Nyaaaaaaah~Oi! Something's not right here. I feel as though I'm being coddled. Looking around, it would appear that the Rifaleesi has invaded my bed and is about this close to drooling all over me. No! We are not doing this! Crowli! Get her out of here, stat! Oh? It's still the day time. Yikes. This child woke me up. Sigh~ I suppose that there's no helping it. I'm getting up and I'm getting dressed. I feel way too tired for this though. After having gotten dressed, I began to make my way through the Throne Room and towards the Kitchen.
On arrival into the Foyer, I was met with a complete stranger. Someone invaded my home and is currently standing in my Foyer. You have some nerve to open those giant black steel doors, sir. He's wearing a cloak, but I can tell that he is not a Goblin. He doesn't have the body shape nor does he have even a single donated accessory from me. He's too lean to be a Tier 2 Goblin. Every Tier 2 Goblin or Goblina that I know is relatively muscular, or well... A Goblina has breasts. This man lacks those qualities. Cloaked Hunk #wassup is the most lean Goblin that I know. Aside from Hunky Goblins or busty Goblinas, there's really only the child-like bodies that remain for the Goblin Race. Mobbin Village Keef Sama has one of those child like bodies. This man is not a Goblin. I'm positive.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my home?" [Nero] beckoned in a pissed off demeanor.
"I am called Elliot. I apologize for intruding, I had previously met with one of your companions outside and asked her to bring you to me. That was a few hours ago though... So I decided to enter." [Elliot] said while removing his cloak to unveil the fact that he is an Elf.
Blond hair, blue eyes, youthful, fair skin, a good demeanor… Long ears?! NO! I deliberately avoided you guys at all costs! Why are you here?! I suppose that the Rifaleesi came to fetch me but then decided to sleep when she realized that I possessed the best bedding. God dammit! That one is too childish! This is life or death here! Elves are freaking evil!
"I'm Nero. What do you want?" [Nero] asked flatly. To which, the Elf seemed to be unsure of how to respond.
"Ahem! I come on behalf of the Elven Council. You are being summoned to the Elven City, Vanheim." [Elliot] cleared his throat before putting his right hand on his heart and beginning to kneel as he explained.
"For what reasoning?" [Nero] asked bluntly.
"The Elven Council wishes to know what you are and your intentions." [Elliot] proclaimed.
"I refuse." [Nero] replied.
"Eh?! Why?" [Elliot] gasped with eyes wide before asking.
"Inform your so called Council to send a real representative to come speak with me here or on the border of the the Elven City leading here. I will not walk nor fly in to your territory. Also, ensure that the meeting is at night. I won't come otherwise." [Nero] exclaims harshly.
"Ahem… Okay." [Elliot] said before taking his leave.
Jeez. Elves. I can't stand them already. Heading into the Kitchen, I resumed with making my breakfast. My way too early breakfast. This guy ruined my sleep and now there's a child invading my bed. It's the worst. Also, if I went with him... I can almost guarantee that I would be assassinated. No doubt. It's day time, I'm defenseless and this dude wants to me leave my home and territory. The place I just incited massacres to be capable of defending during the day. No way! I'm not going anywhere right now, thanks!
Looking at our Fish storage, we could probably do better. I should use this time to Fish. I secured all that Candy so that I could to defend this place, but it was also so that I could quickly finish off with making my level 15 to 20 clothes for the new age self proclaimed Monster Knights. I sold the level 10 to 15 clothes like 5 days ago, so I really did drop the ball on this one. There was just so much to do, you know?! Yosh! Finishing making my breakfast was quick because I'm the only one awake.
This is also troublesome. I need to get some of the other people on to a different sleeping schedule. I know that it's hard because if I were them, I would also want to be awake during the night. Literally everyone here is on a night schedule. It's like, you get to see all of your friends and family at night; but if you're awake during the day… It's a freaking ghost land. I'm surprised that the Rifaleesi was even awake to greet the Elf. The Rabbit and her are probably just seriously hyper and so they don't sleep as much. After finishing my meal, I turned back to my Treasure Room in order to grab some Candy. I'm taking three buckets. It's not a big deal, but it's not small either. There was a time when I found it difficult to even save up more than 3 buckets. I'm feeling nostalgic.
