Chapter 229: Chapter 219
"So, Kairi." I took a sip of my drink. "How you doing?"
Kairi turned to look at me before giving a grunt. "Same old same old." He downed his shot pretty smoothly.
"You want some juice, Rin?"
"Screw off." She huffed.
"Hehe." I nudged her shoulder even as she rolled her eyes, there was a little smile on her face. "But for real. What've you been up to, Kairi?"
"Is this really the place to talk about that sort of stuff?" He glanced at the Bartender who stood not too far away.
"I come here with Izanami to have drinks and talk about random things." I shared a look with the Bartender who nodded at me. "Do you really think this would be a place we wouldn't be comfortable in openly talking?" Well, he is a Magus, so I can't really fault him on his hesitation. "But..I can understand your sentiments." I gave the Bartender another nod before dipping my finger in my drink and using the liquid to draw a couple runes, creating a makeshift Bounded Field around us. "I'll just say that Izzy made sure there were....protections in place and leave it at that."
That seemed to pacify him slightly.
"Neat trick." Kairi spun around in his stool, drink in hand. "Saw Bazett do something like that once."
"You're seriously nonchalant about talking about this stuff in public when you're usually really...private." Rin commented.
"Honestly, it's really not that big a deal. He's missing some , okay a lot of context, but Artoria is already known here and there's already some talk about her. She helped me defended this place from a bunch of terrorists. Who I might add are reincarnations, or descendants of Heroes who tend to take the names of their ancestors. And that's completely ignoring all the other precautions that have already been taken." I pointed out.
"Really?" Kairi perked up. "Reincarnation is a real thing over here?"
"Kinda, sorta. More so impressions and memories of their ancestors than an actual reincarnation that you're probably thinking of. An inheritance of a 'spirit' if you will. It's still the Age of Gods so the cycle of souls is a bit.... malleable. Everyone has their own realms of the dead still so shuffling a soul through their own methods still is possible without disrupting the world's flow." Not to mention my own circumstances...
I couldn't help but smile as I glanced over to see Artoria and Mordred still talking.
"I got Gramps working on the delicate parts, but otherwise, I got your payment." I looked back towards Kairi.
Kairi just grunted, taking a cigarette out of his pocket and light it up. "Shit, I probably made more just walking around here for a few days picking up knick-knacks than the payment I'll get for the War."
"For real?" Rin looked surprised. "Is stuff here that valuable back home?"
"Depends." I swiveled in my stool. "It's not so much that things are strictly valuable by themselves, but there are many things that are just lost to time that are required for many different uses. Imagine not being able to cast a Greater Ritual because a certain Flower is missing, but it still grows around here like a weed?"
"Hmm, good point. Well, I don't think I have to worry anymore. With the loot I got from running around in those God-forsaken dungeons, I'm probably set for life." Rin hummed.
Yeah, she's amassed quite a fortune so far.
"You ready to head home at some point when this is all over, Kairi?" I asked. He was good sport and stuck around for a bit while everything got settled.
Honestly, he was a good guy, I liked him.
Surprisingly, Kairi looked conflicted. "I don't suppose you'd need a Freelancer on a more...permanent contract?"
Huh. I hadn't thought he would want to stay.
"As it so happens, I find myself in need of someone with your specific set of skills."
"Oh?"
"Yes, you see, I believe my Girlfriend has recently come into contact with a Little Lion that could do with a caretaker."
Kairi snorted, pushing his cigarette into a nearby ashtray. "For something like that, my pay needs to match the difficulty."
"Don't worry, I'm not short on money." I waived it off.
"Well, you could always ask your sugar momma." Rin teased. "Isn't that basically what you called Yasaka?"
"Someone sounds jealous." I grinned.
"Bah, who'd be jealous of you."
"Fluffy tails, all mine."
Rin huffed in response.
"For real though, money isn't really an issue." I turned back towards Kairi. "I also turned the Yggdmillennia family into my sorta-subordinates. They're going to rise up after my help and I'll be raking in a lot of resources soon."
Kairi let out a sigh. "Well, It's not like I had anything that really bound me back home. My family is pretty much gone, and what's left I haven't spoken to in years. If they get a little bit of good will like you said, I'll consider it even between us and cut my losses."
Equivalent exchange – Karma. Lots of names for the same thing even if understanding sometimes differs. Well, he has a good head on his shoulders, so he wasn't just jumping ship without settling things in his heart.
"You'll have more opportunities here too. People here aren't as guarded with their magecraft and you can probably pick up the local casting system relatively easily."
"I took a look at it already." Kairi nodded. "Didn't seem too complicated on the surface."
"You keep bringing people here, Schweinorg. You got some scheme going on?" Rin asked.
"Not particularly." I shrugged. "But if it helps Yasaka, I'd call that a win. This is more or less where I have set up my home, and I want it to do well."
I was too neglectful of her own worries and burdens. I want to help alleviate those when possible. While I won't try to coerce Mordred to do anything, I think she wouldn't mind working under Yasaka...especially if Artoria's 'descendant' is around.
Meridia and Yasaka were the only ones that had firm foundations that couldn't be moved. Meridia didn't need my help and I doubted I could provide her with anything useful. Yasaka on the other hand, I hate to say it, but her faction wasn't very strong.
