The world of Klyrode is a land of swords and sorcery, full of all sorts of
magic beasts and demihumans, where humans and demons have been at
war for many, many long years.
The devil Zanzibar had had enough of the brutality of the current ruler
of demonkind—Yuigarde the Dark One—and raised up the flag of
rebellion, vying for the throne. With their armies split in two by Yuigarde
and Zanzibar's feud, the demons had nothing to spare for launching attacks
against humanity.
The Maiden Queen who ruled the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode, the
greatest human kingdom, did not let this opportunity go to waste. She
ordered reinforcements to the front, strengthening her army's position. She
set meticulous plans into motion, not neglecting in the slightest the
domestic affairs of her country. For the near future, the whole of the
Magical Kingdom would be phenomenally busy with the war efforts.
And so the stage is set for our story. The curtains slowly rise...
◇Houghtow City—The Fli-o'-Rys General Store◇
The city of Houghtow lay to the west of Castle Klyrode. It was a good
distance from the front lines of the war and had almost never come under
attack by the Dark Army. The people of Houghtow had barely felt the
effects of the war at all.
In one of the shopping districts in the city, there stood a very particular
shop—"The Fli-o'-Rys General Store" read the wooden sign that decorated
its doorway. They had opened up in the empty building of a store that had
gone out of business, but if the location had been bad for the previous
occupants, it did not stop the Fli-o'-Rys General Store from drawing in
hordes of customers day after day after day. Nor did the small size of the
cart-staging area behind the shop prevent a hugely disproportionate number
of carts and wagons from busily coming and going, delivering the shop's
goods to all the corners of the kingdom.
The front door opened. A bell rang. "Good afternoon!" said the man
who was busy stocking the shelves. "Welcome to the Fli-o'-Rys General
Store!" He smiled amiably at the adventurer who had entered the shop.
The adventurer looked around, and then approached the man who had
greeted him. "Excuse me," he said. "I'm an adventurer. My name is Sireul."
He paused. "I heard that the manager of this shop was some kind of master
at equipment repair."
The man Sireul had addressed gave him an easygoing smile with just a
hint of a smirk. "I don't know if I'd go as far as to say master," he said,
"but I'm probably the guy you're looking for."
"Oh! You are?"
"I am! My name is Flio. I run this store."
"You?" Sireul cocked his head in confusion. Huh? he thought. But
Wreek told me that this man had some kind of incredible ability that let him
repair broken equipment in the blink of an eye! This Flio just looks like your
average young shop owner.
Flio saw the confusion in Sireul's eyes and smiled again. "Is something
wrong?" he asked.
"Huh?" Sireul was startled out of his thoughts. "O-Oh! No, it's
nothing..." Well, he thought, I did come all this way... Sireul took the
rucksack he was wearing off his back and procured a sword from it. "It's
kind of a mess," he said apologetically.
Flio gasped when he saw the sword. It was thick, but there were dents
and chips all the way down the blade, and a frightening number of thin
cracks running through the body. It looked like it could fall apart at any
moment.
"The truth is," Sireul said, "I was hunting monsters in the forest, and I
ended up smashing a shield boar with this thing as hard as I could." Shield
boars were omnivorous magic beasts known to ruin farms and fields, and to
occasionally attack humans or smaller monsters. The hide on their back was
extremely tough, and the usual method for fighting one was to aim for the
face. However, Sireul was by no means the first adventurer to mistake a
shield boar for a similar beast—like a tusk boar or a charge boar—and ruin
their weapon by striking the boar's back. He would hardly be the last.
"Oh, a shield boar, is it?" Flio asked. "I understand completely. I've seen
this a lot—customers who attacked a shield boar by mistake and ruined
their weapon. Anyway, here you go." Flio handed the sword back to Sireul.
He had only held it for the time it took to say those three sentences.
"Huh?" Sireul blinked in disbelief. Flio had barely touched the sword,
and he had been chattering away the entire time! Oh, he thought. I guess he
couldn't repair it after all... He sighed deeply as he accepted the sword.
"Wait..." Sireul took another look, and his eyes went wide. The damage
was gone. His sword looked like it had the day it was forged. "Huh?
What?!" Confused, he did a triple take. He touched it with his hand to be
sure that it was real. There was no mistake; his sword had been restored to
perfect condition.
"How's that?" Flio asked, still giving his carefree smile. "Does it feel
right?"
"I... You..." Sireul started. "It's...completely repaired! Incredible..."
"If there's anything else, feel free to ask," Flio said. "I'll help as much as
I can."
"R-Really?!" Sireul responded, a little louder than he had intended. "WWell then! Actually, could you make the grip a little thicker? I think I might
be able to handle it a little better that way."
"The grip? Let's see..." Flio touched just his index finger to the grip of
Sireul's sword. "How do you like that?"
"Huh? H-Huh?!" Sireul's eyes went even wider. All Flio had done was
run his finger along it, but the grip had undeniably changed. "Wow!" he
exclaimed. "Amazing! It really is thicker!" He gripped the sword in both
hands, a look of utter disbelief on his face.
"Was there anything else you needed?" Flio asked, his smile as
easygoing and carefree as ever.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Wreek really recommended a good store. Fli-o'-Rys... I'll have to
remember that." Sireul nodded in satisfaction as he left.
Flio saw him off with a smile. "Thank you!" he said. "Come back any
time!"
When Sireul was gone, Ghozal walked up to Flio, a smile on his face.
"Hrm," he said. "Incredible as ever, Mister Flio. You repaired the sword—
upgraded it, even—and all without letting on that you're just using magic."
Ghozal had once been the Dark One, but now his younger brother
claimed that title while he worked at the Fli-o'-Rys General Store disguised
as a human. He was freeloading at Flio's house at present. You might call
the two of them best friends.
Flio laughed. "I thought you might be able to tell, Ghozal." He smirked.
"Nah," Ghozal said. "I only noticed because I was watching carefully.
Otherwise, I would have had no idea." He clapped a hand on Flio's
shoulder. "But Mister Flio, with that little trick of yours, you could probably
turn that sword into a masterpiece."
"Oh, I don't know," Flio said. "That might be a little hard." He retrieved
one of the swords from a nearby basket—a cheap one, not one of the
expensive ones mounted for display on the walls of the shop. They stocked
items like this to sell to run-of-the-mill adventurers. Flio held his hand over
the blade of the sword and began channeling his magic. "I think this is
about the best I can do."
"Excuse me," said Greanyl, walking up from the side. She took a knee.
