Moving Forward

Chapter 78

After a few minutes of just lying down, I took a look at my interface properly. Everything seemed intact, which was a relief. At least until I started checking tabs and found a spot with unreadable runes in it. Specifically my alignment. I had no idea what that meant and just filed it under 'shit to worry about later' along with a bunch of other intangibles.

"42, d-do you wish to re-return to your chamber?" Henry asked me quietly. I realized that lounging on the floor in front of a crowd of my subordinates was a bit undignified.

"Yeah, that… would probably be for the best," I agreed finally. Righting myself, I found I couldn't quite hover like I usually did. I was moving in floaty little bounces instead, which felt really weird and left me unbalanced. Chris immediately had his shoulder under my arm, helping me stay upright.

"Thanks, Chris," I said, smiling. It still felt weird to have a mouth but nice to make a familiar expression. Henry walked alongside us, looking at Chris curiously but not commenting. I shot him a wry smile, not sure what had gotten into the assassin but not wanting to make him feel self-conscious.

Halfway on the trip back, I managed to manifest and maintain legs, which was a more straightforward arrangement than my tail. Once back in my chamber of machinations, Chris dropped me rather unceremoniously on my couch.

I was about to ask what the fuck when I noticed how nervous he looked. He was always energetic, but now he was shifting awkwardly in place. After a moment, he bolted for the door without a word.

I had absolutely no idea what was going on with him and looked at Henry, who shrugged.

"Guess he hit his nice limit for the day," I said jokingly. Not unlike Chris, Henry was standing awkwardly and just looking at me now.

"Want to sit? I've got a mouth now, but I promise I won't bite unless you ask nicely," I said jokingly.

"You do? H-How?" Henry asked, alarmed. That was not the reaction I'd been going for.

"Oh… Magic shenanigans mostly… Honestly, I'm not totally sure. I just do," I explained, trying to be more serious. Unfortunately, deflecting with humor didn't seem to be Henry's thing.

"M-May I see it?" Henry asked. I tilted my head for a moment in confusion.

"Sure," I replied, then realized I hadn't spoken with my mouth. I was still doing the telepathy thing on instinct, it seemed.

"Have a look," I added, properly speaking this time. I opened my mouth for inspection and realized something interesting. I had the very uncomfortable feeling that I could stretch it to the point that it would look like an unhinged snake's jaw. A weird ability to have since I didn't eat.

Henry sat down, and to my surprise, I could sense it when he touched my face. It wasn't a pronounced feeling, nothing even approaching the level of tactile sensation a human would have, but it was more than I'd had before. A lot more.

Gently Henry turned my head a little as he inspected my mouth. He didn't do anything much besides that and checking a few thready spots on my cheek in confusion. He startled then laughed when I poked him with my tongue through one.

"Your teeth look very sharp," Stalin said approvingly. I jumped, not having heard him or Blackmoor enter the room.

"But you smell weird!" Blackmoor chimed in.

"Guys, I love you both, but I need some me-time. How about you come back in an hour or two?" I said, trying to preempt getting dog piled, literally. The hounds looked at each other before Blackmoore darted forward to give me a lick.

"Okay! We love you too!" Blackmoor bayed as she jumped back. I'd just caught a mouth full of hound tongue and was sputtering. Thankfully, there wasn't a taste to it, but I could feel something, and it wasn't exactly pleasant. Not caring about my reaction, she took off running.

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"She loves you. I respect you," Stalin corrected before he took off too. That left me laughing for a solid half a minute. It bordered on hysterical, but by the time I was done, I felt better.

"Adorable fricken murder machines," I muttered as I leaned back into my couch. I could kind of feel it now, which was nice.

"Ch-Chris said he's claimed p-pick of the litter," Henry offered.

"He'll have to run that by Stalin and Blackmoor. He certainly should be able to play with any pups if he's nice about it, though," I said and couldn't help a fondly exasperated sigh. I would not aid and abed dog napping of any variety.

