The Deity Entertainment Network

Chapter 256 – The Truth Is Good, But Sometimes It Hurts

When they had finally teleported back from the meadow, the morning had already passed, and it was early in the afternoon. What he found upon their return was something he hadn't expected, though John did find it a bit amusing. Many of the Moonfall clan were idly working away in the courtyard, stacking lumber and stone in neat piles to the side.

The funny part was that Aqua was being carried around by a couple of the wolfkin on board, like... a goddess on a palanquin, using her magic to make small fireworks or other little tricks to the delight of a couple of the workers and tolerated by most of the others. The moment she saw him, she jumped down off the makeshift litter and rushed up to him.

"They know I'm me! I have new followers who believe in me!" She said, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. "This is how you should treat your goddess, you know! Tremble before my greatness and worship me!" She whipped her head to the side, closed her eyes and made a gimme motion with her hand.

"You were doing so well." He said with an exaggerated sigh, sliding off Nebula and offering Mica a hand down.  

"What?"

"You're following me, darlin', not the other way around. Besides, the whole clan are devout followers of Eris, not you."

"Hun?"

"It's true. Eris is our goddess. We respect you and the Axis Church, but we follow Eris." Mica added, standing beside John.

"Wha- no, no, no! That little tramp can't take this from- ACK!!! Put me down!" She squealed when he picked her up by the back of her dress.

"Stop berating her! You're allies, aren't ya? On the same side of this conflict against the Devil King? And what is she taking from you? She is a minor goddess with just this one world to look after, while you have several worlds you oversee. Stop causing drama by trying to steal her followers. It just makes you look like a bully!" He growled. He didn't know where this anger came from, but trying to convert Chris/Eris's followers and calling her a tramp set him off.

"You're the one bullying me!" She said, squirming in his grip and beating his chest with her fist. All it accomplished was to send her spinning around a bit.

"It's for your own good. It seems like the only way to get you to learn something." He replied, setting her down. "Now, go help them move those stones and save the party tricks for after dinner entertainment."

"Meanie!"

"Keep it up. Just because I have one hand now doesn't mean I won't swat your ass in front of everyone here. How would that be for your image as a goddess?"

"I-I-I'll be good!"

"Good. Now, I'm heading to town. If you're good, I'll bring you back a treat."

"Can I come?"

"Stones. Now."

*Sob*

"What did I say about being a brat?" He said, then pretended he was about to swat her butt.

"AHHH!!! I'll be good! I'll be good!" She jumped, covering her barely covered ass with her hands.

"That's better. Now, get to work and think about what you did. We will talk about this later."

"Yes, John!" She said, then darted off.

"Don't you think you were a bit hard on her? She did save many of our people yesterday, not to mention she cast wards around this place to keep us safe from more undead incursions."

"No. I've only known her a short time, but she seems to need a firm hand to keep her hubris in check. I will get her a treat for the good things she did, but I won't allow her bad habits to go unchecked. I have a suspicion her being forced to come with me to defeat the Devil King wasn't just because of... well, I think her boss might have saddled me with her to help her overcome her shortcomings. What's so funny?" He asked, looking down at the chuckling woman.

"Her hubris? I mean no disrespect, but you may want to look in a mirror. What would you call a level 1 adventurer that invades an enemy castle and somehow manages to defeat the Lich in charge of the place? Then disciplines a goddess in public enough to make her cry? The amount of self-confidence that takes practically makes the hubris ooze off of you."

"And leave your people to their fate? Sorry, Darlin, I ain't built that way. I won't throw my life away for no reason, but I won't stand idly by when I have a reasonable chance of success. Besides, didn't you practically throw yourself at me earlier? That takes a bit of hubris to do." He said, giving her a hug. She was right, though; he needed to be careful. He had powers now, but he was hardly invincible. The stub remaining of his arm was proof enough of that.

"Hah, and I would do it again." She replied, then rubbed his crotch lightly. "Do you have time for a quickie before you go? I'm a bit beat up down there, but that is okay. I want to taste your seed this time. Or you can use my ass if you prefer."

