First impressions:

Soul Info

Name Omari Fouad Race Human Level 61 HP 100 MP 2,100 Magic Power 810 Strength 18 Endurance 17

Omari is a cool dude. A standard, brown-haired, handsome man with a respectable stubble. He's polite and looks quite reliable, but he actually seems "boring" compared to the exotic ensemble before us.

Soul Info

Name Mako Shizuke Race Dragonkin Level 82 HP 100 MP 3,470 Magic Power 1,735 Strength 20 Endurance 20

Mako is a stuck-up, stoic dragonkin. Red hair, black scales, and a pale face make for a weird mix of colors, though his face being handsome compensates for that. His extremely cold attitude and insistence on tingeing his voice with [Godly Language] is rather off-putting, so I don't really have a good first-impression of him.

Soul Info

Name Sa'Haa Doxa Race Owl-type Wereanimal Level 68 HP 100 MP 10,230 Magic Power 5,110 Strength 10 Endurance 11

Sa'Haa is a super alluring Cruella, and I'd love to do her until that resting female dog face turns into an ahegao. She's very spindly like most wereowls and as tall as Aoi, making her look like a supermodel, but her villainous look reduces her alluringness a bit in exchange for a more exotic air. Roxanne still ranks higher on the supermodel scale simply because of how much more of a traditional beauty she is.

"Gods, Wolfy. Now's not the time to make me excited!" Roxanne gleefully complains in my mind space.

Soul Info

Name Urmeie Doxa Race Bear Beastfolk Level 102 HP 100 MP 4,210 Magic Power 1,270 Strength 25 Endurance 34

And Urmeie is an absolute dommy mommy… Like, holy shit, this bear girl is big. She's hiding some top, bottoms, and thighs under that armor; her fur looks so soft and shiny; her long snout full of sharp teeth could fit my Sword so nicely; her slick, swept back hair is so cool; and… she's almost making me drool.

Gods almighty, I want to do that bear…

She actually has her personal Space mage store her armor directly from her body, and under it, she's wearing a tight white velvet uniform with eye-catching cleavage. I just want to bury my head in that massive, furry chest while she soothes me with her low, mommy bear voice.

But the problem is that her personality is definitely not motherly.

"Juramen's curse, you're small!" She exclaims and laughs out loud as she looks down at me, and her chest bounces up and down alluringly. They sure do look like they'd be a burden in battle.

"I'm a weredragon, so I can assume a bigger form whenever I want," I proudly reply as I narrow my eyes at her. I can handle this, so even though the girls don't like anyone but them calling me "small," I don't let them interject.

"You can get big, but only for a limited time. Talk to me again when you can live like that, Lord Squirt," Mama Bear unhesitatingly shoots back with a smirk.

Now that catches us all by surprise. The audacity of this bear is unbelievable, though the nickname does resonate with the girls.

And we hesitate to reply, so Sa'Haa sternly interjects, "Sister, you're both royals, and father gave me the authority to ensure that you act as expected of your station."

Urmeie just laughs at her, her chuckles sounding like low, reverberating growls, and the spindly Princess only gets more irritated.

"Squirt is a cute nickname. It's what comes out from between my legs, and I know this little dragon would love to taste it," mommy bear casually replies and nods at me.

Now the girls are also getting irritated by the way she's talking to me, but the human in me is feeling a bit endeared.

"Either bend over and let him do you already, or stop punishing our ears with your insufferable crassness," Sa'Haa venomously spits back. We're all quick to recognize banter, so the girls hold their tongues and let the two sisters fight.

Urmeie turns to face her and pouts. "That wasn't very polite of you," she replies with a fake hurt tone.

"I see no family is spared from sibling bickering," Léonne dryly remarks, making Urmeie laugh again.

"Hey, I love my sister," Alissa immediately retorts, and Allura actually blushes a bit.

"You love her a bit too much," Jacques quietly adds with a sigh, and the two little fox sisters grin at each other.

Urmeie turns back to us and smirks. "Don't mind her. Sa'Haa is always constipated, but we work well together."

"Unfortunately, we work well together," Not-Cruella corrects, then she shakes her head with a sigh and recomposes herself, not wanting to look even more inelegant in front of the dignified Yunia. "Please, ignore my sister's lack of manners. She abstains from politics and has an aversion to courtesy."

