeing my troubled appearance."

"She must be a bad woman!" Lavinia said. "Should I go and talk to her to stop bullying you? No, maybe talk with someone to make her stop?"

"No, this is not a school where you can just call the teacher... Wait, even if you do, the bullying would not necessarily stop." Nora retorted. "Besides, who are you going to call? She is the editor-in-chief of the pushing company I have a contract with. The only one who could pound some sense into her would be Amagi-san, and believe me, if Amagi-san who is a fan of my work got involved, I would've ended up in a much worse situation. Editor-in-chief-san is only doing her job to prevent another delay in the delivery of my manuscripts."

Before they could continue their conversation, their surrounding changed and they found themselves in an open area. The sound of the river water was there to hear and the crystal clear water seemed to sparkle with the sunlight.

Surprised gasps of surprise came from most of the visitors who had most likely lived a city life until now. On the other hand, Nora and his group did not seem that impressed.

"It is not much but this is our secret spot. It is slightly retired, and to be honest, we usually do not bring outsiders here, but seeing how well we all get along, I think of you as one of us." Kamiya spoke in a heartwarming tone.

Hoping to impress the ladies, he added a few words to his speech. It was not necessarily a lie since the usual spot for visitors was somewhere else less beautiful and this part of the river had been found by them accidentally.

"Oh, yeah. It looks nice..." Nora mumbled.

"Nora-kun's place looks better..." Lavinia straightforwardly said.

Hurriedly covering her mouth, Nora awkwardly laughed.

"H-Haha, it is an honor to have you consider us as such." Tobio spoke.

"Y-Yeah, we do not get many chances to see something like this..." Sae followed.

Pausing slightly, Kamiya did not seem to expect this sort of response. He glanced at the other visitors' bright and awed expressions and compared them with the unimpressed ones from Nora's group.

"Is that so? I thought you said that you have not gone out like this before..." Kamiya questioned.

Directing his sight at Nora, he tried to hide his begrudging gaze but it seemed like he could not completely do it.

"It is nothing much. I bought a villa last month and it was close to a riverbank. It was just an old property abandoned long ago so the building needed a lot of fixing so I had it torn down, it was while checking the rest of the property that I found the riverbank in pristine condition. It had a nice place for fishing and since it was untouched by human hands, it was beautiful." Nora commented.

"A villa!"

"He did seem wealthy, but to think he was..."

"However, getting close to him when he has those many women..."

"Isn't that a good thing? I don't mind being a mistress as long as he can support me financially. Besides, he is very handsome and I overheard him and that girl doing 'that' and *gulp*"

"Tell me the details!"

Noticing how the mood of some of the visitors and even some villagers had changed, and how little attention they were paying to the river, Kamiya's mood soured. However, he flashed a smile as he tried to get everyone's attention.

"E-Everyone, try to take care of yourself. The current is not strong, but there is a deep part in the middle. If you try to go there without being prepared, you could find yourself in an uncomfortable situation. I am a great swimmer so I can bring you back easily, but it is not my wish to see anyone go through that." Kamiya muttered.

His tone sounded compassionate and full of worry, alas-

"Shiki-sama, I heard that you were a doctor. You see? My heart can't stop beating fast whenever I see you, would you mind doing a check-up on me? Oh, but I am a little shy, if we could move towards a more private place, I would appreciate it..."

"Scram, you are perfectly healthy. It is I who is having a health crisis. Would you mind checking my left breast? I think it feels different than my right one. Would please feel them to see if-"

"Nanamin barrier!" Nanami suddenly yelled.

Standing between Nora and the group of women trying to get close to him, Nanami spread her arms.

"Who are you?"

"Just because you dress like his maid means you can get in our way!"

"We are not planning to do anything bad to him... although we wouldn't mind if he did this and that to us..."

At this point, Felis walked forward.

"Our apologies, we meant no offense. We understood our call when we had nowhere to go and our master offered us a place to stay and..." Felis shyly blushed.

"Pfft." Nora quickly covered his mouth.

Getting a dirty look from Felis, Nora used his left hand to make a zipping motion in front of his mouth.

