On another dimension, one redhead snapped, "Dammit! I'm not done yet, you glorified bathroom scrubber!"
Her opponent just tilted his head to the side, "Was that your best… insult?"
Alter, cross-armed, tapped his cards against an arm as he sat before Knightwalker. The redhead beauty was wearing only her bra and panties, and her money, armor, and even an I.O.U. for a fully paid dinner were on his side of the table. The butler had no trouble keeping himself calm despite the half-naked woman before him, mostly due to having no emotions, for he had plans. Seeing her feel shame was a nice bonus.
"This guy's got to be the devil." One of the guards gulped.
Alter looked at his cards and put two down, "Come on, Knightwalker, I'm even letting your fellow knights see my cards. Are you really this bad at the game?"
"He has to be cheating, milady!" one of the flustered knights told her, "We see his cards are utter crap, but he always manages to beat you! He has to be cheating!"
"It'd be cheating if you could prove it." Haruto answered and stared at the redhead right in the eye, "I do serve the Exceed, and while losing to them would be the right thing to do to amuse them, I haven't lost a game. And this is not cockiness or pride, it's just that I have some experiences with really bad gamblers and can spot one when I see them. Who knows? Perhaps in another world you're a good player, Knightwalker."
Irked by the fact he said all of that in a monotone, the redhead slammed her hand down, "Shut up! I'll have it all back in this game, I swear it!"
He sat up straight unamused, "I'm afraid I've taken your money, a dinner, and even your dignity. I have grown quite bored already with this game's outcome. I knew it'd be easy, but I didn't expect it to be so—"
"Shut up!" she growled and pointed a finger at his face, "One more round, all or nothing! If I win, I'll have it all back!"
Alter shrugged, "What would I have in return worth everything I took, then? You even owe me a dinner, and the place I like to eat isn't cheap."
"Name it, then." She glared hard and hotly into his eyes.
He pushed up his monocle with his middle and index fingers, making it shine against the light, "Information, then."
"What?!" she grew worried, Was this his plan?! It won't work, though, like I'd—
He interrupted her train of thought with his next words, "I'm not talking about the king's secrets or anything related to your life or this army. Now, that would be rude. Consider me bored and intrigued. I just want to know when will the next batch of crystalized magic come. Your king always gets more when he thinks he's losing precious magic. That is why I want to know if he found an endless source or if he has a big target."
If one could look at him, they could picture a massive sign above his head with neon lights that read: take the bait.
She obliged, "Done, there's no harm with this leak of information to any of us." She said confidently before showing him his cards, "Read them and weep."
Her reaction crushed her after she showed him four of a kind, "Huh, not bad…" he put down a magnificent Royal Flush, "I think this is better."
After Knightwalker punched the nearest knight and left to get herself some clothes, Alter finally had all of his winnings in his hands and was walking back home to his queen.
Though he found a familiar face, "Why would you go to such a problem?"
"Panther Lily, if you have time and energy to ask that, could please you help me with this?" the butler asked dryly, "It's a wonder Knightwalker doesn't get a hernia carrying this stuff."
"Hmph, you could at least answer me." the large anthropomorphic panther said before taking the armor for him, "Now then…"
Haruto adjusted his monocle and looked at him calmly, "Knightwalker is loyal to the king, so she has to know when it will happen. So far I have confirmed two things. It'll be a while before Faust opens the portal to get more magic, and he's getting desperate."
"How so?" Panther Lily asked.
Haruto and the larger knight walked to the Exceed kingdom, "He never tells you because you're an Exceed, but if he keeps it a secret from Knightwalker, there must be something going on. My only conclusion is that he doesn't want anyone to see his next move, and seeing his, quote/unquote, concern for the queen's health, I am worried."
Panther Lily chuckled, "You, worried? The queen has never had a chance to feel fear after you arrived and showed us what you could do!"
Haruto shook his head, "It is why I'm worried. Faust must think he has the means to get past me to her, to the others. After all the queen did and the pain she's in, all I want is for her to have peace of mind."
Panther Lily's face softened, "You put so much effort for her, I have no doubt that you'll make her smile."
Haruto turned to the taller knight, who could swear there was a hint of a smile on the corner of his lips, "You sound like a parent giving a young man his blessing to marry his daughter."
