"Easy girl. Let's take it easy, okay?"
I slowly inch my way towards Lily, as she makes much larger steps towards me. Despite being around half my height in her normal form, she now stands eye-to-eye with me. If she's this big now as a kid, imagine how she'll be when she grows up!
"Lily, listen to me. You need to calm down. It's me, Vex. You still recognize me, right?"
I try to reason with her using a calm voice. Assuming that this transformation is similar to Zome's, her reasoning is completely gone and she's acting on instinct alone.
Right now, I look like nothing more than a play toy to her, if not her next snack.
"Look, I don't want to hurt you, and I certainly don't want you to hurt me. If you calm down, we'll go get some ice cream and forget all about this. You're a kid, so you like ice cream, right?"
"NYAA!"
Lily pounces into the air, her claws rapidly approaching my face.
"Crap. Curse my luck…"
SHOOP!
THUD!
Just before her claws could sink into me, some sort of tranquilizing beam engulfs Lily, causing her to fall to the ground unconsciously, stopping her rampage.
Whatever that was, it knocked her out completely. I'm glad that she has calmed down, though I didn't want it to be this way.
At least she's transforming back to normal now.
"Freeze! Put your hands up!"
Ah, now I see; it was the capital guard's doing. These guys usually patrol the areas around the palace, so to see them at a place like this…
"Do you know this demi-human?"
"Yes."
"Do you own her?"
"...yes?"
"Then show us your deed!"
"I don't have it on me."
Technically, that's not a lie.
"You brought her here, didn't you? Don't lie, we have you on camera!"
"Tch. Yes, I brought her with me."
Dealing with the royal guard is such a pain. It's no wonder why nobody likes them.
"Under the authority of Lady Endori, you and this demi-human are under arrest!"
_________________________________________________________________________
"Milady, how is the situation coming along?"
"Nothing has changed. If anything, it has become worse, Serine."
Within the walls of a marble palace, a noble lady–with the air of an elegant princess–solemnly stares out of a stained-glass window. Without even looking at her maid, she continues to speak.
"Another one has disappeared completely without a trace. At this point, I do not know what action to take next."
"Mlady, please do not give up! I swear that we will see to it that this mystery be resolved."
"Thank you Serine, but I do not want to waste anyone's time in a futile manner."
"Lady Endori–"
"Excuse me, Lady Endori! I have a message from the royal guards!"
Suddenly, a maid rushes into the room urgently.
"Speak."
"A huge incident occurred during a curse match tournament. A cat demi-human child went on a murderous rampage."
"Is the culprit apprehended?"
"Yes, they are currently being transported to the dungeons."
"Well what does this have to do with…"
Endori pauses her thoughts, upon a realization.
"What do you mean by 'they'? Is there someone else?"
"Yes, a man named Vex appears to have some connection with the demi-human child."
Endori's eyes light up.
She finally looks towards her maids.
"Vex? That Vex?!"
The maid is taken aback.
"Y-yes. He's the same man."
"Tell the guards to bring him and the demi-human here at once!"
"Yes ma'am, right away!"
"Lady Endori, are you sure about this?"
Endori once again looks out the window…
"Yes. He's the one. I'm sure of it."
Wearing a gleeful smile.
"Dang it..."
"Hey, no talking back there!"
"Okay, okay. Sheesh…"
Here I am, once again at the mercy of misfortune. Heh, as if it knew the concept of "mercy".
My hands are tied behind my back with shock-cuffs, I'm being taken to the dungeons with a bail so high that I couldn't pay it in two lifetimes, and now I'm banned from competing. There goes my extra income…
I take a look across from me. On the other side of the wagon, the royal guard in charge of watching prisoners sits alongside Lily.
Lily is still lying unconsciously, with some sort of muzzle around her mouth in addition to the shock-cuffs. Honestly, she is in a worse condition than I am.
It's already bad enough that she killed someone and wounded several others–which is illegal–but she did it as a demi-human. She'd be lucky to be simply executed.
I can't help but feel bad for the girl. I'm not sure of how she even got tangled up in this situation in the first place, but I do know one thing:
Curses played a major role.
"Listen up you criminals! We just got orders from Lady Endori to bring you to her palace at once. Any funny business, and we'll kill you on the spot!"
"Understood."