"I apologize for interrupting. Lord Flio, do you have a moment?" Greanyl
was both a shadow demon and a member of the Silent Listeners, the former
intelligence apparatus of the Dark Army. When Ghozal had abdicated his
position as Dark One, they had followed him and quit the Dark Army. Now
the Silent Listeners worked at the Fli-o'-Rys General Store under the guise
of demihumans. Perhaps self-conscious about butting in on their
conversation, Greanyl sidled up closer, still on one knee.
Flio looked over at Greanyl and stopped working on the sword for the
time being. "First thing, Greanyl, would you mind standing up? I've told
you there's no need to go that far, haven't I?"
"But... But..." she protested.
"Seriously!" Flio said. "Don't worry about it!" He took Greanyl by her
arm and pulled her to her feet. The shadow demon looked between Flio and
Ghozal with a hapless look on her face. During her time in the Dark Army,
it was customary to kneel when before one's superiors.
"Greanyl," Ghozal said, smiling, "Mister Flio is telling you he doesn't
mind. Let it go."
"See?" Flio said. "Even Mister Ghozal agrees."
"But... Even if my lords were to say so, I...I feel that this is
disrespectful." She bowed, looking terribly apologetic, but at least she was
finally standing.
"So, what did you need?" Flio asked.
"Sir..." Greanyl said, a distraught expression on her face. "Our next
shipment for Castle Klyrode is due to leave soon, but we still have yet to
receive the lembon cakes."
"No lembon cakes?" Flio asked. "That's strange. I asked Rys to make
them this morning..." After a bit of thought, he handed the sword to Ghozal
and gave him another smile. "Sorry," he said, "it sounds like something's
come up. But this is probably about the best I can do at my skill level."
Then, he extended his hand, creating a magic circle from which appeared a
large portal—it took the form of an ordinary-looking door. "I'm gonna go
check on Rys. Would you wait just a moment, Greanyl?"
"I will accompany you, Lord Flio," said Greanyl, moving to follow after
him. "I will recover the cakes and return here directly."
"All right, let's go then!" Flio said, opening the door. On the other side
was Flio's living room.
Sybe, in its unicorn-rabbit form, ran up to them and snuffled curiously.
Sybe was originally a wild psychobear. It had encountered Flio in the
woods and immediately realized that it was no match for him. Sybe
surrendered, and Flio took it into his household as a pet. Flio had used
magic to give it a unicorn-rabbit form along with the ability to switch forms
freely. Usually, it preferred to spend its time as a unicorn-rabbit.
Flio scooped Sybe up into his arms and walked through the door.
Greanyl followed after him. The portal disappeared behind them as it
closed. There were not many people in the world who could use
Teleportation magic so effortlessly with just their own power. To Flio,
however, it wasn't such a big deal. In fact, he himself used Teleportation
freely and casually in his daily life. As far as he knew, lots of people in this
world could use magic on that level.
Back in the Fli-o'-Rys General Store, Ghozal was regarding the sword
Flio had given him with wry amusement. "Hey, Uliminas," he said, calling
out to the woman doing paperwork behind the register. "What do you think
of this sword?"
When Ghozal had been the Dark One, Uliminas the hellcat served as his
confederate. She had left with her master along with the Silent Listeners,
and now also worked at Fli-o'-Rys disguised as a demihuman. Like Ghozal,
she was living at Flio's house. "Mew?" she asked. "Meowt do I think of
that cheap sword?"
"Here," said Ghozal, "hold it."
Uliminas took the sword from him and her tail stood up on end,
quivering. Her eyes shot open. "I-I thought this was a discount weapon!"
she said. "But there's some wild meowgic in here. I would've never
realized from meow it looks..."
"Lady Uliminas," said Hiya, appearing rather suddenly, "I do not believe
that sword is imbued with any enchantments worthy of note." Hiya was
known as the djinn who commanded the origin of light and darkness, the
wielder of magics strong enough to bring the world to ruin. When Flio
defeated them, they resolved to become his servant and took to calling him
by the name "Exalted One." Right now, Hiya was helping create magic
items to sell in the shop.
Hiya held their hand to the sword, calling up a window. The text in the
window listed out an extraordinary number of enchantments. There were
too many to fit in a single window, and soon a second opened, and then a
third. Hiya read the windows, their eyes not opening any further than their
usual slits.
"Attack power up..." they read. "Attack speed up... And it's enchanted
with damaging magics—fire, water, and earth elementals. It seems that it is
designed to automatically discern which of those three would be most
efficacious against its wielder's opponent. That alone would make it a
formidable weapon, but I also see recovery spells, enhancement spells,
support spells. All told..." They pondered for a moment. "Ah, I fear it
would take me some time to count them. There are so many."
Hiya glanced over at the windows which were still multiplying, their
expression unchanged. "This must be the doing of the Exalted One," they
said. "A reminder, I suppose, of how far he is beyond me." They bowed
deeply.
"It looks like it changes its form to suit its wielder too," said Ghozal,
who had taken the sword back from Uliminas and was now holding it aloft
above his head. "Hrm... Any kingdom would happily make this a national
treasure." He smirked. "We should probably tell Mister Flio that he
shouldn't go around handing out swords like this on a moment's impulse."
"I believe that would be best." Hiya nodded. "The Exalted One thinks
too little of his own power."
Uliminas looked up at the sword in Ghozal's hand. "That guy..." she
said. "Making ameowzing swords like it's meowthing... If he felt like it, I
bet he could conquer the world."
Ghozal laughed. "Mister Flio would never do that!"
"That is my estimation as well." Hiya nodded.
"What Mister Flio wants," Ghozal continued, "is to make a world where
everyone can live together in peace. He beat Mx. Hiya, and he's even
stronger than me, the strongest Dark One in history. But he wants to use his
power to work for a peaceful future. He's a strange one, isn't he?"
Uliminas nodded. "Meow that mew mention it," she said, "he is quite
purrculiar."
◇Houghtow City—Flio's House◇
"Rys?" Holding Sybe in his arms, Flio poked his head into the kitchen.
Inside, he could see Rys, wearing an apron, packing a fresh-baked lembon
cake into a box.
"Oh!" she said. "M-My lord husband!"
Rys had once been a soldier in the Dark Army—a fearsome lupine
demon. Flio had defeated her, and she had chosen to follow him as his wife.
Now she lived as a demihuman, cooking for everyone in Flio's household
and helping out with the shop.
"Are those the lembon cakes for today's delivery?" asked Flio.
"Yes, that's right," Rys started, and then she noticed the shadow demon
following after her husband. "Greanyl?!" Greanyl stepped past and put the
box of lembon cakes into her Bottomless Bag. "I suppose I must have run
late..." Rys said. "I'm terribly sorry. All the cakes are in that box."
