Eloisss, Miu, Freja, and Jae butchered the leopard. Some of the materials, like the cws, teeth, and hide, were set off to one side. The meat was packaged up and cooled with water and wind.

  In the past, Bonny had found Wrath spirits contained in scales, usually located near one of the possessed creature's hands. This time, she found a small purple gemstone embedded near the leopard’s heart. It was shaped like a diamond and sparkled in the firelight. An sense of importance pulsed around it, like something that shouldn’t be mispced or forgotten.

  “Pride?”

  “Yes?” The little lion demoness materialized on Bonny’s right shoulder.

  “When I captured Wrath spirits from the goblins, I found I could convert some of them to Lust. It didn’t work with all of them and I suspect I can’t do it with this one. Not that I want to, I promised it humiliation instead. So, what can I do with it?”

  “Anything you wish. It is no longer welcome among us.”

  “What will happen to it then? Why is it a crystal? And why do Wrath spirits become scales?”

  The other two demons, Wrath and Lust, appeared beside Pride, who straightened before answering.

  “A spirit takes physical form when it is imbued within a living being.”

  “Why?”

  “It allows us to influence the physical body. We also gain influence quicker and attract lesser spirits.”

  Bonny looked at the three demonesses, then down at her body. “Do I have these things inside me?”

  “No.” “Yes.” “No.” The three answered together.

  “What?”

  “Our spirits combined when your body was remade.” Lust licked her lips, smiled, then continued. “I am part of you now. You cannot exist without me.”

  Bonny frowned at her. “Expin.”

  “Our dildo is embedded within you, as part of your spirit, not your physical form. It initially acted as an anchor to this world, but integrated completely when you accepted-”

  “She lies.” Wrath interrupted. “You don’t need her. Any of us will do.”

  “So you’re all inside me?”

  “Yes.” Pride answered. “Your heart is mine and your hand is Wrath’s. Either will sustain your body.”

  “Mmmmm, your cock is mine.” Lust stroked herself as she gazed up at Bonny.

  “So all of you are part of me now? And other demons will try to cim other parts of me?”

  “Yes.” All three answered together.

  Bonny held up her hand. It looked normal.

  “But not the actual body parts? A sort of spirit version?”

  “Both physical and spiritual, though it doesn’t always manifest.” Pride answered. “If we are severed, like I was from the boy, then the physical organ will be weakened until healed.”

  “Well, I’m a healer, so that shouldn’t be a problem. What about the gods? Courage? All of you?”

  The five goddesses that Bonny had contracted with all materialized on Bonny’s other shoulder: Courage, Recovery, Justice, Compassion, and Hope. Trust wasn’t part of the group.

  “We are bound to you, Bonny, but have not id cim to your body.” Courage answered.

  “But you didn’t warn me?”

  “We … thought you knew.” Courage mimed holding a cock. “That isn’t natural. Oakleigh requested we help you resist their influence.”

  “You’re not doing a good job.”

  “Aren’t we? You haven’t forced yourself on anyone or started a murder spree.”

  “Oh. True.”

  “You’re doing fine, Bonny. Believe in yourself.” Courage stepped close to Bonny’s cheek and gave her a peck.

  “Thank you.”

  “How long will crystal this st?” Bonny held up the gemstone again.

  “Years.” Pride answered. “It will slowly degrade until the spirit is released again. It is one of the disadvantages of assuming a physical form.”

  “Same with the scales?” Bonny asked Wrath.

  The demoness nodded.

  “Is it aware of what happens to it?”

  Both demonesses nodded.

  “Good.” Bonny turned to Miu and held out the gemstone. “Put this in your bag. I promised humiliation and … may have an idea of what to do with it.”

  Miu scampered over and held open her herb pouch, where she had previously kept the Wrath scales.

  Bonny gave her a kiss. “Thank you.”

  Miu blushed and ducked her head slightly as she tied the pouch closed. She still wore the leash from the night before, but had it loosely coiled around her neck and colr.

