◇Flio's House—Workshop◇
Behind Flio's house outside Houghtow City stood a three-story wooden
building that served as a workshop. It was there that Flio, Hiya, Damalynas,
and the rest developed and produced magic items to sell at the Fli-o'-Rys
General Store. At present, Flio was meeting with a woman on the
workshop's second floor.
"Here you go," he said, handing over a paper bag. Inside was a quantity
of powder. "That's all the medicine I synthesized this time."
"I thank you most graciously," said the woman. This was Zofina, an
angel and disciple of the Celestial Plane. She took the bag of powder and
bowed deeply.
Flio bowed his head apologetically. "I'm very sorry that I wasn't able to
prepare very much this time."
"D-Don't be ridiculous!" said Zofina. "Even we celestials would
struggle to make medicine out of a Beast of Disaster's bones. I can't tell
you how pleased the goddesses have been with your regular shipments,
Mister Flio. You have a rare ability."
"Hm?" Flio blinked. "The goddesses? I remember you telling me that
there wasn't enough for everyone on the Celestial Plane who wanted this
medicine, but the goddesses haven't been keeping it all to themselves, have
they?"
"A-Ah," Zofina corrected herself, doing her best to keep a straight face.
"Excuse me, I misspoke. Not only the goddesses, but all of us on the
Celestial Plane are pleased with your efforts."
This medicine Flio had invented had a powerful healing effect on the
humans, demons, and demihumans of Klyrode alike. It seemed that it
worked on the people of the Celestial Plane as well. It even had the effect of
rejuvenating the imbiber's skin, making them look years younger than their
true age. It was that property in particular that made it so desirable to the
goddesses. Zofina had been getting mobbed by desperate goddesses day
after day, begging for a portion of the drug or demanding to know when she
was getting her hands on more.
In addition to monetary compensation, the goddesses had given Flio free
rein to enter Dogorogma, a world in the subaltern plane in which only
celestials could ordinarily set foot. There, he could hunt all the magic beasts
he liked to make into ingredients for his concoctions.
That was close! Zofina thought. If Mister Flio finds out the goddesses
are using all of the medicine for their own beautification, he surely won't
want to make it anymore...
"I-I suppose I will take my leave," she said. "I'll see you again in ten
days' time."
"All right," said Flio. "I'll try to have more for you next time you
come."
Zofina conjured a scythe in her left hand and swung it once, cutting a
gap in space itself. She bowed once more and took her leave, the gap
closing behind her as she vanished.
Hiya, who had been watching the exchange from the room's entrance,
had a cool smile on their face. "Madame Zofina believes we are in the dark,
I think," they said. "As if we don't know what those goddesses are using
that medicine for..."
"Well, it is what it is," said Flio. "But really, I never would have
dreamed that I'd have goddesses disguising themselves as humans visiting
my shop..."
Indeed, some of the goddesses who had been unable to get the coveted
powder from Zofina sent their own angels or other familiars, or even went
themselves to try to procure some of the precious substance from its source.
Zofina had been doing her best to keep an eye on them and prevent them
from mobbing Flio like they had done so with her, but there was only so
much she could do.
Tanya, who had just stepped inside the room with a pot of tea, sighed
when she heard what Flio and Hiya had been talking about. "Lately there
have been more and more goddesses or their familiars disguising
themselves as humans to try to sneak their way into the line for medicine at
Fli-o-Rys," she said. "It's becoming a bit of a problem..."
"Goddesses of the Celestial Plane are still women, after all," said Hiya,
accepting a cup of tea from Tanya with an amused smirk. "They wish to
remain beautiful for all time, just as any human woman would."
Flio couldn't help smirking as well. "Well, be that as it may, as long as
they follow the rules, I don't mind turning a bit of a blind eye..." He took a
sip of tea, and gave Hiya and Tanya one of his usual easygoing smiles.
"More importantly, I'm running out of materials to synthesize the medicine.
I'll need to plan another hunting trip soon. I have a few other things I want
from Dogorogma too."
"Other than the medicine, you mean?" Tanya asked, cocking her head.
"Yes, I do. In fact..." Flio began, but then he suddenly stopped, sensing a
presence. He turned to look out the window and saw a woman with
feathered angel wings flying in midair. "Oh," he said, smirking once more.
"If it isn't Miss Telbyress again."
Hiya pursed their lips into a scowl. "Goddess or no, if that woman
causes you any trouble, Exalted One..."
"Then we shall show her her place," Tanya finished, conjuring her own
scythe as a pair of angel wings appeared on her back. Her one inhuman eye
glinted with a deadly light.
The woman outside—Telbyress—shook her head rapidly from side to
side. "No, no, this isn't about that!" she said. "I didn't come all this way
just to cut in line for the drug! I actually have a completely unrelated
request!"
Telbyress was a goddess, one of those who had been so enamored of the
medicine's effect that she had traced Zofina's steps all the way back and
discovered Flio. She had asked Flio time and time again if he would sell it
to her directly, ahead of all the other goddesses. Flio, however, had refused
to entertain her request. "I promised Zofina that she would handle
distribution on the Celestial Plane," he'd said. "She's the only one of you
I'll sell to."
◇ ◇ ◇
"P-Perhaps we can negotiate for the medicine some other time,"
Telbyress said, stepping into the room as Flio followed her with his gaze,
his arms folded. "But that isn't why I've come to you today."
So she hasn't given up on the drug after all, Flio thought, smirking to
himself. "I've already explained the matter to you. There isn't really any
room for discussion." Flio cleared his throat. "Well, never mind that. What
is this request of yours?"
"Um..." Telbyress started, stumbling a little over her words. "Y-You see,
there's a corrupted Divine Beast on a rampage in the world I govern—I-I
mean, the world my friend governs."
"A Divine Beast?" asked Tanya standing tall and imposing with her
scythe in her hand. "In that case, shouldn't it be the responsibility of that
world's goddess to exterminate it or have it sent to Dogorogma?" She
sounded unimpressed.
"You're correct, of course," said Telbyress, clearing her throat. "But this
beast has immense magic power, and tremendous physical strength as well.
And I'm not very good at extermination work... I mean, my friend isn't!
She's completely at her wit's end! At this rate, the entire world is going to
be destroyed! But your magic is strong enough to smite Beasts of Calamity
like it's nothing. I was wondering if perhaps I could ask you to come deal
with it for me?"
Flio gave Telbyress a sidelong glance. "It sounds like your friend is in a
lot of trouble," he responded. "I don't mind lending a hand. I can head out
right away if you're ready." He looked between Hiya and Tanya. "What do
you two think?"
Hiya looked concerned. "In the literature I have read, Divine Beasts are
a level even above Beasts of Disaster. Even one such as I has never had an
occasion to encounter such a being in reality..."
Tanya nodded. "Nonetheless, I expect that Master Flio would have no
trouble defeating it. And perhaps we could use the Divine Beast as materials
for synthesizing more medicine..."
Flio considered his companions' words and decided to give the matter
some thought.
◇That Night—Flio's Living Room◇
"And so," Flio declared after dinner, when everyone had gathered to
hear him pass on Telbyress's request, "I'm thinking of paying a visit to this
other world to do something about the rampaging Divine Beast." He had
told Telbyress to wait one day for him to consult with the rest of the
household before giving her his response. "Tanya's the one who's fought a
Divine Beast before, and she says I should be able to handle it without too
much trouble. But I'd appreciate it if some of you could come along to
support me. It'll be my first—"
"My lord husband!" Rys interrupted him midsentence, shooting to her
feet and raising her right hand high. "Your beloved Rys will accompany you
as always!"
Flio hadn't expected his wife to say any differently, of course, but a
worried look passed over his face nonetheless. "I'm very happy you feel
that way, Rys... Personally, I would like to keep you away from danger no
matter what, especially so soon after Rylnàsze was born..."
"Preposterous!" Rys shouted, leaning her body forward towards Flio. "I
swore that I would accompany you for the rest of my life, to the end of
Klyrode and beyond! And I'll be certain to look after Rylnàsze as well!"
