I Must Create Every Monster Girl Myself Then!!!

Utarou and Julia looked at Dryholm's watch towers as they walked down the narrow path, the surrounding forest had been burnt and the burgeoning farms pillaged.

The siege had seemingly ended, considering winter was soon approaching the pair could only assume that this was a temporary retreat, considering they (meaning, just Julia) had to dispose of some stray goblin marauders on their way home.

"They can probably see us now." Utarou remarked dryly.

"Feeling a little bitter?" Julia asked sympathetically. Utarou pondered for a moment.

"Yes, but this is an opportunity." Utarou smirked.

"Oh?"

"Consider, I have proof that I can create monster girls if they just listen to me. Henrek will be on his hands and knees begging for forgiveness once I show him how I saved his sister and made her better!" Utarou declared. Julia made a face but said nothing, looking over to the tower.

"Oh hey it's Hope! HEYYY HOPE! IT'S US!" Julia shouted, extending her arm into the sky and making it larger so she could be seen.

In response they heard the battle horn being rang.

"Or maybe that was Hans… It's hard to tell from here." Julia laughed awkwardly.

"The full welcome for the rightful governor of Dracons!" Utarou laughed confidently, before pausing.

"In case it isn't… Julia you're not going to throw me in jail right?!" Utarou asked as he quickly hid behind the slime woman. Julia laughed.

"Don't worry! I'm on your side 100%, this whole 'Slimenoid' thing is pretty cool." Julia smirked, Utarou nodded in agreement.

"That's right, it lets you pad your-" Utarou began before having his mouth covered.

"SHHH! You didn't see anything remember." Julia hissed, referring to an incident that had happened days prior involving Julia seeing how much… let's say weight her slime could support in a disproportionate fashion.

"Yeah yeah…" Utarou muttered as the cavalry of Dryholm's guards quickly approached on horseback.

"What 'n the damned hell… Utarou?!" Barney exclaimed, stopping his men and their horses just as he got close enough to see who was with the mysterious slime woman.

"You fellas hold back. I'll see what'n the hell the bastards gone 'n done." Barney muttered to himself as he walked up to the pair, sword out.

"Heyyy Barney~! Long time no see." Julia cooed, unsubtly trying to flaunt her new figure. Barney's face twisted for a moment as he remembered the voice.

"JulIa?!" Barney shouted, stopping in his tracks as he looked the woman up and down. Despite being made of slime, she had Julia's face, and wore a striking replica of Julia's clothes.

Her body wasn't as petite as Barney remembered, not by a long shot.

"The one and only! Did you miss me!?" Julia asked as she ran towards the man, jumping up to give him a hug only to be met with him side setting her.

"Boo, you're no fun…" Julia pouted as she sat on the ground, Utarou cautiously approaching, looking for any hidden head cages Barney might have on him.

"Relax… Considerin' you ain't dead and ol' Julia is lookin' like that, I'mma be takin' it you sorted that whole Adam thing out." Barney sighed, sitting down on a boulder at the side of the path as he sheathed his sword. Utarou let out the deepest sigh of relief.

"Yep! Should've trusted me then aye?" Utarou exclaimed, regaining some of his former infinite confidence quickly.

"I dunno, I think all that running and surviving we did helped me get the XP I-" Julia began before Utarou shoved both of his hands into her face.

"You know I can talk from anywhere now right?" Julia laughed as a mouth opened up on her shoulder.

"WELL SHUT UP! DON'T TELL THEM OR I'LL-" Utarou began, pointing aggressively at Julia's chest as he did so.
"OKAY OKAY GOT IT!" Julia exclaimed, pushing Utarou back before he could finish. Barney let out a solemn chuckle.

"I see you two haven't changed a lick." Barney sighed, motioning for his men to approach.

"What's happened since we left anyway?" Julia asked, looking around at the burnt forests and farms.

"A lot. Come on, let's get inside before the rain starts." Barney yawned.

"What the hell is that thing…" One of the soldiers whispered.

"Did he finally turn a monster into a woman?" Another soldier suggested.

"Doesn't it look… familiar somehow…" The first soldier muttered.

"Can she hear us LOUDLY AND CLEARLY!" Julia shouted in annoyance as she faced the men.

On the way back Utarou and Julia explained what they'd done, and how Templar Adam had taken back Utarou's head to appease the Pope.

"Hmpth, all's well on that front. Doubt it'll get us back in the King's good graces though." Barney groaned as he rubbed his temples.

"Yeah I've been hearing some rumblings about an… Open Zone? I dunno, those Trolls talk funny." Utarou explained.

"That's what the bastards are callin' it huh?" Barney laughed as they approached the gate, leaving the horses at the stable.

"Well the official decree is that since we're without a governor, this land is now ungovern'd and such. Means the bastards in Lolcons and Burtcons can up'n send whoever they want 'ere." Barney explained.

"Wait, aren't they provinces loyal to the king?! Why would they be sending goblins and trolls to attack us?" Julia exclaimed, indignant at the idea their neighbours would do this to them.

"Eh, I hear they ain't done nothin but let the bastards know we're not under royal protection no more. One way border that we ain't got a hope 'n hell of protectin' thanks to that whole one city thing what you did." Barney continued, glaring at Utarou for a moment before letting out another sigh.

"Though if you'n hadn'ta done that we'd still be in the booneys eatin' dragons day in day out." Barney offered as they walked through the gate to reveal Dryholm's current state.

It was much how Utarou remembered, though not as new and shiny any more. The streets had begun to acclimate filth and the buildings were beginning to deteriorate. The signs of siege were clear, with a large boulder having crushed a house and not been moved in what Utarou could only assume to be months.

"Where's Henrek and Hope? Oh my god the baby! What's their name?! Is it a boy or a girl?! ARGHHH I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED IT!" Julia squealed as she looked between the Governers Office and Henrek's house, both on the opposite of each other.

"He's up there." Barney explained, pointing towards the wall.

The natural hills of Dryholm had proved an ideal natural defence, but a project Utarou had put into place was the creation of higher walls.

A good call considering the myriad of dents and the singular hole that now existed in the completed wall, presumably one the aforementioned boulder had been launched through.

Amongst the towers that dotted the wall Utarou noticed one of them had been modified, the one Barney was pointing to.

"He's been holed up in there pretty much since it finished, Hope's been keepin the house warm for ya though Julia." Barney said.

"OH! You're telling me he's been there instead of with his cute new baby?!" Julia exclaimed.

"He's changed Julia, I dunno if you bein' all uh, like that will do 'em any good." Barney cautioned as Julia ran up the stairs.

"YEAH WELL TOO BAD HE'S GETTING A PIECE OF MY MIND! UTAROU YOU'RE COMING TOO!" Julia shouted, stretching her arm back to grab Utarou.

"I'm sure it'll be fine-" Utarou began before being yanked away from Barney and up the stairs.

"You could've just waited, we're not in a rush you know." Utarou sighed as he was carried effortlessly up to Henrek's tower.

"NOPE! I know my brother he's going to get obsessed and depressed and he'll have pushed everyone away because he thinks he's the only one who can do things!" Julia declared as she stood outside the tower, placing Utarou down.

"I mean, wasn't he the only one who could do anything in your family?" Utarou asked

"WELL NOT ANYMORE!" Julia declared, kicking down the unlocked door.

Sitting by the fire, in a desk covered in maps, books and empty bottles, sat Henrek, having aged dramatically in the last year and a half since Utarou had seen him.

He looked tired.

"What's this?" Henrek asked slowly, his voice dripping with exhaustion as his eyes struggled to focus on who had just burst through the door way.

"IT'S YA DAMN SISTER AND THE GUY WHO FIXED HER!" Julia declared as she slammed her fists onto Henrek's desk. Utarou approached cautiously, clasping his neck as he entered.

"Damnit… the visions again…" Henrek dismissed, looking at the half empty bottle of spirits on his desk. Julia grabbed him by the face.

"HENREK! IT'S ME!" Julia shouted, her voice flustering as tears began to well up. Henrek blinked.

"J-Julia…?" Henrek asked.

"Yes… I WAS SO SCARED!" Julia cried as she jumped over the desk to hug her brother, while Utarou awkwardly stood by the doorway.

"And you… Oh god… Thank god…" Henrek exclaimed, letting out a deep sigh of relief.

"Y-yeah, you better not be planning anything!" Utarou tried to say as sternly as he could, still clasping his neck in the hope it would save him from more months of darkness.

"I can't plan anything more…" Henrek sniffed as he patted his crying sister on the gelatinous back.

"G-good! And you will… accept your official punishment… please?" Utarou requested trepidatiously. Henrek laughed.

"I accept it, just let me see my family before you execute me…" Henrek sobbed.

"WHAT?! No way!" Utarou exclaimed, stepping back. In the time returning to Dryholm, Utarou had been considering what to do with Henrek.

He couldn't execute him, nor would he want to. Despite his insubordination Henrek was an extraordinarily gifted fighter, and more importantly the only man Hope was interested in.

But he couldn't let such a blatant act of rebellion go entirely unpunished either, leaving him to rot in jail would be a fitting punishment but he wanted to make sure Hope and him had plenty of time to copulate.

"Then, what?" Henrek asked, wiping away a tear. Utarou could only think of one option.

"You're relieved of duty effective immediately, I'll have a new job for you once I figure out what the hell kind of situation you got us in." Utarou declared, looking around the room trying to decipher them all.

It seems that Henrek had plans that extended far out of the kingdom of Oldser, or perhaps he had managed to make enemies across the whole continent of Aurora.

Either way, Utarou took Henrek's seat by the fire, reclaiming his rightful spot as the Governer of Dracons.

"Go get everyone, I think it's time for a proper discussion. Also get me some proper underwear because these chafe real bad." Utarou commanded. Henrek sniffed.

"Aye aye sir." Henrek saluted dutifully, quite gladly returning to his position as subordinate.

"You gotta show me the baby! Is it a boy or a girl? WHO CHOSE THE NAME ARGHH!" Julia squealed as they left Utarou alone in his new war room.

Once alone, Utarou let out his own sigh of relief.

"Alright, you've proved you can make monster girls, you just need to secure loyalty so that never happens again." Utarou said to himself, picking up one of Henrek's glasses and pouring himself a drink.

"Ahhhh… Never again shall I be without good drink and good food!" Utarou swore, raising a glass to his new promise.

He had secured the first layer of his hierarchy of needs, a Monster Girl, now he had to secure food and safety.

The squad sat in the main tower, Hope with little baby Lilly in her arms sitting next to the exhausted looking Henrek on a couch Julia had dragged up the cliff, opting to stand beside them and save the seat getting wet.

Barney, May, Junior and their new daughter Autumn sat on some stools near the entrance, while Rhiney poked his head in through the door, having gotten too big to fit inside.

Utarou had moved the desk so he'd get some good dramatic lighting behind him from the fire as he clasped his hands together, face low.

"Now, you're probably wondering why I gathered you all here." Utarou said seriously.

"WELL IF YA WANNA TAKE ME HUSBAND DOWN YOU GOTTA GO THROUGH ME FIRST!" May shouted aggressively, standing up

"Wha? No no no no!" Utarou clarified, panicking slightly.

