"Hi, Jezabel asked to see me."
"Of course. Right this way." I walk into her office, guided by her assistant. A large cushioned chair is facing away from me on the other side of the desk.
[What, is she a supervillain? What am I walking into?]
She slowly spins around, and a cat girl is curled up on her lap.
[You've got to be kidding me.]
She strokes the girl's hair and looks at me with a knowing smile.
"This is Natalie. Say hi, Natalie."
"Moaw."
"Close enough. Now, let's cut to the chase." She unceremoniously throws the girl to the ground.
"MOAOAW!" the cat girl lands on all fours and scurries away while hissing.
"What the fuck was that?" I ask, astonished.
"Don't worry about it." She waves her hand and changes the subject. "I'd like to get the specifications for that equipment you have stored in the cave."
"Have I met her before?"
"Drop it. We could dramatically increase the survival rate of new adventurers by pumping up their stats a bit. Based on the speed of your growth, I have to assume that this equipment is quite effective."
"I'm having Young-ho make an iron set for me right now. He has the dimensions, so you can just ask him." I respond honestly as I'm still thrown off by the appearance of that cat girl.
"Hmm, you know, I was going to offer you some compensation in exchange for those specifications."
"So, do you own her? Is she like a pet?" Jezabel sighs and stands up from her chair.
"She's my housemaid, and she gets a little too enthusiastic sometimes."
"About being a cat?"
"Um, yes…" I readjust my perception of reality and go over what the guild master just said.
"Wait, you said something about compensation?"
"I just gave it to you. You asked a question, and I answered."
"Dammit."
[Curse my curious nature.]
"Also, tell your fairy that the Duke's forces should be arriving sometime next month. That should give them more than enough time to prepare."
"Anything else?"
"Are you in a rush?"
"No, I just know that neither of us likes small talk." She nods and waves for me to leave. Her assistant guides me out the door, and I head to the front gate. I can't shake the feeling that I'm forgetting something, but nothing comes to mind. I allow my mind to wander. I don't remember the journey, but I find myself at the gate, nonetheless.
"Nick!" Sakura waves to me. I walk over to the kids packed up for our second venture into the dungeon.
"You both seem excited."
"I can't wait!"
"Yes," Josh says flatly. They both agree, and we head into the forest. I'm only half paying attention to their conversation. I notice that it's changed from being focused on the flowers Sakura sees to the possible monsters they'll run into. I don't know where they've been getting information about monsters, but it certainly can't hurt.
[Just the fact that they've put in the effort to try and learn some useful information on their own time means a lot. The more informed we are, the better we can react to new situations.]
It's impossible to imagine all the situations we could get in, but just equipping ourselves with knowledge can mean the difference between life and death.
We arrive at the den in record time and prepare to set out for the dungeon.
"Before we go, we need to talk." I draw everyone's attention to myself and bring up the topic I've been putting off since yesterday. "Sakura, you seemed pretty upset about my orders. What do you think we should have done in that situation? Is there something I missed or a safer strategy we could have chosen?"
I throw her as much rope as I can before giving her the floor.
"It's fine."
"It's not. We can't afford to have arguments in the dungeon. We need to stay alert at all times."
Sakura turns and pouts.
"Sakura." Josh elbows her lightly.
[Thank you, Josh!]
"Fine," she says begrudgingly.
"Is there something about my orders that bothers you? I'd like to avoid causing you any problems if possible."
Again, she turns and pouts. I feel myself getting agitated.
[Deep breaths.]
I slow my breathing and allow the frustration to wash away.
"Sakura." Again, Josh prompts her with a nudge. She sighs and opens up.
"I thought you were leaving Shinobu and me to fight all on our own. I didn't know you'd thought it through that much."
"Okay. I can see why that bothered you. Whether I made the right decision or not, we should have a plan for that situation. This time, we'll have some fairies helping us, so why don't we divide our numbers differently? Let's have Josh and Shinobu take one side, and you and I take the other."
"Why can't I stay with Josh?"
"We need the strongest person in our team to protect Shinobu because she's the weakest. I have a lot more confidence in Josh's ability to stop a charging monster than my own." It seems my compliment of Josh has put the flower girl in a tough situation. Before she can think of a counter, I continue with my reasoning. "If a monster manages to get past me, I also trust you to be able to protect yourself. I can't be turning around to worry about someone else in the middle of combat which I'm sure I'd do if Shinobu and I were together. Lastly, you can still support Josh from the side."
My avalanche of words is enough to gain her consent, and we finish preparing.
"Is everyone ready?" Inari flies into the room with unusual vigor.
"Yes, and so are you, apparently."
"Fufufu, is it that obvious?"
"Only if you're feeling as good as I think you are." Seeing the leader of the fairies overflowing with motivation is infectious. I can feel energy bursting from my veins.
"Then I guess it is. I've been stuck between two minds, and I've finally got it worked out."
"That's fantastic." I just leave it at that without questioning her further. I'm confident she would explain it to me if she wanted to talk about it. "Oh, by the way. Jezabel said the Duke's forces would likely arrive sometime next month."
"That should give us more than enough time to prepare."
"I hope so." I've never fought a war, so I'm having trouble being as self-assured as the charismatic fairy.