*** Goddess of Fertility ***

  "You e to mock me?" I ask out to the void.

  "Never," Goddess of the Sea says. "I just wao see how you are doing."

  "Like shit," I say. "How else would I be doing? Bitature and Justice keep me from doing anything with my own damn champion, and I get to watch her breakdown as Royalty gets to ugh."

  "Has Goddess of the Future said anything more?" she asks, sitting down in a pew.

  "No, she won't say shit to me," I say, falling onto my own alter.

  "Well, we knew Alzi would be sold and that we would need her to e to us. I heard you got with one of your daughters," Sea says. "That you helped her get a temple, and her belly is showing."

  "Heard or saw?"

  "Both," Goddess of the Sea says. "Had to see for myself and now I see you had some fun with someone."

  "Shut up," I say, s stretg out to my limbs from the pilrs.

  "Your maids always hide when I'm around your house," Sea says, standing back up to join me by the altar. "Are they g for your children?"

  "Just carrying."

  "What does that even mean?" She says, cirg me. "And why did you yourself up. I'm the only one here."

  "They haven't given birth to any children of mine," I tell her. The s around my wrists and ahen pull tight.

  "That must be painful."

  "We prefer it."

  "Kinky."

  "Do you want your child now?"

  "You want to make a ritual out of it?" the Goddess of the Sea asks, kneeling by my head.

  "Is that a problem?" I ask her, ready to call the angels into the main chamber.

  "I was hoping for something a bit more personal," she teases. "Are you trapped?"

  "No. I would never let myself get trapped again," I say. Maybe I could do it with Goddess of the Sea.

  "I suppose that is a smart thing to do. But it does hurt you, don't trust me," she says with a stupid little pout. "I don't have anything I need with a ritual, and I don't like seeing you this desperate. Trust our pn. I know you haven't used the miracle from the first ritual yet. You bring the world to their heels if needed with that. And if it isn't enough, I'll be back, and you pce me on that altar. My naked form resting on the cold stone, ready to help you once again."

  "Hmph, fine," I say, turning the s to dust. "Are you done gloating?"

  "I'm not gloating," the Goddess of the Sea says. "I'm cheg in on a good friend. I'm happy to see you using your temple here again. Remember, Justice is so trolling of the world because if civilization colpses, the st thing anyone cares about is Justice. They care about food, water, shelter, happiness, and building something for the future. The people will hate nature, turn a blio her Justice, and look to us. The ones she hates."

  "She is looking to make a champion," I say.

  "Yes, yes," Sea says, her face h over mine. "I have an idea of making my own. She is a bit old, but she will make a wonderful champion and great partner for yours."

  "Kiss me et out of my fug face," I say.

  Immediately, I regret my words. A silly grin showing on the pretty face of a Goddess. I don't know if she loves me or just likes messing with me. And this kiss isn't helping at all. Her stupid fug tongue fights to get into my mouth as I taste her soft lips.

  Fug bitch.

  She releases me with her stupid grin still there. "I'm happy you are feelier, Fertility," the Goddess of the Sea says. "Remember, Alzi is a dragon and has plenty of mana. Even if she is a sve for a hundred years, it would be just a short time of her life. She'll have plenty of time to fill the world with her offspring."

  "Go away."

  "Fine," she says. "Don't fret too much. I like the way the world is looking right now."

  "Of course you fug do," I mumble as her figure disappears. "What csses Alzi get ?"

  "Depends on how much healing she does till pared to how much sex. She still has some flexibility in choice," the stupid angel says. Always a stalker.

  "What fun."

  *** Alzi Mother Armirynth ***

  "Let me get this straight," the woman at the ter says yet again. "You want to buy a house big enough for ten."

  "Yes, well, we need seven for the people living there, a guest room, and a room for kids. I'm expeg, and so is another woman living with me," I tell her. Yuki promised I would have a noble here to help me, but when I got to the ter, the woman still hadn't shown up. I'm okay with my numbers, but the amount of gold I was given makes me nervous about actually choosing a house.

  "Well, those normally go to the nobles," the woman expins.

  "I am living with a Princess of the Kitsune realm. Her name is Yuki um. she hasn't shared her st h me. But Yuki is famous, I think. White tails and ..."

  "Yes, I know who Yuki is. I don't think she is living with an old dragon that barely has any mana," the woman says.

  "That is where you are wrong," es from behind me. "Sorry, I'm te, Armirynth. My shift didn't end when I thought it would."

  "Hi, you are?" I ask the new woman.

  "Audrey. Yuki asked me to e by and help you get a new house," the human woman says.

  "Thank you. I was getting worried," I say. "I don't know much about the big houses and really could use the help."

  "Of course. Now, we start t some houses? I don't think they have any maids, so keep them on the smaller side," Audrey says.

  "Yes, my Lady. I'm Feid and will be happy to help you," the woman at the ter says. She ducks doulls out a book, flipping to a page before presenting it to us. "This will house ten and has a small garden. The details are listed here."

  "Audrey. Um, I 't..."

  "I know. This would work for you. Yuki told me what to look for. Are there other options?"

  "Not really. Just three more like this. The rest would require a maid to help," she says. "Would you like a tour of them and pick from there?"

  "Is it a long walk? I'm getting kind of far along here," I say. I don't know how my stinker of a daughter could handle all those stairs. Most of my body aches and my feet have swollen.

