Ch 268: The Grand Quest.

The Rayshift transfer ended, and Jinah turned, making certain her companions were present and that there was no immediate danger.

"Great, it's a modern world. No more muddy roads to slow us down." cheered Gudako as she looked around. They had appeared on a basketball court, surrounded by a few trees, and by skyscrapers.

And since it was nighttime, there was not a soul in sight.

Mash picked up a basketball that was lying on the ground, eyed the farthest basket, and threw the ball. It landed flawlessly inside the basket. With the perception and Agility attributes, this had become easy.

"I'll climb to the top of those buildings and get a good view. The air smells like we're close to the sea." decided Medb.

"Good idea." nodded Jinah, jumping and using light footholds to follow the pink-haired Servant.

They both stopped well above the skyscrapers' rooftop, taking in the view.

"It looks like a huge artificial island." said Jinah.

"An impressive feat of human ingenuity." nodded Medb.

"Whoa…" breathed Gudako as she stopped by their side. Mash only stared.

The artificial island looked vaguely like a car's wheel or a pie chart from which several thin slices had been removed. There was a large round center, maybe 1.5 kilometer in diameter, linked by dozens of long white bridges to four massive sections, the smallest of them having at least twice the surface of the center, and the two large ones having maybe five to eight times that much surface. They could tell from the absence of skyscrapers and green areas on the two smaller sections that they were devoted to industrial purposes. Right at the center of the artificial island was the tallest skyscraper, but easily a hundred of them littered the two large sections.

Furthermore, there are extensions spreading outward from all sections, holding artificial parks, seaports, and wooden areas. The artificial Island was clearly growing beyond its original design.

The only real landmass was far to the north, with a single bridge, at least twenty kilometers long, linking the island to it.

"What a logistical nightmare. Can you imagine the chaos if something happened to that bridge? There has to be tens of thousands of people living in this place." said Mash

"More like hundreds of thousands. Oh, we received a few quests!" exclaimed Gudako.

She didn't need to tell them, as the notification had appeared on all of their visual field. Since Akeno and her team had succeeded in a particular quest, all the girls who has signed a soul contract enjoyed a new, easy way to become stronger.

"Quest 1: Neutralize the familiar possessing Astarte before her life force is completely drained, and kill the mad deacon, Rudolf Eustach. Reward: One Custom High-Grade Artificial Body, modified to host a soul instead of an Artificial Intelligence."

"Quest 2: Prevent the activation of the Nalakuvera or destroy it before it kills civilians. Kill the terrorist Christoph Gardos. Reward: +10 to all attributes."

"Quest 3: Dimitrie Vatler, recognized as the fifth strongest vampire, likes to cause trouble to alleviate his boredom. Give him the excitement of his lifetime. Reward: Gleipnir, a weaponized familiar able to ignore spatial restrictions."

"Quest 4: Save La Folia Rihavein and Kanon Kanase. Reward: 5% completion toward unlocking the Grand Quest's special reward. Its nature will be revealed after reaching 50% completion. Current: 0%."

"Quest 5: Tame the following villains: The Arms Dealer, Beatrice Basler. The Witch, Aya Tokoyogi. The Deva, Ladli Ren. Reward: The Witch of the Void's avatar, Natsu-kyun, will be separated from her physical body and gain one of her own. The dimensional prison will gain sentience."

"Quest 6: Convince Avrora Florestina, December, and Hektos, the 12th, 10th and 6th representatives of Kaleid Blood, to join your faction. Reward: All twelve of the Kaleid Blood will be sent to Chaldea, with full control over their Beast Vassals."

"Reading those, I sort of get the feeling we're going to return to Chaldea with a lot of new friends." giggled Jinah.

"That is a given." nodded Mash, smiling in anticipation.

"What do you think is that reward for the fourth quest?" wondered Gudako.

"…No idea. I'll ask about it when we report to Olga-Marie, maybe the other groups have gotten missions about it as well." decided Jinah.

