I was Betrayed then Reincarnated as a Kitsune - Chapter 307: Labor Quest: The Hunt

[Luna POV]

The day after we left the city, we made it to the area where we could find the hippocampi.

“I know we were told that this place has changed, but I didn’t expect it to look like this.” (Luna)

“What were you expecting it to look like?” (Velvet)

“A wide open plain with kelp or seaweed like grass and hippocampi swimming around like wild horses.  Though I guess near wasteland with open cracks and visibly boiling water and the glow of magma and fire burning underwater is also an impressive vista, in an apocalyptic sense.” (Luna)

“Well, scenery aside, big sis, what are we gonna do about our environmental protection?  Sure, our stats are high enough that it won’t mean much, but it’ll still be uncomfortable if not at least a little painful to walk around in boiling or hotter water.” (Soleil)

“Don’t know if it’s very good for the environment, but I can spend some time cooling down the area.  What do you think, Skadi?” (Luna)

“It should be fine.” (Skadi)

“Alright.  If the resident demigoddess of the sea says so, then I’ll get to work.” (Luna)

I raised my hands in front of me and started to use some ice magic.  The entire area in front of us started to glow a whitish-blue color and the places where you could tell it was boiling started to cool down.

“As over the top as usual nya.” (Mio)

“Wouldn’t be me if it wasn’t.” (Luna)

“True nya.  How long do we wait here nya?” (Mio)

“We can start the hunt whenever.” (Luna)

“Then let’s go nya.” (Mio)

“Mio calm down.” (Skadi)

“Nyo nya.  I want to be helpful nya.  I can’t do that if we don’t actually do stuff nya.” (Mio)

I walked over and started patting Mio’s head.

“Nya?” (Mio)

“Mio, I get how you feel, but you don’t have to try so hard.  Just like the time with the leviathan, you are doing fine.  None of us think you aren’t doing your best all the time.” (Luna)

“Lunya nya.” (Mio)

“…” (Soleil)

“Soleil, I think I know what you want to say, but don’t.” (Velvet)

“Hmm.  I’ll hold back then.” (Soleil)

Once Mio was satisfied we made our way into the now cooled plains to find the hippocampi.  When we actually entered the area that was cooled down, I realized a small mistake I made.

“Did I make it a bit too cold?” (Luna)

{Well, if you look up at the surface, you can see ice forming, so maybe a little.}

I looked up and sure enough, the surface was starting to freeze.

“Luna, is it possible for you to increase the temperature a bit?” (Velvet)

“I can try.  Magic of this scale is a bit tricky to adjust the perfect amount.” (Luna)

“Oh, you don’t make it seem like it’s that hard.” (Ophidia)

“Not hard, just tricky.  What I did here is just blanket the entire area in ice magic of one temperature.  The easy way if you will.  If I wanted to do it the hard way, I’d have to adjust the magic to the perfect temperature in each area depending on how hot it was.  If I did it that way, it’d be too much for my mind to handle since the area is as big as it is.  But I messed up by making it colder than I needed to.” (Luna)

“Then do you want us to start looking around while you try to adjust it nya?” (Mio)

“If you want.  Oh, and Mio, I have an idea that I want your help with later, but it needs to be night time to do it.” (Luna)

“Alright nya.” (Mio)

As I started adjusting my magic, the others split up and started walking is several directions to look for the hippocampi.  While I knew it would take a while to fix my mistake, I didn’t think it’s take the rest of the day.  Once I managed it, the sun had set, and the others had reconvened near me.

“Any luck?” (Luna)

““No.”” (Velvet and Soleil)

“Nope.” (Ophidia)

“I found some traces, but that’s about it.” (Skadi)

“Nyothing on my end as well nya.” (Mio)

“Alright then.  Skadi, tell us what the traces you found were and the direction.  Mio, come and sit in front of me.” (Luna)

Skadi described what we needed to look for as Mio sat down in front of me.

“Alright.  Mio, you can do that thing with shadows where you can see through them like I can with space magic, right?” (Luna)

“Yes nya…OH NYA!” (Mio)

“Yep.  While I still think you are doing fine, if there is a thing that I can help you with so that you feel like you helped, I will.  So I will share as much mana as you want and you use that spell to the best of your ability.” (Luna)

“Alright nya.  Let’s start nya.” (Mio)

I sat behind Mio and put my hands on her shoulders and put one of my tails on her head.

