EXTRA CHAPTER 4: ANOTHER 'SEDUCTRESS'

***Malvette, the capital of the Kingdom of Cherwind, a few weeks ago…***

“Missy, you got another batch of letters from the mailbox.”

“Coming!”

The head proprietor of the famous Royal Inn—dubbed as the ‘premier hotel in all of Cherwind—never wasted her time going around the hallways of her hotel to reach the ground floor. Coming from the third, topmost level, the dog beastwoman used her quick reflexes to cushion her fall by sliding down the pillars and beams of her place. Her assistant, the manager Madame Bellefort, was already used to her display of athleticism. However, the old lady always reminds Missy that what she just did wasn’t ‘lady-like’.

“Any case,” the Madame Bellefort continued after dressing down the beastwoman. “As I’ve said before, you got another pile of correspondence.”

“Have you read it all, Madame?”

“I checked some of those, yes,” the old lady confirmed. “However,” she brought out a pair of letters, enclosed in fancy-looking envelopes. “These are personally addressed to you; you should be the one reading these.”

Missy’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw the seals that secured the envelopes, especially the first one. Both had coats of arms featured prominently on the melted wax, but the first letter had the insignia of the Duchy of Malvette—the fief of His Majesty the King of Cherwind in the human realm. The dog-lady immediately opened it.

“So?” the Madame Bellefort asked after a few moments, curious as to what the Lord Kuro wrote for Missy.

“Hmm…it seems like His Majesty the King is inviting us to come and invest in Cherwoods,” the Beastwoman answered, never bothering to take her eyes off the paper.

“Cherwoods? That’s the elf lands, right?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t it that there’s trouble in that realm lately? I read it from the newspapers, as well as heard rumors from the merchant caravans at the town square. They say the border crossings between Cherwoods and the other realms were closed after Her Holiness the Elf Saint disappeared.”

“Well, His Majesty did touch on that topic, Madame,” Missy pointed out. “And apparently, he already solved that issue. That’s why he’s inviting us to do business there. The elves need work, and that place might be lucrative for our expansion.”

“I see…” the old lady nodded. “If His Majesty the King already gave us his assurance, then by all means, we should go!”

“Indeed!” the beastwoman cheerfully clapped her hands. “I’ll make the necessary preparations for our journey ahead.”

“Oh, wait, Missy!”

“Madame?”

The old lady pointed to the other letter, “How about that one? That letter is sealed by the coat of arms of the House of Rubinforth.”

“Eh? What human noble house is that?”

“That’s the insignia of the family of the current Human Saint, Her Holiness the Lady Madelaine Ann Rubinforth.”

Upon learning that, Missy tore the letter open. However, instead of the beautiful handwriting typical of human hands, what greeted her was the crude, almost illegible Beastman Latin letters signed by the Beastman Saint herself, the Lady Ruro of the Wolf.

“What’s that? Can you read it?” the Madame Bellefort asked. “Is it even a letter? Those characters are just horrible!”

“It’s from Her Holiness the Lady Ruro.”

The color on the old lady’s face nearly disappeared the moment she realized she had just insulted Cherwind’s holy lady. She quickly uttered a prayer for forgiveness as Missy tried her best to decipher what the Beastman Saint wrote on the paper.

“What could’ve been the issue of Her Holiness from us? Did she hate the milk and cookies we served her before? Or it’s the beddings that she didn’t like?” the Madame kept on muttering.

“I don’t think this is an angry letter though,” Missy cleared to her. “Though, from what I can understand, she’s imploring us to come to Chersea first before heading to Cherwoods.”

“Ha? But why?”

“It seems we’re invited to appear in some place called the…erm, Holy Palatial Gardens? Did I read that right?”

The Madame Bellefort couldn’t believe what she had just heard, and yanked the letter off the beastwoman’s hands, much to the latter’s shock. “Y-You’re right!” the old lady exclaimed after she read it. “We’re being invited to appear before Her Holiness the Lady Rubinforth!”

“I-Is something wrong with that, Madame?”

“I find it strange that the Holy Ladies are asking us—a former pimp and a prostitute—to appear at Chersea’s holiest site. I don’t know about your religious customs here in Cherwind, but as I was a brothel owner in the past, I’m considered a ‘dirty person’ among my people. Thus, I shouldn’t be allowed to even set foot at the Holy Palatial Gardens.”

“Oh…so it’s a human belief, huh?”

The Madame nodded, “It’s the reason there are more brothels here than in Chersea. Your people are more open to sex than my race.”

