Chapter 4 (2): A quest
Since we'd finished that conversation, I took down the barriers and we walked back into the guild, where the rest of Ninya's party was waiting for us.
"So, what are we doing today?" (Ninya)
"There's a town that was attacked by a lesser wyvern a few hours walk away from here, so we're going to scout out its den and report back, without seeking combat. Of course, if we get attacked, we can defend ourselves. It's a B ranked request, but we'll be fine. It's just scouting, right?" (Bradley)
Shion and Irene were holding their heads in their hands, Van was scratching the back of his head while grimacing, and Bradley was grinning smugly. Ninya, to her credit, managed to keep a poker face, but I looked disappointed. Of course, that was intentional, I was actually somewhat excited about the quest.
"Ouch. Sorry to hear that girlie, looks like you won't be joining them on their quest after all. You must be sad about that, I could tell you were looking forward to some fun or earning some money" (Adventurer B)
"No, I'm sad about how easy and laid-back today is going to be" (Ryuu)
"Yeah, staying at home is pretty easy and laid-back compared to being out in the field hunting horned wolves, bears, and so on, but it's safer for someone like you than a lesser wyvern" (Adventurer C)
"No, I'm sad about the fact that it's only a lesser wyvern, and only one. Well, also that the request is just scouting, not subjugation" (Ryuu)
The people nearby started roaring with laughter at that, but our group still went up to the counter to register me as part of the party (temporarily) and then left. I imagine that the people in the guild were mostly thinking about how I was probably going to die or come running back with my proverbial tail between my legs.
Two hours later, we got to the town that was attacked, and learned that they had seen the wyvern circling and then descending around a nearby mountain a few times, so that's where our search started. Half an hour after that, we found what was probably its den, but it wasn't there. When we turned back towards the town to report it, we found two winged lizards, one green, one blue, glaring at us from the sky.
"So, uh... remember how I was complaining about there only being one? There're two, it seems... and they seem to be a mating pair. I wonder if they have a few eggs in there?" (Ryuu)
"Those aren't A ranked lesser wyverns... Those are greater wyverns. A single one is an SS rank monster. We're so dead... I wish I could have gotten laid like Ninya did before I died..." (Bradley)
"I'd punch you, but I think that will wait until after we beat these things" (Ninya)
"BEAT THEM?!?! HOW?!?!" (Van)
"With this: Thunderclap Anthem" (Ryuu)
"I've never heard of that spell before..." (Irene)
I didn't reply, as I was busy guiding the large number of lightning bolts coming from a magic circle in the sky, making sure they didn't hit us and did hit the wyverns. After it was done, one of them was dead and the other was almost dead, unable to do much more than move its eyes and breathe. Ninya, under my orders, put a large amount of hot water in its open mouth (which I'd kept still by wrapping it with earth magic), then she threw in a VERY condensed fireball. That caused the water to all turn into steam at once, in other words, she created a steam explosion that blew the wyvern's head off. The one who kills a monster gains a larger part of its mana than a bystander or even someone who helped hurt it, and that absorbed mana slowly increases the size of a person's or other monster's mana pool. The more mana the kill has, the more it increases, though it also depends on how much a person started out with. That greater wyvern should have made hers grow by at least 10 or 20.
"What... happened? That was explosion magic... but he doesn't have that element, right?" (Van)
"Explosion magic is one of the few elements that can be recreated without having the element itself, the others being dust and mud. When water boils, it turns to steam, right?" (Ryuu)
"Yeah... so what?" (Bradley)
"The amount of space it takes up is increased about sixteen hundredfold. When a large amount of water expands that much in a short amount of time, it can break through stone, bone, flesh, and more. That's known as a steam explosion, and it's what just happened" (Ryuu)
"Ah... That's interesting, and could be useful" (Irene)
"By the way, I don't know what elements each of you have" (Ryuu)
"I can tell you that, for most of them. Van has wind, Irene has earth and wind, Bradley has fire, Shion has light, dark, and shadow, and the twins... I've only ever seen one of them use anything, and it was dark" (Ninya)
Considering that Ninya's the only one who uses magic besides Shion's stealth-oriented magic, I figured that most of them don't have more than one element, and I was right. Oh yeah... this might be a good chance to ask something I'd wanted to ask for a while but never got the chance to ask until now...
