An unfamiliar, uncomfortable feeling woke me up. The events of the day before were on my mind. Raishin wasn’t trying to get in the room with the idols but Noelle tried to get in with him.

  Greg is sharing a room with a woman, and I opened up to someone who wasn’t Raishin or Greg. Is this our death flag? A moment of happiness before we get brutally murdered? I surely hope not.

  We also needed to have a strategy meeting, as I have no idea what Yvonne can do. I have a good idea of what the others can do, but the rest don’t know each other that well.

  In theory, we can get more aggressive as Giana and Noelle can handle defense. It gives Greg more breathing room to do stuff he normally can’t. He hardly has moments where he can use curses or poisons against deities. Then again, Biian was weak to shadow magic, so it would be wise to spam that.

  But a team with a Golden Angel and a Silver Torrent, eh? Anything below demi-god level won’t be able to do anything to us. Unless it includes some highly specialized races. Like succubae or something.

  They will have to fight them with 5 as I instantly lose against the race that’s the most proficient in charm magic. Not sure if Giana could protect me from that. She protected me from Hisui afterall.

  Demons are probably on the same tier as gods. But where do fairies fit in?

  Giana and I would be at risk, but Greg’s fight against the snake fairy proved that they’re weak to nature energy. Yvonne should be able to use that, so maybe we will be fine against fairies.

  There was no point in having this strategy meeting by myself, so time to wake up these slackers!

  I left my room and caught Noelle sneaking toward Raishin’s room.

  And what do you think you’re doing? Aren’t you the oldest? Do I need to act like the older brother?

  “Tssk, Good morning lil’ bro will you help me sneak into Raishin’s room?

  That might be a bad idea. Although…

  I thought about it and decided that it wasn't such a bad idea.

  You know what? Let’s go for it.

  We teleported into Raishin’s room after I placed my hand on Noelle’s shoulder and got met with an impressive yet worrying sight.

  How did this guy create such a mess in this short of a timespan?

  “This must be a superpower… how is this even possible?” Noelle said as she navigated through the mess.

  I swiftly drew a primal rune in the air after identifying a hazard.

  Cassanam!

  Noelle froze as she was about to step on a biohazard.

  You almost stepped on his dirty underwear…

  “Thanks, I owe you, my life.”

  The bind wore off and Noelle got to safety. She covered herself in cool crystal armor as she started picking up various items laying on the floor. “I got this, thank you, go sneak into our room and have your way with Giana.”

  Noelle smirked and continued cleaning. I shrugged and teleported back to the corridor. Checking on everyone seemed to be a bad idea.

  There was a possibility that Yvonne succeeded, and I would be interrupting and entering a room of a vixen is a terrible idea, so I went to the main floor and looked around.

  It was quite fancy. The illusions I had put on our team made sure that we wouldn’t be found out easily as the idols are celebrities.

  This place was quite edgy after closer inspection. There were a lot of black and dark colors. It looked like a budget sword museum. None of them seemed of a quality high enough for me to be impressed.

  It didn’t take long for me to find the garden. Garden was a big word, it was just a large grass field with some fancy trees to the side, perfect for practicing Dragonvein!

  It was like when I first tried to learn Dragonvein. My proficiency was good enough but the lack of leyline energy held me back a lot. Using it was possible but not something I could whip out because I felt like it. I would have to premeditate its use, which made it lose some of its allure.

  [Dragon] did work, however, possibly because it was my Dragonvein avatar. It was the one skill that ignored most of my Dragonvein restrictions. It was unclear whether I could use it when the leyline energy would decrease more than this.

  The simple skills failed, as gathering a low amount of energy didn’t go so well. [Dragonvein: Phoenix Dance] did work, and it incinerated a large part of the grass field.

  Woops, I suppose I won't use that unless I want to destroy everything around me…

  Starting [Dragonvein: Drowning Pulse] was a challenge, but it was no problem once I kept at it. Starting most skills was a chore, besides explosive skills like [Dragonvein: Phoenix Dance].