"Oi!"
"Relax, I'm just trying to see if I still have a sense of humor." The butler answered and waved for the knight to follow him, "As for the queen… Well, she is a kind one. We don't mince words, but she's a good woman."
"Are you…?" Panther Lily started, not sure what to tell of what he heard.
The blond turned his head to lazily stare at him, "What are you implying?"
Panther Lily shook his head, "Forget it, I didn't remember that you… Never mind."
"That was an interesting trip…" Alter said as he and the others walked out of the train, patting his shoulders with a fist, "I could certainly use a walk."
"Yeah, same here." Lucy started before turning to Erza, "Where are we going to now?"
"As soon as Natsu gets over his nausea, we should—"
"Excuse me, Erza-chan." Alter started, pointing at an empty spot in their circle of four, "Where is he?"
There was a pause and everyone turned to the train, Erza sighing, "I'll get him."
"No, allow me." Alter started and walked forward, "I'm the one that knocked him out, and the one tagging along to see Lucy's skills. Let me take some responsibility."
Erza nodded with a thankful smile, "I'll make it up to you."
The inspector tipped down his hat as he smiled warmly, but his half-lidded eyes were full of malicious glee, "You sure? I may ask for something outrageous like… a date…" he even made dramatic hand gestures with an over the top overdramatic voice.
She grinned, "I'll let you think of it if you want to."
Tipping his hat up with a warm grin and only one eye closed, he resisted the urge to smirk seeing Lucy cutely puff her cheeks and pout adorably, "Well then, I better do a good job and earn the right to be with you."
He chuckled darkly to himself after turning his back to them and going into the cart to find Natsu where he left him. However, he noticed an odd fellow with black hair in a ponytail smiling at the unconscious mage. The train moved and Alter stood by, listening. The man complained about legal guilds, the system, and how envious he was for not having beauties like Mirajane or Lucy in his guild. Alter couldn't blame him.
Sensing murderous intent on the man meant that he had to step up, though, "Hmm, who are—Oh, you're that inspector guy I've heard so much about. Haru Alter, right? Man, you got quite a reputation for dealing with all the crazy guilds. Although, I've got a question I always wanted to ask when I first heard of you…"
"What is it, good sir?" Alter calmly put his hat on his chest and gave him a one-eyed stare, and though he noticed the train moving he didn't feel threatened for he knew the man before him.
The mage smirked as his shadow sprung to life into eight clawed hands, "Are you really as strong as they make you out to be?!"
And he smirked as he watched each of his clawed hands dig deeply into the inspector's body, shredding cloth, flesh and even bones with ease. He cackled at the sight… until he noticed the inspector smirking.
"I wouldn't know, my good friend." Alter calmly put his hat where it was, and watched the mage call back his shadow to defend him, "Are you actually trying to hit me?"
"What?!" the mage asked in shock as he saw Alter step to the side, a cloud of smoke appeared and when it fell it showed that the dark guild mage's shadow had somehow hit one of the seats.
Alter dusted his hat with the back of a hand, "Your shadow may be fast, but I can move faster than your eyes can see. And a little tip, you don't want to be bothersome to me, Kageyama-kun." He chortled and had his warm smile widen into a friendlier one, "I've read about you and your magic, as well as that of your guild. Your leader is strong; I'll give him that, but only when comparing him to a couple B-rank mages, not me."
"What're you blabbing on about?!" Kageyama grew furious, his shadow looming menacingly around him.
"Me?" Alter asked as he waved a hand, dark crimson energy that screamed destruction erupted from his palm and moved like a fire of death, "Well, I mean I'm no slouch in battle, if you're wondering."
With his warm smile still present and the crimson dark energy making the light flicker over his face, the inspector painted a demonically intimidating figure for the mage. Kageyama could feel the cold sensation of fear crawling up his back at the one-eyed amused face approach him with a step. The shadow user attacked first, sending shadow snakes to bite and pin the blond from all angles, wrapping around him.
Alter just smiled as he let the shadow coil around him, which had Kageyama cackle madly, "No tricks again?! Heh, you won't be escaping this one, you ink-sucker!"
And the inspector chortled, "Ink-sucker?" then he burst in a warm, almost contagiously good-natured laughter despite the shadow snakes tightening their grip on him, "Hah hah hah! That's so strange it's funny!"