“Well, it’s Her Holiness the Lady Ruro who invited us,” Missy countered. “Besides, the letter was sealed with the symbol of the Human Saint’s house, and no one can fake that, on the pain of death and eternal damnation, right? So I guess it’s a legitimate request; we should go.”

“The letter did not state the reason we should appear there?”

The dog-lady shook her head.

The Madame Bellefort took a deep breath, and said, “You should go, Missy.”

“Me? Alone? Why?”

“Someone needs to stay behind to look after our inn, especially the daily operations,” the old lady chuckled, while pointing to her back. “Besides, I’m already an old crone, thus, I’m weak for the journey. I’ll only slow you down.”

“Yep, you should listen to your grandma.”

“!!!” The dog-lady and the human Madame were both stunned to see the Beastman Saint, Ruro of the Wolf, suddenly appeared at the lobby of their hotel. Nevertheless, they remembered to give their respects to the holy lady, and Missy was about to head to the kitchen for some snacks, when Ruro stopped her.

“While I love to eat, please don’t bother. We’re going now,” she told Missy.

“Eh?”

“Yep, we need you as soon as possible,” Ruro took hold of the dog-lady’s hand. “The saints would like to ask your help about a pressing matter concerning His Majesty the King Kuro, so I really waited for the letter to arrive before coming here.”

“You could’ve just teleport in, Your Holiness,” Missy replied. “Just like what you did now.”

“I-I want to try my hands in writing stuff. I read in the Lady Hinwe’s manga that girls write love letters to the boy they like…”

“H-Huh?”

“You heard nothing! Let’s go!” Then, an embarrassed Ruro turned to the old lady, “And you’re coming with us to Chersea, grandma. At least, let Maddie heal your back pains, if that’s bothering you.”

“Thanks for the help, Your Holiness,” the old lady then took hold of the other hand the Beastman Saint offered to her.

Just as they were about to teleport, however, Missy suddenly remembered that they both had no money within their pockets. She called out to Ruro, “Wait—”

But before the dog-lady could finish her sentence, her vision went fuzzy and white.

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***The Saint’s Tree Palace, Cherwoods, present day…***

“Don’t be shy,” the Lady Hinwe reassured her esteemed guest, the dog-lady, Missy. “Unlike the humans, we elves don’t care if you’re a former brothel girl. Treat my place as your own; we’ll be working together, anyway.”

“T-Thank you, Your Holiness,” the beastwoman curtsied. “And I’m also thankful to Her Holiness the Lady Madelaine. I’m still in shock from the warm welcome she gave me, even though I’m a ‘dirty person’ in the humans’ eyes.”

“Eh, you need not to worry about her attitude towards you,” the Elf Saint smiled. “The Human Saint may be an odd person, but it’s in a good way. Not only is she fine with everyone around her, I like how she’s receptive of new ideas that will improve her realm.”

“Her Holiness is like His Majesty the King,” Missy quipped. “As such, I’m willing to help Your Holinesses in any way I can. I am your most faithful servant.”

“You don’t need to be so formal whenever we’re in private,” the Elf Saint then looked around as if searching for someone who might be eavesdropping on them. “Anyway, as the saints back at the Holy Palatial Gardens told you, we need your expertise in seducing the Lord Kuro of Arles.”

“Yes,” the dog-lady’s face turned serious. “Please tell me what’s going on with His Majesty, Your Holiness.”

“Overworking.”

“Yep, that’s the King, alright.”

“You said that as if he’s always like that.”

“He does.”

“That virgin…”

Missy couldn’t help but chuckle. However, she continued, “And that’s why we love him. His Majesty never used his power and influence to abuse people around him, when in fact, he had all the rights to do so.”

“You got a point, but I still wish he would look at us. That bastard’s got a lot of girls from nearly all the races swooning for him, yet he’s an incel through and through!”

“I-Incel?”

“An idiot. Anyway, I guess you and I—as well as the others—have the same concerns. Kuro’s overworking himself, thus he needs to rest. That’s why we’re asking for your help.”

“I thought Her Holiness the Lady Madelaine is lusting after him?”

“That’s another point. In any case, the goal is to get him in ‘the mood’. Seduce Kuro enough to make him want sex; just be careful not to make it too obvious, or that virgin will run away. Nor should the humans hear about it…get what I mean?”

Missy nodded, “Do not worry, Your Holiness. I’ve read your erotic works before. I know why you’re telling me these things, and I fully understand the need to stop getting into the awkward details. Strange though…the humans love sex, but hate talking about it in the open.”

“Heh, weird race, if you ask me,” the Lady Hinwe snickered. “So, if you need anything to succeed in your plans, feel free to tell me.”

