I was Betrayed then Reincarnated as a Kitsune

Chapter 143: Back in the Empire

[Luna POV]

When we arrived back in Onigashima, we appeared in the office Mordred was using.  It seems we startled her because she drew her sword on us again.

*Sigh*I wish you would somehow let me know you are going to show up like that before you do. (Mordred)

Sorry. I looked through my inventory and took out a letter box.  Take this, itll send and receive letters from another box that I have.  Ill let you know before we arrive the next time.

She takes the box from me and puts it in a drawer in the desk.

Thank you. (Mordred)

Now, if you excuse us, well head to the guild.  I teleported us here to tell you that were back. (Luna)

Have fun. (Mordred)

I then teleported us to the guild.  When we got there, the room actually had more people in it than we were used to.  People were standing around, checking the quest board, and sitting at the bar.  The strange thing was that it seemed like people were avoiding sitting by Mio as much as possible.  Finding this strange, I decided to go and talk with her.  While I was making my way over there, several people started whispering.

Hey, is she crazy?

I dont know.  Does she not know who that is?

Why would I know, Ive never seen her before.

Shes hot, should I try talking to her?

Dont you see the ring on her finger?

Gah.  Why are all the beauties always taken?

Better luck next time, friend.

{One of them is lucky that their friend is perceptive.  Luna is mine and only mine, no one should even think about trying their luck with her.}

I feel the same way about you, Tamamo.

{Ufufu.}

I reached Mios spot at the bar and sat next to her.

Hey Mio. (Luna)

Nya?  Oh, hey Lunya.  How you been? (Mio)

Good.  Just got back to the city. (Luna)

Cool nya. (Mio)

Quick question, why does it seem like all the people here are avoiding you? (Luna)

I think theyre scared of menya. (Mio)

Why though? (Luna)

Because nyone of them can beat me.  Thats the difference between their rank and S-rank nya. (Mio)

Oh, youre S-rank too? (Luna)

Yep.  My full name and title is Mio the Shadow nyaWait, youre S-rank as well? (Mio)

Yeah.  Me and Velvet are.  My name and title is Luna of the Spectral Mists and Velvets is Velvet the Viper-Blade. (Luna)

Oooohhhh.  I remember hearing about that nya.  This makes me happy since that means you wont avoid talking to me when youre here.  It gets boring just sleeping here all day nya. (Mio)

Why dont you do any quests? (Luna)

Who said I didnt?  Most of the quests I do take place at night when there is more darkness to use.  Thats why Im always sleeping during the day. (Mio)

Makes sense.  We should take a quest together some time.  I bet youre fun to quest with.  And it would be even better if we get Skadi in on it. (Luna)

Oooooh nya.  You knyow Skadi? (Mio)

Yeah.  She and Ophidia are together, and were good friends. (Luna)

Nyahahahahahahahahahahhaha!  I nyever thought Skadi would actually find someone.  Shes always been so distant from people nya.  Good for her. (Mio)

Well, Ill let you sleep again.  Let me know when you want to take a quest together and well discuss the details then. (Luna)

Gotcha nya.  See you again. (Mio)

She then laid her head back on her arms and immediately fell asleep again.  I made it back to the others who were now looking over the quest board all the while ignoring the annoying whispers of the people around me.

Sated your curiosity? (Velvet)

Yeah, turns out shes an S-rank adventurer as well. (Luna)

When I said that, a look of realization crossed over Velvets face.

Rrriiiggghhhttt.  Shes Mio the Shadow.  How could I forget that? (Velvet)

Im assuming she is a master of dark magic? (Soleil)

Dark magic and stealth related skills.  She is close to Lunas level of stealth. (Velvet)

Heh.  I kind of want to spar with her now. (Luna)

Calm down master, youre scaring the people around us. (Ophidia)

So what, they should be strong enough not to be scared by something like that. (Luna)

I looked around us and saw several people back off as my gaze passed over them.

Cowardly.

{More like they have good instincts.  They know they cant beat you and the look you currently have doesnt help, though I find it nice.}

Is it really that bad?

{For them, yes.  Ever since you fought Skadi the second time, youve been in a fighting mood and anytime you think of it, you get a bit heated.}

Oh.  Is that a problem?

