The Goddess' Champion

"What do you mean?" Her comment brought an abrupt stop to their conversation; Constantine's gaze was constantly switching between Nia and Zamira, especially Zamira's reactions.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm human..." The purple-haired beauty didn't doubt for even one second.

"That's weird."

Nia approached Zamira and tried to smell her, sadly there was something else covering the woman's odour.

Suffice to say she had to swallow back her vomit.

"I know you saved me and all,  but I won't ever forgive you for this!" She insisted, pinching her nose as tight as possible.

"... just explain yourself." Constantine had no time for games, what she said just now had raised his alert against Zamira who he believed had already told him everything there was to be said, nevertheless, if there is something one can't ever completely trust is another individual.

"I can't see this woman's features or anything that would define her as a werebeast but... I remember having heard her mating calls and even before I passed out she growled too... didn't you hear?" Nia furrowed her brows, still looking at Zamira up and down, especially her breasts which she then compared with her own offhandedly.

"M-Mating calls!?"

"Yes, I'm someone that is very sensitive to the spirits and I could feel yours through your mating call... I saw what you two were doing even if you deny it." She looked away with a faint blush that was barely visible through her white fur.

"..." The pair ignored that statement.

"But this indeed odd, I'm currently unable to tell taking your smell as a factor, but... I was almost certain you were a were-tiger. Are you concealing your identity to survive? are you afraid you will be hunted down?" Nia asked with concern, something involved with the fact that as Zamira had mentioned before, the were-tigers and were-lions were extinct.

Hearing the woman's words even Constantine had to send Zamira a glare, he didn't want to believe she had been concealing something after everything they have been through.

His gaze hurt Zamira in many ways.

"Master, don't look at me like that! I don't know what she's saying! you! stop spouting nonsense!" Zamira pointed her sword towards Nia who didn't back off in the slightest and instead glared back at the 'tigress' wondering if she made a mistake, only to put her gaze on the sword the next second.

"T-That's... Kurohana..."

"Yes."

"How did this sword end in your hands!?" Before she could take the sword, Constantine got in between.

"We bought it and you're not taking it back..." Constantine said defensively, deciding to believe Zamira over this newcomer, so far he had noticed some oddities in Zamira, but nothing that could deterministically say that she was not human.

[Perhaps this girl is right... there are a plethora of divine artefacts that can even conceal a person's race, but if that was the case, Zamira should be conscious of it, either of them is lying... or the girl is just confused... moreover, I heard the growl that she's talking about too, back when you did 'that' to her.] Zebellia added her piece of information as he contemplated.

'Could it happen that Zamira is something that she's not aware of?' It sounded ridiculous, but he took his own hybrid-elf race as a standard, it didn't feel that much different from being human except that he could use magic and had some moderate increase in physical strength.

[It could but under quite specific conditions, it is not something common for someone to not realise their own race, in fact, for us Time Valkyries that is borderline dishonourable.]

'...'

"I'm not going to take your sword, I just hope you will take care of it... Madame Kurohana was two generations of priestesses above my mother, her death was a pitiful one." Nia put her hands together and seemingly prayed towards the sword.

"I will, it is very important  to me." Zamira nodded and sent her master another glare only to feel relieved when his contorted visage didn't show suspiciousness.

"I think it would be better to not be stating baseless assumptions... this is what's going to happen, you have two choices girl... I can't leave you alone until you're 'safe' so... you tell me where you think you will be safe or I will have to take you with me to the Sadamek Empire." They had plenty of time since they were unable to move away from here until the hunters receded and therefore, it was time to plan their next move.

"Why does it sound like you're kidnapping me?!" Nia covered her chest and shivered.

"Stop joking and tell me your options, we don't have all day these guys are still hunting you." He rolled his eyes, she was attractive indeed but that was a terrain he didn't dare tread.

Is she human? is she an animal? he couldn't yet tell.

"..." Nia began to contemplate, still pinching her nose furiously and the two of them decided to help her since she seemed to be in a rather clueless position.

"You said your father doesn't believe you." He began.

"He doesn't... my father is a hooligan always fooling around with women and sometimes going to fight demons or noble elves for territory, that's all he does, he blindly trusts his 'pack'... perhaps it is not only that bastard Daijou's who is planning to overthrow him." Nia bit her finger in wrath, she was really pissed at her father's attitude.

"And how is this Daijou planning to mess your father up?"

