"This is a grave problem! We will be held responsible if we don't know which group did it! Worse, what if they come and bckmail us with what they took?!"

  The panicking shout was the opening statement for the meeting of the region's current true lords... They sat at an oval table, the people who held power over everyone else. Namely, they were Jarkat, the finance minister and prominent Leader of the group; Penvise, the logistics minister, responsible for transporting resources and wine in and out of the region... and the one doing the shouting. Finally, there was Zergolt, the garrison leader responsible for the region's military and w enforcement, and Haptun, the local nobles and ndowners' representative. All of them were simple people who never bothered with cultivation, blessed with the most innate human trait: Greed. Being able to command those who had actually cultivated, simply by the nature of their authority, gave them an ecstatic feeling; it was intensely addictive, and they were already stuck in its grip...

  "That would be the best because then we can work out something." Haptun cut in.

  "The main problem is, a quarter of the guards there were our people…" Zergolt tapped on the table with a furrowed brow. "We are forbidden from working together with local businesses! If the royals get a whiff of this…"

  "On paper, yes, but nobody follows that rule!" Jarkat clicked his tongue, tapping his finger on the table.

  "Why are we even worried?" Haptun raised his eyebrows. "It's not like sve trading is illegal."

  "Didn't you listen?" Penvise snorted. "We are forbidden to meddle in something like this! It's one thing to dabble in trading a little here and there, but we must be independent and unbiased as ministers!"

  "Plus, this was going on under the table. It wasn't reported anywhere, no taxes, bigger profit..." Jarkat groaned as he held his head. "Why do you think you can bathe in the finest bath salts from the Storm Coast every day, eating delicacies from any territory you fancy, even those rare delicacies imported from the Empire? Think a little, gentlemen!"

  "Plus, they were acquiring sves not just by trade or contracts but by force too." Zergolt lit up a cigar, imported straight from the Naulin Kingdom.

  "And?" Haptun leaned back, trying to understand the worry, "Let's bme it on the Ironcws. We didn't know about it, and if it comes to light, it is nothing more than a smear campaign now because some rival gang attacked them, and they want to drag the authorities in too."

  "If there are no other options, we can do that, but only as a st resort, as it stands on shaky legs." Jarkat shook his head, "The main problem is, they kept records... I understand that a big operation needs to trace what goes on, where, and who is responsible for things, or it would colpse into a mess. But I told them to burn evidence at least every second day! Fucking hell… this is why I say cultivators have muscles only and no brain!" He massaged his forehead, moaning loudly.

  "What should we do?" Penvise asked, nervously pying with his fingers.

  "First, we all should purge every evidence leading to us. Documents, excess luxuries, people, everything." Jarkat looked around the room, trying not to shout, "We need to get ready if someone from the royal family arrives to inspect us; we need to look clean if they were the ones who did it! But… hopefully not, because then we'd already be in cuffs. Also, I'll report it to the Governor, because we need to tell her what happened, leaving out some… minor details. We need to feed that stupid girl with, let's just say, the correct information and steer her in the right direction. If she stands behind us, the royal family stands behind us, and we are in the green. Got it?"

  "That is the easiest way." Zergolt nodded, followed by the others, agreeing after a few seconds.

  "Good!" Jarkat leaned back with a calmer look now, his brain already writing up the part he would py before the Governor.

  Later in the morning, when Lulu woke up and listened to their story, she furrowed her brow the whole time but let them expin everything as they wished. By the words of Jarkat, it seemed a local branch of a sve trader organization, the same group from where she also bought Yanda, was raided, the goods stolen, and everyone killed. Jarkat painted a picture of some unknown, vicious bandits or even the doings of rebellious sves, and this may be just the beginning of a revolt in the territory.

  "We advise and ask of you, Lady Governor, to consider enacting martial w on the territory until they are caught and brought to justice!" Jarkat finished his tale, bowing his head deeply.