"I know," said Flio, placing a hand on Rys's shoulder. "Well...I suppose I
should have it wrapped up within a day, anyway. Just promise me you
won't do anything reckless."
"Thank you, my lord husband!" Rys said, grinning and clapping her
hands together. "I promise you won't regret taking me along!"
"I want to go too, but we have school that day..." said Garyl.
"That's right," said Elinàsze. "As much as I'd love to accompany papa,
we can't skip school. And I suppose there's no sense in waiting for us to
have a day off..." The twins shared a look and sighed in disappointment.
"Hrm!" said Ghozal, loudly clearing his throat. "There's no chance I'm
getting left out of something as exciting as this!" He folded his arms and
laughed a bold, "Ha ha ha!" but with Ghoro snoozing atop his head clinging
to his horn, he looked more warm and snug than imposing and fierce.
Tanya, who had just finished serving everyone a cup of tea, raised her
hand next. "Pardon me, but your humble servant Tanya would request to
accompany you, to assist with everyone's needs and serve as an advance
guard."
"Me too, me too!" said Wyne, springing up beside Tanya and raising
both arms as she jumped in the air. "I'm going too!"
"I suppose I should show you whippersnappers what this old man can do
as well!" Sleip, the former Infernal, laughed. Rislei, however, grabbed his
arm in protest.
"Don't, papa!" she said. "Weren't you just complaining about how much
your back hurts?"
"What's that, Rislei?" said Sleip. "Oh, it's nothing to worry about! It
was just that one day when Byleri and I were—"
"L-Lord Sleip!" Byleri clasped both hands over her lover's mouth, her
entire face suddenly bright red. "L-Like, not another word!"
"H-Hmph..." Rislei blushed as well when she realized what was going
on, turning her face away in a pout. "You two really are all over each
other..."
"Hm!" Calsi'im said, posing with his bony arms as if he had muscles to
flex. "You've been taking good care of Tia and Rabbitz, Lord Flio! I'd love
to have a chance to pay back the favor if I can!" His daughter Rabbitz was
clinging to the top of his head as she slept. Between those two and Ghozal
and Ghoro, it was quite an adorable scene.
"An unknown Divine Beast living in another world?" Hiya inclined,
raising their hand. "This will be an excellent opportunity to further my
studies. I too would like to accompany you, if I may."
"If Their Divinity Hiya's going, I'm coming along too, of course," said
Damalynas, raising hers as well.
Things proceeded in that vein.
"If Sir Ghozal is going," said Balirossa, "then so shall I!"
"I guess I gotta come along to keep mew compurrny, then," said
Uliminas. "O-Only 'cause I gotta, though!"
"I've built up a lotta muscle workin' on the farm!" said Blossom.
"Maybe I can put it to use!"
"I can cast defensive spells..." said Belano.
"Snuffle! Snuffle!" said Sybe.
And so, almost everyone save for Folmina and Rylnàsze, who were fast
asleep in their rooms, volunteered to come along. Flio looked over the
assembled party with his usual easygoing expression.
"Thank you, everyone," he said. "But it sounds like there's a limit to the
number of people we can take to the other world. We need to limit it to six
people, including myself and Rys. So how about this..." Flio waved his
hand and a number of cords appeared in his grasp, equal to the number of
people who wanted to come along. "We'll decide by lottery. The winning
cords have a red mark on their end. Oh, and I hope it should go without
saying, but if you use magic to tell which cords are winners, you'll be
disqualified."
"H-Hrm..." muttered Ghozal, a bit too quickly. "Y-Yes, of course. Hrm."
The room was full of the sound of involuntary snickering at Ghozal's
behavior.
The lottery was held fair and square, and Ghozal, Tanya, Hiya, and
Damalynas were selected to join the expedition. Along with Flio and Rys,
they numbered six in total.
"I'll contact Telbyress tomorrow morning, and we'll head off
immediately," said Flio. "We'll be going right home once we're done. I'd
expect to be back by the evening. Kids, do your best at school. Uliminas
and Balirossa, I'll leave the store in your hands. And Byleri, could I ask you
to take care of the housework?"
"All right!" cheered Ghozal. "Let's show them what a Dark One can
do!"
"Your servant Tanya shall arrange things perfectly, Master Flio. You will
be in safe hands."
"Exalted One, I am honored to be of assistance," said Hiya.
"It's been forever since I've let myself loose like this..." mused
Damalynas.
Flio just kept smiling as always, pulling Rys into a gentle embrace.
"My lord husband..." Rys said, gazing into his eyes. "I will do my best
as well."
"Thank you, Rys," said Flio. "Just please be careful not to get yourself
hurt."
◇The Following Morning—Flio's Workshop◇
After seeing the children off to school, the six who were participating in
the expedition to slay the Divine Beast assembled in front of Flio's
workshop. After a short wait, Telbyress appeared in front of them, holding a
long magic rod, apparently having used Teleportation, because she appeared
instantaneously without any warning.
Flio stepped forward and greeted Telbyress with his usual easygoing
smile. "Good morning, Miss Telbyress," he said. "We've decided to help
you with the problem you mentioned yesterday."
"Th-Thank you!" the goddess said, bowing over and over again, a
relieved smile on her face. "Really, thank you so very much!"
"Although," Flio asked, "before we set out, we were wondering if you
might tell us what you know about this Divine Beast we'll be fighting?"
A troubled expression crossed Telbyress's face. "Well, the thing is...I'm
afraid I don't know much at all..."
"You don't?" Flio blinked in surprise.
"W-Well, you know! It's a Divine Beast...and it's not only terribly strong
at magic, but it's rather fast as well. I haven't been able to get a very good
look. I mean!" she hastily corrected herself. "My friend hasn't! She's really
been at her wits' end..."
"Hrm..." said Ghozal, crossing his arms. "Well, if you don't know, you
don't know. I suppose the thing to do would be to head there and see what
we can find out ourselves." He turned to Flio and nodded.
Back when he had reigned as Dark One, Ghozal made full use of the
elite spy corps he had at his disposal, learning everything he could about an
enemy before he acted in order to make the best judgments he could. He
was never the type to propose rushing in to attack the enemy head-on.
"True enough." Flio nodded in agreement. "That seems like the best we
can do in this situation." The rest of the party bobbed their heads as well.
Telbyress breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that nobody was going
to berate her for her lack of information. "A-All right, then! I'll open a
portal leading there at once!" She held her magic rod aloft, and began a
magic incantation. A magic circle appeared at her feet, and from it emerged
a magic gate. "I'm sorry for the delay! On the other side of this portal is the
world being attacked by the Divine Beast."
She cast the gate open, revealing a scene of desolation. The skies of the
other world were full of ominous red clouds, and plumes of smoke were
rising from the nearby forest.
"Looks like we need to hurry," Flio said, taking the first step through the
gate. Rys followed after him, then Ghozal, then Hiya, then Damalynas, and
finally Tanya.
Telbyress saw them off from the Klyrode side of the portal. "Lord
Flio..." she said, clasping her hands together in prayer. "Everyone,
please...save the world of Ryleina. I will stay here to conjure a portal when
you're ready to return to Klyrode. I can't go with you, but I will be
watching with my Mirror of Scrying. If anything happens, I'll create an exit
for you at once."
◇???◇
"My third other world, after Klyrode and Dogorogma..." Flio mused,
calling up the information window for his own Teleportation spell. The
window displayed a list of various places Flio visited frequently in the
world of Klyrode. It looks like the search conditions are set to "location,"
he observed. Let's see what happens if I change it to "world."
He made the change mentally, and the number of items displayed shrank
dramatically. There were now only three: "Klyrode," "Dogorogma," and
"Ryleina."
Klyrode's the world we came from, Flio thought. And Dogorogma's that
world underneath the Celestial Plane. Meaning that this must be Ryleina...
He focused his mind on the word "Ryleina" in the window. He had a great
number of locations registered in Klyrode and Dogorogma, but the list of
destinations for this new world was so far completely blank.
"Of course," Flio said, nodding to himself. "Teleportation takes me to
any place I've visited before, but this is my first time setting foot in this
world. I haven't been anywhere yet, obviously." He held out his arm,
summoning a magic circle. I'm not sure if this will work, but it's worth a
try...
