In Search of an Eternity Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

“Have you been enjoying your stay in my town?” The green eyes glinted mischievously over the spread fan as their owner questioned me.

“Yamatai is a beautiful village.” I responded diplomatically, “But I am curious as to why you left for so long.”

Indeed, for almost a month, Tamamo had disappeared from the village, despite her saying that she wanted to go on an adventure with me. I was not disappointed about it, having no reason to be, but the dissonance between her words and actions did annoy me.

“Hmm. Has your training been going well?” She questioned rather than answering, one of her tails picking up the kettle and pouring out some tea.

“You already know the answer to that.” I responded, getting a look of exasperation in return, causing me to sigh, “I am still not completely used to the style of fighting with a Katana, but Izuna-Sensei has praised my progress, stating that I am now passable.”

“Passable will have to do.” She mused, clicking her fan closed to reveal her grin, “I will sand off the edges myself. However, the basics were better off being taught by someone closer to your level.”

“That makes sense.” I nodded, internally wondering why it was so important that I learn Kenjutsu anyway, but knowing better than to pose the question.

“Oya? No protesting, no wounded pride that I am saying you aren’t good enough to learn from me?” She questioned, tilting her head to the side.

I laughed, “Of course not. You are immensely powerful and skilled. If you say that it’s better to learn from someone else, then the only thing I can do is trust it. Unwarranted pride is a quick way to end up dead.”

“More true than you know.” She nodded, a pleased hum escaping her as she sipped the tea, before she suddenly looked to me seriously, “The reason I waited so long here was to give Luka and Alice time. Once they are finished in San Ilia, we will begin our own journey.”

I stroked my beard, considering her words, “I see. So we will be following after them then? May I ask the reason?”

“You may.” She nodded, pausing just long enough to get an annoyed sigh from me with a victorious grin, “They will interact with several powerful monsters. I plan to recruit them into fighting the Angelic invasion so that the eventual war is less devastating and fought off a lot sooner, with less casualties.”

“Makes sense. In the timeline I saw, several towns were completely destroyed, with who knows how many people and Monsters killed.” Was my response, earning a raised eyebrow from the Kitsune.

“Interesting. You care about the death of Monsters you don’t know?” She took another sip of the tea, tails waving lazily behind her, “Considering that I could smell the blood on you the first time we met, that is surprising.”

“Monster Girls are sentient beings, just like humans. Like all thinking and feeling people, there are good ones and evil ones, ones that deserve death and ones that don’t.” I responded, taking my own sip of tea, inwardly despairing that I had become so accustomed to the taste of matcha with my stay here.

Tamamo looked pensive at that, staring into her own cup, tails curling around each other as she thought.

Eventually she spoke, “I see, an interesting point of view. I wonder though, you are aware of how I acted with Alice the First, correct? How I destroyed entire kingdoms? Would I not be deserving of death from that?”

“It was a long time ago. I’m sure you’ve killed recently as well, but I already knew that about you.” I responded, “If you did so, you must have had good reason. Everyone who has been affected by your past deeds is long dead and you have changed since that version of you. That is one of the great things about being alive, you always have a choice on how you act.”

She stared at me, a considering look on her face, “You say that now, but I doubt you fully understand me. Talking as if you are so familiar with my thoughts and actions… It’s annoying. I am not so different from that version of myself, I still have the urge to feast, just as I always had.”

I was unsurprised by that, “Of course you do. It’s part of you.”

“Yet you are unbothered by it?” She was clearly taken off guard by my easy acceptance, “The one you wish to marry has the innate desire to murder and you are not worried?”

“Back in the world I came from, there was a war. A massive war, the largest ever fought in our entire history.” I spoke, getting a furrowed brow from her at the seeming topic change, “Due to humans being the only sapient species on the planet, we were incredibly numerous. Our technology developed in an astoundingly quick fashion, before we knew it we had devices that allowed a single man to kill dozens in a minute.”

She didn’t interrupt, instead paying attention to my words, “Such an advance meant we were wholly unprepared for just how deadly, how lethal this war would be. Armies clashed, thousands died each hour and at the end of it no ground had been gained or lost. For years this war waged, eating up men, materiel and civilians alike, until at the end of it all over twenty million people had been killed, at least directly. Many more died from injuries later of course, but that was the estimated number.”

“Twenty mill…” Tamamo’s eyes widened at the number, “That’s…”

“Unthinkable? Insane? Yet it happened. Do you want to hear the worst part?” Her shocked, disbelieving eyes were locked on to me, morbid curiosity in her gaze, “Twenty years after this devastating war, we did it again. This time killing even more, destroying multiple continents in the process.”

“...You aren’t lying. That’s… how could something like that happen?” Even for such an ancient monster, death and destruction on this scale was almost beyond her ability to conceptualize.

“Humans from my world are warlike. We enjoy battle and competition, pitting ourselves against the best of the best, conquering them and proving ourselves better.” My voice was matter of fact, not at all guilty of what I was saying, “It’s how we advanced so fast, to beat everyone else was the impulse driving most of our most major breakthroughs. When I left, there had been no war of such massive proportions for close to eighty years, as we instead focused on economic and ideological competition.”

