{"product_id":"signed-print-battle-scarred-im-an-isekai-hero-of-course-im-fighting-a-demon-lord-monster-girl-tamer-2-paperback-copy","title":"SIGNED PRINT [BATTLE SCARRED]: I'm an Isekai Hero! Of Course I'm Fighting a Demon Lord (Monster Girl Tamer #2) (Paperback)","description":"\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #00aaff;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eOccasionally I get weird books in my stock that are generally good quality, but have minor errors that make them not-full-price-worthy. These are some of those books! If you don't mind a copy that's a little less-than-perfect, though - here, have $5 off! :D\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #00aaff;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBook Two in the Monster Girl Tamer series. Published by Spice Rack Press.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #00aaff;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout this premium SIGNED PAPERBACK:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #00aaff;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eSigned by Edie Skye. \u003cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-d364ed80-7fff-a1ab-7c6d-e9d4ac79ce1b\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWant a personalized signature? Let us know in the comment box when you check out! \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #00aaff;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePrefer a different format? \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/store.holowriting.com\/pages\/monster-girl-tamer\"\u003eClick here.\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/edieskye.com\/book\/blood-knight\/\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"short-description std\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"two-thirds first genesis-author-pro-book-description\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eA thicc cowgirl with a thicker accent. A bookish succubus with an absurd secret. A demon, goblin, and oni girl who’re as chaotic as they are good.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eAnd they’re going to defeat a demon lord … how?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eIt’s been three months since Axel Hunter Radcliff fell through a magic portal into another world of dangerous monsters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHailing from a family of Chosen Ones, he’s trained his whole life to be a hero. He just didn’t expect destiny to involve taming monster girls into semi-civilized adventurers. Or training them to form his tactical harem.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOr their giant robots. Or their conspicuous anime tropes. Or the geeky succubus “Sexy Wizard” who transformed them in the first place.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen a new minotaur girl shows up at his hot spring, he realizes the Sexy Wizard needs his help, too. She’s been captured by some of her own creations—but this time there’s a twist. These dragon ladies used to be two of his monster hunting friends, Jaz and Pix.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith all the isekai tropes tied up in his destiny, Axel expected a demon lord. What he didn’t expect was Demon Lord Jaspartina “Jaz” Red and her Demon Lord General Tailer “Pix” Weaver!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd, after a mere three months, he doesn’t have the stats to face his final boss.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFortunately, his magic power grows with his romantic bonds. And he has a whole harem of devoted monster girls eager to help raise his stats.\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eWARNING:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eMonster Girl Tamer\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis a fun isekai LitRPG fantasy action adventure where the hero saves the day and gets\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eall\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003ethe girls. (So don’t read it and then complain about the spice. Y’all know exactly what you’re getting into.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #00aaff;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis product is a premium paperback novel.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #00aaff;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePrefer a different format? \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/store.holowriting.com\/pages\/monster-girl-tamer\"\u003eClick here.\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/edieskye.com\/book\/blood-knight\/\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cimg style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0718\/5471\/9267\/files\/Depositphotos_4583318_S_100x100.jpg?v=1675805195\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n \n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #00aaff;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEnjoy a sample from I'M AN ISEKAI HERO! OF COURSE I'M FIGHTING A DEMON LORD\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ePROLOGUE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\nThe summons came by Howitzer Beetle.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eMore precisely, it came when the beetle buzzed through Jaz’s balcony bug net, blasted a stone through Pix’s bedroom window, then shouted “Hunters, I require you!” in a familiar, regal voice. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eThe Howitzer Beetle was distinct for the tube that ran from nasal opening to back. Articulate hind legs allowed it to toss debris inside, which it would then project at lethal, or at least very attention-getting speeds. This, combined with its ability to imitate speech like a parrot, made it Harly’s messenger of choice. