Juno didn’t want to leave Ralphos and Saten alone. They spent the night in Brutus’s mansion, and headed out in the morning to secure the lordship.

“The maid outfits not fitted correctly yet, you’re going to have trouble fighting, you know?”

“I’ll be fine. I figured out most of it from the instructions, you can handle the rest, Saten.” Juno said. Saten looked away, pensive.

“Saten?”, Ralphos interrupted her.

“Oh. It’s nothing. Juno, don’t rely on me. I’m strong but if there’s anything I’ve learned on the battlefield, it’s that there’s no excuse for not pulling weight in combat,” Saten said serious. Ralphos knew she was like this sometimes, but seeing her like that after the catmaid cosplay was too much. Juno nodded her head, agreeing.

“Ralphos, you kill Ros. You need to understand yourself what taking control of this town means. Lord Ros’s crimes are unforgivable. Working with pirates, slavery, selling his own citizens off, war profiteering, the list just goes on and on. All the Saints told me I was mad to come here, to try to fix this during the war when this place is such a vital supply line. If you do the same as Ros, I’ll make sure I’ll punish you myself until you get it right. Understand?” Saten said. Ralphos nodded.

He understood from the start that his goals and hers were different, but that wasn’t important. He was prepared to run away if he went too far, carrying Juno under his arm if need be. If he screwed up, that was, until then he had to give him best. The time spent training with her gave him a good estimate of her true offensive power, light for Ralphos. He was sure that was only his dragon enhanced body talking though.

The guards nodded them in, well aware of what was happening. Saten had made the rounds, seeing a Saint was enough to convince anyone to listen, much less one like Saten. Lord Ros had only one guard left, the mad wizard hired for this specific job. After Cruci was defeated and jailed, there wasn’t a soul who would defend Ros left in the town.

They walked in unopposed to the throne room, guards silent as they peeled off and left for the day. There would be murder best ignored in that castle. The victor would take the town of Locos.

Saten pointed to the throne room, looking at Ralphos.

“Don’t underestimate Ros. We don’t know the full extent of his ability. Don’t die, okay? If you really need help, just yell. I can tear through this castle if I want to,” Saten said.

Ralphos got his bulletblade ready, Saten activated her light gloves and Juno readied her drill. They entered the throne room. Inside was a 25 year old man next to a sleepy looking bunny girl. Her ears were drooping in front of her face like hair, a volume of black hair tied loose with a ribbon. She had circular glasses, light glinting off of them hid her purple eyes. She let out a sigh, and the young man laughed. He got out of his chair and flourished a sabre with a long handle in front of himself.

“Well. I was curious who was making such a mess with the Satin Saint backing them. Dragon boy? Looks like my reign is at an end. How pitiful! I’m afraid that my girl here-”, he went for a arm circle to pull in the droopy bunny eared girl but she shot back guarding with her stave, giving him a sly look.

“Ah, so fast. She’s really good, Saten. If she wins, I think the royal capital will look the other way. What do you say, me versus your dragon boy, you and that catgirl versus my friend here. Let’s make it easy!” He laughed.

Saten gave Ralphos a look, muttering a ‘no’. Ralphos took that as ‘it’s his plan so don’t give in’, but the battle started in that instant.

A massive bunny shot out of the sky through the roof, knocking all of them back. It looked like a giant knit plush toy. The immense pressure and force of the oncoming attacks blew Juno and Ralphos away, Ralphos activated Drive 2 and grabbed Juno’s body and charged the bunny girl.

Getting closer, the bunny girls eyes went wide. Ralphos was about to say ‘Drill her, Juno!’ but realized that she was adorable. He couldn’t back down here.

“Knock her out! She’s too adorable!” Yelled Ralphos as he threw Juno headfirst into the bunny girl. Both of them were stunned from a perfect double head hit as fluff scattered into the air, Saten ripping the plush bunny to pieces behind them. Ros made distance during this, heading down a hallway. Ralphos pursued with a red aura, catching him on a open catwalk and yelling out: “Drive 4, Soul Breaker!” before he could stop himself.

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

Standing with a grimace on his face, Ralphos watched as Ros knocked away the auto aiming blade with his sabre, using both hands.

“Country or lord-class? No wonder. Guess I really will die today, what a shame…” Ros laughed.

Ralphos charged him, sheathing the bulletblade.

“What! This isn’t a normal sab-” Ros’s face was tight as Ralphos grabbed the sabre by the blade with one hand, pulling Ros in and punching straight through him with his right arm. The force was insane, a blunt attack causing a wound like a spear. Ralphos wrenched the sabre from Ros’s hands and snapped it with his hands. Wisps of light scattered from the sabre, giving Ralphos a sense of foreboding.