"I need to rethink my tactics, I can't rely on my immortality and I can't trust everyone to follow my plan for the sake of monster girls… the weirdos…" Utarou thought to himself as Julia calmed the ever aggressive May down.

"May, May relax! We're

"Oh, is that it then? Barney ya bastard habe ya apologised to the governor then 'n thanked him yet?!" May shouted.

"Wh-what?! I didn't do the coup! An' I let him out, that's enough of 'n apology enough right?!" Barney retorted defensively looking at Utarou.

"Uhh, yeah you're good." Utarou said, awkwardly giving a thumbs up.

Henrek stood up and sighed before quickly taking the knee before Utarou.

"I, Henrek Porak, would like to-"

"Stop stop stop! It's fine!" Utarou begged.

"- formerly apologise for the attempt on your life and the coup against your authority-"

"That's enough you don't gotta spell it out!" Utarou cried.

"- and will bear any punishment you wish to give me." Henrek finished, returning to the couch with Hope patting him on the back.

"That was for him." Hope explained as Henrek visibly deflated in his seat, finally letting some of the weight of his sins fall off his back.

"Look, let's get one thing clear here." Utarou declared, looking around the room to see the group of people he'd nurtured and brought together.

These were the people, and more importantly, the families he'd be relying on to make sure he never ever got into that situation again. If he was making Monster Girls, he was making powerful girls like Julia. And if Henrek could manufacture such an effective way to trap him, then he had no doubt Julia could as well if she wanted to.

With just one monster girl, he could maintain a good friendship and relationship.

With five monster girls, he could solidify a group dynamic in his favour.

With a thousand monster girls, he would need a system of government in place.

Unfortunately Utarou hadn't considered or invested in these people yet, he simply swung his power as a Blessed Being who was appointed Governer by King Oldsier around.

Now his ability had been proved fallible, and his authority granted by the king was gone.

He had to change how he was looking at this, he wasn't playing a 4X strategy game.

He was playing an RPG, and he needed to make sure he maxed out his social connections.

So long as he had a tight knit group of powerful people that were loyal to him, he would be truly indestructible.

"You were all scared and didn't believe in me, I can forgive that once. However as the lovely new and improved Julia there can attest, I know about Monster Girls." Utarou explained, pointing towards Julia who waved towards Junior, who was cowering behind his father at the sight of Julia.

"Hmpth, so we're just supposed to follow ya everywhere now? Isn't you still bein' hunted by that Templar Adam fella too?" May asked indignantly.

"I however do not know how to be a leader. Henrek if I've understood everything correctly, Dracons is now unclaimed territory right?" Utarou clarified. Henrek nodded.

"What are you suggesting…?" Herek asked tiredly.

"May, have you ever wanted to be a queen?" Utarou asked with a smirk. May, taken aback, shook her head.

"Too bad! I declare you and Barney the King and Queen of this new nation!" Utaoru proclaimed, grabbing a map and scribbling out the name Dracons.

"W-what?!" Everyone shouted in unison as Utarou wrote down his new kingdom's name.

Monsteria.

The Future Kingdom of Monsters.

"N-now hold on! You can't just be-" Barney began before being cut off.

"You can decline if you want of course, but I trust your judgement. The people trust your judgement! They'll respect both of you! More than me! I mean, let's be honest here, I've not exactly given people a good impression of me!" Utarou laughed, his 9 months in darkness had given him a lot of time to reflect on his actions since he arrived in this new world.

Utarou had come to the conclusion that he was not capable of being a strong warrior king, he didn't have the charasmia, strength or presence to command armies of men into battle.

However, Barney did, he'd also willingly sent Utarou off with Rhiney to escape the siege.

More importantly, Barney Junior listening to him was the only reason he was able to escape his prison.

This was a trait Utarou wanted to foster, and alongside the natural disposition of his father for leadership it meant he was the perfect choice.

Plus, May was ultimately the one controlling their pet dragon, granting her a position of power such as Queen and the privileges that came with that would hopefully ease her natural distrust of authority and listening to orders.

"And what'n about you then huh? Gonna be pullin' some strings 'n such a bet." May scoffed. Utarou raised his hands.

"Guilty as charged. But quite frankly the only thing I care about are my monster girl projects. As long as I have the ability to do that, I'm all good." Utarou explained with a smirk.

"You'd make a better leader than him… or me." Henrek added with a sad laugh.

"You guys don't want to be bothered by anyone and to rule your own life right? This is the perfect opportunity! I just want my monster girls, Henrek and Hope just want to protect their loved ones and Julia… is an adrenaline junky. Let's all help each other out and make a new kingdom we can all live in happily!" Utarou declared. Barney and May looked at each other, then to their kids, Autumn was fast asleep and Junior had gone outside to play in the rain with Rhiney.

"Argh, fine. You better have'n a plan for all the nonsense Henrek got us into then." May sighed.

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure I will… What exactly have you done Henrek in the last year and a half?" Utarou asked. Henrek shriveled up in his seat.

"I've ruined everything…" Henrek cried as he plunged his hands into his face in despair.

"Oh boy."

"I haven't explained the full extent of everything to you all… so I suppose now is the best time." Henrek sighed as he slunked towards one of the maps strung up against the wall.

Utarou turned around in his chair, Julia was playing with the kids, Hope was anxiously watching what her husband was doing and Barney and May were still reeling from having been declared King and Queen against their wills.

"Starting from the beginning, I tried to arrange an official meeting with someone higher up in the church to try and call off Templar Adam, that was probably my first mistake." Henrek sighed as he put a pin in a large peninsula to the south west of Oldser, it was the Avoisan Papacy, the city state that the entire church answered to.

"With Vicar John leaving and the public trial, everyone knew about the heresy going on, including the merchants. Especially the merchants who you'd been selling your… mystery meat to." Henrek shuddered, Utarou hadn't exactly been upfront with how he'd been paying off the taxes to King Oldser.

"Oh yeah, since I was locked up you wouldn't have been able to sell my mince meat to the king. What happened there?" Utarou asked casually.

"Your what?!" Hope gagged as she realized what Utarou was saying.

"Oh good lord I 'n nicked some of that…" May hurled. Julia subtly moved to block the kids from hearing what the adults were talking about.

"What?! Healing factor, you know I wouldn't have any diseases!" Utarou retorted defensively.

"Ahem, needless to say I worked very hard to keep that secret. Unfortunately we ran out of our reserve almost instantly without the extra income, I tried to become a subject of King Oldsier again but that led to problem number 2." Henrek continued, placing a pin on Richton, on this continental sized map it was just above Dracons.

"Turns out the former governor of Dracons had moved to the capital and took the liberty to change my message, I only found this out months later but by then it was too late. From the King's perspective we'd just killed one of his Blessed Beings in cold blood. I think the former governor wanted to reclaim his territory but we were just declared ungoverned. Burtcons and Lolcons claimed most of our border territory but left the core lands alone." Henrek explained, pointing to another map that was a map of the territory of Dracons, with pretty much every border village of any worth being swallowed, the hilly regions that surrounded Dryholm were untouched.

"What about the whole goblin and troll thing?" Utarou asked.

"Yeah, that is problem number 3." Henrek sighed as he rubbed his temples.

"I uh, may have contributed to this part…" Hope offered meekly.

"No no, you didn't do anything wrong." Henrek rejected immediately.

"But if I wasn't there then maybe-"

"Doesn't matter, the whole world could burn for all I care, I'm not hiding you or Lilly ever." Henrek replied, the vigor and passion returning to his voice.

"Well, what happened?" Utarou snapped.

"Ahem, right… I took Hope and Lilly to a meeting in Burtcons to try and establish some diplomatic ties. I hadn't realized the Governer of Burtcons was an Aviosan fundamentalist so upon seeing their eyes he chased us out of the province and started funnelling their various goblin tribes into our lands, also blocking all traders from entering the unclaimed territory for 'safety reasons'." Henrek continued bitterly.

"Huh? Lilly as well… I thought you gave her a normal legacy skill?" Utarou asked.

"You haven't noticed her eyes? They're gnarly- I mean they're an adorable shade of red!" Julia said, quickly correcting herself as she picked up her niece and stretched her over for Utarou to see.

"W-w-woah Julia are you sure that's safe?!" Henrek panicked as he saw the concerningly thin arms holding his baby in the air.

The year and a half old girl had her fathers face, but her eyes were a piercing glowing red, almost identical to her mothers except for the colour.

"Fascianting, perhaps she has the potential to be a cat girl still…" Henrek nodded.

"Don't talk about my baby girl like that." Henrek demanded seriously.

"Fine, fine, not until she's older." Utarou smirked.

"Never." Henrek reiterated.

"Fine." Utarou rolled his eyes, he'd talk about his granddaughter like that.

"Ahem, anyway after a while of trying to raid Dryholm and failing, they started banding together to siege us. Terrible creatures. That's about when you escaped."

"Alright, doesn't sound so bad so far, you're still getting trade from Lolcons right?" Utarou asked.

"We were." May growled as Henrek sighed.

"I tried to offer our territory to become a part of Lolcons. Turns out the Governor didn't appreciate finding out we were responsible for all of the Wyverns migrating to his territory, and instead of offering to move us in no! No, he just blocks us from all trade!" Henrek shouted in frustration, looking towards the bottle of liquor on the table.

"That's when he started the drinking and self isolating" Hope added.

"I wasn't… doing too much of that." Henrek sighed as he paced around the maps.

"Alright, so Goblin tribes attacking, no trade from north or south, and as far as you know Templar Adam is still coming to destroy everything." Utarou reiterated.

"Pretty much. I've pretty much spent the last few months fighting against the siege, deploying my men on suicide missions to try and scare off the ring leaders and waiting for the inevitable visit from Templar Adam. The siege has calmed down as winter rolls in at least… but they're gonna be back stronger when spring comes around…" Henrek sighed, collapsing onto the couch with Hope.

"There there, it's all gonna be okay now…" Hope said soothingly.

Utarou nodded.

"We're going to be attacked by Goblins on all sides in spring, Burtcons hates us because of the Monster Girl plans, they're a no go, Lolcons hates us because of a problem we caused, there's an angle there, and the church… Wait what's going on with Vicar John?"

"He simply sent a letter saying that he could no longer help us and that unless we could get to the Pope, then Templar Adam's heresy banding was absolute." Henrek clarified.

"Easy then! I just need an audience with the Pope and you just need to sort out the Wyvern problem in Lolcons before spring!" Utarou declared.

"You make it sound so easy." Henrek laughed.

"Don't worry, we've got monster girl power now." Utarou smirked, pointing towards Julia, who twisted her head back and gave a thumbs up, causing Junior to scream, which caused Lilly and Autumn to start crying.

"Oh no no no! It's okay!" Julia cried as May and Hope came in to calm their respective kids.

"Ya a mad man Utarou, but the kinda mad I can respect! You go 'n sort out this business with the church, I reckon with the blue lass here we can do somethin' fierce with those Wyverns." Barney declared confidently.

"Yeah… Yeah." Henrek nodded.

"Alright! I hereby declare the start of the Winter Mission! We have 3 months to sort this out before those goblins start to siege again people let's go!" Utarou declared, clapping his hands, causing the babies to start crying more.

