Volcatia turned to glance at Carl and saw that he'd taken up what she might call a seated fighting stance while looking at someone behind her.

It was a funny thought.

Sitting and fighting?

Why not just stand up?

Such a Carl thing to do.

She tipped her head back to see who he was going to sit-fight and frowned.

Was that Mina?

Why was she upside down?

Volcatia blinked.

Nah, that wasn't Mina.

Breasts weren't big enough.

Also, Mina was back in the workshop. She wasn't here in…

Where the fuck even was she now?

"Who're you?" she demanded to the not-Mina with the smaller breasts.

Then she remembered that she was still holding a decanter and tipped it back to start the decanting.

Having her head also tipped back made the drinking easier too.

This wine was good. So good that she forgot to pay attention to the answer to the question she'd asked.

She continued to decant.

The wine was getting less good.

Yeah, she was bored of.

Volcatia put her wine.

This was a great villa.

She looked around, ignoring the.

So many people.

"Fuck off," Carl said suddenly.

Volcatia laughed.

Had he ever cursed before?

She couldn't.

She closed her eyes for a moment.

There was a thump next to her, and she opened her eyes and looked over.

Carl was laying on the ground with…

Fuck, what was.

Decimus…

Rank twelve guy.

Yeah, guy.

Great word.

She liked.

Twelve Guy was holding him down?

Volcatia frowned.

There was a lot of talking going on, but that didn't.

Carl was her friend.

Her only friend.

Nobody held.

She stood up by way of rolling out of her chair and landing on her feet. "Hey."

Galer…

Galerius?

Five Guy.

Five Guy was here too standing next to small-breasts.

Mm.

Not that small maybe.

Smaller though.

"Do you intend to ogle my breasts all evening?" asked.

Volcatia thought. "Nah, not big enough to ogle all evening. Only take a second or two."

This woman looked a lot like Mina.

Who was Mina again?

Volcatia thought about stopping being drunk, but she didn't see a reason for it yet.

This was fine.

Everything was okay, wasn't it?

"What?!" screeched medium-breasts.

They were maybe bigger than Volcatia's own breasts, but she couldn't.

She reached out and.

Yeah, they were bigger.

Volcatia squinted, trying to hear whatever medium-large-breasts was screaming at her.

Something something rape…something…something…

Tiring.

She rubbed her eyes, then her forehead.

This fucking guy was still.

"Get off," she told Twelve Guy.

She told him.

Good that she even gave a warning.

He didn't seem to want to listen.

Five Guy said something that didn't matter and reached an arm towards her.

Volcatia's eyes widened as she grew instinctively alert.

Was it happening again?

Was it?

Fucking finally!

Time for fighting!

She batted the arm aside and took a single step forward, ramming with her shoulder.

Her sandal and the stone tile under it crunched and cracked.

Five Guy disappeared.

Volcatia tilted her head in confusion. She.

Was Five Guy hiding somewhere?

"Five Guy!" she called as she continued to.

Everyone was looking at the wreckage of some building.

Her eyes widened further, and a big grin spread across her.

Building!

Yeah!

She remembered the!

There was a plan!

Fuck, what was the…

Not-Mina annoying screaming woman started running away which was great because she was still screaming and it was really fucking loud and so annoyyinnngggggggggggggggg.

Twelve Guy was standing now.

Volcatia tapped her chin.

She felt like she should know.

Twelve Guy.

That was his name now.

"Who are you?" he asked, taking up a stance.

Volcatia laughed.

What kind of!

How could he even fight!

"I'm Carl's friend," she said between giggles.

Carl was sitting up now.

Perfect.

"Carl, plan! Plan, plan, plan!" she announced, throwing her arms in the air to make sure he.

He was bad at noticing things sometimes.

He made a Carl sound.

Volcatia stomped her bare foot on the ground.

It was a trick.

She'd already attached Twelve Guy's tunic to the sky.

He floated upwards as she pulled her.

She attached her building to her hands and swung.

She threw the building after him.

She crackled slightly, and then she was sober.

That was the plan all along.

Get drunk.

Waste time.

Wait for someone to pick a fight with her or Carl.

Humiliate Marcus Camelius Belenus in his own villa at his celebration, ideally by throwing her building onto something important-looking.

It was a plan so simple that it couldn't fail.

She surveyed the results, aided by her drunken memories.

Galerius Ateius Allectus, ranked fifth in the arena, had been hit so hard that he left a human-shaped hole in the wall of the villa.

