(Manami POV)

"Honored Mistress Manami… I… I don't think I would be able to fit into that…"

"Ne… Neither do I… Mistress Kiyomi…"

"Ara, ara? Is something this simple too much for either of you? How disappointing," I sighed dramatically.

"Dear sister, please stop teasing them," Kiyomi grumbled, though I could see the slight hint of sadistic merriment at the edge of her eyes. "Such a thing can only be done by us."

"Ufufu~ Let me have my fun, my dear Kiyomi~ It's been a while since we had to stay outside like this."

Both of us looked down at the two circular holes in the ground, Shiori and Akari sniffing each of them in interest.

Naturally, both of us had used our Quarks to create fox burrows under the earth, such is the natural place for foxes when staying outside.

I smiled at our two servants, "Fox dens are really comfortable, you know? Why don't you two give it a try?"

The two of them looked at each other with a conflicted face.

"Ara? Do the two of you not know how to shapeshift at all? What a pity… I suppose all our efforts that went into digging our luxurious hole was wasted…" I sighed dramatically.

"Please accept our deepest apologies for our incompetence, Honored Mistresses…" Elizabeth bowed with Marie joining her.

"Ufufu, you two can relax. We were only joking~" I assured them.

That was the half-truth though, if they had been able to shapeshift, then we would have just gone ahead and used the two burrows for their intended purposes.

But since they can't use them, my dear sister and I had been planning to use them as an ambush spot to jump on Master tonight. Such is a common thing amongst fox youkais when they are trying to hunt an especially defiant mate, using the burrows to lie in wait for them before pouncing on them and dragging them in.

But of course, our destined mate is very willing to indulge us~ This is just a little play we devised to keep things interesting~

Akari dived into my burrow, wriggling herself into the hole before turning back to pop her head out of it, mewling happily.

Shiori simply sat beside the hole and slapped her paw on top of Akari's head. I knew the white fox was admonishing her sister fox in some way since Akari started whining with upturned eyes.

I'm assuming Shiori was scolding her sister for rudely occupying my burrow without permission. It was quite amusing to see the red fox slink out of the hole after that.

Kiyomi had ignored the two foxes and addressed the two servants instead, "We're still going to be digging an underground shelter, I hope Marie can handle such a place?"

"Un… Underground, Mistress Kiyomi? You mean… Like… Under the dirt?" She gasped, clearly shocked at the prospect.

"Mmhmm, that is why I asked."

Ara, I remember Kiyomi telling me that her servant was a clean freak. Though that condition would help her in her servant duties, it's quite detrimental for any other situation like these.

Ufufufu~ My dear Kiyomi did say that she was going to get whip that bad habit out of her so she should be a changed woman by the end of the month~

Mmm~ I'm still unsure on who the assassin is though… But when I find her, I'll make sure to have a lot of fun with her for causing Master so much grief.

"I… I will try…" Marie said through pursed lips.

Kiyomi nodded, "Good. Don't worry, what my sister said about fox dens being comfortable is actually true. I also overheard Master saying that he would be letting the servants and us sleep separately tonight. You girls will get separate tents since this is our test, not yours."

"I… I see… Ummm… Thank you, Mistress Kiyomi."

"Ufufu~ Don't thank her yet~ This is the hard part, both of you are going to need to dig for us~" I giggled, pointing towards the area underneath a tree. "Elizabeth? Would you be a dear to start there? Don't worry, you can use your Techniques to dig, I will shape the ground for us~"

"Understood, Honored Mistress Manami."

"Marie, we'll make ours over here," Kiyomi ordered, pointing to the tree on the other side. "Same as Elizabeth, you don't need to dig with your hands. Just open up a hold in the ground and I will do the rest."

"Ye… Yes, Mistress Kiyomi…"

Ufufufu~ I can't wait till night falls and I get to jump on Master~

*

(Brendan POV)

Liehui looked at me, "So… Being an alchemist and all, you must have plenty of outdoor experience right?"

I snorted, "You think too highly of me. I wasn't even a full fledged alchemist for that long. It's only because of Master's tutelage that I know what I know."

"Master Lin seems to think you can do just fine on your own."

"I have been on a few trips out with Master, but nothing as big as this. I guess this is Master testing me too."

She grimaced, "Hmm… I should warn you that I have no experience in outdoor survival stuff, so don't expect me to be of much help."

I shrugged, "Master did say we couldn't depend on you girls to make any decisions, but I think that restriction only affects Lydia since she's the only one that actually did something like this before."

"Oh? Master Brendan seems quite well informed about such things. Could your hobby be stalking other girls?"

"To find out which of you can be trusted, I suppose so," I commented offhandedly.

She knew that I was referring to our suspicions of one of them being the assassin and she said no more than that.

I bent down and picked up a brown mushroom with white dots on its cap before turning to her, "I got what I need. You too?"

She raised her hand to show the bag of herbs I had tasked her to pluck.

I nodded my head, "Good, we got all we needed in that case. We can head back now."

Liehui frowned at me, "Master Brendan… Though I may not be well versed in survivalcraft, I at least know we need to have a shelter? How are we going to build one without materials?"

I pointed to our harvest, "Well, we have everything we need right here."

She looked down to the bag of herbs in her hand, then to my own bag of herbs before finally returning back to me.

"Is this a joke?"

"Not at all, I am as serious as I can be. Trust me on this, I know exactly what I'm doing."

Liehui shrugged, "As long as your idea of a shelter isn't living under a pile of herbs… Lead the way then."

"You really still don't have much respect for alchemy, do you?"

"It's not much of respect but more that I don't really know what to expect from it."

Hmmm… Seems like Liehui hasn't completely grasped the nuances behind alchemy nor accepted it.

No matter, I can definitely use this chance to educate her on it.

"You'll be quite surprised by what you can create, you know? I'm sure Master would be impressed by my creation."

"Hmph, you gotta make it first before talking big."

"Yeah, yeah. Come along then."

I led her back towards the clearing, determined to make something that would definitely impress Master.

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