{For me, no.  I find that part of you absolutely adorable, but for normal people, it can seem intimidating.}

I see.

While I was conversing with Tamamo, a guild employee came down the stairs.

Miss Mio, Party Stellaris, the guild master would like to speak with all of you.

My smile widened.

Seems like this could be something interesting. (Luna)

Indeed. (Velvet)

We all headed up the stairs behind the employee as he led us to Ibukis office.  When we entered, there was even more paper mountains than last time.  All you could see of Ibuki was her horns.

Hello all of you. (Ibuki)

We all greeted her back.

Ill get straight to the point, can all of you investigate a newly discovered dungeon? (Ibuki)

I can, but why are you asking us, isnt asking three S-rank adventurers to do something like this a bit too much? (Mio)

Mio, you havent left the guild in almost a month.  You need to get out more. (Ibuki)

Nyaaaaaa.  But its so comfortable here, not to mention that I still have money, so I can just laze around for a while longer nya. (Mio)

Just accept it.  As your friend, Im worried that youre getting to lazy. (Ibuki)

Fine nya, Ill accept.  But only because its you asking me to. (Mio)

Good.  Now, what about you and your party, Luna? (Ibuki)

I think its fine.  We were going to start looking for dungeons to dive in anyway, though I would like to discuss the compensation for this request. (Luna)

Thats fine. (Ibuki)

We all sat down on the couches in the room and Ibuki went to sit across from all of us.

What kind of compensation would you like? (Ibuki)

Simple.  Any stat raising items we find in the dungeon will solely go to us. (Luna)

Does that include any Mio finds? (Ibuki)

If it doesnt bother her.  If needed, Ill pay for them, be it in money or food. (Luna)

Hearing that I could pay in food, Mios ears twitched.

Now you have my attention nya.  What kind of food are we talking about? (Mio)

Wyvern meat cooked by someone with the cooking skill at level 10. (Luna)

Both Ibuki and Mios jaws hit the floor.

L-luna, you realize what youre offering, right? (Ibuki)

Yes?  Is it that big of a deal? (Luna)

It is.  Even I have a hard time fighting wyverns nya.  If you have wyvern meat AND its cooked by a level 10 cooking skill, then Ill do more than just let you take any stat raising items we I find in the dungeon, Ill follow you to the ends of the world.  Well be eternal friends. (Mio)

I look forward to working with you, my eternal friend. (Luna)

Nyahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!  The feeling is mutual, my eternal friend. (Mio)

*Sigh*I should have expected something like this to happen. (Velvet)

Congratulations? (Ophidia)

Big sis, teach me how to get along with people as well as you do. (Soleil)

Arent you already good at doing that? (Luna)

Not as good as you are. (Soleil)

The only advice I can give is to just be confident in yourself.  If you show that, then people will be more open to being friendly with you. (Luna)

Though this may be a bit rude, can I ask for some of that as well? (Ibuki)

Sure, its not like Ill run out anytime soon, so I dont mind. (Luna)

Wait really!?  You have that much that you can just give it away!? (Ibuki)

Yeah, I have enough to crash the market on wyvern meat if I wanted. (Luna)

Will you tell me how you managed that? (Ibuki)

Ill have to keep that to myself. (Luna)

Oh well.  Back on topic, the dungeon that Im sending all of you to is a recently discovered dungeon is in the snowier part of the country that is about a week away from here.  I already sent some people to set up a small branch of the guild at the entrance.  Just show them the letter Im going to give you and theyll let you in.  I want you to record however many floors there are and if possible, make a map of the current layout. (Ibuki)

I can take care of mapping it since I have the cartography skill and space magic. (Luna)

Ooooh.  Thisll be even easier then nya. (Mio)

What about clearing the dungeon? (Velvet)

I would like you to clear it if possible. (Ibuki)

It should be simple to do that with master, Velvet, and Mio. (Ophidia)

Hey, why didnt you count us Ophidia? (Soleil)

Because I didnt think I needed to.  If master and Velvet are there, then well obviously be there as well.  I meant no offence to you, Soleil. (Ophidia)

Its fine. (Soleil)

If thats all, then we can head out soon.  I just need to let Mordred know what well be doing.  Mind if I take a piece of paper? (Luna)

Not at all.  Ill write the letter to the branch guild right now. (Ibuki)

I took the paper Ibuki handed me and wrote a quick letter to Mordred telling her what well be doing and that well be away again for a while.  I then put it in my box and sent it over to her.  When I did that, Ibuki looked at me with shock.

