Wish Fulfillment System

Had the one running into his arms been Tiona, Isaac would have shown a reluctant smile and accepted his fate, as he wasn't yet strong enough to escape her clutches. It also wasn't easy for him to truly deny her such things, most because he truly didn't mind hugs. If she overstepped her boundaries, he would definitely let her know. Fortunately, the one overwhelmed by her feelings was his faithful subordinate, one that he had even practically adopted as a pet at this point. Because of this, he didn't even feel that last bit of aversion that he would have usually been subjected to in such a situation.

Without attempting to evade, he allowed the loyal dog girl to hug his waist and rub her face against his chest in an exhilarated manner. As he was already used to doing so, he began to pat her head and play with those lovely ears of hers, further working on improving his pet handling mastery.

Feeling that familiar hand caressing her again, Mina blissfully closed her eyes and subconsciously rubbed her head against it, basking in its comfiness. It was an "Aww"-inducingly wholesome scene that made slight smiles appear on the onlookers' faces.

All of a sudden, tears began to flow down Mina's cheeks uncontrollably as, in the back of her mind, she had been reminded of the horrible memories that had haunted her after her lord had left. She didn't want to let these images interrupt their much-anticipated reunion, however, and chose to try to suppress them, which didn't make things any better.

Instinctively, she tilted her head and tried to lick her lord's hand, attempting to showcase her affection and loyalty while at the same time banishing those harrowing thoughts.

When he suddenly felt a wet tongue licking his hand, Isaac's eyes widened in surprise and he almost pulled it back, before recalling that this was just the way that dogs interacted with their owners. Admittedly, it was somewhat difficult to see this situation in such a light, primarily because the one performing such an action was a mostly human-looking girl, but he ultimately convinced himself that it wasn't anything weird. Still, even with normal dogs, he didn't like it when they licked his hands, or any parts of his body, that is. Then why did he allow Mina to do so? Well, he wasn't entirely repulsed by the act and he could endure it… and he chose to allow it because of how hard she was crying.

Taking a deep breath, he ignored the judgemental and creeped out looks that bore into his back, then he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away Mina's tears with his other hand, awakening her from her mostly instinct-fuelled stupor.

She absentmindedly took the handkerchief from his hand and wiped away the rest of her tears, then she remembered what she had been doing and blushed in shame… while growing pale at the same time. It was a truly comical sight. Breathing irregularly, she stumbled backwards and stuttered.

"I'm sorry, mi-milord! I hope... I didn-didn't offend you!!"

Before she could kneel down to plead for forgiveness in an even more overexaggerated manner, Isaac hastily grabbed her shoulders and helped her stand up straight, then he reassuringly patted her head for a moment, before pulling his hand away and stepping back. He had a calming smile on his lips and had just wiped his previously licked hand dry with yet another handkerchief.

"It's fine, you don't need to apologize. Being overcome by emotions isn't something to be ashamed of, it can happen to anyone. I'm glad to see that you're welcoming me back so warmly."

Isaac didn't have a chance to explain what exactly he meant any further, or even to glance towards the rest of his students and subordinates, who had long since made their way out of the base, as an accusatory voice interrupted his thought process.

"Wasn't that a little over the top for just a welcome?!"

Elfy had her hands on her h.i.p.s and a clearly fairly unhappy frown on her face. At the same time, she was blushing a little, as she had been taken aback by what she had just witnessed. It wasn't hard to guess what kinds of thoughts were going through her head - she probably assumed that the relationship between this master and subordinate was a little more impure than it should be. Which in and of itself wouldn't be wrong, but it could be, should one of the parties be pressured into it.

Right next to her, Lefiya, who was fully aware of the reality of the situation, had her hands covering her reddened cheeks, while her eyes were glancing over in Isaac's direction with a little bit of jealousy hidden in her gaze. While normally, a hint of l.u.s.t would be mixed in as well, this time, she had simply not been able to contain her desire of being treated so well herself, so all other emotions were suppressed. But wouldn't she forever be prohibited from experiencing such bliss? Curses be upon you, oh erogenous ears!

