Chapter 71- Last Days of the Break

[Luna POV]

Since it was really early and I was still riding the high of being with Tamamo, I decided to put this excess energy into something productive.  I left my room and went to the main lounge of the villa.  I pulled out my sewing stuff and went to work.

I was just mindlessly working when I got an idea for something I can do for Tamamo in the future.  I decided to start humming and singing in my head so I could eventually get the skill.

“♪Hmm, hmm, hmm, hm, hm, hm.  Hm, hm, hmm, hm, hm, hm, hmm, hm, hmm.♪”

I was in my own little world when someone else came into the room.  They walked over to me and sat down.  I was too into my work to really pay attention to them and the only reason I knew they were there was due to presence detection.  Once I reached a stopping point, I looked up to see who it was.

“Morning Luna.”

“Morning Nia, how was the party last night?”

“It was good.  The only thing that was different from the last one was Pneuma giving a speech.  From the expression on your face, I assume your night was great.”

“Of course.  I never knew how good if felt to pamper someone, but now that I know, I can’t get enough of it.”

It was then that I felt something.  It took me a few seconds to figure out what it was, but eventually I figured it out.  I took my mirror out of my inventory and the first thing I saw was Tamamo’s face.  I looked around and then waved my hand.  This triggered a space barrier that I’ve been working on.

“What did you just do, Luna?”

“Set up a barrier to keep people out.  No one can get in here now without my permission.”

“Why did you do that?”

{Because I’m here right now.}

“Goddess!?”

{Hello Nia.}

I turned the mirror to face Nia and Tamamo waved at her.

“So, this is how the mirrors work.  No wonder they’re divine artifacts.”

{By the way Luna, why are you starting to sing?}

“So I can one up the me from last night.”

{I look forward to that.  By the way, please don’t pull a stunt like you did just before you left again.}

“Why not?”

{Because I won’t be able to hold myself back if you do.}

“And that’s a bad thing why?”

{Because we won’t be able to satisfy each other in only one night.}

“Fine.”

“Are the two of you done?”

“Sorry about that Nia.”

“It’s fine since I understand how the two of you feel, but please try and at least act serious for the rest of the morning.  You do remember that you have a meeting with Pneuma today, right?”

Just then I felt something trying to get into the barrier.  I used more space magic to see who it was and discovered Queen Mythra was here.

“Nia the queen is here, do you want me to let her in?”

“You can, she is trustworthy.”

I opened a hole in the barrier at the door and the queen walked in.

“Good morning.  Nia, why couldn’t I get in until just now?” (Mythra)

“Luna set up a barrier since we didn’t want people to come in here.  I told her you were trustworthy, and she let you in.” (Nia)

“Why would you not want people to come in here, Lady Luna?” (Mythra)

{Because my presence here is something that we keep secret.}

“Who said that?” (Mythra)

I made my mirror float closer to Queen Mythra and Tamamo spoke again.

{I did.  I am the Goddess of the Moon and Luna’s future wife.  Pleased to meet you.}

Queen Mythra stood there dumbstruck for a minute before coming back to reality.  She then leapt into the air and landed prostrate in front of me and my mirror.

“I deeply apologize for my son’s foolish actions!” (Mythra)

“It’s fine, all of that is in the past now.” (Luna)

{What Luna said, I’ll accept this apology, just make sure he behaves if he ever meets Luna again.}

“It’s just like I told you, Mythra.  They already let it go.” (Nia)

“Thank you, and you were right, Nia.” (Mythra)

Queen Mythra got up off the floor and went to sit by Nia.  Since I don’t get to do it often, I brought out a tea set I had in my inventory and served everyone that could drink it.

“Sorry I can’t give you any Tamamo.” (Luna)

{It’s fine, I have some coffee here.}

“Gah. I should have made some for myself to keep in my inventory.” (Luna)

{Didn’t you do that when you made it for the two of us?}

“I didn’t, I was too preoccupied trying to find the right moment to give you your ring back then, so all I did was put the stuff to make it into my inventory.” (Luna)

{I’ll lend you some mana next time so you can make yourself some.}

“Thanks.  I’ll pamper you extra for that.” (Luna)

“Nia, is it always like this for them?” (Mythra)

“No, well, maybe?  It’s the first time I’m seeing the full conversation.  Usually, all of this is going on through telepathy between them.” (Nia)

“Honestly, it reminds me of how me and Drome were before he took the throne.” (Mythra)

“I completely understand, Rex and I were the same before he got so busy.” (Nia)

“You’re just as busy though.” (Mythra)

“That’s true.” (Nia)

“Oh right, was there something you needed, Queen Mythra?” (Luna)

“Just Mythra is fine, and I came here early so I could join the meeting with Pneuma.” (Mythra)

“I see.  Since we still have some time before that, can I ask your opinion on this?” I asked while handing my sewing over to Mythra.