You have one of those too? (Ibuki)

Of course I do, Im the one who made them. (Luna)

I didnt know that.  The grand guild master sent one a while ago and its made my job so much easier.  Now I dont have to send a messenger to the Celestia kingdom with reports now. (Ibuki)

As she spoke of this, she pulled out the letter box that Grey sent her which then glowed softly showing that a letter just arrived.  Ibuki got a confused look on her face and took the letter out to read.  Once she was done, she handed it to me.

Its for you, Luna. (Ibuki)

I looked it over and sighed.

Velvet, you can handle any other details for finalizing this quest, Ill be back in a bit. (Luna)

Got it. (Velvet)

I then teleported to Greys office.  Unlike last time, it was way easier to get there and I didnt feel the barrier trying to stop me.

Im here Grey.  By the way, is your barrier weaker? (Luna)

Hello, and its not. (Grey)

{Barriers are basically meaningless in front of you now, Luna.}

Oh, cool. (Luna)

This also means that any barrier you make is probably indestructible. (Grey)

Eh, its not like I use them that much.  At most I use them to keep myself from getting blood from monsters all over me. (Luna)

Thats just*Sigh* never mind. (Grey)

Anyway, give me what you called me here for and Ill set it up on whatever floor you want me to. (Luna)

Follow me then. (Grey)

Grey then led me to one of his vault doors and we entered the room behind it.  In there were hundreds of pillars of orichalcum.

I feel slightly irritated by this.  It was so difficult for me to get enough orichalcum for my and Tamamos mirrors and now I see this. (Luna)

{Dont feel irritated Luna, this is just the difference between your and Greys connections.  One day youll be able to pull favors from people like he did to do this.}

Do you want me to take all of these? (Luna)

Yeah.  Youll be going to several dungeons, right? (Grey)

Thats the plan. (Luna)

Then take all of them.  When you get to good spots in the dungeons, Ill let you know where to place them to set up the checkpoints. (Grey)

Got it. (Luna)

I collected all of the pillars and teleported back to Ibukis office.

Im back. (Luna)

Got everything taken care of? (Velvet)

Yeah.  Remember the agreement we made in the Celestia kingdom? (Luna)

About the checkpoints? (Velvet)

Yep.  Thats what this was about. (Luna)

Got it.  By the way, Mordred sent a reply. (Velvet)

I took the letter Velvet handed me and read it.

Something wrong? (Ophidia)

No, she was just reminding me to let her know when we will be teleporting back to the temple. (Luna)

Oh. (Ophidia)

Now that all of this is taken care of, should we head off, or do you need to prepare, Mio? (Luna)

Im good to go whenever.  The only thing I ever bring on quests like this is food, and I still have a stockpile of birds that I bought from you. (Mio)

Then lets head off. (Luna)

All of us left the Ibukis office and made our way out of the guild.  Every time we crossed the rooms to leave, people were surprised to see Mio with us.

Nya.  I wish they wouldnt do that ever time I do something. (Mio)

It may sound cold, but I would just ignore them. (Luna)

Ill try my best, my eternal friend. (Mio)

We made our way out of the city and toward the new dungeon.

Chaos Realm:

Atmos: Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

What's up with you?

Atmos: It's never boring around Luna.  I didn't expect that Mio girl to become Luna's eternal friend.

I've been wondering, is that important?

Atmos: For cat beastkin, it's very important.  She's basically declaring Luna as family.

Oh wow.  She made that decision a bit recklessly, didn't she.

Atmos: Yes, but then again, I would have done the same if I was her.  Luna's full force cooking is simply too much to pass up.

I'll agree to that.  Ugh, and now I'm hungry.

Atmos: Gah! Now I am too.

I blame you for this.

Atmos: I do as well.

Extra: I have a discord server we can discuss things now, feel free to join: https://discord.gg/f8ad9R4sGd