Kira gave a rather loud noise of frustration, while pacing back and forth for a bit.
"Fine!, Fine!, I get it" she almost shouted, her voice tinted with frustration
Everyone was looking at Kira with confusion beside her burst of anger had she appeared calm and collected throughout so her sudden shift seemed odd to most.
Kira saw their confused glances and decided it didn't hurt anything to atleast explain.
"My Tails, I honestly forget they are there half the time, seeing my human disguise won't always be viable, will I need to appear more like a Kitsune, I didn't think this would be a problem, but I'm finding that I'm having quite a mental struggle with the idea of pretending to have less tails than I do, I suspect its an instinctive pride thing."
Nox and Aether looked at Kira with understanding but also confusion.
"You didn't seem to have the same issue the other day when you disguised yourself to tease that poor Shrine maiden, neither do you don't seem to have too much trouble hiding moms traits admittedly Mom have tried to hide her traits during certain occasions, it's a rather big give away to her identity, but even fairy magic failed.
But this would indeed explain why Inari always seemed in an extremely poor mood before visiting the mortal realm.
so yeah I think I have to agree its likely instinctual pride rather than a conscious decision
but again why didn't you have a problem with it back then?"
Aether exclaimed.
Both Kira and Nox was looking at Aether like she had just grown two heads.
"What? I'm free spirited and I don't always think to deeply but I'm not stupid you Know!"
Aether retaliated.
Kira had to admit it was a good question, maybe it was a feeling that simply became stronger over time, it was hard to explain but she could actively feel her mind and priorities shift and she wasn't quite sure how to feel about it, she decided to rely on Inaris explanation as the most logical one while the rest is likely instincts slowly creeping into the mix
They got broken out of their internal banter by the older human speaking up.
"If I'm to understand right, is the Goddess not keen on the idea of visually reducing her amount of tails through her illusions, I don't think it is as big a problem as you might think.
the thing is we would very likely immediately think you were a spirit beast instead of a beast kin, but knowledge about most races of spirit beasts aren't all that common, truth be told I hadn't even noticed the extra tail before you pointed it out, and even then, I likely wouldn't have questioned it."
Kira looked at the older man with contemplation.
"Then how about this?"
Kira weaved an illusion once again turning her hair from a silver into a more natural blond, hiding her more unique traits, her eyes turned a much more dull green and the liquid stars vanished, now looking much more like a fox version of her human disguise.
Kira gave a small twirl inspecting herself, she kept both her tails but had changed the color of the fur to fit.
surprisingly it was Yin who ran up to Kira first inspecting her all over.
"Lady Kira is as impressive as always, I don't think I've ever seen a blond kitsune before, our entire clan was mostly shades of red and brown, but I know there are other kitsune out there and I don't think it would be impossible, I much prefer the real you, but this is a fitting disguise it hides you for those who doesn't know but still shows enough of the real you."
Yin had stopped talking she was currently starring at Kiras tails almost mesmerised, while slowly doing an instinctive motion of touching her own tail, Yins eyes was slowly growing wider in what could only be described as an awestruck expression.
finally snapping out of her state Yin spoke up.
"I think I get it, while my race to my understanding don't have the ability of growing multiple tails, are part of our being still evolved from Inaris power, and as such even I can feel the instinctive pull, the idea of lady Kira hiding her true tail count is would be demeaning to a degree I cannot describe"
Kira nodded her head, and clapped in a little rhythm, she had instinctively reverted back to how she used to get the kids attention when she was shutting down the library. Kira wasn't sure if it was rude but she had managed to obtain everyone's attention so there was atleast that.
"Everyone how about we head to the village and get ourselves comfortable instead of sticking around in the roadside"
The oldest human was about to protest, but Kira cut him off.
"before you protest, know that I will ensure that not a single girl leaves your village nor will you need to worry about loosing your food"
The relief was visible on the humans faces, some of the younger ones fell to their knees again crying while making a prayer motion.
