(MC POV)
"Ummm… I'll be honest… I never expected my reunion with Senpai to be one where you sneak into my bedroom at night…"
I shrugged, "Me neither, but I don't want to stay in that dangerous place a second longer."
Muon raised an eyebrow at me, "What kind of place would make Senpai that nervous?"
"The palace."
"Ah… Ummm… Did the Matriarch do something to you, Senpai?"
Xun Guan chuckled,, "More like what she might do to Master actually."
I flicked my collar which was akin to flicking her forehead, the slime girl giving a yelp of pain before obediently keeping quiet.
Muon leaned her head on her palm, "Even though she doesn't care for males, I don't think she would intentionally go out of her way to make a man's life difficult if they did nothing to her."
"I could debate with you on that point but the only case would be mine. She's taken an interest in me it seems."
"Interest in… Oh…"
I raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"
She scratched her cheek with a finger, "I guess it's normal for Senpai not to know this but… It's kind of an open secret that the Matriarch had been searching for a husband in the past few centuries. We all know her standards are really high so… To say that she has been quite desperate for love would be an understatement."
I knew it, that bitch groomed me.
"I don't know if I should be flattered or worried that I meet her standards."
Muon smiled wryly at me, "If it was anyone else, I would say flattered. But in Senpai's case, I'm not sure if you're interested in her? Lunamaeniera Sharrow is not a bad catch even if I do say so myself."
"And I would agree with you if I was planning to stay in this Plane, which I unfortunately am not."
"Should I say… As expected of Senpai to be able to catch the Matriarch's eyes?"
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes at her, "Believe me, I was not trying to."
"She can't be that bad… Can she?"
"You work with her. Shouldn't you know her better than I do?"
She smiled, "I think you know as well as I do that her attitude towards women and men are vastly different from each other."
"Point taken. So how is she like to you at least?"
Muon thought for a moment, "I wouldn't call her my best friend but we are close enough to share secrets at least. I believe Senpai already knows how our government is run, right?"
"She's the whip and you're the carrot, am I right?"
"That's one way to put it, but yes. I would be the one who is more friendly with the citizens and more well liked while she is the one who is feared by everyone. I think Senpai already knows why?"
"Yeah… Ousted quite a lot of political enemies with this method, didn't you?"
Muon nodded, "And it doesn't hurt that 'by some miracle', no one suspected me to be involved in the schemes. But well, outside of work, she's generally still approachable. But there's still that obvious indifferent air about her, which I can understand given her long life."
I raised an eyebrow at her, "Indifferent?"
"Yes. It's not like she thinks all of us as her lessers or something like that. It's more like she constantly has other things on her mind, which I believe it's the fact that she is missing a husband."
"Is she really that love starved?"
"She has been alone for several hundred years after all. Long enough to see other women finding their own love. I guess she just wants someone to love her back not as a sister but as a woman. And Rina respects her too much to have romantic feelings for her mistress."
I frowned at those words, "She… Isn't from this Plane, is she?"
Muon shrugged, "I never asked but I wouldn't be surprised if she's also from Senpai's Earthen Plane. Aside from me who has access to my Origin powers and Rina who has never revealed her true strength, I don't think there's another Practitioner who's even close to her level of strength in this entire Plane."
"What are the chances that there is another 'Legendary Plane' like the Earthen Plane out there?"
She made a face, "I would not say zero… But the chances are very, very low."
I leaned back on my chair and folded my arms, "So that woman has been alive for centuries, probably in a Plane not her own and craved for someone to love her."
"I think that pretty much sums it up, yes."
"She was absolutely crazy when she found out I fit her standards, even going so far as suggesting to burn down the entire Royal Archives because she thought the hidden archives were too dark and scary for me."
Muon seemed to be a little taken aback by that news.
"Eh? That… Doesn't sound like something she would say."
"Well she did. Apparently she's the kind that doesn't have a limit to the things she would do for her loved one. It's kind of scaring me a little. My disciples would never act like her."
"Oh? I never knew senpai had disciples."
"I may look like this but I'll have you know I'm a Master of a Sect back in the Earthen Plane."
"As expected of Senpai. Even now, I've had no experience in teaching anyone."
A thought just occurred to me.
"What are the chances that the Matriarch will come knocking on your door to look for me?"
Muon chuckled, "If Senpai is worried about that, I can make it so that 'she just so happens to not visit Senpai's room tonight'."
Seems like she really knows how to make use of her skills to the fullest, in that case...
I steepled my fingers together, "Could I ask you to help me train my Origin skills?"
She pursed her lips, "Umm… I don't think I'm suitable to help Senpai remember your skills… I am still young and inexperienced after all..."
"Aren't you quite long lived too?"
"I'm still young in the Origin Wielder sense of course. It's a little hard to convert it into the calendar of this world but… I guess you could say that I'm only eight thousand and twenty years old, give or take a few decades."
"And that's considered young?"
She smiled at me, "Senpai is probably even older than most of the stars in the universe. Compared to me, I'm nothing more than a hatchling."
"Mmm… Guess I really am a decrepit old man eh?"
Muon giggled at my little joke, "If Senpai is fine with the inexperienced me, I will try my best."
"Umu, I'll leave it to you. Could I trouble you by crashing at your place again?"
"Of course, the guest room is still open for use. I did mean it when I said I will help Senpai whenever you need it."
"Thank you, I will repay this favour before I leave."
"No, no. It is my honour and privilege to be of help to Senpai."
And with that, my night was safely spent at Muon's house instead of that dangerous place.
Hopefully I'll learn some useful things from Muon tomorrow.
