2 weeks later from the mental attack that I suffered:
It had been 2 weeks since I told Fumiko what I had done, my emotion suppression system failed due to a direct mental attack from goddess Ifrit and Sia had to release all that pent-up guilt that I had. But, to my surprise, Fumiko, or Nanano now, took it better than I expected, things were better than I expected them to be. 2 days after that she gave me a big file with all of the crimes Lord Welcia, Lord Ikrel, and Rei committed, Fumiko was extremely disgusted at the 3 of them, it looks like now she doesn't feel any guilt for their deaths.
As a side note, Sia told me that Fumiko's getting her mana illness is almost cured, little by little, and that her personality should return to that of Nanano's fully in the coming weeks or month, she is also getting new skills every day and expanding her mana while fighting with me and Hana. Her fighting skill has also increased and she can hold her own against bandits and low to medium level monsters.
!Note that Fumiko is currently of the mental age of 25, the illness restricted her mental age to somewhere around 15-16 and made her a little girl who is still attached to her father never wanting to let go. Nanano's self was trapped inside of Fumiko for a while but she began to slowly emerge, it first happened when you gave her the skill scroll for Meteor Havoc, which started to slowly release Nanano's personality back to Fumiko's body.!
"Thank you, Sia. Also, how do our levels look?"- I know our levels and stats are quite low and we need to get stronger.
!The levels are decent for now, but I suggest you kill more monsters for more exp!- Sia finished her talk. I am lying in my bed, looking at the ceiling.
"Hikaru, get up, you and Hana have an important mission to perform"- I didn't notice her right away but Fumiko, Nanano I mean, is standing at the side of my bed. She is looking down at me.
"What is it Fumiko?"- I rose from the bed and looked at her. Fumiko is quite short, shorter than me and I have to look down at her to be able to see her.
"Well, I have a meeting with representatives from another Lordship, Lord Kara wants to meet me, they said that the main point of the meeting will be a negotiation between our two Lordships. They said that the guards at his mansion aren't trained well enough, Lord Kara wants me to use you two to train guards. That's what they said. Can you use your skill, Hana told me her name is Sia, and also, add me to that telepathy list, I have the skill as well"
"Understood. Sia, do it"
! Understood, adding the individual Fumiko Welcia to the telepathic network!
"Can you hear me Fumiko?"- I spoke with her through the telepathic network.
"Yes, it is cool. Now, Sia investigate what I just told you, what is it that you can find"- Fumiko spoke with Sia, she looked happy when talking to her maybe it was the effect of Hana's skill that made her happy. Hana's skills are for mind control at the end of the day. One day maybe we can just use her and choose the non-violent option and just edit the memories of people, but under the current circumstances, we can't do that. We have to remember that these people, almost all of them are brainwashed by Goddess Ifrit, their mental state can change at any time and any modification will not always be permanent. Heck, I wonder if Akatsuki's mind control has been reversed.
!From your memory the way that letter was written might be a trap. They might tell the truth or lie to you. I will need to meet up with him for further analysis. My conclusion now is that the meeting is a trap and Lord Kara, she might be plotting something!
"Wait, Lord Kara, is a guy. Why do you say she?"
!The guy put in there is just a figurehead, the real lord is a woman by the name of Kara. I suggest that you immediately depart and take Hikaru and Hana as guards with you, leaving Ayame and Alma to deal with all of the paperwork and house chores.!
"Understood"
"Let's tell them" – I spoke to Fumiko telepathically, this is so much easier.
"Don't worry Hikaru, I heard everything, I filled Ayame in on everything, so don't worry. I will be there shortly"
We waited for Hana for around 15 minutes, she showed up at the door of the room we were in. She was in her usual outfit, black and white clothing that looked really plain, but it was very resistant to damage. I am still wearing the clothes that I got from Ikrel a while ago.
We had left for the meeting with Lord Kara, the Kara region is not that far away, and is closer to us than Ikrel.
"I wonder if there is a way to speed up the transport?"- Fumiko spoke up after a few hours.
"Well, we are heading in a carriage and it's official. If we had gone on foot it might have been faster but the guards there would have been alerted and we would have been treated as intruders" – Hana replied to Fumiko, her voice ever so calming.
"I will go to sleep. Wake me up when we are there"
We arrived there at around noon, I think it was around 3 pm, and the travel took us around 6 hours by carriage.
"Right this way!"- The guards recognized Fumiko and they let us into Lord Kara's mansion.
We were about to enter the mansion, I had a feeling that someone was watching us.
"Hana, do you feel it as well?" - I shifted my gaze from left to right a few times and I could see traces of movement.
"Yeah, someone is stalking us. They are pretty strong, their mana, aura or both are leaking in the air. For now, behave normally" – For safety, I cloaked everyone in my shadows forming a shield around us.
A wushing sound can be heard in the air as a knife is heading straight at Fumiko.
The person tried to attack Fumiko but she was safe due to my skill, but by instinct used one of her skills (Speed Dodge).
Hana drew her katana, ready to attack from whatever direction the attacker might come out of.
I reached out with my shadow tendrils to restrain her but she was somehow able to dodge my shadow tendrils, Hana and Fumiko had gone out to attack and fight her. Fumiko supports Hana with spells on the side. The battle is equal, both the cloaked figure in front of us and Hana have the same skills when it comes to battle it seems.
In a fraction of a second Hana slipped away and the cloaked figure managed to land a hit on her, knocking her out cold.
"Do it again and you are dead!"- I walked towards the figure, head on the ground, they looked at me with child-like fascination, when I was 1 meter from them I stopped and released my aura, and the figure blown away with the cloak revealing a woman with blonde hair, pink eyes, and tanned skin.
"Very well done, Fumiko's guard"- She barely got up from the ground, I rushed to her, and gripped her neck with my hand lifting her.
"It's the last warning, I don't care who you are. Harming anyone I care for is always going to be the last straw"- I tightened my grip around her neck.
"I am Lord Kara, the one who sent the letter. Put me down please" – The woman could barely speak while I was holding her in the stranglehold.
"1. I don't give a fuck who you are and 2. This is not how you greet a guest"- I let go of her, throwing her with force onto the stone path.
"She is Kara, you should have stopped. I am grateful that you guided me but you took it way too far"- Fumiko is standing near me out of breath.
"She hurt Hana and was about to strike you as well. For now, she is a threat. Ayame would have no qualms about killing her"
"Well, let's all get inside and talk. I have prepared a lot for the 3 of you. Remember that you are safe here, no one will dare attack people as strong as your guards. One last thing Fumiko, when you get guards that are monsters and the king and goddess don't know about them, make them control their aura, especially if they are a demon, although I don't know how you made such a vile creature your guard in the first place" – Lord Kara smirked as she got up from the ground, heavily injured.
"Never call my guards vile creatures, take it back or you will see no training for your guards. I don't want you to put them down anymore, understood?"- Lord Kara turned with a shocked expression.
"So, you are one of those new age thinkers that believe monsters and humans can live together? What nonsense. Anyway, come in and we will talk more"
!You have to go, it will benefit you, Fumiko, despite you not liking her you can manipulate her into submission!
"I like how you think Sia"- Fumiko grinned at me.
Hana was waking up as well from being knocked out. I explained things as quickly as I could. We then got into Lord Kara's mansion.