No Need for a Core?

Mordecai’s question caused Kazue to think for a little bit about how things might have been. She’d never managed to get close enough to a guy to really consider her options. All things considered, from an Azeria point of view one of the strangest things about her marriage was that she’d gone into it a virgin. For group marriages, the usual minimum was that every woman had slept with the man enough times to be sure about how they felt about everything. ‘Maiden’ was only a position title, it didn’t mean quite the same thing to them as it did to others.

It wasn’t the same for other Kitsune clans, other than the usage of ‘maiden’. Despite the potential benefits of a longer life, the downsides were enough that no clan had tried to perform the same ritual that had changed the Azeria clan. Of course, there was the occasional immigrant kitsune, but most of those were guys who were as interested in the potential of a ‘harem’ as they were in the potential for a longer life. Those who didn’t understand the power dynamics were never allowed to join the clan.

Azeria had already been a Matriarchal clan, as were most Kitsune clans, but the gender imbalance combined with the fertility issues had caused a shift in relationship structures that pushed the power more towards the women. Oh, men still had some advantages from being rarer, Takehiko only got away with having so many flings because of it, and had been clear enough about not being interested in being tied down that no group of women had tried to form around him so he avoided the stigma of being ‘picky’ as well. But that was exactly why women had the greater power when it came to deciding a long-term arrangement. They had fewer options to find a perfect partner.

What would have happened if she had not had her accident? How long would it have taken for her to be able to not get flustered to the point of fleeing? Would she have become part of a group, or found an outsider like her mother had?

These thoughts and her memories flowed through her core as well as her avatar, and a different sort of pattern analysis came from her core, the results of which left Kazue shocked and a touch flushed in the cheeks. Her friends Gako and Tia, along with a couple of others who weren’t visiting the dungeon, had been forming a group that included her and had been ‘interviewing’ a select few men. Those three men were the ones they’d talked to her about the most, and she could see now the pattern that was them pushing her towards sharing a private evening with each of them.

Kazue knew herself well enough now that a bit of reflection told her that she’d have been able to enjoy a fully shared marriage with them, though she was less certain about which guy she’d have liked enough. And it caused her to briefly consider the scenario of drawing those four friends into this marriage. Oh, the bond couldn’t be expanded to them, at least not until they’d grown enough to re-learn it and handle the energies involved, but the marriage itself could. In that scenario, she wouldn’t mind sharing a bedroom with them, and she didn’t feel jealous about the idea of Mordecai and Moriko being with the other girls either. Well, beyond the reduced ‘attention’ from them at least.

She was certain that Mordecai could be convinced to try if she asked. He wouldn’t be bothered by the idea and would want to make her happy. Moriko would be the harder one to convince. It might seem ironic given her past behavior, but now that the woman had decided to dedicate herself to Mordecai and Kazue, she wasn’t likely to be very open to changing the setup. Following the path of passion might cause some people to explore every new passion, but it could also cause someone to become very focused on a singular passion as well.

As for herself, well, Kazue was certain she could convince her friends, and she was equally certain she’d enjoy the results, but in the end, she didn’t really want to. She would probably find a happy life down that path, but it wasn’t this happy life, and she felt that she preferred this one.

That resolution felt satisfying to both her mind and her emotions, so she set the matter aside for now, though it did mean she needed to have a conversation with at least Gako and Tia. Hmm. She did want to do one thing though and briefly checked in with her spouses to explain the situation and her request, which they both OKed.

Well, nothing to do about it but wait now, and watching her friends make their way through the library was still entertaining. The six women were not rushing, they were taking their time to explore and at least flip through some books with a bit of spot reading. A lot of the books were from the clan, so there were relatively few new ones for them anyway. But they had found most of the clues so far, so it shouldn’t be long before they found her.

The fight with Biblios went much as Mordecai had expected. The group had moved with care through the maze, conserving their stamina and magic as much as possible, so they had more to expend upon the boss. While he hadn’t double-teamed them by throwing Horace in too, he had used the room variant with the elevated branches and foliage growing between the bookshelves, giving Biblios cover when he needed it. The party had ranged people, but no natural fliers, and only the huntress was capable of readily jumping between the levels, which had little point as her strong point was ranged attacks anyway.

