BXBX NOVEL Chapter 1037 1036: Headstart
Chapter 1037 Chapter 1036: Headstart
"Go and tell Mother that we\'re back, please. And have dinner arranged; something lighter, and something that can pair well with coffee. It\'s been a long day."
One of the guards just nodded and turned around, heading into the palace without another word to get the Begum\'s will done, but the other paused as he stared at the pink skinned Fiend clamoring for the Sultana\'s attention, unable to help himself and having a job to do as he asked "Sultana, is that a..?"
"A Fiend? Yes, and an annoying one at that, but... one that I have further questions for, and one that is currently trying to prove her worth, I suppose. Don\'t worry, I\'ll kill her if she tries anything idiotic."
"If... Very well, Sultana. I shall go inform the kitchens of your arrival. Welcome back to Muqai Al-Maedin!"
Bowing to the Jackalkin, the guard turned and gave us a shallower bow before heading into the palace and leaving us alone with the Jackals outside, gathering up our stuff and leading the wonderful creatures over to their housing.
My Jackal had been wonderful, so as we shepherded them into their respective rooms and helped them out of their saddles, I gave mine a swift sprinkle and refilled its water trough with something nice and cool before drying it off with some wind, ensuring it was clean and taken care of.
Then I pulled out the extra blanket I had and spread it out atop its bedding, something that confused the Jackal for a moment as it sniffed the soft blanket, but as soon as I pulled its paw onto the bedding it just blinked before stepping forwards and circling around a few times.
After it oriented itself, the Jackal plopped on down and rested its snout on its paws, staring at me for a few moments before closing its eyes and taking a deep breath, making me smile wryly as I stared at the majestic yet tired creature in front of me, wondering what it was thinking; it seemed like such a simpler life compared to ours, despite us both being \'Canines\'.
I wanted to fluff its ears and relish in the softness of its fur, but since it was clearly trying to sleep I held my hand instead and slipped out of the room to leave it be, where I found the others all waiting around holding their stuff, staring at me with raised brows and slightly tired looks.
"What? Can\'t show appreciation to the one who carried me miles over the scorching sands?"
The Sultana just shrugged while Anput smiled as she said "Yeah, but they\'ve been raised as killers primarily, so I have to admit I am surprised she didn\'t just snarl at you after you took the saddle off. They\'re a pack animal, yes, but most of the time they prefer to be by themselves or with just their mate. So... for her to not snap at you is rather impressive."
"I didn\'t do anything though? Just took care of her afterwards; refilled her water and pat her head."
Anput just shook her head as she turned towards the palace and walked on inside, while the Sultana said "Affection is affection, and I guess she wanted some." before turning to follow her daughter inside, Sla\'Salaxi swiftly doing the same and leaving Leone, Jahi and I to catch up as we gathered our stuff again.
"Maybe she just sensed a kindred spirit there hm~?"
Poking my side, Jahi grinned at me as she eyed me up and down, making me roll my eyes at her as I turned to Leone instead and asked "We have these gemstones, right? So I was thinking of ways to use them, and the first thing that comes to mind is a power supplier, right? Make something powerful that needs some extra mana to work properly, which would be where the gemstones come in."
"Correct. You want to make something extremely powerful that uses gemstones as a charge, right? Something that needs an extreme amount of mana to function that most normal enchanted things don\'t usually have because..."
"The structure would break or even explode upon use? Yes, that is what I am describing here. I was thinking about it, something that would be of use to us all if we ever found ourselves in a situation like the one I found myself in at the beginning of the \'war\' and the Sariel\'s defection."
The mention of that event made Jahi\'s gait inconsistent for a brief moment as she paused and glanced at me before returning to normal, while Leone pursed her lips and sighed softly as she stared ahead, losing herself to her thoughts and to her memories.
"So I was thinking we make \'disposable\' staffs or spears that we can use with ease, weapons that have an absurd amount of mana within them that would be used to activate a single powerful spell that could wipe a city off the map if need be; y\'know, just a \'panic\' tool in case of emergencies."
Leone snorted at that, though she nodded as she said "It\'d be easy to do too; just a basic fireball spell or something similar tuned up to the max and given more mana than it should have any right having, all encased within a single item. The question becomes though, is that really a good use of our resources?"
"Maybe not, but I have to admit that having one or two of those things might be a good idea just in case. Something to pull out should a Fiend of Tza\'Orbias caliber ambush us or perhaps even something stronger. But that wasn\'t the only thing that you thought of doing, right?"
"No, not at all. It\'s just the simplest thing to do with them. What I really wanted to try was crushing or breaking the gemstones down and inlaying them into the metal before enchanting them. Maybe that would amplify the enchantments, or perhaps it would make it so that we could place more enchantments onto the weapon if there was this powdered crystal imbued into it."
"Talk about a risk... But hey, since the Sultana seems to hand these things out like candy as a reward, maybe we could..."
Reaching the main room yet again, we were greeted with the sight of Lady Kio standing at the table tapping her foot on the ground as she stared at the Sultana, who was just standing there like she had nothing to explain at all... with a busty pink skinned babe clinging to her side.
Jahi trailed off as she saw that, and the Demoness strode on over to the table to take a seat beside Anput, who was silently watching from the side with a small smile on her face; we joined them as we began to watch the show unfold, and I rolled my eyes again as I heard Lady Kio \'calmly\' ask "So who exactly is this?"
"Sla\'Salaxi, a Fiend that made one of our Viziers into a cannibal and took immense pleasure in turning Khisba\'s capital building into a den of degeneracy. She\'s rather irritating, yes, but she knew about-"
"That\'s great; why the fuck is she hanging on you like some cheap harlot you hired for a night?"
Everyone looked at Sla\'Salaxi, who simply blinked before recoiling back slightly as she said "Excuse me, but I am NOT a cheap harlot! The things I can do would have your toes curling and your legs shaking! But um... Anubi..."
She turned straight back to the Sultana after that, which made Lady Kio snarl slightly as she watched the Fiend trail her finger up the Sultana\'s abs as she whispered to the Jackalkin in a sultry tone, doing her best to seduce her.
"For you, I wouldn\'t mind being treated like a cheap harlot... if you want to use me and throw me away, I wouldn\'t... I wouldn\'t complain at all..."
"You bitch..!"
Mana coiled around Lady Kio\'s limbs as she shot forwards, and before the Fiend could even realize what was happening she was flying across the table, skidding to a halt right in front of us and unable to comprehend why she was here.
"Keep your grubby paws off my wife!"
We all turned our gazes back towards Lady Kio, who had taken the Fiend\'s spot as she embraced the Sultana from the front, which made the futanari tilt her head as she stared down at the petite Dogkin woman.
"What the..."
Climbing off of the table, Sla\'Salaxi glared at Lady Kio before shivering as the Sultana said "That\'s enough now... I can tolerate your antics because I don\'t find them that irritating, but I don\'t control my adorably angry wife, so control yourself.", her three eyes narrowing as she stared at the proud Dogkin, who was grinning at her.