The world of Klyrode is a world of swords and sorcery, of magic beasts
and demihumans, where humans and demons had waged war since time
immemorial. However, that long war had finally been brought to an end
when the Maiden Queen of the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode, the greatest
of the human kingdoms, and the Dark One Dawkson agreed to sign a peace
treaty with each other. The Dark One Dawkson had once been a
vainglorious despot, but he mended his ways and began to work to reunify a
demonkind that had divided on itself, alongside his minion, Phufun, and the
three new Infernals—Zanzibar, Belianna, and Coqueshtti. The Maiden
Queen, meanwhile, was busy reorganizing her army—now that the Magical
Kingdom's biggest threat was no longer the Dark Army but independent
bands of pillaging demons—and improving relations with her nearby allies.
And so, the stage is set. The curtains rise...
◇Osahka Town◇
The Magical Kingdom of Klyrode stood at the very center of the
inhabited world. The township of Osahka lay west of Klyrode Castle, the
capital of the kingdom. It was an inland city, a good distance away from
Dark Army territory, and it sat near an important highway running east to
west. Well situated for commerce, this was a city that had long taken pride
in its merchants.
A magic circle appeared in the shadow of a building a ways off the welltrafficked main street. It must have been enchanted with some kind of
concealment spell, because the people passing by seemed to take no notice
of the spectacle whatsoever. After a second, a strangely normal-looking
door appeared. It opened with a creak, and out stepped Flio and Rys.
Flio was a merchant from another world who had been summoned as
one of the candidates for the role of Hero. He had been granted a
stupendously powerful blessing that gave him mastery of every skill and
spell that existed within the world of Klyrode. Since then he married Rys, a
former demon of the Dark Army, and now worked as manager and
proprietor of the Fli-o'-Rys General Store.
Rys was a lupine demon and a proud warrior. She had come to blows
with Flio and was roundly defeated. Afterwards, she made the decision to
walk alongside him as his wife. She adored her husband beyond words, and
was something of a mother figure for everyone living at Flio's house.
The two had just teleported to Osahka Town from their home. The
scenery of Flio's house was still visible through the open portal.
"The weather is so lovely here, isn't it?" said Rys, smiling as she placed
a hand on her white hat to keep it from blowing away. "The wind feels so
pleasant on my skin!" She was wearing her usual white dress, paired with a
light-yellow cardigan. She followed alongside Flio, draping her arm around
her husband's.
Flio gave Rys one of his usual easygoing smiles as the two set out in
high spirits for the main street. "I know there are all sorts of things you can
buy here in Osahka, but you can find most things in Houghtow too. Did we
really need to come all this way?"
"That's true..." Rys muttered, pressing her finger against her lips as she
thought for a moment. "I've already used most of the fabric you can find in
Houghtow, I suppose. I want to create new clothing for everyone to wear, so
it seemed fitting to try using some new materials." She smiled up at Flio,
pressing her face close to his. "And most of all, I want some for the new
child! I put a great deal of effort into making clothing when Garyl and
Elinàsze were born, and I will do no less for our fourth."
Flio nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. I definitely want our
daughter Rylnàsze to have good clothes to wear—not to mention the other
children who were born on the same day... Tia and Calsi'im's daughter
Rabbitz, and Belano and Minilio's child Belalio..." I really can't say I ever
imagined Rys would get so good at sewing, though... he thought to himself.
When we first got married, she could hardly cook or sew anything at all!
But when Balirossa's group started living with us, she declared that as the
wife of the household master, she would never forgive herself if she couldn't
see to everyone's needs. She's been pushing herself so hard...
Rys was a lupine woman, and lupines were a species with strong packforming instincts. Customarily, the strongest lupine would be the head of
the pack, and their mate would see to everyone's well-being. To Rys, it was
self-evident that her status as wife of the household head would make her
responsible for taking care of everyone living under their roof, and she
spared no effort to live up to said responsibilities.
She does so much, for me and everyone... Flio's thoughts continued, as
he recalled how Rys used to sneak out to study cooking and tailoring,
attending classes without telling the rest of the house in order to improve
her domestic skills as much as possible. "Rys..."
"What is it, my lord husband?"
"Thank you for everything you do for us. I really, really love you." Flio
pulled Rys into a gentle hug, holding her to his chest.
Rys's face flushed red all the way to the tips of her ears. "M-M-My lord
husband!" she protested, flustered, her eyes darting this way and that. "I-I-I
truly am most happy to hear that, but you'll startle me if you say such
things out of the blue! My heart wasn't ready! Ah ha ha..." Rys returned
Flio's embrace. Ah... she thought. I can't believe my lord husband
sometimes, saying things like that with no warning whatsoever. But...it
makes me so happy... Rys closed her eyes and rested her head against her
husband's chest.
Flio gazed down at Rys with a fond smile on his face. For a moment,
they stood there, holding each other in their arms. Then, suddenly, Flio
looked up. They had stepped away from the portal he had conjured,
meaning that the Concealment spell he had cast was no longer in effect
either. They were embracing in plain view of everyone walking along the
main street.
"Goodness!" said a passerby. "Those two seem quite fond of each
other!"
"You see that a lot in this town," said another.
Flio grimaced, acutely aware of the people talking about him. "AAnyway, Rys, shall we head for the shop?" He began moving quickly away
from the spot without waiting for an answer.
"A-Ah! My lord husband!" Rys frowned with dissatisfaction as Flio
dragged her along by the hand. Oh, well... she thought as the two vanished
into the crowd. I'll just have to ask for a generous encore later!
◇ ◇ ◇
Flio and Rys followed the main street to the Osahka shopping district
and stepped inside one of the shops. One of the women inside was leaning
against a pillar, smoking from a long-handled pipe and keeping an idle eye
on the customers. When the couple entered, she stepped forward and
greeted them with a familiar smile. "Well, well, if it isn't Master Flio
himself! It's been half an age since I saw you last. Welcome to my
establishment!" This was Fetabetcz, the proprietor.
"Good afternoon, Miss Fetabetcz," said Flio. "How are you finding that
magic tobacco I sold you?"
"I absolutely love it," she said, gesticulating with her pipe. "I use it all
the time. I never used to be able to smoke inside the store, or else the fumes
would stink up the merchandise, but this stuff just vanishes into thin air
when you smoke it. The smell isn't an issue at all!"
Flio winced slightly. "I'm very glad you're happy, but smoking too
much is bad for your health, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. You can be a real stick-in-the-mud
sometimes, Master Flio." Fetabetcz said with a smirk. "So, are you here for
our cloth? Feel free to look around all you like. Here at Osahka Town's one
and only Silkfleece, we've got fabrics from everywhere in the world!"
The Silkfleece Conglomerate, currently headed by none other than
Fetabetcz, was a cloth wholesaling operation with a long pedigree. They
stocked fabric and clothing from all over the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode,
as well as from neighboring lands. And they even supplied goods to the Flio'-Rys General Store.
"Thank you very much," said Flio. "We're here on private business this
time, actually. My wife was hoping to find a new kind of cloth to work
with, you see."
"Of course!" said Fetabetcz with a bright smile, turning her attention to
Rys. "You're more than welcome, madame. Please don't hesitate to have a
look."
Rys bowed cheerfully. "Thank you! I'll get to it at once, then."
One of the shop's walls was crammed full of tightly packed rolls of
various textiles, while different types of outfits were displayed all over the
shop floor—not an inch of space was wasted. Rys's eyes shone with
excitement as she looked it all up and down.
"You were right, my lord husband," she said. "This shop really does
have a tremendous amount of cloth and clothing. Oh, look! This kind is just
wonderful! A-And this one... What in the world is that strange pattern?"
Rys ran her hands along the fabric to feel its texture, sometimes even
pressing it to her cheek to get a better sense. Flio watched her work with his
usual easygoing smile. When I first met her, I would have never imagined
I'd get to see Rys smile like that, he thought. When they had first met, Rys
had been magically disguised as a young girl. Balirossa's party had tried to
capture her, and she faced off against them with unbridled hostility.