"As I was saying, we have decided our master wholeheartedly, and since we understand what he wants... we have no intention of stopping you. However, I could not help to notice how well you have been getting along during our stay here. If I might be so bold to say this, I concluded that you are great friends and you have been even before coming here." Felis smiled gently. "It would tear my heart to see your friendship destroyed. Above all, my master would be saddened greatly if such a thing occurred."

Pointing at himself with his head tilted, Nora looked clueless. He had to shake his head frantically when Lavinia stared at him.

"Is Nora becoming a bad boy...?" Lavinia mumbled.

"No? I was a bad boy to begin with..." Nora said.

The exchange was coincidentally ignored by the women who were about to have a standoff as they tore and looked at Nora with moved expressions.

"Even though you did not know us, you were already worrying about our well-being...?"

"How foolish of us... to think we only saw you for your money and body, but never even bothered to consider your feelings..."

Looking truly sorry, the duo hung their heads down.

"Sae, are you seeing the same as me?" Tobio inquired.

"It is getting to the point that his maids are helping him to flirt with women. I am not sure what to say at this point." Sae sighed. "Sometimes he is like a caring older brother or a mischievous little brother. However, he is also turning into the no-good older brother."

"Sae, I used to think that nothing about him would surprise me anymore, but he always manages to surpass himself." Tobio muttered.

"Should we try to set him straight...?" Sae asked.

"Hahahaha, that is funny. Do you think we can...?" Tobio smiled wryly.

Shaking her head, Sae directed a look filled with pity at Lavinia and inwardly felt bad for Natsume and Shigune. However, she also noticed Lisa's interested expression as she observed Nora.

"I saw nothing." Sae said.

"Huh?" Tobio looked at his companion with a questioning look, but Sae just dragged him away.

Feeling the gaze on her, Lisa turned around but Sae had already left.

"So this is how he does it..." Aika muttered.

Half-impressed and half-excited, Aika, the young girl watched with interest what happened.

"Is it because of his innate 'gift'? No, maybe he has studied different ways to attract women..." Aika rubbed her chin. "As expected of Nora, aka, Tiger."

"I have been meaning to ask, what do you mean with Tiger... and you mentioned something about him being gifted, what do you mean?" Lisa asked.

"Information like that is rather costly, I also have to protect his privacy-" Aika muttered before her eyes widened and she shut her mouth.

"I have the full collection of these books. I will lend them to you." Lisa pulled out several books.

"My fair lady, thou might ask anything." Aika immediately responded.

Faintly smiling, Lisa kneeled to match her line of sight with the girl who was eagerly looking at the book she was holding.

"Can you tell me why is that you call him as such?" Lisa asked.

"Well, first, you have to know that he is..." Aika began explaining in a hushed tone.

What was said, only Lisa heard it. However, those who happened to watch them from the distance saw the younger girl opening her arms wide as she tried to explain something.

...

...

...

"I have tried fishing before. I can assure you that I can get food for everyone!" Nora confidently patted his chest.

After mumbling this, he excitedly crumbled a large rock with full fishing gear and a bucket.

"It is all about patience and having a calm heart!" Nora said as he pulled out a pair of headphones.

Finding his actions nonsensical, no one paid too much attention to him, and obviously no one saw the signal he sent toward Felis and Nanami.

There was not even a warning coming from the 'friendly' guide and next village chief as everyone was paying attention to the ladies wearing swimsuits and coming out after getting changed.

"Nora-kun!" Lavinia ran towards Nora.

Her figure clad in a white swimsuit caused casualties among the male camp, especially after she began running towards Nora, and her not-so-subtle chest jiggled with each step. Her glistening golden hair shined brightly thanks to the sunlight.

Her bright expression stole the hearts of many and their thought turned turbid as they imagined themselves in the place of her lover, but their hearts broke in pieces when she completely ignored everyone and went towards Nora.

Despite his headphones, Nora seemed to sense the approaching young woman. He flashed her a smile after seeing her. The way her face lit up caused further damage to those looking at them.

"It looks really good on you. White suits you nicely as I expected." Nora chuckled. "Although, I must say that there is something more distinctive than your shining golden hair, or even more striking than your perfect figure."

Standing up from the rock, Nora walked towards Lavinia.