  "They do seem dangerous. But enacting martial w… Wouldn't it hamper the output of our region, impacting the whole Kingdom?" Lulu asked back, tilting her head a little.

  "It would only mean stricter oversight of the vineyards, the roads in the region, and especially the region borders' traffic," Zergolt expined.

  "I see. I agree; you should do what you feel is necessary to catch them quickly and bring them to justice! You don't need to inform me of other small things, only the end results." Lulu waved her hand, and after it seemed there was nothing more, she just left, in tow with Yanda, who was required to follow her anywhere.

  "That was easy," Penvise whispered, leaning back, letting out a breath of relief after they were left alone.

  "We are blessed to have her around." Jarkat chuckled, feeling everything was back to normal.

  With Lulu's simple decision, they were already pnning to enforce an even stricter grip over the region, not just to find the culprits but also to break down any remaining opposition among the local minor nobles. What started out as a headache now seemed likely to turn out advantageous for them...

  As for Lulu, after she returned to her room and took a rexing bath, Yanda just stood beside the bathtub, towels ready for when she got out.

  "I think that was a grave mistake," Yanda spoke up, unable to hold it back.

  "We had this talk already. Stop it! You are starting to annoy me!" Lulu replied quickly, eyes closed, lying back in the water filled with rose petals.

  "They are using you, Master. It is clear as day!"

  "You think I don't know?" Lulu chuckled, smirking, "Let them! I couldn't care less; if it causes my father more headaches, it's even better. He tried to sell me to some fat fuck so he could control another family under him. I'm not some asset to shuffle around as he sees fit... I am already at the 4th stage, yet only twenty! Do you think I am someone who wants to be the wife of a forty-year-old noble who is weaker than I am? Please!" She opened her eyes, looking at Yanda. "Here is good, I can focus on cultivating, and everything else is not my problem."

  …….…..

  "The whole base is gone?" a middle-aged man asked, wearing an expensive suit and sitting behind a giant desk strewn with documents. His bck, short hair had some silvery lines at its sides, and the same was true for his short beard. His blue eyes looked at his captain calmly, who came to report the events happening in the Elroth's territory, reaching them just a moment before midnight.

  Currently, they sat at a luxurious hotel, far away, in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Ten, at the Enjin family's territory, bordering the Storm Coast. Behind him, on the other side of the double window, one could see the raging sea, where the sky was dark, filled with constant rumbling and lightning as rain spttered widely against the gss, blurring the view.

  He was Neiro, the Leader of the Ironcw gang. He was not just someone who rose to the position; he has held this title for 400 years now, having established the gang and slowly but surely spreading its influence within the Kingdom of Ten.

  "Yes, Leader. Our other bases are intact in the territory; we doubled the security to ward against another surprise attack."

  "Good. Send the Hounds there; they should be able to figure out if this was our guy's fault, someone provoking us, an inside job, or rebellion. Tell them they have the authority to interrogate those idiot ministers, too! I get the feeling they are connected to this. Somehow... If they think they can cut us out or something stupid like that… they lived a far shorter life than me but longer than they should've…." He chuckled, and his captain smiled after hearing his words.

  "It will be done, Leader. It may take a few days; they just returned from an assignment. Probably they are drunk in one of our brothels."

  "Let them rest for tonight, but I want them informed by daybreak of their new mission!"

  …….…..

  Back in the Elroth's Kingdom, Kyu was lying in the shade of a giant cherry tree, zing on her back, while Ren sat next to her, lying against her fluffy side, reading through stacks of papers.

  After they had arrived, to not freak out the city's people at once with their mounts, 01 and 02 were sent to rent out a vil on the outskirts, where they could keep a lower profile, well, at least for now.

  "Found anything useful?" Isha came up to her, wearing a red short skirt and a white blouse, her hair flowing behind her as she held a gss of wine, clearly enjoying herself.

  "Where is your uniform?" Ren looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, surprised.

