CHAPTER 1465: CHAPTER 1464: FROM NOTHING TO...

"The days just keep on melting together into quite a nice chain of events, don’t they? The house is mostly finished, the Guest Compound is completely walled in and the lodgings are going up, the foundation for the Merchant Hall is underway and we have most of the immediate layout staked off and marked."

Jahi leaned against the fencepost and overlooked the plains around us, taking it all in with a small, satisfied smile, while I just basked in the cool breeze and warm sun... and honestly, even though I would have preferred it to be just our house and nothing more, seeing it getting progressively more finished was satisfying.

"We’ve been here maybe a week and this is all already done. Never would have thought it was possible, but at the same time... with no administrations to worry about, no money problems, having talented mages working together without issue and also having a plan to follow, it makes sense that this is going swimmingly, no?"

"Are you attempting to jinx it, Jahi?"

The Demoness chuckled and pat my back a few times before smirking at me as her hand dropped lower, a firm swat across the rear making me roll my eyes even as I shuffled just a little closer to her.

"Not exactly, but hey, if some Fiend wants~ to go ahead and show up so that we could let out some steam, I don’t think I would complain too~ much~! Ah, speaking of, we should start thinking of exploring for those Dungeons. We know they’re ’here’, but we don’t know exactly where."

Enjoying the way she draped her arm around me instinctively the moment I got closer, I took a moment to just bask in the warmth of her before replying "We definitely should, because otherwise the food situation is going to look a little more dire.", earning a nod as she turned her gaze towards the sectioned off fields.

"Any additional progress on that Ritual Circle you were working on? Aside from what you told me earlier, which was a firm ’no’..."

I let out a long sigh and just shrugged, using that as my answer since nothing had really come up just yet; the theory was somewhat there but trying to put it into practice was becoming a bit too nuanced for me right now.

Nature Mana was more ’alive’ than any other type of mana out there, even when compared to the fluidity of both Water and Wind Mana; it worked in a different way, and honestly it was more akin to Lust Mana than it was the other elements.

Which... gave me a bit of an idea but not much, and least of all now when I was securely in the arms of my muscular blue lover who was very much trying to take this from just cuddling to something more.

"Before you even try, we do need to have the discussion about... this. I know neither of us mean it but when we do this, it isn’t really making Anput or Leone feel desired. I... hate to say it, but you should try and diminish the amount of times you come straight to me whenever you feel the need."

Jahi kept quiet for a moment before sighing as well, her hand stilling on my hip as she thought about it before saying "I know. It’s just hard to not come to you first, because... well, I don’t want to be rude, but more often than not the things you are doing are ’interruptible’ so I can just... take you whenever and wherever I need."

"Anput is more than capable of pausing her forging if she wants it, and Leone might need a little bit of time but she too is definitely willing to take an early break or two..."

"Yes, but then I feel like I’m imposing myself onto them when they don’t really ’want’ it."

"But you don’t feel like you’re imposing yourself onto me... like right now..?"

I raised a brow at her and asked that, drawing a chuckle from the Demoness as she immediately shook her head and replied "No, I don’t, because you are MY~ puppy, and we both~ know just how badly~ you want it all the time... I can feel it, Kat, the same way you can feel it in me."

"Fine, but that doesn’t mean you should use our bond as a reason to get intimacy more often from me than from them."

"The same goes to you, doesn’t it?"

She smirked at me when I kept quiet, and surprisingly enough she offered an olive branch as she pulled me in front of her, hugging me against the fencepost as she asked "There is more than land here, isn’t there? For our needs. You said you wanted to try and grow tea or something, and Leone wants her garden...."

"We should. Even if we don’t have the ability to do the more intensive crops we can still have a nice garden here. There is more than enough space even if you wanted to make that large stone training grounds, though I would rather we plan that out meticulously so that it isn’t an eyesore."

Humming in agreement and resting her chin between my ears, Jahi slid her hands over mine and murmured "This is going to be different from what we’re used to... but it’s nice so far. I imagine I’ll change my tune when we start having people here, but... this is nice. Peaceful. Definitely something I can continue to appreciate day in, day out."

"I sure as hell hope so considering this was your choice. We could have been living right next to one of the Dungeons on the Labyrinthian border, keeping to ourselves and not worrying about how much food, water, and space we need for dozens and hundreds of other people..."

"Such a caring and wonderful woman you are~! Fit to be a Queen~!"

And just like that she resumed what she had been doing before, murmuring sweet nothings into my ears before ruffling with her pants and mine so that she could quickly take me in a somewhat ’hidden’ way.