Chapter 94: Chapter 78 – The Protectorate’s Upheaval

"How'sh… thish… shllrrp… mm…" Arenade lapped Kanae's pussy with more enthusiasm, swirling her tongue in irregular and inexperienced rhythms

"Keep going… I'm getting close… that's it… right there…" Kanae sighed blissfully and reached down with both hands to massage each of the elf's sharp ears. "You're making me cum— aaahhh!"

An incredible pleasure rippled through Kanae. She pulled Arenade up for a kiss, pressing a tongue into her mouth to entwine with the elf's. When they had enough, Arenade rolled off to the side next to her.

They laid together in bed naked, catching their breaths and basking in the afterglow of a night-long carnal indulgence. They stared at the ceiling with few thoughts other than how warm and sticky they were. With their fingers intertwined, it was like nothing else mattered.

"Tell me about your past. I want to hear it," Kanae said, stroking the back of Arenade's hand with her thumb.

"My past? As like a demigoddess? Not very fun, let me tell you. Sit in the office all day to be a glorified pencil pusher, dealing with all kinds of buffoons—"

"No, I mean your actual past. Before you became Brightwind. You were actually Arenade Ehmvier, right? You tried to help the poor, but it didn't work out. What happened?" she asked.

Arenade's hand twitched from hearing her true name. She brushed a stray cluster of hair from her face with her free hand and sighed. From that quivering breath came countless years of bottled-up frustration. Probably because she never had a chance to talk about it, but all the time in divine eternity to dwell on it.

"Few people know the Ehmvier name today because it was struck from historical records and slandered following my exile. High elves were pretty vengeful back then. We stretched the world and thought of ourselves as actual gods. Everything you see today, like the Imperial Span and major cities like Radevic and Clessia, capital of Ortesia, were our legacies."

"If your race really did do all that, how come I don't see many high elves today?" Kanae asked.

"They wanted more, and when there wasn't any left to take, they started taking from each other," Arenade said without much remorse in her voice.

Which sounded like the high elves fought against each other until they left behind a ruined world. That explained why the Imperial Span was in disrepair until Rown Company came into the picture. So the other races like elves, humans, and beastmen seized the ruins to build upon for themselves.

"It was a real treat watching from above," she continued. "I thought it served them right. We created so much and lived in such extravagance that it left so many others living in squalor. Like the school, I tried giving gold to the poor, but… nothing ever came of it."

"Duke Kroenig called you a duchess, so you must have had a lot of wealth to give. What went wrong?" Kanae asked.

"House Ehmvier was among the greatest and most golden lineages. Our wealth came from the enormous tracts of verdant pastures, upon which farmers cultivated the juiciest fruits and vegetables. I remember a family that raised an apple orchard. Tastiest damn apples in the world. They were struggling one year due to poor harvests, so I lowered taxes across my dukedom and gave them some money to get them back on their feet. I came back one spring to barren trees and not an apple in sight, and… found the young son burying his parents in the orchard."

"They didn't make it through winter?"

Arenade shook her head. "Bandits caught wind that they had received some gold from the duchy and came to steal it."

"That's not your fault. You couldn't have known," Kanae said, sitting up to face her.

"Yeah, well… that's only one of many families I failed." She threw an arm over her eyes.

Kanae pulled the arm away and looked deeply into Arenade's teary eyes. When she tried to avert her gaze, Kanae kissed her, then embraced her with both arms.

"Things will be different. I proved that to you with the school, didn't I?" Kanae grinned.

"H-Hmph. If you're expecting thanks from me, I've given enough gratitude by debasing my divine body for your pleasure." Arenade covered her face with the bedsheets, but Kanae continued to grope her over the fabric.

The two rolled in bed until they were about to fall off. Kanae held Arenade tightly and unfurled her wings to keep them afloat, so they remained embraced in mid-air.

"I… need to tell you something," Arenade said, taking a few deep breaths. "I'm pregnant."

"You're… what?" Kanae stared blankly at Arenade.

"W-When we did it with your… d-d… dick a while back… I forgot to take a contraception elixir. Started feeling nauseous last morning, so I checked with a doctor. I'm pregnant with your baby," she said again.

This time the words rang much more loudly in Kanae's ears. They triggered the maternal instincts of her female soul.

"Arenade, that's… that's great! It's only a 1% chance, but holy crap talk about luck— Arenade? Are you okay?" Kanae asked after noticing how red her eyes had gotten and the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I've always wanted kids of my own, but… I never got the chance to in my past life, so to have one now, it's like…" Arenade choked up so badly she couldn't finish her sentence.