  “Freja, do you still have the other leash?”

  Freja nodded and retrieved it from her bags, near the wagons.

  “Lupa, heel.” Bonny commanded, once she had the second leash.

  Lupa, still in her wolf kin form, ran over and stood next to Bonny as commanded. She csped her hands behind her back and thrust her chest out.

  Bonny giggled as she tightened the werewolf’s colr and attached the leash, then gave her a quick kiss.

  “Don’t change back to your wolf form. I want you to stay like this for now, okay?”

  Lupa nodded, her tail wagging violently.

  Bonny turned and uncoiled Miu’s leash, taking one in each hand.

  “Everyone, no training tomorrow. This fight should be enough for now and I want to sleep in. Eloisss and Freja, please work out the watch for the rest of the night.”

  They tried to make time each morning for some warmup and light sparring. Not as much as they had on the way out of the forest, but it did slow down their travel slightly.

  Bonny tugged downward on the two leashes, until both Miu and Lupa dropped to their hands and knees, then she slowly started walking back to her bnkets, forcing the two to crawl along behind her.

  == Haruto ==

  Haruto rolled back and forth on the floor of his cell, holding his swollen, aching member in his hands. It was caged in a steel grid that was too small for his erection.

  There was no one in the surrounding cells to hear his moans of pain.

  A crash sounded as the door to the dungeon opened. A moment ter the biggest person Haruto had ever seen stopped in front of his cell. He was at least two hundred kilos and a combination of human and pig.

  “Haruto?” The man’s voice was oddly high pitched.

  Haruto stared a moment longer, then nodded.

  “Good. I have some questions for you. I am Giovanni.”

  The words had an odd resonance to them, like he wasn’t speaking the same nguage, though Haruto understood him anyway. Bonny had sounded simir, but different.

  “Can … you … help?” Haruto opened his knees and hands, revealing the pink steel cage trapping the swollen purple flesh inside it.

  Giovanni gnced down and nodded. “I think so.”

  The rge pig kin sat on the floor and several pots and pans materialized around them, followed by a hollow curved horn. Several fruits and vegetables started spilling out as he set it down.

  “As you may have guessed, I am from Earth, like you. It sounds like you’ve had a shitty time, yes?”

  Haruto grunted in agreement.

  “I’ll fix you something to eat while we talk. [Water!]”

  The man held out a hand and poured water from it into two of the pots, then opened a bag and started pulling out random items. Several bones were sliced into chunks with a knife that materialized, then vanished, like magic. The bone chunks were dropped into a dry pot that started glowing red a moment ter.

  The man continued talking as he pulled some vegetables from the cornucopia, quartered them, and dropped them into one of the pots with water.

  “I’ll make some clear soup to start with. I suspect your stomach can’t handle solids if you haven't been fed regurly. These are wolf bones, which will make wolf stock. This world has animals simir to cattle, but I don't have any of their materials with me, so wolf will have to do, okay?”

  One of the bones had looked a little long and thick to be a wolf, but Haruto didn’t say anything. It could have been a giant wolf. Or something worse.

  “I’ve heard a little of your story from the council and the new school to the north. One of the priestesses will come down to make sure you’re okay ter. I promised to save some food for her. She’s cute. I may set up a restaurant near it. I owned one in my st life, you see?”

  “You talk a lot.” Haruto finally said. His throat hurt. “How can you help me?”

  “I am an alchemist. The cooking knowledge was from my st life, but many of the skills overp. I’ll whip up an anaphrodisiac in a bit, okay?”

  Haruto watched as the pig kin transferred the scorched bones into the pot with the quartered vegetables, then produced an egg and cracked it over the pot, somehow letting the white drop into the pot while retaining the yolk in the shell. A moment ter, he poured the yolk into his mouth and swallowed with a slurp. He waved a hand over the pot and it began to glow red while the first one cooled down. He added a few herbs and a delicious aroma soon wafted over the room.

