Your Shadow Is My Light

Chapter 37 - Ripper at sea

Normal text
Thinking
Onomatopoeia

Rayne's POV
My sleeves rustled in the salty breeze. Nestling in my arms, the cub nuzzled my chest, all while mewling and acting cute. My gaze softened as I fiddled her itty-bitty paws obsessively. A purr responded. Though her good mood didn't last for long.

Vulpine ears wiggled before Ahri let out a sad whine, "How long must I be stuck like this?"

While skimming the soft tufts of fur lining her back, I reassured for the umpteenth time, "Just one more day."

Perky ears instantly drooped, returning to a glum state yet again. More heartache. I pecked the top of her head, trying to soothe her aggrievedness. To be fair, Ahri has every right to be depressed. After all, the Crimson Princess has been trapped in her pudgy fox form recently. Two days, to be exact. If there's one thing that flamboyant vixen hated most, it's back being a chubster. How else could she flaunt her well-endowed figure if she's stuck cosplaying as a stress ball?

But there's no other choice. Our party is now in the limelight. If we travelled in an overt and nonchalant manner like we did before, it would undoubtedly attract eyes. Besides, the captain also strictly specified-no demons are welcomed aboard his voyage (discrimination much?). The moment her identity is exposed, I've no doubt those cranky sailors will whip out their cutlasses and hack us to pieces. I don't really feel like being thrown overboard as shark feed. Hence, the almighty Gatekeeper had to make do with skirting about as an exotic emotional support animal.

As for Evelynn, she got off the hook with glamour magic. The dashing young man next to me is her. Why else would Akali let some random chum hug her waist like this? She would've knocked his lights out.

Seriously though, if a blonde beauty was to gender bend, she would look exactly like this sultry hunk-silky locks tied up in a man bun, with his bangs slicked back. Alongside a pair of seductive red eyes, the succubus looked the part of a playboy. The kind where just a wink could get a horde of banshees smitten stupid. So much for being low-key...

Looking on the bright side, at least the demoness kept to herself and was only ever interested in harassing Akali. Much to her terror. I glanced at my jittery mentor, who's busy trying to peel off the sticky taffy on her body. To no avail, obviously. Seeing as how she's kind enough to take one for the team, I tried to divert Evelynn's attention away from her.

"Any news about the royal family?"

To which she smirked, "The usual. Without a 'spiritual leader', the nobles are naturally in hot waters~"

The 'spiritual leader' in this case was the pope. After his death, there's no longer a figurehead in charge of... 'baptism'. And so, the disgruntled peasants were left unchecked. A sure-fire recipe for disaster. You see, the only reason why the royal family was able to maintain their current status quo for this long was because of the 'religious existence' behind them. Through the daily sermons, they managed to put that fatso atop a pedestal called 'God's apostle'. His orders are final, his imperial edicts law. Defying him is tantamount to rejecting the 'Holy One's' teachings-a blasphemy severe enough to label them as heretics.

This power dynamic had remained unchanged for generations. Until I personally destroyed their house of cards. Without the constant brainwashing, the royal family's influence naturally faded. Their stocks plummeted like crazy. Not to mention the fact that almost two-thirds of their military prowess was eviscerated after the war with the kumihos. So the usual suppression routine was out of the picture too. Frankly speaking, I doubt the royals even have enough templars to maintain order in the streets. If they dare walk out in public, those goons would most definitely be torn to shreds.