"Utarou be quiet!" Hope hissed.

"sorry."

"Uhm, sorry about the uh… things sir… Was just following orders and all…" Hans muttered awkwardly as Utarou stretched after getting off his horse.

"Huh? Oh yeah right you had the key didn't you." Utaoru remembered, looking the man up and down properly. Though he was a much meeker man than Utarou had imagined, shorter and thinner with a dainty face and doe eyes, a squeaky voice.

"I still have it if you uh… want it." Hans offered meekly. Utarou laughed and brushed it off.

"Don't worry about it, as long as you follow my orders like you did Henrek we'll be fine." Utarou shrugged as he entered his tent.

The squad had split into three teams, May and Hope focusing on the reconstruction and preparation during the winter back in Dryholm, Julia, Barney and Henrek were going to try and establish diplomatic ties with Lolcons in order to secure some military assistance, while Utarou with a selection of 4 doggedly loyal guards were making their way to Avotica, the city the Pope of the Avoisan Church lived in.

Hans wasn't the strongest soldier but he was the most competent navigator and most theologically knowledgeable man Barney could trust.

Rufus was the undisputed third strongest man in Dryholm, not as skillful as Henrek and not as strong as Barney, though that wasn't to say he lacked in either department.

Penelope wasn't a soldier at all, but she was the only person in Dryholm with any magical ability; she'd also insisted on coming on the pilgrimage to further her studies by escaping the backwater that was Dracons.

Finally was Garf, the strong silent type who preferred tending to the horses than talking with people.

All 3 of the soldiers were approved by both Barney and Henrek and given strict orders to listen to Utarou, regardless of whatever hair brained scheme he might come up with. Penelope was May's friend so she got added in as well.

Though all of them hoped it wouldn't come to that, including Utarou who just wanted everything to go smoothly for once.

"R-right, yes sir…" Hans muttered as he returned to his shared tent with Penelope.

"You should learn to knock, a lady could be changing in here." Penelope teased, looking up from her grimoire with a relaxed smirk.

"O-oh sorry! I didn't think, I'm not used to sharing, uh, spaces with girls." Hans explained awkwardly. Penelope laughed.

"Relax! I know you wouldn't do anything." Penelope cackled as she shut her book, swiveling on her stool to talk to Hans better.

"Yeah I guess…" Hans laughed nervously as he sat down opposite the woman.

"So, he accept the apology? Any hard feelings?" Penelope asked curiously.

"He didn't even remember me…" Hans sighed, taking out the key.

"Yeesh! Harsh! Probably has other stuff on the mind. I heard he managed to fix Julia, any idea how?" Penelope asked as she casually started flipping through her skill tree, seeing if she had anything interesting available to unlock yet.

"Oh uh, something to do with a tier 4 skill I guess…" Hans shrugged.

"Ho oh? I've gotta get a private audience with the guy at some point." Penelope smirked as she rubbed her hands together.

"H-huh?! Why?" Hans asked incredulously.

"Uh, hello? Magic and skills basically go hand in hand, and I don't think the Holy Path turns girls into slime." Penelope retorted.

"Y-yeah but, well I dunno… he's weird." Hans countered meekly. Penelope rolled her eyes.

"Please, when I lived in Kolob I was dealing with real weirdos. Trust me magic fetishisation is a real problem in our society." Penelope declared sarcastically.

"R-really?"

"No, I was a young orphan girl in a small village with more handsy old perverts than nice grandmas. Only reason I didn't end up baring a bastard to one of them was because I can shoot fire out of my finger tips thank you very much!" Penelope explained with a sardonic smirk.

"Oh god that's awful…" Hans muttered tearfully. Penelope rolled her eyes again.

"Crying isn't a good look for a guy you know." Penelope sighed as she left the tent to get to know her fellow travelers better.

The caravan was fairly light, they only had three tents and minor furnishings being carried across two wagons. Utarou only asked for a desk and his note books so he could keep formulating theories on how Julia's evolution actually occurred.

Penelope and Hans slept in one tent, with a stool each and a candle for light while Garf and Refus slept in the other.

"Knock knock knock, not doing anything to scare a young maidens eyes are you?" Penelope shouted as she approached the mens tent.

"Not unless the horse man's breath counts! Good lord he stinks." Rufus mocked gagged, trying and failing to get a reaction out of the ever stoic Garf.

Entering the tent Penelope found it identically bar, except somehow still messier than hers and Hans'.

"Yeesh, you sure that isn't you Rufus?" Penelope teased as she took a seat. Garf, without saying anything, got up and left.

"Oh wait, you don't have to go!" Penelope apologised, quickly standing up but it was too late.

"Aah don't worry about him, he's not comfortable bein' around people." Rufus explained.

"Right… Well I just wanted to ask if you had any idea about Utarou's method." Penelope asked casually.

"Huh?" Rufus replied, entirely clueless what the young woman was on about.

"You know, how he figured out that tier 4 skill? Turned Julia into slime? Like what's the idea. You guys were the guard. I figured you'd know him better than lil ol' me." Penelope explained, fluttering her eyelashes. Rufus blushed, the witches beguiling spell working despite not using any magic like a charm.

"Ah shucks, I mean I know of the guy, seen him a bit more than you probably but he ain't exactly the easiest guy to understand. Talks a lot but I don't understand much of any of it." Rufus admitted as he looked away, scratching the back of his neck.

"Boo, well I'll suppose I'll have to introduce myself properly then." Penelope shrugged, quickly leaving the tent. She saw Garf sitting near the horses as she left the tent and made her way to Utarou's.

"Time to get some one-on-one time with the former governor, once executed and now a loyal vassal to King Barney…" Penelope thought to herself as she opened the mans tent.

"Hello! Not indecent I ho-" Penelope began, opening the cloth to reveal Utarou, stripped of his clothes, as a gray blob of goo was aggressively pulsating around his legs.

"It's not what it looks like." Utarou panicked, the goo stopped pulsating.

"Also, run." Utarou added.

"Huh, so this is Lolcons." Julia remarked with an unimpressed huff.

"Well, it used to be Dracons. The original border is still there a bit further north." Henrek sighed.

"Pretty sure they up 'n yoinked Nihola." Barney grumbled as he looked around the familiar road.

"Is this where you and mom are from?" Junior asked as he looked around.

"Oh yeah, you haven't been here yet have ya! Well not since you were in ya ma's gut hah!" Barney laughed as he scruffled the 6 year old's hair. Junior was riding on the front part of the saddle with Barney controlling the horse.

"Is the scary slime lady from here too?" Junior whispered, though not very quietly as Julia visibly pouted as she heard him say that.

"Now c'mon boy! She ain't nothin but a sweet heart, what's gotcha so spooked of her?" Barney asked sincerely.

"She was the scary lady in my room, remember!" Junior whined, hitting his dad in the thigh with as much force as a 6 year old could muster for emphasis.

"Huh? That was a week'n before she arrived son it couldn'ta been her." Barney sighed, but Julia suddenly put two and two together.

"Uh oh." Julia gasped, causing Barney and Henrek to whip their heads around.

"It… couldnt'a been… right? We thought the boy just went 'n wet himself." Barney asked seriously.

"Uhhh…. Barney, Henrek, you remember all of that mass that got spilled in the watch tower…?" Julia asked, blushing.

"Yes…?" Henrek replied, unsure of where she was going.

"And you remember how I said I got that pulsating head ache when we found that other piece of me attached to the slime?" Julia continued as she nervously looked away, pressing her fingers together.

"Yeah…" Barney added, nodding slowly.

"And you remember that I said I couldn't find the pieces I lost in Dryholm and said they must've disappeared because I didn't have that headache?" Julia anxiously asked.

"Don't tell me… The bloody bits what sunk in the floor boards attacked my son?!" Barney bellowed.

"NO! NO! Just uh, you know I can kinda imagine that if somehow, potentially, I was in that situation, I might, for example, hypothetically… try and… find someone… and be a little… confused…" Julia blushed, planting her face into her hands.

Her crush on Barney would most certainly have been shared by this other Julia, though given she would've woken up buried in 6 feet of dirt perhaps she wasn't the most stable initially.

"SEE DAD! I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T WET THE BED! SHE WET MY BED!" Junior shouted indignantly, pointing at Julia.

"So what you're tryna tell me there's another you running around Dryholm?!" Henrek asked in a panic.

"Uhh, well… You remember that sealed pot Utarou wanted?"

"You're kidding me." Henrek exclaimed, slack jawed at the audacity.

"The hell's he thinkin'?!" Barney shouted.

"Well… Guys if he didn't even tell me, I think there's probably a reason he kept it hidden…" Julia muttered, remembering how pained the green slime infused part of her had been.

"Yeah, I'll trust his judgement… not like I have a choice. At least it isn't with the girls back home right?" Henrek offered.

"Hmmm, I just wonder what he'll be doin' with it…" Barney wondered, uncharitable suggestions came to mind first.

Utarou did love monster girls after all.


"Also, run." Utarou said to Penelope as she looked on in horror as the pulsating goo mass leapt off of Utarou's legs and towards Penelope.

"AHHH! FREEZE!" Penelope squealed, the spell freezing everything in front of her solid, including Utarou and his tent.

"T-t-t-thanksh…" Utarou shivered, his healing factor quickly fighting against the freezing as fast as possible.

"What… the hell… was that?" Penelope panted as Hans and Rufus quickly ran over to see what the commotion was about.

Garf opted to stay with the horses.

"It… wash… Belrhg." Utarou shook off the icicles in and around his mouth while Rufus helped Penelope up and Hans looked at the frozen ice block.

"What the… Is that a-a… A face…?" Hans stammered, looking at the grey blob to reveal some twisted melty of a woman.

As Hans stared at it he realized he recognized the woman.

"JULIA?!" Hans squealed, jumping back and grabbing his sword.

"Yep… Well, partially. Lemme explain." Utarou sighed as he looked down at himself, seeing his pants had been devoured by the shebeast.

"As I'm sure you're all aware, Julia turned into a Slime girl with some kind of new legacy skill called 'Slimenoid', we found that every piece of her became sentient the moment she unlocked that skill. These are the pieces that were left in Dryholm." Utarou explained as he grabbed his frozen bundle of clothes.

"Penelope be a dear and unfreeze these would you?" Utarou asked with a sigh, tossing the clothes towards the confused witch.

"W-wait but why is she… like that?" Penelope asked as she grabbed the frozen laundry.

"Current hypothesis, something to do with the water."

"The water?"

"I brought a book on monster physiology with me, it has a single page about slimes on it. Now assuming both this book is accurate and that this Slimenoid legacy skill acts identically to how a regular slime works… both of which I have reason to suspect…" Utarou sighed as Penelope threw him his freshly defrosted underwear.

"... Then water plays a key part in how a slime grows. The book mentions a couple varieties of slimes. Green slimes mainly grow off of plant life, grey slimes off of mineral water in caves and pink slimes with mana." Utarou explained as he put on his underwear, tapping the ice cube containing the Grey Slime Julia.

"No mention of blue slimes, which is what our mentally stable Julia we all know and love is, presumably that's a slime made out of flesh considering how I grew her mass." Utarou continued, Penelope throwing his freshly defrosted pants to him to put on.