“You can start whenever you want, Mio.” (Luna)

Mio nodded her head and closed her eyes.  Shortly after that the shadows underneath us started to squirm and spread out in a somewhat wide area in the direction Skadi went earlier.

“Nnnggh.” (Mio)

“If you’re taking in too much information, then to not focus so much on all the details.  Keep in mind what you’re looking for and only focus on that.  That way everything else will just be background with the thing you’re looking for being the only thing you can clearly see.” (Luna)

“Nya.” (Mio)

We sat like that for around an hour while Mio looked around with her magic.

“Nyaaaaaa.  Ah ha nya.” (Mio)

“Found them?” (Luna)

“Uh huh nya.” (Mio)

The shadows under us stopped moving around and Mio slumped forward and started rubbing her temples.

“Head hurts nya.  Nyeed sleep nya.  Fluffy nya.” (Mio)

Before I could ask anything Mio transformed into her nekomata form and climbed into my tail.  She sunk into so far that the only thing that you could see of her were her twin tails.

“Well, she did some good work, so this is fine.  Think she’ll feel better about herself in regards to the party after this?” (Luna)

“I think so.” (Soleil)

“Don’t look at me like that Soleil.  I don’t understand why you have that one-sided rivalry with Mio.  Especially when it doesn’t even show up all the time.” (Luna)

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.  I just think that I want to sleep in your tail as well.” (Soleil)

“Oh.  Well feel free to.  If the rest of you could shrink yourselves, I’d let you as well, but that won’t really work.” (Luna)

“That’s a shame, but it’s fine.” (Skadi)

“Ugh.  I need to get my depth to 100% still.” (Ophidia)

“If only my family had the ability to turn into bats.” (Velvet)

“Oh.  I thought that was just a fictional ability.  Same with turning into mist.” (Luna)

“Both were abilities of clans that died out a long time ago.” (Velvet)

“Interesting.  Now, shall we all stay here for the night?” (Luna)

“Might as well.  Night everyone.” (Soleil)

Soleil transformed into her fox form and joined Mio inside my tail.

“Come to think of it, I wonder what it’s like in there?” (Luna)

“It’ll be a bit before I fall asleep, so I’ll tell you.  It’s quite spacious and super comfortable.  It’s like a cozy little house made only of addictingly soft materials.” (Soleil)

“That’s good to know, I guess.” (Luna)

“…I’m going to do it.  Skadi, please rescue me if I start going insane.” (Ophidia)

“I will.” (Skadi)

Ophidia sat down behind me and started petting my tail.

“Oi!  Trying to sleep here.  You have seven others you can pet.” (Soleil)

“Sorry.  Master, if you please.” (Ophidia)

“Fine.” (Luna)

I took my necklace off and my other tails appeared.  The starry sky pattern in them twinkling softly as my tails swayed.

“Ooo.  Pretty.” (Soleil)

“Here I go.” (Ophidia)

Ophidia buried her hands in one of my tails and her expression turned into one of pure bliss.  I chuckled at that before I noticed Velvet moving next to me.

“I may not be able to shrink myself, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use a tail as a pillow.  If you don’t mind.” (Velvet)

“Go ahead.” (Luna)

Velvet laid down and laid her head on another one of my tails.

“Guess I’ll join in as well.  After Ophidia is helped if needed, of course.” (Skadi)

Sitting next to Ophidia, Skadi watched her to make sure the Abyss didn’t consume her sanity.  After about 30 minutes, Ophidia triumphantly announced that her depth hit 100%.  After that she transformed into her serpent form, shrunk to her smallest size, and slithered into a tail.  Once she was settled, Skadi laid down and immediately went to sleep.

{I’m so jealous of them.}

‘Now, now, it’s nearly full moon time, so you’ll get them all to yourself.’

{Are you going to sleep as well?}

‘Nah.  I still have the habit of stopping all my magic when I sleep, so I need to stay awake if I want to keep the place cool.’

{Then I’ll keep you company with conversation so you don’t get bored.}

‘Thanks.’

The rest of the night passed slowly as I enjoyed talking with Tamamo.

Chaos Realm:

Atmos: I’M JEALOUS TOO RAWR!

Still with the rawrs?

Atmos: It’s fun rawr.

Astraea: Hehehehe.  Gao!

Guh.

Atmos: Agk rawr.

Order: So cute.