Flio took a sip of the tea Fetabetcz had given him as he fondly watched
his wife inspect the merchandise. Looking at her now, picking out cloth for
the children's clothes, you'd never think she was the same person as back
then...
◇Meanwhile—Flio's House◇
Flio's house stood on a large plot of land outside the walls of Houghtow
City, featuring a pasture for horses along with a large farm. As Rys browsed
the cloth inventory over at Silkfleece, three children were following the
path that led from the pasture to the fields. There was a tall boy, a smallish
girl, and, walking along hand in hand between them, another girl who was
even smaller. The tiny girl beamed up at the other two. "I love walking with
big brother Garyl and big sister Elinàsze!" she chirped.
Rylnàsze was Flio and Rys's third birth child. Thanks to her mother
Rys's demon blood, she was growing up very fast. She had already reached
the equivalent development of a three-year-old human.
Elinàsze smiled back at her little sister. "Just be sure not to run off on
your own, Rylnàsze," she said. "It's hardly been any time at all since you
were born!" Elinàsze was Garyl's older twin, and Rylnàsze's big sister. She
was a serious-minded girl and a talented magic user who loved her father
dearly.
Garyl, walking along on Rylnàsze's other side, grinned brightly. "Come
running to us if anything happens, okay? No trying anything dangerous
alone." He looked down at Rylnàsze, a bit of worry showing on his face.
Garyl was a good-natured boy with a ready smile—qualities that had won
him no small amount of popularity in the primary school he attended at the
Houghtow College of Magic. Plus, his physical prowess was entirely off the
charts.
Rylnàsze smiled up at her big brother. "I know!" she said, nodding
cheerfully. "I am not meant to go out on my own! Going out with mother
and father or my big brother and sister is more fun, anyway!"
Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings came from overhead! A girl with
enormous dragon wings sprouting from her back fell from the sky and
tackled Rylnàsze from behind into a great big hug. "Ah ha ha!" the girl
laughed. "Ryl-Ryl! You doing good?"
"Gawah?!" Rylnàsze cried. Her eyes darted around in panic at being
hugged from behind out of the blue like that, but when she realized who it
was, a brand-new smile came over her face. "B-Big sister Wyne?!"
Wyne was a dragonewt—said to be the strongest of soldiers among
dragonkind. Flio, however, had found her collapsed on the road one day and
took her in, saving her life. From that day on, she lived as Flio and Rys's
adopted daughter, and therefore was an older sister to Elinàsze, Garyl, and
Rylnàsze.
"Yes!" Rylnàsze answered. "I am doing very good!"
"Great, great!" said Wyne, beaming as she rubbed cheeks with her little
sister. "I'm happy when you're doing good, Ryl-Ryl! It makes dada and
mama and Eli-Eli and Gare-Gare and everyone else happy too!"
Rylnàsze beamed back, clutching her hat to keep it from falling off with
Wyne rubbing up against her cheeks like that. "I'm happy too!"
"Great, great! And don't worry, I'll protect you lots too, Ryl-Ryl!"
As they were chatting happily, a sudden gust of wind blew up the hem of
Wyne's poncho-style outfit.
"Big sis Wyne!" Elinàsze cried, turning red in the face as she pushed
Wyne's dress back down. "Again?!"
"Whahuh..." Garyl stammered, quickly averting his gaze. "I—I could
see her butt..." Indeed, Wyne was not wearing anything under that poncho
of hers.
"Young Mistress Wyne!" A woman in a maid outfit with a pair of
angelic wings on her back nimbly alighted to the ground.
"T-Tan-Tan!" Wyne exclaimed.
"My name is Tanya, not Tan-Tan!"
Tanya's full name was Tanyalite. She was an angel, a disciple of the
Celestial Plane sent to keep watch on Flio and his outlandish magic power,
but she lost her memory in a freak midair collision with Wyne, and now
worked for Flio as the household's live-in maid.
"But, but! I think Tan-Tan sounds cuter!"
"It doesn't need to be cute," Tanya insisted. "But more importantly...!"
She held out both her arms, her expression deadly serious. In one hand was
Wyne's bra, and in the other was a pair of panties. "Young Mistress Wyne,
have I not told you many times that you must wear underwear when you go
outdoors? I laid them out for you on your bed..."
Wyne frowned in protest. "B-But it's so stuffy! I hate-hate it..."
"I understand that, as a dragon, your body temperature is unusually high,
and so you prefer to wear loose-fitting clothes," Tanya said. "However, a
young lady of your age must not neglect to wear her undergarments!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"But you must!"
"Nuh-uh! Nuh-uh!"
Tanya thrust the bra and panties towards Wyne, who twisted her body
out of the way. "Gawahah?!" Rylnàsze, still held tightly in Wyne's arms,
cried out in confusion and dismay as she was swung through the air.
"Snuffle snuffle!" Sybe the unicorn rabbit came running up to Wyne's
feet. Sybe was originally a wild psychobear Flio had met in a random
encounter. As soon as it saw Flio, however, Sybe realized it had no hope of
victory and surrendered, becoming the family pet. It spent most of its time
in the unicorn rabbit form which Flio had given it using his magic, but it
had a peculiar habit of standing up on its hind legs. Sybe grabbed hold of
Wyne's leg.
"Huh? Huh? What's up, Sybe?"
"Snuffle! Snuff-snuffle!"
"Huh? I'm making Ryl-Ryl dizzy?! My bad, my bad!" Whether Wyne
could understand Sybe's speech or she simply noticed that Sybe was
looking over at Rylnàsze, she quickly lowered the young girl back to solid
ground.
Rylnàsze collapsed to the floor, clutching her head to try to make the
spinning stop. "Oh me, oh my, oh dear..." Sybe ran up beside her, full of
concern.
"Big sis Wyne, you should know better!" Elinàsze fumed as she
marched up to the dragonewt. "Rylnàsze is still young! You must be careful
with her!" But then she stopped. It wasn't only Sybe who was worried for
the young Rylnàsze collapsed on the ground, she noticed—the horse magic
beasts who lived in the pasture were drawing close out of concern, and even
the little birds flying overhead had landed on Rylnàsze's hat and shoulders
to check in on her. "You know, I thought Sybe was rather fond of her...
Does Rylnàsze have some skill that makes animals like her, perhaps?"
Tanya tilted her head in thought. "I don't believe so... Master Flio
inspected her just the other day, and said that she did not possess any
skills..."
"Meaning animals just like her 'cause of who she is," Garyl said,
stepping up from behind and patting Rylnàsze gently on the head. "You're
pretty amazing, Rylnàsze." He clearly admired his little sister.
"E-Ehe he..." Rylnàsze giggled, beaming up at Garyl as he patted her
head. "Big brother praised me!"
The horses and birds alike cried out happily and nuzzled Rylnàsze
fondly.
◇ ◇ ◇
Rislei watched Rylnàsze and the rest continue merrily down the road
from the pasture as she did her chores. "The horses really love Ryl, don't
they...?" she mused, resting her hands on her hips and tilting her head.
Rislei was the daughter of Sleip, a demon lichsteed, and Byleri, a
human. Sleip and Byleri had ended up as the co-managers of the pasture
outside Flio's house. Sleip was once a member of the Dark Army's Infernal
Four, and many of the horses living at the pasture were various kinds of
horse demons—his former subordinates. The rest were equine magic beasts
Sleip or Flio or someone else had captured in the wild. Right now, most of
the horse magic beasts had gone off towards Rylnàsze.
How lovely... she thought. She treats me like a big sister too. I wish I had
a real little sister who was that cute and good with horses...
As she was lost in thought, a large man came up from behind Rislei,
wrapping his arms tight around her and hefting her into the air. "Ha ha ha!
Risleeei!"
"P-Papa?! What are you—?!"