A door appeared from the magic circle Flio had summoned. He went to
open it...
◇The World of Klyrode—Flio's Workshop◇
Telbyress couldn't believe her eyes. No sooner had the portal she
summoned to send Flio's party to the world of Ryleina vanished, than
another one appeared in its stead, right before her eyes.
"Th-This isn't a local Teleportation spell..." she muttered. "This is a
portal from another world..."
D-Don't tell me... The Celestial Plane's bureaucracy finally figured out
that I let a Divine Beast nearly destroy the entire world I was assigned to
govern! They must be coming to arrest me! N-No! This isn't my fault! How
was I supposed to know a berserk Divine Beast was going to slip in while I
was vacationing with my boyfriend?! And now everything's ruined... Beads
of sweat ran down her face, her teeth chattering with fear. And there's no
way I could have asked the Guardians to bring things under control! I
mean, if they found out, they'd take away my position! That's why I had to
ask that human they allowed in Dogorogma for help. But how could they
have found me out so quickly...? On the whole, they were not particularly
goddess-like thoughts.
The door swung open.
"Eeeeek!" Telbyress shrieked, throwing herself to the ground. "I-I'm so
sorry!"
But the person who stepped out of the door was none other than Flio.
"I-I have an excuse!" Telbyress continued, until it struck her who had
come out of the door. "I mean—wait—what?!" she exclaimed, unable to
comprehend what she was seeing.
"Oh, excuse me," said Flio, bowing his head politely to the goddess
writhing pitiably on the floor. "I was just testing something." He looked
over the area. "Okay, looks like there's no problem going from that world to
Klyrode. We should be able to get home without you needing to trouble
yourself with it."
Satisfied, Flio stepped back through the portal and closed the door.
Flio was from the world of Palma, summoned to Klyrode as one of the
candidates for the role of Hero by the Magical Kingdom. When he arrived,
he received a blessing from the gods that raised his stats so high that the
system couldn't properly display them and only listed them as ∞. Not only
that, but he received the highest possible mastery level of every skill and
spell that existed in Klyrode. His Teleportation spell was, likewise, much
stronger than the run-of-the-mill version.
Ordinarily, Teleportation could only take the caster to a location in the
same world they were in, but the version of the spell Flio had let him visit
other worlds as well, as long as he had been there before. Unfortunately, it
only seemed like it worked for locations he had visited after he learned the
spell. His homeworld was still inaccessible to him.
Flio, for his part, seemed to have no idea just how outrageous his powers
were.
Telbyress after Flio as he departed, her body trembling. "H-Hang on..."
she muttered. "Wh-What was that? Did the human create that portal? I-I've
never heard of a mortal doing anything like that!"
She crawled over to the spot where the portal had been and began
prodding at the ground, a vacant smile plastered on her face. "Th-There
must be a trick! This spot has to be hiding some kind of mechanism!"
She poked and prodded all around, but it was to no avail.
◇ ◇ ◇
"What do you suppose that woman's doing, prodding at the ground like
that?" Blossom, who was carrying a load of vegetables in from the farm,
asked as she glanced over at Telbyress.
"Hmm..." said Wyne, who had been helping Blossom out. "Dunno,
dunno!"
The two stopped and watched for a moment, but the goddess showed no
signs of giving up on her investigation of the ground in front of Flio's
workshop.
◇The World of Ryleina◇
"What are you up to, Mister Flio?" Ghozal asked as he went about
surveying their surroundings.
"Oh," Flio said. "I was just checking to see if I could open a portal back
to Klyrode, to make sure we had a way back home."
"Hrm..." Ghozal replied. "So, were you able to do it? Directly from
another world?"
"Yes, the test went well." Flio gave one of his typical smiles.
"Incredible..." Ghozal couldn't help but smirk to himself. "I guess to our
Mister Flio, even teleporting to another world is as easy as pie."
"Now now, my magic really isn't that special..." objected Flio.
"My lord husband!" Rys said, running up to the two of them, looking
clearly on edge. "I apologize for interrupting your conversation, but..." She
turned to face the forest, standing in front of Flio to shield him from danger.
She was partway transformed into her full lupine form already, her claws
and tail out, in a low stance with her hands touching the ground, ready to
spring into action at any moment.
"It's coming," said Hiya, stepping up to Rys's right side.
"Looks like it!" Damalynas agreed, materializing from thin air to Rys's
left.
Ghozal folded his arms and peered out into the forest. "Hrm. I can't say
I like going into this blind, but I suppose there's nothing we can do about
that now."
An enormous creature burst out of the forest, toppling the trees in its
way. It somewhat resembled a female duck, save for its immense height—at
least five meters tall. But to everyone's surprise, the thing was clearly in
distress. "Waaaaaaaah!" sobbed a pitiable, feminine voice.
"Huh?" Everyone in Flio's party was taken aback.
"H-Help me!" she wailed, diving behind Flio and curling her oversized
body into the smallest ball she could, shaking violently.
Flio pulled up a window to check the creature's status.
Divine Beast Denjarna Duck
Ghozal and the rest, who had been peeking at the window over Flio's
shoulders, balked in surprise. "That's the Divine Beast?!"
Flio turned around to address the enormous cowering duck. "Excuse
me... Are you really a Divine Beast?"
The creature nodded her trembling head. "Y-Yes," she started. "I am the
Divine Beast Denjarna Duck..."
"Well, what's this about?" Ghozal asked, tilting his head in puzzlement
as he peered at the duck over his crossed arms. "For a being that was
supposedly running rampant over this world, you seem pretty spineless."
"Gimme a break!" Denjarna Duck protested, suddenly snapping to her
feet. "Running rampant? Me?! There's a bunch of real scary humans trying
to capture me and the other Divine Beasts! They're using all sorts of weird
spells and strange weapons! It's their fault the world is in this state!" she
shouted through her tears.
Flio and the rest of his party cocked their heads in thought.
"That's strange..." Flio muttered. "That's quite a different story from
what that goddess told us..."
Krack-a-thow! Suddenly, a bolt of fearsome lightning streaked down
from overhead—a spell!
"Eeeeeeeek!" Denjarna Duck shrieked, shielding her head with her
wings. "They're back again?!"
Looking closely, Flio could see singe marks here and there on the duck's
feathers. It looks like she took a lot of those attacks on her way here... he
thought, feeling a pang of sympathy for the Divine Beast.
"Hrm," said Ghozal, looking up at the sky. "That was a pretty powerful
spell. If they keep flinging lightning bolts around like that, it won't be long
until this whole forest goes up in flames."
"Ghozal!" Rys scolded him, smacking her fists against his pectoral
muscles. "Don't just stand there analyzing the situation! Do something,
before my lord husband is struck by lightning!"
"Mistress," said Tanya, readying her scythe. "Leave it to me. I, Tanya,
shall—"
"Now now," Flio interrupted. "No need to panic." His usual easygoing
smile plastered on his face, he raised his hand. The lightning spell splintered
and dispersed into the sky with a sharp ping!
"M-My lord husband!" gasped a wide-eyed Rys. "That was incredible!"
"What, don't you trust your husband?" laughed Ghozal. "Mister Flio
eats spells like that for breakfast!"
"Hang on'tch!" A woman dressed in a black cloak said, emerging from
the forest. "Nobody told me there was someone who could nullify a Divinetier Lightning Bolt Spell hanging around here'tch!"
At the sight of this woman, Denjarna Duck, who had sprung to her feet
earlier, curled her enormous body into an even smaller ball than before.
"Eeeeeeek!" she cried, pointing one of her wings at the cloaked woman.
"Th-That's her! She's the one messing up the forest with all those weird
spells!"
The woman sneered maliciously at the Divine Beast's words. "I believe
you'll find it's your own fault for not coming quietly'tch," she said. "I told
you I'd sell you to a good family, didn't I'tch?" She cast off her cloak,
revealing a large magic collar clutched in her left hand—likely some kind
of item she had brought to subdue Denjarna Duck. "Now, submit to me—
Lestrittch the Great'tch! You outsiders can just get out my way'tch." She
made a shooing gesture towards Flio's party.
