◇Houghtow City—The Fli-o'-Rys General Store◇
One day, it just so happened that Flio and Greanyl were out on delivery,
Rys was occupied with housework, Hiya and Damalynas were away dealing
with some business, Blossom was doing farmwork, Byleri was tending to
the horses, and Belano was teaching at the Houghtow College of Magic.
And so it was left to Uliminas, Balirossa, and Ghozal to tend to the shop.
Uliminas, who had once served as treasurer for the Dark Army,
continued to focus on financial work, working the shop's register and
handling its records. Today was no exception—she was sitting behind the
counter, dealing with customers.
A man who looked to be an adventurer was gazing at the dragonscale
shield decorating the counter with an expression of wonder. "This shop's
equipment is all so well made!" he said. "This is dragonscale, right? That
stuff's hard to work with. To craft it into a masterpiece like this... I don't
know what to say!"
Uliminas smiled cheerfully at the adventurer. "Our artisans are the best
around! We have lots of purrpawsterously powerful magic items too. Why
don't mew take a look around?" The magic items in this shop were made by
the likes of Flio, Hiya, and Damalynas: three of the greatest magic users in
the land of Klyrode. They were phenomenal items that were casually
displayed like any old magic staff or what have you. The prices were an
absolute bargain too. As you can imagine, more and more customers came
to the shop every day.
As she dealt with today's customers, Uliminas kept turning to steal a
glance in the direction of the shop's door. Ghozal stood there, looming over
the shop with crossed arms and an imposing stance. He was working as the
shop's guard. His presence was hidden from the customers with magic so as
to not frighten them. The majority of customers never so much as glanced
in his direction.
Ghozal, for his part, was staring fixedly at the area of the shop where
Balirossa was hard at work restocking the shelves. Dressed in an apron, she
hurried in and out of the shop, replenishing the supplies of magic gems or
equipment as they ran out. Every now and then a customer would ask her a
question about the merchandise, and she would smile and do her best to
explain. Ghozal was engrossed by her every movement. Hrm... Balirossa is
beautiful, even at work, he thought, and nodded his head once.
"Don't tell me," Uliminas muttered to herself, "that man's going, 'Hrm...
Balirossa is beautiful, even at work.' Mew could spare a glance at me for a
change!" She puffed out her cheeks.
"Um, is there something wrong, miss?"
"Bweh!" Uliminas's face flushed bright red. "No! Meowthing at all!
Meowt a thing! Aha ha..." She put on her best friendly smile.
The customer looked uncertain. "No? Well, all right... Say, is that fire
sword for sale?"
"Y-Yes! Thank you! For your business!" Uliminas smiled again and took
the weapon down from the wall. At some point, Ghozal had started looking
her way. Hrm... he thought. Uliminas is beautiful, even disguised as a
human... But with his presence magically concealed, Uliminas never
noticed him checking her out.
Balirossa saw Ghozal nod in Uliminas's direction. Oh, she thought,
sighing softly, I am certain Sir Ghozal is thinking, "Hrm... Uliminas is
beautiful, even disguised as a human." If only he would look at me like that,
even a little... She shook her head vigorously. "What am I thinking? Don't
be ridiculous, Balirossa," she whispered to herself, then got back to
stocking goods.
Not Ghozal, Uliminas, nor Balirossa had any awareness of how
convoluted their relationship had become.
◇Meanwhile, in Front of Flio's House—Part 1◇
In front of Flio's house was a ranch managed by Byleri and a farm
managed by Blossom. Byleri was in the ranch's office, getting some
paperwork in order. Byleri, who had a real gift for working with horses,
used this space to raise horse-type magic beasts. Sometimes she would lend
her horses to merchants to use to pull their wagons. The papers she was
handling right now were records of those transactions.
Hiya stepped into the office. "Ser Byleri, may I have a moment?"
"Oh?" Byleri said, greeting Hiya with her usual big smile. "Hi, Mx.
Hiya! Like, what's up?"
Hiya gave a shallow bow. "I would like to express my gratitude for your
assistance the other day."
"The other day?" Byleri pressed her finger to her cheek and tilted her
head. "Like, I'm not sure what you mean?"
Hiya gave a genuinely cheerful smile. "I speak of you lending us your
precious book, Ser Byleri." Byleri's face went red.