So I would do my best to support her when I had time, like now. I'd fulfilled my desire to resurrect Scáthach, now I had no immediate goal, so I would set this as my target.
I should ask her how she dealt with those Hero Faction idiots. If she needed help extracting their sacred gears, that could also be a large boon to her faction.
I should also ask her for her opinions as well. I don't want to start assuming anything. For all I know, she doesn't want to further expand her influence or to increase her faction's potential and is content on keep the status quo. I certainly don't want to step on her toes as her faction leader, that would be a big no-no as far as boundaries in our relationship go.
"Schweinorg." Rin poked me.
"Oh, sorry, got lost in thought." I pushed those to the side for now. "But yeah, I'll always welcome you. Even if you want to retire and live a peaceful life here, I'm sure Mordred would love it. I can't claim to know how close you two are, but I don't think she's one to be so open to a stranger."
"You mind if I get some things from back home? Just got a few personal items I'd rather not part with."
"Sure, I can give you a lift when we've worked everything out." That was easy enough to do.
"Thanks." He nodded towards me in appreciation as his attention was forced back behind us.
Artoria and Mordred started walking over showing a lot less awkwardness between them. With a little flick of my finger, I removed the Bounded Field.
"Yo." Mordred casually walked over. "They got any good stuff here?" She eyed the drinks on the shelves.
"I think they have a minimum age requirement." I replied.
"I'm older than you." She said without missing a beat.
"Height requirement?"
"This suppose to be a fuckin roller coaster?" She snorted.
"How do you even know what that is?"
"Random things, I don't know. Half the shit the Grail gave me I have like no context for. Like, the fuck is a Maserati?"
Huh, that really is just a random thing it told her.
"A type of car." I said idly. Well, Mordred seemed much more relaxed and back to her normal self, so that's good.
"Whatever." She shrugged. "Oi, Necromance, we're done. I wanna go back to watching that thing on the TV."
"It's called a movie." Kairi sighed standing up. "I'll catch you all later." I waived a casual goodbye as Mordred and him left.
"I'm guessing you've settled things for now?" I turned towards Artoria who had been silent in these few moments.
"Yes, we have talked about several things." Even Artoria seemed more....peaceful.
"You look better now." Rin commented. "Not like you're going to your execution. You good?"
"I'm...good." Artoria nodded as we headed out ourselves.
I set some money on the counter and followed along.
Artoria let out an uncharacteristic sigh. "But I feel as though I am exhausted." She took the initiative and reached for my hand as we walked down the street. "Thank you." She looked up at me. "There is still a long ways to go before either of us truly moves on, but I feel as if a weight has been taken off my shoulders."
"I didn't do anything. You're the one who was willing to confront your own demons." Not that I was calling Mordred herself a demon....but I think she got my sentiment. "I just brought her around."
"I'm happy for you." Rin spoke up. "You going to be seeing more of her?"
"Yes, I do believe I will. It had been...rocky as a start and there were still some strong feelings...but I believe I will be trying to spend more time with Mordred. I wish to try and be a proper parent, as ridiculous as it sounds since we are both dead."
"That's going to be tough, she didn't seem like someone who needed a parent. But she also seemed to really look up to you." Rin shrugged. "I don't really have any advice to give, so try not to force anything I guess."
"Yes, your words do make sense. I will give time for our new and strange relationship to settle and go from there. As Wilhelm has told me on several occasions, we have plenty of time and we're in no rush." She smiled happily.
Happy Artoria was really heartwarming.
"Well, I'm fully awake now. You wanna eat a few gallons of ice cream and watch some bad TV?"
"That sounds wonderful." Artoria responded immediately.
"Well, I'll give you two your 'girl time'." I laughed.
"Wilhelm, I didn't mean to – "
"I'm kidding." I gave her forehead a little poke. "But I also won't get upset when you want to spend time away from me. You're taking a break from adventuring in Skyrim, go be lazy with Rin. You certainly deserve it after everything."
Rin looked happy at my words even if she didn't say anything. I know they didn't mean anything by what they said, so I didn't take offense.
And I want her to also understand I don't intend to come between the relationship they built.
Besides, I'm definitely going to get her one of these nights~
"Thank you." She said quietly. "You have been everything I hoped for in a boyfriend."
"Really?"
"Well.....some of the things I desired....." She had a blank look, staring at me before a little smile formed on her face. I always have enjoyed her sense of humor.
"You're adorable." I leaned in and she welcomed me with a loving kiss. I didn't prolong it as I knew Rin was standing right next to us and I didn't want to make it too awkward on her. "Go make Rin poor again with your appetite."
"Hey!" Rin looked indignant.
"My appetite isn't that bad!" Artoria also squeaked out.
I just laughed again at their reactions.
"I'll see you both later, I'm going to hop over and see Izzy."
"Oh, please give her my best and tell her to come visit. I wish for her to meet Rin and we can spend time together." Artoria perked up at the mention of our mutual friend.
"Still weird to think about." Rin muttered. "But what the hell, bring Japan's Death Goddess to come visit when you have time."
I looked one last time at Artoria's beautiful smile before opening up a portal and headed to Yomi.
***
Early chapter since I couldn't procrastinate today. Funny how that works. So, we got Izzy coming up right around the corner, should be fun.
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