Funny.

Decimus Cincius Ivmarus, ranked twelfth in the arena and a man who had survived her more than once already, was somewhere under the building she'd crushed the main part of the villa with.

She caught sight of Marcus Camelius Belenus standing some distance away with his hands on his head as he stared, shocked, at his destroyed home. His wife was pulling on his arm.

It wasn't a big problem for someone like him, but it still felt great to her.

Carl was sitting on the ground laughing. "You just hit that guy like a fucking baseball," he said when he caught his breath. "With a building!"

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Volcatia didn't know what a baseball was, and she didn't care.

She grinned.

It had been worth the wait.

But now that she thought back on it, she realized there was one more thing she could do.

"Belenus, your wife has small breasts!" she shouted through cupped hands.

She'd seemed upset by that before.

What an idiot.

Fuck, she didn't rhyme it though!

Urgh!

Fuck!

A great rhyme there would…

She reluctantly moved herself and Carl back to the main floor of the workshop.

It was too late to change things that had already happened.

It was still funny anyway, wasn't it?

She checked her friend's reaction.

Carl had a hand over his face as he continued to laugh. "Are you freaking serious?" he wheezed.

"Told you it'd be fun," she said without bothering to hide her smugness.

Yeah, it was still funny.

"Oh wow," Carl said, shaking his head. "I was so mad back there, and then…" He started laughing again. "The look on her face!"

She hadn't actually done anything to Belenus himself, so it wasn't like she'd gone too far.

He probably didn't even know she'd been the one doing it.

Nobody she knew could have picked up a fucking building like she'd done.

Or had an Inventory skill, now that she thought about it.

She'd had few of her current abilities all those years ago, and she hadn't even shown many of them.

Opiter's advice proving to be reliable once again, as it always had.

"Thanks, Vol," said Carl as his laughs finally stopped. "You were right. That was pretty great. And fun."

"Yeah, it really was," Volcatia said. She looked over to the room with the shower in it. As her gaze moved, she saw that one sleeve on her dress was shredded and ragged.

Fuck, she'd liked this one.

"Gonna use the shower to celebrate," she declared, tearing her dress off the rest of the way while she walked.

"I'm gonna check on Mina," said Carl.

Volcatia remembered to close the door once she was inside before kicking off her remaining sandal and deconstructing it along with the remains of her dress.

She felt unusually content.

Weird.

Or was it?

She'd acted against the man she'd once hated for the first time tonight.

She was still definitely going to kill him.

But hating someone was tiring.

Most things were tiring now.

"Dismiss." The hot spray of water struck her, and she closed her eyes.

Hot showers weren't tiring.

They were great.

She wondered how the thing worked.

All of these things were just being added to the city when she'd left.

Eh.

She probably wasn't smart enough to understand it anyway.

Or interested enough.

Talking about how cars worked the other day with Mina was hard enough.

What the fuck was a turbine?

Condenser?

Yeah, she could have asked questions, but she didn't care that much.

It sounded too much like all that other shit she knew but didn't understand.

So annoying.

A hot shower wasn't annoying though.

It was just endless hot water.

Could be a little hotter.

She leaned against the cool stone, enjoying the contrast in temperatures.

What a great night.

A smile slowly covered her face.

She wasn't bored!

----------------------------------------

Isemeine ran her thumbs over the simple scarf she'd been gifted a few days prior. The dim light from the moon and stars shone through the high windows on the wall, providing only the faintest illumination for her rumination.

She'd settled into a sense of dread as the hours and days passed by. The dungeon core had been firm in its refusal to permit her to leave, but it'd claimed no harm would befall her so long as she remained inside. It'd said such things, but they couldn't be true. Her sister would find some way to strike at her no matter the obstacles.

Her mind turned on itself. Her dread had been abruptly subverted earlier that day. Can I truly achieve it? To defeat Emma in something for the first time… She shivered as her fear returned again. No, surely not now. But perhaps someday?

She'd had the same thoughts so many times over the course of the day, ever since—

"Miss me?" Vol asked, suddenly standing a short distance in front of her, wearing her usual trousers and shirt outfit.

Isemeine jumped.

"What a great fucking day," the older woman said as a reclining chair appeared in front of her. She tipped over the arm and fell backwards to lay across the chair. "Ever have one of those days where everything's great?"

Isemeine had a day just like that recently. It'd been the day in which she'd been brought back to life and arrived at Onyxfell without a single care in the world. How foolish I was to believe myself s—

"You're one of those curious types, aren't you?" Vol asked.