"Speaking of the twins... Since they didn't come with us, are they less likely to participate in a quest with you than you all do, or what? If you don't want to answer, it's fine, don't worry, I'm just curious" (Ryuu)
"Uh... It's... it's complicated. They do what they will, and are stronger when they don't have anyone watching them, I think. They don't do that well when we're there, most of the time, but when they are in a given are where it's just the two of them, they're as strong as a whole B rank party. Therefore, they come with us on boring quests where they don't have to fight, or when we're traveling, and do their own thing when we're at a base of operations. I'm not sure why, maybe because they don't have a healer, but they do stick with us. They contribute more than we do for meals and the inns, we heal them when they get hurt and help them with gathering quests when there's nothing for them to fight. It's a give and take relationship, and it works, even though we know almost nothing about them. Hell, we can't tell the two of them apart, and we don't know what they look like, their names, how old they are, if they are actually twins or even related, or even if one or both of them are actually female. They never talk, they just write, and that rarely. They have more to hide than Ninya and Shion, and that's saying something. I barely know what Shion's face looks like, and that's just because she's had her hood get cut open once. ONCE. She eats in a different place from us, like the twins, though not in the same place as them. Ninya, for some reason, never bathes or changes clothes where we can see him, so I wonder if he has a nasty scar or burn somewhere he wants to hide or something. Can you tell me?" (Van)
"I know why, but I won't tell you. I don't go blabbing other people's secrets without their permission" (Ryuu)
"Oh, speaking of the relation between the two of us, we are officially a couple. No more trial period, I'm damn sure I love her as much as she loves me" (Ninya)
Took long enough for her to say it. If she didn't say it soon, I was going to ask her if she wanted it said or to wait for a few days... or longer. I'm not in a rush about that, I don't really care if it's official... though I'd like it to be official before they start wondering about how long the trial will last.
"Great... so, when's the wedding?" (Bradley)
Ninya's face turned red as a tomato, and mine started to shift towards pink, but I didn't pause in my reply.
"Hmm... Well, I'd have to ask Ninya's father first. Fortunately, I already know him well, and we're on good terms, so it shouldn't be a problem" (Ryuu)
"Wait... I never even heard his father's name, let alone met the guy, but you've known him long enough that he knows you well enough that you think he'd be fine with you marrying his kid? Does he know you're the Demon Lord?" (Van)
I laughed, and then I looked at Ninya, who looked at me questioningly.
"Should I say it, or would you like to be the one to say it, or should that wait until later?" (Ryuu)
"You say it. I'd probably flub it due to nerves" (Ninya)
"Very well. Ninya's father was one of the ones who taught me how to fight. His name is Lars, so you've heard me talk about him, actually, as he's one of the demon generals" (Ryuu)
"That means that I'm a half demon, and I'm the heir to the most powerful of them save for the Demon Lord. I'm sorry for hiding that from you all this time..." (Ninya)
"Everyone has secrets they don't want revealed, even to their comrades and friends. I myself have a few, even now. I mean, think about the twins. If we can accept two people who go out on their own and we don't even know their names, races, or sexes, we can accept a half demon who was hiding that fact" (Van)
"And I may as well say this now, since we're on the topic of secrets... I got myself a girlfriend last night" (Irene)
"Congrats. Also, that makes you the second bisexual of this group, I guess?" (Ryuu)
"Who's the first? You?" (Irene)
"Yep. I have a preference for girls, but I like 'em both, as you know. Hell, it's not uncommon for demons to be bisexual, and the Demon Lord before my father, uh... Well, let's just say that female Demon Lords have the ability to get other females pregnant, if they want to" (Ryuu)
"Eh? EH?! Y-y-y-you-you-you mean... you could... you... could..." (Ninya)
Her face went from an embarrassed red to an angry red, and then she fainted. No, I didn't get her pregnant. I wouldn't do that without the both of us being ready for it and wanting it.
"Well, that's a delay in our return... Hmm... how to wake Ninya up... ah, I know!" (Ryuu)
I walked over to her, crouched down, and kissed her, my tongue exploring the insides of her mouth with a little more force than normal, and I also changed it to be a bit longer than usual, so it got deeper in than ever before. She woke up almost instantly, but didn't move in any way that the others could notice, just opening her mouth a little more and moving her own tongue in response. Until, that is, she couldn't take it any longer and moved her hand towards my breast. I pulled away when she did so, much to her disappointment.
"You know, my dear, they are watching us. I wouldn't mind them seeing, but I think you would, right?" (Ryuu)
Her face went beet red, and she moved her hand away from me to cover her lips, which were still slightly covered with a mixture of her saliva and mine.
"I'll take that as a confirmation that you would, in fact, mind them watching?" (Ryuu)
"I'd mind watching, so I'd like it if you two could wait to make yourselves sore again until AFTER we complete this request. Anyways, since we've killed the two of those, we should check for eggs or hatchlings, and bring back the corpses" (Van)
"Yeah. Corpses stored, now I'll check for eggs and such, as I can deal with hatchlings on my own" (Ryuu)
"Storage magic... how I wish I could use it..." (Ninya)