Chapter 164: The Four – Part 1

Chapter 164: The Four – Part 1

What is it with fantasy towns and a lack of urban planning?

"Europe is similar," Ted begins the golem's little bit.

"Their roads were built before urban planning existed," Suzy follows up, as always.

"Resulting in snaking or meandering paths," Jarn finishes.

But Escanso is different; it's a well-planned town.

"It's also the exception," Ted goes again.

"Not the norm," Suzy finishes.

"And Mac Gantus is another exception," Jarn wisely adds after a short pause.

It feels like only the dwarves have internalized the concept of "order" into architecture. And Lina silently agrees... emphatically agrees.

As we approach the Carrier, we spot a group of people on its deck. We see about a dozen winged soldiers in shining metal armor, the Celestial Horns, with Oritiki at the center, Hihiriwa right next to her, and two clothed Chimeras on her other side. There are also five winged soldiers behind the clothed pair, and these men wear shiny and colorful armor, telling us that the two clothed Chimera are important people.

It's unfortunate that Oritiki is wearing armor because I've sorely missed her massive black cow tits... but she's looking a bit... odd to us. It's like there's something "missing." Hihiriwa, the Carrier's captain and an untrustworthy bastard, still looks like the same gray-dragon-headed man as before, so we truly believe that there's something wrong with her, and it's not just our memory being faulty.

The golems carefully land our airship on the Carrier's deck, right in front of the welcoming party. There's no ramp or red carpet for us, so we just magic our way down (also taking Caterina with us) while the soldiers use the rope ladder. Urmeie and her bodyguards have their own way of flying down, saving us from having to include them in our spells, which is nice because I did forget that it'd be unbecoming to have Urmeie go down the rope ladder.

Aoi's presence grabs almost all of the attention, but everyone here seems high-level enough to resist her natural intimidating aura, so the gazes return to me and my dazzling appearance.

"Oritiki, I'm happy to see you!" I cheerfully greet her when my feet touch the ground.

"We're also very happy that you've decided to join us," she answers with such a deep voice that we stop in surprise, and she smiles wryly, as she was expecting this. "My body always becomes male if I spend more than a day-cycle without seeing my husbands."

Noooooooo~...! I want to see her massive cow tits!

"That's just a bit disappointing. Your breasts are always a wonder to stare at," I wistfully reply with a dramatic frown.

She(?) grins back at my little act, as she does enjoy the attention her tits bring. "I know! But, unfortunately, the lack of a man to bend over to leaves me with only masculine thoughts, so my body changes on its own."

Huh... I think I get how her sex change works, and I'd love to assert myself over her (without it being her cheating on her husbands) just so that I could stare at her tits, but right now, there are more important things to pay attention to.

I turn to the two clothed Chimera, then sober up and apologize with a very polite tone, "Apologies for the silly digression. We may properly begin greetings now."

"No offense taken; it was an amusing conversation to hear," the big, muscular, winged, rhinoceros-headed man with a cannon in his pants calmly remarks with a deep and gentle voice. I have a feeling that he's high-level and someone important.

Soul InfoNameHekeman-u Hau-HouRaceChimeraLevel76HP100MP3,580Magic Power930Strength22Endurance20

Then the average-sized zebra-headed man beside him bows as he obediently begins the introductions, "Your Highnesses and Your Imperial Highness, I'm Tamapa, the Diplomat assigned for the High Forest, and this is Prince Hekeman-u Hau-Hou."

Lina's Trivia: Hau-Hou is the name of the royal family that rules the Sky Lands, while the ancient Chimera rulers called themselves the "Celestials," or "Divines," in colloquial speech. The Hau-Hou dynasty claims to be unrelated to the Celestials, but also that their family was personally given the right to rule the Sky Lands by a Celestial, and in the absence of anyone of a higher rank, they've assumed the position of royals.

They were also the first to drop the popular "God-" prefix in their titles, but only because it belonged to the Celestials and not because they respected the first true Humanoid God, Ajax. Our spirit Chimeras quietly whine that the Hau-Hou should've also taken the title of regents instead of royals, but at the time, it was just common sense that the rulers of nations were called Kings and Queens. Only later, when places like the Faium Principality and the Maplethorne Dominion were established, was the concept of "governing" separated from "ruling."

And while Lina gives me a history lesson through [Bind], we go through the boring pleasantries required when two royal families meet.

"Blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah, we'd eagerly welcome our long lost brethren into our midst," the Prince cheerfully remarks with a handsome smile.

Haa~ng oo~n...

That's a verbal trap. Everyone wants our Chimeras because of their expertise with gems and airships, which have been lost since the Petrification Calamity.

But Kaatohe is sharp enough to immediately shut him down, "We, spirit Chimeras, have very particular needs, and for now, we're the safest and most comfortable in Escanso, as the Ryders have taken very good care of us."

"It makes me very happy to hear this," he casually replies with a nod.

