Tama
I waited for her to let go so I could fight. She didn't, instead addressing Anna. "Anna, I know you know what's going on. Help me understand." Anna shimmered but stayed silent. Saki sighed, looking at me. "You said Sensei called these scribbles? Was he hiding your fate?"
I tilted my head. "No! Sensei couldn't read it! He said they were strange runes, an artifact. He tried to figure out how it related to me but forgot about it later."
Saki nodded, muttering, "That tracks with the legendary Ninja. Skilled but lazy. If he couldn't read it..." She pointed at a random goblin. "You! Can you read?" The goblin nodded, and Saki handed her my paper. The goblin turned it around, then shook her head. "Weird squiggly lines." She tried to run off with it. I was fine with that, but it turned to dust in her hands. I could summon it again but didn't want to.
Saki paced, nodding to herself. I tried to blink away, but she grabbed me instantly. "Tama doesn't see why this is important! She is killing goblins to stop slavery!"
Saki rolled her eyes. "Tama, killing random goblins won't end slavery. I've been fixing that for you, because of my task sheet." She looked expectant. I shrugged. "Tama still thinks killing bad goblins helps!"
Saki shook her head. "Not exactly. Goblins aren't bad. Stupid? Yes. Slow? Yes. Greedy? Guaranteed. But not evil. The system's corrupt, and I'm changing it. Which brings me to my next point!" I tried to speak, but she cut me off. "I've conquered this city in your name. You're now the ruler, and the goblin slave trade here is officially gone. We need to clean up a few traders, but the city's clear, Tama!"
I nodded. "And Tama killed lots of goblins! She helped!" My tail wagged, and I looked at Saki expectantly. She sighed. "Yes, Tama, you helped. Thank you for freeing the city from tyranny with your destructive nature." She said it deadpan, giving me a dirty look. I stuck out my tongue, dodging her grab. Anna giggled, shimmering. She was having fun.
"In any case, you crazy gremlin!" Saki snapped, smiling. "We have a new mission in Drestor. We need to meet your aunt and see what she wants. It could be important, Tama!" I lost focus, throwing water balls at goblins to drench them. Saki sighed, disappointed, and tried again. "Let's find a way out and get fries in Drestor."
My ears perked at fries. So good! I wondered if goblins had them. All I ate were those moving eggs that smelled like mimics. "Tama wants fries!" I said excitedly.
Saki nodded. "Yeah, I know. Let's clean up the slaves and get out." I nodded, preparing to blink, but Saki grabbed my arm. "Do you even know where we need to go?"
I froze, then pointed at the slavers' tent. "There!"
Saki looked at it, then at me. "No, Tama. Didn't learn from last time? Do you know where Tristy is? Want more Tristys to take care of?"
I paled, and she raised an eyebrow. I sighed, shaking my head. "Exactly, Tama! Follow me. We're building a small army to tear down that tent, under their wondrous Empress Tamaneko."
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
I frowned. "Tama doesn't want to be an empress."
Saki laughed. "I know, but you already are." She took my hand, heading toward a large building. Her eyes glazed over, and she paused, then changed direction. I stopped, making her stop. "What is Saki doing?" I asked curiously.
She looked puzzled, then said, "I'm looking at the map."
I stared, confused. Realization dawned on her. "Tama, please don't tell me you've lived your entire life as a princess without knowing about the map!"
I considered her words, then gave up. "What's a map?" I raised an eyebrow, throwing another water ball at a yelping goblin. Saki blinked, opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, then closed it. "Tama, imagine a piece of paper with where you are on it."
Confused, I shook my head but complied. Saki knew best, even when I hated her for it. I pictured myself in the goblin citySurtank, or somethingand a blue screen appeared. It outlined the city, with dots everywhere. The biggest was me! Words floated above dots, jumbled. On the right, a dark blue panel with words at the top.
"Fascinating!" Anna said in my mind. "Since Surtank is under your control, you have full access to the map and commands. As ruler, you can issue commands on the right side! There's a button you press and give a command!"
I nodded, totally not confused. "What Anna said!" I told Saki, who facepalmed. The blue panel scrolled, words appeared, and a button pressed itself. Anna said, "Saki, check your log!"
Saki glared at Anna, opened her task sheet, and stared, enraged. "What the void, you piece of void, I'll kill you, Anna!" Anna giggled maniacally. I didn't know what Anna did but forced her off, grabbing her core. I squeezed until she begged, then threw her outside the city.
Saki sighed. "Thank you, she deserved it." Her fox ears furrowed as she muttered, "Beg to suck your empress's toes... really, Anna?"
Saki guided me through my 'UI' as Anna called it when she got back. Anna apologized and promised she wouldn't do that again, but that it was totally worth it.
Saki glared at her but said nothing, and I let her reattach as my gi. The toe-sucking thing was apparently removed as a 'quest' as Anna called it, and Saki looked relieved.
She looked up at me and said, "Since it's clear you can set quests, does that mean you can see them too? I know Anna is gonna have to answer, so I am going to say this now.
Anna, if you are caught lying to me, I will erase you next time and will learn summoning to replace you with a more behaved elemental."
Anna shimmered and giggled at that before responding, "I am a DIVINE Water spirit! You can't survive without me!" In response to her proclamation, I pulled her off me and squeezed until she said sorry. I then threw her over the wall again to Saki's irritation.
"We needed her, Tama! Unless you suddenly learned to read!"
While we waited, Saki tried to get me to share the map thingy. In the end, we couldn't figure it out. I even tried cutting it, causing Saki to jump out of the way. Silly Saki, I only hit what I am aiming for! Anna finally returned and, after profusely apologizing, was allowed back in.
"Okay, so there are ten current city quests including Saki's quests," Anna said matter-of-factly, highlighting a list that appeared next to the map thing. "These are clearly specifically for Surtank. However, there is a tab for the kingdom of Trissaile here."
Another area of the UI lit up and I nodded. "Here are your current requests; these come from many things. The most common are requests from your subordinates." Anna continued as she highlighted what looked like a closed envelope with a red number on it.
It was a big number, since it was clearly bigger than twenty. "The number is eighty-seven, Tama," Anna said matter-of-factly. As she spoke, the envelope thing seemed to open and another popup appeared, lots of words with lots of those lines with dots on the ends. "Those are exclamation points.
Around forty-eight of these are from your aunt. They all say the same thing asking where you are, if you are safe, if the royal guard can come pick you up. Here is one about visiting your mother's burial site! Apparently, she was buried in the kingdom's royal tomb against her wishes."
I nodded and asked, "Who is Tama's aunt?"