Making my way outside, it seems that the Leshi and Kitsune are also awake. Huh. I guess it's not too bad then. If the Tier 7 Leshi and Tier 6 Kitsune are awake during the day, we really shouldn't have too much to worry about. They're currently just hanging out near the fireplace. The fire isn't really going any longer. It's kind of just smoking. The Rabbit isn't here. I see a hole nearby though, so he's probably in there. It isn't actually that early in the day. It's probably the early evening. The sun will set in a few hours, so I guess I didn't lose too much sleep.
"Good evening~" [Nero] happily greeted the two monsters as he approached to take a seat near the dying fire.
"Hello." [Leshi] greeted.
"Well how are you?" [Kitsune] asked.
"I'm fine, but I was actually wondering something. Kitsune, why didn't you Evolve into a Foxwoman?" [Nero] answered before asking while tilting his head.
"I chose this path instead." [Kitsune] admitted.
"Do all races have paths to choose from?" [Nero] asked.
"Sometimes. Depending on your elements, you might be able to choose to diverge into a different path at some point in time." [Kitsune] said frankly.
"Interesting..." [Nero] said while resting his head in one hand and leaning it up on his knee.
"Nero, forgive me; but I had assumed that you had also chosen a different path to reach what you were?" [Leshi] exclaimed in an unsure tone of voice.
"No. I chose to be a Halloween Cat before I was born." [Nero] declared with a smile.
"Eh?!" [Leshi and Kitsune]
"What do you mean?" [Kitsune] asked with eyes wide.
"I just did. I was given a choice, so I took it." [Nero] explained while tilting his head.
"By who?!" [Kitsune] asked awestruck while the Leshi remained silent.
"I don't know his name. I just call him Hunky Beefcake." [Nero] said honestly.
"Only a god could do such a thing." [Leshi] said with an air of wisdom.
"Perhaps. I'm going to go Fish now, good bye!" [Nero] agreed before waving as he began to get on his Broom.
"Farewell." [Leshi] said flatly.
"Good luck! Bring back some good Fish!" [Kitsune] happily yelled.
Carrying my Candy, I began to fly to the waterfall. Apparently I am capable of producing haki by myself, so I want to test it. I'll be making clothes, but I'll also be eating Candy and sitting on my floating Broom to try and keep my MP to a high point. Apparently, I'm a Tier 5 Halloween Cat. According to Mobbin Village Keef Sama if it's during the day, I should be producing a Tier 2 to 3 haki if my MP is nearly full. I'm hoping that's enough to make the Fish want to swim up the waterfall. If not, I'll just need to resume Fishing the old fashioned way until nightfall. It's not the end of the world. Ou! My first Fish of the night! It's a common Fish. It did try to avoid me, but it didn't try to swim back up the waterfall. Slightly depressing. I guess I'm just not scary enough yet. Life sure is rough having a 12 hour nerf. I chose the nerf, so I don't mind. I didn't choose to be awake though, that's my problem.
I could probably have just tried to go back to sleep on a different side of the bed, but I have a fear that she would grab me again in her sleep. Children scare me that way. I'm a strong monster, but I don't want to kill the poor thing. I don't think Rifaleesi are very durable to be frank. She's like an Assassin class or something. If I try to forcefully move her in her sleep, I might just deal damage. I don't know how squishy she is! While thinking such things, I was slowly creating new pieces of clothing while aiming for level 20. Snatching up the Fish after they fell while flying on my Broom… Throwing the clothes to the right of the river, throwing the Fish to the left of the river; eating Candy in between... I developed a rhythm. A rhythm only capable of being attained by a Fish Mongerer.