“What is the point of telling me all this?” she questioned, still obviously troubled by what I was saying.

“I know how to make the weapons that caused such widespread death and destruction.” I revealed, getting a shocked look from her, “I could conquer this world, even magic would not be enough to stop me should I build some of the bigger explosive devices. Like you, I hold the ability to destroy entire countries.”

“You would require technology to do so.” She was quick to point out, “I can do so with just my innate abilities.”

“Yet I could still do it.” I responded, “I admit to feeling some temptation. Conquering my own country, becoming a King, instituting my own laws… It has some appeal. Yet, I will not do so. I refuse to fall into such a mindset.”

My admission seemed to surprise her, her green eyes appraising me in a new light.

I placed the cup down on the table in between us, before asking her a question, “What is better, Tamamo? To be born good, or to overcome your own evil nature through great effort?”

She considered our conversation, looking off to the distance as I asked my final question, a silence falling like a thick blanket between us. Her tails flicked as she thought, her ears clasped close to her head as she furrowed her brows.

After some time spent pondering, her eyes moved back to mine, as she stated, “You are surprisingly wise, Lothar. You have given me much to think about.”

“I’m glad I was not boring.” I smiled, causing a small grin to grow on her own face, “But I am unable to claim complete responsibility for my words. They were told to me by someone else, a long time ago.”

“Wisdom is wisdom, regardless of its sources.” She answered, a thoughtful but strangely comfortable silence falling over us as she finished the last of her tea.

---SESESE---

Tamamo observed as Lothar went through the katas, being instructed by Izuna. They would soon depart, her spies telling her that Alice and Luka were seen heading towards the Sabasa desert. Even now, she could feel the gift that she had retrieved for him, the lingering annoyance of dealing with Yamata-no-Orochi. Still, she had managed to successfully extract a blade of sufficient quality to handle her enchantments.

That was a thought for later however, when Lothar had proved that he had earned the blade. Looking at his admittedly attractive form as he moved through the exercises, he was well on his way to doing so before they even departed.

If the Monster Lords could give a sword to their chosen travel partners, she could do the same.

Her musings were cut short as Lothar looked over to where she was watching the practice as he finished one set and moved into another, giving her a smile. She waved her fan back, inwardly considering the effect the man had on her.

When she had first met him, she believed that the man was suffering from some form of hysteria or other mental ailment, having a vivid dream that drove him insane or something of a similar nature. However, when he allowed her to view his memories, she quickly changed her opinion. The memories of his past life were clear, lacking in any fogginess or diminished clarity, perfectly recalled.

She was still sceptical of his ‘multiverse’ explanation, but she had yet to come up with an alternative. All she could do is wait and see if events progressed as his predictions stated. However his chosen cover story for why he was seeking her out was the main reason her thoughts and feelings on him were so complicated. It had been a long time indeed since any had dared to court her, regardless of the reasoning.

She took no offence to the almost resigned nature of his explanation for why he wished to continue with the task regardless. Whatever the reasoning for the conclusion, being told that you were the best possible choice was a flattering thing to hear. Of course, she was no blushing maiden, her experience being completely unrivalled amongst all those alive when it came to romance and sensuality.

Which begged the question, why did Lothar have such a pronounced effect on her?

When she laid eyes upon him or became aware of his presence, her pulse quickened, her breath deepened and her pupils dilated. It was a subtle thing, something she could easily control and prevent from being visible, but it occurred regardless. The reason for such a reaction eluded her, or at least it had until she watched this training session.

Izuna hadn’t realised it, her youth preventing her for the understanding of herself necessary to be cognizant of how she was instinctually reacting to the being in front of her, but Tamamo could see it as clear as day. When Lothar was in her field of view, Izuna’s eyes snapped to the slightest movement he made, tensing whenever he came close. She refused to ever show her back to the man, instead moving around him or at the most, walking perpendicular to him, keeping him in her vision at all times.

Tamamo knew what these instincts signified, but she had to see them in someone else to be reminded. It was the natural reaction to an unknown predator. It had been so long since she had experienced this, she had almost forgotten the feeling. It intrigued her, how this man, seemingly no different from all the others she had ever met, could invoke such an instinct from her.

He carried himself differently from all the other men, she noticed, now she was looking for it. Upright, shoulders back, with an easy confidence. It wasn’t the confidence of a trained warrior, or the false bravado of the young, it was merely the self assuredness of someone ready to act at a moment’s notice. He was alert, she realised, in a way few were. His eyes calmly analysed his surroundings, taking in potential threats and devising strategies to deal with them if needed.

It wasn’t from fear, more from habit. The humans she had lived amongst for most of her existence had been preyed upon by Monster Girls for so long that they almost had an in-built reaction to surrender to the whims of said Monsters. Lothar had no such inclination.