"This third quest, about giving that nasty guy the excitement of his life, that's a way to ask us to kill him, right?" asked Medb.

"That is how I read it, yes." shrugged Jinah. "I guess we can decide after we see just how much trouble he tries to make. If he endangers people just for fun, I'm making him a head shorter, no questions asked."

"Agreed." nodded Medb. "Three people to kill, three to enslave, three to save, and three to convince to join us willingly. It sounds interesting."

"Yes. To resume what we know so far, we're on a modern or slightly futuristic world by our standards, with vampires and witches, although their existence may not be common knowledge." said Gudako.  "We should avoid mentioning those in public for now."

"Yes. Let's get down and explore the city to learn more." suggested Jinah, and they nodded. Jniah jumped down, not even bothering to slow her descent down. Her Endurance attribute was at a level where even landing headfirst at terminal velocity wouldn't hurt her.

The others weren't quite at that point yet. They wouldn't get even a bruise, but the landing would still be unpleasant. They slowed themselves using light constructs as small parachutes.

They left the basketball course and walked toward one of the section's main streets. But when they were about to reach it, the tops of several black metal posts separating the road from the pedestrian sides moved up, revealing orange flashing lights, and a synthetic, feminine voice sounded.

"Abnormal magic power detected. All those in the area, please evacuate immediately. Repeat. Abnormal magic power detected. All those in the area, please evacuate immediately. Repeat…"

"…Heh, we're busted already." snorted Gudako.

"We haven't done anything bad yet. But at least, we have our answer. They know about magic and stuff." said Jinah.

"We're not spending Goddess knows how long in a cell just for coming here to save this world." decided Jinah. "If the locals aren't reasonable, I do not mind showing them why they shouldn't mess with us."

"Spoken like a true Monarch." nodded Medb with a satisfied smile. "They should feel honored and grateful. We do not have to hide like criminals."

"The privilege of strength." nodded Jinah, sitting on a nearby bench. "We may as well borrow a page from Akeno's first timeline and make a statement, as long as we do not injure anyone or cause too much damage. That will get us the cooperation of the local governing bodies faster."

"Assuming they don't panic and try to drop a nuke on us." nodded Mash.

"Well, it's not like we're in a remote place where using that kind of weapon would be a viable option." pointed out Mash. "They're not going to do something like that before trying everything else first."

"I wonder how long it will take them to send some response. At least that automated voice has stopped." said Gudako.

As she spoke, a trio of young women emerged from a side-street two hundred meters away. One of them carried two white plastic bags with the logo of some grocery store, while the other two had black guitar cases on their backs. They looked in their direction, alerted by the orange flashing lights around them.

For a second, it looked like they couldn't believe what they were seeing, then the two girls with the guitar cases set them on the ground, opening them, and took two silver staffs.

The staffs lengthened and blades emerged from their bulky ends, turning the weapons into spears. The armed girls ran toward them, the third one setting her groceries on the ground before following them.

"Time to start that statement." sighed Jinah, making her shadow expand. Two Shadow Infantry, each 2.2 meters tall, as well as Igris emerged from it.

The instant Igris appeared, a much larger part of the street lit up with flashing lights, and the incoming girls faltered, the grips on their spears tightening, before they resumed their run with grim expressions.

"Let's see what the locals can do." said Medb, watching with anticipation.

"The two spearwomen are twins." noted Mash as they got closer. "And pretty ones at that."

Jinah, Gudako and Medb nodded in appreciation. The two girls had slender bodies and wore blue and white sailor school uniforms. They both a lustrous black hair stopping just past their shoulders, with bangs nicely framing their beautiful faces. They were obviously twins, but not identical ones. One had amber-brown eyes, the other blue eyes.

"You Demons! Unsummon your familiars at once and surrender!" shouted the closest, the one with amber eyes.

"And what will you do if we surrender?" asked Jinah with a raised eyebrow.

"You will be arrested and judged for your crimes!"

"What crimes? Sitting on a public bench? Being out at night? There isn't a curfew, right?"