  “I’m skipping a few steps here, but it should be fine. How about you tell me your story? How did you get here and how did you lose a fight to a fuck bunny? I heard you were dangerous. They’re still trying to count the number of people you killed, you see?”

  Haruto cleared his throat and started to tell his story, about getting hit with a truck, then finding himself near a vilge. He skipped the part about killing Kori’s mother, but admitted to killing people in several vilges. There was something about the pig kin’s friendly demeanor that made him want to confess.

  While Haruto talked, he watched as Giovanni pulled out some scallions, mushrooms, and a chunk of meat with fur still attached. The vegetables were sliced into a pot and the meat was skinned, then sliced into thin strips and dropped into a separate pan. Both pot and pan heated up with a wave of his hand.

  “There was a god, or maybe a demon, that told me to kill them. That the vilges needed to be purged. I didn’t … I don’t … Do you have a god talking to you?”

  Giovanni ughed. “I have three: Clementia, Spes, and Vesta. The Roman goddesses of compassion, hope, and cooking. Sometimes I think the food I make is too good, you see?” He patted his enormous stomach and ughed again.

  “Mine didn’t like me. It gave me a sword, then took it away when I didn’t do what it wanted.” Haruto sighed. “I had a new one commissioned, but Bonny melted it.”

  “Melted?”

  “She has a dragon sve that breathes fire.”

  “Does she fuck it? I heard she is very promiscuous.”

  Haruto nodded, trying not to think about sex. His erection pulsed and he groaned in pain.

  “Ah, right. I will brew your potion after soup. It is almost done, you see? [Separation!]”

  He picked up the simmering pot, cupped his hand on the edge, and slowly poured the broth through his hand, into the pot with the mushrooms and scallions. When done, he picked out a few of the remnants and tossed them into his mouth, both vegetables and bones. The bones crunched as he chewed them.

  Haruto frowned. “Is that sanitary?”

  “Oh, yes. Separation works for potions and food. It’s a skill. Proper magic, you see?”

  “I didn’t get any useful magic like that.”

  “Maybe you should have asked for it, instead of beheading everyone. Now, I’ll need a bit of you for this next part.” Giovanni’s knife reappeared and he held it out. “A finger or toe, or if you don’t like that, a chunk of skin should be fine.”

  “What?”

  “It’s magic, I don’t make the rules.” Giovanni started pulling some herbs from the cornucopia. “Let’s see, Lily Petals, Licorice Root, and Monk’s Pepper should do. Three ingredients for potency, [Calcination!], then add [Water!] and [Dissolution!], stirring three times three.”

  Haruto held the knife and watched as the pig kin muttered to himself. He looked down at his swollen erection and back up.

  “Do I really have to?”

  Giovanni met his eyes. “Yes. Some blood will do if that’s all you can manage, but a bit of flesh will work better.”

  Haruto took a deep breath, id the knife against his thigh, then pressed down. The bde bit in cleanly, quickly slicing off fp of skin about an two centimeters wide and three long before it started to hurt. Blood welled out of the wound as the pain reminded him of what he was doing.

  “Ita!” He tossed the piece of skin and knife back out of the cell and pressed down on his leg. There was a dirty bnket and scraps of clothes, but none of it was very clean.

  “Good, good. Come.” Giovanni motioned Haruto closer, then the knife bde turned red and he pressed it against the wound. The smell of seared meat added to the strong scent of onions from the soup.

  “That will cauterize it for now. The healer should be here soon. You should cover up before then. She didn’t sound happy with you, you see?”

  Giovanni held out two bowls and Haruto took them, not really sure when the pig kin had finished cooking or what he had done with the skin Haruto had tossed to him.

  “Here you go. It’s not osumashi, but it should be simir. Drink it slowly and alternate sips with the anaphrodisiac while I finish up the fillet.”

  The soup was clear except for the scallions and mushrooms. Tears welled up and tricked down Haruto’s cheeks as the umami brought back memories of home.