F-Rank Puppeteer!! But I'll be Queen, and I'm not a narcissist!!!!!

Chapter 318: Developing Hobbies

"...Tsk... so there’s nothing? I have the money to buy it, a monster core shouldn’t be so expensive and hard to find!!" I ask the demon who looks at me with a certain disdain.

"Look, girl, I already told you, this isn’t something you sell just anywhere. Go find someone else to sell you that kind of thing."

"I’m Arial, not just some random girl!!" I say, frustrated, as he reaches his limit and throws me out of the shop. I want so badly to destroy this place, but I can’t draw too much attention right now, so I leave.

’Why is it so hard to understand demon society...’ I don’t know what to do. I always lived in a dungeon, and then I lived inside Evelyn’s spiritual plane. Now I’m free, but I have no idea what to do.

Even though I stole some money, I can’t find anyone who will sell me monster cores. Maybe because I’m not a noble and I don’t have enough money to gather information.

"It’s all because Evelyn kicked me out..." I’m still getting used to this body, so I don’t have all my powers to hunt dangerous monsters, but I’m trying to get something to help.

Of course, if this body is destroyed I won’t die, but without this body, I’ll be forced to depend on lakes again, and I don’t want to have to depend on lakes right now.

’Maybe I should go live in the forest, there should be monsters... but I need to hunt...’ I look around, but suddenly I’m in shock to see Evelyn staring at me. She’s with Esther and looks shocked.

"..." Esther is talking to her, but seems to notice her reaction and then looks at me. She starts to say something, as if asking Evelyn, but Evelyn just shakes her head negatively, shrugs, and moves on.

Esther gives me a strange look, as if suspicious of something, but then ignores me and follows Evelyn.

’Sh-She... she ignored me...’ I feel strange. I didn’t expect to see her again so soon, since it hasn’t been long since she kicked me out, but I also didn’t expect her to ignore me like I didn’t matter.

"Hmm... it feels strange to be ignored... it’s... unpleasant..."

...

...

...

"Evelyn, what was that? You looked pretty shocked when you saw that woman. Tell me the truth." Esther speaks to me with curiosity and a slightly accusatory tone. We left the castle for a stroll and a walk so I could get a little exercise.

’Damn... that traitor is still here...’ I don’t want to see Arial. She dared to join Nerina to cause all that nonsense.

"It’s no one special, just a stranger who reminded me of someone..." I didn’t know that damned woman was in the kingdom. The blue ring that was her, stuck to my finger, disappeared when I expelled her from my body.

And I made it clear that I didn’t want to see her anymore, so I thought since she’s a monster and a nymph, she would go far away.

"Anyway, forget about it, Esther. We’re on a stroll, we should take it easy. The army has already conquered the first city; what do you think we should do?" I ask Esther.

"Oh, so you’re going to leave even something so basic to me, Evelyn?" She speaks with irony and a playful tone, until she realizes how serious my expression is.

"...It’s the most basic of the basics, Evelyn."

"You’re in charge of everything, Esther. I’m incapable of doing the basics without you," I say with a very ironic tone.

"...Use the conquered cities as control posts. Keep conquering cities and turning them into a supply chain. That way, they’ll use those cities to send more troops, food, and water in a stable and secure way, since the closer you get to the enemy kingdom, the slower resources will arrive."

"After that, secure the defense of those control posts by leaving some soldiers, but don’t waste troops defending those places; they’re disposable. Focus only on cutting costs and time when it comes to transporting resources." She gives the orders, which is what I would do if she weren’t such a jerk and hadn’t made me say that she’d take care of everything now.

"Okay, and after that?"

"...Advance to the next city. Keep dominating them as long as it’s not too costly, and if it is costly, just completely explode the city with magic and build structures for the base in place of the destroyed city." She says, taking my hand and leading me with her to a plaza.

