Chapter CI The Hunt, A Vacation Interrupted, and ... (Patreon)

Umeko stretched her wings a bit and sighed as she glanced at her dying fire. It had been a couple of days since her hunt had started, and while she had not caught her quarry yet, she knew she was close. The man she was seeking was somewhere in this area, but she had not found him yet. She had found the remains of a few camps so far, each one more recent and fresh than the last. It seemed he knew he was being hunted and dared not stay for long. His trail had brought him rather close to where she had started, Bordertown where the gate home was.

She stopped a moment at that thought when she realized how quickly the home of a god had become home for her. In many ways, Arlie had been a kind goddess to her. While the changes to her body came with demerits, she had found there were many blessings as well. She kind of liked her new body. The natural weapons and the wings were wonderful gifts, and if she had to be female being an egg-layer wasn’t so bad. Pushing out a few eggs just seemed so much easier than a live baby. In fact it had not been all that hard, that one time it happened. Of course, since she had not mated, the eggs were unfertilized and no child would come from them. If she had just left them, they would have rotted away. That she had not done though. They had been put to use.

Thinking of eggs, it was fast approaching time for her next egg-laying, and she had a strong desire to find a mate this time. They need not be a permanent mate either, just strong and able to at least compete with her in a fight. Almost immediately a young woman sprang to mind, but she was taken. A fact she respected, and Umeko would not try for her. Still, if she didn’t find him soon a visit to the town would be in order. It would be a good place to find someone, as dungeons attracted all sorts. If she was lucky she might find someone as strong as that young woman.

Putting those thoughts aside, she snuffed out the fire, and gathered the remains of her midday meal, and buried them. There was not much left but the bones of the rabbit she had caught earlier. Out of habit though she quickly buried the remains, the why of the act long forgotten.

The clean up taken care of, she took to the air. A few powerful yet gentle beats of her wings giving her altitude. From the sky, she quickly found the trail she had been following earlier and began to follow it. Once again thankful for one of the gifts her new form came with, the superior eyesight. Even from up here, the tracks her quarry left were clear. Every broken branch, torn leaf, and imprint in the mud was plainly visible to her. The trees were not thick enough to obscure her view of the ground. Even if they did grow thicker, after hunting with the goddess she had learned a few magic tricks. Ones that would let her see through even the thickest forest canopies. Those tricks had proved useful a few times already. Like tracking the rabbit she had eaten through dense foliage, or finding that deer she had passed up in favor of the rabbit she had eaten. The Sunhorn doe would have made good eating, better than the rabbit but it had been too large for her. That doe would have fed her for several meals but would have been a pain to carry around. The Crystal Horned Rabbit had been the better choice.

Now that she was back on the trail, she figured she would catch up with her quarry soon. Perhaps by the end of the day or early tomorrow. Sooner, if she was to forgo rest, but that would be foolish. Any hunter knows not to forgo rest as that would do more harm than good in a hunt.

Darious left the temple grounds. The conversation with that goddess had shaken her, and she felt she needed some time to think. The temple grounds weren’t far from the outskirts of town. On her way in there was this lovely clearing she had stopped at. As she recalled it was not that far out of town, and it had been fairly empty of people. It would be a great place to go and think. With that in mind she set out to go there. Ignoring the small voice telling her that it would be dangerous for her to leave town. She just hoped the clearing she wanted to visit was inside the dungeon’s territory.

She managed to get out of the town easily enough. The lack of walls and the light patrol made that easy. All they had was some wooden fencing to keep monsters from just waltzing into the town. Unnoticed by her though was the single lust demon that was following her, one that spotted her climbing the fence.

Misaki let out a sigh after the dragon left with her Eris. She knew that was going to be confusing. A nickname was going to be needed, but she had not had time to think one up. After a moment’s silence, she said to Phyllis, “That dragon is not an easy person to deal with.”

Phyllis shook her head, “A force of nature that one. I am just glad she is being nice. I doubt we could beat her.”

“Please don’t mention fighting, talking with her is draining enough. I think I am going to go home, and spend the rest of the afternoon reading a nice book in bed.”