He treated Monster Girls, as weird as this sounded, as if they were human. He didn’t act like a cornered rabbit, but nor did he treat them with disdain, hatred, or fear. If anything, he treated them in a relaxed manner, the exact same as he did when he was interacting with the residents of Yamatai.

As these differences and more besides made themselves clear to her eyes, Tamamo found herself giving some credence to his claim of being from another planet. There were centuries, generations upon generations of history between Monster Girls and Humans that showed up in their every interaction, their every micro movement in each other's presence.

That was all simply missing when it came to Lothar.

Perhaps that is why he triggered her instincts like he did?

She couldn’t say for sure.

But what she could say was that she was interested in discovering more about this man that had appeared before her.

---SESESE---

Granberia felt her chest, the bruise that had been there long since faded, but the way it appeared still lingering in her mind. The man she had been fighting had been competent, but nothing worthy of deeper note. At least on the surface.

Her intuition niggled at her, causing her to drag out the fight, staying at his displayed level of speed and strength, attempting to draw out whatever it was that she had sensed hiding below. She had learned to trust her gut and once again, it had led her true. That man was much more than he appeared at first.

When he struck, slipping under her guard and thrusting at her chest, she had felt it.

Danger.

The man had been striking decisively. Should he have possessed a weapon capable of harming her, he likely had a decent chance of killing her in that moment. It was something that shocked her, allowing the strike to connect and provoking a reflexive attack back at him.

She regretted it, as soon as her fist burrowed into his stomach and he was sent tumbling backwards. She wanted to talk to him more, discover just how he had done such a thing as a mere man. Her inner fire burned at the knowledge of someone capable of matching her. That was when the second surprise of the day showed up, the boy Luka challenging her to stop her from killing the other man. Not that she would have done so anyway, but his resolve spoke to her as a warrior.

Thus she fought him just as she did the other, being surprised again when he used a Cursed Sword technique against her. She was far too above him to be hit for the second time that day, of course, but then his teacher had shown herself.

Alice, the Monster she had sworn her blade to.

The same Monster that had ordered her away, telling her to return to the Monster Lord Castle, away from the intriguing men that she had just crossed blades with.

Truly, Alice could be a cruel Lord to serve.

“Oya, what’s this, are you finally getting into masturbation Granberry?” A sultry voice whispered in her ear, “Do you want some tips?”

Granberia swung Ares behind her, not at all surprised when the voice’s owner moved out of the what like a gust of wind, giggling to herself.

“Of course not.” The Dragonoid huffed, “I was just remembering the best fights I have had in ages.”

“Ah, with that weird Dark Magic User and the cute little boy?” Alma Elma hummed, putting her index finger on her chin as she nodded, “I met one of them recently, you know?”

Granberia’s eyes narrowed at the succubus, “Where?!”

“Why are you so curious, Granberry? Do you have a crush?” The purple haired woman teased, grinning at the suddenly flustered swords-woman.

Granberia merely growled, raising her sword up and causing Alma Elma to raise her hands in surrender, “Okay, okay, no need to be so aggressive. I’m much more delicate than you, you know? Shouldn't you be a bit gentler?”

Granberia snorted, “That’s a load of lies and you know it.”

“You should let a lady have some lies, you know? A maiden’s heart is a delicate…” At the glare she was receiving, she quickly changed the topic, “Anyway, I was creating that storm between Illias and Sentora, when Alice and that adorable little Luka came sailing on by with Poseidon’s Bell. I couldn’t let that stand, naturally, so I challenged him to hit me while I wasn’t using my hands.”

“You are a cruel bitch.” Granberia responded to that.

“What?!” Alma Elma placed a hand on her heart, an affronted look on her face, “How could you say such a thing? Besides, he managed to make me use my hands any way.”

“How? He was not nearly at such a leval when I faced him.” Greanberia was shocked to hear this.

“Oh, he ran up the mast and used Demon Skull Beheading on me, forcing me to block.” Was the surprising response.

“I see.” Granberia’s eyes lit up with a flame, “I wish to test myself against him again, if Alice thinks him worthy of learning such advanced techniques.”

“Why don’t you go do that then? They are probably going to be in San Ilia soon.” the succubus asked.

Granberia frowned, “I am under orders. I cannot leave.”

“Hm?” Alma Elma tilted her head, “I thought Alice only told you to return here, not to stay. You returned, so now you can leave again right?”

The loophole burned in Granberia’s mind. She loathed the lackadaisical attitude that the Succubus took to her duties, finding the slightest gap in the wording of her orders to instead do whatever she liked. Granberia swore to hold herself to a higher standard than her though, to not do such a dishonourable thing.

She was sorely tempted to do so however.

She really wanted to go.

Seeing the conflict play over her face, Alma Elma grinned as she started to whisper, “Come on, Alice isn’t even here. She’s neglecting her own duties and doing whatever she wants and Tamamo hasn’t come back in a while either. What’s keeping you here?”

Granberia hated it, but Alma Elma was right.

“Fine.” She shouldered Ares, walking towards the entrance, “I shall indulge myself this once, I wish to see how far he has progressed.”

“Have fun!” Alma Elma called after her.