Chapter 78: Chapter 75
There were no more power spikes, no divine authority being called upon and no Noble Phantasms being swung around, so things were going okay.
I was glad that Artoria and Izanami were getting along now. Frankly, I don't really know what happened earlier. They were sort of antagonistic when they first met, now though, they were happily chatting. I saw them out of the corner of my eye, in the kitchen. And every so often, they would look my way and giggle to themselves.
I felt a disturbance in the force.
I could only imagine what would happen with my girls meet each other.
Well, atleast Sir Wiggles was keeping them midly distracted.
Good job, Sir Wiggles.
I even reinforced my ears to easedr -- make sure nothing was wrong.
"Yes, he is a very good boy." Izanami held Sir Wiggled in her arms as Artoria cooed over the small animal.
"He is a good companion." Izanami nodded. "So smart, yes you are." She gentle rubbed his head.
I couldn't help but smile, even under the awkward spot I was in. Well, Artoria put the Sheath inside of the little kitsune girl, to further purge her body of all that corruption. She got noticeably better in the time frame, her face now flushed with color instead of a pale deathly state.
Only, she seemed to latch onto me.
I don't know why, but when I went to check on her, she quite literally grabbed onto me and wouldn't let go.
To be honest, I couldn't even bring forth the effort to pull myself away because –
"Daddy." She said quietly, pushing her head into my stomach, headbutting me every so often, like she was trying to grab my attention.
That.
Izanami and Artoria just looked at me in amusement, content to not even help me. I was on my own here, and I had no idea how to handle this.
She wasn't even conscious.
She sounded so scared, tightly grabbing onto me. There was...a large part of me that felt something deep down.
Sympathy?
I don't know, but I couldn't stop myself from reacting. "Shhh." I quietly whispered, running my hand through her hair. "Daddy is here, you don't have to be scared anymore." No idea what I said thing, it was like my protective instincts were on overdrive.
I hummed a song my mother used to sing to me when I was a bit younger than her, trying to calm her down.
I have no idea what she actually went through, she must have been absolutely frightened, to suffer such a thing, to be made a living sacrifice. An instinctual response, I have no idea. Now that I think about it, I only heard about a mother, no father.....perhaps it was something she held back in her heart?
Regardless, even if she is a 9-tailed fox, she is but a child, this event most likely traumatized her severely. If I could offer this small amount of comfort, then so be it.
She just curled up into me more, just as a fox would. Practically a small ball of floof in humanoid form.
This.....was something I didn't realize I wanted so much.
A family? Children, something just like this.
I've played with the Idea of Meridia running around with our children, perhaps the thought was premature at this point, but I couldn't help but feel warm from the picture. Scathach too.....would she ever want children?
Scathach being a mother, I don't know why I found the idea equal parts humorous and heartwarming.
And Artoria.....I couldn't help but glance up to her, she didn't notice me but I looked away with a small amount of embarrasment.
That was certainly much too early to think about.
I don't know, my own feelings were all over the place. But for now, I just wanted to make sure this child wasn't scared any longer.
"You are surprisingly good at that." Izanami commented.
Do foxes purr? Because I could vaguely feel something vibrate from her body, like a content noise. "Am I? I really have no idea what I'm doing."
"Most parents don't."
"Since when am I a parent?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Since she started called you 'daddy'." Izanami curled her lips us, finding amusement in my suffering. Once the girl was out of danger, the mood had relaxed substantially.
Is it weird how I want to destroy anything that makes this little girl sad now? Have I randomly latched onto her so easily?
What an odd sensation.
"At the rate you are going, children may be inevitable in your future." Artoria gave a small smile, taking a quick glance towards Izanami.
Was there some kind of inside joke between the two of them that I was unaware of?
"Oh yes, Artoria here has been telling me about your other paramours." Izanami smirked. "So young and you already have a harem?"
Ah, that's what they've been talking about when I wasn't paying attention. Well, I'm glad Artoria is on good terms with Izanami, even if it is at my own expense. I'm sure Izanami had been filling in some of the gaps in knowledge that Artoria has regarding devils.
Joy.
"I don't think its technically a harem if I haven't slept with anyone before." I pointed out.
"Wait, really?" Izanami looked at my in surprise.
"Is that really so hard to believe?" I rolled my eyes.
"Yes." Artoria looked at me with a small grin on her face, finding this whole thing funny.
"A devil, and a young devil at that." Izanami looked skeptical.
"Racist."
"Oh, shush you." Izzy smiled. "How is the child?"
"I think all the nasty stuff is gone." I smiled lightly, running my hand through her hair again. "You can probably take back your sheath now, Artoria."
With a nod, the Knight walked over, gently placing a hand on her and pulling out the conceptual armament.
The little kitsune shuddered slightly, and I felt her grab just a tad tighter.
"Amazing." Iizzy commented. "I can't even sense the smallest inkling of Yomi's power inside of her any longer. What a powerful sheath you possess.
"Of course." Artoria seemed happy to receive the praise, and it wasn't veiled with prodding this time. "It is the embodiment of humanities desire for utopia."
I could tell that Izanami was holding herself back, perhaps if this was her many centuries ago, she would have simply forced out any answers she desired, but at this moment, she was not pushing it.