"Master Flio," said Tanya, stepping forward. "Please allow your humble
servant Tanya to handle this."
"Oh?" Lestrittch said, mocking. "And what's this? Some maid thinks
she can stand in the way of the Lestrittch the Great'tch? I can tell you aren't
human, but whatever power you have won't be nearly—nearly enough to
face the likes of—" But that was as far as she got. Tanya closed the distance
between them in the blink of an eye with a short-range Teleportation spell
and snatched the collar out of Lestrittch's hand, snapping it on the
magician's neck instead.
"It's no great trouble, actually," Tanya said. "One must merely use the
tools on hand."
"D-Don't be a fool'tch!" Lestrittch snapped. "That collar can only be
used by its set owner—me'tch!"
"I see..." said Flio. "So all I have to do is overwrite the owner setting?"
Lestrittch guffawed. "As if you could—" she began, when a text window
appeared in the air in front of the collar.
Owner changed from Lestrittch to Tanyalite.
"Wh-Whaaaa?!" Lestrittch's eyes shot open in fear when she read the
text. She tried to run, but before she could move, the collar constricted
tightly around her neck. "N-No way..." she muttered before falling
unconscious, collapsing on the spot and foaming at the mouth.
Tanya looked down at the woman at her feet and sighed. "All bark and
no bite, I see," she said, tying her up with a magic rope. "This was a fitting
end for scum like you."
Lestrittch was unconscious and gave no response.
◇ ◇ ◇
"So," said Flio, "you were on your way to be a celestial's pet when you
fell to this world mid-transit?"
"Yes, yes, that's right!" Denjarna Duck nodded her enormous head,
gesticulating with her wings as she frantically explained the situation
between large bites of Rys's vegetable stir-fry. "And then we were attacked
by that bunch of weirdos! I was just doing my best to try and get away!" In
no time at all she had devoured the entire large plate of vegetables Rys had
prepared for her.
"I made food because the creature seemed hungry..." Rys muttered in
awe over the large frying pan she had set up in the outdoor kitchen Flio
brought along in his Bottomless Bag. "But how much can she possibly
eat...?"
Tanya, who had been cutting piles of vegetables to stir-fry with
extraordinary speed, furrowed her brow. "An excellent question..." she
muttered. "Feeding the Divine Beast may well take a toll on our food
supplies..."
"Well," said Ghozal, glancing over at the giant duck, "if it gets
desperate, we can always eat that thing! Ha ha ha ha ha!" he laughed loudly
at his own joke.
"Huh? Whah?" Denjarna Duck stopped eating and turned visibly pale,
once again beginning to tremble. "P-Please, don't eat me!" she whined,
shoving her plate of vegetables into Ghozal's arms and groveling on the
ground. "Anything but that!"
The party burst into laughter. "Don't worry," said Flio, stepping up to
the Magic Beast and softly petting her back. "I can make a portal back to
our world at any time. We can always go back and get more ingredients.
You can go ahead and eat your fill."
"Y-You mean it?!" the duck exclaimed in joy, shooting up to her feet and
snatching her plate back from Ghozal. "Don't bully me like that, you scaryfaced old man! Now give that back!" She thrust her beak into the pile of
food and began greedily gobbling. Rys and Tanya smirked knowingly and
got back to cooking.
"But it's strange..." Flio said, staring intently at Denjarna Duck and
tilting his head in thought.
"Exalted One," began Hiya. "What is strange, may I ask?"
"Oh," said Flio, turning to face Hiya and crossing his arms. "It's just,
didn't Miss Telbyress tell us that this world was on the brink of destruction
thanks to a rampaging Divine Beast? But it sounds like the ones destroying
actually the world are humans chasing Divine Beasts..."
"Indeed..." said Hiya, lowering their head in thought. "Perhaps we
should ask the Goddess Telbyress for more information. Although, she was
very specific about it being a Divine Beast destroying the world. I can only
imagine that that truly is what she believes to be the case."
"Which means," Flio said, mulling the situation over, "we need to
rethink our approach..."
◇Meanwhile, with Telbyress...◇
After seeing Flio's party off, Telbyress stumbled her way to the goblins'
cottage on the corner of Blossom's Farm. Before she knew it she was
stuffing her face with homemade sweets, complaining about her job to
anyone who would listen. "Can you believe that?" she griped. "Isn't that
just the worst?"
Hokh'hokton, who had heard the story several times already, stared at
the goddess with an expression of supreme tedium.
Telbyress was supposed to be using her magic to keep an eye on Flio
and company, but she quickly got bored and wandered off, telling herself,
There's no harm in looking around a little. After all, I came all this way!
Now she was sitting in a chair in the cottage, drinking a cup of tea
Hokh'hokton made for her.
"And we don't get any time off!" she continued. "I mean, do they expect
us to spend every day of our lives watching over the world, with no rest at
all? And I want to get married one of these days, you know! How am I
supposed to do that if I spend all my marriageable centuries working this
stupid job?! You get what I'm saying, right? Don't you?"
"Hahhh..." Hokh'hokton sighed, forcing a smile. "W-Well, I suppose..."
I-I was so excited when this pretty lady showed up at my house! the
goblin lamented to himself. I thought it might finally be my chance, so I
brought her inside, but all she's done is eat my food and drink my tea! She's
even started raiding the pantries herself! And worse, she hasn't listened to a
word I've said! All she does is complain about her job. What a tiresome
lady...
"Hey!" said Telbyress, snapping Hokh'hokton out of his thoughts. "I'm
still talking, you know! Are you listening or not?"
"A-Ah! Y-Yes, I am listening! Indeed!"
"Well, all right then," the goddess nodded. "So like I was saying, this
one time I was..."
H-How long is she going to complain?! Hokh'hokton stared, utterly
speechless, as Telbyress kept on talking and talking, showing no sign that
the complaints would abate any time soon. Th-This might be the end for old
Hokh'hokton...
◇Some Time Later—The World of Ryleina◇
"I see..." said Zofina, frowning as Flio finished explaining the situation.
"So that's why you called me..."
Flio and the angel Zofina kept a pair of Communication Gems on hand
so that they could communicate with each other anytime they needed to
discuss Flio's panacea. The gems were originally set on a pair of rings, but
at Rys's insistence, Flio had transferred his own gem to a necklace instead.
Telbyress's story had been far from the actual situation, and Flio thought
that speaking to her fellow celestial, Zofina, might shed some light on what
was going on. Zofina had wasted no time in getting to the world of Ryleina.
She was wearing her angelic form openly here—half skeleton and half
maiden, with an ancient cloak draped over her shoulders.
"I can't believe it came to this..." Zofina sighed, crossing her arms in
thought. She looked over at Flio's party. All six of them, as well as
Denjarna Duck, were staring at her rather intently. "Mister Flio..." she
started. "Might I perhaps have a moment to speak with you alone?"
"Sure," said Flio. "I don't mind. What's up?"
Zofina took Flio aside to a corner of the nearby forest. When they were
alone, she faced him and bowed deep, keeping her head lowered
apologetically. "Mister Flio... I am truly sorry. I'm afraid that all this trouble
is the fault of some very stupid celestials."
"Hm?" Flio asked, cocking his head. "'Stupid celestials'?"
◇ ◇ ◇
"It really is quite peculiar, though..." said Rys, resting her chin on her
hand as she waited for her husband to come back from the forest.
"I agree," Hiya nodded. "The story of celestials transporting Divine
Beasts to raise as pets is especially strange. Divine Beasts serve important
functions in the worlds they inhabit. I wouldn't imagine them to be the type
you'd move between worlds on a whim, to say nothing of the difficulty of
keeping one as a pet..."
Flio's party puzzled over the mystery until Damalynas, who had been
keeping watch over Lestrittch, suddenly spoke up. "Oh? Looks like
someone's finally awake." Lestrittch, bound tight and laying on the ground
at Damalynas's feet, groaned and squirmed in discomfort.
The party gathered around Lestrittch, but before they could do anything,
Ghozal raised his head. "Hrm?" he grunted, turning to look in the opposite
direction that Flio and Zofina had gone. "What was that voice?"