Byleri was a healthy young adult in her early twenties. Ever since her
time with the castle's knights, she had been fascinated with the idea of
trysts between men and women. By now, she had built up a secret collection
of literature on the subject, which she would often quietly enjoy. The other
day, Hiya had found one of her books and helped themself to it.
"And the book in question..." The book magically materialized in Hiya's
hand. Byleri, still blushing furiously, snatched it away from them and hid it
behind her back.
"Um!" she said, her voice suddenly squeaky. "I didn't actually, like, lend
it to you, y'know? You just came in and took it..."
Hiya smiled at the girl. "Now, now, there's no need for that," they said
as if they were trying to mollify a child. "That book was very intriguing. Of
course, everything in your collection is excellent. I hope that you will lend
me more."
Byleri moved from her chair to sit on top of a nearby box. She seemed
like she wasn't going to budge. She shook her head urgently. "Well, like,
there aren't any more! None! That book was totally the only one, y'know?
A-And there definitely aren't any in this box, so, like, don't even think
about it!" She couldn't have possibly made it more obvious that the books
were hidden in the box she was now sitting on.
Hiya, of course, realized immediately. They glanced down at the box
underneath Byleri's butt and smiled again. "Is that so?" they began, and
then seemed to change course. "No. I do not wish to take your books by
force." They waved their hand and another book appeared in their grasp. "I
happened upon this specimen when I was visiting another world," they said.
"If it suits your interests, Ser Byleri, I would like to propose a trade."
"It doesn't, it doesn't, it doesn't!" Byleri shouted as she pushed Hiya out
through the office door. "It totally doesn't suit my interests! Like, please
just go home!" She slammed the door shut and pressed her back against it,
holding it closed with her body. "Oh my gods," she whined. "Like, that Mx.
Hiya is just...y'know?" Still blushing, she raised her head. If they find any
more of my books, I'm totally gonna die of humiliation!
Then she noticed the book Hiya had called a specimen, left behind on
top of her desk. "H-Huh?!" she exclaimed. "M-Mx. Hiya! You, like, forgot
your book!" She picked it up and began to hurry after the djinn. But then
she stopped in her tracks. Her eyes fell upon the book's title—it was called
The Princess and the Horsemen.
Byleri had loved horses since she was a little girl. She had always
excelled at their care, so much so that she was given the great honor of
tending to the warhorses of Klyrode Castle. In fact, she took such good care
of them that when she left the army the horses under her care became
severely depressed. That was the extent to which Byleri loved and
understood horses. She took a closer look at the book.
Horsemen? Huh? What? Huh? Like, I didn't know there were
demihumans like that! I-I mean, it would be totally cool if there were,
but...huh?
◇ ◇ ◇
Hiya watched Byleri from the other side of the door, using magic to
observe her as she picked up the book and began to stare, spellbound. Hah.
I believe I will have new research materials sooner than I expected, they
thought, a satisfied smile on their face.
◇Meanwhile, in Front of Flio's House—Part 2◇
In front of Flio's house was a ranch managed by Byleri and a farm
managed by Blossom. Right now, Blossom was standing with one hand on
her hip and scratching her head with the other. "Is this for real...?" she
asked, not fully aware that she had spoken out loud.
Next to her the goblin Hokh'hokton stood in a near-identical posture,
one hand on his hip and the other running through his hair. "W-Well, I
certainly never expected this..." he said.
They were staring at Maunty, the other goblin farmworker.
◇Several Days Earlier◇
Blossom and the two goblins had finished their work for the morning
and had been enjoying lunch together when Maunty said something that
made Blossom's eyes go wide. "A wife?!" she exclaimed. Maunty blushed
and scratched his cheek.
"Y-Yes," he said. "The truth is, I have a wife and kids... Might I have
your permission to bring them here, Lady Blossom?"
"What? Of course!" Blossom grinned and gave Maunty a friendly smack
on the shoulder. "But I had no idea you were married, Maunty! Gave me a
bit of a shock!"
"I-I may?"
"Hey, if having her here helps you settle in, I'm all for it! I'll talk to
Lord Flio for you, all right?"
"Oh, Lady Blossom, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!" Maunty
took a deep bow again and again. Blossom just smiled.
"Oh!" she said, turning to Hokh'hokton. "By the by, Hokh'hokton... If
you have a wife or kids or something, you're welcome to... Huh?" Blossom
cut herself off, her mouth wide in surprise. Hokh'hokton had cast his eyes
down, staring miserably at the ground.