  "Come on, let me rex a little~ This looks good, no? I bought it this morning~! Man, this city has some exquisite clothing stores, and their wine is something else! Mhm!"

  "Hahh… sure, sure." She rolled her eyes, "Ren does the work while others do the pying... I get it!" She grumbled a little, pouting.

  "Ahaha, here, I brought one for you too!" Isha presented a very revealing top and a mini skirt in one hand, perfectly in her size.

  "Huh?" Ren put down the papers at once, standing up, immediately switching from a grumbling, serious team leader to an excited teen. "Nice~ Thanks! This looks great; LeiLei is going to love it!"

  "Fufufu, I bet! Here!" She gave it to her and also shared a gss of wine with her.

  "This is truly good! Mmm! We should buy some and bring them back as souvenirs for the others."

  "Sure! So? What did you find?"

  "Going by it," Ren continued, "They are a giant organization, spanning multiple kingdoms here, present in at least six out of the ten. I can't make out too many deeper details, though. But the one we demolished was the most western of theirs, just a few years old. Their main supporters were the ministers in charge here... I guess the Governor has little power or only a figurehead if this can go unpunished..."

  "01 and 02 should come back with more information about the city," Isha added after listening to her.

  "If they aren't seduced by the sights like you were!" Ren answered with a snort, "What about Lacuss? Did you see him? He disappeared after arriving here, together with his wolf."

  "Nope. I have not seen him. He will show up when he must, I guess."

  "Really? Such a loose group… hah!" She moaned, asking for another sip of the wine, "Anyway! The rest of the documents are only a month or so old and cover inventory, buyers, and sellers. They ran a pretty lucrative operation, you know. And they are... very well organized."

  "What are your pns? Make it public? Fan the fmes and make a public outcry?"

  "In a pce where svery is the norm?" She asked, shrugging again, "Won't work. Maybe if we spread the news about their corruption and whatnot, we could do something... But these are all slow and inefficient methods. Maybe even something they expect, and I hate politics and its back and forth."

  "So?"

  "Honestly… I'm stuck!" She sighed, shaking her head.

  "That's… new. I never expected something like this from you."

  "I could pit the local nobles against them," She added, "The ones who run the vineyards against the Governor or instigate revolts because I bet they hold the region with a firm grip that suffocates the rest…. But…”

  "But?"

  "That would take a lot of innocent lives, too. I'm not into that." She added, crossing her arms, thinking, "On paper, it sounds noble, but thinking about it logically, it could cost many lives that lived in peace until we came and took a giant shit on their doorstep, lighting it up, then leaving."

  "If you put it that way… yeah… I can see your point!" Isha sighed, shaking her head. "A civil war could ruin a lot of families. So? What then?"

  "I want to wait for 01 and 02 and, after a little more thinking, maybe visit the Governor. We need to handle this at the head." She nodded to herself, making a decision, "Let us see what he or she has to say about it! As much as I want to screw with the Kingdom, I bet an instability here wouldn't hurt the Naulins at all… Quite the opposite... and throwing innocent lives into turmoil because of my selfish reasons is something I am not willing to do."

  "So you can be noble, huh? But I admire that. And don't take this wrongly! Hmph!"

  "Hehehe, I won't~!" Ren giggled, winking at her, "But one thing is sure, we can find the rest of these Ironcw svers in this territory, at least demolish those and pin that on the ministers. How does that sound?"

  "That is a good idea~!" Isha nodded, winking back at Ren.

  "Hehe, we will do that then! But first, we will visit the Governor tomorrow. Maybe we can get some help locating them. For now, let's go and change; I want to try on that outfit you bought… and go out and have some fun! Maybe we should find a great pce tonight and have a party!"

  "Hey, now you are speaking my nguage!"

  "Fufufufu sounds good, doesn't it?" Ren said, stretching, "No boys are allowed tonight~!"

  "Sure! Let me put this on you; I bet even Leinor would call you a mini bitch in this!"