.....This is going to get old really fast Kira thought to herself.
"I would ask of all of you to Keep my true identity to yourself, instead of calling me goddess please just call me Kira moving forward, you're free to explain what happened after I left the village to those you trust to keep the information to themselves but I would rather not attract unnecessary attention"
the oldest of the guys spoke up.
"Understood Goddess Kira, from here on out shall we only address you as Lady Kira, you answered our prayers, so the least we can do is to fulfill your desire of not wanting to attract attention"
Grabbing one of the youngest in the scruff of his neck and lifting him out of his prayer position.
"Did I make myself Clear lads!"
all the guys immediately reacted.
Kira couldn't help but do a small internal victory dance, who knew some people would actually listen, giving Yin a side glance.
moving towards the city, a small boy spotted them and ran with all he was worth in the opposite direction.
looking towards the gradually more nervous males Kira spoke out softly so none other than their current group could hear.
"I figure you would rather avoid them knowing the truth, so leave it to me and I'll give an excuse on your behalf"
The relief in their expression was almost immediate.
Males and females, young and old but all human slowly assembled at what looked like a meeting plaza to greet them.
when they finally got close enough, several women and children ran towards the males hugging and embracing them, while a older lady with a cane stepped towards Kira.
"You brought our dear family back to us, how can we repay you!"
Kira gave a soft smile to the older lady.
"There is nothing to repay, we found them barricaded...."
Kira stopped mid sentence, immediately sped up her frequency and nudged to Aether and Nox.
"So dumb question, what wildlife is common here, I only realized now that I can't expect them to be the same as earth"
Aether gave out a healthy laugh.
"Leave it to our adorable quick witted little sister to bail herself out in the nick of time.
Although you likely worried unnecessarily, most of the common wild life here is still the same you know from earth, around here you will mainly find wolf packs, rabbits, the occasional bear, while rabbits does have horns and wolves might be a bit bigger than you're used to is it not much different, the bigger changes are in the demon continent due to the higher amount of excess magic in the air which have caused certain mutations."
Nox cut in as Aether was about done with her explanation
"Before you slow back down, keep remaining still but if you send your senses out to the left around a few miles you should sense multiple presences, I suspect it to be a higher ranking demons, it is very few mortals who have the ability to hide themselves to the degree these individuals have, they likely saw your loss of control earlier but shouldn't have been able to sense anything, but just be aware that we are being followed, while they aren't a threat we don't know their motives."
Kira gave a slight almost imperceptible nod.
slowing down again Kira managed to time her speech in such a way that there was barely a hiccup to be perceived from the humans listening.
"surrounded by a wolf pack, we don't know how long they had been there, but after I let out some magic the wolves fled, They thanked us and collectively we started to head immediately towards the village, we deemed it more important to get back as they likely haven't eaten for a while and figured it was better to get them back in one piece than ensure to bring pray back"
The old lady nodded along to the story Kira was spinning with a kind expression.
"You made the right choice young spirit, thank you so much for bringing them back, we can always get more food, but our finest hunters of the village is not as easy to replace.
Why don't you join in for a collective dinner, we will make a stew, but while we wouldn't want to seem rude to the people who got our boys home safe, we urge you to leave before tomorrow"
Kira gave the lady an even softer smile, she was obviously trying her best to repay what she perceived as kindness and at the same time protect her and her group, if nothing else understanding the situation it increased Kiras respect, Yin however was still scowling at most of the humans not too happy with the situation.
Kira decided to explain the situation as clearly she could so before the old lady managed to make up excuses for why it was Important she left.
"We are aware that some of the Dukes men is going to arrive either tomorrow or the day after to collect their so called Tax...
We are here to stop that from happening"
the old lady's eyes widened.
"Young spirit, we all know what happened to your clan, but the carriage will have plenty of guards there is no reason to sacrifice yourself for our sake!"
Kira only smirked.
"Don't worry they will never know, can you per chance bring one of the poor girls who were meant to go tomorrow?"
