"What do you mean? This is shogi. You agreed to a battle, so here we are." Bishamonten went to pick the fallen pieces back onto the board.
"I didn't agree to a board game. We were supposed to beat each other up!" I yelled.
The woman who was supposed to be my opponent glanced across the room where Yonnu was playing with Theo. Pino watched over them, making sure they didn't hurt each other with the enchanted sword. She smiled warmly at them, an act which made me instinctively click my tongue.
I knew she had a soft spot for them, but I didn't think it was this bad.
"The truth is, Yonnu forbade me from doing battle with you and the others. He wanted us to be friends instead," she said.
My teeth grinded against each other, and untrimmed fingernails dug into the palm of my hands. Beating up those old shits felt good, but this was too fast of a change in tone. I still wanted to fight. Though, like Yonnu with Bishamonten, Theo wouldn't be happy with me going wild.
I shut my eyes and thought of Loraine. She shouldn't want this either.
The tension in my shoulders vanished, and my fists unclenched. Instead of my chest being hot, it was my face because the first thought that popped into my mind was that dark elf. To think, I almost considered using the ring to fight Bishamonten. It definitely would have given me a fighting chance, but… it wasn't for me. I had to get home to give it to her.
"I dunno about the whole friend thing, but fine. We don't have to fight today," I replied, feeling like I somehow got cockblocked.
The bedchamber was unnecessarily large. One side of the wall was missing in favor of heavy curtains, currently drawn to reveal a view of the city and mountains in the distance. Every piece of fabric in the room, from the bedsheets, curtains, cushions, and furniture, was embroidered with gold and red stitchings.
I took a long gander of the room until I locked eyes with Pino and smirked. "So, you really fucked Pino, huh?"
"L-Lady Micchi!" The cavalry-captain blushed and made a face.
"He may have been reluctant at first, but beastlings of his kind have quite a voracious appetite," Bishamonten explained like she was recounting the conquest of a trophy.
"I knew I should've waited downstairs…" he said, ears drooping.
Pino might be outwardly upset about it, but he was too obvious staring at Bishamonten, and had been particularly eager about coming. If there was one way to placate the war goddess, some sacrifices needed to be made.
With UKD politics out of the way, there was still one more issue to tackle even if we weren't going to fight.
"Hope you're not thinking about getting out of telling us about Chika. I went through the trouble of repairing Sacchan after you cracked it, cleaned up your sewage system, and even beat up a fucking god expecting to get a second round to beat that info outta ya. If we're sitting here over some tea and board games, there also better be some damn answers," I said.
Bishamonten glared at me like I had talked over an important scene in a movie. In this case, I took her attention away from watching Yonnu and Theo play.
"She's right, Kaokao. We deserve that much. Otherwise, things might get a little hairy… whether or not your husband said you couldn't fight." Anya walked up from behind to back me up.
Yui sat up on the bed now that our conversation at last broached something she wanted to know.
I didn't get my answers immediately. Bishamonten walked over to the edge of the room and set her eyes on the city of Taiq'ae.
"Have you ever given it some thought why the demons are so feared, yet they are so weak?" Bishamonten asked with her back turned to us.
Now that I thought about it, those punks in the Lannarkis Ring were a bigger challenge than any army of demons. Anya, Yui, Bishamonten, and I— just the four of us could probably conquer every single kingdom in this world if we put our heads together. Then the leap in strength between us and the demons was pretty big. I'd gotten a lot stronger since I first came here. A demon giant probably wouldn't so much as land a hit on me anymore.
"From what I remember in my short stint with the demons, those monkeys were pretty disorganized at first. Something shook 'em up, and they got right to working like an army of ants," Yui said.
"Almost as if they had a change in leadership," Bishamonten added, which sent a chill up our spines.
Was she saying what I think she's saying?
"You're telling me Chika's the demon lord everyone's been barking about?" I asked.
The timing didn't make sense. Then again, Anya had supposedly been here for a year now even though I remembered her being active in Tohoku.
"That can't be! I didn't hear anything about that among the demons! I would have heard something, right? Graahhh!" Yui tugged on her pigtails as she searched her memories.
"I wouldn't have believed ya if the Sultan of Amarinth wasn't acting so strange. They're in cahoots. That's why you're moving your forces to the border. Ain't that right?" Anya asked.
All eyes fell on Bishamonten. Even Pino and the second prince were paying attention now. She turned around to face us again, eyes closed and in thought.
"Yes. My former eunuchs acted under her orders to dethrone me, and she likely orchestrated your attempted assassinations. I first met Chika in this world when she came to Emperor Yonnu with a proposition of joining forces. His refusal must have left a bad taste in her mouth. Chika left me with a warning— our power struggle in Japan was just the beginning, it continues in this world when Yui and Micchi finally arrive."
We reunited with our escort we had come to Jinwa with. They distributed the equipment and ore directly to the city's military bastion, enough to arm thousands. Though, we were departing with a much lighter load, we would also be leaving someone else behind.
"Am I really staying here?!" Pino asked, trapped in the embrace of Bishamonten's arms.
"Think of it like a political marriage. You'll be doing your country a service. I'll make sure to tell Kain and Ruga." I grinned.
Bishamonten handed me a scroll and said, "See to that King Allo receives this."
"What is it?" I asked.
"A proposal to King Allo asking for Second Prince Theo's hand in marriage," she answered unabashedly.