Sleip laughed uproariously as he held Rislei in his arms, nuzzling his
cheeks against her. Formerly an Infernal, Sleip quit the Dark Army and
ended up lodging at Flio's house where he spent his days looking after the
horses. He and Byleri had never been formally married, but they lived
together as lovers and had a daughter, Rislei, whom they loved very much.
"What's the matter, Rislei?" Sleip asked. "You had a look like you were
thinking, 'I wish I had a real little sister who was that cute and good with
horses...'"
Rislei's eyes shot open. "Weh?! P-Papa, how did you know exactly what
I was thinking?!"
Sleip laughed even more loudly than before. "Ha ha ha! I'm your papa,
you know! Of course I can tell that much!" He set Rislei back on the
ground, then looked around the pasture until he spotted a slender woman
carrying a hay bale inside from the pasture. "Oh! Byleri, there you are!" he
said, running over.
"Huh? Oh! Like, can I be of service to you, Lord Sleip?"
Byleri was once part of a knightly company from Castle Klyrode, where
she served as an archer, but she quit knighthood and moved to Flio's house.
There, she put her prodigious horse-handling skills to work looking after
equine magic beasts of all sorts and lived out her days in bliss with her
lover Sleip and daughter Rislei. She smiled up at Sleip, who suddenly
scooped her up into his arms in a princess carry. "Wha-huh?!" Byleri
exclaimed. "L-Lord Sleip?"
"Well, if our precious Rislei wants a little sister so badly, you and I had
better get to work!"
"Awuh?! L-Like, right now?!" Byleri's face went a brilliant shade of
red.
Sleip gazed down at Byleri as she turned redder and redder. "Hm? Is that
a no?"
"I-I mean... I didn't say that..."
"Ha ha ha! Then what's the problem?" Laughing boisterously as always,
Sleip carried Byleri away towards the house.
Rislei sighed, watching her father carry her mother indoors, her own
face turning quite red as well. "Papa and mama are all over each other
again, like always..."
◇ ◇ ◇
A woman watched from the front yard as Sleip carried Byleri inside the
house. She paused the friendly bout of swordplay she was engaged in with a
much larger man. "I wonder what's come over Byleri and Sir Sleip all of a
sudden..." she wondered aloud, a curious look on her face. This was
Balirossa, the former leader of the group of knights from Klyrode Castle
who had been living at Flio's house and helping out at the Fli-o'-Rys
General Store. She was one of Ghozal's two wives, and the mother of
Ghoro.
The large man she had been sparing with—Ghozal—folded his arms in
thought. Ghozal was none other than the former Dark One Gholl, who had
abdicated his throne in favor of his younger brother, Yuigarde, and now
lived at Flio's house as a human. He and Flio were something along the
lines of best friends. He had taken two wives as well—Balirossa, the former
knight, and Uliminas, his old confederate from the Dark Army. With them,
he had two children—Ghoro and Folmina.
"Hrm..." Ghozal said. "I wonder if Byleri's hurt somehow..."
"Ah, yes." Balirossa nodded. "That would stand to reason, I suppose."
A broad smirk came over Uliminas's face when she heard what her
husband and co-wife were talking about. Uliminas was a hellcat, and had
been Ghozal's closest confidant in the Dark Army. When Ghozal left, she
quit alongside him. Now she worked at the Fli-o'-Rys General Store
disguised as a demihuman. The other wife of Ghozal, she was the mother of
Folmina.
"Come on meow, don't be ridiculous..." Uliminas muttered to herself.
"Those two are clearly about to go at it like rabbits in the mewddle of the
day!"
Tug tug... Folmina, who had been standing beside Uliminas, tugged at
her mother's sleeve. Folmina was Ghozal and Uliminas's daughter, half
demon royalty and half hellcat. She was equally attached to Uliminas and
Balirossa, Ghozal's two wives, and had a serious infatuation with Garyl.
Uliminas looked down to see her daughter gazing innocently up at her.
"Mama Uliminas? What do you mean by 'go at it like rabbits'...?"
Uliminas winced perceptibly. "Mreow?! A-Ah! Well, erm, mew see..."
she began. "Those two get along so well, right? They meowst be heading
inside to spend some time...getting along."
"Hmmm, I see..." said Folmina. "But I don't think they get along quite
as well as papa and my mamas."
"Hwah?! W-Well, meowbe..."
"I know how this works, you know!" Folmina said. "If mama and mama
and papa get along really well, you'll make a new little brother or sister for
Ghoro and me!"
"Mereow?!"
"So? When are you gonna have another kid?" For the past few months,
Folmina spent a lot of time touching Rys, Belano, and Tia's pregnant
bellies. She innocently reached out to touch Uliminas's flat stomach.
"Wh-When? Erm... Meow do I put this..."
"Come on! Tell me when!"
"Ah ha ha... Erm..." Even Uliminas, the onetime confederate of the Dark
One and commander of the Dark Army, was at a loss before her daughter's
line of questioning.
Ignoring Uliminas and Folmina's conversation, Ghozal faced Balirossa
and brought his sword back to a guard. "Hey, Balirossa," he said. "You
wanna get back to sword training?"
"Yes, let's." Balirossa said, getting on guard as well. "I am in your
hands."
Still a knight at heart, Balirossa engaged in sword training with Ghozal
nearly every day. Today was no exception, but something was off. Balirossa
looked over at her husband and balked—her son Ghoro was still perched on
Ghozal's head even as he stood with his sword out.
As Ghozal and Balirossa's son, the soft-spoken Ghoro was half demon
royal and half human. Like his sister Folmina, whom he was extremely
attached to, he regarded Balirossa and Uliminas equally as his mothers.
Lately he had developed the habit of crawling atop his father's head.
Despite being in his human form, Ghozal had allowed his horns to manifest.
His horns were proof that he belonged to the line of Dark Ones, but right
now they served the much more pragmatic function of providing something
for his son to grab onto, lest he fall from his perch.
Ghoro was holding tight to Ghozal's horns, sleeping surprisingly
soundly. The whole arrangement projected a very laid-back image.
Balirossa smirked with self-deprecation. I put my full effort into sword
training, she thought, but I can never make Sir Ghozal so much as break a
sweat, even with our son sleeping atop his head! I'm fully aware that I still
have a great deal to learn, but it's vexing. I haven't been able to land a
single blow on Garyl lately either...
Ghozal seemed to notice the way Balirossa's expression had darkened.
"Hrm?" he said. "What's wrong, Balirossa? Are you getting tired? Should
we call it a day?"
Balirossa shook her head and returned her sword to a guard once more.
"No," she said. "I'm all right. Let us continue, if you please."
Ghozal grinned. "That's the spirit!"
"Go Mama Balirossa!" Folmina cheered. "You can do it!"
Balirossa smiled at the encouragement and then launched herself
towards Ghozal, fiercely swinging her sword. The sound of metal clashing
against metal filled the air as Folmina began interrogating Uliminas once
more.
◇ ◇ ◇
Sleip carried Byleri into Flio's house, past the living room, and up the
stairs. He ran along at a fast clip, but the group gathered in the living room
didn't even spare a glance their way.
"I have lived long and seen much of this world," Hiya said, staring
intently ahead. "but I have never encountered a case of a magic doll
producing offspring. I did once happen upon a book that proposed the
possibility, but I understood the subject of the tale to be purely
hypothetical..." They were wearing their usual outfit—nothing more than a
cloth wrapped around their body.
Hiya, the djinn who commands the origin of light and darkness, was a
being with enough magic power to lay waste to the entire world. However,
their power proved utterly lacking against Flio. After their defeat, they took
to calling Flio "Exalted One" and joined his ever-growing household.
Next to Hiya stood Damalynas, the Grand Magus of Midnight, just as
focused on the group in front of them as Hiya. Damalynas was a master of
dark magic, but she found herself defeated by Hiya, who absorbed her into
their mindscape. These days, she lived inside Hiya's mental world as the
djinn's adoring training partner. "No kidding," Damalynas said. "It shocks
me every time I see it..."
