30 Explanations and Invention

A/N: Yo! Sorry for the delay with this chap. To spare you a long winded explanation, I'll just say that my ability to write is entirely psychological, and my psyche likes to stay unpredictable. :)

Take an omake prequel with this chap as an apology.

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"I must say, while I knew Kiyohara-san's strength and have heard plenty a rumour about your own, I still find myself taken aback by what an entertaining spar that was."

Turning my attention away from the women in my arms, I tilt my head Dōman's way at his words.

"How so?" I ask. "What were you expecting of it?"

"I was expecting Kiyohara-san to either lose quickly, or for you to lose quickly," Dōman quickly answers without much care for censure, a wry smile about his lips. "They say that a fight between the strong will either be over in a moment or never end. Hyperbole, of course, but the core of it oft stands true."

I suppose I can see that. Sukuna comes to mind. If I did not know what he was capable of and we were to fight, then it would not be impossible for it to be over in an instant if he would manage to Cleave me into atoms.

But should he fail to end the battle right away, well, I'm unsure exactly how hyperbolic Dōman's figure of speech would be.

With Reverse Cursed Technique being a factor and both of our Cursed Energy reserves being what they are...

Kami I can't wait for the end of our third year. I have no idea how long we will fight, but I am sure I will treasure the memory more than most I have.

Unfortunately, with the excitement in my blood that comes with the thought of our fight to come, so too does a sense of melancholy pervade me.

Not because of Sukuna, not really. Rather, the issue is everyone else. 

No, that's not fair. The issue is me.

My eyes return to Kiyohara's unconscious form, and for a moment, I just feel so empty looking at her. The truth of my feelings is not even difficult for me to discern.

I'm bored.

Perhaps that's not quite right. I am plenty entertained by Jujutsu and by conversation and the wonderous views from my window. Even now, I feel the same warm glow of joy that I felt when I first fought Tamamo. The joy of finally being able to stretch my legs a little bit.

But...

It's just not enough. There is no sense of satisfaction.

She wasn't strong enough. The thought almost makes me want to cry.

Strength brings a freedom to enjoy all I wish to enjoy, and there is plenty. If I were not strong, there would be many things in this world that I would never be able to experience.

My strength is thus a blessing. It is only my strength that will let me live the life that I want to live.

So why do I wish I was weak?

A mirthless laugh leaves my throat at the thought. 

I guess that old saying holds true. People just can't be happy with what we have. Always wanting for that which we do not. The poor wanting to be rich and the rich wanting to be poor, neither is new, though the latter must be more foolish than the former.

"Something the matter?" Dōman asks, snapping me out of my morose thoughts.

At the same time, he snaps me into focus and I realise that I'm being childish. Arrogant too, the one thing I told myself I would not allow my pride to become.

I am a frog in a well. Instead of worrying about such things, I should simply enjoy the views of the well while I can, for in a about two and a half years, I will be leaving it behind.

I am content to ignore the deep pit of my soul that I know will be crushed beyond repair if I find the ocean beyond to be as shallow as the well.

"Nothing to worry about," I respond, my smile feeling more true as I reassure both him and myself. "If you consider that a fight between the strong should be over in an instant or to last a while, then surely our fight would not have been too surprising? It was hardly quick, after all."

Dōman chuckles lightly at that before giving me a knowing look. "Your fight was neither quick nor was it long. And I believe that it certainly could have been shorter."

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Dōman's eyes turn somewhat serious as he faces me fully, though his voice still seems somewhat amused. "I mean that that was not a fight between the strong."

He lets the statement linger for a second. "Kiyohara-san is not your equal. You allowed the fight to drag on. You fought her like a teacher hoping to push his student higher."

Ah, I've been caught. In fairness though, if I didn't help her grow then she wouldn't have been able to threaten me much at all, which would have been incredibly boring.

I suppose that semantic doesn't really matter though.

So instead I just shrug, lightly so as to not disturb Kiyohara. "It worked, did it not?"

"I suppose so," Dōman chuckles, and we continue our walk in companiable silence.

That is, until a couple minutes later when abruptly Kiyohara starts to stir, letting out a cute little groan in the process.

Dōman and I both freeze, and I am suddenly confronted with the positioning that she is going to be waking up to, but I'm not such an asshole that I'm just going to drop her on the floor, so I just pray she won't wake up and throw a punch.

