Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

The installation of all required automatons was finally over. Shamisha had just finished setting everything under the Bricks and Cobbles and with that done, it was time to raise a toast to what felt like a lifetime of work. Sitting around a newly constructed bar inside the inn, Shamisha watched as Lana uncorked a bottle of wine and began pouring it to everyone present–everyone but her daughter Zoey that is.

"What's the date on this?" Asked the bunny girl as she was being poured, but looking confused Lana didn't understand the question. "Ahh, fuck it."

"Hey, no swearing in front of our kid!" Lana complained, hitting Shamisha's finger with the bottle's tip as she was about to grab her glass.

Pulling away with a sizzle on her index, the sorceress looked over to the automaton daughter that she had created for the couple. However, unsure whether Zoey was aware that it was her who'd made her, she kept her lips sealed.

"When can we start using the equipment downstairs?" Driving the conversation back on top, Daine grabbed her glass while sitting diagonally across from Shamisha. Taking a quick sip of the cheap wine, she placed the glass back on the table and with her finger running along its rim, took the question further. "The amount of effort that we've put in, how long will it take to compensate for it do you think? And does the queen know about the project yet?"

"Mono? Oh, hell no, she's too busy being an authoritarian in the dark castle. The last humane thing she did was approve the underground train stations that are in the works," swirling the glass of wine in her hand and tilting it slightly towards Daine, Shamisha looked for the glint of light shining through the red liquid.

'Cheap wine…really? After all I did, is this my reward?' Rolling her eyes and placing the glass back on the table, she slid it to the other side of the table. Your journey continues on empire

"What about my first question?" Daine pushed once more, and this time although forgetful at first, remembering what the question was, Shamisha bobbed her head before quickly responding.

"A month or two maybe? Trades with King Milo are bringing a lot of gold into the city along with fresh produce and other goods we don't have much of," pressing her fingers together Shamisha pondered over the matter for a spell. "Yeah, enough gold's floating around in the city and if I'm not wrong that means people must be eager to spend their money, we just have to entice them to visit our establishment before anything else."

"You mean like advertisement?" Zoey added from the side and everyone's gaze quickly turned to her. The idea was attractive enough to be considered but there was just one problem with it–it carried the risk of being found by the queen.

'We can use blackmail to hush people, but if Mono somehow gets wind of that she'll freak out like I've stabbed her in the back.' Knowing her master all too well, Shamisha knew that a supremacist for the human race would never allow even the worst human to engage in recreational sex instead of simply procreating with their spouses. 'Lower birth rates will cause issues too, well fuck…I didn't consider that at all until now.'

There was far too much to consider and now that she was looking at the glass of wine again, it felt far more attractive to just take it. Grabbing the glass, the bunny began sipping and even though it wasn't as refined as she was used to tasting, she emptied the glass pretty quickly.

The discussion about the adverts continued for a while longer, and in the end, the common consensus was for an automaton that looked like a real person to solicit the service to men and women of every race possible.

'I have to make another automaton to seduce these idiots now?' Growing tired from the thought alone, Shamisha laid her head on the table and just let go of each and every thought inside of her head. And in that moment of nothingness she wished for warmth and company–but having no partner she reverted back to her master's teachings.

"Get a boyfriend!" She yelped with a hiccup.

"I'm married already," Daine replied, confused by the demi-human's scream.

Tapping her hands on the table in the meantime, Zoey slipped off her chair and headed for the inn's entrance.

"This is boring, I'm gonna hang out with my friend for a while!"

"Friends?" Her moms asked with a look of pure shock on their face.

Standing by the door and looking back at their surprised faces, Zoey angrily squinted her eyes until the two let their expressions fall into awkward smiles.

"S-sorry…"

"I'm not the one who stays inside all day! Learn to socialize you two!" Screaming at them both, the daughter slammed the door shut as she left.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Laughing at the little argument with her head pressed to the table, Shamisha found herself slowly slipping into slumber but that was far too good to be true for a successful socceress. Shattering all hopes of sleeping, even taking a nap, a blue light emerged behind her body and it engulfed the whole room for a moment. Covering her eyes while lifting herself up from the table, Shamisha turned around to find Linkle standing in the middle of the chaos as the light disappeared.

"As impressed as I am with your magic, I have to say…" Suffering yet another hiccup, she took a moment to calm down before finishing her sentence. "I have to say, you're one untimely bitch."

Raising an eyebrow at the dishevelled appearance of the Linkle looked her up and down to assess her before saying anything.

"Drinking alone? Who will put up with your foul personality, I guess?"

"Another boyfriend joke!" Shamisha yelled while the other two laughed in the background.

"I don't have time for this," shaking her head, Linkle quickly glanced over to Diane and Lana and left them with a message before disappearing again. "Tell her I'm gonna come get her for something important once she has sobered up, alright?"

Shrugging their shoulders, the duo agreed without asking any questions. Once Linkle was gone and Shamisha face-planted into the ground in her drunken state, however, Daine turned to Lana and said in a whisper.

"I don't think Zoey should study magic or be a sorceress." Having seen the best of both fields not being that well adjusted, both the moms decided that day that Zoey would inherit the family business.

Note: The last remembrance chapter after this is between Helga and Markus, then back to Raven and the main plot, that is, the start of Arc 4. It will be more character and relationship-focused as well as tackling other heroes.