"Some goblins have all the luck..." he muttered darkly. "A wife and
children? Bollocks. Strike me down right now, why don't you..." He
continued on in that vein, almost as if he were performing an incantation for
a curse. Blossom was at a loss for words.
◇And Back in the Present...◇
After all that was over, Maunty had headed out to fetch the rest of his
family. Upon his return, Blossom and Hokh'hokton went out to meet them.
What they found was a veritable horde of goblins.
"This is my wife, and these are my children," Maunty said. "We have
fifteen in total, starting with Cynthia, our eldest." He bowed, and the other
sixteen members of his family followed suit.
"Nice to meet you!" the goblin family said in unison.
Blossom nudged Hokh'hokton with her elbow as she stared. "Hey,
Hokh'hokton... Did you know Maunty had such a big family?"
"N-No... I didn't even know he was married until the other day..." he
said in disbelief. Blossom made a strained smile.
Maunty, by contrast, was grinning jubilantly. "Oh, I was so worried
about the family I left behind in the old country... I had resolved myself that
there was nothing I could do about it! It is such a relief to have them here. I
promise you, I will work the fields harder than ever before!" He laughed
heartily.
While he was celebrating, Maunty's wife pulled him aside. She looked
worried. "Are... Are you sure this is safe? That woman...she's a human,
isn't she?"
It was only natural that she be concerned. The world was embroiled in a
war between the human armies of Klyrode and the demons of the Dark
Army, and goblins were one of the weaker demons to exist. Even a human
with no experience in fighting could easily dispatch a goblin if they came to
blows.
Blossom, who had overheard, grinned brightly. "Now, there's no need to
worry about that, madam," she said. "The master of this house treats
everyone the same, human and demon alike. Anyway, look!" Blossom
pointed at something behind the goblins. They followed her finger to see a
magic circle taking shape. Not long after, a door appeared from the middle
of the circle. It opened, and out poked Ghozal's head.
Ghozal turned to look at Blossom. "Hey, Ser Blossom!" he said. "We're
running out of vegetables at the shop. We're gonna need some more." He
held out a stack of empty baskets.
"Well, that's good to hear!" said Blossom, smiling as she walked over to
the door. "It means they're selling well!" She took the baskets.
"Hrm. Your vegetables are very well-regarded. Uliminas said a
restaurant in town wanted to sign an exclusive contract for them."
"You serious? Well, that's just incredible!"
Maunty's wife watched Blossom and Ghozal chat amiably, tilting her
head like she was puzzled by something. "Excuse me...Lady Blossom?" she
asked. "Who is that man...?"
"Ah, of course! You can't tell who it is 'cause he's in disguise as a
human!" Blossom turned back to look at Ghozal. "Well, what do you say?
Nothing wrong with showing the goblins your demon form, is there?"
"Oh, would you mind, Mister Ghozal?" said the wife.
"Hrm," said Ghozal. "Very well." He turned just his upper body back
into its original demonic form.
"Whaaa?" The wife's eyes shot open wide. "No, it can't be... Lord
Gholl?!"
"Hrm." Ghozal turned back into his human form. "I was Gholl, once.
Now I am Ghozal, a freeloader at Mister Flio's house."
Blossom walked up to Maunty's wife, who was now staring at Ghozal
and trembling, and nudged her with her elbow. "See? Our master Lord
Flio's the kind of guy who's perfectly happy living with the former Dark
One. Me too, of course." She flashed the goblin a cheerful grin. "Well? That
good enough for ya?"
"Y-Yes," she said. "More than enough." Gradually, she calmed down,
and seemed to be more relaxed than before.
"Hey, Ser Blossom!" Ghozal interjected. "Would you mind getting the
vegetables?"
"Oh! Sorry, sorry! I'll do it straightaway!" Blossom ran off into the
fields.
"I'm going to help," said Maunty, and he set off after Blossom.
Behind him, his wife and their troupe of children followed along. "I'll
help too!" said his wife.
Hokh'hokton trailed behind, dragging his feet. "I-I'm not jealous..." he
sobbed. "I'm not jealous at all!"
Ghozal watched Hokh'hokton trudge towards the fields. "Hey!" he
called after him. "Uh... Good luck?"