“Right. First, I’d like to know His Majesty’s preferences in women. It is important to know what ‘turns on’ the man you love, after all. Everything starts in that ‘spark’ in a man’s head the moment he sees the lady of his dreams. So, if you read his mind, Your Holiness—”

“Short hair. Glasses. Ass and thighs.”

“O-Oh…” the dog-lady glanced at her buttocks for a bit. “Th-That’s fast…”

“I keep a journal on what’s in his mind,” the Elf Saint pulled a notebook from her chest, much to Missy’s confusion. Within it was all her notes about Kuro, as she grinned and proudly puffed her chest. “Heh, who would’ve thought this would come in handy when I originally intended to piss him off for meddling with my affairs.”

“Eh?”

“Long story short, you know the guy; loves fixing people’s lives around him to the point of meddling. I thought I can use these to blackmail Kuro to stop, but now, it’s got another purpose…I learned to love him in the end, see?”

At that moment, however, Missy realized the dangers of staying around the saints. Not even the events of long ago could escape their scrutiny…

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**Kuro**

There’s something going on behind me, I swear.

“…”

I mean, the Lady Missy and Her Holiness the Lady Hinwe had just met, and yet, they hit off together as they were old friends already? Nah, that couldn’t be right. While I was aware of the Lady Missy’s past that required her to charm and get along with men and women alike to stay afloat in her business, the Lady Hinwe was another matter.

That elf is the ultimate boss of the hikkis! How the fuck did she befriend the Lady Missy only a few minutes after they saw each other?

“…”

Unless, of course, they met somewhere before…

“…”

…which is not in my interest. It’s not like I got the rights to stick my nose into their lives and restrict them in whatever they wanted to do. I should keep myself from opening another ‘Pandora’s box’; I just finished dealing with the problems of this land. I believe I deserved some break, and I wanted it soon.

With that in mind, I remember I haven’t finished reading those books in the Count of Maverny’s library.

“Ship docking!”

The sounds of the cannons blasting took my thoughts away from the Lady Missy and Her Holiness the Lady Hinwe. As the passengers alighted the Chersean ship that had just arrived, I turned my attention to the familiar face approaching me.

“Welcome to Cherwoods, Lord Banu of the East Ursus!”

The tall, imposing bear-man, and a famous ‘traveling writer’, smiled the moment he saw me. Instead of taking my hand for a shake, he pulled me to him, and gave me the usual bear-tribe hug. Honestly, I thought I was going to die for a moment, for he held me so tight it nearly squeezed the air out of my lungs. Fortunately, Banu stopped and let me go before I lost consciousness.

“Also, look at who I found at the ship!” he told me, directing my gaze towards the people behind him.

“A pleasure to meet you again, milord!” the Chancellor of Calabria, Sir Dane Bellingstein—whom Banu had met in battle before, in Cherwind—was with the bear-man.

And, aside from the Calabrian minister, another old friend of mine, the dwarf halfling Prince of the City of Stadtsberg, Prince Giuseppe Uhrian, made his presence known. “Ah! It’s been a while since I last saw you, lad!” he let out a laugh. “But I did hear of your exploits! You sure are the hero worthy of legends, even more worthy of the greatest Chersean hero, the Lady Cassandra David!”

I could only laugh at the comparison. I mean, between Cass and I, she did more than I could ever do for this world…even sacrificing herself to save everyone.

I’m just fixing whatever she has left.

Anyway, along with my guests was a man with white hair and red eyes. His near-pale complexion was already a give-away; but I remembered the Lady Noir could take off her horns, since she’s the daughter from a union of a demon and a human.

“Lady Noir,” though I was inside the territory guarded by the Chersean elves, I still lowered my voice talking to her. “Don’t you think you’re risking too much to come here?”

Everyone was taken aback by what I just said. The man in question himself—or herself—blurted out, “How did you—”

“My laddie Kuro sure can sniff through you, Your Excellency!” the halfling dwarf prince laughed.

“You never seem to have lost your edge, friend!” Banu slapped me on the back, and I nearly coughed off my heart. “And to think, you saw through the demon lord-president’s disguise!”

Seriously, guys? Can’t you even see the white hair, and red eyes? Those are the features of a bona fide Usarved!

Well, to make things short, while I sent an invitation to the Lords Uhrian and Bellingstein, having more people on board our ‘help train’ was a welcome idea. Still, just to be safe, I should arrange a security detail for the Lady Noir. After all, getting the demons to invest here would be sound, considering their expertise in several industries.