"I would advise you not to broadcast your possession of such a thing...." Izanami looked a small bit concerned.
"Mmm, the church would probably stop at nothing to acquire it." I thought out loud.
"Not just that institution." Izanami shook her head. "There are many beings, even divine, who would wish to have that thing."
Artoria smiled brightly. "Thank you for your concern, I have confidence to keep it away from those who wish malicious intent." She looked over at the goddess. "It only works with my magical energy, stealing it would be pointless."
Izanami paused. "Regardless....if you ever find yourself in trouble....contact me I should be able to lend a hand."
"Thank you, your kindness is appreciated." Artoria replied, genuine in her words.
"We should probably get going, I don't think it's fair to make this girl's mother wait any longer." I didn't really want to stop their interaction, but I really wanted to get her back home. As the words left my mouth, Sir Wiggles jumped down where he was sitting and I held my hat out with one hand for him to jump inside.
He seemed to like it, perhaps I'll connect it to the yard back home so it acts as more of a portal or something.
"Yes, of course." Izanami said. "I would not like to keep a child away from her mother longer than necessary."
"I look forward to the next time we can speak." Artoria stated.
"Next time...?" Izanami said quietly to herself. "I....too look forward to that."
I finally hefted up the little kitsune, her head happily over my shoulder and I carried her in my arms. "I'll get you home first." I told Artoria.
"Thank you for everything." Izanami said.
"It was my pleasure to aid you, Izanami." Artoria smiled back towards the goddess of death who looked genuinely happy.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stick around longer." I also said my piece.
"No, the circumstances are understandable....I shall contact you at a later date."
We walked out the door, I thought it would be rude to leave from the middle of her home.
"I'm also sorry for bringing you here then suddenly shutting you back home." I looked down to Artoria.
"I understand the situation, and I still enjoyed my time here." Artoria shook her head, staring out into the distance. "I.....did enjoy spending time with Izanami." She looked rather contemplative. "I also apologize for how I acted, I just.....I started thinking of her exactly like my sister and certain things suddenly swelled to the surface."
Morgan Le Fay....yeah I could see it.
The King of Knights shook her head. "I am happy that we left on good terms....and I would not be remiss to return, I quite enjoyed her company."
Yeah, it's almost easy to forget that Izanami is a goddess...she was so happy to sit around and chat with us.
I felt almost bad to bring back Sir Wiggles, but I promised I would meet up with her again.
Overall, I'm happy. My girlfriend was getting along with my new friend, even if the start was rather rough.
"I still owe you a proper outing." I looked at her in the eyes and smiled.
"I suppose you do." She pursed her lips. "I will wait until you resolve this mess." She tiptoed over to me, gently placing her lips to my cheek, being careful not to wake the little fox. "I enjoy this side of you Wilhelm."
"Playing dad?" I chuckled.
A small smile rose on her face. "The side of you that is willing to lend aid to others, this honorable aspect of yours. I know you appear aloof most of the time, but I enjoy watching you care about others, to be honorable like this." She pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear. "Izanami showed me how you lent aid when Kyoto was attacked."
Oh, introducing Artoria to the internet, I'm sure that can only end well.
"...I only helped because it was right there." I dismissed.
"Mmm, is there an issue with only helping those you can see that are in trouble?" She looked at me. "No one is expected to travel the world, to right every wrong in existence, but to see evil committed infront of your eyes and choose to act, that is what makes someone honorable."
"You know, when you say something like that to me, it just makes it harder for me to let you go." I sighed, feeling a warmness in my heart at her words.
"It is unfortunate, but other matters require your attention."
"Yeah, I need to get this little girl home." I gave a wry smile, waiving my hand, a new portal formed, linking back to Zelretch's workshop.
She gave once last goodbye before turning and walking through the portal, going home.
"Oh." Her words echoed out right as she was disappearing. "I very much would like to hear about how my sword is 'destroyed' from you at a later date."
Oof. The venom in her voice was palpable.
That is not going to be a fun conversation to have.
Even still....why does it always feel so bitter when I have to separate? I made a small resolve to finally finish my home so I could link up everywhere and not have to deal with this so much.
Well, regardless, I readjusted my hold on the little fox. "Time to get you back home to mommy." I whispered, opening a new portal to the surface.
***
Momma fox is next. Mc awkwardly tries to console traumatized kitsune as he contemplates what he wants in the future, with a healthy amount of girl time gossip between Artoria and Izzy.
So, I would have gotten this out earlier, except I was distracted. Now, you may be wondering, what could possibly distract me like this? Well, I may have rediscovered an anime I saw many years ago. And I think back then, I simply couldn't appreciate it. So, it's a Mecha anime, but it's sort of a 'parody' The name is Star Driver, and apparently the pilots of said mechas, their strength corresponds to their libido. The Mc is the 'super spechsal' protagonist that has his own transformation scene, and theres even a title for people like him -- Galactic Pretty Boy. Yup, and it's fucking fabulous. Not to mention the sound track has no right to be as good as it is. It honestly made my omake instinct kick in.
I want.
Anyways, if you want to read 5 chapters ahead or support me, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone
Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are published on freew(e)bnove(l).𝓬𝓸𝓶