I've had that happen to me once in my last life, and it left a permanent, if hardly really noticeable, crook to my nose. 

Her features scrunch up for a moment, and then her eyes flutter open, the iridescent orbs snapping into focus far faster than should be normal and immediately locking onto my own.

She casts a quick glance about, observing the surroundings, before her eyes once more return to me, and I give her a smile that feels a mite awkward.

"Mornin'."

Her face flashes through a range of emotions too fast to really discern, but after only a moment, her expression settles on something vaguely amused.

"Why are you holding me?" She asks, her voice calm and casual.

"I did not want to leave you alone in the training hall unconscious," I answer, matching her casual tone as my fears of maybe being sucker punched are disabused.

She raises a brow imperiously at me. "For that I thank you," she starts, somehow managing to sound condescending while thanking me, "But allow me to rephrase. Why are you still holding me?"

"You haven't told me to put you down," I answer with half a shrug, still not wanting to jostle her.

For some reason, my answer makes her chuckle softly, and she tucks her head against my arm, seemingly content to use me as a mobile piece of furniture.

I have no idea what she's thinking, because in my mind there are only so many ways she would have taken her loss and this wasn't one of them.

"No wonder Takiyasha-san is so enamoured by you," she mutters, her eyes closed and tone sleepy enough you'd think she was tucked into bed or something. Well, she did just wake up, even if it was only kind of from a nap. I don't know if it counts as a nap. 

"I didn't realise you were close?" I say, deciding not to comment on the part about Takiyasha's feelings on me for now.

"We are not." Kiyohara hums, and I decide to just keep walking instead of standing around in confusion at Kiyohara's demeanour, Dōman matching my steps. "But I have seen her around, and she wears her feelings openly."

"I guess she does," I agree, recalling Takiyasha noticeable lack of stoicism compared to all the other nobles I've spoken to. "What does this have to do with anything though?"

Kiyohara huffs out a breath, sounding both amused exasperated. "I am of noble birth," she says, her tone as if she is talking to a child. "You are a commoner. If you held me like this anywhere else, it would be a scandal. The fact that you do not even know that much just shows how foreign you are to court politics, and with my eyes, it was difficult not to notice Takiyasha-san's preference towards men uninvolved with politics or nobility. Luckily, there are only Jujutsu Sorcerers here, so it will matter less."

"Do you want me to put you down?" I ask, tilting my head down at her.

"I did not say that," she responds, half looking like she is ready to return to the realm of unconsciousness.

Which is when Dōman snorts a laugh, making Kiyohara languidly open her eyes and tilt her head enough to glare at him.

"Something to say, Dōman?" She says, her tone suddenly a lot more frosty than ten seconds ago.

"Not at all, Kiyohara-san," Dōman responds, though his eyes and tone are alight with a mockery that feels well worn. "It is just unlike you to act like so feminine."

"It is not," Kiyohara rebuts. "I merely struggle to feel anything but contempt when I see your face, such that the feeling overwhelms any femininity that might be present. Though, I suppose it should be nothing new for you to not know a woman's true feelings as a result of only seeing their distain. I hear your mother is quite the lovely woman, yet I am sure she must be little more than an Oni to your eyes that have only ever disappointed her."

Damn. Okay. I almost miss a step at the abrupt turn of conversation from casual to incredibly vitriolic. Seriously, that was so mean I don't even know what to say.

Probably because of the internet inured me to unnecessarily excessive insults, but a large part of me kind of wants to laugh.

Dōman doesn't lose his smile, though it no longer reaches his eyes as he and Kiyohara stare one another down.

"That must be it," Dōman agrees, though his tone is anything but friendly. "Though, it is not all bad. After all, it is surely better to lose a mother who hates me for my birth, than the unimaginable pain that would surely come if I were to have loved my mother dearly when I lost her. Surely that would be just such a terrible thing? Can you imagine it, Kiyohara-san? Can you imagine the terrible pain that losing a beloved mother would cause?"

Under Kiyohara's ever increasingly cold glare, Dōman mimes an obviously fake gasp, bringing his hands up to his mouth and changing his tone to that of sickly sweet and obviously false concern. "Oh! I must apologise, Kiyohara-san. It completely slipped my mind that you do know exactly how that feels. I must give my condolences, the terrible, awful pain you must have felt when your dear departed mother figure died in front of you must have been just oh so terrible."