Kira had a hard time saying the last thing, gritting her teeth she did her best to keep her emotions in check.
Nodding the older Lady called out a name and a young girl with short brown hair stepped forward, she was barely 12 years old.
Kira was admittedly by her current appearance not much older than the girl in question, but that didn't change her feelings on the matter.
beckoning the girl to come closer the girl did so while staring at Kiras ears with a curious gaze.
walking around the girl a few times Kira was sure she had most of her details memorised, she decided to attempt to see if it would work.
and created a perfect replica as a pure illusion, all the humans in the city gasped.
Kira spoke up, "sadly this is not going to be good enough" as she waved her hand through the illusion and people saw she couldn't touch it regardless of how life like it was.
doing a waving motion the illusion dissappeared like smoke, trying again this time wishing for the illusion to be solid, she had put a mental note of a doll with a soft rubber like texture and then clothing, the replica of the girl re appeared with some very basic motions, it looked alive, but you would not be able to communicate with it, for lack of better way of describing it, Kira had simply imagined the real girls small motions as an idle pose just like you see it in video games, it looks good enough but it is just a repeated motion
poking the doll a few times to ensure it didn't just vanish like smoke, Kira was satisfied.
"There we go, quite simple these illusion dolls are what will be going with the dukes carriage tomorrow, they will likely send a messenger ahead to inform the city of when the carriage is coming back, and within a certain distance from here will the carriage have an accident as it is attacked by bandits and your food stuff will be brought back to the city"
Giving a slight pause Kira turned around towards a young male which was sneaking towards the gate of the city.
"Neither am I fool"
Kira dissappeared, from where she stood the next second she sat atop the gate dangling the guy upside down by the feet.
"It is only obvious that they would have a spy to ensure you didn't rebel" nodding towards Nox who came hauling 2 other people."
The old lady gasped.
"Are you saying the merchants are with the Duke?"
The city was giving the 2 young guys now sprawled at the gate and the guy Kira still held dangling upside down a collective expression of hate.
Kira thought for a bit and simply let go, a crack could be heard and his leg was bent out of shape.
much to her own surprise she didn't feel any guilt in the slightest towards her action.
"I heard you used to mine minerals, I don't take it you need some temporary labor until I've dealt with the Duke, they don't deserve eternal punishment, but it would likely be healthy to keep them from communicating with the public for a bit"
stepping forward the guys from the way side came to grab the guys.
speaking up.
"We shall ensure that Lady Kiras wish is fulfilled we will treat them humane but keep them away for the duration until the Duke is no longer residing as ruler."
The older Lady stared at the males with a contemplative expression, rarely had she ever seen them so obedient or willing do anything for anyone as she saw them act towards the young spirit, the other spirit beside her seemed quite timid and normal, but something felt off about the blond one, she was old enough to have interacted with the fox spirits from the nearby clan, and never once had she ever felt intimidated on such an instinctive level, she knew that the spirits grew much older than humans but Lady Kiras actions hadn't been that of a child, She might be old but she could still sense how the air slightly charged the second the young spirit spoke of those girls meant to be delivered to the Duke, if was faint, but it was definitely there.
plastering a smile on her face she decided to humor the young spirit and pretend she hadn't noticed anything off.
out of the corner of her eye the old lady did however catch the black haired girl giving her an analysing stare, yeah these were definitely not your average travellers.
ofcourse she knew Kira had lied, she had already figured out the young fools had intended to sacrifice themselves for the village, she had coined in a favor from the Demon lord Garzeff, he had owed her from her younger days when she had still been a spry adventurer, she had come across him wounded in a forest after a fight with a beast and had tended to his wounds and helped him back to health, Garzeff had sent some of his highest ranking servants to take care of the situation, but she had to admit Kira sending dummy illusions with the carriage posed much less risk than their original plan. She had a meeting with them later tonight, the question was if she could escape the black haired girls' watchful gaze.