  Meh, this sucks. Can the world stop going to shit and return the leyline energy?

  I sat down on the grass and thought about how to deal with this problem. Maybe ignoring it was for the best.

  I let myself fall backward and laid in the grass. Someone would one day figure out what Dragonvein was and solve this problem! Yup!

  All I would have to do was try to do my best in practicing it but…a training dummy would have been nice… Those sturdy enough to act as my training dummy would become problems, like gods and the like, and anything that wouldn't be problematic to deal with would die in one or 2 hits.

  Inyr is napping, so I can’t use him as a sparring partner. Do I have to befriend a god so he can become my punching bag?

  My thoughts went to Hablena. She could’ve been my punching bag if she still was here. Which reminded me! I need to ask Noelle what’s up with that divine energy she gives off! Gotta do that before I forget!

  I got up and stood face-to-face with a vixen.

  Uhh, good morning.

  “Good morning…”

  So, what do I do now? What do I say to her? Do I continue and find Noelle to ask, or do I talk to Giana? Maybe Giana knows something to get out of this situation!

  Giana also seemed to have the same problem as me and wasn’t saying anything…

  [Blood and Thunder] got activated to make me focus and i walked up to her.

  “Huh? Why are you hurting yourself?”

  I grabbed her wrist as I walked back to the hotel.

  I need to ask Noelle something, will you come with me?

  She nodded and followed me. We went upstairs, and I kicked Raishin’s door open.

  Hourai police! Open up!

  An interesting scene was unfolding in front of us. Raishin’s room was clean and Raishin was pinned against the wall. Noelle had lifted him with one arm and immobilized him.

  Uhh, are we interrupting?

  Ooh Agnis! Just in time! Help!

  Uhh, maybe later. I have a question, Noelle.

  Noelle turned her head and looked at me. Her eyes dropped, and her gaze rested on my hand, which was holding Giana’s wrist. A familiar, annoying expression appeared on her face.

  “Heh, ask a way lil’ bro.”

  Ugh… so I’ve noticed you give off divine energy and I forgot to ask. Mind telling me what’s up with that?

  “Hmm, I will if you call me big sis’. “

  I guess it’s not that important then…

  I was about to leave the room when a stomp locked me into place.

  “I will tell you, but now is not the right time. Is it fine if I tell you another time?”

  Sure, also Raishin responds well if you compliment him.

  “Oh really? Raishin you’re so funny!”

  Giana shook her head after a sigh. “Noelle… nobody would fall for that, your delivery was terrible…”

  Don’t worry Giana, that was enough, let’s go.

  Oh really? Haha, thanks! It seems you’re not that bad!

  I gave Noelle a thumbs up and we left the room.

  So… Yvonne is in a room with Greg, should we check on them?

  Greg burst out of his room at that moment. He spotted me and stormed over to me.

  Was this your idea?!

  I would like to claim credit for this, but I planned to have you share a room with me.

  He then turned to Giana.

  “Oh, it seems you’ve found your culprit!” I turned around and looked at the smiling vixen.

  Oh my god! They’re all the same!

  Wow! Nice one!

  Giana and I high-fived.

  Ugh, I don’t think I can take 2 of you…

  “Oh, Greg, there is a tournament to determine who will join on the ship to investigate the ghost fish. I had signed Noelle, Yv and me up but the requirement is to be a water user. You’re a water user, right? Will you join Agnis and me?”

  Oh, first time I hear about this, but I agree, join us, Greg!

  Greg looked at us as if he was looking at his worst nightmare.

  Absolutely not!

  Do you want a random person to lay claim on our fish?

  Greg seemed conflicted and muttered to himself.

  How about I throw these into the mix?

  I showed off 10 bottles of liquid shadow vodka.

