I left Chancellor Vastraea’s tower through the magic circle and found myself in the hallway in front of the entrance again.

Great... So the Head Chancellor’s a Comissar who is also a fanatic of the goddess she serves...

I’m going to need to be careful around her from now on... I have a feeling if I stay around her too much, she’s going to call me ’Apostle’ in front of other people and that secret is going to be exposed.

I turned towards the entrance and stepped through it, walking out to the exterior of the building where Katsuki still remained standing waiting for me the entire time.

She bowed immediately upon seeing me, "Welcome back, Mistress."

"Sorry for making you wait, Katsuki... It went on for longer than I thought it would..."

She straightened herself, "It is what is expected of me, Mistress."

One of the guards standing at the doorway turned to me, giving me an odd look as he did so, "You’ve got a really dedicated friend here, huh? Are you some kind of noble or something?"

Dedicated friend? Ah... I think it’s because the enchantment on Katsuki’s maid uniform is hiding the fact that she’s a maid and people perceive her as just another student.

I wonder what it looks like from their end? And whether they actually hear her call me ’Mistress’?

Well... Since they don’t see her as my maid...

I reached out and pulled Katsuki by her waist so that she was flushed against my side, "She’s not my friend. She’s my lover~"

I then went ahead to give my Inugami maid a kiss on her cheek, causing her tail to wag very noticeably behind her even as she tried to maintain her usual poker face.

So cute~

The guard simply smiled and nodded, "Ah, that explains. You two seem very close."

I understood that was his way of ending the conversation so I simply smiled at him and led Katsuki away while keeping my arm wrapped around her waist.

I waited until we were out of sight from the guards before turning Katsuki to me, my Inugami lover making a surprised gasp when I did so.

Without giving her a chance to compose herself, I leaned forward and captured her lips in a deep kiss, enjoying the taste of her lips.

She let out a surprised moan before letting herself melt into the kiss, her hands shifting up to hold my waist shyly while I rolled my tongue inside her mouth.

Only when I was satisfied did I pull back, leaving a saliva trail between mine and her lips.

Katsuki still had the lost look on her face when I broke the kiss and needed a minute before she finally recovered and she immediately straightened herself, acting like she hadn’t just blissed herself out from the kiss.

I giggled at her before sliding my hand into hers, entwining our fingers together.

"Mmm... It’s still early so I guess we should get something to eat for breakfast?" I pointed out.

"Of course Mistress. We can have anything you want. Shall I inform the others?"

"Mmm... It’s a rare moment so let’s just eat together, just the two of us~"

There was a slight pause from her before she nodded her head, "Understood, Mistress."

I took her back to the market district again, some of the stores already opening up to cater to the morning crowd.

I wonder why people would still be waking up so early despite the fact that school had not even started yet... What even is there to do around here so early in the morning?

My question was answered partially when I brought Katsuki to a building that was something like a tavern crossed with an inn.

Inside the dining area, I found myself walking through tables filled with students that were not only wearing the robes of the academy but also wearing armour and weapons underneath them. Equipment that you might find on someone who was heading to a Dungeon.

I turned to whisper to Katsuki, "Are there Dungeons here?"

She nodded her head, "There are a few, Mistress. It seems like they are open to people of the Academy to explore though there are also rank systems for them."

"Mmm... Are they using the Guild’s rank system?"

"Yes, Mistress. There is also a Guild branch here that also posts Requests. The Dungeons are wellsprings of resources for the Academy so students and even professors would dive into them to get the materials they need. Those who don’t specialise in combat will post Requests for others to take and pay them that way."

That’s interesting, I definitely didn’t know there were Dungeons around here as well. Maybe we can go dive into one later when we’re free?

I wonder what kind of Dungeons they are?

We found a quiet spot for ourselves and Katsuki wanted to help me order but I sat her down beside me and got the attention of the waitress to take the order for us.

It’s funny to see Katsuki squirming beside me while I cuddled her.

I got some breakfast for the both of us and the waitress left to get our order.

In the meantime, I looked around the tavern and I realised that aside from the fact that everyone was wearing the academy robes, this would look just like any other Guild that was filled with Guild members preparing for the day.

But that was when I noticed that there were some people who had additional emblems on their armours or clothing which was different from the academy’s sigil.

"Katsuki? What do those emblems mean?" I asked, gesturing to a group that all had the same emblem on their chest.

Katsuki turned, her tail wagging behind her unconsciously as she tried to figure out what I was asking about.

She spotted the emblems easily enough and turned back to me, "They are a Clan, Mistress."

"A Clan?"

She nodded, "Guild members can also form Clans to work together, Mistress."

"I assume this is basically like a big party?"

"It’s more than that, Mistress. Usually Clans number more than fifty people and the big ones can go above thousands. They’re basically organisations by themselves."

I tilted my head, "What’s the benefit of a Clan?"

"Some people might be good at identifying and gathering materials but not exceptionally good at combat. And constantly having the need to hire escorts could be a drain on their resources especially when the Request is only paying for the materials and not the subjugation of the monsters. So if one such person is in a Clan, they can just work together with their own Clan members to complete the Request together and split the rewards instead of worrying about their escorts demanding pay higher than the reward."

My Inugami maid then gestured to another group of people whom I realised also had the same emblem but were wearing what looked like craftsmen gear instead of combat gear.

"Additionally, people with crafting skills can also work exclusively for Clans and they get paid higher than just being an apprentice at another workshop. Or worry about opening up a workshop to only get no customers afterwards."

"Huh... So Clans are like multiple parties getting together and also hiring support staff to work for them?" I asked.

"That’s correct, Mistress. They are quite organised. Most of the top ranked parties around the World belong to Clans."

"That’s interesting... I wonder why I never seen them before?"

Katsuki tilted her head at me, "You have, Mistress. Even back in Crown Capital City, there were various Clans around there. Some of the buildings are also owned by Clans and they operate out of those buildings."

"Oh... I guess I just never paid attention to them."

Well... To be fair, I didn’t really hang around the Guilds much back then and every time I go there, it’s for our own business and so I tend not to look at the other random people that were inside the Guild either.

That... And also because most of the time, the people inside would be having sex anyway so they would be in various states of undress... And if I paid attention to that, I would get horny and that was something I wanted to avoid before taking a job...

Well... I guess there’s something new to learn everyday.

Speaking of which...

"Should we also make our own Clan then?" I asked, tapping my cheek with a finger. "Or is it not possible because our party has less than fifty people?"

"A Clan is only necessary if you need the facilities that come with it, Mistress. We can function perfectly well as a party on our own so we technically do not need to. Although there is actually no rule to stop us from doing so if we really want to."

Hmm... I guess I might as well ask the girls about it later. Anyway... Where’s our breakfast?