"I won't mess up this time," Kanae promised as indescribable happiness welled up within her. "I'll take care of both of you! Teana's going to have the cutest baby sibling thanks to you. We'll be one big, happy family."

The mother of Kanae's new child wiped the tears from her eyes and chuckled.

"Big, you say? I can already tell you're thinking of having more." Arenade rolled her eyes.

"You're the one who brought me to this world. Maybe this was what you wanted from me all along. All I'm doing is taking the most I can out of it, and… I want more of you." Kanae flew them back to bed to continue where they left off.

In the late morning, Kanae whistled happily to herself while shaping the final slime corpse into a pocket pussy, and then stuffing it into a crate along with the other sex toys. Two of Edina's skeletal summons lifted a lid over the top and latched it shut, then carried it outside where a Rown transport wagon waited.

A human man with a monocle and muscular arms bursting entered, handing Kanae a clipboard and quill. She signed on the dotted line and upon returning the document, he slipped her a note before leaving the adventurer hall warehouse.

It came from Renya, scribbled in haste.

Protectorates are on the move. They are wolves in sheeps' clothing and will be everywhere. A stray pack intends to pay the Horns and Tail a visit around noon. Lograin may not be safe anymore.

P.S. Check out a place called Fresh from the Teet if you want to see some nice leaky pairs.

Kanae shuddered. If Renya said Lograin wasn't safe anymore, was that code for get the hell out?

Then there was the last line.

"Fresh from the… Teet?" Kanae squinted at the written words.

Like from boobs? This was Renya, so it had to be more than just a brothel suggestion.

Kanae tossed the letter into a brazier and made sure it burned before heading out. At the door, however, she stopped short of bumping into Sellica and a pair of guards, a human and lupine beastman, dressed in thick leather armor. Each bore the insignia of an eye over a green shield on their cuirass.

"Oh, Kanae! Were you just finishing up here?" Sellica asked.

"Yeah. Just sent my latest shipment to Orturic," Kanae said, trying to scoot between them to leave.

"One second, doll." A guard blocked her way out. "You an adventurer here?"

Kanae nodded.

"Don't think I'd be here if I wasn't."

"No need to get sassy. We're with the Protectorate, looking for demons so pretty girls like you stay safe." The other reached out to stroke Kanae's arm with the back of his hand, but she knocked it away.

They were Outriders. No doubt about that. Did they know? Had Bardell told them?

"Well, then you better do your jobs instead of trying to hit on me." Kanae squeezed past and sucked in a deep breath of relief outside when neither followed after her.

Up and down the road, guards who wore the same insignia were questioning people and knocking on doors. They could all very well be Outriders, too.

Kanae clicked her tongue. Bardell likely only knew her by name and race, but not by appearance. In human form, she looked just like any other black-haired human woman, but Sellica just now mentioned her name.

If the Protectorate was out in force today, then Renya's letter must mean— Edina!

Kanae raced over to the Horn and Tail, but stopped at the corner just as three Protectorate guards entered the establishment. Not good. Edina was inside. Although Kanae was somewhat unknown to the Outriders, they knew Edina, and she was inside right now.

Please don't show yourself, Kanae prayed while on her way up the steps.

However, just as Kanae reached the entrance in which the doors were left wide open for business, she jumped out of the way of the three Protectorates being violently thrown out. They landed hard on top of each other in the streets below the steps, groaning in pain.

"Don't even think about coming back unless you're here to spend some coin!" Edina shouted, emerging from the Horns and Tail while flanked by her bone brute.

"This isn't over, bitch!"

"You don't know who you're messing with— We're with the Protectorate!"

"Hah. You can't even protect your own ass. Now get outta here before my bone brute makes you!" She snapped her finger and ordered the giant summon forward.

The three Protectorate guards whimpered and ran away in fear.

"Edina, what were you thinking?!" Kanae exclaimed.

"I'm just taking out the trash. I know those Protectorates goons are just prettily-dressed Outriders. If they want a piece of us, then they better come in force," Edina said.

"I think that's exactly what they want happen. If Estaline or Bardell comes, we can't go against either of them because it would be seen as resisting their investigation, and they know you used to be an Outrider. We have to leave the city and lay low!"

The squirreling hesitated.

"You're telling me we gotta give up everything we built up? I thought we were going to fight them together?" she asked, chewing on her lower lip.