"So wait, why did this… thing attack me then?" Penelope asked nervously.

"Grey slimes are known to mindlessly attack any living creature to try and devour them. Notably, she wasn't actually trying to digest me… partially… I think she was trying to drink my sweat." Utarou hypothesized.

"Now… huh? Why the heck would she be tryna do that?" Rufus asked indignantly.

"I dunno, but I have a plan to try and fix her." Utarou said with a sly smirk.

"Oh no…" Hans and Rufus muttered in unison, recognizing that look.

"What?" Penelope asked, naively.

"I simply need to take a bath inside of her." Utarou declared.

"Huh? Penelope asked again, slack jawed.

"Oh god… Will they accept me? No of course they will… Arghhhh! How long has it been!?" Julia thought to herself, looking at her pink slimy body as she paced around the garden, just out of sight of Hope and May.

Pink Julia had woken up in an alchemist's laboratory in Burtcons, having no idea where she was or what was going on she escaped and had been making her way back to Dryholm for the last month. She had decided to sneak in through the hills, out of sight of the guard towers.

Sneaking into May's back yard she saw that her and Hope were chatting, Lilly and Autumn both sleeping on a cot.

"They're so cute I just wanna eat them ARGH! But will they freak out ohhh goshhhhh why did Utarou make this all so complicated!" Pink Julia whined to herself.

Rhiney flew down without warning and landed by his patch in May's garden, alerting the ladies to Julia's presence as she let out an involuntary yelp of surprise.

"Julia! You're back already? Did something happen with Henrek and Barney?" Hope exclaimed, excited at first before worrying about the implications.

"Yer turned pink too. Didnja say somethin' about findin' a green version of yourself as well?" May pointed out as Julia stood frozen.

"Uhh… What?" Julia said, entirely baffled by what was happening.

"Oh wait… Utarou said there might be others…" Hope muttered as she walked outside to greet Julia, noting that this Pink Julia.

Was very small, half the height of her and with barely any length to her pseudo hair like the blue Julia she'd met.

"Others?! Wait a minute… You mean like this?" Julia asked as she split herself in half.

"Yes! Oh my goodness I'm glad you managed to make it back then!" Hope exclaimed, giving the pink Julia a hug.

"We's gonna have to be dealin' with many of you's ya think?" May asked, annoyed at the idea of repeating the same happy reunion over and over again. Pink Julia pondered.

"I don't know, I remember what was happening when I was a puddle very clearly…" Julia sighed.

"Utarou left some instructions in case we got any 'surprise visits'. I think he might know… But why wouldn't he tell us?" Hope wondered.

"I'mma guess he didn' want us plannin' for somethin' what might not happen'. Or maybe he's just a twat." May shrugged as threw Rhiney his snack, a lamb carcass that had mostly been stripped of it's meat, quickly returning inside with Hope while pink Julia reeled from the information.

"C-can I see the babies?" Julia suddenly squeeked, having not moved an inch.

"Ya can take the brat for all I care, bein' Queen's a lot more nonsense than I care for right now." May huffed.

"Huh?"

"Oh, Utarou made her queen after Henrek relinquished power to Utarou again."

"W-what?"

"Come in and drink some tea, I'll explain." Hope chuckled, grabbing the small pink Julia by the hand and bringing her inside.


"I still don't get why I didn't sense them like I sensed that other one." Julia pondered as she sprawled out on a couch, awaiting Henrek and Barney to finish their meeting with the governor.

"I mean we can't sense each other right now." Twolia countered as she sat cross legged by the fire.

"True but wouldn't another me try and get in touch? We weren't that subtle when we came back home." Threelia sighed as she leaned back dangerously far on her stool.

"Maybe she had something weird happening, like when we had that green slime stuff in us." Fourlia offered as she looked down the hallway.

"Oh my god…" Julia remarked.

"What?!" The other Julias exclaimed in unison.

"Utarou definitely has another version of us in a sealed pot right?" Julia said as she started pacing around the room, the other three Julia's moving to sit around her

"So if he did that, then that means he couldn't ask her to keep hidden…" Julia continued as she rubbed her chin, the other three Julia's slowly merging together.

"Maybe that other Julia is CRAZY, or isn't all me, but Utarou thought I might try and combine with her anyway!" Julia finished, looking up at the now larger Twolia.

"We wouldn't be that stupid." Twolia retorted as Julia stepped forward.

"Yeah, yeah we would." Julia sighed as she merged back together.

'We still don't know how this body works…" Julia remarked as she looked at her goopy hands.

"I'll trust you Utarou, but I really want to know what you're planning right now." Julia sighed as she sprawled back out onto the couch in her full figured form.

"So you weren't having sex with it?" Penelope inquired suspiciously as she rode alongside Utarou.

"NO! I may love monster girls but right now Grey-chan here is all monster, no girl." Utarou retorted defensively.

"So, you would have sex with it if it looked like a girl?" Penelope pressed further.

"No no no, Monster Girls require a harmony between beastial traits and feminine, there must be a balance, one without the other is simply unappealing." Utarou sighed, shaking his head.

"Fufufu, noted…" Penelope smirked as she quickly grabbed her notebook out and started writing.

"They're getting along… I think…" Hans muttered, he'd been watching the back and forth between Utarou and Penelope for the last week, and it'd mostly consisted of Penelope prodding Utarou's character to confirm that he was in fact, as single minded as everyone said he was.

"Hmpth." Garf mumbled.

"Oh hey look, you got a word out of big man here!" Rufus laughed.

"D-did I?" Hans stammered.

"We take small victories with ol' Garf. Anyway, I reckon she's tryna do the deed with 'em." Rufus explained.

"W-what!?" Hans exclaimed, shocked.

"What? You never had a lady askin' all sorts of inappropriate questions? Because lemme tell ya if she is then she's looking for something and it ain't just platonic." Rufus laughed.

"I-I can't say I have…" Hans mumbled.

"Hah! Poor lad, I would've thought your boyish charm would be a hit! Ladies love a soft guy but…" Rufus began flexing his large biceps.

"... I suppose it's the muscle that attracts em like moths to a flame!" Rufus laughed. Hans mumbled something in agreement, turning bright red in embarrassment.

"Hmpth." Garf added.

"Ay look! I got one!" Rufus cheered.

Utarou had never been blessed when it came to women.

In his original life his particular interests could only be satisfied through fiction and cosplay.

And he didn't have the face, money or charasmia to pick up a cute cosplayer girl, nor the drive to settle with such a subpar replacement.

When he was reincarnated, he thought he had been granted a gift from a great kami to find the monster girls of his dreams.

Then he finds out that they don't exist in this world.

So Utarou had never expected to be in the scenario where he had a woman forcing herself onto him.

Let alone for it to be called a "ritual."

This wouldn't be a problem.

If she wasn't a damnable Elf.


"So this is Avoitica huh?" Penelope nodded as she looked around the impressively tall and gothic towers, built out of an exquisite black marble.

"I guess, assuming Hans didn't get us lost" Refus laughed as he noted the various warriors dotting the streets. This city was armed to the teeth with people loyal to the Avoisan Church.

"Are we sure this is the right city?" Utarou pondered as he wondered why a holy city would have so many soldiers.

"I-I didn't! You guys can read right…" Hans mumbled as he led the group towards the central church.

"They're just messing with ya! A little bit of what you guys call joshing around." Penelope teased.

"Y-yeah." Hans blushed.

"Seriously, why would a church have so many military guys?" Utarou asked genuinely. Penelope and Refus looked at Utarou for a moment.

"He might not be messing with you." Penelope sighed.

"I take it your old world didn't have wars then." Refus shrugged as they turned a corner, suddenly entering a massive courtyard.

Templars of all varieties stood at attention, all keenly aware of the Blessing Being in their presence.

Utarou had sent word of his approach of course, though despite him arriving long before his letter could the Templars had been keenly aware of his approach for some time now.

The Avoisan Church was the single most powerful organization on the continent of Aurora.

And Utarou, despite his status as a blessed being, was openly a heretic.

"Aha! There's the immortal man himself!" A familiar voice called out. Utarou looked around to see Adam cheerfully approaching.

"Woah, he's hot." Penelope remarked unabashedly.

"P-Penelope! We're in Avoitica!" Hans exclaimed.

"You were thinking it too." Penelope teased, Hans flustered before ultimately deciding to remain silent.

"A-aha! Hopefully the uh, head you gave the pope was satisfactory?" Utarou asked cautiously, looking around at the other Templars, who were all presumably on a similar level to Adam.

"Not in the slightest! But, the Pope is willing to grant you an audience. Come, we've prepared the ritual." Adam laughed as he placed an arm around Utarou's shoulder and began dragging him away.

Garf and Rufus both stopped Adam, grabbing his shoulder.

"Hold on a minute, we're under strict orders to protect him. Where he goes we go." Rufus exclaimed.

"Y-yeah…" Hans added uncommittedly.

Adam turned around, smile beaming as usual.

"Of course! Forgive my rudeness. How about a little hostage exchange then?" Adam offered.

"W-what?" Utarou remarked.

"Huh?! Since when was this a-"

"I give all of you, including the young witch there, complete access to our library. A thousand years of very flammable history." Adam explained, interrupting Rufus before he could voice his refusal.

"W-WHAT?! REALLY?!" Penelope squealed as she jumped in front of Garf and Rufus.

"H-huh? What would we want to do with flammable history?" Rufus asked dimly.

"Idiot, if something happens to Utarou we burn it down." Penelope smirked, smacking her fingers to create a small spark.

"Believe it or not, no heretic's head is worth that much destruction. Of course, it'll be completely unguarded." Adam laughed, shouting orders to the other templars.

"S-so you can either let it all burn or you have some back up prepared…?" Utarou asked anxiously.

"Well, backups exist but you're not worth destroying that much history over it. Consider it a sign of good will and trust!" Adam exclaimed gleefully.

"Mhm…" Utarou muttered as he looked back, seeing that Hans was still following while Penelope ran off, being followed by Garf and Rufus.

"I-I'm with you still!" Hans announced.

"Great." Utarou sighed.


"I don't get why I have to wash myself before meeting the pope. He'll just be a smelly old dude right?" Utarou groaned as he chatted to Hans in the next stall over.

"Well, cleanliness is next to godliness… I guess." Hans muttered as he quickly got changed.

"Well whatever, I haven't had a good bath in too long! Remind me we need to build an onsen in Dryholm." Utarou declared, emerging from his stall entirely nude. Hans immediately covered his eyes.

"Y-you could've changed in there." Hans mumbled.

"Bah." Utarou shirked off.

Quickly getting changed, Utarou strode into what Adam had been calling the "Temple Centuria."

This is where guests would perform a purifying ritual before discussing anything with the pope.

It was a large domed building, with large windows and stained glass paintings dotting the walls.

At its center, where all the light was directed, a single person standing in the middle of a circle created by deep grooves that let water flow throughout the Temple.

"Only the blessed being may come any further." The person said, it was a woman's voice.

Hans looked at Utarou who simply shrugged.

"It'll be fine… probably."

Utarou approached the woman, she was wearing a large green hood decorated in the churches symbol, her shoulders were exposed and the sleeves of her jacket were massive.