That's odd, why does Lady Endori want to meet us? I never interacted with her before, or her father for that matter. How does she even know I exist?
___________________________________________________________________________
"Lady Endori, we have brought the criminals that you have requested."
"Excellent work, royal guards. Please come in."
"Yes ma'am, right away!"
The maids open the door as the guards usher us in. One of the guards is behind me, looking for any reason to shock me, and another guard is in front of me carrying the unconscious Lily.
This is my first time even seeing Avarice's palace–let alone enter it. It's pretty typical of what you'd expect to see in a royal palace. The interior is decked out in gold, gemstones and marble…everything. It's pretty nice, but I've seen better.
"Thank you guards for your service. I want to discuss a private matter with this man. Give the child to Serine and leave at once. Make sure to remove his shock-cuffs as well. Do the same for the demi-human."
"But milady, are you sure? They are dangerous! What if–"
"Need I remind you the difference between a question and a command?"
"No ma'am! Okay everyone, let's head out. Lady Endori's orders!"
Finally, those power-happy guards are gone! All that's left in the room beside me are Endori and her maid who is now carrying Lily.
If I had to guess, Endori is in her late teens, around 16-18 years old. Her long crimson hair flows elegantly down her shoulders, her dark eyes gazes at me with serious intent.
What intent? No idea, but I can tell that she is thinking deeply about it.
"Greetings,Vex. I'm glad that we finally get to formally meet each other."
"How do you know my name?"
"Now now Vex, what kind of nobles would we be if we did not know about our countrymen?"
The room instantly became silent. Endori chuckles a bit.
"You don't have to answer that."
I wasn't, but I would.
"Anyway, I have heard reports of you from my servants. Recently, you attended a demi-human auction, correct?"
"Yes, I did."
"You've managed to steal that demi-human girl from Minda and Pai, correct?"
There's no point in refuting her questions. I'll remain straightforward.
"Yes, I did."
"Is that so? One of my servants was at the auction and was planning on bidding for that girl, yet here you are before me, with my merchandise."
"..."
Whelp, if this is going where I think it is, I'll never be a free man again. It is what it is.
"But none of that matters to me anymore. I am particularly interested in the way you managed to take the girl from their grasp. It was the power of your curse, right?"
"Yes?..."
Partially true. My physical skills did a lot of heavy lifting though.
"That's fascinating, Vex! Your curse in addition to your other skills will certainly be of use to me."
What could she possibly mean?
"I have a great concern that not even my closest servants can address. As you probably heard from the rumors, several people who have come to the palace have mysteriously disappeared–that includes my father, Lord Olan."
"Lord Olan's missing?"
Not that it matters since he was virtually always "missing" from the commoners. Just trying to move this "conversation" along already.
"Yes. One day he was here as usual, then after one of our 'disagreements', he disappeared the next morning without a trace. As for some of the others, I blinked and they suddenly vanished. For instance, my future husband indirectly kissed me, and he immediately disappeared."
"I'm sorry, Endori–I mean Lady Endori, but I can't help you. My curse isn't some magical mystery solver that you seem to think it is."
"How dare you respond to Lady Endori like that!"
Her personal maid, Serine, lashes out at me in anger. Chill out woman, it was a small slip-up!
"Serine, please let me address him, understand?"
"Yes, milady."
"Vex, I entrust that you will find a way to help us resolve this mystery."
"I'm not so sure…"
"You are technically a criminal, correct? If you help me, I'll pardon you and the demi-human."
"Okay, I'm in."
"Tehee, I knew you would cooperate!"
Endori walks towards Serine and the sleeping Lily. She caresses Lily's hair.
"So soft and beautiful…what's her name?"
"It's Lily."
Well, this is awkward. Are all nobles obsessed with demi-human fur?!
"So, Lady Endori…about that request…."
SNIFF
"Ahh, her tail smells like lovely flowers! Though it's tickling my nose…"
Endori prepares to sneeze. For some reason, Serine is looking incredibly worried.
"Ah…Ah…Ahhh!"
SWOO!
Without a word, Serine tosses Lily into the air and dashes towards the door. What in the world is that idiot thinking?!
I dash towards Lily in order to catch her. Right before she could land in my arms–
ACHOOOO!
"Sniff, I'm sorry about that everyone, please excuse me…Serine? Vex? Lily? Where did you all go?"