Across from Hiya and Damalynas were three other members of Flio's
house. One of them was a petite woman, and next to her was a male magic
doll. The third, standing between the two, was even smaller.
"U-Um..." the woman, Belano, said, blushing and fidgeting awkwardly.
Hiya and Damalynas's intense stares may have been making her
uncomfortable. "Th-This is a little embarrassing..."
Belano was a witch who had once served in Balirossa's company of
knights. She was a small, shy woman who could only use defensive magic.
She lived at Flio's house along with the rest of her former company, and
worked as a teacher at the Houghtow College of Magic.
Minilio, the magic doll, patted Belano reassuringly on the back. Flio had
created Minilio as an experiment. He looked like a younger version of Flio
himself, hence the name. He had grown intimate with Belano over the
course of helping her out, and they had become partners.
The child walked up to Belano from the other side Minilio and patted
her on the back as well, smiling. Belano looked between the two. "Thank
you, Minilio... Thank you, Belalio..."
Belalio was Minilio and Belano's child. As the child of a human and a
magic doll, they were an extremely rare being. Like their father, they
resembled a young Flio, but they dressed in androgynous clothes, keeping
their gender ambiguous.
Belalio hugged their mother tight, happy at the words of thanks, but the
gesture only made Belano's face turn from pink to bright red with
embarrassment. Awawah?! Belalio looks too much like Lord Flio! she
thought. I get embarrassed every time they hug me! Even seeing their face
gets my heart racing sometimes...
Belano had lost her father and older brother in the war against the Dark
Army. At some point, she began to think of Flio as a surrogate for both of
them, but her emotions ran too strong. Before long, she became aware that
she had fallen in love. Flio, however, was already married to Rys, so Belano
sealed her emotions away deep within her heart, never to be disturbed.
Until, that is, Flio created a magic doll in his perfect likeness.
Belano fell in love with Minilio at first sight, and pursued a relationship
with him that went far enough that the two had a child. It took everyone by
surprise. After all, Belano was a late bloomer and ordinarily a shy, quiet
girl.
As Belano blushed red from Belalio's hug, Minilio hugged her tight
from the other side. With Belalio on one side and Minilio on the other, she
grew so red that even her hands and legs—the parts of her body not covered
by her clothing—became visibly flushed.
"N-No..." Belano protested. "I can't take it...!" Blood shot from her nose
and she collapsed unconscious, a strangely contented smile on her face.
Minilio and Belalio managed to catch her before she hit the floor, and
holding her from either side, they carried her upstairs to the room the three
of them shared.
"Hm." Hiya sighed, disappointed, as they watched the trio go. "I would
have liked to observe them for a while longer, but I suppose it will have to
wait for another time." They turned their gaze instead to the other group in
the room—Calsi'im and Tia.
Calsi'im was an old skeleton warrior who had served as Dark Regent for
a time, ruling in place of the Dark One Yuigarde when he went missing. He
had died once before, but Flio brought him back to life, and now he was one
of the many lodgers living at Flio's house. Tia, meanwhile, was a magic
doll created by a mage in the Dark Army. She had ended up broken down
and discarded until the fateful day that Calsi'im had discovered her and
fixed her up. Ever since then, she had stayed close by his side, even
following him when he took up residence with Flio.
There was a girl perched atop Calsi'im's head at the moment, her arms
wrapped tight around his bony face. She was bigger than Calsi'im himself,
but rode skillfully atop the skeleton with a happy smile on her face.
"Now, now, Rabbitz," Calsi'im said with a bony grimace. "I know how
much you like perching on top of my head, but I must say, it's rather tough
on my neck bones to have you up there all the time!"
Calsi'im and Tia had a daughter together named Rabbitz. The child of a
skeleton and a magic doll, she was at least as rare a being as Belalio. She
was a happy girl with a bright smile who loved riding on her father
Calsi'im's head.
Rabbitz looked down at Calsi'im's face, grinning broadly. "Yah papa!"
she said, nuzzling his head fondly.
"I can't tell if this girl understands me or not..." Calsi'im muttered.
"There's no harm in it, is there?" Tia said, smiling. "Rabbitz does such
things because she loves you, Calsi'im."
Rabbitz's smile grew even brighter. "Yah!" she said. "Love papa! Love
mama!"
Hiya and Damalynas stepped forward approaching Rabbitz, who now
had her limbs wrapped around every inch of Calsi'im's head.
"Hm..." said Hiya. "This one is half skeleton, but her body shows no
sign of any skeletal attributes..."
"She doesn't have joints like a magic doll would either..." observed
Damalynas.
"Meaning that she exhibits the traits of neither parent..." Hiya pondered.
"Oh? But that isn't what's important, is it?" said Tia, smiling at the two
of them. "All that matters is that Rabbitz is the fruit of my love with
Calsi'im." Tia pet Rabbitz on the head. The girl closed her eyes, a happy
look on her face.
◇ ◇ ◇
Blossom, the former heavy fighter in Balirossa's knightly company,
watched the events in the living room from the kitchen after bringing
vegetables in. She was Balirossa's best friend, and naturally quit the
knighthood with her as did Belano and Byleri. Originally from a farming
family herself, Blossom had a very high degree of agricultural acumen, and
had put it to work cultivating a large farm located on Flio's estate.
"That was quite a dang old bit of love talk to walk in on..." she said,
wincing and scratching the back of her head. "Can you believe that
Balirossa and Byleri and Belano all have kids now? Somehow, I'm the only
one still left single. At this rate, I'm worried my old pa from back home is
gonna start showing up to talk about arranged marriages!"
Blossom laughed to herself as she set the basket full of vegetables down
on the floor.
"Grh-a-hem!" Hokh'hokton, the goblin helping Blossom with the
vegetable basket, cleared his throat. "Lady Blossom, perhaps you have
forgotten a certain someone?" he continued, striking a pose.
Hokh'hokton had originally been a soldier in the Dark Army, along with
his companion Maunty, but now the two of them lived and worked on
Blossom's farm. But unlike Maunty, who had a large family, Hokh'hokton
was single.
"Hm?" Blossom asked, a genuinely puzzled look on her face. "And who
might that be?"
Hokh'hokton slicked his hair back. "Grh-a-hem! Lady Blossom, behold!
Before your eyes is a most alluring, very single goblin!"
"Huh?" said Blossom, looking all around. "What on Klyrode are you
talking about?"
"What? I-I said, before your eyes is—"
"Ah ha ha ha ha!" Blossom cut Hokh'hokton off with a very forced
laugh. "Well, that's enough kidding around! Let's hurry up and bring in the
rest of these veggies!" She went back out the door to get another basket
from the cart outside, completely ignoring the goblin's determined posing.
"Y-Yes, ma'am..." Hokh'hokton muttered gloomily as he followed
along.
It was another busy day at the ever-growing household.
◇Later—Silkfleece Cloth Emporium◇
After taking her time looking over the merchandise Silkfleece had on
offer, Rys came up to Fetabetcz with a roll of brightly colored knit cloth in
her hands and handed it to the proprietress. "Excuse me, Miss Fetabetcz,
would you happen to have more cloth like this?"
"Well, well," Fetabetcz said, resting her chin against her hand and
examining Rys's selection. "You've picked out quite the interesting piece,
madame." She turned towards Lil-Lil, the shop's head clerk, and beckoned
her over from the back of the shop where she was checking over the
paperwork and inventory. "Hey Lil-Lil, come here a sec!"
Lil-Lil's outfit was as over-the-top as you can imagine—a frilly, poofy
dress accompanied by some truly gaudy jewelry. She skipped over to
Fetabetcz "Right away! How can I help you, Lady Fetabetcz?"
Fetabetcz gestured at the cloth Rys had picked out. "That's one of the
products we got from that foreign merchant the other day, right? We got any
more in storage?"
