Chapter 423 - Is That Fire I Smell?
(Manami POV)
"I'm boooooored," Eris whined, kicking her feet idly in the air.
None of us replied to her since we were feeling the same as well.
Master had already been gone for several days already, although we kept constant contact with Him using telepathy calls through me.
Of course, we made sure to declare our love for Master and how much we missed Him every time we called.
Master had already reached the Dong's capital two days ago and He would be meeting with their King today.
It's night time now and we would usually receive Master's call during this time, so my fellow sisters and Brendan were gathered around me.
"Hopefully Master will come back today…" Eris sighed, rolling around on her bed restlessly.
Diao Chan groaned and laid back on her bed, "I want Master to fuck meeeeeee… I'm hornyyyyy!"
I scowled at her, "Language dear. Master wouldn't want little Cai Hong to be as crass as you are."
The Witch glanced at the loli dragon at the side.
Cai Hong was rocking back and forth on her bed humming, "Papa~ Papa~ Cai Hong wuvs Papa~~ Cai Hong miss Papa~~"
Diao Chan waved her hand in the air, "Cai Hong's in her little dreamland with her Papa, she won't even be listening to what we're saying."
At the moment, all of us were wearing at least one article of clothing that belonged to Master. Cai Hong was the only one who had an entire pile of clothing that she had buried her waist into like a dragon guarding her treasure hoard.
Of course Brendan was the only exception, though he was engrossed in the book on alchemy that Master had gifted him.
"Mmm… But isn't Master really late today? Master would always make sure to call us before Cai Hong's bedtime," Lian Li pointed out.
That is true. It's already at least two hours after Cai Hong's supposed bed time.
"Maybe Master's talk with their king was extended?" My cute little Kiyomi suggested.
"Seems a little long for a talk to last from morning till night…" Brendan muttered, not looking up from his book.
Diao Chan tapped her chin, "Mmm… If I remember correctly, the court sessions don't last past late afternoon."
Elaria shrugged, "Maybe they invited Onii-sama out for drinks. Sometimes guys do that after successful business negotiations, right?"
"Master… Not drinker..." Eris muttered, suddenly sitting up on her bed.
"And I doubt Master would go on such an escapade without at least telling us about it," Lian Li added.
"Master must have His reasons. Let's just wait for a bit more…" I decided, leaning back on my bed. "In the meantime, how are things in Master's Church?"
"Other than Sophia still doing her own things, the others are full converts now," Diao Chan reported gleefully.
"We can leave the self proclaimed demon lord alone. She already worships Master in her own way, no need to complicate matters with her," Lian Li decided.
All of us nodded our heads in agreement.
Eris adjusted Master's robe that she was wearing, "Speaking of which… Those two foxes that Master took in… I know Master said we didn't need to care for them, but shouldn't we be at least… I don't know, feeding them?"
All of us turned to see the two foxes playing with each other in the corner of our room.
It seemed like they learned of our telepathy calls early on and decided to hang around our room during the calling times to hear Master's voice as well.
Brendan looked up from his book, "They're Spirit Foxes aren't they? They don't require material sustenance."
Elaria perked up, "Oh? That's interesting, I never knew that. Actually, I didn't even know Spirit Foxes existed before this."
"They are supposed to be a very rare type of familiar that you might find out in the wilds," I explained. "We had a few running around back in my hometown. Very whimsical and playful creatures."
Lian Li clapped her hands together, "Oh! Didn't Cai Hong get a new friend too? Melody, right?"
Cai Hong giggled, "Melody funny fish girl! She likes Papa too! Cai Hong likes Melody~~"
"Fish girl?" My cute Kiyomi repeated.
"Nnn! She smells fishy! Melody is fish girl!"
Sometimes we never know what Cai Hong really means in her words.
I was just about to ask the little dragon what she meant when I stopped myself, feeling the push of a telepathy call trying to reach me.
The others were already used to seeing this reaction from me and knew what it meant, prompting everyone to gather near me.
Unfortunately, I knew this connection was not from Master.
"Guiying?" I asked, a little confused why she was contacting me out of the blue.
"Oh, senior sister Manami! Thank Master I managed to reach you! I beg you all to come to the palace now!" She pleaded, her voice sounding quite desperate.
"Go to the palace? What happened?"
"It's hard to explain over telepathy, but Master might be in trouble!"
"We'll be right there."
I cut the call and stood up, stripping myself out of Master's robes that I had been wearing.
"Something happened to Master. Guiying wants us to go over and she will explain."
The moment those words left my lips, the other girls and Brendan immediately followed my direction, changing themselves into more appropriate clothes with a serious expression on their faces.
Even Cai Hong was up, the little dragon dressing herself with furrowed brows.
I saw out of the corner of my eye the two spirit foxes slipping out of the room. I'm not sure where they went but now was not the time for us to worry about them.
I quickly teleported us into Guiying's room, finding the girl dressed in her pajamas and pacing around the room.
Gamma and Delta stood at the corner, watching Guiying worriedly. They seem to be relieved to see us appear there.
Guiying rushed up to us, "Senior sisters! You're here!"
"Cut to the chase, Guiying. What happened to Master?" Lian Li demanded, advancing on the Queen.
Guiying pointed to the table where a few broken pieces of metal lay.
"Before Master left, I gave him a ring and told him to break it just in case something happened to him. I had a similar ring with me that would shatter as well if Master breaks it. That was the ring."
If this didn't mean Master was in danger, I would have thoroughly questioned her on her ring gift since we ourselves have yet to gift such a thing to Master.
"Could Master have broken it by accident?" Eris asked.
Guiying shook her head, "That ring was inscribed to break easily if Master actually wishes for it to break. Otherwise it would take a considerable amount of force before it can break."
I frowned, "This would explain why Master is late in our nightly calls…"
Brendan stepped forward, "So what happened to Master? Do we know?"
Guiying shook her head, "This ring is only meant as a call for help, it does not tell us what was going on around Master when it broke…"
Lian Li furrowed her brows, "Then what--"
There was a loud tap on one of the room's windows that interrupted Lian Li.
All of us turned to see a pigeon standing on the windowsill.
I did not think much of it but Guiying had rushed forward and thrown open the windows, picking up the bird in her hands.
She took something from its leg before setting it free again, making me realise it was actually a messenger pigeon.
The Queen unfurled the small note and the colour drained from her face almost immediately.
"Ma… Master… The Dongs… They… They locked him up…"
"WHAT?!"