Not rattled by Elfy's tone of voice, Isaac responded with a straight face and tranquil heart.

"It was indeed more affectionate than I expected, but still within the bounds of what I'm okay with."

Clearly, his word choice had been poor, as Tiona, who had been waiting for an opportune moment to jump in, hurriedly interjected. Her passionate and fiery gaze didn't make any attempt at hiding her true motivations.

"So it would be fine if I licked you from now on?"

Instantly, a dark shadow was cast over Isaac's face and he resolutely shook his head. When he turned to look at Tiona, the fearless Amazoness couldn't help but shiver a little, because his eyes contained far more coldness than usual.

"No, absolutely not."

As she wouldn't just back down like this, no matter how uncomfortable she felt, and because she felt like she was being treated unfairly, Tiona pointed at Mina, who was waiting at the side with a guilty expression on her face. She truly hadn't intended for her lord to have to deal with such troubles just because of her inability to keep her emotions and instincts in check. Her ears and tail drooped down listlessly.

"Then why are you okay with it when she does it?"

As she had stepped right into the conversational trap he had laid and reacted just as he had expected, Isaac smirked to himself inwardly while still keeping a straight face. He planned to clear up any misunderstandings caused by Mina's latest behaviour on the spot.

"That's easy. You are someone who wants to pursue a relationship with me and has lots of impure thoughts. Meanwhile, this isn't the case for Mina. She harbours no such feelings for me and is simply my most loyal retainer, my faithful dog. Please don't misinterpret why she is acting in such a manner, and why I'm fine with it in her case."

The people who had previously glared at him with suspicion in their eyes had been Tiona, Tione, Elfy, Kalin and Jakk. Oh, and that unknown red haired girl as well. Come to think of it, who was she? Oh well, that question could wait until later. The rest of the group had never doubted him for a second, as they either knew him well enough or were familiar enough with Mina's shenanigans. Possibly both. Of the first group, all but Jakk and Elfy seemed to be convinced the moment he explained the situation.

Jakk… well, he always seemed to get the wrong idea about anything connected to his relationship with Mina, but at least he never tried to deliberately make things difficult for him. So this pervert could just be ignored.

Elfy, on the other hand, was a lot more rational of a person and could be reasoned with. She didn't just take his words at face value and attempted to get answers out of the girl whose behaviour had caused this entire discussion in the first place. While she usually wasn't averse to making suggestive jokes and being flirtatious, the moniker 'faithful dog' irked her a little, as she was worried about whether the other party felt it to be appropriate. Thankfully, she wasn't a moron and therefore didn't lash out at someone just because of what she perceived to be an injustice towards another person. She knew it was far better to first hear out the potential 'victim' in question.

"Is that true, Mina? And are you okay with being referred to in such a way?"

Contrary to her expectations, the moment she turned towards her, the Chienthrope girl had already entirely stopped being downcast. Instead, her glorious title was replaying itself in her head over and over again, causing her eyes to sparkle with pride and her ears to perk up. Her tail had resumed its rapid dirt-stirring operation.

"Yes! I am milord's most faithful dog!!"

For a while, Isaac feared that she would start dancing in excitement, but now that the ripples in her heart that had been set off by their reunion had started to calm down, she was able to keep her emotions in check better. With a smile on his face, he heaved a sigh of relief.

Even though she was still a little bit weirded out by this dynamic, mostly because she hadn't interacted much - if at all - with Mina before this, Elfy finally released a resigned sigh and shrugged, then she smiled apologetically.

"Alright. Sorry about the misunderstanding, then. I had just been a little bit worried about you."

While Mina was reassuring the meddling human girl that it was no problem at all and that she felt honoured to be cared about, Aselina had just been staring at the whole exchange blankly. Finally, she tilted her head. To her, Mina's previous display had looked natural and innocent, so she didn't understand why some of the others had directed enmity towards Isaac. And for once, she had actually seen far more of the truth of the matter than some of the others.