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eFor, when the fusillade of a Howitzer Beetle woke you up, you answered.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eSo it was that Pix and Jaz rushed through the jungle.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I can just smell the gems already!” Jaz practically drooled, bounding through a patch of carnivorous plants with all the enthusiasm of a track and field junkie. “Harly’s probably got an incredible bounty for us. Why else would she wake us up like that?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003ePix wove nimbly around the same obstacle—just as fast but much less noisily.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“It can’t be a regular bounty. There’s something else afoot here.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eTailer “Pix” Weaver and Jaspartina “Jaz” Red matched as well as deep-fried potatoes and pepperpickle ice cream—which was to say, they shouldn’t have, but they did. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003ePix, nicknamed thus for her bright red pixie cut, ran in a dark set of full-body leather armor with a heavily marked-up Hunter’s Handbook hanging from a shoulder strap. The scabbard at her waist held a vertically-split blade with a revolving cylinder sandwiched between its forte and hilt, but she clutched the book in a way that suggested she’d rather solve problems than fight them. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eJaz, meanwhile, sprinted in a plate mail bikini top segmented for maximum jiggle, red leather hot pants, and sunglasses on her sporty black hair. An enormous monsterbone greatsword bounced on one shoulder, her hand on its hilt in the manner of one who solved problems by bashing first. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Now that you mention it”—Jaz somersaulted over a log—”how did Harly get her voice in the beetle? It’s not like she can talk. Not like us, anyway.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“That’s why I’m suspicious,” Pix replied.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eThey knew the path well and soon pushed aside teal ferns to unveil an idyllic clearing, marked by a majestic waterfall that nourished the glen’s rolling greenery. A sweeping wonderland of butterflies and bioluminescent bugs fluttered about like fairy dust.\u003cbr\u003eIn the center of that whirl stood the woman.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eShe towered seven feet tall, including her headpiece, which resembled an old-timey wimple merged with a jester’s hat—or perhaps horns. Yes, more likely horns, for though her clothing brimmed fierce with color, it also brimmed fierce with armor. Sea green chitinous pieces hugged her voluptuous curves, except where they flared out into bustle or ballgown-esque flourishes. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eThe support was probably necessary, for the firm neckline of the chest plate cupped a pair of breasts so voluminous Pix half-expected them to attract satellites. Her face was sharp, with pouty, glamorous lips—and as if all that didn’t command sufficient attention, the jungle sun refracted through the sequin-like gems on her armor, casting a vibrant explosion of color through her immediate area.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eJaz flicked down her sunglasses to ease the eye strain.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eThe mysterious fashionista faced them with an imperious sneer.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Finally, someone competent enough to help! Do you see this? My skeleton is on the inside!”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eThe voice was identical to the Howitzer Beetle’s.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Harly?” Pix exclaimed. “Is that you?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Of course it’s me! How could you confuse this armor with anyone else’s? Even if what it contains is disgusting.” \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eJaz frolicked up to examine Harly’s new shape. “So this isn’t a new form for fashion hunter week?” \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Of course not!” \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“But you’d kill it on the catwalk!”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I kill wherever I please.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I mean dress to kill.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I kill however I please, whether through violence or fashion, but that’s beside the point! Why would I change my original form? I was perfect! And now my beautiful skeleton is ON THE INSIDE!”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I … can see how that’d be disturbing for you,” Pix mused.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eFor most people, that condition would have been the opposite of a problem—but Harly was not most people. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eWhether she was a person at all was up for debate within the Society for the Exploration of the Monstrous Continent, because she was more commonly known as the Harlequin Mantis. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eHer typical form was that of a three-story-tall mantid monster, her exoskeleton shaped into the chitin equivalent of a puffy-sleeved ballgown, and her antennae swept up into a playfully fashionable headdress. Gems grew along the spines that formed her artificial bustle, granting her a natural scattering of jewelry, and rendering her, truly, one of the most beautiful creatures on the continent. She rarely left her clearing to cause trouble, so the Society’s hunters usually left her alone.