"Thank you, Lady Rys," Greanyl said, bowing deeply.
Rys lowered her head. "I really am sorry to make you come and pick it
up yourself. I know I had promised to bring them to you earlier."
"It's perfectly all right," Greanyl said. "The cakes will reach Castle
Klyrode on time and without incident. In fact, I would say I owe you an
apology for making you rush." She bowed again, but inwardly she was
shocked. I-I can't believe Lady Fenrys lowered her head to me! she thought.
When she was in the Dark Army, Rys—formerly Fenrys—had been the
right hand of her brother Fengaryl, the leader of the army's fierce lupine
division. She had been short-tempered and haughty—not the kind to bow
her head to anyone. The gap between the Fenrys Greanyl had known well in
her days as a spy and the Rys lowering herself to bow in apology was
enough to make her doubt her senses. Greanyl turned to look at Flio. It must
be the influence of her husband, Lord Flio... she thought, and suddenly
jerked her head up.
"W-W-W-W-W-Well then, excuse me!" she stammered. "I must hurry if
I'm to reach Castle Klyrode on time!" With her hasty goodbyes said, she
ran for the door.
"Greanyl!" Flio called after her. "I can make a portal for you! It's no
problem!"
"There's no need, Lord Flio!" Greanyl called out over her shoulder. "It
isn't much of a run from here, and I'd hate to bother you with this more
than I already have." She leapt out a window and took off down the road at
a ridiculous speed.
Flio watched Greanyl go. "It really isn't that big a deal," he said,
scratching the back of his head.
Rys walked up to him and bowed again, deeply. "Um," she started. "I
really am terribly sorry. You shouldn't have had to trouble yourself with
this, but I was delayed in finishing the cakes..."
"I keep telling you it isn't any trouble," Flio said. He placed a hand on
Rys's shoulder to comfort her.
"My lord husband..." Rys cooed, gazing up at him. "Thank you so
much!"
Hm? Flio knit his eyebrows slightly as he looked at Rys's face. "Rys, are
you not feeling well? You look a little pale."
"I do?" Flio's words seemed to surprise her. After giving it a little
thought, Rys said, "I-I'm sorry. The truth is, I haven't been feeling quite
well the past few days..." She gave her husband a forced smile, trying her
very hardest not to make him worry. "Oh, but I'm sure I'll feel better once
I've slept..."
Flio placed his palm on Rys's forehead. A magic circle appeared. "I'll
try healing you with magic," he said. "Hold on..." The magic circle began
to slowly rotate. Her hair floated up like it was blown by a gentle breeze as
her body shone with golden light. It felt good. Rys closed her eyes and
sighed deeply.
"What's this?" said Flio, sensing that something was off.
"What's wrong, my love?" asked Rys. She opened her eyes. She could
tell from his voice that something was bothering him.
"Hmm..." Flio mused. "What does this mean...?" He slowly lowered his
hand from where it was pressed against Rys's forehead, down her body. He
brought it past her head, past her throat, past her chest...and finally it came
to rest at her belly.
"M-My lord husband?!" Rys asked, suddenly blushing bright red. She
shook her head, pressing her hands against her flushing cheeks. "W-Wait! I
don't know when Blossom and Wyne are going to come back from the
fields! I mean...I'm very happy, if that's what you want to do, b-but Sybe is
here, and m-maybe we'd best retire to our chambers to—"
"No, no," said Flio. "That's not it, Rys..." Rys had been leaping to
conclusions. In fact, Flio was staring at her belly with a serious look on his
face. He kept his hand there, staring fixedly at the area around her belly
where she wore an apron over her usual white blouse.
Rys realized something was strange. Her husband wasn't acting like
himself. She looked up at him. "M-My lord husband?"
"Yeah," said Flio. "There's no doubt about it." He looked back to Rys's
face. "Congratulations, Rys!" he said. "It looks like you're pregnant!" Flio
pulled Rys into his arms, a huge grin spreading over his face. But then he
noticed that Rys was staring blankly at him, like she hadn't understood what
he said. "Huh?"
"I-I'm pregnant?" Rys said. "I-I'm going to have a baby?"
"Yes!" said Flio. "You are!"
"I-I'm gonna have m-my lord husband's baby..." she marveled. "For
real...?" Her shoulders were trembling as she gazed into Flio's eyes.
Flio nodded. "That's right. It's our child."
"Our child..." Rys hugged Flio tight, finally understanding the situation.
"My lord husband!" she cheered. "I did it! I did it!"
Tears of joy were streaming down her face.
Sybe snuffled happily from where it was watching, a short distance
away. Standing on its two hind legs, it clapped its paws in celebration as
Flio and Rys grinned at each other with giddy jubilation, still in their loving
embrace.
◇Flio's House—Evening◇
That evening, everyone gathered for dinner in the living room. When all
the residents were accounted for, Flio stood up. "Everyone, before we eat,
there's something we'd like to tell you." Rys stood up next to her husband,
who put his arm around her shoulder. "We just found out that Rys is
pregnant!" He smiled. Rys, blushing pink, had a huge grin on her face.
"L-Lady Rys!" Balirossa sprung up. "Y-You're—"
"You're having Flio's..." Blossom continued, rising as well.
"Like, you're having his baby?!" Byleri jumped up and crossed her arms
in front of her chest.
"C-Congratulations!" said Belano in a high-pitched voice as she joined
the toast.
Balirossa, Blossom, Byleri, and Belano had once been knights serving
Castle Klyrode. Balirossa was their leader, Blossom was a heavy fighter,
Byleri was an archer, and Belano was a witch. They had quit their order to
live at Flio's house, and now they too were working at the Fli-o'-Rys
General Store. Blossom, who was close friends with Balirossa, also worked
the farm outside Flio's house—while Byleri, who excelled at taking care of
horses, had a side business rearing horses and lending them out. Belano,
meanwhile, had been scouted by the Houghtow College of Magic, where
she now worked as a defensive magic instructor.
"Whoa!" shouted Wyne, who had been sitting next to Rys. She had shot
up at the same time as Balirossa's party. "Mama's got a baby in her belly?"
She skipped and hopped joyful circles around Rys. Wyne was a dragonewt,
a people said to make the finest soldiers among all dragonkind. Flio and
Rys had found her when she had collapsed from hunger and saved her life.
Now, she too lived at Flio's house. She was still growing, and had an
outlandish appetite.