'She called Isaac 'milord'... would that be the appropriate way to address him?'

Unbeknownst to Isaac, his most recent retainer's mind had already started to be corrupted by his most fanatic follower.

Now that this small diversion had blown over, Isaac finally had some time to greet the rest of his people. He happily patted Jakk's, Kalin's and Quinn's shoulders and picked up Averin to carry him around. Everything went as expected, with no more emotional breakdowns. Just like Mina, both Averin and Quinn had an increase in loyalty, with the former's increasing by five and the latter's increasing by 15. Compared to his most senior of retainers, they were still a long way off from reaching the maximum, but it was clear that they did also feel reassured now that he had returned.

Surrounded by so many people who weren't female, Isaac felt a little relieved. With them in the picture, the whole group was a lot more balanced and he would get far less envious stares from the ignorant passersby. After all, he was well aware of what kind of feelings a singular guy followed by a bunch of good-looking women would evoke in other people.

Anyway, now that everything else had been dealt with, there was an opportunity to address what - or rather who - he had been wondering about this whole time.

"Excuse me, but who is this young lady? I don't believe we've met before."

As she was suddenly being addressed, Valenoa shrinked back a little and grasped Kalin's arm, subconsciously hiding behind him a little. At the same time, she shot Isaac a curious and inquisitive gaze.

"I-I'm Valenoa. Nice to meet you, Isaa--- Mr. Blackshaw."

Her voice sounded endearing and innocent, making everyone who heard it take an immediate liking towards her. But even though it hadn't been intended, listening to a beauty address him in such a way when they were not in a business relationship made Isaac - again - want to cough up blood and the smile he showed in response therefore turned a little bit forced.

"Please just call me Isaac."

Of course, he wasn't blind. He had noticed how close this girl was to his subordinate, so after she agreed to change her term of address, Isaac looked at Kalin with an inquisitive look on his face, clearly implying for him to explain what was going on. At that time, he noticed Kalin stumbling almost imperceptibly, as if he had been overcome by a sudden bout of slight weakness, before hurriedly catching himself again. Even though Isaac wanted to inquire about it, that would just further derail the conversation so he simply raised his eyebrow a little and stared at a certain very suspicious piece of jewellery for a moment before postponing looking into this any further until tomorrow.

"Well, it's like this…"

As Kalin wasn't oblivious, he had noticed what Isaac wanted him to do and explained how the group had come across Valenoa and what had happened since then. Jakk and Mina occasionally interjected from the side with some details that he had forgotten, so it didn't take long to piece the whole picture together.

'An amnesiac, huh?'

Because it seemed like he was blatantly sizing her up, Valenoa couldn't help but grow a little shy and blush, while at the same time instinctively clutching Kalin's arm again. Noticing that she was uncomfortable, Isaac turned to look away from the group, into the empty air. After a short moment, he nodded slightly, then a smile played across his lips and he faced the nervous redhead again.

"Alright, you can continue to stay with everyone else. I don't mind providing for your living expenses until your memories return. After or if they do, I will ask you to choose between staying in exchange for some terms or leaving, though, so be prepared for that."

Hearing their leader support their independent decision, Kalin, Mina and Jakk perked up, clearly relieved. Even Valenoa, who had been a little bit apprehensive about the whole situation, showed a grateful, breathtaking smile.

"Thank you sooo much!"

Kalin blanked out completely when seeing this, causing quite a few people to send knowing smiles his way. Isaac also looked at him with a peculiar glint in his eyes, before talking to Valenoa again.

"I hope you can understand that there will be some times where I can't let you be present alongside my people. It's simply for confidentiality reasons and nothing against you personally."

Attempting to show that she understood, the red haired beauty nodded her head hurriedly, before trying to put him at ease with her words.

"I know, I'm ultimately an outsider. I won't take it to heart, so don't worry!"

Smirking at her remark, Isaac nodded his head, then he turned around and looked at Aselina, motioning for her to walk up next to him. With a hand on her shoulder, he smiled at the rest of his subordinates.