"Okay." I just confirm her plans while my other body starts doing what she asked. However, to my surprise, Esther takes a box from her storage ring while sitting me down on a bench in the plaza and hands me the gift.

"What’s this?"

"A gift." She says it like I’m stupid for asking.

"Okay, let me rephrase the question. What’s inside?"

"It’s a surprise. Open it and see what I’m giving you." She doesn’t answer as she sits down next to me. I just open the box, finding a painting kit.

"Paint? For my marionettes?" I ask, wondering if she truly understands how my power works. I don’t need paint for marionettes; they’ll be whatever color I want them to be.

"No, you idiot, why would I give paint for marionettes? It’s a hobby. Paint for you to start painting. I noticed you have a lot of... experiences related to the field of construction with precision."

"Forging relics and weapons, creating marionettes, dolls, artifacts, among a few other little things. So I thought a hobby that follows this style would help you. Something you won’t use just to fight or work."

"...Painting... but I don’t—"

"I will buy every painting you make, regardless of the price."

"...Thank you for the gift. I’ll see what I can do." I look at the complete kit. It has way more things than it seems. The box is the size of a shoebox, but it has spatial magic inside, so there are hundreds of paints, brushes, and even blank canvases to paint on. Even the support materials like an easel and raw materials are already included.

"Can I paint you?"

"Of course. Why do you think I brought you to this park? I’ll sit here; you can paint a picture of me, unless you’d rather paint the landscape." I stand up, taking out the canvas support and some brushes, but I only grab the black and white paint.

"..." I look at Esther, who crossed her legs sitting on the bench with a serene expression. It’s impressive how she manages to project such a calm image when she’s someone so wild.

"Haaa..." With a sigh, I start to paint. I’m very careful with the strokes since I’m only using black and white, along with a mixture of the two, using the combination of both in a shade of light and dark gray to enhance the lines and details.

Time seems to stop as I just focus on the strokes. The only movement from Esther is the soft rise and fall of her chest and the occasional natural blinks. Other than that, she doesn’t move.

It’s strange to think that while a war is happening and people are dying under my leadership, I’m here painting my psychopathic wife as if no problems existed.

However, this forced calm, this concentration that I’m forced to have in order to draw perfectly, distracts me. It makes me not have to think too much about other things beyond Esther in front of me.

As time passes, the drawing takes shape. Drawing isn’t exactly fun, and I can’t say it’s a hobby that appeals to me, but in the act of drawing, I get distracted, and in that, drawing successfully captured my focus.

And I guess, in the end, that’s what hobbies are, right? Something that distracts you from your problems. It makes me focus on how beautiful Esther is. I don’t love her just for her appearance.

But Esther is undeniably beautiful, beautiful in a way that her wickedness sometimes overshadows, but in this moment, I’m free to notice and even blush from looking so obsessively at her features.

As I draw, my hands make the curves, shadows, and the generous "volume" of Esther with such perfection that it makes me feel like a pervert for remembering my touches on her body.

In the end, when I notice, the sun has already started to set, leaving the sky in this orange hue, and I see that for all this time, over five hours, Esther remained still.

"I-I’m finished... it’s not that good, but I did my best." I turn the canvas to her, revealing this image that looks melancholic because it only uses black and white tones and her expression is too solemn.

"It’s very good, actually it’s perfect. How much do you want for the painting?"

"...Are you really going to pay me? Or just use money from the vault? That money is already mine."

"I’ll pay you with my money, don’t worry. I just want you to keep doing this in your free time as a hobby, and I’ll be satisfied."

"...I want a kiss..."

"..." She comes to me, taking my waist and pulling me very close to her while using her other hand to place behind my head. Then she kisses me intensely while stroking my head.

My tail clings to her thigh until the end of the kiss. When she separates, my tail releases her, and she takes the painting, storing it inside her storage ring. I grab my drawing kit and quickly store it inside my storage ring.

"...Let’s head back. We spent too much time here." She takes my hand, leading me much more gently with her. She’s so bossy.