Another day, another meeting. Laura hated them and didn't understand why mortals bothered with such things. For Zenesha's sake she tried to pay attention and give her opinion when she felt it was needed, but most of the time she stayed silent behind the fox.
Most of the time anyway.
"If Laura is that powerful, why don't we just send her to kill the leader of the White Ash?"
"Because that wouldn't work the way you think it will." Zenesha answered exasperated. "You think just killing the leader is enough Iris?"
Iris, who was both, questioned by her boss, and having the other Condor's in the room give her questioning looks suddenly felt embarrassed. She didn't mean for anyone to hear what she said either. It was just a passing thought that accidently slipped out of her mouth.
"I- well, no I didn't…. No Ma'am." She responded, stumbling over her words.
Zenesha's face never changes, but her expressionless face looks especially icy right now looking down on Iris. She was extremely annoyed especially since it wasn't just them and the Condor's in the room. As expected, the other officers who didn't know what Laura was glanced her way with a questioning look.
"Good. That method wouldn't work anyway." Zenesha said before returning to the meeting at hand.
Laura stayed silent but she agreed with Zenesha. Even if she were to reveal herself and forcefully kill the leader of the White Ash that wouldn't solve anything. There were still the domestic issues they would need to deal with after all.
Sure, she could try using the overwhelming strength to threaten subservience, but that only works when she's around. She wouldn't be able to micromanage everything. Plus, it'll be easier to get normal people to follow Zenesha if she's the one to do the actual work.
There was also the fact if they try building their power off of her, it'll all fall apart the moment she's gone. It was a short-sighted solution, and she would much rather have Zenesha be in the spotlight. Fame didn't suit Laura after all.
"Ma'am you can't join in with the initial front." One of the officers said, pulling Laura out of her thoughts.
The wolf glanced at the fox in front of her but didn't say anything. She didn't agree with the idea of Zenesha putting her life on the line, but leading a war from the front is inspiring. Putting your own life on the lie is one way to gain loyalty.
Of course, as long as she's nearby the fox's life won't ever truly be in danger. The masses didn't need to know that.
"It'll just be the initial battle." Zenesha said. "To show I'm serious about this. Then I'll stick to the sidelines as much as possible then rejoin when we storm their capital."
"I'll also be there to protect her in case anything happens." Laura pointed out.
While the other officers in the room looked doubtful, the four Condor's simply nodded their heads in agreement.
"I would also like to add that Laura will take points whenever she's on the field, understood? Her words are mine."
"Yes Ma'am." A cacophony of voices said in response.
The meeting continued on as normal after that, as they figured out the logistics and how their actions would correlate with New Veroso.
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Once the meeting was over and everyone left, Laura stretched her body when they were inside their shared office. She can confirm that mortal meetings were just as terrible as they've always been. Again, she didn't understand why they did such tedious tasks when even they seemed to hate them.
"What's left on the agenda Zenesha?" Laura asked.
"Nothing much, right now most of our meetings are just reconfirming things or adjusting others. We'll be ready to move out soon."
"Wait really?"
"Yes really."
Laura smiled at this. This meant soon they won't need to be in anymore meetings; she'll get to stretch her legs! She also hasn't traveled by boat before and was excited to do that. Plus, it'll give her an excuse to stay in a confined space with Zenesha all alone.
She hoped the close proximity would mean extra cuddles!
"Actually, this is a pretty big deal, right?" Laura confirmed as a thought suddenly came to her.
"I mean this is a proper war. Not just some skirmishes on the border." She confirmed.
"Great. Before we leave, I have a plan!" Laura said excitedly. "Just give me some time and I'll let you know when I'm done!"
Before Zenesha could give a response, Laura was already gone. The fox blinked in surprise before sighing exasperated and smiling to herself. Whatever her silly little wolf had planned obviously excited them, meaning she was excited.