Once Utarou entered the circle, she turned around, revealing her glistening silver hair, her tired eyes and incredibly youthful appearance.

But Utarou only noticed one thing.

"KNIFE EARS!" Utarou shouted, immediately trying to leap back as the woman took her hood off, revealing a headband and letting her long elven ears free.

Utarou found himself hitting an invisible barrier, turning back to see Hans looked to be frozen in time.

"Now that's not very nice, saying slurs." The elf tutted sarcastically, her voice was smooth and slow like an elegant waltz.

"What have you done?!" Utarou shouted angrily as he tried to claw his way up and out of the barrier.

The elf sighed.

"Relax, from everything I've heard you'll enjoy this ritual~" The elf said with a smug expression, dropping her clothes in a moment to reveal a few things.

Her body was gorgeous, proportions shaped by god himself, or just a gifted figurine sculptor.

Second, it was covered in bandages and scars, small knicks and scratches that hadn't quite healed.

Thirdly, despite Utarou's head being filled with rage at the idea, his little Utarou had gone rogue.



Hans blinked, and Utarou had gone from standing on one side of the circle to the other, looking incredibly disgruntled while the elf hadn't moved an inch.

"H-huh?" Hans exclaimed.

"You may now approach young… man." The elf paused, turning her head to check Hans before deciding a gender.

"You're not gonna do him as well are you?" Utarou asked grumplily adjusting his pants.

"No no, the ritual only applies to blessed beings." The elf explained.

"You must be an experienced hag then. How long have you been doing this for the church?" Utarou snided.

"Oh, I only started the ritual today." The elf smirked.

"WHAT?! The pope would let you do that?!" Utarou exclaimed indignantly. The elf thought for a moment.

"Hmm, I don't see why they wouldn't." The elf said with an airy tone as she walked towards a nearby elevated throne.

"Well I'm going to complain directly to the man himself!" Utarou announced, causing the elf to laugh as she walked up the throne to sit down.

"Well, perhaps I should introduce myself properly now." The elf laughed softly as she sat down cross legged on the throne.

"I'm Ghaeltifts Au Neiva. The Pope of the Avosian Church."

"Of course… Of course." Utarou hissed as Hans looked between Ghaeltifts and Utarou, entirely baffled by what had could've possibly happened.

"W-what?" Hans asked, entirely lost.

"OF COURSE THE CHURCH IS GOING TO BE LED BY A DAMNABLE KNIFE EARED HAG!" Utarou screamed indignantly.

Across the cathedral, Penelope heard the rumbling of Utarou's shout and looked up for a moment, before quickly returning to her book of magic fundamentals, writing as much down as she could.

"Sounds like Utarou's going to be finished soon…" Penelope muttered as she wrote like her life depended on it.

"Huh?! W-what?! The Pope's a-a-an…" Hans stuttered, looking up at Ghaeltifts in disbelief.

"A WRETCHED KNIFE EAR!" Utarou shouted, the empty cathedral echoing his disdain throughout the dome.

Ghaeltifts laughed as her tired eyes leered down at the two who stood before her.

"Why, Utarou from everything I've heard this is your first time leaving Oldser, I can't imagine you spent enough time in Richton to encounter one of my kind, let alone to establish such a horrible impression of us!" Ghaeltifts cackled, resting her head on her hand.

"Ohhh I don't need to have met one of your kind here to know that I don't like you." Utarou growled as he tried to walk up Ghaeltifts' stair case, finding that with each step he took the stone stairs moved to keep him in the same place.

"Really? You know, us Elves like to be informed about something before we make an opinion." Ghaeltifts said in mock surprise.

"The hell do you know about me then!" Utarou shouted angrily, still trying and failing to reach the woman.

"Well I know you were reincarnated here 8 years ago, you were Sir Utarou of The Mountain Keep for King Oldsier until begging for the title of Governer of Dracons with a ridiculous offer he couldn't refuse, to which you paid back by secretly using your own flesh as mince meat, challenging the churches guidance so flagrantly you had to be declared a heretic, decimating Burtcons by chasing the wyverns out and then proceeding to somehow discover a Tier 4 skill that was off the Holy Path! Did I miss anything important?" Ghaeltifts asked with a playful yawn, her left eye beginning to glow green as opposed to their neutral brown.

"Oh you've missed a lot of important things." Utarou growled.

"Your own flesh!?" Hans exclaimed in disbelief, everyone ignoring him.

"Firstly, you missed out on my love of Monster Girls." Utarou declared, causing Ghaeltifts to roll her eyes.

"Secondly, you missed out my hatred of Elves!" Utarou reiterated.

"Honey, those aren't that important right-" Ghaeltifts began, interrupted by Utarou's loud snort.
"Oh you WOULD think that, with all your high minded and pretentious bullshit!" Utarou screamed, pointing an accusatory finger towards the woman as he started trying to run up the stairs, to equally little avail.

"Where are you getting all of these ideas, I must say they're a lot more flattering than most human stereotypes against us." Ghaeltifts laughed. Hans could only mumble something incoherent and shrug.

"I'm getting them from the only reliable source for isekai, light novels!" Utarou shouted as he sprinted as fast as he could, having managed to move a whole centimeter before tripping and crashing into the floor beside Hans.

"Right, well despite my position as Pope, I thought showing you a good time would help assuage your… interesting ideas about my people." Ghaeltifts sighed.

"I didn't consent!" Utarou retorted.

"Oh? But you finished so quickly."

"N-never mind that." Utaoru coughed while Hans looked at the two cluelessly.

"Quite, well I can only assume you sought my audience to gain my favour? Perhaps cleanse your heretical record? Beg for support in a trying time?" Ghaeltifts speculated boredly.

"Uh, all of those things…" Utarou mumbled, realizing his rampant hatred of Elves may have blinded him to slightly more pressing issues.

He could wipe Elves off the face of the planet after he creates his Monster Girl Utopia.


"The dread… I'm feeling it again." Henrek groaned as he and Barney sat watching Julia experiment with her splitting ability.

"Awh don'tcha feel too bad! The meetin' could've been worse. We ain't bein' ran out of town like'n the last three." Barney offered with his usual chipper attitude, taking a swig of beer as he looked towards Dryholm.

"No, it's just that Utarou will have made his way to Avotica by now. You know how he gets about Elves…" Henrek sighed.

"Eh, he's just meetin' with the Pope, probably an old man what hates' Elves too. Can't be too many of them Elvoisan weirdos in the city right?" Barney suggested.

"I dunno, I heard news that they're trying to reconcile. I'm surprised you have an opinion on the Elvoisan Church, you never struck me as particularly religious." Henrek noted, taking a sip of water.

"Hate all the bastards what try'n tell me what to do. Much'n prefer leavin' things to ya spirits 'n such 'n the olde gods. Elvoisan fellas are the ones who make'n it all weird, all that lovin' stuff, blergh." Barney said, remembering the time a wandering missionary tried to sell Barney on the religion.

"Sounds like you've met one! I thought Oldser was way north of where they usually tried to convert, I've heard a few stories from the southern guys when I used to guard Mountain Keep. I think it's just an Elf thing though." Henrek suggested.

"Is it? Maybe Utarou's got a point, though he's got it well weird don't he. Talkin' about bein stuck up with'n a superiority complex… I mean the hell kinda Elf is that?" Barney muttered. Henrek laughed as he shook his head and shrugged.

"Maybe it's like the monster girls he rambles on about and they don't exist yet!" Henrek laughed before looking at Julia instructing Twolia and Threelia to stretch out Fourlia like a sling shot.

"Oh god, he wouldn't make the dirt licking, STD ridden and festering wound elves like that would he?" Henrek asked, horrified at the idea.

"BAH! C'mon now, Utarou's a mad man but he HATES em! Can't imagine he'd be able to talk to one of em' long enough to say more than how much he hates em!" Barney cackled.

"Right… right yeah." Henrek nodded, the dread only mounting.

Elves were a people blessed with long lives and incredible magic, but in exchange had fragile constitutions and extreme poverty in their lands.

Imagining what might happen if these Elves were lifted from their squalor?

Was a terrifying thought indeed for the Human.

"You know, I'm quite an influential woman these days. 75 long hard years to be elected, and as an Elf! I'm sure you're not familiar with my little situation but let me tell you, you've put me in quite a bind!" Ghaeltifts laughed as she looked down on the anxious Hans and Utarou, physically biting to keep his mouth shut from spewing more racial hatred at the knife ear.

"H-How so my uh… majesty?" Hans stammered.

"Please, just call me Ghael, like the winds." Ghaeltifts laughed as she strode down the steps.

"Now there's something I have to explain, you see I'm somewhat obligated to perform certain duties as Pope." Ghaeltifts said seriously, before yawning and placing her arms around both Utarou and Hans' shoulders, her legs giving out from under her.

"W-what's happening?! Are you okay?" Hans asked, Utarou finally releasing his bleedingly tight grip on his tongue.

"Ghael must've used a lot of magic on that time stop spell right?" Utarou hissed.

"Bingo, a little loop hole around pre martial sex, now just take me down to my bed we can… discuss further… there…" Ghaeltifts yawned, passing out as she pointed.

"Ehck…" Hans gagged as he caught a whiff of the woman, she smelled like rotting fish.

"C'mon sooner we throw her in sooner we can get away…" Utarou mumbled, having decided his healing abilities included the ability to restore his virginity in emergency situations like this.

And as if it never happened, Utarou blocked the encounter from his memory.

"What did she mean about the pre martial-"

"No idea, she's clearly crazy." Utarou asserted.


"So… you can't eat food anymore?" May asked, slightly annoyed.

"W-well… I can sorta…" Pinklia blushed as she sat next to May at the head of the table during a town banquet to celebrate the winter solstice.

"What'sn that s'posed to mean?" May asked again, more annoyed as she saw Pinklia with a full plate.

"It's embarrassing…" Pinklia sighed.

"You ain't ever gonna start grow'n if you don't eat!" May grumbled.

"Oh relax May, if she doesn't want to she doesn't have to." Hope sighed as she bounced Lilly on her leg.

"N-no I do it looks delicious I just-! Ah fine…" Pinklia sighed as she gingerly grabbed a piece of chicken and swallowed it whole, bones and all.

So far, the same as Bluelia.

However as May watched it float around inside of Pinklia, it just floated around.

"And that's it…" Pinklia sighed as she took the chicken out and threw it towards Rhiney, who was sitting just outside with his large head poking through the window.

"Ya didn't even eat it!" May retorted indignantly.

"I-I did! I just don't, I dunno digest it? I kinda just absorb this weird vibration from it. I dunno…" Pinklia mumbled, remembering the large variety of strange things she'd tried to eat, finding that certain potion ingredients worked best.

"Hmmpth, I ain't met someone what I can't cook fer and I ain't startin' today. C'mon yer comin' with me." May growled as she grabbed Julia by the hand and dragged her away from the party.

"H-hey you can't just leave Autumn behind!" Hope shouted as she saw Autumn stirring awake in her crib.

"Ya one me ladies aint'cha? Queen's got business!" May laughed, enjoying her new official position of power. Hope pouted but let out a resigned sigh.