◇Meanwhile, on the Highway to the Calgosi Coast◇
A fast horse-drawn coach thundered along the highway, under orders
from their Queen to investigate the conditions of the Calgosi Coast. Mages
from the Magic Corps were seated in the front, repeatedly casting spells like
Reinforce Speed and Recover Stamina on the horses to strengthen them.
Thanks to their efforts, the coach was moving at nearly ten times its usual
speed.
The atmosphere inside the coach was somewhat odd. A company of
knights sat on the left side, and a man and a woman sat on the right. The
man wore an extravagant red outfit. The woman, who was pressed up close
against him, wore hardly any clothing at all. The two—well, you've
probably already guessed by now that they were Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya.
The knights, who were all men, kept stealing glances at Tsuya's exposed
body, each and every one of them flustered. From time to time the silence
would be broken by somebody or other clearing their throat, but nothing
more.
One of the knights smiled and turned to look at the pair. "Um..." he said.
"You've had a hard time, haven't you? Getting attacked by bandits in the
mountains and everything..."
Tsuya smiled cheerfully. "We haaave," she said. "They wouldn't leave
us alooone!"
"They kept chasing after you?"
"They diiid! It was sooo unfair! Even if our stuff was stooolen or
fooorgeries, they didn't need to chase us aaalllll the way from the ciiity to
the mountains! It's prooobably because we stole it from those shaaady
traders, but— Ow!" Hero Gold-Hair thumped her on the head, interrupting
her careless ramble. It was a hard blow. Tsuya bent forward, clutching her
head and giving the knights a clear view of her ample cleavage. They
couldn't help themselves from staring.
Hero Gold-Hair grinned and laughed, speaking loudly in an attempt to
take advantage of the knights' confusion. "Yeah, that really was a shock!"
he said. "I could handle two or three bandits on my own, but we were
attacked on our way to the city by a dozen men from every direction! They
stole every last bit of our merchandise!" He spoke as civilly as he could
manage, gesticulating wildly as the knights stared at Tsuya's bosom.
Tsuya had said all sorts of things in her rant—things about stolen goods
and shady traders—that were probable cause for arrest, or at least an
investigation, but the knights were so engrossed by her chest that her words
went in one ear and out the other. The only explanation they would
remember later would be Hero Gold-Hair's. They nodded their heads as he
spoke, stealing glances at Tsuya's cleavage.
One of the knights, who looked to be the leader of the company, seemed
to finally notice that he had been drooling over Tsuya's breasts. He loudly
cleared his throat. "W-Well!" he said. "If there were that many bandits, you
might still be in danger here. Would you like us to take you to a town on the
other side of the mountains?"
"Ohhh, nooo!" Tsuya started. "Thaaat city's no gooood! We tried the
same thing theeere, so they alreadyyy think we're criminals! They might
send mooore guards after us—or mercenaries! Ow!" Gold-Hair gave her
another thump, and she doubled back over, again clutching her head. Once
again the knights found themselves staring straight into her cleavage.
Hero Gold-Hair stood up in front of the knights, raising his voice and
waving his arms. He was trying to draw their attention to himself. "Y-Yes,
well!" he said. "You never know if the bandits have allies waiting to
ambush us in the nearby towns! We'd appreciate it if you took us a little
further away, if you can!"
The knights still seemed too captivated by Tsuya's breasts to register
what she had said. They nodded along to Gold-Hair's story. "Well...I
suppose I can't deny the possibility..." the leader said. "Tell you what.
We're headed to the Calgosi Coast. We could drop you off there, if that's
acceptable."
Hero Gold-Hair nodded. "Thank you!" he said with a boisterous laugh.
"Glad to travel with you!"
◇ ◇ ◇
It was standard practice that if a team of knights were to rescue someone
from bandits or the Dark Army during their mission, they were to deliver
that person to where they needed to go. It would be an exception if the
mission was secret, of course, but these knights' only orders were to reach
the Calgosi Coast quickly and ascertain conditions there. They were quite
willing to take Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya where they asked. They had no
idea that the ones attacking them had been mercenaries and guards sent by
the cities where the two had tried to sell their ill-gotten gains to arrest and
interrogate them.
Taken in by Hero Gold-Hair's story, the knights held a quick meeting to
discuss their plans. In order to prevent the two civilians from overhearing
their discussion of military matters, they spoke quietly and screened their
faces from view with their hands.