"Are you mocking us?" exclaimed the blue-eyed one. "Summoning familiars is strictly against regulations. You can be sentenced to three years of jail for this alone."

"They aren't familiars, and we aren't going to prison. I doubt there is any power here that can compel us to do anything we do not want to do." shrugged Jinah, standing from the bench.

"We'll see about that!" shouted the amber-eyed one, jumping high in the air toward Igris, her silver spear ready to strike.

Igris struck his greatsword into the street's pavement, and simply seized the shaft of the weapon before its blade could reach it, stopping it cold. The girl's eyes widened, but she managed to land on her feet and tried to strike Igris's abdomen with a palm strike.

"Young lightning!" shouted the girl as a blue arc of lightning erupted from her palm.

Her attack was stopped by Igris own right hand, who grabbed her hand and pulled as he swept her legs, making her stumble. Before she knew it, the girl was forced on her knees in front of Jinah, with Igris holding both of her hands behind her back with one of her and had the other hand on her shoulder, keeping a firm grip on her.

The other girl had also attacked, but was no match against the two Shadow Knights and was promptly disarmed and made to kneel as well.

"Yeah, the verdict is, not great." muttered Mash.

"Release my friends now! Don't force me to summon my own familiar! You would be seriously hurt!" screamed the third girl. She had reddish-brown eyes, and black hair tied up in a high ponytail by a mint blue ribbon.

Arcs of yellow lightning started surrounding her.

"Oh? Please let me see that familiar."

"I warned you!" said the girl, her right arm turning black with glowing red mana circuits. "Regulus Aurum!"

A torrent of golden lightning erupted, forming a thick beam reaching toward the sky. From it jumped a ten-meter-tall lion with glowing red eyes, its mane and fur seemingly made of golden lightning.

"Now we're talking!" nodded Jinah. "Igris."

Igris released the girl, pulled his greatsword off the ground with his Ruler's Authority, and walked toward the lion in unhurried steps. The lion seemed to take offense at his opponent's nonchalant attitude and roared a challenge.

Igris stopped two meters from the lion and lifted his head. He managed to look like he was looking down on the lion despite craning his neck upward.

And the lion didn't like it, at all.

With another roar, Regulus Aurum lifted his right paw, surrounded by more golden lightning, and brought it down, intending to crush the impudent knight.

Igris's greatsword flashed, and the lion's front leg was severed.

"W-what?" gasped the girl who had summoned it.

Igris's sword moved again, and the lion's head was separated from its body. Both the body and head disappeared as it collapsed.

The three girls looked in fear.

"Now that we have established that us getting arrested isn't going to happen, how about you…" Jinah's word were interrupted when a dozen purple chains wrapped themselves around her, and she was pulled backward into a purple magic array from which the chains had surged. The array disappeared with her!

"Eh?" exclaimed Medb.

Another purple formation appeared behind Mash, but she saw it coming and took from her spatial ring a black sword covered with Stop runes. She slashed at the chains as they reached for her, and they were severed. More came out of the magic array, and Mash jumped toward it, slashing the array itself. It was instantly split into two and disappeared.

Seeing that the black swords were effective, Gudako and Medb took their own weapons as well.

She heard a soft "tsk" coming from her right and above her and turned her head.

A petite, beautiful girl, looking to be around fifteen, was standing on a tree branch, dressed in a black gothic Lolita dress and holding a black parasol. She had long black hair and large blue eyes.

"Are you the one who just cast that magic? What did you do with her?"

"I sent her to prison, where she belongs. And you will join her soon. Surrender obediently."

"Sand down, Igris!" urgently shouted Gudako as she saw he was about to attack the newcomer. Thankfully, Igris remembered Jinah's instructions to not kill or injure any human, and decided to wait, just a little.

"Why is that familiar not disappearing? Was she not its summoner?" frowned the girl.

Another purple array appeared behind Gudako, and she quickly reacted, alerted by the purple light illuminating her surroundings. She destroyed it before more chains could erupt from it.