"Awhhh, sorry. Was I out long?" Ghaeltifts asked as she woke up, all comfortably tucked into her bed. The room was small and blue, just off the Temple Centuria they'd met in.

"About an hour." Utarou groaned.

"Where'd your little boy guard go?" Ghaeltifts asked with a smug look on her face as she pulled herself up.

"Just left to get Rufus to swap with him, can we get this over with so I can leave?" Utarou grumbled.

"You're quick with everything I see." Ghaeltifts laughed. Utarou stared blankly until Ghaeltifts rolled her eyes.

"Fine, you want the church's recognition and aid right?" Ghaeltifts asked as she propped herself up on the back of her bed.

"Ideally I don't want to have to worry about being a heretic for every monster girl I will create." Utarou asserted coldly.

"That goes without saying. You know what you've done is enough to split the church again right?" Ghaeltifts asked seriously.

"Nope! I've tried reading your books from Vicar John and it's all nonsense to me." Utarou admitted shamelessly.

"Well, you're speaking in the Central Eastern Dialect, I highly doubt you know the Traditional Western Dialect, let alone how to read it." Ghaeltifts mocked.

"Yeah I think Vicar John said something like that, I wasn't listening. He's very boring to listen to." Utarou asserted.

"I'll look into him then. But regardless, the book speaks seriously of the necessity of self improvement, to find the holy path and rise to it. When you have spent a thousand years preaching that, the only Tier 4 skill, Perfection is the one and only Holy Path… Then someone comes and discovers another? Which results in this bizarre transformation? Well scholars are still debating, and that grey monster? Well we're not exactly pleased with it either." Ghaeltifts explained.

"Wait, you found Greylia?!" Utarou exclaimed, sure that he had hidden her perfectly. Ghaeltifts expression turned into a smug laugh.

"You underestimate how many eyes we have in this country, and all of them go to me." Ghaeltifts smiled, pointing her fingers at herself in a way that would be cute if done by a much younger woman.

"Yet you've granted me an audience… and the ability to torch your libraries at a moment's notice. You want to make a deal don't you?" Utarou snapped, suddenly realizing what was happening.

"Not as stupid as you look. I should get to the point before your body guard comes in. This plan requires a lot of discretion from you." Ghaeltifts explained conspiratorially.

"Alright, but before you say anything… Will agreeing to this guarantee the Church not sending any more Templars after me ever again?" Utarou inquired.

"Oh but of course! Any less would seem unreasonable of me considering what I'm about to ask."

"Go on then, what do I need to do?" Utarou asked cautiously.

"Firstly, I want you to create a new branch of Avoisan. Reinterpret the texts around your mission, the specifics I don't care about, just spread it within the Central Eastern region and keep it out of Elven territory."

Utarou cocked his head.

"So you want me to weaken… The Avoisan church?"

"Like I said hun, discretion is required~" Ghaeltifts cooed, placing a finger on her lips in a way that would be cute if done by a younger woman. Utarou stared blankly.

"Ahem, secondly, I want you to declare war on Oldser and expand your territory. Do not make it a holy war, and keep me out of it. I need you to do this in the next 10 years."

"Why?"

"Need to know basis, and you don't need to know. Thirdly, I want to keep that Grey monster and turn her human again, she'll be in my personal care until she is cured rest assured." Ghaeltifts explained.

"Alright…" Utarou nodded, wondering what the benefit of this could possibly be to the elf.

"Finally, should you ever tell anyone but me or Templar Adam of this conversation, I will have him smite you as the heretics you are." Ghaeltifts explained with an evil glint in her eye.

"Right… can't have your little conspiratory getting out…" Utaraou sighed.

"Quick now, he's almost here~" Ghaeltifts coughed as she laid down in bed, awaiting Utarou's response.

"Urghh… Yeah alright. I mean I was gonna do most of that stuff anyway I guess but… Fine. You better fix Greylia." Utarou groaned as Rufus came in.

"Sorry boss! Got lost tryna get here!" Rufus laughed from across the Temple Centuria.

"Glad we're so aligned then~" Ghaeltifts cooed as she snuggled back into bed, immediately falling asleep.

"I think we're done here anyway, c'mon let's go." Utarou sighed, deciding whatever this Elf and Adam were doing couldn't be good, but if it kept the monster that was Adam from his fledgling empire then so be it.

He'd been meaning to say hello to King Oldsier for a while now anyway.


"AHA! Ya can only eat mana! Bloody knew I'd be able to fatten 'er up if I knew what ya ate!" May declared as Pinklia sat with a bloated stomach from May's special healing paste.

"Urgh… y-yeah this is… too much…" Pinklia coughed, she felt like vomiting but wasn't sure what would happen if she did, or if she even could vomit anymore.

"Now, bit odd that ya can only eat magic… Maybe that's what made ya so pink." May nodded.

"May… Can we go home? It's nearly morning…" Hope whined as she dragged the two passed out babies into Dryholm's kitchen, having been unable to sleep while May kept trying to figure out how to properly feed Pinklia.

"Hmm? Oh right! I got a bit into it huh?" May laughed innocently, as the entire kitchen behind her was covered in every variety of substance imaginable.

Pinklia let out a small puke, which formed into a tiny version of herself which also puked.

"WAIT! NO! TELL HIM TO KEEP TALKING!" Penelope begged as she was physically dragged from her seat, still desperately trying to write down more incantations.

"We gave you an extra hour, I feel we've been more than generous!" Adam chuckled as he effortlessly grabbed the woman, using his magic to pack up her books and ink in a single motion.

"Waahhh…" Penelope whined, relenting herself to her fate as the rest of the pilgrimage squad waited just outside of the tall walls of Avoitica.

"So, what, we're friends with the church now?" Rufus asked, still confused.

"Not… exactly." Utarou sighed, he had been given a pretty clear set of instructions if he wanted to not get onto Ghaeltifts' heretic list again.

He had to create a new branch of the Avoisan Church and keep its reach within the Central Eastern Region, specifically avoiding the Elves in the South Eastern Region.

He had to declare war and take territory from King Oldser within the next decade.

He had to leave Greylia in her care.

All of this he had to lie about why he was doing any of it, because if anyone found out about this deal, he'd be dealing with Templar Adam.

"So what is it then?" Rufus asked again. He was something of a simpleton and if Utarou couldn't explain it to him in a way that made sense then he'd be doomed when it came to the more inquisitive members of his current squad.

"We're not enemies, we've been given some grace thanks to my discovery of a new Tier 4 skill, my status as a blessed being and a sort of uh… Hostage exchange let's say with Greylia." Utarou explained with a frustrated groan.

He wasn't particularly concerned with coming up with a good reason, most people in his inner circle understood he operated on a bizarre logic.

He'd unfortunately not be able to lie about Greylia's existence like he'd hoped, but keeping her in Avotica away from Bluelia, and unbeknownst to him, Pinklia, was a surprise boon. No risk of accidentally combining the wild rage of Greylia with the Bluelia who trusted him blindly.

But the thing that was concerning him the most was Ghaeltifts' actual goals.

"What is that smug knife ear planning? What possible benefit could destabilizing the Central Eastern region give her? Why can't the rest of the church know? Is she not really in charge? Is only Adam in on it or are there others? Was Adam's initial challenge a part of this as well? Is my new monster girl nation at risk?" Utarou had the same few questions rattling around in his head since leaving the Temple Centuria.

But, he had only one answer to all of his problems.

"Huh, so we ain't gonna have to worry about Vicar John gettin' all mad at us then for doin' what you tell us?" Rufus asked plainly.

Utarou smirked widely.

"Oh, I don't think we're going to have that problem ever again. In fact, I think the next few years is the perfect time to accelerate the plan." Utarou declared as Penelope was unceremoniously hauled out of Avotica and dumped with the squad, Hans following closely behind.

"H-hey! Be careful with her." Hans shouted as Adam quickly left.

"Oh no! Please! I might need to be carried all the way out of the Papacy by a big strong man!" Penelope declared dramatically, raising her arm into the sky.

"You weirdo…" Hans mumbled as he left Penelope on the floor.

"What? He's REALLY hot! You think so too!" Penelope retorted as she got up.

"Shut up…" Hans sighed as the pair made their way to the caravan.

"Oh hey guys! We're friends with the church now!" Rufus shouted, causing Utarou to face palm.

"Oh? That means I can go back to that library right?!" Penelope asked, beaming with excitement.

"No… No, we're not enemies with the church now." Utarou clarified.

"Oh… Damnit Utarou! You could've taken longer to negotiate you know!" Penelope whined as she tossed her writing equipment into the wagon, Garf still silently brushing one of the horse's hair.

"All things considered I think I did pretty good. Anyway, more importantly, how much did you manage to write down?" Utarou asked eagerly, he hadn't fully appreciated there was an actual honest to goodness witch in his town.

He had other priorities at the time admittedly, but this was an error he'd correct in future.

"Well uh, I'm not sure but it looked important!" Penelope declared, grabbing her notebook and showing Utarou the frantic scribbles she'd doodled in.

"Huh?" Utarou asked, entirely unable to read what she'd written.

"LOOK! They're written in an Ancient Dialect I can't exactly read per say…" Penelope explained as she flipped through the scrawled notes.

"But look, I recognize this as the word for uh… Fire I think. Or is that go? Anyway, stand back as I read it… Elva Novua Inferinium Torium!" Penelope cast at a nearby, innocent tree.

She then proceeded to shoot backwards, landing with a heavy thud onto her back into the thankfully soft grass.

"I'm okay…" Penelope gasped, struggling to breath as her head throbbed.

"Great… Welp this just confirms it." Utarou sighed as Hope and Garf helped Penelope up.

"What?"

"I gotta start a school…" Utarou groaned, rubbing his temples as horrific memories of his schooling days came flooding back to him.


"GOT ONE!" Julia shouted as she stretched her large hands to the sky, ensnaring a wyvern and pulling it to the ground, snapping its neck as it landed.

"Careful! We need to keep one of em alive to see the nest!" Barney shouted as he bisected an oncoming wyvern.

"Alright everyone stay calm, we've dealt with plenty of these in Dracons." Henrek shouted at the cowering townsfolk of Phinholm, fending off a stray wyvern that tried to swoop a small child with a swift slice.

"Hey they're running! I'll follow em I'll make a fire when I find the nest!" Julia shouted as she saw the main mass of Wyverns.

"Alrighty we'll clean 'er up 'ere!" Barney shouted.

"Be careful!" Henrek shouted, knowing it would fall on deaf ears. Barney sliced another Wyvern in half, quickly observed the area and casually sauntered to Henrek and the people he was guarding.

"You should be careful as well." Henrek growled, throwing his sword at seemingly nothing.

His sword then got stuck in that nothing, collapsing onto the ground with a thud as it bled out.

"Woah, that's new." Barney remarked as he ripped the sword out of formerly invisible Wyvern and handed it to Henrek.

"You two are too reckless." Henrek sighed as he leaned against a wall, the people still cowering inside the barn.

"Eh, tis your job to worry about that stuff." Barney laughed as he smacked Henrek on the back.

"How comforting…" Henrek sighed as he looked towards home, and further beyond.

"Cool your horses, Utarou should be back well before us, besides just bustin' a few more nests and the governor 'ill lift the blockade." Barney said as comfortingly as he could. Henrek sighed.