"Well, lemme see..." Lil-Lil brought her face in close, getting a good
look at the cloth before spreading her arms and shrugging her shoulders
apologetically. "Y'know, we'd never stocked merchandise from that
merchant before, so we only bought a small supply to see how it'd sell. I
think that might be the last of it..."
"I see..." said Rys, touching a finger to her lips in an expression of
disappointment. "That is a pity. I really am very fond of that cloth..."
Fetabetcz lowered her head. "That cloth is made of top-quality materials
for sure, but the pattern is just a bit too...colorful? Or maybe the word is
unique. Either way, it's not the sort of thing that's in style in the Magical
Kingdom of Klyrode. I didn't think it would be popular for making clothes
out of, and I couldn't think of very many other plausible uses either.
Although, I gotta say, I do find it very striking."
While Rys and Fetabetcz went on discussing the cloth, Flio held out one
hand towards the cloth and stared up at the ceiling. "The merchant who sold
you the cloth..." he started. "Did he travel west after meeting you?"
"Huh?" said Fetabetcz. "Y-Yeah, that's right. He told me he was headed
across the Western Desert to some place called Indol. I bet he went that way
after we finished our business together."
"I see..." said Flio. "Then there's probably still time."
"Still time? What do you mean by that?" Fetabetcz smirked. "Don't tell
me you're planning on going after 'em! It's been a while since they stopped
here. I know the Fli-o'-Rys General Store has the fastest wagons around,
but there's no way you'd catch up to him now, especially with the desert in
your way! Not unless you had one of those experimental Enchanted
Frigates I hear they got in Klyrode Castle these days..."
"Thank you for the advice," Flio said with his usual smile. "But my wife
really seems taken by this cloth, and fortunately it sounds like the merchant
still has lots more in their cart. I'll just have to do what I can."
"M-My lord husband!" said Rys, suddenly bashful. "You'd do that for
me?"
Flio's smile brightened as he turned to his wife. "You're always doing so
much for the family, Rys. I'd be happy to get the cloth for you. Honestly,
it's the least I can do."
"My lord husband..." Rys hugged Flio tight, her cheeks blushing pink.
Flio gently petted her on the head.
"I cast a Search spell looking for any trace of this cloth," Flio said. "Just
like Miss Fetabetcz told us, there's a whole bunch in a wagon traveling
through the desert. Let's head there at once!" He handed Fetabetcz her
payment.
"Hold on a moment!" Fetabetcz cried out, stopping him. "I think you
overpaid..."
"Not at all!" said Flio. "Just consider it thanks for all the help."
"You've helped us out just as much, you know," said Fetabetcz. "With
your wagons, we've been able to ship our products anywhere we like in just
a— Huh?!" Suddenly, she realized that Flio and Rys had already left the
shop. She poked her head out, but there was no sign of the couple
anywhere.
"Hey, Lil-Lil," she said, tilting her head in confusion. "Did you see
where the lovebirds went?"
"No..." said Lil-Lil, following suit. "I don't even sense their presence..."
◇A Few Hours Later—The Western Desert◇
Wyne flew through the air in her fully draconic form, Flio and Rys
riding on her back as they made their way over the desert that lay to the far
west of the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode.
Flio had used his Teleportation spell to travel straight home from
Osahka. Teleportation allowed the caster to return to any location they had
visited previously. Since Flio had never been to the Western Desert, he
headed home first to plan his next move. He consulted the map, and decided
his best option would be to use the spell Fly to travel over the desert, when
Wyne suddenly burst into the room. She was hiding from Tanya, who was
still trying to force her to wear undergarments.
"Dada? Mama?" she said. "Are you going on a trip-trip?"
"That's right," said Flio. "We were just about to head out to the Western
Desert."
"The Western Desert?" Wyne echoed. "I used to go there lots-lots when
I was in the Dark Army! Lemme take you! Lemme, lemme!" Without
waiting for a response, she flew back outside and transformed into a
wyvern.
"I suppose we might as well!" said Flio. And so, he and Rys got on
Wyne's back, and the three of them set out west.
"You sure are fast, huh, Wyne!" Flio grinned as he watched the desert
race by underneath them. "Still..." he added, wrapping an arm around Rys's
waist to make sure she didn't fall off. "You could afford to slow down a
tad..."
Rys blushed as she leaned into her husband's arms, enjoying the feeling
of his arm around her body for all she was worth. It's like a date with my
husband in the sky... she thought, nuzzling dreamily against his cheek. What
a wonderful afternoon this has been! She was so happy that her lupine tail
materialized and began wagging furiously.
"Don't worry-worry about a thing!" Wyne said cheerfully. "I can fly
anywhere in one go, whether it's the sea in the south, or the islands in the
east, or the snowfields in the north, or the desert in the west!" Her
enormous wings beat harder still as she accelerated to greater and greater
speeds.
On her back, Flio called up a window, displaying a map of the desert. He
glanced between it and the terrain beneath them. "It looks like the signal
from the cloth is just a bit farther ahead..."
◇Meanwhile—Somewhere in the Western Desert◇
A single large wagon made its way west through the vast expanse of
desert, pulled along not by horses but by a local animal with a hump on its
back, known in this world as a camule. Camules had uncommonly large
hooves, which enabled them to walk along banks of sand without sinking
in, making them a godsend to merchants who intended to cross the desert.
There were two people driving the wagon—a man and a woman, both
rather short of stature and wearing ponchos with the hoods up to shield their
faces from the sun. The woman sighed as they drove along, letting go of the
reins with one hand to wipe the sweat from her brow. "It's another hot day,
but we need to do our best to make it through the desert before we get
caught in a sandstorm..." she said. "Master, can I trust you to keep an eye
out for sand centipedes?"
The woman, a high elf by the name of Luna, looked young, but she was
in fact over a hundred and fifty years old. Her companion was a human man
named Esto.
"Sure, of course!" said Esto. "Leave the lookout to me!" He leaned his
small body over the edge of the wagon to peer out.
The scorched sands all around them were unbearably hot. It seemed like
it was never going to let up. Before long, the two were at their limits of
exhaustion.
"I know there's no way to reach the Magic Kingdom of Klyrode without
passing through the desert..." Esto griped, wiping his brow. "But this heat
really is the worst..."
"Now, now, Master," said Luna, offering Esto the waterskin she wore on
her belt. "With our business concluded, we'll be home before we know it.
You'll be able to rest very soon."
Esto took the waterskin and leaned his head back, greedily swallowing
as much water as he could before heaving a deep sigh. "You sure don't
seem bothered by any of it," he said. "We made that whole monthlong
journey to the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode 'cause we'd been having a
tough time of things back in Indol, but even though we went all the way to
Klyrode Castle Town and Osahka—the kingdom's biggest merchant city—
the most business we got was that Silkfleece shop buying a few of our
pieces. And now we're returning home without even selling most of our
merchandise, y'know? I don't expect we'll be able to sell it in Indol either.
We're going home without even recouping the cost of all this cloth! Feels
like the whole trip was a waste..."
Esto sighed again, his expression darkening still further. I was sure the
cloth I picked out this time would sell... he thought to himself. Maybe my
business sense isn't that good after all...
Luna, however, smiled and patted Esto on the back. "Alas, the world can
often be cruel. But Master, I can promise you that your merchandise is all
truly excellent. Some of the people who see that sample of your cloth will
surely recognize its value. Your lucky break is just around the corner—of
that, I am certain!" she said, her voice full of cheer.
Esto couldn't help smiling a bit himself at the sight of Luna's happy
face. "You and your relentless positivity," he muttered. I bet Luna's just as
down in the dumps as me about no one buying the cloth... She's probably
just putting on a brave face to try and cheer me up. I guess I can't mope
around forever, though...
With that thought, he went back to his position keeping lookout for
potential dangers.
"Quite right!" Luna nodded, smiling and patting Esto on the shoulder.
"Smile, and good fortune will come to your door! And customers, as well!"
Just then, without warning, an immense shadow fell over the wagon and
the surrounding desert.
"What in the world?" cried Luna.