"This is getting old." said Medb. "Should I teach this brat a lesson?"

"No." replied Mash, turning her attention back to the girl on the tree.

"I strongly suggest you bring her back, now. We aren't bad guys, despite what you guys seem to think, and our friend is going to trash that prison of yours."

"impossible." snorted the girl. "The dimensional prison is made to hold the most dangerous demons and witches, and no one has ever…"

Her eyes bulged suddenly, and she turned to stare behind her, where the skies some distance away were illuminated by a dozen ascending beams of blue flames disappearing into the clouds. The roar came three seconds later.

"Damn it! Nagisa, Yukina, Reina! I need you! A lot of criminals are going to escape!"

She had barely finished speaking when she disappeared instantly, like she had teleported away.

With pale faces, the twins picked up their spears and ran off, followed by the familiar summoner.

Gudako, Mash and Medb looked at each other, shrugged, and ran after them, with Igris and the two Shadow Infantry following.

"So, we sort of started on the wrong foot." said Mash as she caught up with the summoner. "I am Mash Kyrielight. We come from a parallel Earth, and we are pursuing a powerful demon that is hiding somewhere on this planet. What is your name?"

"Another Earth?" frowned the girl. "This can wait. I'm Nagisa. Nagisa Akatsuki. This familiar of yours is… very strong. Can you help us deal with the criminals? If they escape into the city…"

"Sure." nodded Mash. "I won't say it's our fault this is happening, because you guys are the ones who decided to try to imprison us, but we'll do what we can. And Jinah isn't going to just let criminals escape either."

"That's the name of the one who summoned them?"

"Yes. Sung Jinah. My friends behind us are Medb, and Gudako Fujimura."

"Nice to meet you!" grinned Gudako as she waved her hand. "You can call me Gudako or even just Ako. Like Mash said, we came here mostly to hunt down a demon before he brings catastrophe upon this world."

Medb nodded in greeting.

"Mostly?" asked Nagisa.

"Those who sent us decided that since we were going to be here for a while, we could use the opportunity to do a few errands for them. Some people to save, some villains to kill, that kind of things." smiled Mash.

"I'll be going ahead, maybe I can vent a little on some criminals." declared Medb.

She used Shunpo, and Nagisa blinked.

"She can teleport as well?"

"It's not quite teleportation. And your silent friends?"

"…I am Yukina Himeragi. This is my sister Reina." frowned the amber-eyed twin.

"We are Sword Shamans from the Lion King Organization, an agency of the Japanese government." said Reina. "Once this crisis is solved, you better tell us everything about that demon you're hunting and the place you come from."

"As long as you're polite about it." nodded Medb. "But in return, you will tell us more about your world. We have many questions."

They turned the corner of a building and slowed down as they witnessed the scene.

A new structure was connected to the artificial island by a bridge, and Mash was certain that it hadn't been there when they had observed the surroundings from the air. It looked at first like a massive black castle, but as she focused on it, she could see through the illusion. The real structure was a prison of dark gray stone, of a purely utilitarian style, with thick concrete walls topped by rolls of barbed wire and few windows.

There was a massive wall where the gate had been, where Jinah and Medb stood, four of her Shadow Dragons standing beside her, and eight more flying around the prison. They had someone wrapped with golden chains, and was facing two dozen people. On the side was the girl in the Lolita dress, but that she had changed her previous black dress for a white one for some reason. She had also replaced her parasol with a folded fan and seemed to be arguing with Jinah.

"D-Dragons!" blurted out Yukina. "And so many!"

"They're with us. They won't harm you if you don't attack Jinah." said Gudako.

Mash, Gudako, and Igris ran faster, Nagisa and the two Sword Shamans trailing behind.

They reached Jinah and stopped.

"… can't take her out of the prison."

"Our Gods' orders take precedence over any local authority, as far as we are concerned." countered Jinah.

"Ehhhh? Natsuki-chan!" shouted Reina. "You're taller! And also bigger!"