“That sounds nice. I’d join you, but unfortunately I have a few more things to do. I’ll come by later and maybe we could let off a little steam together.”

She smiled, gave a nod and then ran off to take her little break. She needed it with everything going on, and she had a feeling Phyllis would need one as well soon enough. Especially given what happened to one of the parties in some ruins not far from her territory. She did not know how it happened, but they had gained a member, and all had been turned into small girls. They even looked younger, but were not. Although she did note that whatever had changed them had been quite thorough. They might even think they were younger now, but that was just a side effect of the amount of mana they absorbed. It was amazing what a large amount of mana could do for a person. It was why high level people tended to be healthier, more fit, and age slower. They were in the same boat now, but only for as long as their bodies retained the higher mana level.

Misaki decided now wasn’t the best time to give Phyllis that proposal she thought up earlier. It might be better done later in the day, after they let off a little steam.

Yiran stretched a bit, as he moved. It was getting late, and he had spent most of the day on this rooftop garden sunbathing. The last few days had been a more than welcome change of pace from his norm. As he moved, one of the servants, a young girl, came and offered a drink. He took it and without a word turned his gaze to the sky. He did give the girl a little smile, and noted her blush. Although she was a little young for his taste. Her mother was more to his taste, and both had followed him here to this lovely little island. When he left home for a nice little vacation.

The elves here on the island with him had served him directly for generations. They even lived with him in his divine realm and enjoyed many blessings his mortal worshippers in the mortal plane did not. Long life being one of them. That girl servant that had a crush on him, and just offered him a drink had recently celebrated her seven hundredth birthday for example, but she looked far younger than most elves of that age would. She was also a very powerful mage, for a mortal that was. Few mortals reached level two hundred, and since she was approaching level five hundred she was very strong by mortal standards. It did occur to him that in a few more years that she would be to his taste. Especially since she seemed to be taking after her mother. Although he had a feeling that her current infatuation was only a passing crush. She was not the first mortal to develop a crush for a god, and would not be the last. That small smile he had given her had likely just made her day, and he was going to let her enjoy that.

His mood changed suddenly when he noticed two winged figures in the sky approaching the island. One of them was a mortal, albeit with some rare blood. The other was a goddess, he could feel it. It took him a little longer than he would care to admit to realize her identity. His mood sunk more when he realized who she was though. The one goddess he really did not want to deal with. He sighed, and made for the stairs. At the very least he figured he would say hello, and hopefully find out what she wants. He just wanted to enjoy his vacation, with the worst he had to worry about being the feelings of one mortal girl with a crush. Unfortunately it seemed the outside world had decided to intrude.

As he headed inside he was quickly joined by the servant girl from earlier. Who noticed his mood, and worriedly asked, “Is something wrong?”

He gave her a look, and said, “We have guests. Inform the rest of the servants for me, and then meet me in the foyer.”

She nodded and rushed off to carry out her task. That girl was very diligent, and efficient. Part of why she was his favorite servant.

It was not long before he found himself standing in the foyer, with his favorite servant girl standing to the side and waiting to do his bidding if needed. He himself was feeling nervous. It was not often that he encountered a god more powerful than him, and he did not like feeling disadvantaged. It was made worse by him not knowing very much about her. He had no idea why she was here, and had no idea what she would do if he blundered somehow.

He took the moment waiting to center himself, being nervous would just complicate things and increase the chances that he would do something stupid. He managed to center himself just in time as well. As she entered, he noted her features for the first time.

She was small. With a figure not to his taste, but he would not call her ugly. In fact he found her quite cute, and felt an urge to sweep her into his arms and pet her. He squashed that urge quickly, as he was no degenerate like that Goddess of Cute Girls Kuwi. A strange light swept around her, partially obscuring her figure and that of her companion, as it swallowed their clothing.

He glanced at her companion. Of all the mortal races, Celestials were the ones who most often had issues with the island’s dress code. It’s why few gods brought them along, but thankfully she seemed a little distracted, and had not yet noticed that her goddess was stripping her naked.