I suddenly really don't want to be here right now. I think I underestimated how much these two disliked one another.

"I'll kill you," Kiyohara threatens, though she says it almost casually, like talking about the weather even as her anger bringing the temperature of the entire corridor down and makes me choose lean back a little bit. I'm pretty sure she's not even exaggerating. That she would genuinely kill him given the opportunity.

Scary~.

"Ahem," I cough, causing the two of them to turn their glares on me, which makes my smile twitch slightly and a shiver go down my spine. "So.. You two really don't like each other, huh?"

"I have a special sake set aside to drink the day he dies, as a celebration," Kiyohara answers with a huff, turning away from Dōman and snuggling back into my arms.

"The knowledge that my very being alive annoys her is one of the few things that brightens my day in the morning," Dōman says, giving Kiyohara one last glare before turning his attention forward once more.

If not for the fact that I'm almost entirely sure that they are completely serious, I'd say that they act like siblings. That's a thought I will be keeping to myself. I don't think either of them would take to it kindly.

"Why?" I ask, honestly a little amused.

"That's a long story," Dōman sighs.

"Speaking of though," I say, turning down to Kiyohara and voicing the thought that has been confusing me since she woke up. "I thought you hated me as well, Kiyohara-san?"

Kiyohara cracks open one eye at me and then huffs and turns back into the nook of my arm, muffling her voice against my chest. "I never hated you," she says, and as if realising that that really isn't enough of an answer, she lets out a light sigh and leans back enough to actually look me in the eye.

"I did not hate you," she starts. "You just pissed me off. I hate boring men, but you were never boring. What pissed me off was just the way you looked at me. Tell me, what is your connection with Murasaki Shikibu?"

Under her suspicious glare, I can only tilt my head in confusion. "I- uh. I have no idea who that is?"

Even Dōman gives me a strange look for that. "For real? Murasaki Shikibu? Less well known as Fujiwara no Kaoruko?" He asks, confounded.

I shrug at their clear doubt. "I didn't grow up around all this stuff remember? Jujutsu and noble society is still new to me."

"It is an easy thing to forget," Dōman muses. "The number of Sorcerers that did not grow up with Sorcery as a part of their life is incredibly small. Mostly because those of any decent potential that are born outside of a clan tend to die young, as their uncontrolled Cursed Energy attracts Curses like moths to an open fire."

"Interestingly enough, the only other Sorcerer I can think of who grew up outside of the clans would be another Special Grade," Kiyohara says. "Just shows what is needed to survive without the adequate knowledge."

"How many Special Grades are there again?" I ask. I'm pretty sure I know the number, but there's no harm in double checking.

"Five now that Michizane is gone. That includes you, by the way," Kiyohara answers. "But we have gotten off topic. Murasaki Shikibu is the woman who raised me for a good part of my childhood."

Also the woman Dōman must have just used to mock her, I hear without it being said.

"They say that Michizane was The Strongest Sorcerer of his generation, maybe ever, at least until he met you." I grin at her teasing tone. "However, this was not true. The Strongest Sorcerer of the previous generation was Murasaki Shikibu. They never fought, but I know she would have won. If not for the Curse that was placed on her..."

Kiyohara trails off, and though she does not cry, I do ignore a quite sniffle. Even Dōman has the decency to pretend not to notice it, despite his earlier words.

"Regardless," Kiyohara continues after a moment, strength returned to her voice. "The reason you pissed me off back then is because you looked at me with the same eyes as Murasaki used to."

"How so?"

Kiyohara sighs, dropping her head back against my chest. "With my eyes, it is impossible to hide things from me," she starts, and I can imagine the pain that must come with all the benefits of such eyes. "Murasaki would always compliment my Jujutsu, but my eyes always saw the same lie. She saw something in me, but was constantly disappointed that I was not living up to what she thought me capable of. Yet no matter how hard I pushed myself, I could not live up to the potential she saw in me. No matter how I tried."

She lets out a breath that is only slightly shaky. "When you looked at me back then, my eyes saw the same thing in you. You were disappointed in me. Thought that I could be better than I was. It pissed me off. That you thought you could manipulate me into trying harder just pissed me off even more."

"Aha, you caught that, did you?" I laugh, smiling awkwardly under her deadpan stare.