"That's right, Wyne," said Rys, beaming happily. "My lord husband's
baby is in my belly right now."
Rys's words seemed to make Wyne's spirits sail even higher. "Wow!"
she cheered. "A baby! A baby! Dada and mama are having a baby!"
Ghozal began to applaud, a big grin spread wide on his face. "Well!
Congratulations! With how you two were getting on, it was only a matter of
time, but...hrm. I would say congratulations are in order!"
Next to Ghozal, Uliminas began to applaud as well. "Aha ha!" she
laughed. "I still can't believe Fenrys, our bloodcurdling beast of a
demeown, had such a mewternal instinct! I'm sure everyone mew knew
from back then would be shocked to see mew now!" For all her ribbing,
Uliminas also had a jovial smile on her face. Uliminas and Rys had been
friends in the Dark Army. In her case, it wasn't just the happiness of the
occasion that made her grin with joy.
Rys smiled back at her old friend. "Uliminas," she said, "would you
kindly refrain from discussing my past? I am but the wife of my lord
husband now." As she spoke, the fingertips of her right hand transformed
into a wolf's claws.
"W-Wait! Hold on!" said Uliminas. "I was just teasing mew! It was a
joke!"
"Oh," Rys said, chuckling. "I'm only joking too." Playfully, she turned
her claws back into human fingers. The two looked at each other, and then
burst out laughing.
While Rys and Uliminas kept each other company, Hiya approached Flio
from the other side. They knelt with practiced grace and slowly lowered
their head. "Exalted One, My Lady... I wish both of you joy on this
auspicious occasion. I, your humble servant, here renew my vow to serve
you—and your unborn child—with the whole of my being."
"Hiya," said Flio, "I appreciate it, really..." He placed a hand on their
shoulder, indicating for them to stand. "But regardless of anything that
happened in the past, I consider your present self to be one of my dearest
friends. There really is no need for such a formal—"
"Oh!" Hiya exclaimed, an expression of rapture on their face. "For you
to spare such words for a wretch such as I! I am deeply grateful." Flio
smiled and patted Hiya on the shoulder.
"But you know," said Ghozal, "it's going to be a lot of hard work."
"I know," Rys answered. "I haven't forgotten." Grinning, she picked up
a book she had set down by her chair. "Look! I bought this book about
childbirth and caring for infants from Miyan Walkey in Sojieya. I've read it
cover to cover!" On the book's cover was the title Childbirth and
Childcare.
"Oh!" said Balirossa. "Excellent, Lady Rys!"
"She thinks of everything, doesn't she?" said Blossom.
"Right?" said Byleri. "She's, like, the best?"
Belano said nothing. She just nodded. The four applauded harder than
they had been already, impressed by Rys's diligence.
"According to this book," Rys went on, "it will take a little less than ten
months for the child to be born. We'll have to get everything ready by that
time..." She started flipping through the book with an air of smugness.
But Ghozal heaved a heavy sigh. "Hold on, Rys," he said. "What did
you just say?"
"What do you mean?" Rys innocently asked.
Ghozal walked up next to her, and pointed to a particular spot on the
book's cover. "I think you might have missed this," he said.
"This part, right here?" Rys, as well as Flio and Hiya, looked where
Ghozal was pointing. Everyone else crowded around behind them, trying to
see.
Where Ghozal had pointed, written in small letters, was the rest of the
title: Human Edition.
"Human...Edition?" Rys's eyes went wide.
"Hrm," said Ghozal. "Aren't you a lupine demon? This book isn't gonna
be accurate."
"Y-You're kidding!" Rys was stunned. "B-B-But...the shopkeeper told
me that this was their best-selling book!" Rys stared at the book like she
was trying to burn a hole through the pages. "Oh..." she said, starting to
sweat, "but I suppose he never did ask my species..."
"Hrm..." said Ghozal. "Well, if you need to know about demons, you
have the former Dark One right here. I happen to know that lupine
pregnancies are much shorter than that."
"O-Oh?" Rys asked. "Th-They are?"
Ghozal sighed. "You're a lupine demon yourself," he said. "How do you
not know this?"
"But!" Rys protested, her voice a squeaky falsetto. "B-B-But...my
parents and my brother never taught me anything but how to fight and how
to lead an army!"
Ghozal grimaced involuntarily. "Lupines, honestly." He sighed. "Listen,
Rys, lupine pregnancies take about a month."
"A... A month?" Rys's eyes went impossibly wider. She was so stunned
that her tail appeared and her wolf ears popped up. Flio, Balirossa,
Blossom, Byleri, and Belano looked no less shocked.
"Yaaay!" Wyne cheered. "I'll get to meet the baby in a month!" She and
Sybe started dancing together joyfully.
Uliminas, who had been watching this whole mess, made a tight-lipped
smile and scratched her head. "Rys," she said, "I have a book about
demeown purregnancies. Mew can borrow it if mew want."
"Really?!" Rys's eyes lit up as she darted over to Uliminas. "Uliminas,
really? Really really?!"
"Yeah, really," said Uliminas.
"Oh, thank you!" Rys said, sighing with relief. "I'll be able to learn what
I need to after all."
"Well," said Ghozal, "even with that book, it'll be a lot of hard work. I'll
help in any way I can, so feel free to ask if you need anything!" Ghozal
laughed and thumped his chest.
"Thank you, Mister Ghozal," said Flio, bowing graciously. "You're a big
help."
"I wouldn't rely too much on him if I were mew," said Uliminas, a
sardonic grin on her face. "Did mew know he once mewxed up pandamen
and dogbears? He was giving aaall kinds of weird instructions..."
"H-Hrm?" Ghozal looked confused. "Did I?"
"Mew did!" Uliminas was indignant. "It was a mewge mess! Don't tell
me mew just went and furrgot about it!"
At once, the living room erupted with laughter.
While everyone was carrying on, laughing and shouting, Balirossa
sighed. "A baby, huh?" she muttered softly to herself. Her eyes
unconsciously drifted over to Ghozal. A second later, she realized that she
had started to stare and quickly shook her head. No, no, no, no, no! she
thought. Why would thinking about babies make me look at Ghozal?! H-He
may have saved my life, and it's true that he's always kind to me when we
work together, and I suppose he does call me beautiful very often, but... The
more she thought, the redder her face became. But th-that doesn't mean
I'm...in love with him or anything!
Balirossa covered her face with her hands.
"By the way, Uliminas," Rys said, ignorant of Balirossa's little
meltdown.
"Meowt is it, Rys?"
"Well," Rys started, "I'm very glad you agreed to lend me your book on
demon pregnancies, but I was wondering. You aren't married, right? Why
do you have something like that?"