  "I have a carriage we take to the houses," Audrey offers.

  "Oh, then it would be best to look at the houses," I say.

  Audrey doesn't say anything back; she just turns around and walks out. I waddle to catch up. The woman at the ter takes se strides to catch the noblewoman.

  We follow her to a nice carriage a in.

  " you tell me what is near each of them?" I ask. "W what is nearby for food and supplies."

  "Yes, all of the houses are on the edge of the upper-css district. A mix of the rger business owners and merts. Being on the edge will make it so you have a bit of a choi shopping. Ihe district, you'll find the higher-end shops, and if you move out to the middle-css area, which you are currently in, you'll find the stuff you are currently shopping for. You will be on the opposite side of the upper-css shopping but close to the middle-css shopping. Likely closer than you are now. I didn't have time to find your current home on the map. I will show you each of the houses on the map back at the ter when we are doh this trip. But to give you an idea. You'll be just a few blocks from where you currently shop while seven ht blocks from the uppercss shopping."

  "Oh, I don't think we'll he fancy shops. The current ones have everything we need. I would like a shorter walk. Thank you. Are there any parks or pces for kids to py?" I ask, the kids giving their poor mother a few kicks to remio think about them. I wish Alzi was around to help them settle down some.

  "By the temples have most of the gardens for walks. There are a few greehat children run around in close by, but far enough away, you would want someoo walk them over to it."

  "It is a city, I guess." Alzi never had far to go to find a spot to py. She was always chasing something.

  "Here we are," the driver calls back as the carriage lurches to a stop.

  Feid leads us out of the carriage and into a two-story building. Windows dot the front of the house, and a small walklits a small yard.

  "I don't know if we maintain a house this size," I mumble. Ilka and Akhae have joined up with Mai to do small tasks with the guild, and Kelly is busy starting up her healing and potion business. Yuki and Nakuma are only ever here for a night, leaving pregnao do a lot of the work.

  Mai will have to stop sooo her pregnancy. They already only do small tasks like delivering things iy, and when she 't do that anymore, she won't be able to do the chores. Maybe I have Ilka and Akhae stay back to help? But what about after the children are born?

  "You may o look at getting a few maids anyways," Audrey says as Feid opens the door for us.

  "Now this house has the asked for ten bedrooms. Five on this floor and five on the sed. Then a kit and dining room, drawing room, bathroom with a standard bath, undrey room, and then two rooms left to your choice. This is the entranceway, obviously. The stairs to the sed floor are here and then the drawing room will be tht and the dining to our left. Through this hallway here will take us to the other rooms. This is the basic floor pn for all the houses I had marked out."

  " I see the kit and a few bedrooms?" I ask.

  "Yes, we tour it. This lease," Fleid says, walking to the left. We gh the dining room first and then go to the kit from there. "The house isn't furnished, so most rooms will just be empty. But the kit, bathroom, and undry room have the basics already set up for you. As you see, the dining room has plenty of space for ten and some guests if you get the table for it."

  She isn't wrong about the room. As we walk through it to the door, it feels like it never ends.

  "Through here is the kit," Fleid says. "Swing door to make it easy to carry things through it.

  Through the door is another massive room. A wall covered with cupboards for all the pots, pans, ptes, bowls, and silverware a family would he opposite side has some fancy mana traptions that I'll need Kelly to expin to me.

  "This has a stove, firepce, oven, and sink that give you both cold and warm water. All mana is trolled with plenty of extra ste, so even those without mana use them for more than a meal. This house doesn't have a celr, but it does have a cooler to keep food and wine cool and a freezer to get ice or keep food frozen if needed," Fleid expins. "Also, as you see, it has some room for extra appliances if needed. When you are done looking, we go to a bedroom. These styles of homes don't have a master bedroom so all are the same."

  "We go to one now, I think," I say. I don't even know how to check if these are any good. Is it possible to sell bad mana-trolled items? I should've fought Yuki more about not showing up.

  "This way."

  Fleid leads us through another door to a hallway, where we turn right. "Left would take us to the undry, and right across was the bathroom," she expins. She then leads us back towards the mairahis here is the bedroom."

  Through the door is a simple square room with a closet. A single window lets in some light as me see out to the small garden that looks well-maintained.

  The room feels bigger than the one we currently have, so it should work out for us. I don't think Yuki's room is bigger than ours, so it should be fi having a master bed, and Audrey said it met Yuki's needs.

  "I think this is good for us. Now it would just be pig a pce," I say. Audrey is stantly looking towards the door, ready to bolt.

  "Very well, back to the carriage then."

  The ride back is quiet. Fleid is fident she has her sale, and Audrey looks like she wants us both to disappear. I'm not sure what Yuki did to get her help, but I don't think it made Audrey owe us a favor. It seems more like she was threateo be here.

  "Um, Fleid," I say. " we just buy the one closest to the middle-css markets? I think Audrey has somewhere to be so we make this fast."

  "Oh yes. You said you were with Yuki, right?"

  "Yes," I say. "Yuki said we would be selling our current house, but we need her to e baove. We don't have enough ste to do it ourselves."

  "Oh, no problem. I think Yuki will want it in her name. So, just have her e down when she is avaible, and we finalize the purchase. I'll save the house for you," Fleid says.

  I guess she believes me now.

  "That sounds great," I say. Gd I'm carrying so much gold I won't be using.