I've Turned Into A Fox Girl?

<Shaman POV>

With the fight over, we locked up the remaining harem members and maids in the mansion's dungeon. We left the keys with them since we weren't cruel enough to leave them to die, but if they pursued us, then no mercy would be shown.

At first, we were just going to use whatever rooms were intact to sleep, but Elysia had a better idea.

"I can set up a teleport anchor and we can stay at the underground city that I've been in for the last 9 months. Once we are all rested up, we can just teleport back here." It sounded a lot safer, not to mention I was kind of curious about that place.

"Wouldn't it be closer to where we have to go anyways? I remember it being on the northern border of the Demon Lands." Clara made a good point, but it would depend on just how far up it is. The royal palace was located in the mid-north part of the Fox Realm, which was still relatively far from Freya's forest.

"Maybe, we can find out once we get there." Elysia shrugged while she created the anchor to open up a portal.

"Going back already? I only just got to leave and explore the outside world…" Alice played the drama queen, floating around pouting as if she just got sentenced to solitary confinement.

"Shut up Alice. Feel free to go out on your own, but don't blame me if you get lost." Elysia shot a very weak blood bullet from her finger, hitting Alice directly in the forehead.

"Gah!" Alice spun in the air and lightly slammed onto the wall, trying to make the bullet seem more powerful than it was. However, when she did, the wall simply crumbled on top of her.

"Ah, shit." Alice freaked out for a moment, trying to kick off the wall, but that only broke more of it rather than give her any momentum.

*Sigh* "I didn't know you adopted such a troublesome child." I stepped in and helped by kicking the ground next to me, manifesting ice that shot up, encasing the falling debris. This allowed Alice to quickly slip away from the danger. Once she was out of the way, I simply dispelled the ice and let the debris fall.

"I know right? She used to be very docile, but now she has entered her rebellious phase." Elysia shook her head in disbelief, playing into the whole idea of Alice being a kid.

"I'm 150 years old alright! Much older than any of you!" Alice glared at me and Elysia as she declared her real age, which prompted Elanor to look away, trying to avoid entering any conversation about age.

"You look like you're 15 granny." Silver interjected with his snide comment. Although it was directed at Alice, Elanor took offence, smacking him in the back of the head.

"Ha! That's what you get, you naughty dog!" Alice triumphed, but she still couldn't escape Elanor's wrath. A root shot out from the ground, wrapping around Alice's ankle. With a strong tug, Alice face-planted into the ground as Elanor tried her hardest to stop herself from grinning.

"Maybe we should calm down a little. Alice, was it? We just met so I don't think it's a good time to be playing around. Let's wait with that until we've all been properly introduced." Himeko, being the most responsible, tried to end the squabbling as she helped Alice get off the ground.

"Y-yeah sorry about that." Surprisingly, Alice was quick to turn around and realise that what she was doing was a bit insensitive. I wasn't bothered by it, but it would be nice to get to know her before we started making fun of each other.

"Good, let's do a proper introduction once we settle down then." Himeko saw the portal was about to open, so it could wait once we were settled in this underground city.

"Alright, the anchor is properly set up. There are maids in the mansion, but be mindful, as they were all traumatised by my grandfather." Elysia gave her warning and prompted everyone to walk through.

Luna and Clara were the first to go through since Clara needed to lie down as she was still recovering from her demon form. The rest of us followed and were greeted with yet another mansion. The view this time around was completely different though, revealing an entire city nestled underneath the earth, illuminated by light crystals only.

It was quite a sight to behold, reminding me of some ancient civilisations the likes of which you would only find in fantasy movies.

"To think this entire place is underground and has stayed hidden for such a long time." Himeko was amazed as there were no hints of such a place existing from above. She was quite close to my mother so no doubt Himeko was aware of the hunt for Elysia's family.

"Even us elves haven't achieved anything this grand. Such efforts always end in failure, so we gave up." Elanor was also very impressed. I guess with the limited space in the Elfhiem forest, they too tried going underground, but to no avail.

"This way everyone!" Elysia took the lead, walking right through the front door. The maids she mentioned were all waiting there, clearly trying to hide their fear.

"Don't worry, they are with me and you shall treat them the same way. If you are wondering, the beautiful fox and demon girl are my partners, so I expect respect." Elysia put a heavy emphasis on Clara and me, which felt a little embarrassing. I could see that Elysia had changed to be a lot more authoritarian.

It was kind of hot looking at the way she carried herself, not to mention her entire getup kind of reminded me of a villainess.

'She is kind of badass now.' While I was lost in thought admiring Elysia, a short human girl with green hair approached me.

"H-Hello ma'am, I am Yumi. E-Elysia said to help you with any request you may have." Yumi was very shy and, paired with her height, also very cute. It kind of made me wish I had a daughter as well.

"I see. Well, I'll be in your care then. We just got back from a fight so if you can prepare a meal for everyone, that would be great." I couldn't help but pat Yumi on the head as I gave the order. She seemed to enjoy it, while at the same time trying hard not to look like she was.

"R-right away, ma'am." Doing a cute salute, she sped off and informed the other maids of the task.

While I was talking with Yumi, Elysia ordered some of the other maids to organise a few rooms for everyone. With the orders given, there wasn't much for any of us to do.

"How about we go to the dining area so we can chat while waiting for food?" Clara made the suggestion, but we all looked at her as if saying, Are you sure about that?

"Please, it's nothing serious. I don't want to miss out on anything." Clara's face turned slightly red with all the eyes on her, unsure of what to say.

"Luna, will she be okay?" With her being the medical expert, if she says it's okay, then there is no reason to be worried.

"She will be. If it were any worse, I would say no, but Clara's regenerative ability due to her demon essence is amazing." Luna sounded impressed, so we trusted her word and headed to the dining area.

I was, of course, squished between Clara and Elysia. Next were Silver and Elanor, followed by the rest. Alice had taken refuge next to Himeko, latching onto her most likely because she was the nicest.

"Have to say, You've got a nice place here, Elysia." The thought of making this place our home was appealing. However, what stopped me from committing was the whole 'being underground' part. Still, it would be a good base of operations, so I definitely didn't want to discard it.

"Thanks, it isn't really mine, but since I murdered everyone, I guess that's a moot point." It was a little concerning how casually she murdered her family, but this is Elysia we're talking about.

"Hmm, okay I won't ask, but I hope everything turned out alright for you. Clara and I were very worried when you stopped messaging in the group chat." I was very curious about the details of Elysia's adventure, but I figured there were personal details she didn't want to disclose to everyone.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was too focused on getting all the information from the library here and breaking the lockdown magic circle that prevented me from teleporting." It was understandable and, since she is fine now, I wasn't going to hold it against her.

"No worries, but what I'm most curious about right now is the little vampire friend you picked up along the way." I looked at Alice, who averted her gaze, still troubled about causing a ruckus earlier.

"Do you want to introduce yourself, Alice? Or do you want me to?" Elysia noticed Alice's contrition and toned down her own rudeness as well considering her own prior behavior.

"You can, I'll go once you're finished."