She took it from me and started inspecting it.

“Very impressive.  I would say that this would be sought after by many noble ladies for cold weather.  If I had to tell you about improving anything, I would say you need to work on the lines in the patterns.” (Mythra)

“I see.  Guess I can’t brute force my way with a level eight skill and S rank Dex.” (Luna)

“While I would like to comment on that, this is more a problem with trying to do something that a master of the craft can do with the experience of a beginner.  Is there anyone you are making this for?” (Mythra)

“I was going to give it to Nia since the floor we are currently on in the dungeon is a snowy one.” (Luna)

“I thought you were making that for the Goddess.” (Velvet)

“When did you get in here, Velvet?” (Nia)

“Just a moment ago.” (Velvet)

“No, I’m going to make something for Tamamo at another point in time.” (Luna)

{I guess I need to up my game as well if I want to keep up with you Luna.}

“Fufufufu. You can just leave all of that to me Tamamo.  I’ve awakened to the pleasure of pampering you, and I want to do it as much as possible.” (Luna)

{You have to remember that that goes both ways, Luna.  I enjoy pampering you just as much.}

“There they go again.” (Nia)

“I guess this is what it’s like in Luna’s head all the time.” (Velvet)

“Hahaha.  Let’s just leave them be.” (Mythra)

We all continued this way until the meeting time.  We moved to the secure meeting room and Pneuma and Drome arrived shortly after.  The meeting went well, though the end was a little chaotic.

“Nia, I messed up and now Velvet will be out of commission for the rest of the day.” (Luna)

“No…I’m…fine.  Just don’t…do…that again.” (Velvet)

{Good job bouncing back from that this quickly Velvet.}

“Thank you…Goddess.” (Velvet)

“What depth are you at now?” (Luna)

“30%” (Velvet)

“I expected a bit more since the fluff levels rise with my actual level apparently.  Now that I think about it, I need to start getting Nia submerged as well.” (Luna)

“What do you mean, Luna?” (Nia)

“Since you’re family, I want to get you used to my Abyssal Fluff and the only way to do that is to get you to brush or pet my tails or my fox form.  Excluding Tamamo and Atmos, Velvet is the only one who has a modicum of resistance to it, and I don’t want to drive my family insane from fluff.” (Luna)

“What about Soleil?  Isn’t she also resistant?” (Nia)

“Soleil was a whole different problem, but the short of it was that all of her resistance and obsession was due to the charm skill which is now gone.” (Luna)

“A word of advice Nia, get this done sooner rather than later.” (Velvet)

“Then we can do that in a bit.  What time do you want to go back to the dungeon?” (Nia)

“Tomorrow?” (Luna)

“Why was that a question?” (Velvet)

“Because I was asking for you opinion Velvet.  You’re a member of the party as well, so I need to ask your thoughts on decisions like this.” (Luna)

“In that case, I’m fine with going back tomorrow.  That is, if Nia is recovered enough from her experience with your abyss, Luna.” (Velvet)

“Then it’s settled.  We leave tomorrow at the earliest and the day after at the latest.  Since my tails are freshly brushed, just petting one is fine, so have at it, Nia.” (Luna)

She placed her hand on my tail and was immediately transfixed.  She pet my tail a few times before Velvet knocked her out.

“Well, that didn’t take long.”

“Of course, it didn’t, Luna.  Why would you expect it would?”

“Because nothing is different between you and other people, but you resist it much more than anyone but Tamamo and Atmos.  I know that you have a higher depth, but still.”

{You’ll learn in due time, Luna, just be patient.}

“I understand.”

We brought Nia to her room and then went out to the city to get some things for the environmental floors of the dungeon.  I was almost done with the things for cold that I was giving to Nia and Velvet, but I didn’t know what the other floors would be like, so we bought stuff for every kind of environment we could think of.

When we got back to the villa, it was already getting dark.  I checked up on Nia, but she was still asleep.  I told Velvet this and we decided to go to bed ourselves.  The next day Nia was still a bit out of it so we decided that dungeon diving would be restarted the next day.

I finished my sewing and gained the singing skill and Velvet managed to get the sewing skill.  I gave Nia and Velvet the scarves I was working on, and their reactions made me feel a sense of pride.  Velvet’s an artistically embroidered whip-sword design, while Nia’s had fox and cat motifs.  By the end of the day, Nia was completely recovered so we were ready to go in the morning.

Author's Note:

So I've had an idea for the arc following Luna getting her sixth tail, but I wanted the opinion of the comments.  How do you feel about stories where a person reincarnates into an otome game?  I think that it might be good as an arc, but as of now it's only an idea.  I might even change my mind by the time we get there, but I want to keep my options open.  Thanks for reading.