Mash nodded to herself. She had thought at first that she was mistaken, but the girl, no, the woman now looked like in her early twenties, was at least fifteen centimeters taller, and her bust had definitely gained a few sizes.

"Don't call your teacher with a 'chan'." angrily retorted Natsuki. "This is my real body. I am the warden of the dimensional prison, so I can't just leave whenever I want. I am using a magic projection to have a life on the outside."

"I understand, Natsuki-chan." nodded Reina, and Natsuki’s right eyebrow twitched.

"Who were you talking about, taking someone out of the prison?" asked Mash, and Medb pointed to the bound woman with a smile.

"This is Aya Tokoyogi! She was the prisoners’ ringleader."

"Oh, you found her already. That's great." nodded Mash, examining the captive carefully. Aya was a gorgeous young woman with long black hair and violet eyes. She wasn't struggling against the chain of hardened light holding her, and was observing Jinah and the others thoughtfully.

She clearly was the smart kind of criminal, and Mash guessed she saw in the new development an opportunity to escape.

"She is a very dangerous witch." protested Natsuki. "You have no idea how much damage she could do. She can copy grimoires of other witches, duplicating their powers, or manipulate people's memories."

"We aren't witches, I sealed her powers, and we're immune to mental manipulation, so there's no problem. Medb, you get started with Aya's reforming." said Jinah, taking the team's Sanctuary form her spatial ring.

"Okay!" grinned Medb before they both disappeared, and Jinah put the Sanctuary away.

Natsuki stomped the ground in frustration.

"What are you going to do with her? Reforming?" asked Yukina.

"Our superiors think that having villains rot away in jail or turn into fertilizer is wasteful." said Jinah. "A better use for them is to make them work for humanitarian causes to make up for their evil deeds. After a thorough period of reeducation, of course, to make them obedient. We've done this quite a few times before, with a hundred percent success rate."

"She will pretend to be compliant and escape after you lower your vigilance." retorted Natsuki.

"She won't be able to." said Jinah as she shook her head. "We will try, sure. But we can detect lies, and we won't free her until we are absolutely certain she has given up on her evil ways."

"You stubborn…" started Natsuki, before she sighed, glancing at the dragons and regretting her lack of power. "I will hold you responsible for any damage she causes if she escapes your custody."

"Yes, sure." nodded Jinah.

"…Are there other criminals you intend to 'reform'?"

"…Two more." replied Jinah. "An arms dealer named Beatrice Basler, and someone called the Deva, Ladli Ren. Do you know about them? Are they perhaps in this prison?"

"They aren't, and I do not know anything about them." frowned Natsuki. She turned to the crowd of prisoners watching from a distance. A few were unconscious on the ground, their legs twisted in unnatural directions. Jinah had obviously stopped them from escaping, and had not been gentle about it.

She focused on the broken walls surrounding what had been the gate, and used her connection to the prison to start repairing the damage. It would take a few minutes to restore it completely. She also teleported the prisoners back into their cells.

As she worked, Jinah expanded her shadow and made the dragons enter it, one after another. Igris and the two Shadow Infantry also retreated inside, and the four local girls relaxed.

"You carry around a dozen dragon familiars in your shadow?" asked Nagisa, looking warily at Jinah's feet.

"More like two hundred dragons, actually." shrugged Jinah, secretly enjoying the way Natsuki flinched. This was her petty revenge for the way she had been caught by surprise earlier.

"How can you have so many familiars?" exclaimed Yukina, shocked. "Even the first Progenitor, the Warlord, had no more than 72 Beast Vassals."

"What is a familiar exactly?" asked Mash.

"An animal of a magically created being that serve their Master. Every Vampire has at least one."

"We aren't vampires. And my Shadow Army is… Well, you could say that I am like an advanced form of Necromancer, even if I find the name distasteful. I can revive enemies I kill in the form of Shadows, and they conserve the combat abilities they had when they lived. And to a large extent, their intellect."

"And you killed two hundred dragons?" asked Natsuki.

