章 129: Mew Shall Not Pass

Well, that officially just happened.

After everyone settled down from the incident the Beastfolk of the Breeding Tribe thanked the girls for trying to help. Even though they didn't really do all that much, it still was nice of them. Personally I felt as if Snow and her frightening hoard had the situation under control and that we were more or less in the way.

That's not to say I wasn't concerned for the three adventurers.

As far as I'm aware this is the first time the three of them have actually faced one on one combat with something that isn't a monster... barring Nikita and in Sam and Meri's case, each other. Only a very small snippet of a 'battle' occurred so it's hard for me to gauge how well it would've gone if the fight had been to the finish. I think they did well enough, though. So I make sure to tell them as such.

Sam grumpily plays it off, upset that she lost control of her anger and fell down so quickly, but Meri and Zutiria were more positive about the brief encounter. They both seem to like the little combo of the spell Shaddaswap and Meri's Reflect art.

The Princess has her eye on the Pimp, just as I do.

She thinks it's rather suspicious how he held back his true strength, and there is an agreement between the four of us that he's likely a fairly strong combatant and today could have gone very differently if he were intent on taking the women of the Besthal Pet Shop by force.

No matter what happens next, we have to play it by ear and continue our preparations to fight him if it comes to that.

About a half hour of waiting for the dust to settle, Cherry and Peri are escorted by Snow to the front entrance of the tent so that they can come back with us to their new (trial period) home. Before we can take off though, Snow begins to speak with us in a rather serious tone.

"Myaster, first I would like to thank you and the members of your Guild for standing up to our troublesome house guest, nyaa." She says before narrowing her eyes with suspicion and moving out in front of the two other maids. "But I need to ask what that perverse man meant when he said that he'd be seeing you and your Guild in two months. I cannot in good conscience allow Cherry or Peri to go along with you if I deem the situation would put them into any sort of peril. Rest assured you will be given a full refund if this is the case."

"Wait wait wait, we've been waiting WEEKS for you guys to get into town!" Sam protests but I stick my hand out in front of her.

"Sam, please. Be more respectful." I sigh and she grumbles, swallowing her tongue.

I adjust my glasses and rub my temples, still slightly reeling from my pimp induced migraine. "I understand your concern, Snowball. Truly. Therefore I will give you nothing but the truth and allow you to make your own judgment on whether or not you can sign off on this."

Snow awaits my explanation, while Cherri and Peri wait with their luggage. Each one carries a small, black, pawprint patterned suitcase presumably filled with clothes and if I had to guess I'd wager perhaps some cat toys and treats are stuffed along for the ride as well.

Cherry nervously keeps looking at Peri, who is in turn nervously looking back and forth between Snow and myself.

"I'm currently in the midst of a dispute with Dewhurst's biggest crime lord. They've given me two months to leave town with my Guild or else, and I'm afraid that I now believe the pimp whose acquaintance we had the pleasure of meeting is likely one of his lieutenants or some such nonsense. I know this sounds bad but I'd like to stress that I have an immensely powerful Grekkan mercenary serving as our Guild's bodyguard and that there is no danger to be wary of."

"...And are you intending to leave town and set up a Guild elsewhere?"

"Unfortunately not. The Dewhurst Adventurer's Guild is a very special place, as I own the land and the deed. I'm afraid that every other Guild in Karnalle is owned by the Association of Adventurers and that by giving it up I'd be put under intense scrutiny. I can't say for sure what would happen but I know that it wouldn't be good for my career. That, and... if I'm being more sentimental about it... it was my grandpa's. I don't want to abandon the Guild he spent his entire life running."

"...Sentimentality is lovely and all and while your plight makes for a very touching story, but do you expect me to believe a single mercenary is enough protection?" Snow steps forward staunchly and stares straight at me. "You're lucky I'm even giving you a chance to explain yourself, Myaster. Failing to mention such a glaring and dangerous circumstance is typically grounds to bar one from ever adopting from us ever again."

"I-It's not just Nikita! You saw what I can do, I'm a Shield Maiden! I can protect things!" Meri says as she cuts in front of me and raises her shield, as if protecting me from Snow's wrath.

"Meri, don't-"

'She's right, Snow. We can more than handle ourselves. I happen to be quite a powerful Black Mage, for what it's worth.' Zutiria inserts herself between us followed quickly by Sam.

"And I'm fuckin' strong, too! I woulda beat that slutty hench-bitch no sweat if the fight kept going!" She says as she grips her fist and raises it towards Snow.

"...No, I don't care. Cherry and Peri are not coming with you." The stubborn maid puts her foot down and crosses her arms, looking straight through my girls as if they aren't even there.