After around three hours, night finally came and the Fish began to fear me greatly. I ran out of Candy awhile ago, so I'm now only slowly adding new clothes to my pile. I've caught a decent bit of Fish. I'm not done yet though. I need more. I want it all! Everything! Give it to me! Now! Oh jeez. I wonder what I'm going to say to the Elven Council… They want to know my intentions and what I am. They'll no doubt send a Council(wo)man with [Appraisal] to determine what I am. But my intentions? Do they just expect me to answer to them or something? I'm confused. Why do the Elves want to know more about me? How do the Elves even know about me at all?!
They could have figured out about me from my endorsement with Clive, or maybe they found me from when I led that crusade in the Reygid? Was it that time that I invaded the Witches Council? Did they rat me out?! Maybe it was just the time that I made the commotion in the adventurers guild at Reygid? Or maybe one of those Witches who delved into Halloween was actually an Elf?! Oh god… The possibilities are endless. But how did they link me back to the Lost Kingdom? Ah… I told Gustav that I'm currently living here. I also brought Vigi the Minotaur here, and told Miu that I lived here as well. Cetilla's parents might know, but I doubt that they would be involved. I have a hard time believing that any of them snitched me out to some Elves quite frankly. There must be something that I'm missing.
Now that my Clansmen are capable of joining me, I decided to call on Mr Scarecrow. I have a question. He's the least opinionated of all my Clansmen, so he should be able to get to the point quickly. I want a calculated opinion, Mr Scarecrow. I call on you! Come to my side! Raising my Lantern while saying such things, he magically appeared under that familiar orange light that I have come to adore.
"Good evening Mr Scarecrow, I have a question." [Nero] greeted from atop his Broom.
"Very well, what is it?" [Mr Scarecrow] asked while kneeling on one knee and looking up at Nero.
"When you weren't my Clansmen. Did you need Blood to survive?" [Nero] asked.
"Sometimes." [Mr Scarecrow] admitted.
"Please explain." [Nero] beckoned.
"I needed food and sleep just like every other monster. But if I were hurt or used too many abilities, I would need Blood to heal myself." [Mr Scarecrow] explained thoughtfully.
"And what of Candy?" [Nero] asked.
"I am unsure. I had never acquired Candy." [Mr Scarecrow] admitted.
"Very well. Thank you, that is all. You are free to take your leave and do as you wish." [Nero] thanked the Scarecrow and let him go.
"I will return to the Wailing Keep." [Mr Scarecrow] said before returning to Halloween. He's probably going to use the combo gate.
Getting back on track, I'm glad that's sorted out. I had resumed my boring task of Fishing and slowly making new clothes for around half an hour until Milton arrived. He probably didn't know that I was here, but I'm willing to swap out the shifts for him if he wants.
"Hey~" [Milton] called from a distance while waving a paw in the air.
"Coming to Fish?" [Nero] asked with a smile.
"Nah! Mr Scarecrow said that you were here, so I decided to come and ask you about something." [Milton] admitted while holding the back of his head with one arm.
"Eh? What did you want to know?" [Nero] asked while tilting his head.
"It's about Rei... What's she like?" [Milton] asked.
"You should ask Cetilla, don't you think? They've been friends their entire lives. I literally met Rei the very night I met you." [Nero] exclaimed while snatching a Fish from the water.
"That's why I came to you!" [Milton] proclaimed excitedly.
"...Eh?" [Nero]
"Cetilla's a noble so she's not very easy to talk to… But you talk to her just fine! Can you ask her for me?" [Milton] begged.
"Rejected." [Nero] declared flatly.
"Huaaah?! Why not?! Please!" [Milton] pleaded while getting down on his knees.
"I don't know what's gotten into your head, but Cetilla is barely noble by any means. She practically gave up her inheritance to be an adventurer. She bathes in a freaking Lake, dude. Even if she was raised as a noble, she rarely acts that way." [Nero] rationally explained.