"What part of my Cursed Eyes do you not understand?"

"Ehe." I smile and stick my tongue out at her. She rolls her eyes, but her lips do quirk up.

"So yes, I did not hate you," Kiyohara continues. "You just annoyed me. However, it would be awfully childish of me to remain annoyed at you now that you have helped me realise the potential that I could not find. Narauko?" I return my eyes to her own to see her smiling softly at me. "Thank you."

"No problem. I had fun." 

"To think I would hear Ōkiyohara no Nagiko ever thank someone," Dōman mocks, the added honorific prefix doing nothing to stop Kiyohara's face from rapidly falling into a scowl.

"You should kill yourself, Dōman. Save us all the trouble of making the world a better place."

"I'm afraid a weak-willed bastard like me lacks the resolve to do such a thing," Dōman retorts. "Perhaps if you give me an example to follow, I might gain the necessary courage? Also, we have arrived."

Coming to a stop with Dōman, I follow his eyes to the door next to us, and before I can say anything, Kiyohara stretches one of her legs out and uses a touch of Cursed Energy on her foot to stick to the door and slide it open with a flick.

"Well?" She asks, and I share a look with Dōman before simply mentally shrugging and stepping inside.

Expectedly, the room is exactly the same as my own, and I make it three steps towards the table in the centre of the room before Kiyohara taps me on the arm and moves to climb out of my hold once she has my attention, something I obviously help her with.

"Sit," she says as she walks to the side of the room, "I will prepare some tea."

With no reason to decline, I walk to the table and seat myself, Dōman doing the same to the side on my right. Probably because if he sat opposite me, then Kiyohara would have to sit on one of his sides, but like this she can be further away from him.

"Have you ever noticed that you seem to always gravitate to wherever the sun is shining when you enter a room?" Dōman asks, and it's only then that I look down and see that my seat is the only one in the sunbeam coming through the open balcony door.

"Sunbeams are warm," I respond with a shrug, and he softly snorts a laugh through his nose.

"I suppose I cannot argue with that," he says before leaning forward and regarding me with more attention than before. "But now that you and Kiyohara-san are done, let's talk."

"Sure. What did you want to talk about?"

"Jujutsu," he quickly answers. "You invented the Black Butterfly Technique, which gives me hope that you might empathise with my feelings. A rare thing."

"How so?" I ask with a raised brow.

"I believe that Jujutsu exists to protect others. That it is the duty of the strong to protect the weak. Survival of the weakest. Do you feel the same?"

"Eeeeehh," I answer, tilting a hand side to side in front of me. "Kinda, but probably not in the way you do."

"Freely sharing how to use your invented Techniques is not the actions of a typical Sorcerer," Dōman says, frowning slightly at the fact I didn't agree with him fully and completely.

I just shrug at that. "So what? I do not protect the weak out of duty, that's stupid. Uh, no offence."

I pause as Kiyohara returns to the table, setting down a cup of tea in front of me and another to my left, where she then sits, closer to me than is really necessary. She didn't bring a cup for Dōman, something he ignores.

"Did you know that your Cursed Energy is warm?" Kiyohara says, interrupting out conversation without batting an eye and leaning into my side contently.

"No? I don't really even know what that means?" I ask, not really flustered, but definitely confused by her closeness. "Should you be so close to me? You are of noble birth, as you say."

"I cannot seduce you from across the room," she blithely responds. "Or do you not like my closeness?"

What. "I have no idea if you are joking, being overly forward, or completely normal right now, and to be honest, I'd like to know which it is before I say anything and accidentally give insult or something."

When in doubt, honesty is the best policy.

Kiyohara chuckles briefly at my words. "I will be clear then," she says. "As a woman of noble birth, it is expected that I will do my duty and marry a man whose connections will raise my clan and give birth to at least one son and preferably more children for the sake of further marriages."

Sometimes I forget that I'm in the past and how much things have changed, or will change, whatever.

"Now, as you are a commoner, marrying you would be out of the question. However, you are also a Special Grade Sorcerer, and my family is a Jujutsu clan. This would not be enough on its own if my family were more significant, such as the Fujiwara or Kamo, but we are only a small clan, so overlooking the identity of your birth is something we can do in light of your strength as a Sorcerer. I mean, normally the Taira clan would never consider marriage with a commoner, no matter the grade. Not unless you were a woman of course, but as a man, you cannot so easily be married into the clan, and they would be loathe to have a Taira found a new clan with a commoner. Of course, their hand has been rather forced with Takiyasha-san's lending you of her sword."