  Ugh, your race and their manipulation… fine! As long as I don’t have to go on that trip. I will join the tournament, but I will not go to the ocean! Do you hear me?!

  Don’t worry, I had no intention on bringing you to the ocean, just return the favor and never bring me to a desert.

  A desert is different, but I will take note of that…

  “Thank you! It will be fun!”

  Ugh, you might be even more dangerous than Agnis.

  You think so too?

  “Hey what do you mean?!”

  Vixens are overpowered.

  I would have to agree, Hisui had an easier time against us than some gods… it was ridiculous... Anyway, excuse me, I need to prepare for the hell you two are going to drag me too…

  Greg returned to his room but without any energy as he seemed quite defeated.

  “How did the fight against Hisui go, by the way?” Giana asked as we went back down.

  Well, she charmed Raishin so it turned into a 2v2, Raishin went 6t mode and Raijin mode and attacked Greg so there was not much Greg could do to help out so it was just me against Hisui.

  People stared at us as we walked through the lobby. Correction, they stared at Giana.

  Her continuous charm application pushed my second overpowered window of [Elgard Overload] out of the 8 minutes so I almost instantly lost after the 8 minutes were over…

  We left the hotel and I put us in stealth as Giana had no intention of hiding her appearance.

  She turned Nilah pink and caused her to turn against me. so, in the end it was Hisui and Nilah against me which is how I lost. But your [Charmed Protection] saved me.

  “I see… I’m glad that I could be helpful! Where are we going by the way?”

  I’m trying to find old acquaintances, but they might have forgotten about me… oh I also need to thank you for pulling me out of the spirit world.

  “Stop thanking me so much! I don’t know how to respond to all that!”

  Well, it needs to be said, I would have been toast on multiple occasions without your help.

  We arrived at the docks where I encountered the fishermen the last time, but I couldn’t find anyone that I recognized.

  I hoped that they're not the ones that are missing…

  My motivation grew. Trap or not, the fishermen deserve to find out what happened to their colleagues!

  “It seems you didn’t find them.” Giana said while looking at me and it didn’t seem as if she was reading my mind but more my emotions.

  This [Empathic Bond] … is it still active?

  “Yeah… is it bothering you?”

  Just a bit, but I’m not great at connecting to people so maybe it’s needed, I just thought that it’s similar to Ourasyn.

  “Hmm, well it might be the Mikazuki version of [Empathic bond]. You are quite similar to other men in our race, which means it's hard for a vixen to connect with you if your attention isn’t focused on us.”

  Oh... how do you know all this by the way?

  “My mother remembered parts from before the Eraser, she was in charge of finding out why our race was doing so poorly with the focus on internal factors. The Oures family should also have something similar to [Empathic Bond] and Ourasyn but… your mother is probably the only vixen left from that family…”

  Hmm I see. So, does that mean that you can teach me how to become a better 9t?

  “I don’t think I can… I still have a long way to go to become a better vixen. I don’t know much about how the men should act.”

  Guess we’re in the same boat… speaking of boats, [Boat Magic] might shine today!

  “Haha what a strange skill, did you make it yourself?”

  Huh? How did you know that?

  “I completed the Nightmare Dungeon, remember? I have some idea of your capabilities, and it suggests that you can tweak or create magic skills, am I wrong?”

  Uhh, no, you’re spot on, it’s just a rare or non-existing ability that I wouldn’t expect anyone to guess it. Wait gimme a sec…

  Seagulls were flying over the city again, and they managed to yet again steal a baby…

  Surely Gully didn’t get abducted again, did she?

  I shot the seagull down and caught Wannabe Gully.

  Human babies are as ugly as ever. I can’t even tell if you’re Gully or someone else, in which case you’re Gully 2.0.

  “Aww how cute and who is Gully?” Giana said as she called this creature ‘cute’.

  I heard voices and 2 parents came running who I recognized.

  So, it was Gully, you guys need to put her on a leash or something.