"Meow?!" Rys's words had an unexpectedly powerful effect on the
hellcat. For the second time that day, her tail stood up straight in shock. "NN-No!" she said. "I-I-I didn't get it for myself! I... I... Oh, mew know, back
when I was Ghozal's confederate in the Dark Army, I had to deal with those
sorts of things with my mewnions sometimes, so..." she trailed off. This
was a lie, of course. When she was in the Dark Army, Ghozal would often
take her to bed. She had acquired the book to study just in case she ended
up pregnant with Ghozal's child.
"Really?" asked Rys. "I don't remember you speaking to people about
their families..."
"W-W-W-Well!" Uliminas stammered incoherently. "M-Mew know!
Mew were away fighting most of the time!"
Ghozal never thought of me as meownly his subordinate, Uliminas
thought, her heart a whirlpool of complicated emotions. And...that one time,
he kissed me! He said he loved me too...
◇The Following Morning, on Blossom's Farm◇
The morning after Rys learned she was pregnant, Blossom got up early
to work the fields like she always did. Sybe, in its psychobear form,
followed after her, pulling a cart to fill with freshly harvested vegetables.
She shared the good news with her assistants. One of them, the goblin
named Hokh'hokton, cried out with joy. "Jubilation!" he said. "Lord Flio
and Lady Rys are to have a child?"
Blossom grinned. "Yeah, that's right! Sounds like they'll be born in
about a month. Isn't that right, Sybe?" She hit the psychobear playfully on
its chest.
"Gwowr!" said Sybe, nodding happily.
Hokh'hokton folded his arms and nodded. "I see, I see!" he said. "What
glad tidings! Don't you think so, Maunty?"
"Yeah," said his fellow goblin Maunty. "I think it's great!" He nodded,
smiling happily. "Children are cute no matter how many you have!" He
looked behind him where his wife and children were hard at work
harvesting vegetables.
Hokh'hokton and Maunty had once been soldiers in the Dark Army, but
Blossom and Flio had given them food when they were hungry. They had a
debt of gratitude to the two, and resolved to work for Blossom from then
on, helping her with her farm. Maunty, who was a married goblin, had
brought his family here from their former home in Dark Army territory,
but...
"You may say that, Maunty," said Hokh'hokton, smirking as he looked
out at the field where Maunty's children were busy harvesting, "but surely
fifteen children is a terrible handful, is it not?"
"Huh?" Blossom was looking at the same field Maunty was, smiling.
But suddenly, a doubtful expression crossed her face. She started to count,
ticking them off on her fingers. "One, two, three..." she started, and went on
until, "thirteen, fourteen, fifteen...sixteen?!" She had counted one more than
Hokh'hokton's number. She froze in shock. "M-Maunty," she said. "What's
going on here?"
Hokh'hokton, who had been counting along with Blossom, opened his
eyes wide.
"Ah, well, you know..." said Maunty, laughing jovially. "We had another
kid, three days ago."
"What?!" exclaimed Blossom and Maunty.
"Gwowr?!" cried Sybe. All three were stunned.
For a while, the only sound was Maunty's laughter.
◇Meanwhile, in Hiya's Mindscape◇
Hiya, the djinn who commands the origin of light and darkness, stood in
the mindscape of their mental world: a pure white space expanding outward
in every direction. In the very center, there stood a single large bed, covered
in white sheets. On top of the bed, Hiya and Damalynas lay together, each
completely naked.
"Lady Rys is so lucky..." Damalynas cooed. She was lying on Hiya's
arm, tracing patterns on their chest with her finger. "Getting to have the
child of her beloved Lord Flio..." She gave Hiya a soft little kiss.
Hiya was capable of manifesting whatever physical gender they wished.
Right now, they were in a more masculine form. "Indeed..." they said.
"Lady Rys seems to be overjoyed."
"She does..." Damalynas sighed softly. "Your Divinity... Djinn like you
don't leave descendants, do they...?"
"We do not," Hiya said in their usual cool and collected voice. "There
are no tales of it being done."
Damalynas puckered up her lips in displeasure and clung close to Hiya.
"But I..." she started, "I love you so much, Your Divinity... Oh, but you're
always so kind to me, and you take such good care of me... I suppose that's
plenty. I suppose..."
She hugged Hiya again, and Hiya gently returned the embrace.
"Damalynas..." they breathed.
"Y-Yes?"
"Once," they began, "I believed myself to be all-knowing and allpowerful. However, I had overlooked one field of knowledge—the
knowledge of love. When I observed the love the Exalted One shares with
his wife... Ah, but the Exalted One forbade me to look, so I have not since."
Hiya cleared their throat. "I wanted to experience sexual love for myself,"
they said. "It has become an interest of mine. And so I began training with
you, Damalynas. Of all the djinn who have existed throughout history, I
believe I am the first to take up such a pursuit."
"So..." Damalynas's eyes went wide. "So that means..."
Hiya nodded. "Yes. I believe I may be the first djinn ever to love a
woman."
"So, you and I..."
"Would trying it not also be part of our training?" Hiya kissed
Damalynas full on the lips. Damalynas melted into their arms, a smile on
her face, and the two lay back down together on the bed.
◇One Month Later—The Doorway to Flio and Rys's Room◇
Flio waited in the hallway outside his and Rys's room, clearly unable to
stop worrying. The other members of his household were gathered around
in a line behind him. The time between Rys's contractions had been getting
shorter and shorter. Everyone except Uliminas and Byleri, who were
assisting with the birth, waited outside the room.
"Dada..." Wyne said, pulling on Flio's arm and looking up at him with
anxious eyes. "Is mama gonna be okay?"
Flio smiled cheerfully down at Wyne. "She'll be okay," he said.
"Uliminas has lots of experience helping demons give birth from her time
in the Dark Army."
"Good," Wyne said, smiling back. "I'm glad."
A few minutes later, Wyne pulled at Flio's arm again, looking up at him
with an identical expression as before. "Dada..." she said. "Is mama gonna
be okay?"
She was so worried about Rys that she completely forgot the earlier
conversation.
Wyne was not Flio and Rys's child by birth. She had been saved by the
couple when they found her collapsed in the forest. She imprinted on them
for saving her life, and ever since, treated them like her parents.
Flio patted Wyne softly on her head. "Everything will be okay," he said.
"Uliminas and Byleri have lots of experience delivering children."
"Good," Wyne said, smiling again. "I'm glad."
A short distance away, Balirossa, Blossom, and Belano were watching.