◇Meanwhile—In the Forest◇
"Y-You fiend! How dare you treat me like this?! Do you not know who I
am? I am the White King of Divine Beasts, Leonorna!" A Divine Beast
resembling an enormous lion—Leonorna—raised his voice ferociously, but
with all four of his limbs bound and his body caught in a giant net, his
fearsome roars were nothing more than impotent howling.
The giant hefting the lion on his back looked back over his shoulder at
his captured prey. "Yer awfully feisty for a captured beast'b," he said. "I
suppose if yer in such high spirits, you can take a bit of rough handling'b!
Good news for me—means I don't gotta worry 'bout being careful with
you'b! A catch like you will fetch a high price plus or minus a leg or two,
after all'b! Bwa'b ha ha ha ha!"
"Wh-What did you say?!" demanded Leonorna. "I thought I was coming
here to be fawned over by all the beauties of the Celestial Plane! I was
going to have glamorous goddesses cooing and sighing all over me! I won't
let you sell me to some bastards who don't care whether or not I have all
my legs!" He struggled for all he was worth, but with his legs bound so
tight, he could hardly move at all.
The giant laughed again. "Bwa'b ha ha ha ha! If yer lucky, maybe you'll
get fawned over by a beautiful slave merchant instead'b! She'll take good
care of you until you're sold as merchandise'b."
Leonorna's already white fur went pale. "P-Preposterous! You intend to
sell the proud Divine Beast Leonorna to a slave merchant?!" He tried again
to struggle, but to no further avail than before.
"Bwa'b ha ha ha ha! No luck, kitty'b! Gigantarobb's ropes can't be
broken that easily'b. Now, settle down before I give you a knock or
three'b." Leering, the giant Gigantarobb raised his hefty fist to demonstrate.
Suddenly, a voice cried out, "Hey, blockhead!"
"Bwa?" Gigantarobb turned to see Ghozal standing in front of him, his
arms folded. He was still in his human form, and Gigantarobb was more
than five times his size, but he stood blocking the giant's path with utmost
confidence. "Who're you, pip-squeak'b? You got business with me'b?"
Gigantarobb growled, stooping over to sneer in Ghozal's face.
Ghozal glared back, undaunted. "I heard something fishy happening in
the forest and came to check it out, and what do I find...? A blockhead!" he
shouted. "Are you going to hand over the Divine Beast quietly or am I
gonna have to take it by force? We're not letting bastards like you and
Lestrittch have your way with them." He held out his hand as if he expected
Gigantarobb to hand the lion over on the spot.
"What's that'b? You know Lestrittch'b?"
"Yeah," answered Ghozal. "Our maid took her down."
"Don't you insult her'b!" Gigantarobb shouted, his face twisting up in
anger. "Lestrittch is our second-in-command'b! She'd never lose to a mere
maid'b!" The giant raised his leg high in the air and brought it down,
aiming to stomp on Ghozal's head. "Death to liars'b!"
"Hah!" Ghozal shouted, transforming instantly back to his natural
demonic form and catching the giant's leg tight in his arms. He was much
larger in this form—although still only half as tall as Gigantarobb. The
height difference, however, didn't seem to matter in the slightest. Ghozal
quickly halted the full weight of Gigantarobb's devastating stomp.
"Bwaaah?!" The giant's eyes went wide with sheer disbelief. He tried
with all his might to pull his leg away from Ghozal, but found himself
unable to move it even an inch. Ghozal held on tight, not letting the giant
pull away.
"See?" Ghozal said. "You shoulda just listened!" And then, with a
mighty "Hah!" he lifted the giant up by his leg and slammed him down hard
on the forest floor, headfirst.
"Bwaaaaaaa?!" Gigandarobb came crashing down with such force that
not only his head, but his entire upper body was planted in the ground. "HHow dare you'b?! You'll pay for that'b!" he cried, pulling himself out of
the dirt.
"Good!" said Ghozal. "I was starting to worry this wouldn't be any
fun!" He aimed a flying kick for the giant's face, impacting his jaw with full
power.
"Baaaaaaaaaaaaa?!" the giant screamed as his neck twisted back at a
truly nasty-looking angle.
"There's more where that came from!" said Ghozal, cracking his
knuckles and stretching his neck. "It's been a while since I got to let loose
like this!" Eager for a fight, he was just getting started.
Gigantarobb, unfortunately, was lying motionless on the ground with his
neck twisted at an unnatural angle.
"Oh, come on!" Ghozal said, pouting with disappointment. "Can't even
take one friendly kick. And here I thought I was gonna let loose for the first
time in forever..."
Leonorna, who had tumbled out of Gigantarobb's net during the
fighting, shook with fear as he looked up at Ghozal. "Holy hell, this guy is
just too much..." he muttered. "This might be the end for the White King of
Divine Beasts... If only I could have gotten fawned over by a beautiful
woman before I died..."
◇Some Time Later◇
The party looked in disbelief as Flio finished his story. Rys was the first
to speak up. "So that's what this is about?" she asked, as dumbfounded as
the rest. "Denjarna Duck and the other Divine Beast Ghozal rescued were
being transported through some black market operation?"
Zofina nodded bitterly.
According to what Zofina had told Flio, Divine Beasts played an
indispensable role in the worlds they came from. Accordingly, it was illegal
to move them between worlds. Recently, however, there had been more and
more incidents of Divine Beasts running rampant. The Divine Beasts that
did this were considered damaged goods and sent to Dogorogma, until a
certain goddess had the bright idea of keeping a faulty Divine Beast as a
pet.
"If we're just going to dispose of it, I might as well take it for myself!"
she'd said. "Imagine, a Divine Beast for a pet! I would love to own
something so rare! And don't worry, I'll take care to ensure they don't go on
any rampages."
But as the one goddess boasted of her exotic pet, more and more
goddesses found themselves seized by the desire for Divine Beasts of their
own.
"I should like a Divine Beast for a pet myself..."
"Me too..."
"I would hate to lose out to the likes of her!"
And soon, bowing to pressure from the goddesses' demands, the
Otherworld Management Bureau of the Celestial Plane issued a
proclamation: moving Divine Beasts between worlds was to be lawful in
cases where the Divine Beast had become faulty, and in cases where, due to
the birth of a new Divine Beast or other such situations, there were two
Divine Beasts in a world that filled the same role.
The responsibility for making sure that all of the rules were being
properly observed, as well as the procurement of the Divine Beasts
themselves, was given to the Otherworld Management Bureau. Goddesses
who wanted a Divine Beast as a pet were meant to register their name with
the bureau and wait their turn.
However, as you might expect, many of the goddesses threw terrible
tantrums, unwilling to wait for the Otherworld Management Bureau to go
through all of the lengthy procedures necessary to ensure no harm was
being done. Some of them turned to the interworld black market, which
would gladly supply a Divine Beast to anyone with the money to pay,
proper procedures be damned.
"So..." Ghozal began, crossing his arms and looking down at the ropebound Lestrittch and Gigantarobb. "Some black market group is illegally
collecting Divine Beasts and taking them to worlds with particularly
inattentive goddesses, huh? Seems like we've stepped into a hell of a
situation..."
Incidentally, the rope binding the two was made by Flio, and enchanted
to nullify magic and reduce the captive's physical strength, among many
other features. Lestrittch had been awake for a while, but despite her
struggles, she had been totally unable to free herself.
"Hey, you," said Ghozal, hefting Lestrittch up by the ropes. "You were
abducting Magic Beasts from other worlds to bring to the Celestial Plane?"
"N-No'tch!" Lestrittch protested. "We weren't the ones abducting Magic
Beasts'tch! We were just trying to steal them'tch!"
"Steal them?" Ghozal furrowed his brow.
"That's right'tch!" Lestrittch went on, kicking in her restraints. "The
Goddess of Ryleina is famous for hardly doing her job at all'tch. That
group's been using this world to traffic Divine Beasts to the Celestial Plane
without getting caught'tch. We figured we might as well take the Divine
Beasts for ourselves'tch. But we failed'tch! We never managed to bring any
Divine Beasts to the Celestial Plane at all'tch! We're pure'tch—well, maybe
we just have one little blemish'tch. But it's our first offense'tch! We
promise we won't do it again, so would you please let us go'tch?"