The young woman had been smiling happily as he complimented her, but after his last words, she had stopped doing it and a faint worry appeared on her face. She nervously fidgeted in place as he got close to her and she even lowered her head shyly.

"Hey now, raise your head." Nora stood in front of her and gently lifted her chin. "What I liked more about was something pretty contagious."

His vague words cause all sorts of misunderstandings, but before anyone could question anything, he spoke again.

"I am talking about your smile. Your smile is so contagious that makes me smile as well." Nora said.

Smiling happily, Nora was about to continue speaking but he was tackled by Lavinia.

Thankfully, they were close to the water and it broke their fall. They sank into the water but soon surfaced again.

Happily standing up, Lavinia was blushing as she was unable to face Nora. The young woman who just acted boldly ran away with a wide smile on her face.

This caused spread damage among the male camp and Nora received several envious stares, and there was one particularly filled with ill will, but he acted like nothing was going on.

As they cried tears of blood, the male camp felt a reignited passion coursing through their veins. A pair of young women made their appearance and they left everyone speechless.

Walking boldly, Nanami displayed her swimming wear for all to see. Proudly sticking out her generous bust, she made a huge contrast to Felis who kept her head hung low out of shame (?).

Their curves were there to see but those watching them only threw at Nora peculiar looks, and albeit few, some sent him thumbs up.

"Fufufu, I know what you want to say. I just know what you want to say! You have fallen for Nanamin's charms, haven't you?" Nanami boldly proclaimed.

"...I have literally no words to say to this." Nora honestly admitted. "I mean, you look arousing and part of me feels a strange excitement after seeing you like that, and that much I won't deny. Your ridiculously high charm would make it so anything you wore would suit you just fine."

"Oh, master. Nanamin is a little shy after hearing that." Nanami fidgeted in place.

"No, seriously." Nora added. "I had faith in my vocabulary and ability to compliment people. However, this is the first time that I am not sure what to say. I mean, you are cute, and that makes you look a little lewd, which is troubling, but I have to ask this... why an old-school swimming suit?"

"Fufufu, the plan 'to-make-the-master-unable-to-take-his-eyes-off-us' is an utter success. Master has not taken his eyes off us since he saw us." Nanami smiled smugly. "I say, Nanami is such a great woman for granting you this kind of fan service, is she not?"

"Felis-san, I can understand that she lacks a screw and would dare to do this, but why are you...?" Nora asked in a surprised tone.

"This is one of the biggest failures of my life. I know I trusted too much on this newbie, she is very capable and learns fast." Feliz confessed. "I let my guard down. I asked her to prepare our clothing in the city and even allowed her to measure me to facilitate her job. Yet... this creature actually took my clothing and ran away until now after leaving with only 'this' to wear."

Slowly raising her head, Felis actually looked teary-eyed.

"...I wanna die." Felis honestly said. "If it is not because the mission is far from over, I would've..."

Feeling a bit of pity for her, Nora readily embraced her. Trembling slightly as she felt Nora's arms surrounding her. The spectacle was rather questionable. A young man (his physique seemed like a college student's) was hugging a petite young woman (her physique looked between a middle or high schooler) while she was wearing an old school swimsuit.

"A group hug!" Nanami joined the fun.

Even though the young man was hugging and getting hugged by a pair of beautiful young women, no one felt like saying anything. There was something in the air that made everyone feel like nothing should be said.

"It is ok, you still look beautiful..." Nora gently said.

As soon as he said those words, Felis slowly raised her head, and smiling sweetly, she whispered.

"I am so going to shoot you until I run out of bullets~" Felis happily said.

Slowly stepping away, Nanami coughed awkwardly and began fleeing.

"Why are you not releasing me?" Felis smiled.

"You know, when you offer a threat that is bound to become a reality, something that cannot be avoided, people tend to lose fear." Nora chuckled. "Since I am going to suffer later anyways, it would be foolish to waste this chance. Besides, it is kind of nice to hug you."

"Tsk, I will not shoot you if you release me now." Felis made sure to not be seen when she clicked her tongue.

"Nope~ I told you, it is kind of nice to hold you." Nora said. "Besides..."