"...But! She only acts that way around you!" [Milton] desperately declared. To which, he gained a long glare from Nero while a common Fish... Similarly desperately tried to make its way back up the waterfall.
Geez. What's with this guy?! Cetilla's not that bad! Here's a thought... Just a thought. Try and talk to Rei herself?! I don't know?! It might work! Milton's a fairly attractive Cat man… I guess? Rei might just freakin go for it, I don't know! Why does Cetilla appear to be such an obstacle for this guy?
"How about I just ask Cetilla to come talk to you about Rei?" [Nero] asked.
"She would probably promise to do it, and then not." [Milton] replied flatly.
"..." [Nero]
"..." [Milton]
"You're Fishing for the next three nights," [Nero] declared before continuing to cancel his previous Hallowed Gate.
"Hallowed Gate! Clansmen! Come forth and help me carry these Fish and these clothes back into the Wailing keep!" [Nero] beckoned while raising his Lantern high.
The Scarecrows, Crows, and Bats all arrived after around a minute. I guess that the others are busy. Eh~ It's not a gigantic load of clothes anyways so I guess that it's fine. With that, I made my way into the Wailing Keep through the combo gate. I'm troubled by this though. Should I just come right out and say that the information is for Milton? I wouldn't want her to get the wrong idea here. I'm definitely not avidly seeking love at the moment, thanks. Making my way through the Wailing Keep, I put my empty buckets of Candy back into my room before I found Cetilla to be in the Dining Hall with Rei. Dammit. I can't just ask her about Rei infront of Rei's face. They noticed me. Ugh!
"Nero!" [Cetilla] yelled from across the room with a smile.
"Oh? Hello!" [Rei] greeted loudly after turning around to see me.
"Come sit with us~ We're just playing cards." [Cetilla] said while gesturing for me to join them.
"Alright, I'll join you for a little while." [Nero] said while approaching via Broom.
"You really just fly around like that all over, huh?" [Rei] asked.
"Why wouldn't I?" [Nero] asked while tilting his head.
"Doesn't it cost MP?" [Rei] asked while squinting one eye.
"Not really…" [Nero] confessed.
"Nero has first rate MP, and he's good with Time Magic. Most people can recover extremely slowly over time, and Nero constantly uses that method on himself in a strangely accelerated way which does not affect his age." [Cetilla] chimed in calculatingly with a smile and was giggling towards the end.
Woah! Hold on?! Hold on! My Time Magic affinity is the reason why I was able to claim [Enhanced Meditating] and [Recovery by Sleep]?! I previously assumed that I was just affecting the time for my Clansmen by halting their FP and SP... Does this mean that if I continue to increase their proficiency, I might unlock a Time Magic title?! OhohoHOOO!
"Time Magic?" [Rei] asked.
"Time Magic." [Nero] agreed with a smile.
"I had no idea that Nero was so powerful himself. I just thought he had strong followers…" [Rei] admit snidely.
"Oi!" [Nero] barked.
"Nope! Nero's strong too. He also had an affinity for Spacial Magic, and has two elements." [Cetilla] enlightened Rei while puffing out her chest.
"You've got an eye." [Rei] casually said with a smile.
"I know~" [Cetilla] agreed.
"Hey, Cetilla? Weren't you also using some form of Time Magic against the Orcs?" [Nero] asked while tilting his head.
"Eh? No, I was using Gravity Magic~" [Cetilla] confessed while laughing.
"That's pretty impressive too though, right?" [Mei] asked.
"I'm not actually good at Gravity Magic though, it was kind of just a spur of the moment decision." [Cetilla] said nonchalantly.
"Then what are you good with?" [Nero] asked.
"Huh? I excel in Wind element type magic." [Cetilla] said while acting shocked that I didn't know.
"Cetilla can cast a tornado!" [Mei] remarked while puffing out her chest.