"I'm going to check a couple things," I added as I opened my interface. I checked the security feed first off. It looked like Andrea and Mina were both still alive and holed up in the safe zone. They also looked a bit less repeatedly stabbed than I was expecting.

I rolled back through the footage until I found them chugging some really pale-looking potions. Then, curious, I scooped up Reiner and Lilian's gear, careful to leave the clothes, and started digging around.

[Health Potion E Grade]

[Heals minor injuries and symptoms of illness.]

"Oh, shit. I didn't know ones this weak were a thing," I said in mild disgust. I pointed out the display information to Henry so he could see.

"I never en-encountered potions at all. I have no-no idea what is or isn't g-good," Henry said, sounding more curious than anything. Just for comparison, I showed him the lowest quality potion in my shop.

"Oh... that one w-was t-trash," Henry said in surprise.

"Well, maybe it's because I pay mana for my stuff?" I offered with a shrug. He returned my shrug.

"I've got a better idea of what common goods are worth now thanks to Elim, but that's it. I'm not sure how much the stuff I've upgraded would be worth if I tried to sell them," I admitted. It wasn't like I actually needed money, but local economics interested me. They would also help me make sure my loot payouts were sufficiently enticing. I didn't know how much some silver, a kind of trash magic sword, and some glowing rocks would really appeal to anyone.

"I w-wouldn't know... Chris and I-I are ab-about a hundred years apart in when we lived," Henry explained. I nodded. That meant Chris would have newer information. Unfortunately, he was from an outright different world and might not have died recently, even in his own. I had no idea how his world stacked against this one time-wise.

"Fair enough. I'm sure I'll figure something out as I go," I said, not feeling terribly worried. It was an issue, but I needed to sort through what was in front of me for the moment.

"Let's see what our unworthy hero was sporting weapon-wise," I added. Reiner’s sword appeared on my coffee table. It was ornate, but in a garish kind of way, rather than functional but elegant. It also felt kind of oddly familiar. Not like I'd seen it specifically before, but like I'd seen swords like it.

[Blade of the Harem Master]

"Ugh," I said as I read the title. If the kid named it that, then I was glad his stupid ass was dead.

[Blade of the Harem Master]

[Persona of the Master]

[The Blade will exert a control effect to ensure that its wielder complies with preset constraints and behaviors.]

[Seeking Beauty]

[The Blade will continuously seek females of an appropriate level and aesthetic quality to add to the harem.]

[Beautiful Submission]

[When a female target is acquired, a temporary compulsion will be employed. The use of a Lilly Pendant as a spell anchor is needed to ensure they are correctly bound into the harem.]

"Grotesque," Henry offered. I nodded emphatically in agreement. Despite feeling sick after what I'd read, I knew I needed to look at the other item as well. Namely, the spell anchor.

[Lilly Pendant]

[Lady of the Harem]

[This pendant acts as a spell anchor for the [Blade of the Harem Master] control. Females meeting the spell’s criteria and wearing the necklace will submit to the power of the sword.]

[Maidenly Virtue: Noble Young Miss]

[The wearer of this pendant will be endowed with the persona of an ojou-sama. Conflicting character traits will be suppressed.]

"Oh fuck, those poor kids. No wonder why they were so messed up," I said as the implication fully sunk in. The pendants all had different personality tropes for harem members but were the same in function.

"Th-then I..." Henry started only to fall silent.

"Knowing what we did at the time, you did the right thing. Even now, I'm not sure what was or wasn't his own choice," I offered, putting an arm around Henry's shoulders. I'd told him to go for it, and I stood by that. It felt shitty to know the kids might not have had any choice in what they were doing, but hindsight was 20/20.

"Th-Thank you, 42," Henry said with a desultory chuckle. He picked up my free hand and raised it to his mouth, pressing his teeth to it. It took me a moment to process that the gesture was a kiss. Henry had kissed my hand.

"S-sure," I squeaked in reply. I felt like an idiot, but it was the best I could do.