Losing his head, Nora whispered in Felis' ears a few words and they soon parted ways as Felis 'shyly' left.

The last boss soon appeared wearing a purple bikini with a pareo. Her bewitching appearance could not fit more with her title.

To everyone's disappointment, she ignored everyone else and walked towards Nora. Her steps were slow and while her breasts did not jiggle like a certain Longinus user, the way her hips moved seemed to be on purpose as she smiled when she attracted the attention of certain youth.

"It seemed unfair that you have been praising everyone but not me." Lisa said.

"This is another tough one." Nora sighed and let his eyes move upwards as he stared at the sky.

"You can't offer a compliment to me because of..." Lisa seemed disappointed.

"You think too much." Nora smiled wryly. "I am honestly unsure what to say to you, Lisa. I believe that you must've been called a beauty a thousand times so I doubt that such a shallow compliment will please you when we hardly know each other. Even such a simple compliment becomes something that makes you happy if you are close with a person."

"Ara? You are giving it some thought?" Lisa inquired.

"You know, I am attracted to women's eyes for a reason." Nora's head was lowered and he faced Lisa.

"Oh? And why is that?" Lisa asked with mild curiosity.

"You know what they say, the eyes are the window of the soul. Your green eyes have a special allure that tickles men's desires, and your expressions are those of someone who enjoys teasing others. However, I would be a fool if I only focused on that." Nora mumbled.

Leaning himself forward, he gazed deeply into her eyes, and just like that she did the same.

"You might be moving towards one goal, but I can see how you are slightly at a loss." Nora said. "You have doubts, and that shows easily. I am no one to judge, but I have to say that your old job was never made for you. Evil witch or not, what you truly love is books. However, I understand that sometimes one has little choice in their situation."

Blinking, Lisa found herself listening obediently.

"I am not sure how you ended up there, but I did my research on you. The evil witch of the west hardly left the castle, not to mention that particular dimension. Her only quirk was her love and thirst for knowledge that cause her to exchange rather dangerous concoctions with terrible individuals." Nora said. "Yet, her interest was never in the effects it brought to your clients. That, my dear, would be one thing that can grant you the 'evil' on your title. Although, it is hardly worth mentioning in my opinion."

"You sure did your homework." Lisa narrowed her eyes.

One step closer to him, they were almost glued together. She put her arms around him and it almost looked like they were about to embrace in plain daylight.

"However, you should know that trusting rumors is never accurate. I can be a really bad witch but at the same time, I can hide that part of me from everyone around me." Lisa leaned towards Nora's ears and whispered.

Not losing to her, Nora's arms circled around her waist and they were pushed together.

"Well, punishing bad girls to make them behave doesn't sound so bad." Nora whispered badly.

Tightening his grip on her at the same time, Lisa shuddered slightly. It was hard to guess what kind of punishment he was trying to refer to because of his tone and how he made her react with his touch. Nonetheless, Lisa would not simply blush like the younger girls from before. Her pride would not allow her to fall without a fight.

"Punishing bad girls? I am not a little girl that you can just spank her butt and make her behave." Lisa whispered. "For someone like me, you would have to leave child's play behind."

"You would be surprised how adult-like can be spanking on the right hands." Nora chuckled. "Of course, I can do both. If you ever feel like you can't handle the adult-like version, there is always the innocent version for you..."

"Aren't you worried that your little girlfriends will get mad at you for doing that?" Lisa decided to change her approach.

"Now you are bringing other women into the play? I expected you to have quirks, but this is not what I had in mind. That said, if you think I will be flustered, you are wrong." Nora said. "Don't think I have no experience handling two or three women at once."

"Ara? I was just talking about you spanking me and how that would make your girlfriends jealous, I was not talking about 'that', you know~?" Lisa giggled.

The heat of standing under the sun was making Lisa sweat slightly or perhaps it was because of how glued their skins were. Nonetheless, Lisa felt beads of sweat running down her body so she concluded that playtime was over and she wanted to cool down.

"'That'? I am not sure what you meant when you say it like that, I am just a poor innocent boy, you know?" Nora smirked.

"Yeah, right." Lisa rolled her eyes. "From what I have observed, you can be a lot of things, but naive and innocent is not among those. By the way, why are you not letting me go?"