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eUntil one hunter hadn’t.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eUntil Jaspartina Red had gotten it in her head to stick an Earworm in the mantis’ ear … and through the telepathy it granted, learned she was a captivating conversationalist. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eToo captivating to be of purely monster intelligence. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eWhich begged the question: What made a person a person, and a monster a monster, if some monsters could think like people?\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eHarly’s present form only complicated this question. Pix circled the woman more analytically than her partner.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“This wasn’t a voluntary transformation?” \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Absolutely not! What use would I have for this nonsense?” Harly smacked the side of her breasts. The resulting motion was the kind of absurd, hypnotic display that men would spend small fortunes to see on stage, even from the cheapest and most suspiciously stained of seats.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eEven Jaz decided she wanted a closer look. She laid her greatsword on the ground, clicked a few gems to new positions, then mounted it like a surfboard. In a burst of pink and red flames, the rocket-powered greatsword conveyed her above and before Harly, because of course Jaz would customize her greatsword for flight.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eShe brought the greatsword into a flame-plumed hover and bent in for a conspicuous look.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Wow. You could make bank in Skull Harbor with jugs like that. Could you imagine the striptease? Is your armor removable, or is it part of you? That could complicate things if—”\u003cbr\u003eHarly waved a dismissive hand, the pointy tips of her hard elbow-length “gloves” rendering her all the more imperious.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I’m not interested in such crass activities, nor men who won’t let me rip their heads off at the end of the night. Really, your legalities are so frustrating. How’s a female supposed to get off under those conditions? We monsters have no concept of ‘murder’ and we get along just fine.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eIn retrospect, Pix thought, perhaps the casual acceptance of murder-for-the-purposes-of-arousal was the difference between people and monsters.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“We don’t rip the heads off our partners,” she said with a shiver.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Oh, you poor, sheltered thing. The permanence of the death is part of the pleasure.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003ePix flailed her hands. “Can we stop talking about mantis mating rituals and get to why you called us here?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“If you wish.” Harly gestured to herself with a revolted sneer. “I wish this handled. This humanoid spine is insufficient to support these monstrosities, and my back aches. I’ll pay you every gem on the last carapace I shed to capture the person who caused this and force him to change me back.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Not that I don’t appreciate the offer, but why hire us?” Jaz asked, taking a seat on her still-hovering greatsword. “You were a badass motherfucker in your original form, and you’re just a hotter BAMF in this one. Heck, you can one-shot most monsters when you want to, and now you’ve got built-in distractions!” She lowered her sunglasses at Harly’s chest.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“That’s just it; I don’t want to. I want to stay cozy by my waterfall eating bugs and sunbathing while I pay competent peasants to solve my problems for me.” She tilted her chin, then added, “You’re the peasants.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I can’t say we’d mind the pay.” Pix shrugged, long used to Harly’s insults.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“You know it’s a person?” Jaz asked. “Not some random magic or artifact from the sky or whatever?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Where exactly did your change happen?” Pix inquired.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I was on a day trip to the Hellpits,” Harly said. “Its springs are quite invigorating, and their minerals fortify my exoskeleton nicely.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I thought you hated water,” Pix said. “Wasn’t that why you didn’t help us with the Screecher last time?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Hot springs are different. They’re soothing for both the chitin and the soul, and they don’t have fish shit in them. Anyway, I was preparing to leave when someone ran by my spring. I felt odd afterward, like I do when I’m in the mood to rip off some good head.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“You mean you were horny?” Jaz guessed.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I believe that’s your equivalent. Anyway, my body began to change soon after, and then my exoskeleton ejected me, in this form! The nerve! My own exoskeleton! The only coinciding event was the passing hunter, so I know he’s responsible.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“You’re sure it’s a man?” Pix asked.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“No, but what other sort of person would saddle me with these ridiculous things?” She slapped her breasts again, eliciting yet another hypnotic gazong! “I’m not even a mammal!”