"Allow me to introduce you to someone as well. This is Aselina Sceaga. She's my newest subordinate and now one of us. I hope you can all get along with her."

Realization flashed across the group's faces and quickly, they surrounded the slightly overwhelmed raccoon girl. The one to be the most doting, by far, was Mina. Immediately after Isaac had introduced her, she had grasped Aselina's hands and beamed at her enthusiastically. She didn't mind the mostly expressionless, cold and confused face of the poor raccoon girl, as she had instantly felt close to her. After all, Aselina was a subordinate of her lord, had a tail, had animal ears and was a girl. They were really similar… more or less. She felt like she had met a soul mate of some kind, or at least someone that would make her feel a lot more at home and relaxed amongst this group of primarily men. Yes, Valenoa had recently started to live here as well, but she wasn't pledged to her lord - Aselina gave her a wholly different feeling.

The rest also didn't have any adverse reactions. Kalin welcomed the addition of a new comrade, Jakk shot a knowing smile in Isaac's direction, clearly misunderstanding something again, and Quinn treated Aselina politely. He couldn't just open up to her this quickly, so he was already doing his best by not shunning her. Getting used to her would take at least a few days. Meanwhile, Averin… well, the rooster was doing fine, but once she noticed that this Jack Bird variant could talk - which she had previously seemingly missed - Aselina's eyes widened in shock and she stumbled backwards. Mina quickly supported her, to keep her from falling.

"A-A monster that can talk!?"

Aselina's eyes were trembling in far more confusion than usual. Something like this… it shouldn't be possible, right?

"Hmph, of course I can talk! If I, the great Averin, wasn't capable of a simple thing such as speech, would I still dare to use the word 'great' to address myself?"

With an arrogant sneer on his face, which somehow managed to look really adorable, Averin stuck out his chest, before he got unceremoniously picked up by Isaac. He had been standing on his shoulder this entire time, so he was close enough to not have any opportunity to escape.

"He may be a monster, but that doesn't matter. He's sworn his absolute loyalty to me, so you can rely on him. More importantly, he's fluffy."

Without waiting for a response, Isaac placed Averin in Aselina's arms, making her shrink back initially, before the comfortable and relaxing sensation of touching the Jack Bird variant's feathers set in. Nigh instantly, her wariness subsided and she began to play with Averin as if he were a plush toy, causing the rooster to mutter about the injustice he was subjected to under his breath. Very quickly, Mina joined Aselina and the two cuddled with the Isaac Familia's certified hugging pillow, its most potent cure for depression.

Now that any and all immediate matters had been taken care of and everything had calmed down again, Isaac led the way inside the base. There was no need to stand around outside anymore, so they could just take a seat inside and loosen up. Soon after, the group got to eat a hearty homemade dinner courtesy of Mina - and Kalin who cut the vegetables.

When they all had their fill, Aselina resolutely stated that she had decided that she would stay here at the base with the rest of the subordinates. Elfy, Lefiya, Tiona and Tione decided to escort her back to her room as she would have to pick up her belongings. They would also see if she needed help with packing her things. Admittedly, Elfy and Tione had just been searching for a chance to bid their temporary farewell and used this opportunity to drag their respective burdens along.

With that group gone, the only ones left with Isaac were Ais, Averin, Jakk, Kalin, Mina, Quinn… and Valenoa.

Aware of the latter's presence, he decided to use words that didn't reveal too many details and could easily be interpreted in various ways.

"Tomorrow, I'll be having a look at how much all of you have improved while I was gone. Also, I'll be inspecting the results of your homework, so please be prepared."

Seeing everyone but Ais and Valenoa, who he hadn't been addressing in the first place, nod, he relaxed on his sofa until they all heard a knock on the door and found Aselina standing outside, with a massive backpack filled with various odds and ends slung over her shoulder. She had successfully stuffed all of her belongings in there.

In the following minutes, the group helped her settle into her new room, while Ais and Isaac watched them from the hallway, happily holding hands. Suddenly, he noticed Ais moving closer, getting on her toes and whispering in his ear.

