Saki

  Tama looked absolutely perplexed, and honestly I didn't blame her. It was true I had never met the regent before now, but every book I had read about her stated that she was a regal and powerful figure with an imposing gaze.

  She looked nothing like that to me. She looked like someone had taken Tama, gave her wrinkles, and forced her into a dress. A dress, mind you, I could see was actually chafing the regent.

  I opened and closed my mouth a few times. I was really trying to salvage the situation, but my brain was just not working. Finally, Talia spoke up. "Alright, you two get in here. We need to talk about everything that happened." She turned to the regent. "Then we can discuss your issue."

  The regent nodded eagerly and I swear to Earth for a split second I saw Tama in that face. I slowly, almost mindlessly, walked down the hall past the dead royal guards, into the room. As I passed, I paused and looked at the regent.

  She smiled at me and said, "You must be Saki the Kits... I mean the Foxkin!" She covered her mouth, blushed, and giggled. I literally almost snapped "Tama!" before remembering this was the regent, not Tama. I just turned and walked the rest of the way in.

  Tama followed and as she passed the regent, I heard the regent say to her, "I brought cookies for your friend Anna. They are perfectly black and crunchy, like they are supposed to be."

  I winced... of course they would share taste.

  I made my way into the room and sat in one of the now three chairs on one side of the desk. Tama pulled her chair over to me and sat down, then grabbed my hand.

  Her eyes darted around and she looked like she was looking for danger. Talia walked around and sat at her desk as the regent sat in the last chair. Her tail wagged back and forth and she looked happy. Talia ignored her and looked directly at us.

  "Alright, let's go over what happened," she said as she took out a pen and began to write.

  Tama instantly opened her mouth to speak, but Talia put up a single finger. "No, not after last time. Saki starts," she said simply.

  Tama closed her mouth and looked put out but said nothing. I held back laughter. Turns out when I sent her to Drestor to warn of the Lich, she left quite an impression on Talia. I sat forward and took a deep breath before I started to explain. Before I could, however, Tama suddenly spoke up.

  "Tama does not want to be Queenshe will trade lots of gold coins and Gryphon legs!" She pointed at the regent as she said this in a serious tone.

  I wasn't even sure how to respond to that, but the response was even more insane. Her aunt responded with, "No, while food is extremely important, you need to take the throne or millions will die, Tama. But I am more than willing to trade you for those legs in another capacity... I wonder how good they would taste with ranch."

  To which Tama asked, "What is ranch?"

  Apparently that was the golden question and the regent went on a twenty-minute rant about how amazing ranch dressing was. I looked over to Talia, who had her hands on her face and was shaking her head.

  I realized at that moment Talia probably felt the same way about the regent and Tama. Finally, both girls stood and went to leave to get ranch dressing. There was a slam and all three of us turned to Talia.

  She put away her hammer, leaving the gaping hole in the wall behind her. She spoke calmly, "Regent Allissa Tamaneko and Princess Fuyuki Tamaneko. Please sit down and be quiet."

  Both Nekojin were in their seats instantly and sitting there quietly. I snickered and they both glared at me.

  I turned back to Talia, and with a smile, began to explain the insanity of what happened. "So, it started when the lich, who by the way is named Trevor."

  I was interrupted by Tama, who said, "Tama thought his name was Jabrome?"

  I opened my mouth to respond, but Alissa spoke up. "That sounds like a dangerous lich name!"

  Tama turned to her and nodded, and I sighed before continuing. "Anyways, regardless of his name, he fought us two on one and was losing when he went to activate a teleport spell. Tama noticed the spell and did what Tama would do."

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  Talia spoke up. "She hit it with her sword, didn't she?"

  I nodded and Alissa said, "That obviously should have worked!"

  Tama nodded as well but sighed and said, "Nya! But it didn't!"

  The regent looked genuinely perplexed why hitting a staff that was casting a spell didn't work... I hated this country.

  "Either way, due to Tama's... actions, all three of us were forcefully relocated deep underground due to spell matrices."

  "What's a spell matrices?" Tama asked.

  I glared at her and she went quiet.