  “Huff… thank you for saving Katherine again!” The father said, took Gully and put her in a baby wagon.

  The mother fixed Gully’s clothing and looked at us. “Oh, did we disturb your date?”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Ok, I’ve seen this on tv! If I say that this isn’t a date I will hurt Giana’s feelings, if I say it is a date, I’ll make her uncomfortable so the best course of action is…

  “Oh, no you’re not disturbing our date!” Giana said as she locked arms with me and pulled me closer. I guess that’s also an option. It was time for [Blood and Thunder] to become the MVP again.

  “Hey! Stop hurting yourself!” Giana said as she put a [Regenerate] on me and boosted my lightning resistance.

  How am I supposed to focus without the zaps…

  “We will do our best to make sure Katherine eats enough so that the seagulls can’t kidnap her!” The mother said as she waved goodbye.

  But... that’s not the solution…

  “What a strange family, oh look it's Raishin, Noelle, Yv and Greg!” Giana pointed at the rest of team Hourai. Raishin had also spotted Gully and that must be how they found us.

  Wow so Gully got kidnapped again! What a careless baby!

  I think the responsibility falls on the parents…

  Noelle, Giana and I looked at Yvonne.

  So how did you sleep, Yvonne?

  Yvonne backed off as the three of us were smirking. “Uhh... I…I slept great!”

  “Did you sleep long?” Noelle asked while she poked Yvonne.

  “Y…yes!”

  The 3 of us frowned and gave Greg an accusing stare.

  Huh? Why are you looking at me?

  Noelle exhaled audible. “Well, it’s the first night, you still have time.” Noelle’s gaze shifted to us. “It seems as if you two become closer every time I see you.”

  Uhm, how about we have a strategy meeting. We need to discuss team dynamics.

  Good idea! I’m hungry!

  He wasn’t talking about food but… that might be a good idea.

  Yvonne hopped off and came back 10 minutes later as she had found the perfect place to eat and hold this meeting.

  Waleed’s Paradise? This sounds familiar. Wait isn’t this the place that only sells meat? Weren’t 4t vegetarian?

  “T…they also have ve…vegetarian options.”

  We stepped inside and a woman in a fancy dress approached us. “Welcome, under what name did you have reservations?”

  Oh shit! I forgot about this. I’m sorry but…

  “Give me a moment, you look familiar…” The woman tapped on her tablet. “Oh, the Silver Torrent. You are always welcome without reservations. The owner, Waleed, welcomes you. I will send him a message to tell him that you’re doing well, follow me to the VIP section.

  5 sets of eyes fell on me and made me uncomfortable.

  You do know that we want an explanation, right?

  Ugh, give me a break…

  The woman led us through the restaurant towards the VIP section, while I wondered how Waleed remembered me. Shouldn’t his memory be wiped, although he might not have fully forgotten about me as I had made quite an enormous impact on his life. Does it work like this? Or did he also have some sort of diary?

  He did start as a nobody, so he might have kept track of how he went from ‘zero to hero’.

  We got lead to a round table which had a comfy red couch surround it in a semicircle. Greg tried to take a seat quite far from Yvonne, so Raishin, Noelle, Giana and I scooted over to push him from the couch so that he had to go to the other side and sit next to Yvonne.

  Unbelievable this guy.

  I know right…

  Huh what?

  Just sit down…

  Greg grumbled and took his seat next to Yvonne. It was unintentional, but we sat in order of how many tails we had. Greg was at the far left, then Yvonne, Raishin, Noelle, Giana and me, which would also be in order of our age race wise.

  Noelle is the oldest in Kaledonian years, but Greg based by race. So, it was also from eldest to youngest. Again, I’m the youngest…

  Right, let’s have Raishin order food for us, as he’s probably not going to listen anyways.

  Hey!

  He’s not wrong, though.

  Also, no alcohol please…

  I said as I looked at Giana, who sat next to me.