As they did, Gold-Hair leaned in to whisper in Tsuya's ear. "What is
wrong with you?!" he hissed. "Going on and on, saying steal this and
criminal that... Are you trying to get us arrested?!"
"Fweh! S-Sooorrrry!"
"Look, we're in danger here. We need to hold on until we reach Calgosi
Coast. Until then... Not. Another. Word. Do you understand?"
"Y-Yeeess...I understaaand..."
"And another thing...don't lean forward like that!"
"Fweh?"
"Those...knights...were staring right at those ridiculous tits of yours. I'm
telling you to be careful!"
"O-Okaaay! I wiiill!" Tsuya bowed sharply.
This woman... Hero Gold-Hair thought, I wish she'd stop showing men
other than me so much of her body... He took his cape and wrapped it
around her shoulders as the coach sped up, hurrying along towards the
Calgosi Coast.
◇Dark Citadel—Throne Room◇
The Dark One Yuigarde sunk heavily into his throne, grumbling in
irritation. "Hmph. The dragon brat quit out of nowhere, and our fighting
force isn't anywhere near ready... This is absurd," he spat.
He was interrupted from his brooding self-pity by his minion Phufun.
She stepped up to his throne. "Master Yuigarde, do you have a moment?"
Yuigarde glanced at Phufun, his miserable expression not changing in
the slightest. "Well? Out with it. If it's boring, I'll smash your face in."
Phufun, ever the masochist, seemed a bit overly affected by those words.
She flushed. "I would be quite happy if you did, you know..." she said, and
then, mastering herself, she cleared her throat and pushed her fake glasses
up the ridge of her nose. "P-Pardon me," she continued. "I mean, I spoke
with the southern demons. It seems that there is a group of human pirates
that employs some demons among their number. They have a fleet of over a
hundred ships, and a fighting force of over a thousand pirates." She pushed
her glasses up the ridge of her nose again. "What do you say? Shall we
arrest these demons the pirates hired and conscript them into the Dark
Army?"
"Well." Yuigarde stopped moping. An evil smile spread over his face.
"That's pretty interesting after all. So? You have a plan?"
"Yes, Master," said Phufun. "The south is within the Magical Kingdom
of Klyrode's sphere of influence, so we will have to do this without
attracting attention. I propose we form an elite task force with the Infernal
Four at its core, and—"
Suddenly, Yuigarde stood up. "Good thinking, Phufun. And I'll take the
command of this task force!"
"Wh-What?! Y-You're going yourself, Master?"
"Yeah! I've been so agitated, you know. This'll be a good way to relieve
stress! I'll head over there and tear things up a little!"
Yuigarde laughed and laughed. He seemed to be having a grand old
time. We're all going to get in trouble if you keep deciding to attack on a
whim! Phufun thought, but she couldn't bring herself to say it and ruin
Yuigarde's spirits. "Th-Then," she said, "I will make preparations." She
bowed and left the throne room.
Yuigarde stretched his arms, warming himself up. "Mwa ha ha ha ha!"
he laughed. "Finally, some violence! This is what I live for!"
◇ ◇ ◇
High up near the ceiling of the throne room, eyes shone in the darkness,
watching the Dark One Yuigarde from the shadows of the grand reliefs
carved into the walls. "It looks like he took the bait..." said a voice.
Another voice spoke in response. "Your plan was brilliant as ever,
Master."
The first voice laughed. "I knew that amoeba-brained idiot would insist
on going himself if he heard there was an opportunity to strengthen his
army somewhere only a small team could reach, but that was even easier
than I thought!"
"Master," said the second voice, "please allow me to handle the next
stage of our plan."
"Very well. I'm counting on you."
"C-Counting on...me? Such kind words... Then I won't let you down. I
will carry out our plan if it costs me my life."
Their conversation finished, the eyes vanished, along with their owners.
Far below, the Dark One Yuigarde was swinging his arms, completely
oblivious to their presence.
◇Houghtow College of Magic◇
The Houghtow College of Magic wasn't far from the Fli-o'-Rys
Company. It was there that Belano, one of the members of Flio's household,
taught classes in defensive magic for adult students. Today she was on her
way to the classroom to do just that.