"It was a team effort, but yes. The Earth I was born into was invaded by massive armies of millions of monsters, and the dragons were among the strongest of them. The faction I am now a part of helped us fight them off, and they gave me great power in return for my contribution to save more parallel Earths."

"Save them from what?" frowned Natsuki.

"There's a demon, known as one of Solomon's 72 Demon Pillars, hiding somewhere in this world." said Gudako. "One of our allies is using our presence as antennas of sort to pick up its magical signature and locate it. It will take a few months, but it won't be able to hide forever. We will kill it, then go to the next Earth on our list to hunt the next demon."

"Since our arrival has been anything but discreet, thanks to your magic detectors, we'll need to speak to some representative of the government to get the authorities off our backs." shrugged Jinah. "Could you please tell us who we should contact?"

"…That will probably be me." sighed Natsuki. "They are using me as an intermediary for just about all supernatural issues happening inside Itogami Island. I'll probably also end up being asked to keep an eye on you. What about this Solomon's Demon? Will it cause us problems?"

"Probably not. The previous ones we saw in other worlds were all stationary in remote areas, using magic to camouflage themselves." replied Mash. "They should not be approached, however. They have a lot of magic firepower and are very hostile to humans.”

Natsuki nodded, feeling numb, and concentrated on her repairs. When she was done, she teleported away, only to be replaced seconds later by her younger version in a black dress and parasol.

"We're done here. Follow me, I do not want to let the prison be vulnerable to attack any longer than strictly necessary."

They nodded as they used the bridge to leave the prison. As soon as they reached the other side, the prison disappeared behind them. It wasn't simply an illusion, or Mash and the others would have been able to see through it, but probably some kind of transfer into another dimension.

"So, this place is called Itogami Island, and there are vampires who are allowed to live there, as long as they do not summon their familiars?" asked Mash.

"Vampire, Witches, therianthropes and more. Some humans are trained as Attack Mages, a catch-all term that includes, among other types, the Sword Shamans and Shamanic War Dancers of the Lion King Organization." explained Yukina.

"Shamanic War Dancers? How different are they from Sword Shamans?" wondered Mash.

"You could say that Sword Shamans are the frontline soldiers, while the War Dancers have a more supportive role." said Reina. "You mentioned earlier that your superiors had given you errands to do while you were in this world. Was 'reforming' the three criminal you mentioned part of them?"

"Yes. We were asked to save three people, reform three villains, kill three others, and convince three specific individuals to join our faction and help us save more worlds." said Mash as they walked deeper into the city. "Actually, we wanted to ask you about them, since you might possess information that would make our tasks easier."

"Who do you intend to kill?"

"A mad Deacon called Rudolf Eustach, a terrorist named Christoph Gardos, and the last one is apparently the fifth strongest vampire, Dimitrie Vatler."

"…I never heard of the first." frowned Natsuki. "Christoph Gardos, the leader of the Black Death Emperor Front, is a terrorist who killed hundreds of people, but his location is unknown, as far as I am aware. As for Dimitrie Vatler… This Snake Charmer is bad news. The farther from Itogami Island he is, the better."

"Snake Charmer?" asked Jinah with a raised eyebrow.

"He has many familiars, and they all are giant snakes. powerful familiars, too." explained Reina, looking troubled.

"We were told to deal with him because he's a troublemaker. He isn't the harmless kind of prankster, I assume?" asked Mash.

"More like the kind that would start wars for the fun of it." replied Natsuki.

"I'll sic Igris on him." shrugged Jinah. "Or maybe I'll do it myself. I may not look like it, but I can do a lot more than just summon my Shadow Army."

"An Army, is it? How many do you have in that shadow?" asked Natsuki, frowning.

"Over ten thousand. Most aren't anywhere near as strong as the Dragons, though."

"That many? It's no wonder I feel power emanating from your body even when you aren't doing anything right now… And you said you wanted to save three people?"

"Yes. The first is a girl named Astarte. Does that ring any bells?"

