In Loki's Honor

I turned around. My boobs were sore from sleeping on my stomach. I sat up rubbing them. Then my eyes found the maid.

"Milady, I'm sorry! The Baron told us you were away on a trip!"

I frowned. Maybe I should display a bit of modesty and cover my body but I go to missions naked. My boobs might be covered in fur but they are still out there dangling in the open. I feel no shame in exposing my body. "It's fine. But are you going to stay there with the door open for too long?"

She came to her senses and closed the door with her inside. "Can I help the lady with her hair?"

"Yes, of course. Get me a robe," I said to her without any tones of annoyance or anger.

She helped me put the robe and I sat at the vanity while she combed my hair.

"The lady has such marvelous hair."

"It's a perk."

She whispered to herself, "To spend a perk on silky hair..."

It is a perk but not just for hair. The pseudopods saved my life countless times. She was almost finished when someone knocked at the door.

"Milady {Heroine}, are you in there?"

I recognized the voice. One of the temple knights. "Enter, please," I shouted back.

He opened the door and sighed in relief, "Praise to Bundeus, you're safe. We heard a woman's scream."

The maid painfully tugged my hair as she tensed with fear.

Looking at him through the mirror, I asked, "What is the matter?"

"The King is dead. The whole palace... everyone inside died. There's fighting in the city, the nobles are at each other's throats. We were afraid of the Lady's safety since you were feeling ill. Then we heard the scream. I'm sorry for interrupting."

Before he goes, I call, "Wait! How bad are things?"

"Very bad, milady. Nobody is strong enough to stop the conflict. And the lightning that destroyed the palace also killed several nobles."

"What about the citizens? The common folk?"

"They are hiding in their homes. We got word that a high council is being called and several nobles are working to convince the others to put down their weapons to choose another King."

"Nobody wins anything if everyone kills each other."

I saw the maid turn her back to the mirror and make faces at the knight. I didn't see but she might've mouthed something or so.

"That's correct, milady. By your leave."

He closed the door behind him. The maid continued to comb my hair with a satisfied smile.

I stayed home, enjoying some quiet. The [Assassin] duo returned home a couple days later. Master and Gloria were busy killing the nobles that refused to put down their weapons so the council could convene. I was summoned to give Master my report.

"You know, a girl once told me that the good [Assassin] goes to the castle, kills the King and nobody ever finds out anything happened until it is too late. So please, tell me what to think about one that destroys the palace and fucks the whole city in the process?"

"Nobody would know that I killed the old King, I did get in, kill him and the Queen, and went out to safety without being noticed or causing any other collateral deaths. It is what happened before and after my almost perfect assassination that things went to shit."

I told them about finding Princess Morvoren of Elteran, her request to retrieve the King's signet, and my refusal to hand it to her. Then I said in a very roundabout way that the entity controlling the lightning enchantment demanded to be released and I complied. It was that entity that caused the light show and killed the Crown Prince and everyone else involved. I had to go around the entity's existence without mentioning him directly because I couldn't talk about gods with non-gods or about Loki with anyone else.

Even when I said "your brother" to Thor, I was thinking of Baldur instead of Loki to avoid triggering the curse.

"Yes, Morvoren and Bodivka were related to the ruling Royal family by ancient ties," Gloria said. "It also means that a lot of nobles and royals in the nearby kingdoms were killed as well. These royals bred like rodents."

"How did your hunt go?" I asked them to change the subject a bit.

"We collected a lot of contracts. Everyone wanted to assassinate everybody else," Master replied. "But your sister and niece's family are safe. We also got Marquis Carkeek, the father of the guy you killed in the duel."

"Chad," Gloria snorted. When the master gave her a puzzled glance, she winked at me and replied to his silent inquiry, "Nevermind."

"The good news was, entire families were wiped out. There will be a lot of lands to distribute and the nobles will be too busy establishing control over their fiefs to keep infighting," Master concluded. "We just need to wait for the council to select the next King."

And wait we did. The gears of history turned and ground the nations.

The Kingdom didn't exist in a vacuum. The insurgent armies that supported Prince Bodivka decided it was a good time to invade after winter. The following year was a bloody one and the Kingdom split into five smaller nations.

That didn't concern me. The Death Princess undertook several jobs during that year but they were boring and dull. The Master's guild expanded and became the prominent Assassin's guild in the land. Gloria was promoted to branch manager to coordinate and suppress rogue [Assassins] on the new Kingdoms.

The temple of Bundeus recalled their knights. Now that I think of it, it was as if the gods had steered me into releasing Thor. I don't mind. The two billion Exp from killing the King was well worth it. I was level seventy-three, fancy that!

But I no longer had any ties binding me to a single place. My family was safe with Master, people lost interest in the demon-slaying hero.

That freed Apricot to finally undertake the final leg on her journey to reunite or avenge her family. I waved my family goodbye and prepared to travel east, toward the ocean. I wanted to find Almond, my eldest brother.

I packed my daggers, a couple potions in brass flasks, a few changes of clothes, and a King's ransom in coins. The guild's leatherworkers made me a "triple changer" backpack. It had shoulder straps on both sides, one straight for my human back, one dimpled for my hybrid form's back, and it was made of two main compartments, one above and one below. If I released a buckle on the human side, they would unfold with a flap in the middle and I could comfortably secure them on my jaguar back as saddlebags. One of the sides would stay upside down but I just took care to not put anything that couldn't stay upside down in there. I also needed Nenandil's help to buckle up the straps under my belly because the silly jaguars didn't have thumbs.

I committed the design to mind and even brushed up some Skills related to working leather. That would be very useful in my future lives. It also gave me the freedom to travel in my animal form, a dozen times faster than by carriage.

Wind on my snout, grass under my paws, the spring wind bristling my tawny fur. I went along the road, dodging traffic and leaving a few scared travelers along the way. A cat's lean and powerful body made the trip a blast.

I climbed a cliff to overlook the ocean. Its viridian blue waters looked inviting and misleading, for many were the dangers that lurked under the surface. A few ships sailed lazily under the gentle oceanic breeze. The bay held a massive wharf with a lot of ships. Black powder wasn't known so the methods of sea warfare were either by arrow, spell, or ballista at range followed by boarding. I had no doubt some pirate ships lurked down there, disguised as traders.

About a fourth of the vessels I saw were galleys, powered by slave rowers. It was a gruesome occupation with a hideous mortality rate. The need for fresh manpower made that place a hive of slave trade.

I couldn't enter the city on four paws. After making sure I was out of any prying eyes, I shifted and put on my leather armor, throwing a dress and cloak over everything. Popping the hood up, I walked down the hill toward the gates of the trading city of Pynkney.