"Wait what, are you saying the Taira clan is considering marrying Takiyasha to me?" I ask. I've obviously noticed her crush, but I figured there'd be some, I don't know, dating beforehand? Foreplay?

Once again, I forgot that I'm in the past. People really jump straight to marriage here.

"Indeed," Kiyohara answers with an amused tilt to her lips. "I expect that some Taira or other will be wanting to speak with you at the capital. Now, as I was saying. You are powerful, you are not ugly, you might be somewhat uneducated, but you are not stupid either, and should you not fall out with the Taira, a marriage between you and Takiyasha seems likely, which would give whatever clan you will eventually birth some potent connections. Thus, you are an attractive prospect. A man who can benefit my clan greatly and whom I may even be able to come to love. So yes, I am attempting to seduce you. Normally there would be a lot more ceremony to such a thing, but I have a feeling you would prefer to keep things simple."

What. This is way too much way too fast, and I am way too young to be thinking about marriage, let alone birthing a clan or whatever.

"Uhhh," I intelligently respond. What am I even supposed to think here? "I mean- Wait, one of the reasons you want to marry me is because you think I'll marry Takiyasha?"

Whatever Kiyohara sees in my face makes her snort. "You truly are a strange man, Narauko. Why would I ever be upset about you taking multiple wives? Who even thinks like that?"

The fact that she genuinely seems baffled, and that even Dōman raises a brow at me in confusion, really kind of makes me feel like an idiot. Not that the idea of having a harem isn't appealing, I'm a guy, but like, what? 

This is just such a clash of culture that I don't think I could explain to them why I would think polygamy strange even if I tried.

I mean, it's not like I can't rationalise it. If marriage to a powerful man can raise a house's standing, then limiting the amount of women such a man could marry also limits the amount of houses that can be raised.

Heh. Communism marriage. Our husband. Damn, I miss memes.

"Well," I say after a slightly awkward moment. "Marriage isn't really something I've put any thought into, and I don't really think it's something I'm quite ready for yet. That said, feel free to keep seducing me, I certainly don't mind."

My solution to all this confusion about marriages that I have no idea what to do with? Just go with the flow and enjoy myself. That's basically how I've been treating everything else anyway. It'll probably all work out in the end. Maybe. Probably.

"Noted," Kiyohara says, whispering the word right into my ear and causing a shiver to go down my spine.

I am being seduced. I do not mind this.

"Ahem," Dōman actually says the word, not even pretending to fake a cough.

"You're still here?" Kiyohara asks, transitioning from flirty to frosty fast enough to seep bipolar.

"You might have missed it, but we were in the middle of a conversation," is Dōman's droll reply.

"Right, what were we talking about?" I ask.

"You were telling me how my sense of duty was stupid," Dōman answers, making me scratch my cheek in slight awkwardness.

"Ah, right, sorry." I pause for a moment to remember the conversation before returning to meet Dōman's eyes with my own. With the current topic, he deserves me to take it seriously. "There is no duty in being strong. That is unfair. Duty is a choice, not a consequence. I help others because I want to. Because seeing my actions cause others to smile makes me happy, not because I have a duty to do so. Besides, if you turn strength into a responsibility, then you'll never really be strong. I am not Narauko because I am The Strongest. I am The Strongest because I am Narauko. Simple, right?"

Dōman doesn't respond right away, thinking through my answer. Even Kiyohara seems somewhat speculative of my words, though she snaps out of her thoughts quickly and sends me a smile that I think is approving.

"I see," Dōman says at length. A moment later, a sigh leaves him. "My apologies, I shouldn't have tried to push my own worldview on you."

"It's fine," I say, waving away the apology with a smile. "We might not agree completely on the specifics, but you're still the first Sorcerer I've met that seems to truly care about non-Sorcerers the same as me."

Kiyohara rolls her eyes, evidently not being one of the few who care about non-Sorcerers.

"Indeed," Dōman says with a smile. "In that case, perhaps you will still be interested in hearing what I wanted to share with you."

I tilt my head and sip at my tea, and he needs no further acknowledgement to continue.