"Yeah, Utarou being back before us is what's worrying me."

"S-so, uh, is there anything I can uh, do?" Pinklia asked as she awkwardly paced around the walls of Dryholm with May and Hope.

"Yer job is t' keep me 'n Hope here from gettin-" May shouted, being cut off by an arrow being grabbed from the air by Pinklia.

"- Our 'eads shot off!" May laughed as she looked at the goblin raiders.

"12 RAIDERS COMING IN FROM THE SOUTH GATE! 8 KILOMETERS AWAY!" Hope shouted towards the southern garrison.

Winter wasn't quite over but bands of particularly plucky goblinoids were trying their luck at raiding the settlement early.

"OI! RHINEY! Hurry up 'n get em!" May shouted, pointing towards the far off band of goblinoids.

The trio of ladies had established a fairly concrete plan of defense.

Hope could see clearly much further than any marauders could attack, she was look out.

Rhiney could crush these bands before they could arrive, so May sent them out.

Any that managed to sneak through would be dealt with by Pinklia.

It was an effective system for the most part.

But unfortunately, Goblinoids were not known for being easy to deal with.


"Tell me about Goblins, Orcs and Trolls, why are they working together?" Utarou asked casually as he rode besides Rufus.

"Eh?! Whatcha mean? Why wouldn't they be workin' together?" Rufus asked, confused at the nature of the question. Penelope loudly sighed from just behind the two men, to interject her opinion.

"He's from another world dufus, the fact he's bothered to separate them means they're different factions in his world." Penelope sighed.

"Uh, yeah basically." Utarou added, deciding that agreeing with Penelope was easier than trying to correct her.

"Well I'm not an expert but…" Penelope began, a smug grin appearing on her face as she prepared her statement mentally.

"... Goblinoids are a class of demi-human defined by straying off the holy path. Goblins are typically small, agile, capable of healing quickly. Orcs are larger, stronger and out of Goblinoids they're the ones who have any capacity for magic. Trolls are the meanest and smartest, usually the leaders if in a group but you usually see them alone in the North Western region." Penelope explained cheerfully.

"Wait a minute, Orcs can do magic?" Utarou asked incredulously.

"Well yeah, they're the most human." Penelope explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"They don't work that way where I'm from." Utarou sighed.

"Really?! Say, Utarou, you should tell me about that other world." Penelope asked, unsubtly moving her horse to ride next to Utarou's.

"Uhh, yeah, sure… I guess." Utarou mumbled, he'd have to get used to answering questions if he'd want to become a teacher.

Which to be fair, he didn't, it was just a means to an end.

The end of course being his Monster Girl Utopia.


Kinnby crawled through the thick wheat fields of Dryholm.

"Me's gonna find good way in… Me's gonna make top man so proud… Top man give me's a big promotion… Womenfolk's and gold's…" Kinnby thought to himself as he crawled through the fields.

Kinnby was a goblin of the Long Big Red Streak Tribe.

He'd been born into the tribe, his mother hadn't.

He was one of 18 children, 5 that survived into adolescence.

Kinnby was the lowest of the low in Goblinoid society, an Outman.

An Outman was a goblinoid from another tribe, despite being raised in the Long Big Red Streak Tribe he was always going to be an outsider thanks to his mother being an Notwoman.

Goblinoid society was not pleasant, but Kinnby didn't know that.

All he knew was that if he impressed Topman, he'd be rewarded.

"Brothers are stupid, they thinks they run fast they get in… Kinnby sneak… Kinnby get shouty woman… Kinnby kill shouty woman… Kinnby take head to Topman… Kinnby become Brotherman…" Kinnby thought as he reached the cliff that made up Dryholm's mountainous walls.

He'd made it further than any other goblin in his tribe, and he'd matched the most impressive orcs as well.

Kinnby was demonstrating what made goblins so difficult to deal with.

They quite readily used up their ranks in discovering new ideas, and readily adopted the most successful of these ideas.

Despite the average Goblinoid having the intelligence of a vegetable, their complete lack of shame and ego allowed them to adopt ideas and adapt rapidly to new situations.

They were the cockroaches of Aurora, the harder a kingdom tried to eradicate them, the better equipped the survivors were to continue living.

Kinnby of course, knew none of this.

All he knew is that he'd nearly climbed to the top of the walls, entirely unnoticed.

It was partially a fluke, a fat disgusting wart clambering up your walls was obvious if you were looking for it, but the garrison was distracted with other things.

The top of the wall were Pinklia, May and Hope, all focusing on threats further away.

Kinnby scrambled up, grabbed his dagger and charged at May.

"EEEK!" Pinklia squeeled, smashing the goblin's head in, watching as its lifeless body fell to the ground.

"Damnit, WHO TA HELL IS WATCHIN' THE WALLS FA CLIMBERS?!" May screamed at the garrison.


"... So that's why you can't let a goblin live. They'll just come back in a bigger and smarter group." Penelope explained, giving various macabre examples from the fairy tails local to her region.

"Right, but are any of them hot?" Utarou asked seriously.

Rufus, Penelope and even Garf stared at Utarou in disbelief at the question.

"No! NO! Dear god NO! Why would you even…" Penelope choked as she physically vomited at the thought.

"If'n you ever wanted to find somethin' what made me puke two ways till sunday… A goblin wench is it." Rufus shuddered.

"They are, vile." Garf added.

Utarou looked at Garf in disbelief.

"You can talk?!" Utarou exclaimed. Garf simply nodded.

"Wow, that bad huh…" Utarou sighed, Goblin girls were on the edge of his Monster Girl list anyway, but to think he'd have to do so much work to make them tolerable was a shame.

"Urgh, I hate silk. It feels weird against my skin." Julia whined as she adjusted her body to fit inside the petite dress.

"Well you're going to a banquet to celebrate with the freakin' entire extended nobility of Lolcons! Ya gotta dress to impress!" Twolia retorted.

"Why aren't you coming again?" Julia asked, pouting Julia wore their quite comfortable shorts and jacket combination.

"Because your hair is way too freaking long when we're together because you've been a fat ass." Twolia explained with a smug laugh.

"Hey! I needed mass to take all those dragons down! Plus Lolcons have the best sweets." Julia retorted defensively.

"True." Twolia nodded, grabbing one that was in her pocket and munching on it.

"We should probably figure out something to do about this huh…" Julia mumbled, noting how she could effortlessly split into two of herself with a short hair cut now. The pair were cut off by a frantic banging at the door.

"Are you finished? The banquet's starting soon!" The house lady shouted as quietly as she could manage.

"Yeah yeah!" Julia shouted, looking into the mirror.

"Hey pass me some slime, my hair's nowhere cute enough this short." Julia demanded, sticking her hand out to Twolia.

"Who made you the boss?" Twolia grumbled, unceremoniously tossing a ball of sludge at Julia's head, which absorbed the blob into a fringe and pony tail.

"Hey do you want to be the one stuck in this thing?" Julia retorted as she walked to the door, opening it to reveal the stunned house lady.

"T-there's two of you… right…" The house lady mumbled as Julia walked out.

"We're sending the evil twin out!" Twolia laughed as she kicked back on the dressing room couch.

"O-of course…" The house lady sighed as she saw Julia was already making her way to the dining hall.

"M-my lady! Do you know the proper etiquette with-"

"Nope! I'm just a bumpkin with a knack for hitting dragons!" Julia laughed as she walked with her usual poor posture.

"My goodness…" The house lady gasped, letting Julia walk ahead into the great banquet hall of Lolcons' capital city, Burchezeg.

It was a city more influenced by the Far Eastern culture of Aurora, despite being in the hands of the Oldsier dynasty it was still quite entwined with the major group of the Far East of Aurora.

The Dwarves.

The Kingdom of Oldser bordered the edge of the Dwarves former empire, many of the cities were forts built during Dwarven conquests, despite the native human populations having reclaimed them as their own the influence from them was still clear.

For one, the local peasants still prayed to the dwarven god Logos. For two, it meant their castles were mostly retrofitted Dwarven forts. For three, it meant that even the nobility of the region had inherited the dwarven stiffness for social rules.

Ladies were meant to be ladies.

Julia was not a lady.

Julia was a tomboy.

Henrek was well aware of this and dreaded to see what she'd as he anxiously sat next to an empty seat near the head of the table, where the governor of Lolcons, Badlubrain Oldsman, a heavy set man with a large puffy beard, archetypical for the region.

"You know, I'm quite excited to meet this sister of yours! I hear she's discovered a new tier 4 skill!" Badlubrain exclaimed cheerfully.

"O-oh yes, she has…" Henrek nodded, still looking towards the door.

"You know, I gotta admit I wasn't expectin' anythin' this nice! Last time ol' Henrek was here you gave 'em a real talkin' to!" Barney laughed. Henrek glared at Barney who quickly shut up, not knowing what faux pa he might've made.

Badlubrain narrowed his eyes.

"Hmpth, don't mistake my hospitality as kindness. Quite frankly if it wasn't rude I'd have banished you from my realm already." Badlubrain growled, snapping his fingers.

"Speaking of rudeness, it appears the strange woman has failed to arrive in a timely fashion. Let the dinner commence!" Badlubrain shouted, the rest of the table, filled with various local lords from Lolcons and surrounding regions, grabbed their flagons and lifted them up. Henrek followed in time while Barney stumbled along, Julia still nowhere to be found.

"Oh shoot, they're starting without me." Julia remarked as she heard the sounds of cheers coming from just down the hall. She picked up her dress and quickly ran towards the banquet door, finding it was locked.

"Huh?" Julia remarked as she tried to push and pull the door.

"Banquet's locked ma'am." A guard dutifully announced.

"Huh?! Why?" Julia asked incredulously.

"House rules ma'am. Tardiness is not permitted." The guard explained.

"Can't a lady do her hair! Sheesh… Whatever, I hated this dress anyway." Julia sighed as she effortlessly slid through the small crack between the doors, shocking the guard as he was left with a sticky dress.

Henrek spat out his drink as the loud chattering of the Lolcons banquet was quieted as the blue intruder made her way in, quickly making herself somewhat modest by growing a small skirt around her legs, and indenting her body in a way that mimicked a layer of clothes.

"I'd make it longer but then I'd lose my cute pony tail." Julia explained as she casually waved towards the stunned crowd, sitting down next to Henrek.

"Hmpth." Badlubrain scoffed before motioning for the people to continue talking. Henrek glared at Julia.

"What?" Julia shrugged as the servants began bringing plate after plate of food to properly begin the banquet.

"I told you, you couldn't be late…" Henrek sighed, a defeated gasp escaping his lips.

"Ah let the lass go! Ain't a day gone by when my misses could get ready quick'n such!" Barney laughed, placing an arm around the despairing Henrek.

"Yeah! I'm just a girl!" Julia laughed as she did the same, the overly forward behaviour was frowned upon by High Society, causing the nobles to tut in their conversations.

"We're supposed to be representing Dracons here to try and get that trade embargo lifted, remember?" Henrek hissed as he pushed the pair off of him.

"Well yeah, we also totally stomped like a thousand wyvern nests. They're not gonna be a problem anytime soon I think." Julia declared smugly.