Ghozal slapped her across the face.
"Owww'tch!" she cried. "Stop it'ch!"
Ghozal smacked her again, shutting her up. "You..." he growled, glaring
daggers. "Do you have any idea what you're saying?! I'll listen to your
explanation, but if you piss me off again, I won't hold back."
"N-No'tch!" Lestrittch protested. "Please don't'tch!"
"Well?" Ghozal said. "I said I'd listen to your explanation, so talk!"
"Y-You say that, but you clearly want to smack me around no matter
what I say'tch..."
"Don't be absurd!" grumbled Ghozal, raising his palm again. "I want the
truth! Tell me that, and I won't have to break your jaw!"
"E-Eeeek'tch!" Lestrittch shrieked in fear. "S-Stop! Violence is
wrong'tch!"
◇ ◇ ◇
Out in the forest, a very distressed-looking Zofina was reaching out
telepathically to one of her colleagues.
"Zofina?" said the voice in her head. "What's up?"
"Hello, is that Malun? I'm sorry to impose, but can I ask you for a small
favor? I'd like you to summon the goddess Telbyress as soon as possible,
and tell her to come to my location in the world Ryleina."
"You seem pretty worked up..." said Malun. "Did something happen?"
"You better believe something happened! I have been given strong
reason to believe that the Divine Beast smuggling operation that's been
causing so many problems lately uses the world Ryleina, which the goddess
Telbyress governs, as one of their smuggling routes!"
"Are you serious? How would that even happen?! If this goddess is
actually managing her world, she'd know about something like that right
away, wouldn't she?"
"Well..." Zofina sighed. "It seems she has been leaving Ryleina
unattended for long stretches of time. Things have gotten bad enough that
the world might collapse at any moment."
"I... I see. I'll go find the goddess Telbyress as soon as I can."
"Thank you. I owe you one. By the way, I should mention that she is
currently staying in the planetoid world known as Klyrode. I'll send you the
precise location via telepathy."
"Got it, thanks. I'll take care of this as quickly as I can."
And with that, Malun ended the psychic conversation. Zofina looked up
at the sky. The ominous red cloud above had grown deeper in hue. Hurry,
Malun... she thought, clenching her fists. There's not a second to lose...
◇Meanwhile—The World of Klyrode, Hokh'hokton's Room◇
"Oh, my!" said Telbyress, a great big smile on her face. "You made me
lunch? Oh, you shouldn't have!"
What is this lady saying?! Hokh'hokton thought to himself, a perfectly
blank expression plastered to his face. She was just grumbling about how
hungry she was, how much she wanted to eat this or that, how she'd die if
she didn't eat lunch...
As the goblin watched, Telbyress took a big bite of the food he had
prepared. "Hmmm..." she mused. "It's not inedible or anything, but I wish
you'd put in just a liiiittle bit more effort here. I mean, I'll eat it, don't get
me wrong!"
And in the end, even that was no good... Hokh'hokton's face went pale
as he gritted his teeth, desperately suppressing the anger welling up inside
of him. Telbyress went on eating right next to him, apparently oblivious to
the goblin's mental state. Little did she know, there might as well have been
a warrant out for her arrest.
◇The World of Ryleina◇
Damalynas was patrolling the area around the campsite as the others ate
lunch, when suddenly something in a corner of the forest got her attention.
She stopped. "Hm?" There, a deep groove dug into dirt leading a long
distance away. All around it were felled trees. "Looks like something
might've been dragged away by force," she pondered aloud.
She followed the groove as far as it went. At the very end, she stumbled
upon an enormous bag. "Now then, what have we here...?" Stuffed inside
the bag was an enormous two-headed serpent, clearly unconscious. "Well! I
do believe I may have stumbled upon a Divine Beast! I suppose I should
bring this thing back to camp."
Damalynas waved a single finger, and the bag floated up into the air. As
she walked back to camp, the bag followed behind, flying along.
◇The World of Ryleina—Campsite◇
"Hey there, miss! You're a pretty good-looking lady, I must say..."
Leonorna said, smiling oafishly at Rys as she prepared food for the party.
"The name's Leonorna. I'm a cute and playful Divine Beast. But I'm still
all heartbroken about being tricked and abducted to another world!" he
sobbed. "Might I bury my muzzle in that splendid chest of yours to try and
ease my pain?" He didn't waste time waiting for her permission before he
sauntered straight up to the lady herself and went to press his leonine head
against Rys's breasts.
But before he could go much further, he found the sharp blade of a
scythe hooked dangerously around his neck. "Brute of a Divine Beast," said
Tanya. "You will not disrespect my mistress."
Leonorna lifted his front paws in a gesture of surrender and turned to
face Tanya. He looked directly at Tanya's chest, then back at Rys's, then
once more at Tanya's. "Haah..." he sighed, slumping his shoulders. "I
appreciate the offer, Miss Maid, but I'm afraid a modest chest like yours'll
never be enough to cure my heartbreak."
Tanya twitched in irritation at the lion's smug grin. She took a deep
breath, and with a mighty, "Fwoooooosh!" she exhaled a gout of intense
flames.
"Huh?!" Leonorna reeled from the utterly unexpected attack, unable to
avoid the sudden flames. "Ah! Hot! Hot!" he cried as the tip of his tail
caught fire. "Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch! Y-You tiny-breasted woman! How
dare you treat the Divine Beast Leonorna this way! Ouch ouch ouch ouch
ouch! Cut it ouuuuut!"
"If you are a Divine Beast, then show some dignity!" Tanya shouted, not
letting up on the fire even as she did. "All I see is a mewling wretch of an
animal! I'll roast you and serve you as a side dish for lunch!"
Leonorna fled as fast as his legs could take him, crying and wailing.
Flio walked up beside Rys as she watched Tanya chase the lion through
the camp, a sly smirk on her face. "Leonorna is a handful, isn't he?"
"I suppose that lion will have to owe Tanya a generous thank-you later,"
Rys replied.
"Hm?"
"After all," continued Rys, holding up the knife she had been using to
cook and smiling brightly. "If Leonorna had come just one millimeter
closer, I would have made him into mincemeat."
"Ha ha ha..." Flio laughed, a little grimly. "I-I suppose you would have."
Although, he thought, if Tanya hadn't stopped him, I would have...
"Everything I am belongs to my lord husband..." Rys said, sidling up to
Flio. "Really, what a terribly rude lion."
Flio pulled Rys into a gentle hug.
Some time later, everyone had eaten their fill of Rys's lunch, and so the
party reconvened. "I tried searching for Divine Beasts in the area," Flio
said. "There still seem to be a number close by."
"In that case," proposed Rys, "shall we split up to search?"
"I'll stay here in case some more of that lot shows up," said Ghozal,
folding his arms and glancing down at the ground where Lestrittch and
Gigantarobb lay bound in magic ropes. Lestrittch, who had regained
consciousness earlier, had fallen unconscious yet again at some point. Her
cheeks were covered with bright red welts. "That Lestrittch woman told me
their boss is still on this world."
"All right, Ghozal," Flio said. "We'll leave them to you. If anything
comes up, let us know immediately with telepathy or a paired
Communication Gem."
Ghozal nodded and stayed put, while the rest of the party headed off into
the forest.
◇Later—Somewhere in the Forest◇
"Damn that she-wolf'vietch!" A woman named Finvietch, who
resembled a dark elf from Klyrode, ran through the forest, a large bag slung
over one shoulder. "How is she still chasing me'vietch?"
Finvietch had the utmost confidence in her speed, to the point that she
had often bragged, "Not even a celestial can catch me'vietch!" But this
wolf, who had appeared from nowhere and had immediately given chase,
kept on her heels no matter how hard she ran.
"I captured the Divine Beast Taiko Tanuki no problem...when suddenly
she appears, the damn she-wolf'vietch!" she lamented.
Finvietch had just captured the divine tanuki when Rys appeared in her
human form wearing a one-piece dress, shouting, "Leave the Divine Beast
alone this instant!"
