AN: Short chapter today, about 1500 words. Might be an extra one later.

As always, folks, thank you for reading thus far. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, let me know down below.

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The squeaking queen bypassed everyone who tried their best to have her acknowledge their presence to some degree. A few were even so bold as to stand in her way, but were subsequently beaten down by an Undying whilst her guards tightened their formation about her. LD and RS, on the other hand, were left to fend for themselves, as they were swarmed once it became apparent that the little queen did not wish to converse with anyone. No, she instead glided over to my person and the "Mistress", who was doing her best to annoy me. It was working, by the way, and every one of my thralls felt my anger towards this female human. So much so, the queen was about to have her carted off, until I waved away her concerns.

"Who is she," she squeaked towards my sitting body, to which I shrugged.

"She calls herself 'Mistress', and wants something of Dei," I replied with a shrug, "To be honest, she is becoming quite a nuisance, always trying to shove her chest in my face as though it'll change my thoughts. Regardless, she scared away Puella, and it is high time she was gone." At that, the pair of female Undying grinned, and began to drag the "Mistress" away.

The pair had even went as far as to push her out of the large double doors, and I heard on a later date that she was barred from the castle premises until further notice. Of course, she would complain, but nothing would ever change. Ah, it felt good to be in charge, and I sipped the drink in my hands.

"What are you drinking?" Asked RS, who had been able to tear away from the gaggle of nobles, much to the dismay of LD.

"Don't know," I replied, "I cannot taste anything, so it might as well be poison for all I know." My shoulders shrugged as I closed my eyes for a brief moment, and shook my head slowly.

He frowned at the cup, and asked if he may try to figure out what it was. When I gave my assent, he took the cup from my clawed hands, dipped a finger into the liquid, and tasted it. His face contorted into a grimace, "It's a lemon wine of Dahmas. How did that slip through our screenings?" He growled at the cup, turned towards the table laden with wines and ales, and marched towards it like a man on a mission.

"He dislikes sour foods," squeaked the queen with an apologetic grin.

"Ah. You can come out now, Puella. The scary hag of a human is gone." The feline girl-child's head appeared from beneath the shadows, which caused a squeak to ensue abruptly from the little queen, and her guards to tighten their ranks, then relax when they see who it was.

"Really?" Her eyes darted around the room before the rest of her body emerged from the darkened shadows, which solidified and became the female Shadow's Reaper. It gave a silent bark, then yawned greatly, revealing sharpened shadowed fangs.

"So cute," a squeal erupted from the little queen, as she dashed towards Puella, and began to inspect her dress. Not knowing what to do, the girl-child froze with widened eyes, and looked in my direction for help.

I, on the other hand, only smirked in response, and went back to watching the beastman party. It seems they were getting ready to leave, but stopped when another messenger appeared before them. This one was pale, sweating with what appeared to be a fever, and had a gash across the left side of its face. It still looked fresh, which caused many nobles to stare at the party before beginning to whisper amongst themselves.

A roar of the word, "WHAT?!" stopped all tongues from wagging, all movements to come to a halt, all eyes to turn towards their party, and caused the edges of my lips to twitch upwards. I was enjoying the show, truth be told, and didn't wished to jump to any conclusions just yet. However, in my mind I had begun to dance with glee at their presumed rage, and felt like doing just that when they started walking in the queen's general direction. This caused the Undying to take up positions of shielding her, whilst those with sheathed swords grabbed onto the hilts, growling menacingly at the advancing beastmen.

"Peace," came a rich baritone from the head of the small procession. "We've merely come to ask her highness for assistance in our time of need." The one who spoke was a male silver and black coloured bear beastman with brown coloured eyes. he stood just a head taller than my kobold self, with a barrel of a torso, thick arms and legs, and clawed hands and feet. The outfit worn by such a creature was a pine green tunic over what looked to be chainmail. There was an insignia stamped upon his left breast, which looked to be a hammer striking a coin of some sort. The lower garment worn by him, as well as all in his party, was that of a kilt. A kilt, by the by, is a knee length skirt-type garment with pleats in the rear. They are common within my first world, so it was amazing to see them here. Upon his shoulders, however, was a thick, silver-red fur pelt of some slain creature.

"After so many attempts on her majesty's life, one can never be too careful," I said, still sitting in my chair.

"And you are...," he began just as someone whispered into his ear. His eyes narrowed at my person, "So you are the kobold seen with her majesty."

"Yes, and?" I had a smirk upon my lips, as I pretended to be arrogant of my fame.

"And you are also in the service of the remaining hero summoned by the late king."

"You continue to state the obvious, sir. Pray tell me, do you know how to speak of anything of import, or is this the extent of your vocabulary?" The bear bristled as it knew it had been insulted, and a few others had become visibly upset upon realising this. A few began to express a challenge towards me, but was shot down as the squeaking queen, RS, and LD made their appearance.

"That is enough, Canis," exclaimed LD, who massaged his temples as though a headache was beginning to form. He then looked over at me and sighs saying, "Leave us. You will only make matters worse." I gave him an Ironic half grin, which appeared to be a snarl from the other party's perspective. Then, with a mocking bow, I scooped up Puella, and headed for the stairs.

Once my right foot touched the first step, I heard, "You let him speak to you that way?" This statement caused me to giggle down at the girl-child, who giggled in a manner similar to my own, and we left the ballroom.

*****

I was becoming quite proficient in becoming a human from my kobold self whilst keeping my clothing on, and could do so without intoning the spell for it. So once I had put Puella to bed and left, my body began to stretch itself until a human stood where once there was a kobold. This action merely caused the Undying near my person to blink and shrug, before going back to their duties.

It was my desire to return to the dungeon to check up on the little bear-kin's progress, but was stopped by LD, who came around the corner with a soured expression. When he saw my human self, he sighed saying, "Dei, the bear beastman wish for our help hunting down those that had attack their tribe. In front of everyone present, we gave our assent to their request, and they are now preparing to return to their tribe with all due haste. They are only taking a couple squads of house legions from a few nobles who have ties with the beastmen."

"Interesting," I rumbled at him, "And what of those that had left before? Has there been word yet of their progress?"

"They seemed to have incurred a few losses from their hunt within the nearby forest, but that was due to their own negligence over looking after those still green. They'll end up reprimanded for it when they return."

"Very well, I shall have a messenger sent to them, telling the group to join up with the bear beastmen to hunt down those that would attack the tribe." He seemed relieved by this, and left with a slight smile upon his lips.

Though, of course I would do no such thing. Instead, I would have those returning finish the job of killing the bear beastman tribe. There would also be an order to bring the heads of those in charge with them, just so I could see the despair of the little bear-kin before her life ends.

Well, her life would have ended the next day, if it weren't for a minor, little detail.