As soon as she opened the classroom door, though, Belano's eyes shot
open. The class was so full that there wasn't enough room for everyone to
sit down, leaving a pack of students standing up in the back of the room.
Students at the Houghtow College of Magic were free to register for
whichever classes they liked. Normally, students would avoid registering
for overcrowded courses and find another that was less packed, but
Belano's class was an exception. The classroom she was supposed to start
lecturing in was absolutely jam-packed.
Belano froze stiff in the doorway. She was beginning to have second
thoughts about this. But then the students noticed her. They stood as one—
even the ones with seats—and turned to greet their teacher.
"Good morning, Miss Belano!" said a torrent of voices.
"Eeek!" Belano shrieked and jumped in the air.
◇ ◇ ◇
Belano taught her class, internally panicking until the very end, and then
ran as fast as she could to the administrative office. She burst inside and
darted up to Taclyde the clerk's desk, face red and breathing hard. "M-MMister Taclyde!" she cried.
Taclyde smiled at the frantic young teacher. "Miss Belano!" he said.
"What seems to be the trouble?"
Belano flapped both arms in a panic, trying to calm herself. "Th-Th-The
students! In my class!"
"Oh, is this about your class earlier? We were absolutely swamped with
applications, you know. When we ran out of desks, we started telling people
they should try again next semester, but everyone said they were fine
standing!" Taclyde produced a stack of application forms and showed them
to Belano. Taclyde, as the only clerk at the College of Magic, had collected
these himself. There had been so many applications for Belano's class that
it had left him shocked.
There was a reason for all that, of course. Belano, who had an extremely
high degree of social anxiety, would get flustered and embarrassed as she
taught. She would oftentimes deliver her lectures blushing and staring
determinedly at the floor. She was so small, she had to stand on a footstool
to write on the chalkboard. She would drag her stool from place to place,
making cute little noises of exertion as she did. If she needed to reach the
top of the chalkboard, she would stand on her tiptoes, straining herself and
stretching her arm up as high as it would go, her legs trembling.
Something in her mannerisms touched something deep within the
students' hearts—something that said: "How can a teacher possibly be this
cute?!" An ever-increasing number of the student body had become fans of
Miss Belano, and more and more people applied for her class until there
wasn't enough room in the classroom for them all.
"S-Some of the students don't have chairs or desks," Belano stammered.
"Isn't that a problem for them?"
"Oh, is that what's bothering you?" asked Taclyde. Belano nodded
fervently. "Let's see..." Taclyde said as he folded his arms and thought.
"Well, why don't we move your class to the main hall? There's more than
enough room there for the entire student body to—"
"Oh no, I can't do that! I can't, I can't, I can't!" Belano shook her head.
"B-B-But! Please don't put so many students in the class that they have to
stand! Please?"
"Should I not? The students said that they didn't mind...and the more
students who take your class, the higher your bonus!"
"I mind, even if they don't!"
"Are you sure?"
"I am!"
Taclyde sighed. "All right," he said. "I'll see what I can do."
"Th-Thank you... You're such a big help..." Belano bowed again and
again.
From then on, students in her classes were limited to the number of
desks in the classroom. It would get to the point that prospective students
would line up all the way out of the hallway on the first day of registration
to try and score a seat in Miss Belano's class, but that's a story for another
time.
◇Houghtow City—Flio's House◇
"Hmm..." Rys stood in the kitchen, deep in thought with her arms
folded. She was looking at a great pile of wooden crates. Inside those crates
was only one thing: the fruit known as the lembon. Lembons were a
singularly sour fruit, not suitable to eat in large quantities. Rys had heard
somewhere that pregnant women crave sour foods, and had become
obsessed with stocking up on lembons just to be safe.
But to her despair, Rys still showed no signs of becoming pregnant. "My
lord husband is certainly doing his part. I'm sure I'll have a child sooner or
later...but I really do need to do something about these lembons. I bought
these with my husband's hard-earned money. I can't waste them..."
Even so, she thought, what was I thinking? Why did I order this many?!
Things had gotten to the point where even she, after some serious soul
searching, had to admit that she had bought too many lembons.
As Rys was thinking, Wyne popped up beside her. "What's that?" she
said. "Fruit?" The wyvern picked up a lembon and bit into it. As soon as it
touched her tongue, her cheerful smile vanished. "Bleh! Sour! Bleeeh!" she
cried, running over to grab a drink of water and guzzling it down.