And the bear woman now has something actually important to say, so she assumes a more serious tone as she boldly adds, "I'm from Bestiaram, and I refuse to adopt your delicate and convoluted Avgin rituals. I'm only here for myself and my men."

We silently glance at Sa'Haa and the other two nobles, and they flash us wry but also slightly bitter smiles. I still remember that they want us to keep Urmeie under control, somehow, though I have a hunch that just my friend alone won't be able to make her submit. Even the Verners seem to understand our role here and don't butt in, though we know that mommy Léo is itching for an opportunity to lambaste the Princesses.

But I don't feel like playing games with this big furry bitch, so put on a serious mask and sternly reply, "Fine, then we'll show no patience for beastfolk savagery."

Yunia immediately follows up, her tone even drier than mine, "Our servants are well-trained and deserving of respect, and they won't be forced to attend those who forget that."

The bear really doesn't care as she lightens up and laughs loudly once again. "I know better than to harass the people who make my food."

This bitch is really a handful…

Instead of one-upping the ursine barbarian with her own dragonkin barbarism, Hana decides to take a more scholarly approach as she needs more information about her enemy before she engages in verbal combat.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"What 'customs' do the beastfolk even have? Do we beat you up every time you mess up?" She curiously asks, but she allows a little bit of banter to come out.

"What about spanking?" Roxanne follows up, totally not serious or excited about the prospect of seeing the big furry bitch squealing.

But Mama bear gets a bit angry. "That's not how we fucking act. Do you mustchs think beastfolk are damn orcs?" She growls and sighs tiredly.

The average commoner would definitely piss their pants upon getting a whiff of her fearsome high-level aura, but the only thing we feel is a mild discomfort that we immediately realize is exactly like Vanea's piercing gaze.

Then Urmeie quickly calms herself down and properly explains, "It's words. You Avgin care too much about words, but we Bestiare don't buy goblin peckers, so we don't care about getting offended. I'm a damn Princess, so I don't need others to compliment my blade; I've already bathed it in enough blood to know it's sharp."

I don’t know what exactly "don't buy goblin peckers" means, but I think I get what she's saying. Imperials and elves are the worst in regards to having to watch your mouth around them as they can be quite snobbish, but Dragonkin don't care as long as you can take a punch.

"Ah, yes. That explains your behavior," Yunia dryly replies.

I keep the dragon within me chained pretty well since I can't afford to lash out at everything, but Hana doesn't need the same level of self-control, so now's her turn to show her pride in her dragonkin heritage. "You're definitely very brave to come at us like that for our first meeting, but it's also pretty stupid behavior since you'll just get your face punched or stabbed if you continue like that," she harshly declares as her emerald scales on her cheeks quiver in excitement.

Urmeie takes it in stride and smiles fearsomely as she scans Hana's body up and down. "With a body like that, you definitely don't have the same 'Strength' as me, even if you're a dragonkin."

Hana's whole upper body is suddenly covered in steam for a second, then a shadow falls upon my back as she spreads her large, green wings. Her glorious form shimmers in the sunlight, her skin now covered in shiny, perfect, emerald scales. Everyone looks rather impressed, but Mako has the strongest reaction as his jaw becomes slack, and he may have just gotten an "unsheathing," though his robe prevents the confirmation of that.

"Both of you are to stop with these provocations now," Sa'Haa demands, her tone cold and stern, but Urmeie doesn't laugh, so we know it's serious. "If you keep this up, I won't even allow any spars that aren't with wooden shortswords. The honor of royalty won't be tarnished by these childish games, and I mean it for both types of royalty here."

She's actually being quite respectful of us by acknowledging our status and acting to protect our "honor," though I'm not sure what exactly the "honor of royalty" means.

"We may have friendly spars, but we shall never even attempt to humiliate the other," Yunia explains through [Bind], but I'm too much of a peasant to understand it. Trying to guess someone's intentions sounds like a massive pain. "It is," she tiredly adds.

Then I'll be happy if we never get ourselves involved with other royals ever again. But Alissa flashes memories of Gnomeria, and I immediately take back what I just thought. I really hope that we can meet with Princess Belind again.

Yunia takes over and diplomatically replies, "We appreciate your adherence to decorum, Princess Sa'Haa. We're new royals, and our behavior still lacks the elegance expected of us."

Sa'Haa's expression softens, though she looks hotter when she's angry, but she's still damn fine. "I understand you have the respect of the men for your experience in combat and that of the populace due to the Intervention, but your habit of letting your lessers treat you without reverence undermines your authority."