Kanae knew this was her own fault for promising to face Bardell, but there were more important things to worry about. Like the safety of Teana, Arenade, and…

"Arenade's pregnant," Kanae confessed. "She told me last night."

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"That cowtits elf went and got herself knocked up?" Edina's lower jaw unhinged, as did the bone brute behind her.

"The Protectorate's looking for demons. Looking for me. I can't risk Bardell capturing any of us."

"Damn it, Kanae… Fine, alright. What do we do?" she asked.

"First, we need to get out of here. Renya sent me a letter this morning about a brothel called Fresh from the Teet. I think we should meet there, but I have to get Arenade and Teana," Kanae explained.

"Gotcha." She nodded. "We gotta empty the coffers back at the adventurer's hall. I'll get things settled in the Horns and Tail, then meet you guys at the brothel."

Without turning back, Kanae raced back to the adventurer's hall. She quickly recomposed herself coming through the door to appear less suspicious. There were Protectorates all over the place, questioning adventurers and hall employees.

"Welcome back!" Sellica greeted from the reception area. "I think a couple of Protectorates were asking for you—"

"I already met up with some outside the hall! Hey, I was hoping to withdraw everything and check out of the room. Thinking of going on a vacation for a while," Kanae hastily said.

"Wow, that's very sudden. I can do that for you right now, sure. Just know that there's no guarantee your room will be available upon your return." The centauress handed over an enchanted banknote just as a large group of Protectorate guards entered the hall.

They scanned the room and locked eyes with Kanae.

"You there! Stop! You're under suspicion of being a succubus," the head of them shouted.

"There must be a mistake," Sellica interjected in Kanae's defense. "Kanae is registered as a human. There's no way she is a succubus."

"How do you explain the many witnesses saying they saw her flying into the sky? She sure as three hells don't look like a harpy." Another Protectorate stopped questioning an adventurer to confront Kanae instead.

"It was a potion I bought from an alchemist that gives temporary flight. Come on, guys. This is ridiculous. Why would a succubus hang around a city surrounded by adventurers?" Kanae reasoned, but they weren't at all convinced.

He smirked. "If you're so sure of your own innocence, then you wouldn't have a problem coming with us for questioning. The Knight of Emerald and Knight of Silver possess a magic item to detect whether or not you're really what you say you are."

There was no way they didn't know. Kanae cursed under her breath. Their cozy life in Lograin had come to an end a lot sooner than expected.

She shut her eyes and sighed, listening to the Protectorate guards approaching to apprehend her. Once they had gotten close, she snapped her eyes wide open to charm the nearest ones.

Kanae compelled the closest guard to turn around and say, "You know what? I don't think she's actually a demon. We might've gotten the wrong one." 

"The bitch mind controlled them! Get her!" the guards in the back shouted.

No dice, huh?

Kanae clicked her tongue and ordered the charmed Protectorates to draw their weapons on their fellows. A chaotic scuffle ensued as they fought each other, crashing into the tavern, blasting magic into the walls and ceiling, and dragging adventurers into the fray. She seized the distraction to make a run for the exit, but three binding rings stopped her from taking another step.

"Oh, no. Bardell's been looking for payback after everything you did," an angry Outrider in Protectorate uniform snarled from behind.

"I can't… break out of this?" Kanae muttered, feeling the bindings tighten the harder she struggled.

"Let her go!" Will barreled into the hall, ran past Kanae, and tackled the Outrider to the ground.

"Will?!"

The magical bindings vanished one by one. Kanae glanced back at the entrance to find Shatiel, her wand dispelling the hold.

"Shatiel, you too?" Kanae stammered.

"Succubus or not, you saved us in the Rift. If it wasn't for you, I would have lost my friends. You have to hurry, don't you? Teana must be worried sick," Shatiel said, dragging Kanae out by the hand.

"I'll return the favor one day," she promised.

Racing through the streets in the direction of the Church of the Eminence of Sin, more and more guards were pouring out of the woodworks. They all had to be Outriders. This must be what Korvo meant by their syndicate becoming untouchable. Since Bardell became a member of the Knights of Colors and as Protectorate, they had become a force to be reckoned with.

"There! That's the one!"

"Get her!"

A group of Protectorates surrounded Kanae at the archway into the religious ward.

If they knew, then there was no sense in hiding it anymore. Kanae shedded her human form and took flight. Her church wasn't spared. Protectorates and religious fanatics from the other denominations marched in the direction of the Eminence of Sin. All that stood between the angry mob and her church was a group of fervent adventurers.

Kanae entered from the back and came an inch away from having her skull bashed in by a flanged mace.