Rys was starting to panic. "Even Wyne can't handle them..." She stood
there for a while longer, racking her brain, until she suddenly remembered
something. "Of course! There might be something in one of the cookbooks
I bought in Sojieya!"
Sojieya was a rural town to the north of Houghtow. Not long ago, the
whole house had gone on a trip there. Rys had stopped by a general store
called Miyan Walkey that had an impressive variety of books. She bought a
number of them, all related to cooking. She had been hoping to increase her
repertoire of dishes to serve the household, especially Flio.
Rys went upstairs to the bedroom she shared with her husband Flio, and
went up to the bookshelf attached to the wall. There, next to Flio's books on
magic theory and practice, were Rys's cookbooks.
"Maybe something in one of these..." she said, taking a number of books
off the shelf. She sat down on the dresser and started leafing through the
pages. Her hair swayed in the breeze that blew in through the window as
she read attentively, not taking her eyes off the pages.
"This might work!" she said finally. "I'm going to try it."
◇ ◇ ◇
Rys returned to the kitchen, where she covered her long hair with a cloth
and tied on an apron. She began picking out all sorts of ingredients: sugar,
eggs, flour, and butter... She placed them all on the kitchen counter. Wyne
and Sybe, who had been playing together in the living room, noticed
something was happening in the kitchen and poked their heads through the
door to see.
"Wait just a minute, please," said Rys, turning to look at them and
smiling happily. "I'm going to do my best to make this good!" Wyne and
Sybe smiled and nodded.
Rys mixed the sugar and eggs into the butter. Then she washed a lembon
and removed its skin with her sharp wolf claws. She grabbed the flesh of
the fruit in her fist, and with a little "mmf!" of exertion, squeezed the juice
into the bowl with the sugar, eggs, and butter. She mixed the grated peel
with the flour and added the dry mixture in with the rest. She then poured it
into a mold and switched on the magic oven. When it was finished baking,
she took her first attempt out of its mold and arranged it on a large plate,
which she placed on the kitchen counter to cool.
She began to start on a second, while Wyne and Sybe sneaked their way
into the kitchen. Sybe, who had been in its psychobear form, transformed
into a unicorn rabbit. It was much less visible that way. They crept along on
their tiptoes, moving silently while Rys's back was turned. Before long they
had reached their target. The two looked each other in the eyes, and nodded
in unison. Then they looked up to where the cake was sitting and slowly
reached up to grab it, when...thwack! Rys's monstrous wolf claw stabbed
into the counter, right before their eyes. The pair froze.
Rys had been a ways away busying herself with cooking a second ago,
but somehow, at some point, she had come up behind them. She brought her
face close to the would-be thieves. "Wyne? Sybe? If you will not wait when
you are told to... You won't get off so easily next time."
Wyne and Sybe nodded wordlessly again and again, before slowly
making their way out of the kitchen.
"M-Mama's scary..." said Wyne.
Sybe snuffled in agreement.
◇ ◇ ◇
It didn't take too long. Rys dissolved sugar in boiling water to make a
syrup, added lembon juice, and used the mixture to glaze the cake. "So this
is what it looks like," she said, turning her head to get a good look at the
fresh-baked cake from all angles. She had succeeded in making the lembon
cake from the cookbook.
Rys cut the cake into slices and took it out of the kitchen to where Wyne
and Sybe were patiently waiting on their knees. Sybe, who wanted to eat
more than it could as a unicorn rabbit, transformed back into a psychobear.
"Thank you for waiting! Now, are you ready to try it?" she said, holding
out the plate with the cake on it. Wyne and Sybe grinned and reached out to
take a slice of cake each.
"This is great!" Wyne exclaimed. "Mama, this is so good!"
"Waoorh!" cried Sybe. The two kept on stuffing themselves with cake.
Rys took a slice of her own to taste. "Oh! This really is good!" she said.
Before long, the rest of her slice had disappeared into her mouth. "I'm sure
my husband will be thrilled!" she said. Beaming, she went back into the
kitchen to make more.
"Although," she said, looking over at the crates of lembons as she
grabbed the ingredients from the shelves, "with this many lembons, perhaps
we should sell these cakes at the Fli-o'-Rys General Store..."
As she was thinking, Wyne and Sybe came up behind her holding the
now-empty plate, eagerly demanding seconds.