{Jinma}

When we got to the lobby of the inn, we saw Ume in one of the lobby’s tables, practically glued to an open book she was reading with a charcoal pencil in hand—or claw in her case. More books were stacked on the side, tags that bookmarked specific pages were spread all over them. There were also a couple sheets of parchment with writing and strange pictures on them spread around the table. A mug of coffee was also there that she took a moment to sip from as we came in and greet her. Ume and I shared a kiss when we got to her table before I sat down next to her, my familiars also took their own seats on vacant chairs. When she asked how my training was, I decided to tell her what happened with my familiars through [Telepathy]. If anybody had the right to know some of my juicier secrets, it would be my wife. We agreed to be as open about ourselves as possible, after all. I told my familiars beforehand and they just went along with it without argument.

One good thing about my maxed-out [Telepathy] is that I can connect multiple people’s minds at the same time through this skill. Before that, I had to ‘switch connections’ between different people. With this improved skill, I can serve as a link for everyone to communicate immediately. How many I can connect at once and how far these links can extend depended on a calculation of my magic-based stats. Since my SP. DEF stat is ridiculous through my [Dragon Scale Defense] ability, I might be able to reach someone on the other side of Raiza and beyond, let alone Earth.

Ume was especially shocked when I told her the news of my familiars. Just to confirm my story, she borrowed Mametama and took her to the restroom where my familiar could change forms in private. This took an unusually long time for what looked like a quick task. After about ten minutes, Ume and Mametama finally came back.

Ume started while we were still linked through my [Telepathy] skill,

I agreed.

Ume said.

Ume then held up one of her claws,

I nodded,

Ume said before holding up two claws now,

Mametama exclaimed in panic.

I was so startled by the question that I didn’t know how to answer.

Ume argued before turning to me, her gaze still serious,

I scratched my head out of nervousness,

Ume then turned to both my familiars,

<... There are pairs among us Magical Beasts where we differ in species,> Kenaka started, sounding serious, even looking down with a sullen air,

Mametama said with pity in her tone.

This ‘you know who’ those two keep talking about between them, could they be talking about Kenaka’s past love? Who was also a different species from him? I thought to myself.

Ume then asked my other familiar.

Mametama stiffened up at being called and was at a loss for what to say. She couldn’t even look my way. After a moment, she took a deep sigh to resign herself,

Nyra cooed in excitement.

It wasn’t just me, Kenaka was also just as shocked at hearing Mametama’s feelings.

Mametama continued while turning to me,

Nyra laughed unusually with an uncontainable thrill.

Wait, by my body ‘reacting to her new form’, does that mean she knew I was popping a boner to her back in the dungeon? I thought to myself.

Mametama then rested a paw on her chest,

To show me what she can do … as a female? I thought, briefly picturing what she was implying. It may not be what she was totally intending, but I couldn’t help but gulp from how exciting it sounded.

I answered, clapping my hands together,

Nyra cheered in our heads. We’ve all grown accustomed to her antics to not make a big deal of it at this point.

Mametama then bowed her head to me. she asked while peeking her head up.

I nodded,

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

My cougar cub familiar straightened up and got a little fidgety on her seat. she asked while looking up to me.

The way she asked that while in her cougar cub form, compared to her Demon-Kin form, this cuteness was so much in a league of its own that it should be considered illegal. Not that I’d refuse such a simple request, but seeing Mametama like a lost, abandoned kitten right now was crushing my heart.

Nyra exclaimed as if in pain. Dramatic as it was, it seemed her feelings were mutual.

When I gave Mametama the okay, she didn’t hesitate to jump onto my lap. I then put my [Petting] skill to work again and scratched the best parts around her head while she purred on my lap in comfort. I’ll admit, knowing Mametama’s like this, it will be weird when we get to that part as I have with the other girls in my harem, but remembering how hot she was in her Demon-Kin form just washed all those worries away. I had to keep myself from getting an erection while she was on my lap in the meantime.

“Well, now that that’s settled, shall I finally go over what I found in my research?” Ume suddenly asked aloud as she took an open seat next to me, holding up the flier that had the foreboding message I read last night.

This looked like it was going to take a bit to explain, and remembering it tensed up my shoulders, but petting Mametama while she was on my lap was relaxing me. I never had this feeling with how bad I was with animals back on Earth. I might have gotten a taste of it while giving Ren similar treatment, but I was really beginning to understand the appeal of owning a pet. I wondered if Mametama wouldn’t mind using my lap as her primary seat for most of the time if it meant I could relish in this comfort almost non-stop. I’d have to bring it up to her at another time.

With that thought in mind, I gave my intelligent dragon wife my full attention as she went over what she researched about the enchanted fliers we came across last night. My fingers were on auto-pilot petting Mametama in the meantime.

“Signature Magic?” I asked after listening to her findings.

Ume nodded, “That’s what I believe is going on here … or at least that’s part of what I found. First, hold this flier up to the light and look at the bottom-left.”

Once Ume handed me the flier we found, I did as she requested. While the instructions to apply magic to the flier were written up top in ‘invisible ink,’ there was also a complicated circle with characters inscribed where I was told to look. It looked to be put in with that same ink.

“Is this … a magic circle?” I asked.

“Indeed,” Ume answered, “As there is magic that can be applied directly on the field, there is magic formed through what’s called Rune Craft, where you draw magic circles with runes inscribed around them. These runes serve as instructions for what the spell caster wants accomplished to produce a specific outcome. Those instructions are sent to the Immortals who read those instructions and judge whether the spellcaster is qualified to receive that outcome. The magic circles used to summon Kenaka and Mametama are just a few examples of what Rune Craft can accomplish. The effectiveness of magic from Rune Craft depends on the complexity of the task, how much mana is put in, and the motivations behind the person who made the circle.”