The mage had prepared herself well however, with a mix of fire spells and ones to give temporary flying, enabling the warriors to try and close with the dragon. This only worked so well for them as the group also had to contend with the spawning Bookwyrms and Biting Words constructs. The former were technically more dangerous, but the latter were hard to tell apart from the books that fell off the shelves anyway when disturbed by the fighting, so time had to be taken to deal with them.

It took them about twice as long as the group led by Kazue’s mother to bring Biblios down to the point where Mordecai despawned his boss and acknowledged their victory, but they did get there and did a lot less damage in the process, giving them a chance to collect some scrolls and books as part of their victory.

They were well ahead of the shrine maidens at this point, and Kazue was going to want to hang out with her friends for longer even after they had won their challenge, so Mordecai greeted them alone and gave them a chance to clean up before enjoying a small feast.

At the end of it, he dropped a question that mostly provoked the responses he was expecting. “I expect you are all a bit tired, so I will let you retire to your rooms now if you like, and I’ve arranged for some stamina recovery potions after your tiring day. But, exactly how many rooms will you be needing, and for whom?” The priest was the most confused, and the huntress and the mage were the least confused and had in fact already staked out seats on either side of him. They exchanged glances and a smile, and the mage inclined her head slightly to let the huntress take the lead.

The huntress turned to the other women who had started to figure out what was going on. “So, are you three in for a bit of exploration?” Now the priest caught what was going on, and looked a bit bemused. The conversation that followed was even more straightforward than Mordecai was expecting despite Kazue’s answer earlier. The two front-line warriors were in, though uncertain about how serious they were for something long-term, and the spearwoman was interested but explicitly only for this night. Fun was one thing, but for the long term, she wanted to be in a couple. She just didn’t feel like being left alone for the night if everyone else was having fun.

When they had all declared their interest they then turned to the priest, who raised his hand in a ‘wait’ gesture as he thought. After a few moments, he lowered his hand with a smile. “I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting anything so, well, sudden. I was expecting a conversation with at least the two of you after we got back home. But alright, I’m good with everyone’s conditions, but that also sets the priority for my energy and attention.”

Mordecai shook his head with a chuckle. “I have to admit, even with what Kazue told me, I wasn’t expecting there to be only one room. Even with your clan’s circumstances, things are very different than what I am used to.”

The mage leaned forward with a smirk. “All of us have met him before, but only gotten to know him so well. The trip here and the experiences in the dungeon have helped cement my impressions at least, and your offer made an excellent chance to get things moving since we have this workaholic isolated from the temple for a while.”

Understanding suddenly lit in the priest’s eyes. “Wait. The two of you specifically requested me for this, didn’t you? The matriarch was in on your plans from the beginning!” While this was clearly news to the other three women, the expressions on the duo’s faces were very self-satisfied. Mordecai made a mental note to increase the potency and number of available potions for the priest, he suspected the man was not going to get much sleep tonight.

“Well, we had to get you out of the temple somehow. You should have had a group years ago, but you work too much and aren’t the sort to get involved with the ones you are teaching.” The huntress smirked. “And my choice of shirts when coming to see you for something has not been an accident. You have good self-control, but not that good, so I knew you liked women.”

“Alright everyone,” Mordecai interjected, “I think I am very much not needed for the rest of this conversation. I’ll make sure refreshments are available here and in your room, which any of the laganthros can show you the way to. Also, in case anyone decides they need someplace else to sleep later, there will also be some small rooms across the way for your use.” And with that, he bid them all a good night and left them alone.

“Kazue? I think you undersold me on just how open your clan is.”

He could practically hear the blush in her response. “Err, I was never very good at handling those topics before I met you and Moriko, so I may have missed out on some conversations. I just realized a little while ago that some of my friends had been planning to help me become part of their forming group.”

“Speaking of, how is everything going? It looks like they found you.”

“Hehe, yes! It’s been fun.” While their cores continued to chat, Mordecai took advantage of the time to let his avatar meditate until the shrine maidens made it down.