"How are you able to simply appear here in that manner?" Isemeine demanded, unable to resist asking the foremost question she'd been turning over in her head. The question which, among others, had tempered her fear with immeasurable curiosity. It must be some form of magic. But she seems to require neither reagent nor time to cast any form of spell, and there's no evidence of a portal in use. It should be impossible! And the tales I'd heard from my Stadalite tutors said nothing of her possessing such abilities…

"Mm."

This accursed place is so poorly lit at night; I can feel her smirking at me! Were it anyone else I'd at least be capable of frustration, but… Her hands clenched on the scarf. No, I'm quite frustrated regardless. Even if I'm speaking with a living legend, why must she be so infuriating?

"You're really annoying, you know that?" Vol said.

Isemeine frowned. "You believe me annoying?"

"Yeah." There was the sound of rustling, and Vol's darkened form adjusted itself so that her head was now hanging off over the chair's retractable footrest.

She's unable to even sit properly in a chair! How is this woman—

"You sit up here every day not doing a fucking thing," Vol continued in a lazy tone, "and Carl's down there or outside worrying nonstop about you. It's all he fucking talks about. 'I gotta get back to check on Mina' he'll say when we're hanging out somewhere. 'Gonna go check on Mina' he'll say when we're sitting around on the main floor or in the dungeon."

Isemeine felt her stomach twist.

"Carl's not fun, and it's because of you," the older woman said. "But he cares about you like you're his daughter, and… Well, it's been a long time since anyone's cared about me like that."

Isemeine's breath caught. He… He does? Truly?

"Here's what we're gonna do," Vol said. "You're gonna tell me the thing you want most in the world—something that'll make you happy and stop you from fucking sitting around like this—and I'm gonna help you get it. Carl's gonna stop sitting around sighing and being so fucking sad since he's not gonna have to keep worrying about how much you're crying or whatever the fuck it is you do up here. And then I'm not gonna be bored anymore."

Isemeine blinked. What I want most? But if it's defeating Emma—

"And since you're probably too fucking afraid to even think about what you want, we're gonna make a deal. You're curious about me. I can tell. For every day that you spend working towards whatever it is you want instead of being a fucking burden, I'll answer any one question of yours about my life. I'm a living legend, after all."

The second floor of Isemeine's workshop returned to silence.

One question? She scowled. She speaks as though being granted the privilege of asking her questions is sufficient for me to…

Isemeine clapped a hand to her mouth. What's this manner in which I've been thinking? How can I be considering her offer a bribe? She speaks crudely, but she's…

Have I truly become such a great burden to him?

Her hands twisted nervously on the scarf she'd been given. And after I was selfish enough to request that he remain here with me rather than return to his true family? Her lips trembled. How foolish can I be? Perhaps I should have remained dead. I've—

"Stop feeling so fucking sorry for yourself," Vol said abruptly. "What the fuck do you have to be sad about? You're young, smart, and even got all your limbs. Can do anything you want."

Isemeine's thoughts lurched. That's…certainly true… She chewed her lip. But—

"The only thing stopping you is you, princess," Vol sneered. "Think I got to this point by hiding away when I was afraid?"

"When has someone like you ever felt fear?" Isemeine demanded, narrowly avoiding yelling when she recalled that Carl must be resting. "All you've—"

"If that's the question you wanna ask, I'll answer it tomorrow night when you tell me what you need me to give you so you'll stop fucking crying," Vol interrupted. "See you then." She vanished along with her chair immediately after.

Isemeine clenched her fists as her scowl returned. How irritating! She thinks I'm incapable of anything besides being a burden? I've no need for the aid of someone like her! She stood up and created a small magical flame over her hand for light. Where have I left my notes? I… I'll devise an entirely new method of…

----------------------------------------

Volcatia sat in her chair on top of the workshop's roof in another spot she'd needed to remove giant spikes of metal and stone from before using.

So fucking annoying.

How long had that taken?

Ten days at least.

The worst part was always waiting through the next day to see if the brat would would pick herself out of whatever minor sorrow had befallen her.

A princess?

Volcatia felt stupid for not thinking of it sooner.

She'd heard the gossip about the wife of Marcus Camelius Belenus being a Char princess, but somehow she hadn't made the connection.

Frustrating.

If she was smarter, she would have thought of it faster.

For someone Smart, the girl was really fucking stupid.