"Mistress!" Lilith exclaimed.

"Geez, Lilith. You trying to make mashed potatoes out of my brain?" Kanae asked.

"S-Sorry! A crowd formed outside. They want your head!"

"I'm very aware. It's not safe for us here anymore, so I need to get Teana and Arenade out of here," she said, storming down the corridor in search of them.

"Let me come with you. My place is by your side!"

"No." Kanae stopped and turned to face her. "You'll be high priestess of the Eminence of sin in my absence. If the Protectorates break through and take you in, tell them I mind controlled you, and you had no idea. That should keep you safe. Make sure to take care of that school. It's important to us. Understood?"

"Yes, Mistress—"

Something loud crashed in the main worship chamber. It sounded like it came from the entrance. Distant murmurs grew louder and more frenzied until the door at the end of the corridor broke open. Members of the Eminence of Sin threw their bodies against the door to blockade it, but Kanae could see the pitchfork and torches in the mobs' hands.

"Sisters of Sin, to me!" Lilith boomed.

Every door along the corridor bursted open. Priests dressed in the same slutty religious garb emerged with weapons of their own to meet the mob.

"We have to make it look convincing, right?" Lilith shrugged.

"I'm going to fuck you to heaven and back as a reward." Kanae brushed a hand against Lilith's cheek, causing her to shiver in ecstasy.

"I-I await your embrace, Mistress… ahem… High Priestess Arenade and Teana are waiting for you in the pantry," Lilith quickly added.

Kanae headed for the kitchens and kicked open the doors. Arenade was inside, pacing back and forth with Teana in her arms.

"Mama!" Teana cried.

"What's going on?" Arenade asked. "I was about to go to the school, but Lilith said it's too dangerous to leave."

"No time to explain, but we can't stay in Lograin any longer. Don't worry about the school and church. We're leaving them in good hands." Kanae picked up Teana in one arm, and wrapped the other around Arenade's waist.

Together, they escaped through the back door and took flight towards the Carnal District. From up high, the Horns and Tail was overrun by Protectorates. Hopefully Edina got out. It wasn't a coincidence that the places getting raided were places that Kanae frequented.

Fresh from the Teet was on the far side of the Carnal District, buttressed up against the city wall. It was most distinguishable by the sign in the shape of a cow's udder. Crude, but aptly named.

They landed in front of the entrance, and when Kanae opened the doors expecting lactating cow girls, a large number of rough-looking thugs sapped her excitement. All of them wore the tri-dagger symbol proudly on various parts of their bodies in the form of tattoos.

Renya, dressed in her captain's regalia, stepped out from the counter flanked by Thedia 

"Where's Edina?" Kanae asked, searching the room for the tiny squirreling.

"Weren't you supposed to come with her?" Renya raised a brow. "Not that it matters. There are Protectorates all over the city, and they appear to be checking anyone who comes in and out of the gates. If we were to leave now, they would likely send people after you."

The door bursted open, and everyone in the room turned a sharp gaze and weapon at the guest. It was Klee, the harpy from Red Harpy casino. She had her hands on her knees, out of breath.

"If there's… any time to leave… it's now. The Protectorates have left the southern gate. I'm… not sure why," Klee panted.

"Lady Luck has struck today. Kanae, you have to leave now. Whatever happened won't stay like that for long," Renya said.

"I won't leave without Edina!" Kanae shouted as her men pushed them outside into the carriages.

"That squirreling is a crafty one. I'm sure she'll find her way out, but if you're caught, then it's over for all of us. Get going!" The pirate lord fired a shot into the air, kicking the languisteeds into gear.

The carriage lurched forward, but Kanae couldn't settle down.

"It's Edina we're talking about. I bet that ratwhore's got something up her sleeve to catch up to us in no time," Arenade said.

"Mama?" Teana tugged on Kanae's arm and frowned.

Their carriage was about to cross the gate. Kanae glanced out the window and thought she saw Edina off the side of the road. The cloaked squirreling knitted her brows together and cast her eyes to the ground. She was about to call out to her until a grinning centaur sidled up to her. Bardell. They traded a rolled up piece of paper that glowed brightly. A magical energy originating on Edina's arm channeled into the much larger beastman.

Guards at the gate let them pass right by, and it was then that Kanae realized Edina had exchanged herself and Jewel's deed for their safe passage. As the carriage exited the city, Kanae poked her head out the window and locked eyes with Edina.

The squirreling offered a sad smile, then walked away with Bardell.

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