"Did you know that one of the biggest killers of Jujutsu Sorcerers out in the field is the sure-hit effect of Domain Expansion? Many Curses Semi-Grade One and higher have some degree of access to their Domains, but the only Anti-Domain Technique that there is, other than simply expanding your own Domain, is the Hollow Wicker Basket. However, the big clans hoard that technique vociferously, and even then, it isn't the easiest thing to learn for those lacking in exceptional talent."

That last bit catches me a little bit, because it really wasn't difficult at all to learn Hollow Wicker Basket. Even knowing that I'm talented at this stuff, I really struggle to see how anyone could actually struggle to figure that Technique out.

"And so," Dōman continues, gaining spirit as he goes, "I have been trying to invent a new, simpler Anti-Domain Technique that I can spread far and wide for everyone to learn."

I ignore Kiyohara's eyeroll as Dōman starts pushing his Cursed Energy out of his body, causing an unstable sphere of energy to grow from him. It only manages to expand about half a metre from his body before falling apart, but that is enough time for me to see what he's going for, more or less.

"The idea," Dōman huffs, "Is to neutralise the Domain's sure-hit effect by creating an empty Domain that only effects the enemy Domain's barrier, but not the imbued Technique. However, I am still struggling to figure out how to project a Domain's barrier outside of my body without using my Innate Technique."

"Have you tried using your shadow?" I ask. I might be bias because of my Technique, but this seems like a really simple solve to me.

At his raised brow, I close my eyes and try to visualise what I saw of his Technique and the explanation he gave.

Then, I just push my Cursed Energy into my shadow and expand it out into a perfect circle, using my shadow as the base for the Technique instead of my own Innate Technique, as one does with a Domain Expansion.

Opening my eyes, I look down at my shadow, seeing it extended into a perfect circle around me. I also note the extra level of awareness I now have of everything inside of the circle, something I might be able to play around with later.

Dōman doesn't look shocked, thankfully. It gets embarrassing after a while. Still, I decide to explain anyway.

"Cursed Energy belongs inside of our bodies," I say, "But our shadows are a part of us too, a reflection of our soul, and the shadow already exists outside of our bodies. So by forming the Technique in your shadow instead of trying to push it out of your body, it becomes a lot easier, yeah?"

Dōman closes his eyes in focus, and then I watch as his own shadow starts to bubble slightly, and then starting from right beneath him, a perfect circle of bluish Cursed Energy expands, identical to my own save for the fact that my shadow extended with the Technique.

"I see," Dōman hums, "That is indeed a lot simpler."

"Fucking geniuses," Kiyohara scoffs under her breath.

"What do you want to call it?" I ask. "I'm terrible with names so I hope you weren't expecting me to have one on hand."

"Hah, fair enough," Dōman says. "Let's just call it Simple Domain then. No need to be extravagant about it."

"Agreed. Congratulations on your new Technique."

"Our Technique," Dōman says, raising a brow at me, but I just shrug.

"Feel free to take full credit, you've put more work into it than me. And besides, I have already invented a Technique that I will likely be remembered for, and intend to invent more. I don't want my name to be lonely in the future when people look back at us as history."

"I know you mean well," Dōman says deprecatingly. "But it is vaguely insulting to imply that this will be my only historically memorable achievement, but not your own."

"...My bad."

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A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

I have been sleeping a lot lately.

Pretty sure I remember some people asking about it, so voila, the invention of the New Shadow Style. A joint effort!

Also, cuz I couldn't really find a way to get Kiyohara to say it and Narauko doesn't know and Dōman wouldn't say, but Dōman is actually a genius when it comes to Jujutsu Techniques, like barriers and shikigami and stuff. But obviously Kiyohara wouldn't have complimented him.

Also also, marriage. How the fuck do you even approach that subject? I'm just gonna keep winging it, but I'll prolly need to refresh my memory on how marriages worked in the heian era when it becomes relevant.

Oh, and this chap should answer the harem question, for anyone who's gotten this far without hearing me answer it. Monogamy is more weird than polygamy in Narauko's position, so while I don't intend for him to ever be a harem protag, he is obv gonna have a harem.

Also also also, we might be getting close to the first smut, in fact, I might have written it by now if not for the fact that I got distracted by a side quest lol, which you can see on my patreon ;P 5 chaps ahead ;);)