"By removing what makes him be trusted and accepted as a ruler by the werebeasts... my father is a descendant of the Deranged Wolves, the ones that overthrew the lions thousands of years ago during the great war against God Lucius, that and the fact that he also earned my mother's favours, she's technically a saintess amongst the folks and many take her words for granted... she plans to have me as her successor, and Daijou's plan is to get to me before she does, earning my favour, something that will never happen! If not then he planned to simply kidnap me and breed me like the rest, my child would have the blessing of the goddess and that would be enough for him to gain a footing equal to my father's"

"And can't your father easily prevent that?" He thought it was quite a skewered mess, yet a commonplace amongst court cases, typical concubine being unfaithful to a general, thankfully it didn't happen to him since he only had five wives and they were all a little... skewered in the head.

The five Empresses, each ruling their own region made completely sure there would be no... concubines.

This however wasn't the case with most Empires and Kingdoms, there was no easier way to conquer than to begin in the royal court, seeking one of those unsatisfied concubines that would do anything to get some pleasure and betray their king, he ha taken down at least three kingdoms like that and this Daijou seemed to be copying that technique.

"My father could easily stop Daijou but he won't...not only doeses he trust Daijou a lot, but my father hates the fact that mother is always sleeping and doesn't pay attention to him... our relationship is not good... he taught me how to fight and defend myself but after I was strong enough, I was left on my own... several aunties of his court take care of me, but some hate me as well... I just happened to come across that scene and they noticed me, my father is going to head to the Green Sea to the East and I assume that's when he was planning to... attack me."

"Does your father know that you're in this predicament at all?"

"I already told him what Daijou was planning, but he didn't believe me! auntie kept harassing me to keep my mouth shut, I still told my father about it but she resolved it with that sweet mouth of hers, a single night in his bedroom and my father dismissed my case... I didn't know what to do and just ran to the forest but they took that chance and started hunting me... Daijou is one of the generals that controls the borders, the moment I step back, he will know."

Her story led him to believe she had little possibility of turning back to that empire and being 'safe', Constantine couldn't help but deadpan at this 'Emperor's idiocy.

'If you want to live under a woman's skirt, fair enough, but don't allow her to take you by the balls... aish. It is a standard case but knowing what kind of individual he is will make things easier for me... perhaps even taking this entire Wolf Empire for myself won't be that difficult~' His gaze nestled on this girl, the one that would make this possible, this was, however, a faraway achievement.

"Then what do you plan to do? I can only help you... I can't lead you." He decided to see how she'd handle things for now.

Zamira and Constantine awaited her response for several minutes.

"Then... could I go with you for a few months?" She eventually asked hopefully, it was a lot of imposing but she felt lucky that she met these comprehensible humans, naive indeed.

"Why a few months?"

"My mother awakes from her slumber once a year during a full moon, she stays awake for a month she usually spends with me and then goes back to sleep again... in roughly three months she should wake up again, I have to go back to talk to her then." That was her plan.

"If your mother handed you over her blessing, what can she do?"

"My mother is the priestess, she has the favour of the Beast Goddess! even if she's not as powerful as she used to be in the past, no one dares to mess with her, if I tell her; father will heed her words and Daijou's head will roll" Having explained her plan she awaited their approval with enthusiasm, for her, this path was the way forward.

"... what do you think?" Constantine asked Zamira who looked at him dumbly afterwards.

"W-Why are you asking me, master?"

"You're my travel companion, I'm asking for your opinion..." He smirked and waved his hand, giving her the chance to make decisions and give her opinion would work wonders not only in her confidence but also, in her growth.

!!!

"Then, I think it should be alright if we take her with us, Master... so long as she covers her appearance no one should proactively try to uncover her, moreover... the werebeasts would have to decide whether they come to the Sadamek Empire or the Elf Kingdom, their borders are furthest to the North." Zamira coughed and delivered her considerate opinion, he nodded in approval.

"Very well..."

[Why don't you ask for my opinion?]

'Who wants your opinion!? If I get trapped in the bloody abyss, I will ask your opinion then!'

[Sure, I will make sure to sleep all the way, since you don't want my opinion and all... when you get your ass eaten by a ten-headed darkness hydra, I will also be eating, guess what? popcorns...] The horse seemingly pouted in outrage before going back to sleep, in any case, he's well accompained.

'Do whatever you want, and what's popcorn?' He didn't get that joke if it was supposed to be, it seems like he's not the only one with a [-E] in joking skills.