A little disappointed, Lisa thought that the youth she had taken interest in had taken their joking around as something more.

"I always consider that a stranger's compliment is not as good as one from a friend or a lover." Nora did not answer. " After our little chat, I think we are at least on friendly terms, or so I hope to believe."

Parting slightly from her, Nora smiled awkwardly.

"What I am trying to say is... You look stunning." Nora smiled.

Widening her eyes, Lisa had to take one second to connect the dots. His flirting was not only to joke around but to make them slightly closer, all that so he could-

"Fufu." Lisa giggled and a pleasing smile bloomed on her face. "I guess you were right. Compliments from those close to you ARE better."

Taking a step back, turned around a began walking away. Not longer than one second later, Lisa turned her head and smile a Nora with a flirtatious air.

"I liked what you did." Lisa left those words and giggled after liking her lips.

The jealousy and envy directed at Nora were almost palpable and anyone else would feel pressured, but he simply laughed it off and picked his fishing tools.

"Anytime." Nora said.

Hiding behind some trees, a figure angrily clicked his tongue and left the scene. The venomous look he gave Nora since Lavinia appeared became even uglier as he began moving in a particular direction.

...

...

...

"Everyone! Run!" Azuma yelled.

Rushing out of the woods like he was running from something, he began yelling at top of his lungs.

His words immediately caused a stir among everyone. They stopped whatever activity they were doing and turned to see the young man.

"W-What happened?"

One of the visitors asked with a trembling voice. Azuma's clothing looked ripped in some places and he was even bleeding from some cuts on his arms and face.

"It's a bear! You have to run! It is heading this way." Azuma.

"Wait! What happened?"

"Are you deaf!? It is coming this way!" Grab your things and leave! No, forget about them. Just run for your life!" Azuma angrily said.

Frantically looking around, he saw Lavinia with her head tilted surrounded by Nora's group. They were all together as they tried to advise Aika to stop reading a strange book, but the girl clung to it and did not let it go. They seemed relaxed and Azuma assumed that it was a sudden situation, too sudden for them to react.

"Lavinia, you have to leave." Azuma walked towards the blonde.

Looking clearly uncomfortable, Lavinia furrowed her eyebrows.

"Don't call me that..." Lavinia said.

Inwardly gritting his teeth, Azuma did not dare to contradict her now.

Before he could warn anyone again, the sound of trees getting hit and branches being torn was heard clearly. However, what caused everyone to freeze in fear was a defying roar.

After listening to this, those on the site immediately scrambled in the opposite direction from the sound.

"Ahhhh!!"

"No! I am too young to die!"

"I am too poor to die!"

"I have not seen the end of One Park, I refuse to die until it happens!"

There were unusual screams and yells but everyone actively tried to run. Nora's group reacted as well and Tobio took the lead.

While the roar was heard, Azuma tried to pull Lavinia away, but Tobio stood up and got in his way. His actions did not 'seem' to target specifically Azuma since he just got on his way to help Sae stand up.

"We have to move." Tobio said.

His words seemed to represent the group will now that Nora was not with them. A worried Lavinia bit her lips and was about to warn Nora, but-

"Lavinia-sama, could you please help to calm down Kiryu-sama? Unfortunately, we have been unable to do so." Felis spoke in a concerned tone.

Her attention distracted, Lavinia went towards Aika who was trembling in fear.

Azuma was unable to pull her away and could only begrudgingly leave to assist his brother that was trying to make the disorderly group of people more orderly so they could flee without problems.

Just when everyone had taken some distance into the woods, they noticed something.

"Where is Nora?" Tobio asked.

Looking left and right, he 'seemed' worried.

"Oh, no..." Sae paled and turned around.

"Master!" Nanami immediately ran back.

Soon, the ruckus caused many people to notice what happened and there was a division among the people. There were those worried about the missing person, those who found his predicament interesting, and others who were interested in seeing what they had just run away from.

The black fur of the bear was pitch black and even though it was not standing on its hind legs, it was immense. A man over 180 cm would have a hard time looking at it in the face given that it was bigger than that.

