Chapter 113: I’ll pay you back

“Eight tails! Which noble house are you from?” Shizu asked in surprise, while internally she was wondering. {A half-kitsune with eight tails? How have I never heard of this girl before now?}

Kiyomi, however, didn’t even look at Shizu and instead spoke to Elrinira, something that shocked Shizu. {She ignored me? Me, her princess? She must understand the significance of my nine-tails; I mean, even John understood that.}

“I’m afraid I don't know who this Vincarna is that you speak of since I only just arrived,” Kiyomi replied. “However, the Sheolarbiter badge was gifted to me by someone known as the Warden, or at least that's what I was told.”

“Hmm, interesting. So Vincarna offered you the chance to become the Sheolarbiter, did he? I must say he’s already adapting to his role as Warden. Elrinira replied, making Kiyomi think. {So the player ID of the one who gave me the badge is Vincarna, but who is that and why does it seem like this nine-tails is familiar with him? I’ve purposefully tried to steer clear of kitsune with too many tails, yet why is it that the moment I log into Genesis for the first time, I meet a member of the imperial family?}

“Wait, he can do that?” Shizu asked in surprise as she turned to Elrinira.

“Indeed,” Elrinira nodded. “Part of the Wardens' duty is to reward those who deserve rewarding and punish those who deserve punishment.” At this point, she turned back to Kiyomi and asked. “So tell me, what did you do to deserve such a reward? You must understand what holding this badge means, right?”

{John actually gave another kitsune a gift before the kitsune princess?} Shizu thought in jealousy, and as she did, another of the locks deep within her came undone, though as she was in Genesis at the time, she once again failed to notice it.

“I was told that it would give me a greater chance than the other races of becoming the first Sheolarbiter,” Kiyomi replied before shaking her head and saying. ”Though I have no idea what I did to deserve this; apparently nothing, since I must pay the cost for accepting it.”

“Cost? What cost?” Elrinira asked curiously while trying not to smirk at the obvious look of jealousy on Ninth Wonder of the World’s face. {Girl, if you want him to gift you something, then perhaps you should stop hiding your identity from him.}

“I have to gain my class and complete ten quests here in the underworld before I can leave it,” Kiyomi replied, causing Elrinira to show a look of surprise and ask. “I have heard nothing about one of the living being trapped in the underworld. Who trapped you?”

“Probably because you were busy skipping out on your duties,” Shizu snapped in a tone that surprised even herself. {Where did that come from? Why did I suddenly sound so irritable?}

“Well now,” Elrinira said in amusement. “The boy you fancy gives another girl a gift, and you suddenly become overcome by jealousy? Not exactly a good look for a princess if you ask me.”

“Jealousy?” Shizu repeated in surprise. {Jealous, me? No one has ever made me jealous before; it’s normally others that are jealous of me.}

“Sounds about right for a nine-tails,” Kiyomi suddenly muttered in a low voice that both women still managed to catch.

“Oh! It seems you have an issue with the kitsune imperial family; how interesting,” Elrinira remarked as Shizu gave Kiyomi another look of surprise.

“Well, princess, would you like to know why Vincarna gave another kitsune a gift and not you?” Elrinira asked, prompting Kiyomi to give Shizu a look of surprise before narrowing her eyes and thinking. {The princess, oh joy, this just keeps getting better and better. Why is it that man's sister?}

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“You know?” Shizu asked as she noticed the sudden look of hatred Kiyomi was giving. {Why does she hate me so much? I should get Tamamo to investigate her background.}

“I have a theory, and I’ll tell you what I had my clone tell the other girls back in Thamethala,” Elrinira began. “While I don’t know exactly what happened and this is just an educated guess, I believe that at some point in the past Vincarna was hurt by a woman, though in what way I can’t say. What I can tell you is that this is what has caused him to keep you all at arm's length, and also why he was especially wary around me.

He is not an idiot, and he has probably already figured out that you and the druid girl are more than you appear, and because of this, he is being especially wary of you both. If you want my advice, I would tell you to reveal your true identity to him sooner rather than later; the longer you leave it, the more you will hurt him when he finally learns the truth and the less chance you will have of him understanding why you did it and him forgiving you.”

Shizu’s eyes widened as she listened to her explanation before she fell into thought and considered what she had just heard. {It’s not like I want to keep it from him forever; I just like the way he has been treating me since he doesn’t know. But then again, he’s never really treated the actual me how I had expected when we have met IRL; sure, he’s polite and charming, but he doesn’t go out of his way to impress me or flirt with me like other men.}

Kiyomi stared at Shizu while thinking, {Huh, I guess even they have trouble with relationships, but whatever, it serves them right.}

Elrinira watched the two kitsune with interest before once again addressing Kiyomi, “Let me see for myself if you're truly worthy of becoming the Sheolarbiter and proving Vincarna’s trust in you to be correct.” And as soon as she finished speaking, Kiyomi received her first quest.

***

“We’ve already wasted twenty-three minutes,” Shelur stated before turning to Emberslag and saying. “Make the call; either we continue, or we back out and warn Gar Lodir about what’s to come.”

“Would backing out even make a difference?” Mel asked. “The tiger will die, which will still enact the punishment.”

“We’d give Gar Lodir time to prepare its defence,” Shelur replied, to which John added. “If they even believe us.”

“They will, don’t worry about that,” Shelur answered, causing John to frown and think. {How can she be so certain of that? We’re just teenagers at the end of the day. Could it be that Emberslag has some standing within the dwarves?}

“We proceed,” Emberslag finally answered, to which Black Dragoon asked. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Emberslag replied. “I will send my parents a message and alert them of the situation, while we continue with the dungeon run and attempt to save the white tiger.”

“I guess that’s also an option,” Shelur replied while scratching the back of her neck in embarrassment. “Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we’re not in real life?”

“What, the medieval weaponry and setting weren’t a big enough hint?” Mel retorted, causing Shelur to glare at her.

“Enough, you two,” Emberslag interrupted, preventing an argument before one even started. “We don’t have time to waste; let's free all the animals before we move on.”

“Fine, fine,” Shelur replied before the three of them began opening the cages again.

“Vincarna, I have something for you,” Black Dragoon said as she approached John and opened a trade window containing ten lesser healing potions and ten minor mana potions.

“What are these for?” John asked in surprise.

“Although I didn’t understand why at the time, Alea asked me to pick some up for you, and I guess,” Black Dragoon replied. “I guess it’s because she knew that you're yet to reach level ten and, because of this, can’t afford potions of your own.”

John accepted the trade while saying with a wide smile that surprised Black Dragoon, “Thanks, I’ll be sure to pay you back.”

[Received:]

[Lesser Healing Potion x 10]

[Minor Mana Potion x 10]

“I don’t know why you're so happy about them; it’s nothing that impressive,” Black Dragoon replied in slight embarrassment.

“Oh, sorry, it’s just you're the first person I’ve ever been able to confidently say that to,” John explained.

Black Dragoon tilted her head in confusion and asked, “Say what?”

“That I’ll pay you back,” John replied. “It’s only recently that I’ve come into credits and no longer need to concern myself with living one day to the next.”

Emberslag, who had overheard their conversation, looked over while asking, “You must have had a rough life up until now.”

“You could say that,” John replied as he began to help open the cages.

“What happened?” Shelur asked without any shame.

“Shelur, Eberslag reprimanded, while Black Dragoon sighed and rolled her eyes.

“What?” Shelur replied. “It’s a simple question, and what's the point in tiptoeing around the subject? Either he’ll answer my question, or he wont.”