When the ladies come back downstairs, they’ve got all of the Companions with them, as well as Mythryll. Cyrene looks like she’s in heaven with all of the attention she’s receiving, plus she looks fantastic in her new armor. A simple black dress with gold accents and long sleeve gloves, but Cain can see that the underside of the dress is a light chain mail.
She’s much more agile in this form than on two legs, effortlessly gliding down the stairs and twitching her body away from feet that get too close. Someone has pulled her long pink hair back into a ponytail, no longer hiding her face, but she looks confident for the first time since Cain met her, right up until she sees him when her look turns nervous.
“Do I look alright? Everyone else liked it, but I don’t know much about Lamia fashion.” Cyrene says, looking up at Cain hopefully.
“You look amazing. The dress suits you. Honestly, the Lamia tend to be scantily clothed because they’re so warm they don’t need it, but this is a perfect look, suitable for the daughter of a Count.”
That sets her mind at ease, and Cyrene wraps herself around his waist to hug him before Misha bonks her head. “We talked about this; you’re going to freak people out if you keep suddenly wrapping them up like that. Ask before you hug with more than your arms.”
“Oops, sorry. I get too excited about everything. I’m not too heavy, am I?”
Cain chuckles at the question. “I’ve got 175 strength; your weight is nothing. Plus, with the long slender body, I’m pretty sure you only weigh about 40 kilos.”
“True, but at least I kept some womanly curves. The Lamia body is amazing, but I wouldn’t want people to think I was a child because of my size.”
“Going husband hunting at the next Royal Ball then? I’ll bet you could land someone pretty well off. After all, you’ve got everything going for you now. Power, connections, beauty.” Mythryll teases Lamia while Cain begins to walk to the dining room with her still around his waist.
“I don’t know. I’m still worried that people won’t like me, but if they do, maybe I could talk to them?” Cyrene’s eyes go hazy as she speaks, which Cain guesses mean she is having a vision.
He stops at the dining room door to let her finish, not wanting to accidentally snap her out of a vision early. Oracles see a lot of random stuff, but a Warseer, as their name suggests, more often sees battles that somehow relate to them.
“It’s that same blue walled city again. But this time, I got a few more details, and it feels different than before. I think it’s the [Battle Visions] ability from my new class. The horse riders aren’t the only ones attacking; I couldn’t see it before, but on the other side of the city are the two huge monsters you called in the dungeon, along with an army bathed in shadow. The leader of the horsemen said something to the city about paying their debts, and then the vision ended.”
“That sounds like the city is in Niman Territory. I sent those two there to keep the Nimans from attacking others. If they have debts, it’s probably to the ones who paid them to enslave our people, which of course they never managed because we stopped the raids.” Cain explains, then passes the message on to Maria, who is with the King at the castle, in a meeting about patrol strategies.
[Have things been going well?] Cain asks her, checking how she’s fitting in.
[Quite well. The other Councilors are competent, and the King listens to advice, so we’re going to get along. Even the other Nobles don’t bother me because I’m under your protection. I think they might bother you directly, though. Something about a marriage Alliance.]
That wouldn’t surprise Cain. A Succubus naturally draws others to them, even if she’s a Puppet. Plus, with her appointment to the Defense Council and links to him, she’s a prime marriage candidate for Noble’s younger sons.
[No worries, I’ll deal with them if needed. Enjoy your meeting.]
“I let the King know about your vision through Maria, who does the work of defense minister on my behalf. They should know more about who is in your vision.” Cain tells the happy Lamia.
“You should tell him about the thing.” Vala stage whispers to Cyrene just as Cain settles into the oversized chair at the head of the table, with the Lamia still around his waist.
“Are there issues with the transformation? I’ve never done a Lamia before, so it will help if I know what to look for if you’re having problems.”
“Well, you see. Do you know my pain transmutation ability? I think it’s stuck on. Everything feels amazing. Like, everything. The ability says it’s inactive, but I think something is wrong.”
Cain calls the Lamia he based her body on into a Merger to ask her about the situation, hoping there might be a simple answer. After explaining the situation, the Lamia laughs in his mind for a few seconds before answering.