"What the heck?!" exclaimed Esto.
The two exchanged a glance, looked up at the sky, and screamed in
panic.
"Wh-What the heeeeck?!"
"Wh-What in the wooooorld?!"
In the sky, high above them, was an enormous red-scaled wyvern, flying
over their wagon.
"W-W-W-Wyvern!" Esto shrieked.
"N-No!" cried Luna. "I don't want to be eaten!"
Esto and Luna held each other tight, shaking with sheer terror in each
other's arms. The camules, sensing danger, took off at a desperate run. The
wyvern, however, was faster. It sped ahead of them and plowed into the
dunes headfirst, kicking up a cloud of hot desert sand and shaking the
ground enough to make the wagon nearly fall over.
"E-Eeeeek!" the two merchants cried, not letting go of the other for a
second.
A moment of silence passed, and then the wyvern suddenly stuck its
head out from underneath the sand. Esto and Luna's eyes went wide when
they saw what was happening.
"Huh?!"
"Th-That's...!"
In the wyvern's mouth was a particularly massive sand centipede. It
tossed the enormous insect into the air and caught it once more, chomping it
to bits and gulping it down with gusto. In just a minute, it had devoured the
creature whole.
"G-Goodness!" marveled Luna. "Incredible..."
"Sand centipedes are some of the most dangerous things in the desert,
and the dragon ate it up like that..." Esto marveled in awe.
The wyvern gave a large, satisfied buuurp, sending out a gout of flame
from its maw.
Esto and Luna could only watch, unable to move from the spot as the
wyvern lowered its head before them. A man and woman jumped down
from its neck and walked up to Esto and Luna, who were still trembling
together in the driver's seat of the wagon.
"Excuse me," the man said, an easygoing smile on his face despite the
situation. In his hand was the cloth they had sold as a sample at the
Silkfleece Emporium. "Would you, by any chance, be the merchants who
sold this bit of cloth to a shop in Osahka?"
Esto and Luna glanced at the cloth, then back at each other, and then
over at the newcomer. They looked supremely puzzled.
"Y-Yes..." said Luna. "I do believe that is one of ours..."
"We sold that in Osahka, yeah..." agreed Esto.
◇ ◇ ◇
"I see," Esto said, smiling at the man sitting across from him. "So you
tracked us down all this way to buy our cloth?" Flio had prepared a set of
chairs for them and had conjured a giant hemispherical plate in the air
above them to serve as a parasol so that they could sit down for a leisurely
business discussion. He even cast some sort of cooling spell on the entire
area for perfect comfort, even though they were in the middle of the desert.
This Flio person is incredible... Esto thought. Conjuring protection from
the sun is one thing, but I've never heard of a spell that can cool down the
desert like this! And he makes it look as natural as breathing... But... He
glanced behind Flio, at Wyne.
Wyne had transformed from her wyvern form back to a human, and was
now sprawled out on the ground, lounging in the shade Flio had created.
"Ahhh!" she cried. "So cool-cool!"
He even has a dragonewt who can devour a sand centipede like it's
nothing working for him! Esto thought. He really is incredible, that Flio...
Rys, meanwhile, was inside the wagon, busying herself looking over
Esto's inventory. "It's perfect! Just like I imagined!" she rhapsodized. "I've
hardly ever seen such splendid cloth for sale!"
"You have a good eye, madame!" said Luna, cheerful as ever.
Rys's eyes were practically shining with delight at the sight of the cloth.
She had finally found what she was looking for. Luna brought out cloth
after cloth for her, holding them out for her and draping pieces over her
body. Each piece seemed to make Rys more excited than the last.
"Each one of these textiles was hand-selected by my husband Esto to
absolutely exacting standards," Luna said, puffing out her chest with pride.
"I'm very pleased that you've taken such a great liking to them!"
"U-Um... Luna?" said Esto, wincing awkwardly. He had overheard the
conversation from outside the wagon. "You just kinda showed up uninvited
at my shop one day. I know we started living and working together at some
point, but we aren't actually married or anything..."
Luna, however, was deeply engrossed in her sales pitch and in far too
good of a mood to hear Esto's objections.
Flio chuckled a little to himself. He says that, but he trusts her enough
to let her handle Rys, he thought, looking over the scene with his usual
relaxed smile.
"Excuse me, Wyne, come here for a moment!" Rys said, poking her
head out of the wagon. "I want to test out a few of these fabrics!"
"Okay, mama! Be right-right there!" Wyne said, hurrying over with a
big smile on her face. Flio watched her disappear into the wagon and then
turned his attention back to Esto.
"Shall the two of us unwind for a moment, perhaps?" he offered, taking
a flask from his Bottomless Bag.
"Ah, much obliged..." said Esto, politely accepting.
"My wife seems to love your merchandise," Flio said, smiling as ever.
"I'm glad we came all the way after you."
"I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that," said Esto, smiling happily
himself. "We tried to sell our cloth to shops all over the Magical Kingdom
of Klyrode, but nobody at all was interested in buying it. It was starting to
make me wonder if I had lost my eye for quality..." He chuckled, clearly
embarrassed, and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.
Flio placed a hand on Esto's shoulder. "I actually run a general store
myself," he began. "I know how difficult this business can be. There's been
lots of times where we stocked a lot of something, thinking it would be a
good item, only for it to not sell at all. And sometimes it's the other way
around. But..." he looked Esto straight in the eyes. "If you know an item is
good from the bottom of your heart, there's sure to be someone else out
there who will see what you see in it as well. That's what I believe." Or at
least, he thought, still smiling his easygoing smile, that's what the president
of the Spades Mercantile Association used to say when I worked there back
in my home world!
Esto nodded to himself as he mulled over Flio's words. There's sure to
be someone else out there who will see what I see in it...
"Excuse me, my lord husband..." said Rys, poking her head out from the
wagon again. She suddenly sounded shy. "Could I borrow you for a
moment...?" Behind her were Wyne and Luna, each wearing a cloth
wrapped around their bodies.
"Yes, Rys? What is it?" Flio asked, standing up and walking over. Rys
leaned forward and whispered something in his ear. Flio nodded, the same
smile plastered on his face, and went back to speak to Esto.
"Mister Esto," he said, "as it turns out, my wife is very taken with your
cloth."
"I see," Esto said. "I'm very glad to hear that."
"Would it be too much trouble," Flio went on, "if we wanted to purchase
your entire stock?"
"Well, of course!" Esto began, his business smile plastered on his face.
Then, a second later, his brain caught up to the conversation. "W-Wait,
what? Mister Flio...what did you just say?" His body went stiff—he must
have misunderstood, he felt.
"My wife is the most selfless person you can imagine," Flio said. "She
never asks for anything for herself, you know. But she told me she wants
your cloth no matter what. That's just how wonderful the items you selected
are."
Slowly, Esto's face broke out in an enormous grin. "I-I see! Thank you
very much! Really, thank you, from the bottom of my heart!"
Luna's grin was just as big as Esto's. She flashed him double peace
signs, signaling victory, from behind Rys's back. "I'm sure my sales pitch
helped win her over as well!" she cheered. "Aren't you glad to have such a
hard worker for a wife, Master?"
Esto scratched the back of his neck again "I told you, we're not married!
You're just an employee at my store! Although..." he added, mumbling half
under his breath. "You are very important to me..."
Flio couldn't help smiling to himself at Esto and Luna's relationship.
For a while, the desert was full of happy voices.
◇That Night—Flio's House◇
After dinner, Rys stood in the living room, a bright smile on her face. "I
made these clothes as soon as I got home with the fabric my lord husband
bought," she said. "What do you think?"
"I love it!" said Elinàsze. "It's so cute!"
"This clothing is amazing, mother!" Rylnàsze agreed. Both sisters were
grinning cheerfully as they looked over the colorful clothes their mother
had made for them.
"They really are excellent, Auntie Rys!" said Rislei, who was standing a
ways behind Elinàsze and Rylnàsze.