Natsuki looked at Nagisa and the twins, and they shook their heads.

"Too bad. She is apparently being possessed by a familiar that is draining her life force. Or who will by the time we will meet her."

"Natsuki-chan, is it even possible for a familiar to possess a person?" asked Yukina.

"It's Natsuki-Sensei, Yukina! And no, it shouldn't be possible… Who are the others you have been asked to save?"

"One La Folia Rihavein, and the last one is named Kanon Kanase."

"Kanon-chan!" jumped Nagisa. Yukina and Reina were also gasping at Jinah.

"You know her?" asked Jinah.

"She's one of our friends and classmates! A kind girl who loves to feed stray cats. Is someone threatening her? Tell me everything you know about it!"

"We do not know anything yet. We were only told to save her, period. Our Goddess doesn't like to make it too easy for us. She doesn't want us to become completely dependent on hand-fed information…  I'll tell you this so you can worry a bit less. the leader of our faction, the Champion of the Goddess, is able to revive the dead, as long as he pays a certain price, and the soul of the person in question hasn't yet gone through reincarnation. Even if we fail to protect your friend, we'll just ask him to revive her."

"…Okay. I'll still stick to Kanon like glue until whoever is threatening her is in jail." decided Nagisa.

"I guess we'll see each other a lot in the foreseeable future, then." smiled Mash, and Nagisa smiled back.

"I guess."

"Rihavein is the name of the Aldegyr Kingdom's royal family." said Natsuki, frowning. "I'll need to check, but I seem to remember princess La Folia being the crown princess."

"A good thing there's several of us. It looks like we're going to split the team." mused Jinah, turning to Mash and Gudako, and they nodded.

Mash saw Jinah's shadow flicker for a fraction of a second, reaching toward the shadows of Natsuki, Yukina, Reina and Nagisa, and understood that Jinah had just inserted a Shadow Soldier inside all of their shadows, both to protect them if need be, and to spy on them.

Mash didn't think that spying on Natsuki and the others was necessary. They struck her as fundamentally good people, her lie detection ability hadn't triggered even once, and she could see herself becoming friends with them.

When they reached the main street again, new alarms blared from the posts.

"This is getting old fast." grumbled Jinah, using item creation to make herself a ring. When she put it on, the alarms fell silent.

"What did you just do?"

"I made myself a ring to reduce my power leaking out."

"…I don't even want to ask. Not today. I want to go home, write a report, and go to sleep. We have class tomorrow, and I'll be tired the whole day, thanks to a few people."

"Yes, sorry about that." smiled Mash.

"You do not have anywhere to sleep, right?" asked Natsuki.

"No. We can camp tonight, find a pawn shop tomorrow, and exchange gold or gems for the local currency." said Jinah.

"You'll spend the night in my place. I have a few free rooms, and there is no safety concern since this is just a projection. Please do not cause trouble for the neighbors. We will discuss future arrangements tomorrow."

"We are grateful for your help. And we'll behave." promised Jinah.

She almost asked if Natsuki was the Witch of the Void, thinking about the reward referring to an avatar named Natsu-Kyun, but she was almost positive already, and decided they had already said enough to obtain her cooperation.

For now, they only needed to keep their eyes and ears open, position themselves to provide protection to those they had been tasked to keep safe, and wait for the first few opportunities to prove themselves as part of the 'Good Guys'. Once they gained their trust, everything would become easier.

…

Jinah entered the Sanctuary, and headed for the basement.

Without surprise, she was welcomed with the smell of sex, the sound of creaking leather, and muffled moans.

"Welcome back, Jinah." smiled Medb, sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in her red and black leather dominatrix outfit. A leather bodysuit opened at the front, revealing her deep cleavage, a black waist corset accentuating her already attractive figure, black leather high-heeled boots, a black leather collar around her throat, and a red military cap.

"Thank you. As expected, you're already at work." nodded Jinah, staring at the wriggling form at Medb's feet.

"How are you training her?"

Medb looked down with a satisfied expression.