"You know, I would quite like to hear it from the woman of the hour herself." Balubrain said, his voice commanding Julia's attention as he rested his head on the arm of his throne.

"Well there's nothin' to it really! Just gotta grab em by the wings then BAM! Slam them down! They don't know what hits them!" Julia explained cheerfully, though she felt something nagging her as she began talking.

This was a former Dwarven fortress, despite being a country bumpkin Julia had heard many stories of Dwarves from her parents.

Dwarves were crafty tricksters, they hid secrets in everything they made and would be duplicitous to achieve their means. Of course some of this was fear mongering parents did to children, but some of it was true.

"... And then blamo! You crush the eggs before they get a chance to hatch and that's the next-" Julia's explanation was cut off by her chair suddenly collapsing from underneath her, Henrek and Barney all at once.

Julia quickly stretched a hand up to try and escape, but a guard was waiting for her and immediately sliced it off before it could grab anything.

The hand formed into a very small Threelia, which clambered onto the table, shocking the banquet hall as she sprinted out of the hall.

All the while, Julia, Barney and Henrek were dumped into a dungeon cell, where six more guards were waiting, weapons all aimed at Barney and Henrek's necks.

"MAKE A MOVE AND THEY'RE BOTH DEAD!" The captain of the guard shouted, causing Julia to freeze in place.

"Urgh… great." Henrek sighed as he recognized the men who now held them prisoner.

"What 'n the hell is this?!" Barney shouted, moving an inch before having his shoulder sliced.

"I SAID DON'T MOVE!" The captain repeated, he wasn't from Lolcons, he was the head of the guard from Burtcons.

Adamonze Oldser.

One of the Avoisan Fundamentalists which made up the nobility of Burtcons.

"Just stay calm, they're not going to kill us, yet." Henrek hissed, raising his arms. Julia said nothing but followed suit.

"So, Adamonze, to what do I owe the pleasure of our reunion?" Henrek asked as he identified the enemy.

"You know damn well why, we're killing the false saviour." Adamonze hissed, pointing at Julia.

"H-huh!? What did I do?!" Julia asked incredulously.

"Upon their arrival, the saviour changed before the eyes of man into a being blessed, to save the sinners from themselves. Barnicus 14:12." Adamonze quoted.

"What?!" Julia reiterated, having no idea what Adamonze was on about.

She never went to church, though admittedly Dryholm didn't have a proper church until recently either.

"You're a false saviour! A blessed being isn't one who shed's their human form to become… to become this! You are rotting your very soul! As it states-" Adamonze was about to quote more bible verses at them, but was stopped by Balubrain making his way into the dungeon.

"Settle down there kid, I don't want you to bore them to death." Balubrain sighed, pushing the men aside so he could kneel in front of Henrek.

"So, where did that eastern hospitality go?" Henrek asked with a scoff.

"Doesn't extend to traitorous heretics. You'd really think I'd be so willing to disregard your flagrant declaration of this man being king." Balubrain explained sternly, looking at the rough and tumble Barney.

"Great, I was hoping you'd be more amenable to Logos…" Henrek sighed. Balubrain laughed.

"Oh no! I only tolerate it. I'm a devout Aviotican first and foremost. So this whole tier 4 slime nonsense is absolutely unacceptable, the peasants are calling her 2nd coming of the saviour, that damn Logos nonsense is still stuck in their heads." Balubrain grumbled as he stood up.

"Uhm, sorry what?" Julia asked, confused about what they were talking about.

"Logos, the religion of Logic. What's more logical, that the Avoisan Saviour they speak of should be worshipped, or a new saviour who seemingly fits the bill." Henrek explained, dismayed he hadn't been more cautious.

"Pft! You speak of heresy as well! I should cut you down where you stand!" Adamonze scolded, pointing his blade right at Henrek's neck.

"I'd be careful with that thing. You know we're supported by a blessed being, right?" Henrek explained calmly. Barney was keeping his mouth shut, wincing from the wound in his shoulder.

"I refuse to believe a Blessed Being would support this." Adamonze hissed.

"Yeah well, surprises happen. Lemme guess, you've got to keep us alive until you can confirm if he's blessed or not right?" Henrek asked sardonically, smirking.

"Quite right, you're smarter than you let on." Balubrain noted, snapping his fingers and freezing Julia with an ice spell.

"HEY!" Henrek shouted, instantly kicking the sword out of Adamonze's hand, grabbing it and stabbing the guard that was pining Barney down.

A soldier managed to get a deep cut in his leg but Barney was too quick, able to weave through the men and hold the blade up to Balubrain's neck.

"Unfreeze her or I cut off your head." Henrek hissed as Barney quickly grabbed the blade from the downed soldier to defend himself.

"What are you doing! Kill him!" Adamonze screamed. Henrek gave Balubrain a moment but the nobleman was too slow.

Henrek chopped the man's head off and backed himself to the wall with Barney.

"HEY!" Twolia shouted from above, having recombined with Threelia and effortlessly beaten up the guards and nobility that stood in her way, was now stretching her arms down to pick the two men up.

"W-wait! What about Julia!" Henrek shouted as Twolia dragged them out of the pit.

"I'M JULIA! C'MON WE GOTTA RUN BEFORE ANOTHER WIZARD GETS HERE!" Twolia shouted.

"She's right." Barney winced, his right arm was numb.

"Damnit… DAMNIT FINE!" Henrek shouted, taking one last look at the frozen Julia. Or was that now Twolia.

"So what did you and the pope talk about?" Penelope asked casually as they journeyed back to Dryholm.

"Just what I told you about…" Utarou mumbled vaguely.

"But what specifically did you talk about?" Penelope pressed.

"I've been given some grace and they're taking Greylia as a hostage! That's it!" Utraou asserted.

"Hmm, yeah but how did the conversation go? What words did she say?" Penelope continued.

"I dunno! A lot of them!" Utarou sighed.


"I'm just wondering how you could forget such an important conversation yet remember every character in that… what did you call it?" Penelope asked, interrupting Utarou's vivid explanation of one of his favorite stories as they sat around the fire.

"Visual novel?" Utarou asked, confused where Penelope was going.

"Yeah! Visual Novel, you can remember all of those characters and branching paths, yet you've completely forgotten your conversation with-"

"I'm going to bed. Good night." Utarou sighed.

"I'll get you to talk soon!" Penelope declared confidently sipping on her tea.

"Why are you so curious anyway?" Rufus asked in between sips of stew.

"No reason~" Penelope lied in her sweetest voice.

"Oh okay." Rufus shrugged.


"So you walked in and then what?" Penelope asked as she and Utarou collected firewood from the abandoned village of Kolob.

"LOOK, if I told you exactly what happened you'd be in danger! Is that a good enough answer?" Utarou shouted, dropping the fire wood and angrily pointing at Penelope.

She immediately cracked into a wide smirk.

"Oh, not even close. Now I have to know." Penelope grinned. Utarou face palmed.

"Well I'm not telling you!" Utarou grumbled, if he couldn't keep this persistent girl from breaking down his defences how could he keep the conspiracy going?


"She wants me to make a new branch of the church around monster girls, and declare war on King Oldsman without letting anyone know. Also she demanded to keep Greylia!" Utarou groaned, having finally relented to telling Penelope once he returned to his tower and could have some confidence prying ears wouldn't get to him.

Penelope was nothing if not determined.

"Oh, my, gosh… So that's why Templar Adam is helping us with the Goblins?! He's in on it?! Oh my gosh I gotta ask him all about-" Penelope began before shutting her mouth.

"Right, yeah, he'd smite everyone… DAMNIT! I WANNA TELL EVERYONE NOW! Why'd you give me this burden?" Penelope whined, stomping her feet on the ground.

"YOU ASKED! REPEATEDLY!" Utarou, jumping out of his seat to shake some sense into the woman.

"I… Was… Joking… Kinda…" Penelope said in between shakes.

Utarou stopped and let out a sigh.

"Look, you cannot tell anyone. I can't tell anyone else either." Utarou sighed, returning to his desk.

"Yeah obviously, but you need a way better lie. Don't worry though, I'm quite interested in helping out, luckily for you~" Penelope smirked, standing proud. Utarou cocked his head in confusion.

"What? Can't a lady be interested in a passionate perverts mission to reshape the world?" Penelope asked.

"I uh, yeah I guess. Sorry I'm not used to people being so eager to help." Utarou admitted, scratching the back of his head.

"You're making things more exciting for me." Penelope shrugged.

"Well, let Hope and May know we're back when you see them. I'm going to get some sleep." Utarou sighed, making his way to the makeshift bedroom.

"Yes sir~! I'll come up with a better lie next time a nosy girl comes asking." Penelope laughed as she left the tower, the windy rain nearly blowing the door back as she left.

Utarou climbed the ladder into the floor that archers were supposed to perch in that Henrek had repurposed into a home away from home, which now Utarou had claimed for himself.

"She's a persistent girl huh?" Adam remarked, appearing from seemingly nowhere as Utarou nearly fell off the ladder.

"Y-you! Oh god you heard it all? Damnit please… PLEASE DON'T PUT ME IN A DARK DUNGEON AGAIN! I LOVE FEELING MY FINGERS!" Utarou begged, immediately kowtowing to the man.

"Relax, you are a terrible liar, that minx is going to end up saving you from spilling to someone we're actually worried about." Adam laughed, sitting down on the ground next to the cowering Utarou.

"S-so you're not smiting me?" Utarou asked with a sniff.

"Eh, not today." Adam shrugged.

"How reassuring…" Utarou sighed as he sat up properly.

"I'm just here to make sure you understood the conditions of our little deal, which you evidently do." Adam smiled, radiant a golden glow even in the room lit dimly by moonlight.

"Y-yeah, appreciate it, buddy." Utarou gulped.

"Heh, well how about a theology lesson instead. The Avoisan Testament was written by the 16 disciples of the Saviour. They speak of the Saviour so reverently they refuse to even describe them in any clear terms. Hell, we can't say whether the Saviour was a man, woman, human, elf, dwarf, or even a goblin!" Adam laughed.

"R-right, okay…"

"What I'm trying to say is, we don't know much about the Saviour beyond what he taught and what he could do. And lemme tell you! He wasn't very clear. The Elfviosan branch of the church, hooboy, they've got some real whacky ideas!" Adam explained casually walking over to the ladder.

"This feels like you're trying to tell me something…" Utarou mumbled.

"Ah, this is why that girl is going to save you. Isn't that right miss Penelope?" Adam asked, an audible squeak coming from Penelope who'd been listening in the entire time.

"I look forward to seeing what Theology you two come up with to justify these so-called monster girls!" Adam laughed as he climbed the ladder to the top of the tower, disappearing into the night.

"Woah, he's so hot… I-I mean cool." Penelope gasped as Utarou rubbed his temples.

"They couldn't be any more subtle with their power plays huh? Whatever, I just need to use them while I build up my own resources… Right now Monsteria doesn't have the military or Monster Girl power to rival that." Utarou thought as he rolled into bed.

"Once I can meet with May and Hope tomorrow I should be able to properly assess how Dryholm's been doing throughout winter… Henrek should be back soon as well, with good news I hope." Utarou thought before falling into a peaceful sleep in his own bed.