Kageyama snapped, "Stop playing around!"
Alter wiggled a bit in his shadow cocoon, "But I can't, I'm trapped and I heard something so silly I can't help but laugh a bit. Besides…" he gave Kageyama a taste of what he was really like with a venomously very amused grin, just like a fox about to bite a snake's head off with only one eye open, "I haven't shown you why I'm perfect as an inspector."
Before the dark guild member could ask what he meant, he watched his own shadow bubbling with the crimson energy he saw Alter use. It started and ended as soon as he noticed glowing red spots inflating in his shadow until it was all over. What he saw was an explosion of crimson energy that completely vaporized his own shadow from the inside out, obliterating his magic instantly!
And, to show how easy it was for him, Alter just dusted his hat against a knee before putting it on his head, keeping it steady with a single hand while Kageyama cupped his mouth with a hand in mute horror, "N-No way… My own magic, gone… What was that? It was like your very energy corrupted and destroyed everything it touched, like a virus, like fire… What the Hell are you, monster?"
The mage was trembling, sweating, and panting as he looked at the inspector approach him casually with a friendly grin, "Didn't I tell you? I'm the perfect inspector because I can get rid of any mess without leaving a single trace." Alter started as he approached the man, putting up his charmer act, "I may not look like it, but I'm quite confident in my strength. After all, you said so yourself. My energy is like a virus. Pure endless hatred boiling through me tainted my own chakra—my equivalent of magic if you want to call it that. That, combined with a cranky fox's own chakra, makes for one spicy recipe that eats away anything it touches."
"Shit!" was all Kageyama said before turning around and legging it.
Alter stood still a couple of seconds to process what happened, "Odd, I expected him to surrender. I guess he must be quite loyal to his guild to try to run with that flute on him." He sighed tiredly and stared at a still soundly asleep Natsu, and put his hand on his face, "Sleep tight and take care of my hat, I'll clean this mess like I always do."
With that the hunt began.
While Queen Shagotte stood no taller than his knee, her butler saw her as someone that stood higher than him. Perhaps, as someone said before, it was his heart of justice that made him so loyal to a woman, cat or not, whose pain was palpable. He couldn't turn away from those in need, with or without emotions he still had a part of him that clung to his beliefs. And he knew some of her secrets.
Five years pretending to work for someone while actually working along them can bring the most unlikely of people very close. That's what Haruto thought as he sat up naked in a bed beside an equally nude woman.
Short white hair framed the face of a very mature woman whose soft, pale skin made her akin to a portrait of beauty with sharp eyes, a small nose, rosy lips, and cat ears atop her head. Her body, which was a couple inches shorter than his, had wide child-bearing hips that could be confused with a pumpkin in size, firmness and roundness. Her legs and thighs were equally plump but not overly so, and her breasts could smother a man's head to death. He noticed her breasts smothering his chest with each of her soft breaths, and a white cat tail swished sleepily over her round, succulent cheeks.
It'd be cozy if it weren't for her nails/claws leaving nasty scratches on his back, so he woke her up by lightly tapping her nose, "Sorry to interrupt your sleep, but I can't feel my arm."
She blushed and jumped off the table, letting the sheets fall down and reveal her nude, mature body, "S-Sorry, I was so comfortable and… I was having a nice dream."
He stood up and started picking up his clothes, "May I ask what it was?"
"I…" she sighed deeply, "I was with my daughter… I actually held her in my arms. Only that this time instead of her father, you…"
He nodded and, with their clothes ready, walked to the bathroom, "I do not know if I'd be father material."
"I know, I shouldn't have brought it up, I—"
"The thought isn't bad, though." He added, looking at ease as he said that, "It'd be… a fine change of pace once everything's settled."
"You do know this kind of relationship is basically taboo." She added, looking away from him.
"Frankly, I don't care what others say about us." He told her and held his hand for her to grab, and then guided her to the bathroom, "Do you?"
She blushed and tried to not look him in the eye, but failed, "I wouldn't mind discussing a future beyond my visions once I am worthy to be queen."
"Then we'll work towards that future." He said to her seriously, "I will make your dream… a reality."
She smiled and the two enjoyed a bath together… They were thankful that the walls were soundproof.