(MC POV)

"Daaarling~~ Your blood is still the best~~" Shizuri moaned, finally having her fill after sucking my blood from my arm.

I ignored her and instead concentrated on the man that was kneeling in front of me.

I also pointedly ignored all the fresh blood stains that caked the walls and the various torture tools scattered around the place. I'm going to need to get Shizuri to clean this up later.

"So, you're sent by the country of Mei, correct?" I asked.

"Yes…"

"And why was my disciple kidnapped by you guys?"

"We had… Reports that he could create the Miracle Cure… Since capturing you was out of the question… The higher ups decided to target your disciple instead…"

"How did you guys even know he could make the healing… I mean, the Miracle Cure?"

"We… Met him by chance in the forest outside your Sect… He used one to… Heal one of our comrades…"

Damn, guess this is what happens when my disciples were not aware of these idiots showing up at our door…

Brendan probably thought they were just normal people looking for help… Seems like my teachings of having a compassionate heart backfired here.

Well, at least I know that they wouldn't harm Brendan since they need him alive to make the Miracle Cure for them. But even if they did, my protection inscription should prevent them from doing anything to him.

That still doesn't mean I'm going to relax though.

"Why are you guys so fixated on the Miracle Cure?"

"The Queen's son is down with a sickness that is said to be incurable… Only the Miracle Cure could heal him and… The Royal Family issued a decree to find it by… Any means possible…"

Well, if that's the case, why didn't they lead on with that instead of using such forceful methods? If they came to me and offered some compensation for it, I might have even given them one.

Seems like these three countries really don't like the idea of bowing their heads to someone else, even if the situation calls for it.

Well, what can I say except they screwed up?

No way would I even consider selling them any at this point after what they've done.

"So… They are taking my disciple to their capital, right?"

"I… Do not… Know…"

I frowned, he should be incapable of lying right now so that means he really doesn't know.

Without any prompting, he continued, "We were supposed to decide… What to do depending on how successful… The mission was… Only our leader knew what to do… After the extraction..."

Guess I'll have to take care of the problem at the source then.

"Shizuri, I'm leaving. Clean this up, will you?"

"Ehhhh? Darling is leaving? But we didn't even get to play yet…"

I turned to her and sliced my hand in an arc, cutting her head off cleanly.

"Ehehehe~ Darling spoils me too muuuuuuuch…" Her decapitated head moaned before it hit the ground, the body following a second later.

Not giving her disappearing body a second glance, I grabbed the man by his head and teleported us back to my courtyard.

Surprisingly, Sophia was there to greet me, though I could see a slight hint of unhappiness on her face. It's most likely because she did not like me disappearing on my own again.

"Welcome back, Master. I assume the trash was cooperative enough?"

Trash? Oh she meant this guy.

"I got what I needed at least, so I'll be heading off to deal with them."

"I see… Master might also like to know that your pets came back and were making quite a bit of fuss when they didn't see you around."

"My pets?"

She tilted her head at me, "The two Spirit Foxes I believe? They're in your room now. They may or may not have tried flipping your room upside down until I stepped in."

Oh, Akari and Shiori came back?

"Alright, I'll go see them first before I go off."

Sophia directed her gaze at the man, "What should we do about him?"

I waved my hand dismissively, "I'll deal with him later. I need to bring him with me to make a statement."

"Understood. What shall I tell your disciples, Master?"

"Hmm… Just tell them I'm dealing with it and under no circumstances are they to follow me."

She considered my words for a moment, "That… Might be a little difficult, even for me, Master… We've all seen what happened when you left here alone… They would be difficult to convince if they knew you had no guards."

Right, forgot she was also upset about that…

"Fine… I guess you can come with me later."

She bowed her head, "Thank you for your consideration, Master."

"Help me keep watch on this guy, I'll be right back after I check up on my… Pets."

"Of course, Master."

I left the guy with Sophia and left for my own building where I noticed the door was slightly ajar.

I pushed open the door and inside were two small foxes that were curled up in a pile of my clothes looking quite depressed.

"Shiori? Akari?" I called out to them.

The two foxes perked up and immediately rushed and leapt towards me.

"Master!"

"Divine One!"

Obviously I had to fluff them right there and then.

"Muuu… Master, we missed you…" Akari cried, snuggling her muzzle into my chest.

"Divine One, I'm so glad you are safe…" Shiori sighed, looking up at me.

I patted their heads, "Sorry for worrying you guys. Is everything alright with the others?"

Shiori nodded her head, "Everyone went back after they knew Divine One was safe. Benjamin had told us what you told him about the portal so we've made sure it's watched at all times. If anything comes through it, Divine One will be the first to know."

"Umu, informing me should be the highest priority. Don't even try to engage the newcomer by yourselves, ok?"

"Understood."

"Also, I'll need to leave again to the country of Mei for a bit, there's some business I need to take care of there."

"Master… Bring us with you!" Akari pleaded, looking up at me with teary eyes.

I patted the red fox's head, "I'm not going there to play you know?"

"All the more reason for us to accompany you, Divine One," Shiori stated, her tail waving lazily behind her.

"We'll protect Master this time! You can leave it to us!" Akari added, puffing up her chest proudly.

I sighed, "Well, if you two put it like that, there's no way I can reject you, right?"

"Yayyy~~ It's a field trip with Master~~" Akari squealed, her tails wagging furiously only to have Shiori smack her head with a paw telling her to be quiet.

I put them back on the ground, "Get ready to leave then. My poor Brendan is still their prisoner and we have to rescue him after this."

Shiori tilted her head at me, "Shall we send out some of the monsters to find him?"

"Hmm… That's a good idea, who can we send?"

"If Divine One has a few of your disciple's personal belongings, we have a number of trackers in our midst that should be able to find him by his scent. Shouldn't be a problem to track him down."

"Would his clothes be good enough?"

Shiori nodded, "That should be good enough. I will contact our scout group and commence the search."

"Oh, when they find him, just continue to follow and report back his position to us. I'll go get him after I'm done with the perpetrators. Don't engage the kidnappers."

"Understood."

Alright, I just need to pass them those clothes and then go over to the country of Mei to pay them a visit. Should be a simple enough operation.

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