"You're rotten to the core. I'll get it to him, but you better take care of Pino," I warned.
"Ahh… I can't wait to bring you to bed with me. When I have you and Yonnu tonight, I shall not let either of you sleep." The empress of Jinwa rubbed her cheek against Pino's head, causing him to shudder in both delight and embarrassment.
I gave him a half-hearted salute. "Good luck, soldier."
"Nngh… I'll do my best, Lady Micchi!" he shouted.
Giving them shit was fun, but I gotta admire Bishamonten's resolve. She wasn't afraid to express herself to people she liked. Meanwhile, I was a middle schooler experiencing Valentines' Day for the first time whenever Loraine was near.
Forget Chika. I almost died fighting Bishamonten. If I had, I would never have gotten my feelings across to the one who did care about me.
In the backmost wagon, Anya helped Bogart into the cart and gave a thumbs' up that we were ready to go. Yui was hugging her knees, hiding behind barrels of Jinwan wine. I tapped her head with Sacchan.
"Chin up. I hate it, too. But, hey, we're a lot closer to Chika now than ever," I said.
"You know, Anego... No one's probably ever told you this, but you're bad at cheering people up." Yui stuck her tongue at me.
I shrugged. "I'm a bruiser, not a guidance counselor."
Anya ditched us at the border between Jinwa and Amarinth to catch a ride back to Ash'tar. Prince Kain and King Allo were waiting for me in the throne room. News of our return traveled quick, and I had already sent a rider ahead of our caravan. When I recounted to them what happened in Taiq'ae, both of them about near fainted at multiple points of the story.
Theo jumped into his older brother's arms. "Brother, Father! I hope I did well!"
"You're much more lively than when you left. Did something good happen?" King Allo asked of his youngest son, who nodded so much he made a mess of his hair.
"Oh, speaking of which. A letter from the empress." I gave the king the scroll and his eyes widened upon reading it.
"What is it, Father?" Kain asked.
"For one, our alliance is secured. It also seems the empress of Jinwa has taken an interest in marriage, such is their culture taking multiple spouses," he said.
Even though Kain had Mildred, he relished in the misunderstanding that it was meant for him. "Ah-ha! It is no question that my charm had reached the empress. Alas, I must decline—"
"No, Kain. It is for Theo," King Allo said, breaking his eldest son's heart. "She is quite smitten with him. Her… ahem— language is rather flowery, but I approve as it will strengthen our friendship with Jinwa."
Prince Kain had turned white as a ghost. Meanwhile, Theo hummed happily to himself in his brother's arms, blissfully unaware of his better fortune.
"Sometimes your younger sibling outdoes you. Theo wins out on this one, though." I teased.
"As long as Theo is alright with it. I'm glad he's enjoying himself." He chuckled to himself, then sent Theo away to find his mother and sisters. "Onto more important matters. Father?"
King Allo nodded. "Indeed. If someone of Lady Micchi's and the previous of the Lannarkis Ring's calibre has assumed the mantle of the demon lord… this is troubling. Even moreso if Amarinth is involved."
"Yeah. I want you guys to keep me in the know," I said.
"It will be for another time. You have something important to take care of, don't you?" Kain asked.
When I got home, the maids and Kawa were gone just like I planned. Yui was taking Kawa for a walk, and she also told the maids to scram for the night under my orders.
Loraine was in the kitchen fixing something up. It smelled savoury. Damn did I miss her cooking. She pulled a roasted boar out of the oven and was shocked to see me standing in the middle of the kitchen.
"Hey. I'm back," I said, scratching my cheek with a finger. She looked left and right, searching for a place to put the boar. The counters were still a mess, and the stove was crowded with steaming pots. The only open space was the tables behind me, and I was blocking the way. She looked at me with a pout until I told her, "Just drop the damn thing and get over here."
So she did, and jumped into my arms before the roast boar hit the floor.
"Yui came by, and I figured you were reporting to Prince Kain. I didn't want to interrupt and things were already being cooked," Loraine said, pouring me a cup of tea.
It was warm, but extremely bitter.
Loraine suddenly kissed me on the lips, taking me by surprise.
"W-What was that for?" I blushed.
"The look on your face told me you wanted something sweet to go with the tea." She winked, pressing a finger to her lips.
Come on, Micchi. Now was the time. Strike while the iron was hot. Kawa and the maids were gone, this was peak privacy for me to do it.
Damn it.
Why was this so hard?
I should have hit myself with Sacchan to psyche up.
"Loraine!" I shot up from my seat and startled both of us. In the palm of my hand, held outstretched to her, was a small felt box. I opened it for her to reveal the beautiful, three-jewel studded ring, the center of which was an opalescent crystal that glistened with power.
"Is this… what I think it is?" she asked quietly.
"We're only… considered married in orc culture, but I wanted to make it official. Like real official. Sign papers, ceremony, ring, all that. I want everyone to know how… erm, happy you make me… I also… you know… want nothing more than to make you happy… God, I just want to crawl into a hole now— What I'm trying to ask is, will you marry this good-for-nothing punk?" I asked and realized that Loraine was in tears.
Did I mess up? How was this supposed to work again? This fucking world didn't have internet, so it wasn't like I could look shit up.
Loraine stuck her left hand out. She wore a smile that I would go to hell and back for. Seeing her tears started making me tear up.
"Yes!" she exclaimed. "But you're not just any good-for-nothing punk. You're my Micchi."