  Ugh…

  The idols made their preference clear to Raishin while I thought of what to say. Maybe I should just wing it.

  Right, let’s start formal, as the nature of most of us will cause us to fool around alter. I’m Agnis Hourai, a 9t also known as the Silver Torrent, I specialize in crowd control and my preferred element is water and frost. I also dabble in blacksmithing. Raishin, you go next!

  Uhh ok. I’m Raishin Torai, single, a 6t known as Sexy lightning…

  You’re the Crazy Firecracker, not Sexy lightning…

  Crazy Firecracker… Uhh I specialize in blowing things up, and I like lightning magic and chicks!

  Raishin looked at Greg.

  Right, My name is Gregory Sheru, an alchemist, archaeologist and a librarian. I’m a three tailed shadow cat going by the adventurer’s name Obsidian prince…

  Oblivious Prince.

  Raishin, hush! Preferred elements are earth and shadow magic. My specialties are magical defense, poisons, curses and making sure those 2 idiots don’t destroy the world.

  “I’m Noelle Yasmin a 7t. I’m a singer, musician, composer and builder. I don’t have an adventurer’s name but I would be an Iron Wall. My preferred elements are earth and fire. I specialize in stabilizing, fortifying and constructing. I can deconstruct but…” Noelle looked at me with a complicated expression. “I prefer not to deconstruct. And it might have been an illusion but I apologize for what I did to him.”

  Oh, from the Nightmare Dungeon, don’t worry about it.

  “I’m Giana Kahlua a 9t, a songstress and dancer. I specialize in water magic, wind magic and healing. I can also do both defensive and offensive buffs and protection. I also don’t have an adventurer’s name but I will be your Golden Angel as I’ve studied under Rubert Geis and are certified to be an official Golden Angel!”

  Finally, a healer! Thank you! Keeping a squishy fox alive is taxing!

  Hey rude! And it’s Yvonne’s turn, shush and listen closely, Greg!

  We looked at Yvonne, and it seemed the nerves were getting to her.

  “Yv, shift to ‘idol mode’ it will make this easier.” Giana advised.

  Yvonne exhaled deeply and her aura changed. It reminded me of when Inna’s aura changed.

  “Hello! My name is Yvonne Faer! I am a four tailed forest rabbit! I love tomatoes, Greg and designing outfits for my sisters! Scouting is my forte and nature energy and wind magic are my strengths.”

  Yvonne realized what she just said. Her aura changed back and she became beet red and covered her face with her hands.

  Wait? Yvonne, you’re a designer? As in designing clothing?

  “Y…yes!” She said as she looked up in surprise.

  Ha! Hahahaha!

  I made a scene by laughing like a maniacal super villain.

  Wow so Agnis has finally unlocked his villain specialty change!

  Heh, listen here idols, especially you Yvonne! The three of us recently infilt…visited Jarn and stole…borrowed the secrets to their technology! I was always thinking that having a weaver or something would be nice to have around! It’s as if everything was planned out! I’m such a genius! All the puzzle pieces are falling into my lap!

  “Lil bro, is your head alright?”

  Right, to you this might sound like words of a madman. It’s time to link you up, do I just link my vision with Giana to get you two in?

  “I don’t know, let’s find out.” Giana took the initiative and placed her forehead on mine and blasted me with [Empathic Bond].

  Hey! Wait it’s already done?

  Giana linked me up and… I saw a lot of embarrassing filters…

  It feels as if I saw something that I wasn’t supposed to see…

  Giana turned red and removed the embarrassing filters. What I saw could be categorized as what human stalkers would do. It didn’t bother me, but that could be because our race is attracted to toxic traits.

  She had a filter that tracked my whereabouts, with the Silver Torrent videos playing off in miniature windows. It also kept track of what has tried to charm me since she cast [Charmed Protection] on me and some results from [Empathic bond].

  She removed it quite fast, but I could see that a lot of care had been put into it. I can understand why it’s embarrassing. There was a problem though.