Little John perked up at the thought, but he crushed it before he could act on it. "No, I really need to check in with the guild. Luna will need to know about the Lich and the intrusion of undead in the area, and- Ahh... crap."

"What is it? Who is Luna?"

"She is the head receptionist at the guild, and the woman I was actually dating before I went on this excursion. I don't know how she is going to take... all of this."

"Just be honest with her. She will either accept it or she won't. Not everyone is built for our way of life."

"Our way of life, hun." He said, looking down at her. Her tattoos had all stopped glowing, but the womb tattoo was now a neon pink colour, the top of it poking out past where her rags were covering. It hit him then that he was about to be a father again. Not a possibility, but a reality. "You know, she wants at least six kids."

"Well, you'd better rush to her. It would be good for our pup to grow up with some brothers and sisters. Family is the foundation of our clan, and the more children there are, the stronger we become. If she accepts, bring her back with you. I would like to meet my soon-to-be sister-wife."

"Heh, if she accepts. Speaking of, do your people have marriage customs?"

"Yes... Though we can go over that another day. Let's make sure we have a home here first."

"Of course." He said, then leaned over and gave her a quick kiss while pressing his hand to her belly and giving it a pat. "Okay, I'm off. I should be back tonight, but things might change, so don't worry too much if I'm not. Do you want anything?"

"I want another round or two of what we did earlier. Next time, let's do it on the castle roof."

"You're going to be trouble, aren't you?" 

"Well, we still need to get to know each other better, but ancient female wisdom in our clan tells us the secret to maintaining a happy relationship. If you keep your man's balls empty and his belly full, they will pull the moon out of the sky if you ask. We don't have much food remaining, but I can at least work on the first one."

"I think I want to know more about this ancient wisdom." He replied, chuckling at her joke. "See ya soon, hon." 

"John! You're back alrea- OH JOHN! What happened to your arm!?! Did a wol- OH MY GOD! M-M-MONSTER!!!" Luna said, her voice getting louder and louder as she noticed new things about him, ending with her becoming nearly hysterical by the end.

"Easy... Nebula isn't a monster. She is a good girl." He said, scratching his wolf's neck.

The town guard was also confused when John showed up riding Nebula, but let him through once John proved he had tamed her. He was still confused how easily she had changed from a wild wolf to... well, not quite a dog, but something close. She was smart, and their crude Ki communication let them pass ideas on to each other, which she appeared to understand. Honestly, it seemed that she was easily bribed by having her belly rubbed and fur straightened out, so the deal was that as long as she behaved, he would give her plenty of attention later.

"S-She? I-I-I...Ahh..." She said, stumbling over her words for a minute before taking a couple of deep breaths.

"You okay, darling?" He asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She was trembling a bit under his touch.

"I know I love wolves, but that didn't mean I wanted one as a pet. You were supposed to be hunting them, right? And what happened to your arm? I thought that Arch Priestess was going with you?"

"Yeah, about that. Do you have somewhere private we can talk? We seem to have gained quite the audience." John said, looking around them. The guild wasn't jammed packed full of adventurers right now, but there were nearly a dozen different people staring at them, some with weapons half-drawn. He waved at them and gave them a shit-eating grin. He wasn't one to enjoy being the centre of attention normally, but this situation was so far from normal that he was just going to roll with it.

"You just brought a Giant Wolf into the guild and are scratching it like a...a... lapdog! What did you expect?"

"Pretty much this, but if we are going to be in town for a while, I want people to get used to the idea of my companion here."

"A little warning would have been nice." She said, then turned towards Nebula. "She is safe?"

"Well, she is still a wolf, so I wouldn't say she is completely safe, but she isn't going to bite you if that is what you're asking."

"She is really beautiful. I have never seen one up close. Can...can I touch her?"

"Sure, here." He replied, then took her shaking hand and placed it on Nebula's chest. Nebula just watched them, her head tilted as if she were curious about what was going on.

"Oh, she is so soft! I could cuddle up with her for hours!"

"Whenever you want... well, as long as she wants to as well. She is pretty smart and is a sucker for belly rubs."