"When we talk to Loki tomorrow, I'll be telling her that I want to be roommates with you from now on."

There was a slight blush on her cheeks and she was eyeing him sheepishly, causing him to feel the urge to kiss her… which he did, after blurring their existence slightly so they wouldn't be accidentally ogled by others.

There were far too many pairs of eyes here, so he would feel a little uncomfortable. If there were only women around, he would mind it a little less, as they would most likely not be looking at Ais with impure thoughts - he would be their only victim. But here, quite a number of men were also present and even though they were his people and were aware that any such thoughts about their leader's beloved would be inappropriate, they might not be able to help it. As he didn't want to have to reprimand them for something they were incapable of controlling, he didn't allow the situation to develop in such a direction in the first place.

Shortly after Aselina had been settled in, Jakk took his leave because he planned to delve into the dungeon for a bit, just like every late evening to early night.

An hour or so later, everyone but Ais, Isaac and Mina had retreated to their own rooms to go to sleep. The first two were sitting on one of the sofas in the living room, with Ais having closed her eyes and leaning against Isaac's shoulder. Meanwhile, Mina was fidgeting around next to them, clearly intent on talking about something.

"What is it?"

Somewhat startled by her lord's voice interrupting her thoughts, Mina shuddered a little, then she looked up and directly into his eyes. Seeing how tranquil and unbothered they were, she calmed down a little and took a deep breath, then she sat down on his other side and bit her lips. After a few minutes of silence, she finally got the courage to explain what had been weighing on her mind, all the while clenching her fists and shivering slightly.

"Milord, while you were gone, I've… I've had nightmares. About my parents. About… about what happened to them. I just… their faces…"

Towards the end of her words, the normally cheerful girl had started to uncontrollably sob, even though she was trying very hard to hold back, causing her to cough painfully while crying. She truly hadn't wanted to bother her lord with this, but she just… she just felt like she wanted to tell him. Like she wanted to confide in him.

Having noticed the change in the atmosphere, Ais had already gotten up from her comfortable position, enabling Isaac to move a bit more freely, which he promptly did. Knowing how formidable of an effect his head pats usually had, he gently pulled the crying Mina closer and patted her head again, trying his best to make her feel better while she got all of this out of her system. Shortly after he touched her, it felt like the dog girl had lost the majority of the strength in her body and she slumped against him in a somewhat unnatural and uncomfortable way, ultimately making him decide to lay her down and let her rest her head on his lap. With a soothing smile on his face, he continued to pat her head and ears.

Even though her lord was treating her so extremely well, Mina just couldn't stop her tears and her dazed state was only interrupted when an as of yet unfamiliar hand suddenly started to caress her head as well. It was smaller than her lord's and seemed to be far more fragile and ethereal, somewhat similar to the hand of a fairy. A bit taken aback by this, the Chienthrope girl opened her eyes and looked in the direction that the hand originated from. Her eyes were still overflowing with tears, so she could barely see anything, but even in her distorted sight, she could vaguely make out a familiar, angelically beautiful golden-haired girl subtly smiling at her.

"Milady…"

For a moment, Mina's sorrow-filled face brightened up a little, an embarrassed smile on her lips, then her consciousness drifted away, causing her to finally fall asleep. Tears were still occasionally dripping out of the corners of her eyes, but her mental state seemed to have markedly improved.

While he was continuing to pat his most loyal pet's head, a slew of system notifications suddenly flooded Isaac's field of view.

[ Subordinate Mina Teagle has acknowledged secondary host Ais Wallenstein.

Her loyalty towards the latter will henceforth be displayed as the stat 'Loyalty (Ais)'.

Your secondary host will also be able to view this stat. ]

[ Mina Teagle's loyalty has increased by 1. ]

[ Mina Teagle's loyalty has reached the maximum.

A new stat will be generated for her...

Mina Teagle has been bestowed with the stat 'Devotion'.

Quest 'Make one subordinate's loyalty reach the maximum.' completed. 100 AP rewarded. ]