A small amount of irritation passes through Yunia's mind, but she doesn't let it show. "We're very averse to being antagonistic to others due to our overabundance of compassion. It's just not within our hearts to push others away." The Queen loves to be fawned over by our "lessers," so she thinks Sa'Haa's advice is bullshit.

"Being loved by your allies isn't enough; you need to be feared by your enemies," the wereowl Princess continues, but this time, I have to hold myself back to not laugh.

"We've tried to build that image by responding to attacks on us with ruthless precision," Yunia promptly replies. Even though we were very hesitant and calculating in our response to Katasko's aggression, we'll own what we did with pride.

"Yes, Decien Cleinias'… execution was carried out well," Sa'Haa hums thoughtfully, sounding mildly pleased.

And Urmeie waves her large, furred, clawed hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, we know you two have to kiss each other with words, but let's just get going, already. I'm hungry, and we still have a lot of strategy to talk about."

The spindly Princess glares at her sister but keeps her tongue from lashing out. "Very well, let's go before she starts growling like an animal."

The moment we enter the dining hall, I get an uncomfortable feeling that something is about to happen, and less than a minute later, Vanea sends word that she's coming.

"What's with elven meat? How do you guys make it smell so good?" Urmeie grumbles as she drops heavily onto her seat.

"The wood we use to roast meat is scented," Yunia casually replies.

And Urmeie's laugh hurts Alissa's ears. "Hah! 'Scented.' That sounds so mustch, but I have to admit that it does make the food taste better."

"Elven meat is the best meat I've tasted," Aoi chimes in, and our guests give her a curious look.

But Urmeie unhesitatingly says what they're all thinking, "Changing topics a bit, I didn't expect the two actual dragons to be so quiet."

I snort and casually explain, "We both technically have a human inside us, so we aren't like the average dragon."

Urmeie looks confused, which is kind of a funny look for a bear. "A 'human' inside you? What does that even mean?"

And Sa'Haa wisely explains, "Wereanimals were created from the fusion of the minds of an animal and a human while beastfolk are simply animals given a humanoid mind and a more human-like body."

"It's almost like we have an actual beast inside our minds that occasionally guides our actions," Alissa adds.

And Aoi transforms into her human form so that she can show more manners while eating. She can eat without making a mess while in her dragon form, but that involves using magic, and it's a faux pas to do that in front of unfamiliar nobility.

"For some, the beast inside them can even take over the body completely if allowed to," Jacques follows up.

And I wryly finish, "Aoi and I are both researchers, and that's… not exactly a popular career for dragons."

Urmeie slaps the table with her huge hand as she starts to guffaw. "Dragon scholars…! Hahahah…! The image in my mind is too funny! Hahahah…!"

Then Sa'Haa puts forward a very level-headed take, "Ancient dragons have large hoards that almost always include books. It isn't implausible that they could learn to read and spend their time perusing their book collection."

And the bear's amusement quickly dies down as she realizes that Sa'Haa's opinion makes sense.

"Yes, I agree. I'm still learning to read, but sometimes, I just feel like spending the day studying the metallurgy books that High Officer Silvano recommended to me," Aoi calmly remarks, and Urmeie looks like she wants to laugh again, but that'd be mean to Aoi, and not even the crass bearfolk wants to hurt our innocent, little blue dragon.

But the light mood is broken as a maid announces the newest arrival.

"Imperial Prince Tommen and Noblewoman Vanea Anara have arrived."

Wait, what…?!

The letter didn't say that a damn Prince would be coming with Vanea.

"WHAT?!" Sa'Haa croaks loudly and stands up.

The door opens, and an older-sister/younger-brother duo walks in hand-in-hand. A rather androgynous dwarven boy with shoulder-length black hair, a baby face, and dark blue eyes; and the yandere sister that will rip out the uterus of anyone who comes close to him.

"Tommen! Why are you with… her?!" Sa'Haa exclaims indignantly, her villainous face warped in alluring fury.

Vanea giggles girlishly while her little brother sighs tiredly. "Saa, she's my friend. Please stop being like this," he timidly whispers and pouts.

And the irate Princess turns her scowl towards Yunia. "She was your 'secret ally'?"

"Yes, but we don't know why you seemingly dislike each other so much," my Queen flatly replies, using [Acting] to hide her smirk, but Léonne and Urmeie openly display their amusement.