Their faces were pale as beads of nervous sweat formed on their brows.
"Hey, Balirossa," said Blossom in a whisper.
"Yes, Blossom?"
"I know Byleri said she's delivered tons of children, but—"
"She meant horses," Balirossa finished. "Absolutely."
"Whaddya think, Belano?" Blossom asked. "You think so too?"
"Yeah..." Belano said, joining in on the hushed conversation. "I had just
been thinking that myself..."
"That Byleri," said Blossom. "Barging her way into the room like
that..."
"It happened too fast for me to stop her..." said Balirossa.
Blossom sighed. "Anyway, I suppose all we can do is pray..."
"Yes," said Balirossa. "Shall we?"
Belano nodded, and the three bowed their heads and joined their hands
in prayer.
Suddenly, they could hear the sound of a baby crying from inside the
room. Flio, Wyne, Ghozal, and Hiya all rushed to the doorway. The moment
seemed to stretch out forever. And then, before their eyes, the door crept
open. "Mew can come in," Uliminas said, a big grin on her face. "The
delivery was a success!"
"Thank you so much, Uliminas," Flio said, bowing his head to her.
"Oh, my lord husband..." said Rys when she heard his voice. She was
lying down in bed, smiling happily. Next to her were two newborn babies.
"You, like, got a healthy pair of twins!" Byleri said, grinning. She had
been the one to clean the two babies. "A boy and a girl!"
Flio smiled at his children. They were a little larger than a human
newborn would typically be. Right now, they were lying next to Rys,
sleeping peacefully. "My lord husband..." Rys said once more.
"Rys, you did amazing," said Flio, taking her hand in his. "Good job!"
"Thank you..." Rys said, smiling through her tears.
"Hey Uli-Uli," said Wyne, standing impatiently on the other side of the
door. "Can I come in yet? Pretty please?" She was sick of waiting.
"Not yet," said Uliminas. She was standing in front of the door, not
allowing anyone but Flio to pass. "Wait just a meowment." She wanted to
allow the couple some time alone with their children.
A little while later, Flio waved them in. Wyne didn't wait a second. She
immediately burst into the room, at the head of the group. "Babies! Babies!
Twins! Twins!" she sang. She grinned ear to ear as she looked at them.
"Hrm," said Ghozal. He too was smiling. "They seem like a wonderful
pair."
Wyne looked up at Flio. "Hey dada," she said, "what are you gonna
name them?"
"Names, hm?" Flio said. He seemed to be back to his usual carefree self.
"I have some ideas, actually..." He looked around at the assembled crowd
before looking back to Rys, meeting her eyes. "Garyl for the boy," he said,
"and Elinàsze for the girl. Garyl is from Rys's brother's name, and
Elinàsze... Elinàsze is the name of the goddess of love from my homeworld.
What do you think, Rys?"
A soft smile spread slowly over Rys's face. "Garyl and Elinàsze... I
think they're lovely names." Rys looked over at her children. "So you are
Garyl," she said in a gentle voice, "and you are Elinàsze." She stroked her
babies on the head, who seemed very happy for their mother's touch.
Flio watched Rys and their children, a carefree smile on his face.
◇A Forest—Klyrode Army Stronghold◇
MacTaulo, a hero of renown and the commander of the stronghold,
grinned happily. "You don't say! Mister Flio and Missus Rys had twins?"
"Yes," said Greanyl, who had brought him the news. "And that is why I
have been placed in command of this shipment." Smiling, she handed
MacTaulo the paperwork for a delivery.
"Those two have been a great help to us," MacTaulo said as he accepted
the papers. "I must pay them a visit to offer my congratulations. Ah ha ha!"
One of the soldiers at the stronghold by the name of Benimo darted up
to MacTaulo as he was speaking. "Lord MacTaulo! What are you saying?!"
he said. He seemed distraught. "Aren't we in a standoff against the lichsteed
Sleip of the Infernal Four? What do you mean pay them a visit?!" Benimo
squared his shoulders accusingly and raised his voice in anger. "What in the
blazes is wrong with you?!"
"Ah, that's right," MacTaulo said. "You were only recently transferred
here from the Magic Corps." He strolled over to the window of the simple
two-story command post built in the middle of his base, and looked out
over the forest to the wooden palisades that marked the enemy camp. "Sleip
is gone."
"What?" Benimo was stunned. This stronghold was the encampment of
Klyrode's forces closest to the Dark Citadel. That was why they had
deployed a storied figure like MacTaulo here—to hold this point. Only
MacTaulo could have held the line against the cunning strategies of the
veteran warrior Sleip, and only Sleip could defend against an attack from
MacTaulo's forces. That state of affairs was well understood by both the
Klyrode military and the Dark Army.
"We don't know what happened, but for some time now, that position
has been under the command of Sleip's subordinate, the nightmare Dalc
Horst."
"Is he better than Sleip?" Benimo asked.
MacTaulo smirked. "You could count the number of commanders in this
world who could outmatch Sleip on one hand," he said. "We're planning an
all-out assault in the near future. That's why we requested reinforcements
from the Magic Corps."
"I-I see..." Benimo nodded. It seemed like he understood.
"If we can destroy that encampment, the Dark Army will be forced to
retreat from the area. After that, we'll all have a bit more room to breathe."
MacTaulo grinned as he stared at the walls of the Dark Army encampment.
"I suppose demons have problems of their own," he said. "I wonder what
happened."
◇Dark Citadel—Throne Room◇
The Dark One Yuigarde sat on his throne, grumbling in irritation.
Kneeling before him was the lichsteed Sleip with his head bowed. Beside
him were the other Infernals—Yorminyt the Serpent Princess, Hugi-Mugi
the doppeladler, and Calsi'im the skeleton. Phufun, who had been standing
at attention beside Yuigarde, took a step forward.
Phufun was dressed in a daringly revealing outfit, looking every bit the
succubus she was. She pressed her false glasses up against the ridge of her
nose and began to speak. "Lichsteed Sleip," she said, "I will ask you again:
why has it taken you so long to fulfill the Dark One's orders and crush a
single human stronghold?"
Sleip sighed deeply. He was getting sick of this question. It had been a
week since he was called back to the Dark Citadel, and it seemed like every
day he was summoned to the throne room and asked the same question. A
single stronghold, she says... he thought. Give me a godsdamned break.
That place is defended by Commander MacTaulo! He's the best the humans
have! It's not going to fall easily. And most of my force now is raw recruits
we conscripted into service! They've pulled half of my elite teams out to
deal with Zanzibar. How do they expect me to fight in these conditions?!