I snort internally. From what Oritiki has reported, the Sky Landers are extremely keen traders. Their lack of resources puts them at a disadvantage when dealing with their coin-privileged land-dweller counterparts, so their culture has transformed in a way that encourages one to never miss the chance for profit while favoring bartering instead of coin.

Exactly what Oritiki and Hihiriwa have been doing for us in this "cultural exchange." Though the latter of the two is starting to get fed up with their behavior. It does sound infuriating to have to deal with someone who's always thinking about trade and profit.

After the pleasantries are done and the chatter has slowed down, Hekeman politely backs away, "But I won't hold you here any longer. You must be tired from your flight, so I'll let Tamapa take you to your guest housing."

We aren't really tired, but alright. It's already night, anyway, and Aoi and Gify are getting hungry. So we take the horseless, enchanted carriage waiting for us outside the air docks.

Kini Kaina is an interesting place. The floating islands have been carved out to make space for more buildings while the stone that was removed was used to build higher, but then the stone ran out, so the upper parts of the rather tall buildings are made of wood. This creates three distinct layers: the cozy underground city, the sober and sturdy middle stone layer, and the whimsical and pretty upper wooden layer.

The Chimeras seem to favor the apartment building lifestyle with blocky construction, at least for the underground and middle layers. They aren't really great architects, but at least everything looks pretty with colorful paint.

The multiple islands that make up the capital aren't all at the same level, so even though our carriage goes in a perfectly straight line, we pass by an upper layer, an underground layer, and a stone layer. Because of this difference in elevation, the middle and upper layers have some suspended roads that look really cool, and there's even a futuristic air to the city due to the number of small, Glider-class airships (that all have headlights) crossing the sky and the little floating lights marking the flying lanes.

But this landscape is unique to Kini Kaina, as other Chimera Sky Lands aren't densely populated enough to warrant this kind of urban design.

After a short trip, our carriage finally stops in the underground layer of the royal palace.

Things get a bit ostentatious, of course, as the royals are rather fond of silver and crystals for decorations. I know that our heraldry's color is literally supposed to be silver, but we use it sparingly.

We pass by a not-Sistine-Chapel as we climb a set of spiral stairs, then cross through such a colorful garden that it makes Yunia raise her thin, golden eyebrows, and then we finally reach our guest mansion.

"See you in the bath, Dragon Cock," Urmeie grunts with a toothy grin and slaps my ass, then immediately moves on and enters the mansion, her bodyguards following close behind.

I am slowly becoming horny for her, but I need to prepare myself because I'll have to fight for the integrity of my asshole when I finally give in and decide to breed her.

Anyway, the guest mansion appeals to Lina's senses, as it's tall, breezy, and very flat, with little details in the architecture, but the walls and ceilings are covered in beautiful, painted murals. As a dwarf, she prefers carvings, but the Chimera sense for epic paintings is appealing to her.

"Hm... I'm pleased with this place. It does remind me of Whakamutu," Kaatohe cautiously remarks as we enter the mansion.Visitt novelbin(.)co/m for the latest updates

"The town behind us was like Whakamutu, no?" Hukarere casually questions as she takes off her wolf helmet.

But my cat simply waves her hand dismissively. "I didn't care for the undertown of Whakamutu, and the upper parts of Kini Kaina aren't open enough to remind me of our old home."

My white wolf rolls her eyes and turns to the other spirit Chimeras among the Companions. "What about you guys? Doesn't this town remind you of Whakamutu?"

Her huge cock twitches as she watches Hukarere go down on me, expertly sucking me off like the good cumslut she is.

And the male cow woman quietly answers, "They seem to be well-hidden within the palace. I think the royals fear imperial spies kidnapping them, or maybe just any contact, as that could entice them to leave. I've heard that the Sky Lander Army is spending too much time in the Broken Skies, to the point that pirates have sprouted in their absence, and I'd bet my left tit that the Travelers are going with them."

"You don't have tits," I flatly point out, and we both chuckle.

"Do you know where the Army is going, exactly?" Yunia continues once we go silent again.

But Oritiki shakes her head with a frown. "No, that's confidential information."

I cum on Hukarere's tongue as I sip my Apaisant tea, and Oritiki's huge cock starts to get hard, most likely thirsting for a cock of her own to suck on. "We could stalk them," I state daringly.

"We might accidentally bump into them as we explore the Broken Skies on our own," Yunia follows up with a haughty smirk.

"But what if we just tell them the truth about the Realm Travelers?" Alissa calmly questions as she pats our white wolf's furry head.

And I smile embarrassedly. "Right, yeah, that's easier than stalking and scheming..."

But Yunia cautions us, "There's a risk that they'll completely pull out of the negotiations if they're that scared of losing the Travelers."

Now, this is a dilemma.

"I'll always approve of telling the truth," Ciel chimes in, and Lina nods in agreement.

Then Alissa makes an interesting comment, "The fact that we're here on a divine quest should make it very hard for them to just turn us away."

Could our quest be the key to solving this? It... kind of makes sense that this divine quest will be our way to get to the Realm Travelers without causing conflict with the Sky Landers.

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