  "Nyahahaha~!" She ughed, posing proudly, "Probably. You know, he can be forceful in bed." She grinned as she followed Isha into the house.

  "Really? Out with it, I'm curious. He looks so… soft."

  "Nooo, he is NOT. You know…" Ren ughed, telling her everything, as the two girls forgot everything and turned into two teens having fun.

  When 01 and 02 came back, it was already dark, but the whole pce was empty; only Kyu was still sleeping in the big garden.

  "Where is Master?"

  "Or everybody..." 02 echoed his question.

  "Did they leave for the night? Haahh… what now?"

  "I don't know. Should we look for them?"

  "I don't know…" 01 hummed, scratching his chin, "If they wanted that, Master surely would have left a message. Well… if she is not here… should we go back out?"

  "You mean?" 02 asked, his eyes lighting up.

  "Have some… fun? Well… she didn't tell us we couldn't!" 01 looked around, making sure they were alone.

  "Well… yeah, we were not breaking any rules… um… let's go!" He nodded, gulping excitedly before both of them also disappeared.

  …….…..

  It was close to noon the next day when Ren started to wake up. She clearly needed a few rounds of energy circution to clear her thoughts and expel any residue of alcohol as she looked around, refocusing her eyes. Her head felt like it was splitting or about to blow, and when she opened her eyes, she could only see stars shining before her.

  She was in a hotel room, but she barely remembered how she got there. Looking down, it was unexpected, but she was completely naked and started feeling the softness under her palms...

  "Mmhm…" came a soft moan as Isha was sleeping below her, without any clothing, while Ren used her breasts as pillows, nestling between them while she slept.

  "Damn… they are so big and so soft… Zern, you are a lucky one, huh?" Ren sighed with apparent jealousy in her voice, patting her ft chest. "What the hell happened st night?"

  As she also moaned in pain, slowly getting off from Isha's body, looking around, seeing their clothes thrown all around the room, she felt even more weird. Quickly checking herself, her privates were intact, everything in pce, and apparently, nothing of that short had happened... which was good. Still... Why were they naked? Scratching her head, she started to gather her clothes, and that was when she looked into the mirror and blinked her eyes, not believing what she was seeing… She was wearing one of the sve colrs.

  "The fuck?" Ren gawked, yelping out loudly.

  “Mmm… my head…” Isha woke up to hear Ren yell out, circuting her powers to remove the dizziness and the feeling of wanting to throw up.

  "The fuck is this?!" Ren asked again, almost screaming, looking at Isha, pointing at her neck.

  "Do... don't scream… please…." She moaned, holding her head, but seeing the colr, she instantly burst out ughing, forgetting everything else.

  "Yeah, yeah, ugh! I bet this was your idea!"

  "Ahahaha, I don't know! Ahahahaha, this is hirious!" Isha began ughing so hard she almost choked on her saliva, "You became a sve after one night? Damn, you are a masochist, are you not?!"

  "Sure, I am... I love being a pet!" Ren answered with a shrug, "The problem is, I don't remember how I became one! But I am sure this was your doing!"

  "Maybe? Let's try it. Sit!"

  "You-eh?!" Ren felt a sting in her brain and an irresistible urge to comply as she plopped onto her butt.

  "Bwahahahaha! This is awsoooome!" Isha wheezed, almost crying, while her naked body shook everywhere.

  "Fuck… what… damn... It is your doing..." Ren rolled her eyes and pointed at it to destroy it, but her own body refused to stab into it, to her surprise. She... couldn't hurt the colr. "What…the...? Come on… this…." She tried again, but before she could tap it with her finger, ced with electricity, it just stopped...

  By now, Isha was coughing, choking, trying to calm down, but without any apparent success, leaving Ren sitting on the floor, sulking, looking up at her on the bed.

  “This… is… the… worst… day… of… my… life…” She gritted her teeth, still sitting there, unable to stand up because of Isha's command. "And it's still only morning…."