  “it seems you need to link up with them individually.”

  Seems so but I’ve already linked up with Noelle before so I just need to do this with Yvonne, you go link up with Greg and Raishin.

  I smirked at Giana and she got red again.

  The linking was done, and now we could finally have everyone see the same.

  Just out of curiosity, do you guys also archive stuff?

  “I archive the pieces I compose, blueprints and lists of new compounds and building materials.

  I archive novels and literature.

  How useless…

  “My songs and dances, procedures to get rid of diseases or other complications. Also how to deal with curses and the like and uhh other stuff.”

  Stuff related to those filters?

  I guess I got my answer as Giana covered her face with her hands.

  “I... I archive whatever d…designs I make and the l... layout of the area to make m…maps!”

  We all looked at Raishin.

  Uhh, I archive uhh ways to blow stuff up?

  So, you don’t archive stuff, not surprising.

  Good! So, this is for Yvonne, get ready!

  I made all Jarn’s secrets appear, and everyone grabbed their heads and started to complain about headaches. What a bunch of wimps, it’s just a headache.

  “W…wait… this is how to make clothing t…that matches those of Jarn!” Yvonne’s aura changed, she hopped over to me and hugged me. “Thank you so much! I’ve always wanted this!”

  Uhh, quite awkward, but you’re welcome?

  “I think I already know the answer, but let me still ask, how did you get this? Did you guys get into trouble again?” Noelle asked while giving off a big sister vibe.

  Yvonne was putting her tail to work while I tried to dodge Noelle’s question.

  So, we will have great clothing in the future!

  “Not answering, eh? Giana, get him!” Noelle said as she pointed at me as if she was releasing a bloodhound on me.

  “With, pleasure!”

  Hey wait! Ok ok! You can stop emitting charm magic!

  I got blasted with charm magic in the end and showed them what we’ve been up to in Jarn.

  “Hahaha! You cut off the robe of the queen!” Noelle was laughing loudly and making a scene. “Whew, there is never a boring moment with you guys, is there?”

  Ohh that reminds me! Can you give me that jacket?

  I tossed the jacket that I had ‘borrowed’ from the museum, which fit Raishin quite well.

  Well, we were already criminals as we stole a state secret… might as well throw petty theft on top of it…

  Our food arrived and we dug in.

  “Hey Agnis, you didn’t tell what you archive.” Everyone was focusing on their food, so nobody reacted to Giana’s question.

  Well, my memory is quite shit, so I try to archive everything as it has helped me out a lot.

  “Doesn’t that create massive headaches?”

  It does but it’s better than dying because I forgot something important, I also got used to it to the point that I don’t feel it.

  Giana placed her hand on my head and started to hum. “No damage and it doesn’t seem to affect you negatively, besides the headache itself.”

  That’s good to hear.

  Our meal was lively, and the idols sang some songs to help digestion.

  Wait! We’ve been here for 3 hours already, what about the tournament?!

  “T…the tournament is t…tomorrow, don’t worry.” Yvonne assured.

  This meeting had evolved into just a get-together and a moment to catch up. There was one problem.

  Greg was drunk. Didn’t I say ‘no alcohol’? But as long as this causes him to make a move on Yvonne, then that’s fine.

  The restaurant woman came back with a man that I recognized as Waleed. “You’re still here my friend! I again welcome you to my restaurant!”

  Wow! You didn’t need to come over here to greet me!

  I wanted to get up, but a vixen’s tail was wrapped around me.

  “Oh, don’t worry about it! I was getting worried when all my employees forgot about you, but I, Waleed, would never forget about you. I… did however hear about the demise of Thalia…”

  Yeah, it was quite a while ago, but I discovered it too late…

  “Don’t worry about me! As usual, this is my treat! Stay as long as you want, eat as much as you like, bathe as much as you like! All free of charge!” Waleed snapped his fingers and some employees gathered around him.