"I didn't purposely omit these details, Snow, I just truly believe it wasn't relevant as I'm going to defeat my enemies." I try my best to project as much confidence as I can, but our prospects aren't looking good. Snow has every right to be concerned and I'd probably ban a client from the Guild if they left out dangerous information from a quest as well...

That's when Peri drags her luggage and joins Sam, Zutiria and Meri in opposition. Snow's eyes open wide as she looks down at the defiant, blue-haired kitten. "I'm going, I'm well past the age where I can leave the tribe if I don't want to be adopted, nyaa..."

"Peri!? You... you can't! The tribe won't look out for you if you don't go through the normal adoption shit!" Cherry frantically starts sweating, eyes darting between Snow and Peri.

"..." The head maid closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, flaring the nostrils of her pink cat nose as she does.

"I... I'm so tired of everyone making decisions for me just because I'm a little clumsy and a few bad things have happened in the past..." Peri hangs her head and out of frustration she grips the frilled hem of her skirt so hard it looks like it might tear from her claws. "I'd rather go and risk a bit of danger than stay here my whole life...!"

I move forward and my Guild girls scoot out of the way so I can approach Peri. Placing my hand on her shoulder she jerks backwards to look at me and I see the tears trailing out from the eyes hidden behind her bangs. "I want you to consider what you're saying. It's true that I intend to be a patient, kind and caring Master to you but I will not deny that there will be the potential for danger."

"I... understand that..."

"Is it really so bad here, Peri?"

"No... but... would you want to just sit there your whole life while people tell you they know what's best for you and they don't even consider your own opinion, nyaa...?!"

"...I suppose not. You might even say I know what that's like."

Snow watches this altercation silently but Cherry stirs before hesitantly moving her luggage over towards our side of the 'line'. "...Where Peri goes, I go... nyaa." She says while looking at Peri apologetically.

From the way she talks it's very obvious that Peri is referring to her best friend. If both of them come along then it's clear that they're going to need to work out some issues that Peri has that Cherry never knew her friend was going through... and Cherry is going to need to come to terms with what she's unintentionally done in her attempts to coddle and protect Peri.

Perhaps even more than that, Cherry's going to have to learn how to live for her own sake.

With my free hand I clasp Cherry's shoulder as well. She blushes and even moans a tiny bit from my touch, but she doesn't jerk away and hiss at me like I might've expected. She instead looks behind her and stares up at me with a dazed and confused expression as she tries to figure out whether she likes my touch or not. Eventually she purrs.

It's only for a brief moment, but her decision seems clear to me.

"I don't want you to come if it's only for Peri's sake." I tell her very clearly.

Cherry hangs her head and nervously looks over to Peri apologetically. Her best friend reaches out and offers her paw to her slowly, and the two hold hands, Peri giving her a meek smile.

"I'm gonna work on it, nyaa." The pink haired kitty looks me in the eye and blushes. "I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not doing this for her... but... it's also not a lie to say I'd like it if I could try to grow from this, too. I don't think I can change if I don't come with and try to understand where Peri's coming from..."

Cherry bites her lip and her nervousness becomes apparent. "Is that good enough for you, Mya... ster...?"

"It's more than good enough for me, Cherry." I do my best to give her a reassuring smile and reach down to scratch behind her brown, furry ears. She's reluctant and twitches at first but the fear quickly subsides causing Cherry to purr once more, eventually rubbing her head into my touch.

I think I'm going to like having these two around very, very much.

All eyes are on Snow, now, and certainly feels the pressure. The strict maid's arms are still crossed but her expression is a lot more conflicted after hearing Cherry's declaration.

Zutiria eventually breaks the silence with a new display of her typical lack of social skills and her usual impatience. 'This is just my opinion but I believe if you were to refuse at this point you would certainly come off as a colossal bitch, Snow.'

I jerk my head to look at her, "Zutiria-"

But before I can apologize for her choice of words Snow sighs deeply and shakes her head left and right. "Indeed I would, wouldn't I? If my only option is letting the two of you go off without proper protection and without a formal trial period, then I really have no say in the matter, nyaa..." The elegant maid shrugs. "We will proceed with the formal adoption process. Peri and Cherry may go home with you and if after seven days you have kept true to your word and not defiled them then, and presuming they both have no objections to formally entering your service, we shall make the adoption official."

Everyone suddenly feels like a gigantic weight has been lifted off our collective chests.

I sigh deeply out of relief and wipe a bead of sweat from my brow. Sam throws her fists into the air and cheers, Zutiria smiles calmly while nuzzling into my side, Meri enthusiastically jumps for joy only to be dragged down by the weight of her armor and naturally, Cherry and Peri share a warm, tender hug.