I know you heard all of it Nerinne and I know it is not your fault but...

"You still have to ask, right, dear?"

Yes.

"No, I do not do curses. I despise them. When I don't like something, I tell the priests and give advice in how to correct that if needed, or a very clear divine punishment. That village is not cursed, at least not by me."

Glad to hear you say it.

"Aren't you worried that I might lie to you? I'm a Goddess after all."

I trust you and I know you wouldn't lie to me.

"Trust not just faith...fufu...I love you Auros."

"...!"

You...making me blush out of nowhere...geez...

"Fufufu~~."

A-anyways, then that Archpriest lied. But why?

"That was not an Archpriest. I know all of them by name, and when every one of them speaks on my behalf, I can hear them. So, if anyone tries do something like say I cursed the land, I will immediately punish that liar as per the internal law of my church."

So, a fake archpriest that came from the capital...

That’s still someone with enough influence and power to try something like this. And my instinct keeps telling me that it is related to the kingdom in some way. With that, the two theories I had are still viable, but I need more information to pin down any sort of conclusion.

Thank you Nerinne.

"Anything for you, dear~~."

And...I love you too...

"Fufufufu~~~ I know."

I look up to the women that are waiting to hear the results of my conversation with the Goddess and explain everything she told me. Erevain had a serious expression throughout the whole thing and now she nodded as if she just confirmed something.

Something that brought a change to that expression of hers.

"As I thought, the capital is behind this in some way."

Erevain's expression is now heavy and with a tinge of sadness. She is seriously worried about her country...

"And it stands to reason why everyone believes the story about the curse, since they had no way of knowing if it was a fake archpriest."

Gabrielle was making some tea with a smile while saying that. Where did she get that tea set? I honestly don't know.

"Indeed, Gabrielle, no divine punishment befell them, so the villagers believed him right away."

Erevain, seeing as I already had a teacup, finally accepted hers and took a sip. She let out a deep sigh, but then smiled a bit in approval of the tea. Hey, sometimes those little things can help even in one's darkest hours.

"But only an idiot would impersonate an archpriest and put that big of a target on their back. The Paladins of the church are no pushovers, Erevain. Don’t you remember me always challenging that friend of mine who was Paladin? He handed me my ass on a holy platter every time. Heh, now I want to fight him again...I hope that he has gotten stronger."

Kris' eyes were shining with fighting spirit. She sure loves fighting, I like that side of her, but I hope she is not the type to pick fights not caring about the context of the situation.

"Not...necessarily..."

Luca talked! Great!

"As Luca says, Kris, not necessarily. If that someone is backed by powerful enough people, they can hide them until they are useful again or they need a scapegoat."

Erevain sure looks like she knows what she is talking about, and in a first-hand experience type of way. The others too, make a pained expression when she said that.

"Cerainly, Erevain. It is easier to use an already trained dog for those tasks than train a new one every time the need arises."

Hmm, this tea is good. Gabrielle you get a gold star.

"Yes, my lord. That also means that they surely have eyes and ears on this village to supervise that their plan is going well."

Says Erevain while glancing at the room's door.

I smile at Erevain, then I signal her and the others to keep talking while I silently get up from my chair. One of those eyes and ears has been following us since we entered the central plaza. Luca and I noticed immediately while the others took a bit to do so.

And now they are outside the room. Let's welcome our new informant. So, I start my chant in a low voice.

"Darkness heed me and let me walk through you. [Shadow Walk]."

As I finish my chant, I fall inside my own shadow and come out silently from the shadow of our peeper. He is so focused on listening in that he fails to notice the two-meter-tall woman behind him.

So, I go for the whisper type of greeting.

"Quite the foolish one you are for trying to spy on me."

"...!"

He doesn't have enough time to react properly before I overwhelm him with my strength while covering his mouth and pushing him inside our room.

A few minutes after that, Luca has tied him on a chair and he is now moving furiously trying to get free, but he can't. Luca even used an interference spell on him so that he can't use magic to escape.

Luca, you are awesome.

"Before I start with him, I shall give you your tasks. Kris and Gabrielle, you both go and talk to the villagers. Obtain as much information as possible from them. If we can piece together the motive for all of this, we would be a step closer to solving this problem."

"Yes, yes, my lord."

Says Kris with a big smile on her face.

"As you wish, my lord."

They both nodded and bowed lightly before leaving the room.

"Luca, collect information the usual way you do."

"Y-yes, my lord! I-I won't…disappoint you!"

So cute. She says that and leaves quickly.

"Erevain, stand guard outside. Deal with any others who might come to commit the same foolish mistake as him."

"Yes, my lord."

She nods and leaves the room.

"Now, space heed me and do not let any sound out of this place. [Silent Room]."

I take off the gag that covered this guy's mouth and he starts shouting. Because of course he does.

"You won't make me talk!! No matter what you do to my body!!"

Heh.

"Hoh~~~, those are big words for someone tied up to a chair with no hope of escaping."

I smile at him and reveal my draconic eyes and horns. It seems I can undo my skill's effect with just a thought if they are changes to my own body.

He looks at me baffled and starts shaking. He is not just scared, he looks terrified. Even his legs started shaking a bit.

"Do not worry. When I'm done with you, you will talk out of your own volition."

I extend my hand to his face. He desperately tries move away but it is no use.

"[Shapeshifting touch]."

He is swallowed by the light of the skill for a few seconds. Then, the new additions to his body are made clear to him, as well as that characteristic emptiness down there.

"Aaah...aaaAh...wha-what have you done to me?!"

She screams in a female voice. Yes, she.

"As I said. Do not worry, you will talk."

I caress her face, she is clearly afraid, but that is something she had to consider as a risk of the life she chose, being part of something as shady as trying to starve a whole village while desecrating Nerinne's name.

On a side note, I did a pretty good job on her giving her this cute of a form if I do say so myself.

"[Pleasurable Hands]."

"Ahn!"

I start to take off her bindings until she is 'free', but she isn't moving. Her legs are trembling, and it is clear she doesn't have the strength to move now, so I carry her to my bed and put her face down. I then put my hands on her back.

Her breathing is already ragged and heavy. Her ears are a bit red too.

"Don't...haayn! Stop...ahn! Ammmh! Hnnnn!! Don't...stop...don't stop...ahmmn..."

It is super effective and I'm only giving her a back massage...

Goddess, these are some knots!

To be continued...(cue Auros smiling smugly at all those who thought that something lewd was happening!)

Glossary Entry #13

Imouto: Japanese for "little sister". They normally appear as tsunderes or the overly attached ones in anime and manga. But there are some that are...worst than that...let’s just leave it at that. *shuders*