  "That's where we met Anna and Tristy. Anna is a divine water spirit who is currently functioning as Tama's gi." As if to verify my point, Anna grew an arm out of Tama's gi and waved it. Alissa waved back. Tristy in the back of the room, who had apparently followed us, spoke up. "Mistress Tama is truly the greatest!"

  Talia sighed and looked at me before asking, "Why is there an elf slave girl in here, and why does she have a blood collar on?"

  I sighed at her words and explained. "Tama... bought her and another. But the other one... didn't make it."

  Talia wrote some stuff down and looked up at Tristy, before looking at Tama. "You do realize slavery is illegal in this country, right?" she asked seriously.

  Tama shook her head and responded, "No, Tama did not know that. Tama did not know what a slave was. But the mean goblin who made me buy her is dead now."

  Talia stared at Tama for a moment before whispering under her breath, "I shouldn't have asked." She looked back to me and stated, "Continue."

  I nodded and did so. "I found Tama after the slavery incident. She was fighting with a pair of goblin guards. Turns out there is a whole goblin civilization down there."

  Talia raised an eyebrow at that and asked, "How many is a civilization, Saki?"

  I considered for a long moment before saying, "There was enough that between me and Tama, we were able to kill thousands and not make a dent."

  Talia paled at that and asked, "Are you telling me that there is an army of goblins the size of the continent right under our feet?!"

  I shook my head quickly. "No, like I said, it's a civilization. They have guards, bakers, and restaurant owners. They even have their own form of hierarchical government."

  Then Tama suddenly spoke. "Tama conquered their biggest city and she is now the owner!" I had tried, and failed, to stop Tama from speaking, but Tama, as always, was fast, agile, and impervious to social norms.

  She somehow managed to assume I wanted to hold hands and took my hand when I went to cover her mouth.

  To make matters somehow better and worse, Alissa decided that was the best time to bring up statecraft. "Of course you did, as any good Queen should!

  Now then, when you decimated your enemies and made them bow before you, did you make sure that they paid tithes to you? It's very important! If they don't pay tithes, you can't use those shiny round things my advisors call gold coins to fix stuff for people!"

  I wanted to scream. Did the regent of our country just call coins 'shiny round things'? I think I was going to run away to Rojier, risking the Trelloark forest seemed minimal in comparison to the current and future rulers of Trissaile.

  There was another slam and we all jerked back to Talia, where a second hole in the wall now stood next to the first. Talia slowly put away her hammer while looking between the three of us. "Please continue, Saki," she said calmly, but her eyes promised death and both Tama and Alissa paled.

  I also paled, but for a different reason. Tama had doubtless gotten stronger, and I had a feeling she would win against Talia at this point. I of course had no evidence. But what stopped Tama from going straight up divine again and just blasting Talia with Goddess power?! Luckily, they both seemed unwilling to test Talia's patience and I was greatly inclined to agree with them.

  I turned back to Talia and continued. "Ah... er... yes. We dealt with the slave master as Tama said." Tama opened her mouth but Talia's eye shifted and Tama instantly shut it. "We met Reedril.

  He appears to be an ancient creature, easily thousands of years old. Between Anna, Reedril, and a few goblins, we learned the destroyed and ruined city's name was Muosil and it used to be a highly technologically advanced water metropolis of some kind." As I said Anna's name, she grew her arm out and waved again.

  Alissa waved back... again. Talia facepalmed but said nothing and gestured for me to continue.

  "Anna apparently, from her own words, states that she is the reason the city fell and personally killed the high priestess. Reedril claims he was the one who personally leveled the city with his children. Reedril is..."

  Before I could finish, Talia cut me off and asked, "Anna is the... gi Tama is wearing, correct? Is it able to speak or does it only talk through intent and psychic manifestation like most spirits?"

  I opened my mouth to answer, but was once again interrupted, this time by Anna herself. She had apparently decided that bringing her up meant it was time to talk. So, she left Tama's body and became her little girl form, standing on the desk and grinning ear to ear. I sighed and prepared for the fallout.

  Chapter 96: Anna’s Report