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003ePix and Jaz traded a glance. It had been some time since the last incident, but this situation sounded awfully similar to one they’d encountered two months ago. The monsters involved had been much lower level than Harly, but they’d still been turned into sexy Thicc Variant monster girls, all by a passing mysterious figure.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eBut given Harly’s … open-mindedness toward killing, Pix wanted to approach the situation carefully.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I have some ideas,” Pix began, “but first I want to—”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Sounds like the Sexy Wizard is behind this!” Jaz declared.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003ePix sighed. Of course Jaz would blurt out what she’d hoped to hide.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eHarly’s eyes perked with fresh interest. “The Sexy Wizard? Oh my. Can you describe his head for me? How satisfyingly do you think his neck would snap?” She shivered, the thought already making her wet, or whatever the Thicc Harlequin Mantis equivalent was. \u003cbr\u003ePix didn’t know and wasn’t curious enough to find out.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“The wizard isn’t a man.” \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eHarly drooped. “And here I thought this might take an interesting turn.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“The Society’s already investigating her,” Pix continued, referring to the Society for the Exploration of the Monstrous Continent. “She’s turned at least two other monsters into monster girls.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Have any turned back?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“No, but they don’t seem to be in any hurry to.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Why not?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“They’re gettin’ good dick,” Jaz chimed, then perked with an idea of her own. “Do you think Harly’s meant to be one of Axel’s monster girls?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“‘Meant to be’?” Harly furrowed her brow. “Who is this ‘Axel’ and what does he have to do with the Sexy Wizard?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“He’s a Chosen One and he’s collecting monster girls to save the world or whatever. He’s wooed every monster girl the wizard’s created thus far into his harem, so maybe you’re a candidate? I mean, if he’s going to save the world, it’d be helpful to have a girlfriend with a magic beam cannon.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I am not a bug to be collected!” Harly snarled. “Nor am I a monster girl! These”—she smacked her breasts again—”are quite womanly traits!”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“What trope would she even fit?” Pix asked, trying to downplay the suggestion. “Don’t all Axel’s monster girls fit some kind of … He called it an ‘anime’ trope?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Oh! Yandere, definitely.” Jaz plunged into one of her pouches with the enthusiasm of a feral raccoon who’d just found a whole dumpster of crack, only to produce a beaten-up paperback featuring a sparsely-clothed, pointy-eared woman whose proportions defied the esoteric laws of time, space, physics only bespectacled bow tie-wearing sci-fi authors cared about, and probably a few RPG rule sets. The title of this Most Important Literary Work was The Second Coming of Beeflord Assgetter. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“It’s not anime,” Jaz continued, “but according to Axel, its tropes line up pretty closely. We talked about it during last month’s book club meeting. Anyway, wanting to rip a dude’s head off after sex definitely falls into the crazy girlfriend category, which is yandere to a T.”\u003cbr\u003e“Yandere isn’t generic crazy,” Pix countered. “Based upon what Axel said, the yandere is crazy for the male lead, at the expense of people who threaten him.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“What sort of book club is this?” Harly snatched the book from Jaz’s hands and thumbed through it.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“If anything, Harly’s the Princess trope,” Pix continued.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Oh, that’s a much better fit!” Jaz exclaimed. “Harly, give us a laugh.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eHarly raised the back of her hand to her mouth and unleashed a high-pitched, musical, “OH-HO-HO-HO!” that left no doubt as to who was the most infuriatingly entitled of all royalty in the land. At least, until it devolved into a cackle worthy of a witch who’d finally gotten fed up with the princess’ shit and had a wicked curse waiting for her.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Maybe Harly’s just Harly,” Pix observed with a shrug.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I am not just me; I am absolutely me,” Harly preened. “But tell me more of this Axel, Sexy Wizard, and monster girl dick-getting. Is it truly so spectacular that it earns their complete allegiance?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“There’s more to it than that, I think,” Pix said. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“The hot springs and the game nights are big pluses, too,” Jaz added.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Hot springs?” Harly’s antennae-horns wiggled. “Is this where the dick happens?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Um, Harly?” Pix began nervously. “We know you’re a colossal eldritch-class monster, and in no way obliged to listen to us—”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Yes.” Harly said it as a statement of fact rather than a question.