I was finally done pouring mana in the magic circle of [Foxfire Lunacy], for now, and my energy was spent.

  Giana never got out of her daze. What illusion did she put herself under? I was about to take a peek when a fragrant breeze passed by and Yv appeared.

  “Are you alright?!” She asked as she instantly applied nature energy to me.

  Oh you’re done. How did it go?

  “Please answer my question first…it felt as if your mana was choking.”

  I don’t know what that means, but I’m fine. Just a bit tired. You should be worried about that vixen there, she has been like that for the last 2 hours.

  “Thank goodness you’re ok. Giana does that from time to time. She just spaces out and starts daydreaming.” Yv picked up Giana and slung Giana over her shoulder. “Raishin has fixed rooms for us. Also…the vice president wants to speak to you. She wants you do an S-rank assessment. I got invited to the C-rank assessment, by the way!”

  Yuck! An S-rank assessment! I pass! But you should do that C-rank assessment. Takes me back.

  “Yeah, but I don’t have an adventurer's name yet…” She said as she looked at me with something that looked like high expectations.

  How about this, you coach me in using [Wind Rope] and I will make a flashy skill for you.

  “Sure!”

  Yv gave me a list of things she wanted in her skill as we walked toward the AA. Not everything would make it in, but I would see what would be possible.

  Raishin had been mindful and got a room for me and one for both Giana and Yv.

  “Why don’t you spend the night with us?”

  I’m sorry Yv, I need to be alert, and I’m too tired. Maybe tomorrow.

  “I will come running if I hear you do something strange.” Yv closed the door behind her and I went to my room.

  My mana and body were exhausted. Maybe people have a good point when they tell me to rest. Ferrying boats for 6 days with no rest doesn’t get fixed by just a night. Then I got thrown into this bullshit.

  I collapsed into my tails. The mana circle was charged by 16%. There must be a more efficient way to do this.

  Most magic circles draw in mana from their surroundings. It was a conscious choice to not do this with [Foxfire Lunacy] due to its sheer size, but I should have added a weak effect like that.

  It seems that I’m still a noob at this. Just an educated noob. My tails archived all this, so my next attempt at something similar would go better. First times are always messy.

  Charging the magic circle also takes a lot out of me. If a god attacks me now, I’m super dead. But I need this skill to deal with the gods. Why did I get myself into this dilemma…

  At least things are going well for Giana and Yv.

  The morning came with a brilliant idea. Nilah and I would farm mana from fans. We would just act like celebrities, shake hands. Let Nilah get pet and steal mana. Maybe hold some mock battles and blast my fans with frost magic. And to the side learn [Wind Rope] and in the evening put together a skill for Yv.

  I encountered a frightening sight when I reached the AA lobby. Raishin was awake and reading a book.

  Are you dying? It's 7 in the morning and you're reading, or did you catch the ‘Greg’ virus?

  I want to make sure I know what to do when you get in trouble again. I’m also preparing to talk to Greg also…can I borrow money?

  You had gold when we came here…

  Well, we went on 2 dates and I bought a nice gift for Noelle!

  So each of those cost over 9 gold?!

  Of course not! My gift cost 25 gold.

  Did you buy her a car or something?

  Don’t be silly! Cars cost way more than that! I bought her a Hourai ruby jewelry set!

  I facepalmed. It was so loud that people around me heard it. I also gave myself a mild headache. Raishin is trolling, right? Please tell me this is a joke.

  Raishin… my dear friend. What is my last name?

  Hourai. That was an easy question!

  And what did you say that jewelry set was called?

  Hourai jewelry set! There are only 5 in existence, and my girlfriend has one of them!

  He is doing this on purpose, right? Did he have enough of me making fun of him and decide to strike back?

  Raishin…I could have put in a word for you, or even better. Could work together with Noelle to make something out of Hourai rubies because I still have rubies. You know her, right? Would she have preferred to get it for free from your hard-earned… you didn’t earn it… from your much-needed gold or craft it herself?

  But chicks like gifts!

  That is true but… take her personality a bit more into consideration. A day of making music or hitting rocks and making stuff would probably work better.

  Whoa! That’s great advice! When did you get so good with women?!

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  I had no answer. I don’t think I’m good with them; I’m just not terrible with them. I think…

  I rummaged through my dimensional pocket and gave Raishin a small, unpolished ruby.

  Take this with Noelle to the Yttroz Industries and tell them you want to turn it into jewelry together with Noelle. Specifically tell them that you and Noelle want a hands-on experience. That should work, else throw my name around.