"As you can see, I put our new toy into a gray latex bodysuit, gagged her with a huge, and I mean huge, red ball gag to start training her mouth to open wider, and sound-dampening ear plugs. I covered her head with a black latex isolation hood, then this leather hood over it. The poor thing must feel quite a bit of pain from her jaw muscles right now, but her tendons will adapt. Two or three weeks from now, she'll only feel mild discomfort from huge gags, and large-sized ones will be easy for her."

"…Well, she's a villain, so a bit of pain is deserved, I suppose. But obviously, this isn't the only thing you did." smiled Jinah.

"Of course not." snorted Medb. "It wouldn't be much of a training if I only did her head. You can see the posture collar, leg binder and box-type armbinder, the latter two laced very tight and the straps taught and locked. What you do not see are the two large vibrating dildoes filling her holes. I am putting her to orgasm hell for a month straight, to get her to firmly associate strict bondage with pleasure, and drive home the point that she is a plaything."

"After that month, I will switch to obedience training. She will get a chastity belt that will keep edging her, and she will only be rewarded with an orgasm when I feel like it. Which won't be often. She will have to work hard to deserve the right to cum."

Jinah nodded, feeling a bit of pity at the villain, isolated in her own world of pleasure and pain.

"Do not feel sympathy for her." smiled Medb, as if reading her thoughts. "She is too dangerous to not be broken thoroughly, and once her training is over, she will be happy."

"Yeah, I know. I guess I'm just not used to it." sighed Jinah.

"It's okay." nodded Medb. "That is why Olga-Marie asked me to accompany you, to do the things that you couldn't. It's fine if you remain just like you are, Jinah. Leave the villain taming to me. I enjoy it."

Jinah nodded.

"I'm leaving Beru and Igris with you girls, as well as the Sanctuary. I am about to fly to northern Europe, to the Aldegyr Kingdom. It turns out that La Folia Rihavein is the crown princess, so I will befriend her and become another of her bodyguards. Natsuki showed me a picture on her computer, and she's super cute, with long silver hair and blue eyes."

"I see. What else did I miss?"

"Natsuki is very likely the Witch of the Void, the Lion-summoning girl is Nagisa Akatsuki, and the twins are Yukina and Reina Himeragi, in case you missed it earlier. We're in Itogami Island, just south of Tokyo. Natsuki is letting us crash in her home for the night. Supernatural beings have a right to live in the Island as long as they don't make trouble, but are banned from the mainland. Three strong Vampires called the Progenitors have carved out empires of their own all over the world. There's a Fourth Progenitor called Kaleid Blood, but their identity is secret. Natsuki and the others have been weirdly evasive about it. They clearly know something, but we didn't press them."

Jinah chuckled.

"Not that we have to. They did mention that only vampires possessed familiars, so why was Nagisa able to summon that golden lion?"

"So she's the Fourth Progenitor, and she has a relationship with the twelve Kaleid Blood. We'll get the truth out of her later." nodded Medb.

"Nagisa might just be an ordinary vampire, but considering their body language when we talked about Kaleid Blood, I do not believe it for a second... Natsuki isn't just the warden of that prison. She's also a school teacher, and the three girls are in her class. And it just turns out that one of their friends and classmates is Kanon Kanase."

"I see." nodded Medb. "The Gods must have arranged for our emergence point to be close enough for us to easily meet them."

"Yeah. I also mentioned the Nalakuvera, and Natsuki heard of it. It is supposed to be a god-slaying weapon, according to some ancient stone tablets inscribed with a lost language, but no one ever managed to translate more than this."

"But someone will manage to use it, soon. The gods wouldn't have given us that quest otherwise."

"Yes. 'God-Slaying', heh! We will put that qualifier to the test." grinned Jinah.

"Assuming we let it be activated in the first place." nodded Medb.

"Yeah. I'll be leaving for Europe as soon as I say goodbye to the others. See you later, Medb, and good luck." smiled Jinah.

"Good luck. Go and woo that cute princess." grinned Medb.