  This somehow feels familiar…

  Greg slammed his hands on the table and pointed at me.

  You still need to explain how these people know youuuu!

  Uh, it’s the result of me paying for all the meat Io ‘stole’ in Saluk, it made that guy super rich somehow and he never forgot about it.

  The idols had told us about their experience in the Nightmare Dungeon as Io’s name had dropped. They also were somewhat familiar with who Thalia was. It seems that the dungeon was harder than they expected.

  Noelle was leaning over the couch and talking to Waleed while Giana was going in detail on how their dungeon run went.

  Waleed clapped, the employees gathered around us and carried us away. We got brought away and into the area that had the scented baths.

  Yess! I could use a nice bath!

  Ah right, something like this happened before. Can I protest?

  I got dumped in a changing room with the assumption that the intent was to take a bath. But I knew how this was going to end. I opened the door to leave and bumped into Noelle.

  Ouch.

  “And where do you think you’re going?” Noelle grabbed me and dragged me inside.

  Oh come on! This is not going to work! Shouldn’t you worry about getting a bath with Raishin?

  “Getting him into a bath with me should not be a problem. Giana is helping out Yvonne.”

  This sounds like some strange logic puzzle, how to get the appropriate pairs to bathe together.

  “it’s good that you catch on quickly. I will hold you hostage, till Raishin comes here and Giana succeeds, then she will kidnap you.”

  Can I protest?

  “Well, you can, but Giana might go 9t mode and [Elgard Overload] on you if you try to escape.”

  I thought about my chances. They were favorable but… they are part of my team. If it’s an isolated instance, then escaping is a good plan. I sighed after deciding that there was no point to fleeing.

  Let me go, I will help Giana, in getting Greg in a bath with Yvonne, I will then hop in a bath with her, is that fine?

  “Oh so you gave up, good!”

  I didn’t give up; this is damage mitigation.

  I focused, got my ears and tails out and perked up my ears. It was vague but I could hear classic ‘Greg complaints’. I teleported over, tossed Yvonne in the bath, pushed Greg in and froze the exits with frost magic.

  One door wasn’t completely frozen, which allowed Giana and I to leave. I offered my hand to Giana and led her out and froze the door shut afterward.

  “I thought that you would escape.” She said as she played with her hair.

  It will just make things worse… you vixens get off from chasing.

  We entered a bath, just the 2 of us. It got covered in illusions as people always peep or walk into me bathing, so this was a necessity.

  Giana stripped, and I instantly concluded that I messed up.

  I guess I lose…

  “Don’t be silly.” She sat next to me and stripped me. She didn’t do anything besides that, but she didn't need to. The countdown to me losing self-control had started. [Blood and Thunder] would be a bad idea.

  “So… what do you think?”

  I knew that there was no way that she didn't know the answer to that.

  Enchanting. It’s hard to control myself…

  “There is no need, you know how I feel about you and I assume you feel the same.”

  She got closer. Her looks, her smell, and her voice were all enchanting, and she hadn’t even started to use charm magic yet.

  “Or, do I need to make it painfully clear?” Pink highlights appeared in her hair as charm magic started leaking out of her.

  I slapped my cheeks.

  Very well.

  Giana got pulled in with my tail.

  How about an exchange, you play with my tails and I play with you?

  “Oh wow! Sure!” Giana opened her arms and showed a lot of jiggle.

  I was so glad to be a 9t! I made sure to thoroughly play with her 2 large gifts. She was mesmerized by my tails and couldn't believe how soft they were. She and I were of one mind, as that was exactly what I was thinking.

  Team Hourai left the restaurant refreshed. Greg was the only one who didn’t seem refreshed. Yvonne was, so they might have come a bit closer.

  Raishin and Noelle also got closer, as Raishin was staring at her chest whenever he could.

  Giana was happily clinging to me and humming a happy tune in multiple voices. Maybe all we needed to get closer was to take a bath…