She'd even figured out what Volcatia was trying to do during a few attempts!

It was amazing to see the first time, but by the third she'd lost interest.

And in the end, all she'd needed to do was remember that Mina was just a girl.

A child.

She might be Smart, but she was still easily angered and stupid at times just as all children were.

Just as Volcatia had been.

The girl's frustration and annoyance wouldn't last, she knew from when she'd sat watching, unnoticed, on the ceiling the last time, but it would be enough to shock her out of sitting on her fucking chair crying pointlessly day after day.

Maybe Carl would be less boring now.

She didn't know.

Obviously.

She still couldn't see him when she watched.

He just wasn't there.

It was why she needed him as a friend.

Everyone else was boring.

She could always know what they would do.

Also, he was really fucking funny in that predictable way of his.

Trying to strike the wife of Marcus Camelius Belenus at a celebration with so many high rank gladiators around?

With just ten million Strength?

She almost wished she'd been less drunk in order to have seen his attempt.

It was much funnier that she hadn't been though, she decided.

Being drunk made it more fun at the time too.

Otherwise it was like playing with bugs.

Boring.

She tapped her foot in the air.

There was still a lot of time to waste.

She hoped tomorrow would be as great as today was.

What to do until then, though?

She could make more coffee.

Eh.

She could move somewhere else?

Nah, she was trying to be more human again after that afternoon.

Once she stopped completely, she imagined it would be impossible to start again.

She wasn't sure she wanted to give up on it yet.

Maybe that was why she'd come back after only six years instead of the thirteen or so she'd originally planned on.

Vengeance wasn't something that drove her forward.

It was more like a slight itch that she'd always planned to scratch eventually.

When the time was right.

But now maybe she just wanted a reason not to give up on who she'd once been.

Or maybe she was afraid of the boredom that would come with not being human.

It was already so hard to relate to them.

She sighed.

She was being too fucking depressing.

Aquila was right again though.

Having a friend was already making her less bored.

She hadn't been bored all day since she'd had the idea to finally put her building to use, imagining the different expressions that Carl would make when he saw what she was doing with it.

The memory brought a smile to her lips.

His look of disbelief and joy, followed by his booming, gasping laughs had made the whole thing so much more fun than she'd have had on her own.

It made her feel like she was right to not want to stop being human.

What she'd become if she gave it up probably wasn't something that could have friends.

Volcatia zapped those thoughts into dust. She needed to find something to do in Onyxfell.

She wanted to run her fingers and lips along the legs of Salonina again.

Too soon though.

She admired the woman, but she didn't want to give her the wrong idea.

It was just admiration and her love of great legs.

And she was a truly amazing kisser.

Maybe tomorrow night?

Yeah, that seemed okay.

She felt her excitement rise as she recalled the precise feel of the woman's calves.

Glorious.

This was bad.

If she kept thinking like this, she'd end up hunting Salonina down that night, and then things would get weird.

Urgh, those legs though!

Volcatia felt her excitement continuing to rise.

There was only one thing to be done at times like these.

She slid her hand inside the top of her trousers.

She'd figure out what she was doing the rest of the night after she worked through a little of this excitement.

She was just being human.

----------------------------------------

Okay, maybe Volcatia had worked through more than a little excitement.

She admitted that much to herself.

But it was still better than going to see Salonina tonight.

She struggled her way out of her chair before putting it back into her Inventory.

One great thing about Onyxfell was that it rarely rained.

They had the Tempestates family who managed rainstorms on the farms around the city and kept water in the river and lake, but otherwise it was nearly impossible to even see clouds.

Volcatia liked clear skies.

It didn't make much sense considering who she was, but that was what she liked.

She hated walking around somewhere and being caught in a sudden storm.

She didn't like water in general.

She'd grown up without it, and she'd never really gotten used to having it around.

Clear skies reminded her of home.

She didn't have a home anymore, but it was still nice to remember sometimes.

Humans had homes though, didn't they.

Volcatia tapped her chin while she thought about it.

Eh.

She'd been fine without one.

She didn't need to go too far with all this human thinking.

She stretched her arms over her head. It was a habit she'd kept, though it was nothing more than a habit now.

What to do…

She couldn't think of anything that didn't sound really fucking boring.

Fine.

She'd just have to waste time more directly.

Volcatia moved to the main floor of the workshop and put her chair back in its spot, then sat in it and closed her eyes.

Sleeping out of boredom was the most human thing she could think of doing.