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“But if you woo Axel, could you please not rip off his head? He’s the first useful Chosen One that’s fallen through the Skies, ever.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“And he lets us come to Raging Cliff Hot Springs whenever we want,” Jaz chimed.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Ah! I see the opportunity for a trade, then. You capture the Sexy Wizard and force her to change me back, and I’ll spare this eligible friend of yours.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Which also gives Axel motivation to help us find her!” Jaz exclaimed. “Win win! We could enlist him and his monster girls to help!”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“No!” Pix snapped. “Axel has nothing to do with this!”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Why not? He’s already trying to find the Sexy Wizard!”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Yes, but—Skies dammit, Jaz. He’s not trying to find her for the same reason Harly is. Or even the Society.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Why’s your Society trying to find her?” Harly asked.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Because she’s turning monsters into powered-up monster girls,” Pix explained. “Axel’s tamed all the monster girls so far, but eventually she’s going to create one that’s a genuine danger. The Society wants to find her before she does that.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Why’s this ‘Axel’ trying to find her, then, if not to stop the danger she presents?” Harly took on a pensive look. “Does he want to force her to make more?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“No, he’s not like that. He thinks she’s a monster girl, too, and he wants to help her.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Well. That just won’t do.” Harly crossed her arms and glared. “No one who moves my skeleton gets away with it.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“What do you mean?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Maybe I’ll eat her. After she changes me back, of course.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“That would be murder,” Pix stated firmly.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Yes, I know how your laws work, much as I disagree with them. You’re only allowed to kill monsters—” Harly’s eyes gleamed. “Wait. If she’s a monster girl, does she count as a monster, or as a girl? Do the murder laws not apply to her? How does it work?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eThat, too, was a subject under debate at the Society. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“The Society doesn’t allow us to act as hit men,” Pix replied. “Or in a way that makes us complicit in such behavior. We’ll help the Sexy Wizard turn you back, but we’re not going to let you kill her.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“What if I throw in an extra carapace of gems?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Our morals aren’t for sale.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Mine are,” Jaz said, and Pix glared at her. “What? I’m just being honest here.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eHarly regarded them with an air of frustration, then shrugged the matter aside.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“I appreciate your honesty, and I suppose I can be satisfied with merely being changed back. When it comes down to it, you’ve done good work for me before. There are no other hunters I’d rather hire.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Aww, thanks!” Jaz beamed. “There’s no other mantis I’d consider taking morally-questionable bounties from!”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“We’ll set off to the area of the Hellpits where you encountered the Sexy Wizard as soon as possible,” Pix said, “and report back once we know something.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eA snide, sly smile slipped across Harly’s face. “Oh, you won’t be going alone.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Pardon?” Pix’s face quirked.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“What’s that face for?”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“You just had the most insidious smile I’ve ever seen.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“Did I really?” Harly raised both hands and patted her soft, squishy cheeks. “I suppose I shall have to get used to facial expressions, too. Skies, I hate this body. I miss having a face that doesn’t emote.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e“What do you mean we won’t be going alone?” \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eHarly stopped squishing her face. “You said there were two other monster girls. Your information is outdated. There is another, and she works for me.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: start;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eShe raised the back of her hand to her lips. Another villainous princess laugh trilled through the jungle, echoing with the weight of a whole lot of foreshadowing.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Spice Rack Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55485881385251,"sku":"MGT2-DAMAGED","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0718\/5471\/9267\/files\/Monster_Girl_Tamer_2_Battle_Scarred_Shopify.png?v=1787145187","url":"https:\/\/store.holowriting.com\/products\/signed-print-battle-scarred-im-an-isekai-hero-of-course-im-fighting-a-demon-lord-monster-girl-tamer-2-paperback-copy","provider":"Jacob \u0026 H.P. Holo ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}