"I bet she is. Hah, hah, I can't believe I'm petting a Giant Wolf." She said, placing her other hand on the wolf and burying herself deeply in its fur. She seemed really happy.

I know horse girls were a thing my father warned me about, but he never mentioned anything about wolf girls. 

Nebula took to Luna quickly, whining a little when she finally stopped petting her, then licked her with that giant tongue from head to toe. Luna just laughed, seeming entranced with seeing her favourite animal in person. She then turned back to him, putting a more serious face on.

"Okay... John... what in the heck happened to you? You were only gone a few days, and you are missing a limb. And where are Darkness and that other girl? They're okay, right?"

"Darkness is fine, she is just... visiting family right now. Aqua is busy... cleaning where we are staying now. As I asked earlier, do you have somewhere private we can talk?" John said, remembering at the last moment that Darkness was hiding her identity. It was getting hard to keep straight who was keeping secrets from whom in this world. It made him just want to go have a nap.

"Umm... I don't think we'll be able to fit Nebula in any room other than right here... we can go out to the training yard if you want. It isn't perfect, but I don't think you should leave Nebula alone until people get used to her. She probably shouldn't be in the guild either, though if you tried to put her in the stables with the horses, they would be liable to break the place down to get away from her."

"Outside is fine. I wouldn't have brought her, but since I can't use my motorcycle right and my other mode of transport is even more conspicuous than a Giant Wolf, she was my best option." 

They moved out of the building to the training yard out back, with Luna only needing to threaten to dock the quest rewards of a couple of noisy adventurers to get some privacy. Nebula had lain down in the grass beside them, so they sat down and took advantage of the furry backrest as John began to fill her in on their adventure. 

She forced him to stop several times, taking notes on times and locations of the undead, then dropped the notepad when he told her about the Lich. "Let me see your card!"

"Sure." He said, handing it to her. She flipped it over and had him press his thumb on a small box on that side. A list of monsters appeared on the back, presumably what he had defeated. 

"You destroyed seventeen zombies, ten skeletons, three black wolves, an undead ox, and a Lich? And you're still level 1? And where did you get all these skill points from then? You had ten when you left. How do you have skills now and ten more points?"

"I'm pretty sure I can answer that, but can I finish my report first?"

"Of course. Sorry, you are just... I'm just trying not to think about your injury, okay. I'm worried and want to focus on anything else but that."

"It's fine, darlin', we can do work first, then deal with this. As for what comes next. You see, after killing..." He continued his report, leaving out the personal stuff for the moment. When he finally finished, she put the pencil down and read her notes, shaking her head like she couldn't believe it.

"I'm... I can't... where do I even start with this?!? You tamed the wolves you were supposed to kill and then destroyed some undead that were harvesting wood. Accidentally teleported into a secret operation run by a Lich working for General Beldia, discovering the remnants of the Moonfall clan in the process. A clan that was overrun years ago and thought destroyed, mind you.

You recused the wolfkin and disrupted the general's plans of gaining a foothold in the region by punching the Lich in the face until it stopped moving. Lost your arm while being overrun with undead, then shrugged it off and kept fighting. Now, you're using the remaining undead to gather supplies for you while you're illegally occupying that old castle with your newly formed mercenary company and awaiting a meeting with the Duke."

"Yeah, that about sums it up. There is more, but-"

"THERE IS MORE?!? John, you were only gone for a few days, and this report already reads like something out of a fairy tale! What else in the world could you have possibly got up to in that time?!?"

"Well... It's not exactly something that would go in the official report."

"You and Darkness are going to get married, aren't you?" She said, sighing deeply.

"Well... that too, probably, but that wasn't what I was thinking about."

"John... I- What did you do?"

"I... well... bugger it. Mica, the Moonfall clan's matriarch, and I are going to get married. She is already pregnant with my child, according to her magic... Sorry."

Luna blinked at him a few times as she tried to process what he was saying, her soft yellow eyes hardening as it clicked. She let out a low growl and started to shake, her fists clenched tightly as she glared at him. He almost activated his invulnerability, but instead braced for the coming explosion. An explosion that was well deserved.

Ahh.... shit... Can I go back to fighting the undead again? I think I'll be in less danger.