Ume then took one of the parchments she wrote on, with the ‘strange pictures’ I saw earlier were actually magic circles. I could see some resemblance to the one that was on the flier, but I felt there was something off about Ume’s version. “People have created, tried, and experimented countless circles from Rune Craft for Immortals know how long. They recorded what worked, and then put them into practice as specific types of magic that have been standing for as long as it was needed at the time. Summoning Magic has been one of the longest standing magics made from Rune Craft that’s still going strong to this day.”

“And this Signature Magic is also something from Rune Craft?” I asked as I pointed to the magic circle in the flier.

Ume nodded, “That was what I thought at first, too, but when I researched further, I found there was more to this circle that created a kind of ‘Signature Magic’ that’s unlike what I’m familiar with.”

“So, how is this different from what you know of Signature Magic?” I asked.

“Signature Magic, at its core, allows anyone to imprint their mana into the object the circle was written on,” Ume explained, “When you try to activate magic while carrying that object, the magic circle would glow. Everyone has their own unique mana signature and it is impossible to replicate, so if someone else tried to do the same thing with that imprinted object, it won’t react.”

So, it’s like a magical trademark? I could see many businesses using this as a way to legitimize property ownership on their products.

“What makes this Signature Magic different is the additional conditions added to the magic circle, which isn’t impossible to achieve,” Ume continued, “If the spellcaster’s especially skilled and knowledgeable in creating Rune Craft, it is possible to add or adjust some things from the original magic circle in order to achieve certain effects. Whoever made this magic circle had designed it so it could only react to you when you activate magic, thereby lighting up and revealing that foreboding message. The problem with this, however, is how they managed to get the circle to react to your mana signature when you hadn’t imprinted it.”

“That does sound somewhat worrying …” I commented. This was like those tracker cookies in computers I heard of that follows your browser history and shows advertisements catered to your interests. No, it was better to call it a computer virus that tracked me down and stole my data without my knowing.

I took a moment to think how this spellcaster could have gotten my signature, “Do you have to intentionally put your mana in the circle at the start for the Signature Magic to take effect?”

Ume nodded, “Normally, yes, but it looks like the crafter here added runes in the circle to indicate that something could be used as a substitute. There are traces of our mana signature left in things like blood, hair, and saliva, so it isn’t unlikely that someone could use one of those or something else from our bodies for the modified Signature Magic to take effect. Still, this magic was used for the Demon King to send you the message, ‘I have finally found you.’ That message was on her fliers that declared the Champion Hunt had officially closed as of yesterday.”

“So, we’re assuming the Demon King opened that Champion Hunt in the first place to find me, right?” I asked, “And having her close that hunt as of yesterday, using those fliers as a way to reach me, means she already knew I’m running around in her country right now.”

“Right,” Ume confirmed, “The problem is how she knew you’re here. If she used that same magic circle to find that out, she’d have to get something from your body in order to confirm it.”

I set the flier down and looked up in thought, “Well, considering the last few days since I came to the Demon-Kin’s Territory, I have been running around a lot. There are a few instances I can think of where I might have have left something like that behind, but does it have to be something from my body for the Signature Magic to take effect?”

Ume looked down at the flier with her face tensing up with unease, “They made this magic circle hard to read, so I’m trying to see if I can make a replicate to confirm my suspicions, but with no luck yet. From what I researched in the books so far, there is a way for this Signature Magic to react to something that isn’t from your body … and that’s what bothers me the most.”

“Well, what is it?” I asked with a raised brow.

Ume shook her head, “There’s still too many questions left unanswered to jump to possibilities yet. I don’t want to put you more on edge than you already are with the upcoming quest and everything going on, so I won’t say anything until I’m one-hundred percent certain that’s the answer.”

I nodded in understanding, “Okay, I’ll settle with that for now. Why don’t we put everything away, take a break for now, and we get ready for breakfast? And if there’s anything I can do to help further your research, just let me know.”

Ume looked up in thought before her eyes glimmered with inspiration. She looked over to me with those same eyes half-lidded and a smirk, “Weeeell, I could use some samples to help me test the magic circles for future experiments.”

“Oh, I can give some of that, no problem. You want some of my hair? Spit? I got no problems with giving blood. Is one of these more effective than the other?” I asked.

Ume effortlessly put all her research materials away in her [Storage] before taking out a glass container with a cork for the lid. I then felt something running up my stomach in a sensual manner. I looked down and saw a familiar claw sliding down to my pants, not disturbing Mametama who had fallen asleep from my petting session part way through Ume’s explanation.

“Everything from your body should be the same in terms of leaving mana signatures behind, which includes something that I’d like to help draw out, personally,” My dragon wife then undid the button on my pants with one claw before sliding it down. I was already getting hard from when she first touched me.

Nyra commented in my mind.

Then, unexpectedly, Ume loomed over the sleeping Mametama and lightly scratched the top of her head with the tip of a claw, “Wake up, Mametama, I need your assistance on this, too.”

“H-Huh? Wha? Did I fall asleep?” Mametama asked, groggily opening her eyes. It was very adorable to see in her cougar cub form.

<... Jinma, I think we might actually be picking up where we left off earlier,> Nyra informed me.

I was surprised at first, but I had put together the pieces of what Ume was implying before Nyra even pointed it out. Honestly, the excitement from my encounter with Mametama’s new Demon-Kin form was still lingering, so it pained me to try and ignore it for the rest of the day. Having my dragon wife giving me this opportunity for release and doing it with Mametama from where we left off in the dungeon? This was like a miracle given to me by God. Or maybe this moment in particular was Obina’s work, being the ‘Goddess of Lust’ that she is? Well, either way, I thanked them both in my heart for this precious moment.