"Quite right!" said Sleip, smiling as well. "My Rislei looks cuter than
ever in such a phenomenally adorable little outfit!"
"Like, totally, right?" said Byleri. "Everyone looks so good in their new
clothes..." She was smiling too, but there was just a hint of exhaustion in
her voice.
"Mama, look!" said Wyne. "Mine's super-super cute-cute!" She jumped
up and down in her new poncho, exposing the underneath and revealing
that, true to form, she had once again gone without underwear.
"Young Mistress Wyne!" Tanya shouted, springing to action
immediately. "How many times must I tell you?! You must wear your
undergarments!"
"No way!" Wyne protested, fleeing from Tanya and the panties in her
outstretched hand. "I hate-hate underwear!" Tanya chased after her, and
before long, the two were running in circles around the living room.
"Wow! So cute!" said Folmina, spinning in place in her new outfit with
a great big grin on her face.
"Yeah..." said Ghoro, bashfully watching her spin. "You're really cute,
big sis Folmina..."
"Y'know what? I think this outfit makes me look stronger!" said Garyl,
posing in front of the big mirror in the living room. Belalio was standing
beside him, copying his every move.
"I'm sure our little Rabbitz looks quite adorable in her new clothes as
well!" said Calsi'im. "But alas!" Try as he might, he couldn't get a good
look at the girl—after all, she was still tightly clinging to his head.
"Love papa!" Rabbitz chirped, beaming as she rubbed her cheeks
against Calsi'im's.
"Hee hee!" Tia giggled as she watched. "You look lovely, Rabbitz! And
you too, Calsi'im!"
Rys smiled happily, listening to the chorus of cheerful voices that filled
the living room as the children tried on their new clothes. "I still have
plenty of cloth left," she said. "I'm going to try making all sorts of different
things for everyone!" In fact, she had a length of cloth in her hands as she
spoke, working on yet another new outfit even now.
Balirossa, Belano, and Uliminas watched Rys work with great interest.
"That's lady Rys for mew," said Uliminas. "Her skills are so ameowzing
that it's almost unfair..."
Belano nodded quietly.
"She couldn't cook a mewl to save her life when we were in the Dark
Army," Uliminas went on. "And now she's a purrfect seamstress on top of
everything else..."
"Not at all!" said Rys. "I'm sure any of you could learn to do this if you
wanted. Why don't you come help me sew?"
"Truly, Lady Rys?" exclaimed Balirossa. "I-In that case, I would like to
try my hand at making an outfit for Ghoro..."
"A-And maybe I could make something for Minilio and Belalio..."
Belano added.
"I don't know if I've got the patience fur it..." said Uliminas. "But...I
suppose trying it meownce wouldn't hurt..."
Ghozal folded his arms as he watched the scene play out. "Hrm..." he
grunted. "Hey, Hiya and Damalynas. Do you two ever think of trying on
some different outfits?"
"I'm afraid I must decline, although I appreciate the sentiment behind
the offer," Hiya bowed, wearing a polite smile on their face. "I am fond of
my own clothing, you understand..."
"I'm just a psychic projection, you know," said Damalynas, smirking
and resting her hands on the back of her head. "But this outfit is proof that I
reached the highest mastery of the dark arts and became the successor to the
name 'Damalynas.'"
Flio looked over the cheerful scene in the living room with his usual
easygoing smile. I'd love to be able to get regular shipments of that cloth,
he thought, but it takes their wagon an entire month to make the trip from
Indol to the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode, one way. With our demon horses,
we could probably make the trip in half that time, or we could use an
Enchanted Frigate...but the one Enchanted Frigate we have is a symbol of
peace between humanity and the Dark Army now. It's busy making round
trips from Klyrode Castle Town to Dark Mountain Pudding Pudding Park...
As Flio was lost in thought, Sybe, in its unicorn rabbit form, came up
and tapped him on his leg. "Hm? What's the matter, Sybe?" Flio asked,
stooping down to Sybe's eye level. Sybe looked very pleased with itself—
around its neck it wore a scarf Rys had made for it out of the new cloth. "Of
course!" Flio said as if the rabbit had spoken to him, smiling and giving the
critter a thumbs-up. "It looks great on you!"
Sybe gave a "snuffle!" of delight.
Everyone stayed up late that evening, chatting into the night.
◇Klyrode Castle—The Maiden Queen's Office◇
Holed up in her office in Klyrode Castle, the Maiden Queen worried
away at the paperwork, heedless of the increasingly late hour. Ever since
she had taken the throne from her father, who had used his position as king
for his own selfish gain, she had been working diligently for the good of the
people. With her ceaseless dedication and strong sense of justice, she had
quickly earned the adoration of her people, but at the cost of endless days of
worry and fatigue.
The Maiden Queen scrutinized every last inch of the papers she had
been given to review, writing detailed instructions wherever it seemed
appropriate. This work had kept her up night after night with no respite in
sight.
It hasn't been quite as bad lately, since the Third Princess began
handling financial paperwork, but it's still just so much... She shook her
head. No, I mustn't complain about my duties... she thought, glancing back
at the pile of paperwork.
One note in particular caught her eye. She picked it up. "This is
from...the Second Princess?" Double-checking to make sure she hadn't
misread her sister's name, the Maiden Queen began reading over the
contents.
Leusoc, the Second Princess, was the social butterfly of the family and
had such talents the Maiden Queen had put to use as an envoy to
neighboring kingdoms.
"Signs of unrest in Indol..." the Queen read. "And she wants material
support in case of an emergency." She sighed heavily as she finished the
report. "It takes an entire month to send soldiers to Indol," she said,
furrowing her brows as she thought. "And it's too long of a distance for our
mages to cross with a single casting of Teleportation. Besides, from the
sound of things, the situation is still short of outright hostilities. Dispatching
a company of knights might only make things worse..."
The peace treaty with the Dark Army had been a godsend, but there
were still enough problems to deal with that the Maiden Queen sometimes
wanted nothing more than to clutch her head and scream.
Suddenly, something on the Maiden Queen's left hand began to flash
with light. She hastily removed the long white glove she was wearing,
exposing a ring. Her face lit up with delight. After quickly fixing her hair
and checking her appearance to make sure nothing was out of place, she
touched the magic gem embedded in the ring, and a projection of a certain
someone's upper body appeared in the air in front of her.
"Garyl!" the Maiden Queen exclaimed happily. "Good evening!"
"Good evening, Miss Ellie!" Garyl replied. "Is now a good time?"
"Yes, we can talk," the Maiden Queen said, beaming happily.
Flio had created this ring for the Maiden Queen, knowing that she was
often too busy to visit Garyl. Its embedded gem was enchanted with a
communication spell, enabling her to speak with the owner of its partner
ring. Previous gems of this sort were not good enough to really allow for a
proper conversation, but Flio had improved on the artifacts that had come
before until he had forged a gem that allowed its holder to see their
interlocutor's face and communicate easily.
The Maiden Queen looked like a completely different person from the
grim-faced woman who had been poring over paperwork just moments ago.
She was smiling with delight, her cheeks flushed pink as she spoke.
"My mother made us all new clothes today," Garyl said. "Can you see
my outfit?"
"The one you're wearing right now? Yes, I can! It looks splendid on
you!"
Garyl chatted happily as the Maiden Queen watched with a smile on her
face. If it weren't for these chats with Garyl, she wasn't sure if she would
ever get through her work.
◇ ◇ ◇
Boralis went to knock on the Maiden Queen's office door but stopped
herself when she heard cheerful voices coming from inside. As the captain
of the royal guard, Boralis was a formidable knight responsible for the
Queen's personal safety. She was a woman with gorgeous features who
favored men's uniforms. As you might imagine, she was quite a bit more
popular with women than men.
Her Majesty sounds happy, Boralis thought. She must be speaking with
Garyl. Boralis knew full well how important the beleaguered Queen's
conversations with Garyl were for her well-being. She stepped away from
the door and silently waited for them to finish. My business isn't urgent. No
harm in waiting until they're done.
