(MC POV)
"Ara, ara? Master… Are our tails not fluffy enough?" Manami whined, hugging my arm in between her bosoms while her tails wrapped themselves around me tightly
"Master… Are we inadequate in some way?" Kiyomi pouted, mimicking her sister's actions.
Is it just me or is their grip kind of tight? It doesn't feel like the affectionate kind of type either.
"That isn't the case," I assured them, patting both of them before planting a kiss on both their foreheads. "I found the two of them abandoned and helpless, there was no way I could leave them there all alone, could I?"
"Ufufu~ As expected of our benevolent Master, were you thinking about us when you picked them up?" Manami giggled, hugging me even tighter.
Well it's hard not to, considering the foxes were technically sealed within the both of you before this.
No way I'm telling them that, though.
"Of course," I half lied, pulling them deeper into my embrace. "Both of you are just too charming for me to forget you know? Do you both need a reminder of it tonight?"
"Ufu… Ufufufu! Oh Master~ You definitely aren't getting any sleep tonight~" Manami promised, tracing her finger along my cheek and softening her grip on me.
Kiyomi opted not to say anything but instead simply pull my head down for a heated kiss.
Of course, Manami wanted her share after her sister was done so I had to oblige her too.
"Master! Stick your tongue in there! Manami likes it when you do that! Especially when you start stroking her tail too!" Akari egged me on from the side.
It appears that only I could hear their words for some reason. They claimed that in their current form, others would just hear them as fox mewls or something similar sounding instead of words, something I found out quickly while I had been punishing Diao Chan in my room.
Kind of works for me, since Akari seems just as bad as Diao Chan and wouldn't stop making commentaries when I had been busy with the Witch just now.
Thankfully Shiori helped me quite a bit by smacking her sister on the head every time she acted up, just like now.
"Do they hate each other, Master?" Lian Li asked, obviously confused that the white fox had just smacked the red one on the head with her paw.
"Oh, not at all. The white one is Shiori, the older sister of the two," I explained after breaking away from Manami's kiss. "She does that whenever her sister is doing something bad."
"Ara, ara? What a coincidence, Master. You really were thinking of us, ufufufu~" Manami giggled, her hand circling my chest playfully.
"They're soooo cute~" Elaria swooned, bending down to try and pat Akari.
Surprisingly, the red fox hissed at her, backing away from her outstretched hand with her fur raised threateningly.
"Hsssss! Only Master can pat me!!" Akari hissed, although Elaria could not hear her.
"Ah, they er… They don't like to be touched, actually," I explained.
"Oh, that's too bad. Should we train them for you, Master?" Eris suggested with a wide grin.
I shook my head, "No, it's fine, they do listen to me at least."
Stepping away from my fox disciples, I squatted down and let the two foxes climb up on to my shoulders to lay there, both of them adopting the same position as before with their tails wrapped around my neck.
"Ooh~ As expected of Onii-sama! Even wild foxes would obey you too!" Elaria praised.
"Papa so cool~" Cai Hong clapped happily.
I patted Cai Hong's head, "Alright, that's enough fussing over the foxes. Has Sophia returned yet?"
Lian Li nodded, "She also told us about your discussion with Master Xiao. I still feel that Master had been too generous with them."
"Since they will be part of us, if we were to impose anything cruel on them, it will be the same as being cruel to ourselves," I pointed out.
"Oh! That is true… As usual, Master always thinks about the bigger picture. We still have much to learn."
Well, more like I just want to have people taking over my work so I can finally relax, if they were to suffer while they were here, I can't very much push my jobs to them now, can I?
Speaking of which…
I turned to Brendan, "Is Elder Feng better?"
He pursed his lips, "He is fine. He woke up a few hours ago, saying he felt weak and sluggish. We fed him food and he went straight back to sleep after that and had been asleep since. Should we be worried?"
"No, it's normal. He should be more or less back to normal by tomorrow," I assured my alchemist. "Did anything else happen while I was gone? Another assassination attempt, perhaps?"
My disciples looked at one another before Kiyomi stepped forward, "Actually, we tried to track down the assassin by following their Quark remnants from where we saw them. We managed to trace it as far as we could before losing the trail."
"The trail led us around the entire mountain just to bring us back to the Sect, Master." Manami finished.
I frowned, "A traitor? Or did the assassin infiltrate themself into the Sect?"
"I sincerely do not believe that we have a traitor in the Sect, Master," Lian Li declared with confidence. "Everyone here respects you too much to do such a despicable thing."
I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her words. Since when did my disciples know Heaven Sect better than I do?
Then again, I have been giving them quite a bit of free time to wander around as they please recently, must be because of that then.
It's good to know my disciples have connections outside of my little courtyard.
I scratched my chin thoughtfully, "In that case, do we have any clue who they might have infiltrated as?"
Diao Chan twiddled her fingers in front of her, "Master… I do believe that the time frame is too similar to be a coincidence. It must be one of the servants that we have received."
"That would be the most logical conclusion," I admitted, nodding my head at them. "Who do you all suspect?"
"""Sophia,""" all of my disciples answered at the same time.
"Hmmm? Was she not beside me when that attempted assassination took place? It can't be her if that's the case, can it?"
Brendan scratched his head meekly, "This might just all be us overthinking things but… With her power, it wouldn't be difficult for her to create clones of herself, can she?"
"Fair enough," I admitted, though I felt it was quite unlike her to do such a thing. From what I could learn from our short talk and spar, she doesn't seem like the sneaky type of person. That is, unless that was all for show to throw suspicion off of her?
But then again, there was that name binding thing too, I do not feel like she was lying on that part at least.
Perhaps I had become too trusting? I might need to step back a bit, Sophia was a former member of Dark Sect after all.
Now I'm not sure of it myself… It would be a good idea to keep a close eye on her the next few days?
Just as I thought of that, my entire courtyard became shrouded in mist.
My disciples all looked at me in alarm, all of them in the midst of running up to me before their figures disappeared from within the mist.
I was about to dispel the mist Technique when Shiori patted my shoulder with her paw, "Please wait, Divine One. Let's see what she wants from us."
I followed her gaze to see Sophia standing a distance away, the mist seemingly curving around her figure to reveal her to me.
Speak of the devil.