Then Vanea interjects, her tone dripping with sweet delight, "Oh, please. Don't pin such negative feelings on me. I'm deeply respectful of the Imperial Royal Family."

Tommen sighs and glances annoyedly at Vanea, who grins cheekily and holds back her playfulness to not enrage Sa'Haa any further. The wereowl Princess in question, though, seethes in silence as her pale skin turns pink in anger, and her stern eyes threaten to stab Vanea in the throat.

What the hell do they have against each other, though?

"I bet it's about Tommen," Alissa guesses through [Bind], and even Ciel seems to agree.

"He's worth fighting for," Yunia adds and wryly glances at me.

The female Ryder council has come to a consensus in record time, and they all agree with the following statement: Tommen is cute. He's boyish and childish while I have a strong and youthful teen air, but our "assets" that allow us to steal the hearts of the mommies, onee-sans, and imoutos can still be considered to be quite similar. Urmeie doesn't seem to be affected by shotas, though.

The dwarf Prince walks forward, pulling Vanea along with him, and goes around the table, towards our side, so we stand up for the greetings.

He stops before us and nods respectfully, so we mirror him, then he extends his little hand for a shake. "I'm Imperial Prince Tommen Doxa. I apologize for the sudden appearance, but I don't want to become officially involved in the Purification, so I'm tagging along with Dame Vanea while hiding my identity."

"Which is a dangerous thing to do since you have neither your knights or bodyguards to keep you safe," the wereowl Princess grumbles, but Tommen just smiles adorably at her, which is a tactic that my girls also use to appease me.

Oh, wait, wasn't he at the party at the Throne? I think he was with Sa'Haa.

"Yes, he was there," Yunia affirms with a suspicious level of confidence.

"I'm Royal Crown Lord Wolf Ryder," I smoothly introduce myself and take his cute little hand. He marvels at my scales for a second, then flashes me an adorable smile.

"I saw you at the gathering, where you… displayed your draconic nature with one of my aunts," he casually remarks, though he seems to be forcing himself to remain nonchalant.

So I really did do Empress Hayakasha's sister, huh? Is she the highest ranking woman I've done?

"The extended family of the royals don't hold significant power," Yunia shoots me down.

I wryly glance at Vanea, who's still acting like a perfect little Princess, then I proudly reply, "Your aunt is a wonderful woman who I'd be delighted to meet again. We both seem to naturally enjoy the presence of each other a great deal."

Then Urmeie laughs loudly and interjects, "If Mother Hayakasha heard you, she'd breathe fire!"

Sa'Haa's eyes twitch, wanting to roll, but Tommen also chuckles softly and explains, "She's like Centum Mako, a beast of discipline."

"He means that discipline fuels my dragonkin might. Without it, I'd be just an average human," Mako stoically adds, his powerful, [Godly Language]-boosted voice sounding annoying to us.

"For me, it's carnal pleasure that fuels my might," Hana follows up with a suggestive grin, but the stoic man clearly doesn't share in her mirth.

And a new rivalry is born, I guess…?

The relationships between everyone here are so "colorful" that Léonne gives me a glance that screams of "these are our allies?" This ensemble is so "unique" that a sane person would be excused in questioning the possible effectiveness of our teamwork, but I believe they're all betting on us and Urmeie keeping the team together during combat regardless of how much we dislike each other.

The greetings continue without another incident, and Tommen shakes hands with everyone while Alissa and I watch his reaction like hawks. I don't notice anything, but she sees his pupils widen when he's faced with Roxanne and human-Aoi, so I guess we've found out what kind of woman he likes.

"I'm eating," Urmeie impatiently announces midway and does as she says.

While Sa'Haa and Vanea share tense pleasantries, I turn my eyes to Allura, who seems a bit overwhelmed by the absurdity of our guests, but she's not the only one who's surprised. It's simply unthinkable that a random noblewoman like Vanea would gain the favor of an Imperial Prince and also the unveiled hatred of another, and even Mako and Omari stare at the two enemies with astonishment on their faces.

However, we're getting used to Vanea's shenanigans, and have reached the "acceptance" stage. But make no mistake, I haven't forgotten that she most likely manipulated Little Alki-Alki to fight against us. It's just that a sensitive topic like that needs to be handled at a more appropriate time.

After a few more words, we finally sit down, and Urmeie is already halfway through her steak.

"We'll speak strategy after we eat," bear mommy declares, so we attempt to socialize until then.