Lord Ros wasn’t 25 according the history. He was old, according to the history that Ralphos read. Saten didn’t say anything. It was either a test or she missed something. He looked to his bulletblade and aimed at the light.

“Can’t hurt to be safe…” Ralphos activated Drive 4 off pure fear. “Soul Breaker”, collect the soul of the enemy. Whether that was what he was looking at was a guess. The bulletblade glowed red, the wispy light grew red as if in response. They met, the bulletblade devouring the wispy red and returning to the handle in a flash.

Ralphos checked the corpse and stabbed it a few times, realizing that he had just killed someone.

“I didn’t know I could be that brutal. Ah, Saten, you’ve taught me so much. I feel like a different person, now.” Ralphos sighed over Ros’s corpse.

“Hope they didn’t kill that bunny girl,” Ralphos hoped with all his heart, his eyes shining as he sped back.

After Ralphos ran after Ros, Saten had a sense of foreboding after ripping through the plush bunny. Tens of them crowded in from the hallways, all different sizes and shapes, charging in towards her as she let out a flurry of melee attacks covering her legs and hands. Her aegis would be a last resort, she stole glances at Juno in between attacks. It would get harder in the future if Juno couldn’t take out a wizard type alone, especially with two lord-class equips. Saten saved her aegis and Saint’s Liner High for the moment she thought Juno couldn’t handle it, while appearing to be overwhelmed.

Juno whacked away the bunny girls staff, and was trying to take her out with a blow to the head without drilling her. The point was unfortunately facing down into the bunny girl’s face. Seeing a girl her age and listening to what Ralphos said, she had a good idea of what was going to happen if Juno let the bunny girl live. Juno wasn’t jealous, she was just being dutiful.  The bunny girl was panicked, holding back the drill with both hands from her face.

“If I press this spinner trigger, you’ll die. Tell the plush bunnies to get back.” Juno gave the bunny a stern look.

“No, no! I can’t! They run around on their own! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” the bunny girl started blubbering and apologizing.

Ralphos charged in stopped dead in front of Juno, taking in the scene. He gave Juno a wave as if dismissing her, but with a smile. Ralphos crouched next to the bunny girl, touching her upper arm light and soft.

“Hey, hey. Your employer is dead. I think. I’m going to be the new lord, need a job?”

The bunny girl was shocked and teary, but realized what was happening. She shook her head up and down making a noise.

“Ros wasn’t your dad, cousin, raised you from birth, surrogate father figure, anything like that right? You’re just a mercenary right?” Ralphos said, reaching. Juno stared, her emerald eyes a bit cold. Isn’t it chilly? Bunny plush fluff was scattering through the throne room. Ralphos asked about the bunny plushes and got the same answer, only with more trembling.

“It’s okay. Juno, let’s finish this up!” Ralphos got up and charged, his red aura flashing as he dove into a pack of plush bunnies hitting Drive 1 over and over again.

Later, the throne room was filled with fluff and Saten was leading off the bunny girl to a room, comforting her.

“Ros was horrible, he’s really dead? He switched bodies a lot. I was too afraid to leave! I’m unemployable! I’m not lying…” The bunny girl trembled as Saten ushered her with a smile to a private room for delicate interrogation. The bunny girl was clutching a book, crying.

Juno gave him a steel look, her ears twitching.

“Look,” Ralphos started, “From now on, if I find girls like her, I have to do it. I have to. It’s necessary. I’m helping people. Saving lives!”

Juno’s tail swirled, her gaze judgemental.

“Bunny? Bunny girls don’t even exist. She must be a great wizard, she must have corrupted herself with some sort of magic experiment. Not that you knew about that, right?”

Juno said, she smiled. Ralphos smiled back, glad things were okay. Juno was silent, studying his face. He did just kill Lord Ros. What was that about switching bodies the bunny girl said as she was being led away? She got suspicious, realizing only Ralphos would try to pull a bunny girl into the fold soon after murder.

“Did you hear what that bunny girl said, about switching bodies, Ralphos?” Juno said.

“Oh. I suppose Saten will sort it out. I had a bad feeling, standing over his broken sabre. There was this light strand thing, didn’t look like it was normal. I remembered Ros wasn’t young too, so I got lucky and hit Drive 4. Could’ve been bad, quite bad. If not for my attention to detail.” Ralphos said, imitating Brutus a little.

Juno grabbed his face with both hands, giving him a stare.

“Don’t change personalities on me again. Losing a goblin prince was bad enough.”

Ralphos’s face softened.