[How closely did you replicate me? Run a finger down her ear and see what happens.]
“Let me check something, Cyrene. I might know what the issue is.” Cain runs a finger gently across her ear, and the Lamia moans and squeezes him tighter.
[Yup, the ears are my weak point. Her problem is that’s just how my species is. Unless you rip out one of her scales or something equally cruel, the little things don’t bother us.]
[She says everything feels too good. Are you saying that is just the difference between species?] Cain asks for confirmation.
[Most likely. Humans are always whinging about little things hurting. She’ll adapt in time, I’m sure. Until then, you should brush her hair and polish her scales personally. Don’t leave it to one of these ladies; a Lamia requires physical contact with a male to calm their instincts.]
[So, it’s not just an urge to hug everyone?]
[Not entirely. Think of it as a hormonal imbalance. Only they can get what they need through physical contact.]
That is clear enough, so Cain dismisses the merged Lamia and gently pets Cyrene’s reptilian body. “I asked the Lamia I based you on, and she says it’s normal. Small pains don’t register as pain, but large ones will. If you spend a while every day in physical contact with a man, your urge to give to everyone hugs should also settle down.”
“I’ll be in your care then. I’m sorry that I’m a bother.” Cyrene sighs, somewhere between repentant and simply enjoying Cain petting her.
The Puppets serve dinner, and Cyrene learns she has found another issue with living as a Lamia. She has no teeth and an entirely new jaw structure. Trying to chew makes her jaw unhinge and open too widely to be ladylike.
Everyone has an idea of how to fix the issue, but Misha’s suggestion of simply placing the food in her mouth and swallowing works best. They can only hope a Lamia can digest large chunks of food properly because every method they thought to chew was a failure.
After dinner, Misha takes Cyrene away again to settle a wardrobe for the upcoming Royal Events. The inevitable reunion with her family, and Cain settles into the couch to test out this new skill of [Superior Mental Domination].
Thanks to the Succubus Devotion Ring, he can use it on Misha free of mana cost. The effect of listening in on her thoughts is much like Merger; only instead of just words, there is also sight and touch information in her thoughts as she works.
He lets the skill end to give Misha her privacy, finding that sharing all of someone’s thoughts is a very intimate experience. You can’t help but understand their viewpoint when you know absolutely everything that they are thinking and feeling.
After that, he sorts through all the summons he knows and their abilities. His new Golem building skills will be best used if he can balance various skills and abilities that work together. For now, it’s only two per Puppet, but soon he will be able to add a third. With that, he should be able to create pretty well-rounded custom puppets for every purpose.
As he’s searching, it occurs to him that they could use a high-class chef. Then the other puppets could be the kitchen helpers. There’s certainly at least one in his records. They’ve eaten in several excellent restaurants.
The chef from the crab shack has a skill called [Maritime Cuisine Artist] at Master 4, so he calls a copy into Merger. Then Cain sorts the rest by Cooking related skills. At the top of the list is a Dragon that has [Hakan Cooking] at a Guru level, which seems to be the maximum possible skill level.
Cain creates a nondescript human male Puppet in a chef’s outfit and adds the two skills. Visible Tattoos spread all up the neck and across the hands. Then, the face gets leathery with age, and the eyes narrow. What he’s left with looks like a cross between an aging Chinese gangster and Duke Chen. The face of the chef just has a calm and content look that reminds him of his bearded comrade.
“Have you seen all the Elves in my kitchen? Just Elves everywhere, in short, little skirts, prancing around.” The chef asks after looking at his new workstation and finding the Puppets making pastries.
“Will that be a problem?” Cain asks, wondering if he should make a new Chef Puppet.
“They’ll give this old man a heart attack, wiggling around like that.” He says firmly.
“Puppets don’t get heart attacks. They don’t ever age or get sick either.” Cain points out.
“Well, in that case, have you considered aprons with bikinis as a summer outfit?”
This chef seems like he could be a fun guy. Plus, he is beyond a doubt the most skilled chef that Cain has ever met.
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