Looking down at her desk, she suddenly didn't feel like working anymore. With Laura helping her with paperwork recently she no longer spent as much time working as before, so she felt safe leaving it for the day. Instead, she decided to visit Tart.
=======
Laura found herself at a fancy restaurant dressed in the nicest clothes she could create from her normal uniform. Whenever she transformed her outfits, the material didn't change so the fact her bodyguard outfit was already made from high quality materials was useful. This meant her clothes both looked nice and of high quality.
"Thank you very much, we hope to see you soon." The Host said as Laura left the restaurant.
"Okay, next is…." Laura muttered to herself as she transformed her clothes to look like normal.
After the incident with the tracksuit wearing Forsaken Laura had been trying to think of other ways she could return to Zenesha's side in an emergency. She could mark her, but she was still unsure how that'll affect the fox herself. There were so few documents of her kind marking a person.
However, something occurred to her. An alternative that has never been considered because why would it? It was absurd and completely out there. However it worked, she could avoid marking Zenesha until she cut herself off from the void at the very least.
"Even if I really, really want to mark her." She sighed.
Though her alternative solution was about as personal as it can possibly get for someone from the void. A slight blush crept up her face as she thought about giving Zenesha her…. It was embarrassing!
While her mind was occupied with her plans for later that night, she happened to pass a jeweler. She paused and looked at the store with a satisfied smile on her face. She needed to come to one of these places and was glad she ran into one by accident.
"Perfect."
Pulling the door to the store open, Laura stepped inside. It was quiet with glass displays showing jewelry filling the area. Laura looked around looking a little lost, and one of the employees seemed to have noticed.
They eyed her at first, but noticing the quality of her clothes, realized she most likely had plenty of money and one of them walked up to her with a wide smile.
"Welcome dear patron how may I help you today?" The Dwarven man asked politely.
Laura was only mildly surprised by his presence but quickly got over it. Like most Dwarves in most worlds and realities he was short and stocky with a thick beard. Of course, since he was working, he wore black pants, a white dress shirt and a red vest.
"Ah, yes I'm looking to get my girlfriend a gift." She answered.
"Oh? An anniversary present?"
"No, but it's for something… personal." She answered vaguely.
"Was there something specific you were looking for or are you looking for suggestions?"
"I have an idea already. Do you happen to have any sapphire framed by mithril?"
"What a wonderful choice Ma'am. Follow me." the Dwarf said as they walked to the back display counter where transactions are done.
They stepped behind the counter and through a door that led to the backroom. When they emerged, the stocky Dwarf was holding a small black box. Using a stepping stool nearby, he stepped up to the counter and placed the box on top.
"You're in luck, I just made a fine set of jewelry made from mithril." He said with a smirk.
"Should've guessed you made your own."
The Dwarf gave a hearty laugh as he opened the small box, revealing a simple looking necklace. The central sapphire was cut to look like a teardrop, framed by the silver like metal with a light blue tinge. It was perfect.
Laura knew Zenesha preferred simple instead of extravagant and a necklace like this was perfect. While she admired the piece of jewelry a thought accrued to her.
"Wait, aren't things like this supposed to be more custom ordered?" She asked. Sure, she did specifically request this, but she wasn't expecting to actually get what she asked for. "Wait, how did you even make this without a witch to create pure flame and a forge?"
"I'm a Dwarf. We've had our own special type of magic for a while now. Same as how those Elves got their nature magic."
"... I see." Laura said simply. She'll worry about this information later. "Anyway, why did you even make this?"
"Ah, a young woman had come in requesting I make jewelry specifically out of mithril, before I knew it I made several. More than what she asked for." He answered sheepishly. "She said she needed them for an experiment of some kind?"
'Sounds like a witch to me.' Laura thought to herself, amazed she managed to run into two different people that could be immensely helpful to her.
"So, this is just extra stock that's taking up space?"
"That's right. Lucky for me, no matter how plain, jewelry made from mithril will always sell for a high price."
"You're right about that." Laura agreed. "So how much?"