He kept those thoughts to himself. "It is due to my unworthiness, My
Lord," he said.
"Tch," Yuigarde spat. "This again. I'm sick of your excuses." He stood
up from his throne.
"Oh, my!" said Calsi'im, leaping up. "Lord Yuigarde! Please, calm
yourself for just a moment." He stepped between Sleip and Yuigarde,
kneeled down, and pressed his bony head to the floor. "That stronghold is
an important position for the Klyrode army! If we attack recklessly, we may
very well take tremendous losses! I believe, My Lord, that under the present
circumstances, we should avoid risking our fighting strength as much as
possible. After all, we have Zanzibar and his rebellion to worry about! So
please, I beg you...control your anger!"
Yuigarde looked down at Calsi'im and clicked his tongue. "I'll let it
slide just this once," he said. "Out of respect for Calsi'im." He turned his
head away from the Infernals like a petulant child.
Phufun adjusted her glasses once again. "Sleip," she said, "you are to
finish off the Klyrode army by tomorrow and report back. That is all."
"As you wish," Sleip said, dispirited. He bowed and left the throne
room. Calsi'im followed after him, clearly agitated.
Yorminyt watched her two colleagues leave. He humiliated Sssleip in
front of usss on purpossse. She looked at Yuigarde and sighed. Sssleip is the
sssenior of the Infernal Four. Thisss is a threat to usss, isssn't it? Yuigarde...
Lord Ghozal would have never done sssomething like that.
Hugi-Mugi had kept their eyes closed during the meeting and stood
glued to their spot. They did not wish to see Sleip be subjected to
Yuigarde's abuse.
Yuigarde stood up and gave Yorminyt and Hugi-Mugi a sidelong glance.
"Hmph," he said. "Useless, the lot of them." Then, he turned to address
Phufun. "Hey, Phufun. What's Zanzibar's gang up to?"
"Master, they have withdrawn from the area of the fortress you
destroyed yesterday. It seems that they retreated to the mountains and
assembled a defensive line."
"Right!" Yuigarde said, walking towards the exit to the throne room.
"Then I'll go crush that defensive line of theirs like I did their fortress! I'll
make an example of that man!"
"E-Excuse me!" Phufun went to chase after him. "Master Yuigarde! You
should take Yorminyt and Hugi-Mugi with you to—"
"Who needs 'em!" Yuigarde laughed uproariously. "Ever since I started
going out to the front, Zanzibar's been eating defeat after defeat! I
should've done this from the start instead of relying on my useless
minions!"
Yuigarde laughed and laughed as he tromped down the corridor away
from the throne room, Phufun running after him. Yorminyt waited until they
were gone before looking up at the throne and sighed. "He won't listen to
usss..." she said. "He doesssn't need usss... It'sss like we aren't Infernalsss
at all..."
Hugi-Mugi's two heads sighed as well. "Unbecoming it is, yes! Very
unbecoming," they said.
Sleip, Yorminyt, and Hugi-Mugi had once assisted Yuigarde in his bid to
seize power from the Dark One Gholl in an attempt to wake Gholl up and
snap him out of his growing tendency to favor diplomacy with humans over
conflict. But when Gholl received Yuigarde's challenge, he instead
abdicated his throne without a fight and left the Dark Citadel. And now
Yuigarde was expecting victories from Sleip without giving him enough
soldiers and leaving Yorminyt and Hugi-Mugi disused in the Dark Citadel,
refusing to give them orders to attack.
Yorminyt and Hugi-Mugi sighed again. If only they had known.
◇Inside the Dark Citadel◇
Calsi'im shook his head as he walked down the hallway. He was
wearing a majestic black robe in a futile attempt to look the part of an
Infernal, but it failed to lend any semblance of dignity to the ancient and
shriveled skeleton beneath it. "Phew..." he said. "I somehow managed to get
through to Lord Yuigarde, but goodness me! And after this, I have to
interview the prospective recruits and repair the damaged parts of the
castle! I suppose this is what I get for talking back. I can't say I love doing
chores like this, but an order is an order..." He took out a written itinerary
and looked it over, rubbing his aching shoulders with an air of great
reluctance.
Calsi'im had been awarded his position—the fourth seat of the Infernal
Four left unfilled after the death of Fengaryl the lupine—for his desperate
defense of the Dark Citadel when it had come under attack by Zanzibar's
forces while Yuigarde the Dark One was away. He had used his knowledge
of tactics to hold out against Zanzibar, but he was old, even for a demon,
and did not have the strength to lead soldiers on the field of battle. As a
result, he ended up mostly doing odd jobs that Yuigarde's minion Phufun
saw fit to foist on him.
"I too would like to have a minion, if I could!" he said, talking to
himself as he walked down the hallway. "Surely that is not too much to ask
for someone of my standing." He stopped, having caught sight of
something. "Hm? What's this?" In one corner of the hallway, someone had
dumped a pile of garbage. It must have been left over from the cleanup of
Zanzibar's attack on the Dark Citadel. In the pile, among the other trash,
was a magic doll.
"Hm..." Calsi'im mused. "One of the magic dolls we used as a diversion
when Zanzibar attacked..." The doll showed no signs of moving; it looked
to be out of magic. Its clothing was in tatters, and its arms had been torn off.
"Hmmmm..."
He took the magic doll in his arms. "Well!" he said. "A doll like this
would be a perfect minion! If it were moving, anyway!"
His mind made up, Calsi'im took the doll and headed towards Phufun's
laboratory.
◇Klyrode Castle—The Maiden Queen's Chambers◇
A great big smile spread over the Maiden Queen's face when she heard.
"You don't say!" she said. "Lord Flio is having a child?"
"So it seems," said the Third Princess, who had brought the Queen the
news. "I heard it from the Fli-o'-Rys staff when they came to deliver our
latest shipment." She smiled back at her older sister.
The Queen's smile seemed to grow even brighter. "We must find the
time to pay him a courtesy visit! After all, Lord Flio has been such a great
help to this kingdom in so many ways..."
Flio had been treated cruelly at the hands of the former king of Klyrode,
who had deemed him unfit to be a hero and essentially had him exiled in an
attempt to be rid of him. Yet despite that, Flio was more than willing to
assist the Maiden Queen, who had deposed her father and taken command
of the forces of Klyrode. Without his help, the Magical Kingdom of
Klyrode would have been destroyed by Hiya, the djinn who commands the
origin of light and darkness, or Damalynas, the Grand Magus of Midnight,
without the Dark Army needing to ever invade.