  Whoa! Agnis you’re the best!

  Raishin took the ruby, gave me a hug, and ran off.

  I had to sit down for this. Raishin had blown through 10k gold in about 5 months. This is a new record. The fact that he didn’t know this about Noelle might be some disconnect. I’m not sure what Noelle is doing. She seems to be in a honeymoon phase. I would have expected her to point these things out. I might have to talk to Noelle about this.

  Maybe we should rename our party to team Pain in the Ass or ‘Pita’ for short.

  Nilah got her treats, and my fluffy tails combined with Nilah were attracting female attention. I put a sign down that touching Nilah or my tails would cause their mana to be stolen. Nobody cared, as usual.

  “How do you get those tails so soft?” some beast kin women asked.

  I brush them almost daily, it's also a racial trait. Beware of sand, it's your greatest enemy. It took me a week to get sand out of them since the last time.

  “I found some sand in your tail.” A human said, presenting some grains of sand.

  Oh no! This tail is off limits! Tell me if you find sand in the others!

  I must be secretly a genius. Stealing mana from my fans and having them de-sand my tails.

  These women had useful tips. Apparently, there are products specifically targeted to the maintenance of beast kin tails. There were also special brushes. The women had declared my brush as trash-tier for brushing tails.

  How was I supposed to know that brushes for hair were unsuitable for tails?

  One of them was even an employer at one of the firms that made those products. She would pitch an idea on creating a product that could get sand out. Maybe people aren’t as bad as I had expected.

  Nilah and I had gathered an insane amount of mana by noon and things were looking great until...

  “Deca…what are you doing?”

  Giana and Yv were standing in the lobby, hands in their hips, looking at how mostly women were feeling up my tails.

  Uhh, I know this looks bad… I can explain!

  “Are you stealing their mana?!”

  I love how she understands me, but it seems I’m not yet in the clear. I pointed at the sign I had put down.

  “Huh? ‘Touching Nilah (the blue fox) or my tails will cause your mana to be sapped.’ What are you planning this time?” Giana asked as she sat down next to me and also got all her tails out.

  “Ooh it's Ayla Aurelia!” The fans also went to feel up Giana’s tails. She also stole mana with frost magic.

  Your fans surely catch on quickly.

  “Hey, how come his tails are way softer?” the manager of beast kin tail stuff asked.

  “it’s a gender difference under the foxes, vixens have physical beauty, they have their tails.” Giana said as she became toxic and pushed some women off her favorite tail and cuddled it.

  According to her, my 9th tail was the softest and thus her favorite.

  Don’t worry, Yv, I will practice with you in a bit. I went way over my quota for today, but 30 more minutes won’t hurt.

  Giana handed out signatures and chatted with some fans while we stole mana. We were a great team.

  “Go make Yv happy. I will continue your plan. Nilah, want to hang out with me?”

  That’s a good idea. Nilah go chill with Giana for a bit. Alert her when I get into trouble.

  Nilah seemed to have issues with this, but she obeyed.

  “Are you ever planning to take the S-rank assessment?” Yv asked as she got a private training area.

  Maybe after all of you have reached S-rank.

  “You can just say ‘no’ you know?”

  I’m already afraid what kind of requests I have waiting for me. I might not be able to ignore them as an S-rank. I bet I have expired requests that might come back to bite me later.

  Yv locked the door, so nobody could spy. “Finally just the two of us!”

  Don’t forget what we’re here for.

  I said, as I caught Yv.

  Hey, just a question. Is it possible that you are all in a honeymoon phase mode and not seeing things? I have reason to believe that Noelle might be, as Raishin is doing stupid shit.

  “I don’t think I am. Not sure about Giana though…”

  Me neither… she just joins me in my bullshit, so probably not. I think you might. You still want to keep this secret from the public, right? This might be fine for weeks, maybe months, but how long do you want to keep this up?

  “Oh don’t worry! I have a plan! And you were so kind to help me with that!”

  Huh?

  “I would wait until you revealed to the world that you’re also a 9t. Giana had made it quite clear that their race was nearing extinction and that there were hardly any men left.”

  Uh oh.

  “So while I’m not going to outright announce it, I won’t have to keep this secret for long. Thank you!”

  She rubbed her face into mine.

  It feels more as if we’re battling each other than who we are supposed to battle… Right show off those [Wind Rope] skills!

  “Can I have some affection first?”

  Both Yv and Giana had gone without affection for quite a while as I had gotten myself stuck in a black hole and then chased by Zack.

  Very well, come cuddle in my tails.