I'm now leaving. I'm walking away. They continued to talk, but I'm not listening. I learned something valuable, and I also learned that I don't think I can help Milton. Not easily, anyways. Finding Cetilla without Rei is not easy. They're like glued together these days. If I want Cetilla alone, then I need to be making some kind of power move, like going to meet with the Witches Council or something. That means, if I wanted to guarantee Cetilla's alone time from Rei; then I probably need it to be when I go to speak with the Elf. I don't want to go to the Elven Council, so that's off the table. Maybe I can just bring Cetilla as a plus one to when I meet with the one or two Elven Council representatives though? Talk with her on the way? I guess that it can't be helped. Also, Cetilla can cast a freaking tornado? I'm jealous. I now want a pumpkin nuke.
Looking at our new Fish storage, we probably have enough Fish for 6 days. I put in some work~ I wanted to host a festival though, so this isn't enough. We can't afford the Hooch. Not nearly. We just got all of these new companions, and none of them are Clansmen. They can all drink. I can't afford this. It's way too many Fish. Just one bottle these days is costing 10 common Fish at the least. There are a whopping 19 registered drinkers for the upcoming festival. Even just getting one bottle per person... That's a whole lot of Fish. On average, one of these individuals consumes around 3 common Fish per day. Yes. We are meow consuming 57 common Fish per day, give or take considering that we also have some larger Fish here and there... So probably around 40 common Fish per day. It doesn't look good. It takes like 6 hours to catch 40 common Fish if you're perfect.
We literally need to starve the lochness monster every single night if we hope to continually be able to afford a festival. I'm thankful that before we attained these new companions, we had already been stocking up a bit of Fish to spare... But we'll probably need to up our anti now that they're here. Right now, we can afford a festival; but it will cost us literally half of our supply or more. It's most likely to be more. And these people will eat more if they're drinking, so it would probably cost our entire supply to hold a festival if we were to do it now.
Most of the Goblin Villagers gather berries in bushes near the Goblin Village, and there are even some of those bushes planted in the Goblin Village. It's not enough though. With my next shipment payment, I think I want to invest in apples. I think the soil here should be fine for apple trees. I should probably also ask Vigi to make me a few dozen iron watering buckets to help the Goblin Villagers take care of the vegetation. We can order some shovels and axes too. The Cat's Lumber Mill and Tree Replanting Business will launch in the outskirts of this Goblin Village! We'll take the cut down trees, and replant apple trees to replace them. I'll bring the cut down trees to some Woodworker in the Beastkin Kingdom, and make an order to have the logs cut into planks. I'll then take the planks back into the Goblin Village and let the Goblins try their hands at making more proper homes. I should order nails and hammers as well. Yosh!
Thinking about such things, I stepped outside of the Wailing Keep and came across a large portion of people gathered around the campfire. I suppose that I'll just join them all and make more clothes. It's fine to relax. We just worked tirelessly to incite a massive massacre, after all. I suppose that's how it is. Everyone's overworked and wants a break. The newcomers just want to get to know their new friends, so it's fine. I rarely ever ask anything of the new age Monster Knights anyways. This is their usual night to night tradition. They wake up, have breakfast in the Dining Hall; go off to do their own thing for a bit and then return to meet up near the Campfire. Plenty of the Clansmen perform their songs or practice, so it's a pretty nice place to spend their time.
Sitting down alongside them and enjoying the atmosphere, I joined alongside in some conversations over the course of the night as I made more clothes to add to my pile. I made sure to ask Crowli to go keep track of Milton incase a Meglacommon arrived, and told him to inform me immediately if one did. He seemed a little bit upset, but it's a job fit for one of my Clansmen. They can almost immediately appear before me from anywhere. If not him, it can be any other Clansmen; but Crowli and Milton get along fine. Crowli can help Milton by emitting his gross haki, so it should be better this way.