"Ahh'vietch?" Finvietch taunted the newcomer. "Leave it'vietch? Well,
if that's what you want, you'd better catch me first'vietch!" And with that,
she took off running.
It had been ten minutes since their exchange, and Rys was still on
Finvietch's tail, her lupine demon form matching the dark elf's pace. Until
now, Finvietch had never met anyone who could keep up with her. Most
people would disappear out of sight the second she took off. If there was
one thing she could always count on, it was her ability to run away. She had
expected this time to be no different. And yet here she was, being chased by
this inexorable wolf.
Finvietch looked behind her in disbelief and cast the spell Accelerate,
increasing her speed even further. Rys, however, showed no signs of falling
behind her pace. I-Impossible'vietch! she thought to herself, the color
draining from her face. Nothing alive can match my speed'vietch!
"I mustn't keep my lord husband waiting," Rys said. "So let's end this
here, shall we?" Finvietch's eyes went wide—Rys's voice was coming from
right beside her. Somehow, in the blink of an eye, she had gone from just
dogging Finvietch's feet to nearly upon her.
"I-It can't be'vietch!" she exclaimed, trying desperately to speed up.
"Hah!" Rys cried, launching a headbutt at the dark elf from the side.
"Oh no, oh no, oh nooooo'vietch!" Finvietch cried as she lost her
balance and fell to the ground, kicking up an enormous plume of dust
thanks to the incredible speed of the impact, and rolling along with the
momentum. Finally, she came to a stop and pulled herself unsteadily to her
feet. "N-No way'vietch... I don't believe it'vietch..."
Rys, back in her human form, picked up the bag Finvietch had been
carrying. Her wolf ears and tail were still on full display, leaving no doubt
in Finvietch's mind that this woman was the very same wolf who had
chased her down.
"Y-You!" Finvietch demanded, holding out her arm. "Return that bag to
me'vietch!"
Rys took in a deep breath and howled with a mighty,
"Awooooooooooo!!!" An aura of malicium welled up from within her body,
overwhelming Finvietch with sheer awe. This was one of the ultimate
techniques of lupine kind—the Howl of Death.
"A-Ah..." Finvietch gasped. She had taken the full brunt of the deadly
howl. She collapsed unconscious on the spot, eyes rolled back in her head.
Rys exhaled. "Well, that takes care of that." She touched the gem on her
ring. "My lord husband? It's Rys. I've secured a Divine Beast, as well as a
woman who was trying to abduct it." She paused. "Thank you. Yes, I'll take
both of them back to camp."
Rys hefted the bag containing the Divine Beast on her right shoulder and
the unconscious Finvietch on her left, and headed off back to camp at a run.
"If this were a magic beast instead of a divine one, we might be cooking it
up for dinner instead!"
◇World of Ryleina—Flio's Camp◇
H-How did this happen'dei...? A man clicked his tongue in irritation as
he hid himself in the shadow of a tree, seeming to blend into the bark.
Dulmzdei was his name. He looked over at the camp in front of him, where
Damalynas and Tanya were tending to the Divine Beasts while Flio and
Ghozal kept an eye on the still-tied-up Lestrittch and Gigantarobb. The plan
to raid the Divine Beast smuggler Bundtakar's carriage went off without a
hitch, and I sent my subordinates to round up the escaped Divine Beasts,
but now Lestrittch and Gigantarobb have gone and gotten themselves
captured'dei! Worse, it looks like these people took the Divine Beasts as
well'dei...
Dulmzdei was the boss of the criminal organization known only as
Dulmz. Even among the many such organizations that operated in the
shadows of the Celestial Plane, the members of Dulmz were known to be
particularly pernicious ruffians. They were led by Dulmz, the so-called
Super Djinn, and his followers Lestrittch, Gigantarobb, and Finvietch, who
were all powerful djinn themselves. Though they were few in number, each
one of them was a force to be reckoned with. There were few names that the
people of the Celestial Plane feared more.
Dulmzdei kept watching Ghozal and the rest from the shadows, when
suddenly Rys passed by on the way to the camp. Hwha?! Dulmzdei balked,
sputtering with impotent rage. Th-The person that woman's carrying...is
that Finvietch'dei?! Indeed, Rys had his subordinate Finvietch slung over
her shoulder. Seriously, what is going on here'dei?! Isn't she a member of
Dulmz, the criminal organization that keeps children up at night'dei?! AAnd, more to the point, doesn't that mean three of our four members have
been captured'dei?! That shouldn't be possible'dei!
Dulmzdei clenched and ground his teeth. "In that case..." he grumbled,
mustering his power and growing to enormous size. "It's time for me, the
boss, to come to the rescue'dei!"
"Oh!" came a voice from behind. "You're the leader of these people,
aren't you!"
"Ngwha?!" Dulmzdei wheeled around to see Flio looking straight at him
and wearing his usual easygoing smile. "Y-You! You were over there a
minute ago'dei! Wh-When did you get behind me?!" Dulmzdei was
positive that the entire time he had been stealthily observing this group, Flio
had been inside the camp. And yet somehow Flio had snuck behind him,
without Dulmzdei sensing his presence in the slightest.
"Well, if I've been found out, there's no use hiding'dei! I'll send you
flying in my giant form'dei!" Dulmzdei focused even more power into his
body, which glowed with a sinister light and grew larger still, until he
towered over the nearby trees. He was now at least twenty times as large as
Flio. "Dwa ha ha ha ha!" he laughed, looking down at the tiny human
before him. "Tremble before the might that sent scores of Celestial
Guardians scattering into the winds'dei!" He clasped his fists together and
raised them high above his head, preparing to crush Flio in a single terrible
blow. "I'll grind your bones to make my bread'dei!"
"That does look like a pretty powerful attack..." Flio admitted as he held
out his hand. A magic circle appeared around Dulmzdei's body.
"Ngh?! What the dei?!" Dulmzdei exclaimed in distress. His body,
surrounded by Flio's magic circle, began to shrink, growing smaller and
smaller. Soon the former giant came up no further than Flio's knees. "You
bastard'dei! What did you do?!" He swung his fists for all he was worth,
but it seemed his enormous power had been taken from him just as surely as
his giant size. No matter how hard he punched, it didn't seem to affect Flio
in the slightest. "N-No..." he gasped, panting with exertion from the
attempt.
Since fighting didn't seem to be working, Dulmzdei decided to escape.
"I have your face memorized, I'll have you know'dei!" he declared. "The
next time we meet, I'll have my revenge'dei!" With that, he turned and ran
for the forest.
He didn't make it three steps before he encountered his next obstacle.
"You would be Dulmzdei, the boss of the criminal organization Dulmz,
correct?" Barring his way was Zofina, wielding her angelic scythe. The
diminutive Dulmzdei glanced around for an escape but realized he was
surrounded. Ghozal, Rys, Hiya, and Damalynas had him utterly cornered.
"Wh-When did you...?" he began, panic setting in as he realized how
bad his situation really was. His power had been sealed by Flio's magic, he
was stuck in this tiny body, and now he was completely surrounded. "Am
I...in trouble...?" he gawked, an unnatural smile on his face as his legs
stopped working entirely.
◇Some Time Later◇
Zofina, who had returned from the forest, walked up to Flio as the party
went about their business. "Dulmzdei finally gave us a full confession," she
said. "It seems our villains got wind that the smuggler Bundtakar was using
this world to carry Divine Beasts to the Celestial Plane and decided to
attack their carriage mid-transit, leading to the present incident. They nearly
destroyed this entire world in their efforts to capture the Divine Beasts who
fled from the carriage..." Zofina sighed deeply. "This would never have
happened if the Goddess Telbyress had done her job properly and actually
managed this world..."
"I'm just glad it's over," Flio said, grimacing at the mention of
Telbyress. "Thank you, Zofina."
"Even so..." said Ghozal, glancing to the sky as he walked over to the
two. "Did those punks really damage the whole world this badly just by
rampaging around a little bit?" Zofina and Flio followed Ghozal's gaze up
to see that the sky had gotten even worse. Not only was the world covered
in ominous red and black clouds, but there were thin cracks of distorted
space running through the sky itself. The world looked like it was a hair's
breadth from complete ruination.