◇Dark Citadel—Throne Room◇
The Dark One Dawkson stood on the veranda of his throne room, gazing
out towards the Dark Citadel's gates. Dawkson had once been a tyrannical
ruler by the name of Yuigarde, but he ended up traveling with Hero GoldHair's party for a time and grew spiritually as a person. He changed his
name to Dawkson, and dedicated himself to working for the good of
demonkind, not neglecting even the smallest matter. Every day, more and
more demons were coming around to a favorable view of his conduct.
"Master," came a voice, as Phufun stepped up from behind him. Phufun
was a succubus, and Dawkson's aide and minion. She had been his loyal
right hand even before he had taken the throne. She was also, incidentally, a
masochist.
"What's up, Phufun?" said Dawkson. "Something wrong?"
Phufun pressed her glasses up the ridge of her nose. "I received word
from the Infernal Lady Coqueshtti that she will be departing the Dark
Citadel for a time in order to deliver our present to the former Dark Regent
Lord Calsi'im and his wife Lady Tia, in celebration of their firstborn child.
That is all."
"I see..." Dawkson nodded his head. "I wish I could visit and give 'em
the present myself, but I've been up to my eyeballs with meetings and stuff
lately..."
"I understand your feelings," said Phufun, nodding in agreement and
adjusting her glasses again. "We have much work to do to bring the demons
who still haven't accepted our peace treaty with the humans around to our
way of thinking..."
"Yeah," said Dawkson. "But hold that thought for a second. Look at
that, Phufun!" He turned back towards the window, pointing to the citadel
gates.
"The front gate has gotten quite busy, hasn't it...?" Phufun mused.
"No kidding. Just about everyone is abandoning the old Dark Citadel
Shopping Town to set up shop here."
"It's as if we've ended up with a new shopping town next to our front
gates," Phufun said. "And it seems to be well received. The old Dark
Citadel Shopping Town was run by a shady conglomerate that made the
shopkeepers pay illegal operation fees, but the new one is built around the
Fli-o'-Rys Dark Citadel Branch Store, and they don't charge anything at all.
They even offered to donate a portion of their proceeds to the Dark Citadel
itself. And with Fli-o'-Rys setting the example, the rest of the merchants
seem to have followed suit."
"It's been pretty good for our finances, yeah?"
"Indeed," Phufun agreed. "Thanks to them, we haven't had any
difficulties paying the salaries of the demons working at the Citadel for a
while now." Dawkson gave a satisfied nod at Phufun's words. "Incidentally,
Master..." Phufun continued, turning to face Dawkson. "Shall we discuss
our little...issue?"
The Dark One furrowed his brow. "That, huh..." he murmured. "You
mean the bastards who've been kidnapping demons to use in their
experiments? Have you learned anything?"
"My deepest apologies," said Phufun, "but we still don't have any
promising leads..."
"I see..." Dawkson sighed. "That's a damn shame. Keep up with your
investigation, all right?"
Phufun twitched slightly at Dawkson's words. Back when he had gone
by the name Yuigarde, her master would have bellowed something like,
"Whaddaya mean you don't got any leads?! Useless idiot!" and sent her
flying with his fists.
Master Dawkson really has been like a different person ever since he
returned from his travels... Phufun thought, nodding to herself. But
sometimes I do wish he would hit me like he used to...
Her cheeks turned red at that last thought. Dawkson's minion Phufun
was, after all, an inveterate masochist.
◇Dark Citadel Shopping Town◇
The Dark Citadel Shopping Town was located a fair ways away from the
Dark Citadel itself. There, in what had once been the busiest pleasure
quarter in all of the Dark One's territory, three figures walked the empty
streets.
The robust man in the middle of the trio trembled. "What... What
happened here?" he choked out.
The two women walking on either side of him seemed utterly at a loss.
"I-I really couldn't tell you..." lamented the one in the gold cheongsam.
"I don't understand anything anymore..." agreed the one in the silver
cheongsam.
Just a few months ago, this had been a bustling town, packed full of
demons coming and going from the many shops. Now, however, it looked
like little more than ruins.
"But..." the man said, unable to stop his lips from shaking. "This was
our largest source of income!"
This man was none other than the Shadow King, head of the Shadow
Conglomerate. He had once been the king of the Magical Kingdom of
Klyrode. Back then, he had used his position as monarch to engage in all
sorts of illicit enterprises, but after he was forcibly removed from the
throne, he made the black market his main line of business.
"This is bad, isn't it, Gintsuno?" said the woman in gold.
"Yes, Kintsuno," said the woman in silver. "It seems very bad..." The
two exchanged a worried look.
The demon fox sisters, Kintsuno the Gold and Gintsuno the Silver, once
ruled over the demons to the west, but since losing their positions, they
joined forces with the Shadow King, hoping to rise back up to a position of
power through the criminal underworld. They had even once plotted
together to seize the throne of the Dark One, only for their schemes to end
in failure.
As the three stared dumbfounded, a slender man came running up to
them from behind, shouting, "Shadow King!" and kneeling.
"Hm," the Shadow King muttered as he tried to recall who this person
was. "Oh, that's right! You're the dark elf I left in charge of the Shopping
Town, aren't you? What in the devil's name happened here?!"
"W-Well..." the dark elf began, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"Do you recall the human shop that opened a branch store in front of the
Dark Citadel?"
"I do..." said the Shadow King. "Wasn't that just a small fry from some
backwater town? Houghtow, wasn't it?"
"Y-Yes, that's the one. They started inviting local shopkeepers to set up
business in front of the Dark Citadel. Before we knew what was happening,
almost everyone had already left..." The elf held produced a bag and handed
it over. Gintsuno took it and looked inside, clicking her tongue in
disappointment.
"Then why don't we go wipe that meddlesome shop off the face of the
earth?" she yipped, extending her claws as her fox tail materialized on her
back, bristling furiously.
"W-We tried!" the dark elf manager protested. "But..."
"I'm afraid we can't let you do that." Suddenly, a group of people
emerged from the streets behind. They were wearing black, and had wolf
masks covering their faces.
"Wh-Who are you lot?" the Shadow King demanded.
"We are the Justice Legion, under the command of the Wolf of Justice.
The Fli-o'-Rys General Store and their affiliates are under our protection!"
The members of the Justice Legion readied their various weapons.
"I-It's them!" The dark elf shouted, pointing a trembling finger in the
Justice Legion's direction. "They're always getting in our way!"
"Underlings of the Wolf of Justice..." Kintsuno muttered. "This may be
too hot for us to handle..."
"W-We're doomed..." Gintsuno agreed.
The fox sisters drew back, beads of nervous sweat dripping down their
faces.
"She who fights and runs away..." Kintsuno began.
"Lives to fight another day!" yipped Gintsuno. The two transformed into
their demon fox forms—gold- and silver-furred, of course—and fled full
tilt. Kintsuno grabbed the Shadow King in her mouth, while Gintsuno took
the dark elf.
"You won't get away!" The Justice Legion gave chase.
In truth, the Justice Legion was none other than the latest form of the
Silent Listeners, an elite corps of shadow demons who once served as the
Dark Army's intelligence apparatus under the direct command of Uliminas.
Their current head was the shadow demon Greanyl. When Uliminas left the
Dark Army, the Silent Listeners quit as well. Eventually, they found work as
employees of the Fli-o'-Rys General Store.
"I'll get you this time, Shadow King! And the demon fox sisters too!"
Greanyl declared through clenched teeth as she ran for all she was worth.
The fox sisters fled desperately before her.
The Shadow King grumbled from his position in Kintsuno's jaws,
craning his neck to try to get a look at the Justice Legion. "Damnation! At
this rate, we might have to give up on the Dark Citadel Shopping Town
entirely. Maybe we should try making money in some other kingdom..."
The Justice Legion pursued the fleeing foxes as the chase led out of the
shopping town and into the forest.