I ended up learning that the Rabbit was a mature guy, but he had strange tendencies. The Bear is… Kind of grouchy. He's just a little bit mean, all the time. The Leshi and Kitsune are both asleep. I made sure to tell the Rifaleesi to not enter my bed again, even if it's a big bed. I don't want to be woken up early again. It's not fun. Especially because I feel obligated to stay awake until dawn is arriving so that I can use [Daily Candy]. I missed the daily meet and feast because of that kid!
Looking over at Cloaked Hunk #wassup, it would appear that he's begun bringing his Goblina friend along to the nightly fire. So sweet~ Goblin Hunk looks jealous. And lonely. I decided to join Goblin Hunk for the night to help him feel less… that. He perked up after a few minutes, and we continued on through the night while joined by Budget Dragon and the Rabbit. Sometimes when the Rabbit speaks, I get the unspeakable urge to hit him repeatedly. I don't know why. He annoys me though. The Bear joined in at a certain point, and not long after... I needed to walk away. The annoying Rabbit paired with the slightly rude Bear was just too much for me, I might have lost it on one of my tenants had I stayed.
I'm now sitting down in the sand at the Beach by the Lake, watching the water and wishing that I could be in it. The water is calm, and appears almost entirely still. All I can hear are the sounds of the leaves rustling from the trees hanging behind me. I spent around twenty or thirty minutes like this. It was peaceful. After awhile, I began to look at the stars instead. Time Magic, huh? I can't help but wonder if it actually does come at a cost… Perhaps my use of [Enhanced Meditating] and [Recovery by Sleep] is actually wearing away at my lifespan.
I haven't noticed any real change in my age yet, so if it is the case; then Halloween Cats must naturally have extremely long lifespans. I suppose it's nothing to worry about. If I have a long lifespan and I'm sipping away at it, then I might not even notice and just die at a regular age instead of my extremely long lifespan. It's not the end of the world. It's not like I can avoid sleeping or sitting at this point. I could try running around a whole lot and standing up most of my time, neglecting my Broom... But you can't avoid sleep. While thinking of such things, Goblin Hunk appeared behind me and joined me in sitting on the sand. I say that, but I'm just laying down at this point and looking up. I only knew he arrived because I saw him walk past my head and sit beside me.
"Not going for a swim?" [Goblin Hunk] asked.
"I can only do it with Goblin Hooch." [Nero] confessed without looking away from the stars.
"Ahh… Right. I brought something for that." [Goblin Hunk] replied while starting to laugh at the end.
"Eh?" [Nero] replied while sitting up to find that Goblin Hunk was extending out a bottle of Goblin Hooch.
"Went Fishing for a bit last night and managed to get a bottle. It's not much, but I thought you might appreciate something for once. You always supply it for everyone, but you're the one who really wants it." [Goblin Hunk] admit.
"...Thank you. Would you like to share?" [Nero] said while opening the bottle.
"Sure." [Goblin Hunk] replied with a smile.
And like that, we began to drink by the Beach and continued to talk for around an hour before we began to bathe. We talked about all sorts of things, like my plan for improving life in the Goblin Village, Goblin Hunk deciding that he wants to get stronger and become the next heir to the Goblin Village, and how glad he was to have gotten a chance to meet the newly Evolved monsters. He grew up believing that the Flutterfairies had gone extinct, and that the Bears and Rabbits would likely never talk again. It's like that. Also, him wanting to go out and get stronger to become the next heir to the Goblin Village came as a massive shock to me. I offered him a spot in my prestigious Cat Crew, to which he happily accepted.
After we had dried off, we made our way back to the Goblin Village and dawn had been arriving so I made sure to use [Daily Candy]. By the time we arrived, it was a bit too late for me to call on my Clansmen so I asked Goblin Hunk to help me carry the clothes near the fire back inside. It took us a few trips, but we managed. I stopped caring about my haki after I left the river, so there was a little bit more. After we stopped, I thanked him and we went our separate ways to sleep. Thankfully, the Rifaleesi is not in my room; so I was able to simply put the bucket down and go to sleep after changing my form.