Zofina knitted her brow. "You raise a good point. As powerful and bullheaded as those djinn are, it's hard to believe that a single rampage would
be enough to leave the world in such a state. I suspect that things have been
deteriorating here for a while, with the Goddess Telbyress's attention
elsewhere from the world she was supposed to be governing." She sighed
again and shook her head. "For the time being, we'll have to strip the
Goddess Telbyress of her station. Perhaps this world will recover under the
auspices of some other goddess. I am very grateful for your assistance in
this matter. Thank you." She bowed deeply to Flio and the rest of his party.
"It's quite all right!" said Flio, smiling his usual smile. "I'm just happy I
was able to help."
◇ ◇ ◇
Zofina saw the party off as they headed back to Klyrode through a portal
Flio made. "Now then." Summoning her scythe and spinning it in a
dramatic circle, she made her way back to the forest where the inert lump of
matter that had once been Dulmzdei was waiting for her. Behind him were
Lestrittch and the rest of the members of Dulmz, quivering in fear as the
angel approached.
"W-W-We'll tell you anything you wanna know'tch!" begged Lestrittch.
"W-W-We aren't hiding anything'b!" pleaded Gigantarobb.
"J-J-Just please, spare our lives'vietch!" Finvietch groveled.
Zofina closed her eyes and swung her scythe in an arc. When she opened
them, she was no longer the Disciple of the Celestial Plane who had seen
Flio off back to his world. She had taken on the form of an executioner.
Half of her face was skeletal, while the other half was that of a young
maiden. The maiden's eye shone with an ominous light, while the skeletal
eye was pitch black. She surveyed the three before her.
"Now," she commanded, in a voice that sounded like it came from the
deepest pits of Hell. "Count. How many sins have you committed? I will
carve your bodies into that many parts and send you on to the Celestial
Plane."
The three could only tremble.
◇The World of Klyrode—Flio's House◇
Flio couldn't believe his eyes. He had returned through the portal from
the world of Ryleina to find the workshop behind his house exactly as he
had left it. But what drew his attention in that moment was Telbyress. She
was walking down the road with wobbly legs, one hand resting on
Hokh'hokton's shoulder. Apparently, she'd been drinking.
"My lord husband..." Rys said. "That woman who gave us the request...
Her name was Telbyress, was it not?"
"That's right," Flio nodded. "It seems she was the goddess in charge of
that world after all." He pursed his lips in a strained smile. Telbyress had
yet to notice they had returned from Ryleina.
"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!" she chatted to the goblin she was using for support.
"And listen to this, Hokh'hoky..."
"I see, I see!" the goblin chattered back, clearly drunk as well. "So what
happened then?"
Hiya turned to face the pair and began striding in their direction.
"Exalted One. As your humble servant Hiya had hardly anything to do in
the other world, I would like to ask your permission to bring down the
hammer on this no-good goddess—this no-gooddess—who has done
nothing but lie to you and cause you trouble." So she asked, but the djinn
who commands the origin of light and darkness didn't wait even a second
for Flio's answer before conjuring two primordial magic circles—one in
each hand.
"Hiya..." Flio said. "Just try not to kill her, I guess."
Hiya nodded. A moment later, a thunderous sound came echoing, loud
enough for everyone in the house to hear.
◇That Night...◇
In the two-story cottage on a corner of Blossom's farm, Hokh'hokton
lay awake in his bed, pressing his hand against his head. "Hmm?" he
wondered. "Now how did I end up in my bed? I must've been terribly
inebriated. My memory isn't working properly..." He sat up in bed and
shook his head to clear it. "I remember finishing the day's farmwork, and
drinking with someone, but... Hmm?!"
Just then, Hokh'hokton noticed that there was someone else sleeping
beside him in bed. She looked like a human woman, her hair burned and
frizzy, and her face charred black. Rather than sleeping, it might be more
correct to say she was unconscious.
"This raggedy woman..." Hokh'hokton folded his arms in thought,
trying to piece together his memories. "Wasn't she the one I was drinking
with earlier today...?"
Suddenly, the woman's eyes snapped open, and she gasped for air. "I-I
thought I was gonna die! Can you believe that djinn who commands the
origin of light and darkness or whatever they call them?! Doing something
like that to me! I'm a goddess, you know!" She scrunched up her face in a
pout as she checked to make sure her limbs were all still working properly.
Suddenly, all of the memories buried in Hokh'hokton's brain came
flooding back. "Ngh! Y-You're Telbyress, that so-called goddess! What are
you still doing in my house?!"
"Rude!" Telbyress exclaimed. "I'll have you know that I am an honestto-goodness goddess! Worship me! Extol my virtues! Get down on your
knees and lick my boots!"
"I will not! Don't be absurd!" The two butted their foreheads together as
they snapped at each other. "Regardless," Hokh'hokton went on, "it has
gotten quite late! I would very much appreciate it if you would go home! I
have another early morning of farmwork ahead of me!" He grabbed
Telbyress by the shoulders and began pushing her out of his room.
"Hey! Wait! Let's not be too hasty here! I-If there's something on your
mind, maybe I can talk to you about it? I am a goddess, you know..."
Telbyress protested, giving her most professional smile and folding her
arms.
"No, thank you." Hokh'hokton shook his head, his expression studiously
neutral.
In fact, there was something weighing on his mind. His fellow goblin
Maunty had a wife already, as well as a truly prodigious number of
children. Every time he saw them together, his heart ached for a wife of his
own. Ordinarily, he was anything but shy about telling people this, but...
As much as I want a wife, this woman is no good... Hokh'hokton
thought. Everything she does is a red flag... Keeping his expression neutral,
he once again tried to push Telbyress out of his room.
"Hold on a minute!" the goddess protested. "Why are you being so mean
to me?! Y-Y'know, I really would appreciate it if you let me stay...maybe
for a week or so..."
"Why?" Hokh'hokton asked. "Are you not a goddess? You really should
return to your own home and get to all that important goddess work you
have to do."
"O-Oh, well... You know... I might have made a teensy mistake...and
gotten stripped of my divinity..."
"What?"
"Isn't it terrible?!" Telbyress said, turning towards Hokh'hokton and
entreating him for all she was worth. "Taking away my goddess powers all
of a sudden like that! And now I've been exiled to this world with no more
power than the average human! And worse, I'm completely broke!"
Hokh'hokton was unsympathetic. "Frankly, it sounds like it was your
own fault. I don't see why I should have to be involved at all."
"Come ooon!" she pleaded. "Have a little empathy, won't you?! Just
because I left the world I was managing alone and almost let it get
destroyed..."
"Isn't that...an incredibly serious failure?"
"Not at all! It was just a little slipup!"
"Well, be that as it may, I really would like for you to get out of my
house!"
"Pleeeease! Don't just leeeave me! Pleeeease, Hokey!"
"Don't call me 'Hokey'! I won't tolerate that from the likes of you!"
"Pleeeese, don't be like that! My god! My enlightened one! My lord
Hokh'hokton!"
"Just shut up!"
"I'll worship you! I'll extol your virtues! I'll get down on my knees and
lick your boots!"
"Know when to quit!"
And so their argument dragged on and on...
◇Meanwhile—Flio's House◇
Flio lay in his bed, scrolling through the inventory window of his
Bottomless Bag and looking over its contents.
"My lord husband?" Rys called out, looking over as she combed her hair
in front of the mirror on the dresser. "What are you doing with that
Bottomless Bag? It isn't the one you usually use, right?"
"Oh," said Flio, smiling cheerfully. "I asked Zofina to send me a portion
of bone from the Beasts of Disaster they have in custody in the Celestial
Plane."
"The bone?" Rys asked. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you need
the flesh of a Beast of Disaster to create that medicine of yours?"
"Yes, that's right. But there's something I want to try with this."
Rys watched as her husband scrolled happily through the window. Soon,
she was smiling as well. "If there's anything I can do, my lord husband, I
would be more than happy to be of assistance."
"Thank you, Rys. That means a lot."
That should do it... Flio thought as he read through the inventory. I
should finally be able to increase our production...