Those looking could only cover their mouths in horror and fear, afraid that they would call its attention. Nonetheless, Nora was still sitting and fishing. His headphones seemed to have prevented him from hearing anything and he was happily whistling a cheery tune. Felis had to stop Nanami who wanted to rush, while Tobio and Sae had to stop and cover Lavinia's mouth to prevent her from screaming as she rushed toward Nora.

The sound made by Nora caused the bear to notice him and drag its body in his direction.

Each step was loud enough to cause a regular person to notice it, but Nora was too focused on fishing. In fact, he suddenly stood as he was holding the fishing rod and began madly reeling the fishing line.

"A big one is here, haha!" Nora happily said.

His actions made the bear wary and it growled at the youth, but it got no response.

Having trouble pulling the fish, Nora continued to reel the line but he could not get the fish out.

Getting closer little by little, the bear stood on its hind legs and growled a few times at Nora, but he did not react.

It was then that Nora finally pulled a large fish and he lost his balance, so the fishing rod pulled the fish like a whip and sent it straight toward the bear.

The hit enraged the bear.

"Damn, what do fishes eat around here... Wow!" Nora complained as he stood up only to turn around and notice the angry bear ready to pound at him. "I say, would you forgive me if I give you what I caught in that bucket?"

Nervously pointing at the bucket full of fish on top of the rock he was standing on, Nora tried to make amends. Nonetheless, it did not work. The bear swung his left claw at him and if it is not because Nora 'accidentally' slipped when he tried to evade, his chest would've gotten a terrible wound.

"Hey, watch it!" Nora complained.

Rolling on the ground, he miraculously evaded the second blow.

"We can talk this over!" Nora yelled.

The bear seemed to get angry the more Nora evaded and his strikes became even more vicious, however, like lady luck had fallen in love with him, Nora had luckily avoided every possible attack using the most bizarre means. At this point, two things had been made clear. Nora was incredibly flexible and bears get more enraged when the target of their rage does not allow himself to be hit.

"Damn you, you are forcing my hand here!" Nora did another miraculous evasion and landed near his belongings.

Looking like he did not want to do it, Nora put his hand inside his bag.

"I am a firm believer of speaking to resolve conflicts, but sometimes, one has to use other means..." Nora sighed.

The bear warily took some distance as it seemed to sense something dangerous hidden in the bag.

"This has caused as much bloodshed as it has saved lives, well, sort of...?" Nora sounded confused, but he still pulled out a-

"Pffft!"

The sound of laughter came from the woods after Nora had pulled his secret weapon.

The tension from those watching had decreased by a great deal after he had managed to survive the attack of the bear in such a comical way.

Not only did the bear growl in that direction, but even Nora sent a dirty look before sighing.

"Prepare to be beaten, by the power of... money." Nora pointed the stack of bills toward the bear.

The animal was not sure how to react but it understood that the stack of bills was not something that posed a threat to it. That was... it's the first mistake.

It tried to attack Nora again, but the stack of bills hit its face. The thick fur and skin of the bear were tough and even when fighting other bears, he hardly got hurt, nonetheless, it felt an incredible amount of pain.

It had to take a few steps back as it growled in pain, and before it could raise its head, another blow struck it.

Stack after stack of bills came raining on it, and it had to step back every time. It could've imagined it but it seemed to see a white glow coming from the bills.

What followed was almost classified as one-sided bullying, and it ended up with Nora as the victor.

"I always knew... money equals power." Nora sat on top of bear. "It is a lonely path, but I have no choice but to cross it."

Speaking wise (?) words, Nora waves at everyone hiding in the woods.

He received looks filled with disbelief, awe and even some animosity, but Nora just happily smiled.

"Would you like to eat bear paws? I heard it is a delicacy!" Nora yelled.

The bear that was beaten into submission and was half-unconscious twitched and coldly sweated after hearing that.

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Author notes

Kind of busy these days so I could not move my delivery date to Sundays like I wanted.

Anyways, no fights this time, I wanted to add a bit more of bonding before thing got more serious.

I ask you to tell me how did the last part go. I made Nora flirt, but I am not sure if Lisa's part was fitting.

You could also spot a certain person roaming around so for fans of her like me, I will spoil you and say that she is finally back.