The Maiden Queen was well aware of how much she owed Flio. She
took care every day to be mindful of her gratitude towards him. Over time,
she had come to place great trust in Flio, and did her best to accommodate
him in every way she could.
"Let me see," the Queen said, picking up her daily planner from her
desk and opening it to check her schedule. "When would be a good
time...?"
"My sister," said the Third Princess, "shall I have a look at your
schedule? There must be some time between the meetings and the state
visits..."
"Ah," the Queen said, looking up from the book, "would you, sister? I
am terribly sorry to impose, but I do appreciate it."
"Of course! I am happy to be of service!" the Third Princess said,
cheerfully strolling over to the chamber door. She had been doing such
work for her sister even back when she was the crown princess and not yet
queen. When she wasn't helping with administration, she spent her days
studying political science, economics, and military tactics, all so that she
could one day be of more use to her sister. Her efforts had borne fruit, and
now she had become something like an aide and advisor to her sister, the
Queen. Nothing could have given her more joy.
"Oh, I almost forgot," the Third Princess said, stopping herself before
stepping out of the room. "I have a message for you from Fli-o'-Rys."
"A message? What is it?"
"I was asked to tell you that they are no longer selling lembon cakes, my
sister."
The Queen balked. "What?"
"That is all they said." And with that, she left the room.
The Maiden Queen was left alone, her face white. "What?" she repeated.
"No longer selling...lembon cakes...?"
The truth is, Rys had started baking lembon cakes to sell as a way to
dispose of her excess lembons. She had read in a book somewhere that
pregnant women crave sour foods, and got carried away buying crate after
crate of them. In the end, Rys had found that she didn't crave sour fruits at
all, so she stuffed the last lembon cakes—which had been a hot seller—into
her Bottomless Bag. She kept selling them, but this shipment to Klyrode
Castle was the last. They were sold out indefinitely.
The Maiden Queen stood still in shock, pressing the palms of her hands
against her cheeks. My... My only comfort, she thought. It was because I had
lembon cakes that I could work late into the evening night after night! It
was because I had lembon cakes that I could endure meeting after meeting!
Now what do I have to look forward to?! What do I have that will get me
through every grueling day?!
◇A Building Somewhere◇
The Shadow King sat on his decadent armchair in a dimly lit room. He
had once been king of Klyrode, but when his daughter brought his many
wicked deeds to light, he was deposed and forced to leave the castle. It was
then that he became the Shadow King. When he was king, he had engaged
in all kinds of shady underworld dealings—but now, that had become his
main business. He had been working the black market, proceeding
smoothly on his plan to make an absolute killing. But the Queen responded
by instituting greater countermeasures against illegal economic activity.
Conditions were bad, and the days wore on with no payout for the Shadow
King's schemes.
"Tell me," he said. "How have things been proceeding for the two of
you?"
Before him were the demon fox sisters: Kintsuno the Gold, wearing her
gold cheongsam, and Gintsuno the Silver in her matching silver cheongsam.
These two were once the leaders of the Demon Fox Clan, a group of
demons affiliated with the Dark Army. However, one day their stronghold
was crushed in some freak accident, and the Demon Fox Clan was no more.
Following the accident, they had joined forces with the Shadow King and
began working as members of his organization.
Kintsuno sighed. "Unfortunately, the Maiden Queen's campaign against
our organization has been working. We haven't been able to make any real
progress. And the funds we had stockpiled vanished somewhere in that
strange accident."
"But," said Gintsuno, smiling, "the general store we opened in Sojieya
has been doing surprisingly well! Thanks to that, we haven't been going
hungry."
The Shadow King clicked his tongue. "The Shadow King, the master of
underground dealings, reduced to managing a general store to make ends
meet..."
"It's just our luck..." said Kintsuno, pensive. "We still don't know what
happened when our stronghold was destroyed. The survivors said there was
some kind of monster with a golden head."
"Our stockpile vanished too..." Gintsuno said. "The survivors said
something about pitfalls."
The Shadow King grunted. "Yes, yes, it's been one thing after another.
Nothing has gone right for some time."
◇In a Forest◇
"Aaaaah-choooey!" Hero Gold-Hair sneezed violently as he walked
down the forest path.
"A-Are you okaaay?" Tsuya, who was walking alongside him, asked.
"Hero Gooold-Hair!" She looked at him with big, worried eyes.
"Ah, it's nothing. I'm fine. I just suddenly had the urge to sneeze!"
"Maaaybe someone was taaalking about you."
"Could be," Gold-Hair said, folding his arms. "Not that it matters. But
that being said, Tsuya, it's about time we came up with another scheme to
get some money. The cash we have on hand is starting to run low."
"O-Oh," said Tsuya. "I suppooose." She crossed her arms too, deep in
thought.
"No mistakes like the time you mixed up the Champion's Armor with
the Cambion's Armor!" Gold-Hair reminded her. "That thing turned me into
some strange monster with a golden head! What a mess..."
"I knooow," said Tsuya, her head drooping apologetically. "I'm sooo
sooorry for what happened..."
"And then there was the time we heard those rumors about a wagon train
carrying some kind of shady goods!" he said. "I mean, we had fun dropping
the wagons in pitfall traps, and we got our hands on a lot of stuff, but..."
"But then we stayed a few nights at that reaaally fancy inn and lost all
our moooney!" Tsuya sobbed.
"Y-Yes," Gold-Hair said. "I suppose that one is actually somewhat my
fault. I'm sorry, Tsuya." He bowed just slightly.
"Oh, no no no," Tsuya said, shaking her head frantically. "You don't
have to apooologize, Hero Gooold-Hair!"
"Well, one way or another, we should find some city to make our home
base. I'm tired of this vagabond lifestyle."
"Me toooo. It's aaall because of that booounty. We can't ever seeettle
dooown..."
"Tell me about it!" Hero Gold-Hair said, grumbling. "Making us wanted
criminals just because we borrowed a few things from their castle
sanctuary! Those Klyrode folks are out of their minds!"
"Um..." Tsuya said under her breath. "I thiiink it's pretty normal since
we stooole the castle's treaaasure..."
"What was that, Tsuya?" Gold-Hair said, narrowing his eyes.
Tsuya jumped in the air and shook her head, speaking in a falsetto.
"Fwah ha ha?! Nooo! I didn't saaay anything!"
Hero Gold-Hair shot her a suspicious glance and began walking deeper
into the forest. "Well, whatever. Anyway, we need to find a spot to set up
camp while it's still light out."
"O-Okaaay! I'm coooming!" Tsuya gave Gold-Hair an exaggerated
salute before the two ran off into the distance.