The world of Klyrode is a world of sword 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 human kingdoms, and the Dark One Dawkson agreed to sign a peace
treaty with each other. Their lands have remained at peace with each other
ever since.
The Dark One Dawkson's diplomatic approach to the former demon
rebels has been bearing fruit—more and more demons are voluntarily
signing up with his new Dark Army. Some demons, however, still cling to
the creed of "might makes right." Between the friction among different
demon factions and every problem you could imagine demanding his
attention, the Dark One Dawkson has been keeping very busy indeed.
The Maiden Queen of the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode, meanwhile, has
been busy engaging in foreign diplomacy, assisting the neighboring
kingdoms with raids on the one hand with her sister the Second Princess,
while undergoing a series of extensive reforms with the help of her sister
the Third Princess. She's had her hands absolutely full dealing with all sorts
of problems from other lands.
And so, the stage is set. The curtains rise...
◇Houghtow City—The Fli-o'-Rys General Store◇
The Magical Kingdom of Klyrode was the greatest human kingdom in
the world. The capital, Klyrode Castle, stood at the very center of its vast
domain. And far to the west lay a city known as Houghtow. Houghtow was,
by all accounts, in the middle of nowhere, but it had been comfortably
removed from the front lines of the war between the Magical Kingdom and
the Dark Army, and it was well situated along trade routes leading to the
western kingdoms. With all of those advantages, Houghtow had become a
thriving hub of activity in recent years despite its remoteness.
Flio's household had taken up residence in an estate outside the walls of
Houghtow City, and in the city proper was the Fli-o'-Rys General Store, an
establishment Flio had set up in the empty building of a shop that had
recently closed its doors that now served as their base of operations.
On this particular day, a great crowd of people had gathered outside the
store. Flio's fleet of Enchanted Frigates had gone through test flight after
test flight, and today they were officially beginning service. The ceremony
was just about to start.
"And here I was hoping we could keep the first flight simple," Flio said,
wincing slightly as he looked out the shop window to see the crowd outside.
"I really didn't expect it to turn into such a huge event..."
Flio, a former merchant from another world, had originally been
summoned to the world of Klyrode as one of the candidates for the role of
Hero. Upon his arrival, he received a powerful blessing—one that granted
him mastery of every spell and every skill to exist within the world. Now he
worked as general manager of Fli-o'-Rys alongside his wife, Rys, a former
demon soldier in the Dark Army. He was the proud father of four.
As Flio watched the crowd, the djinn Hiya stepped up from behind.
Hiya, the djinn who commands the origin of light and darkness, held magic
powerful enough to destroy the entire world, yet they had been defeated by
Flio nonetheless. Since then, they came to revere Flio as the Exalted One.
Now they were part of the group living in his house.
"Exalted One..." Hiya began. "Forgive your humble servant for speaking
out of turn, but to me it seems only natural that we should draw such a
crowd."
"Only natural?" Flio parroted.
"Certainly! Not only have you resurrected a lost technology from the
ancient past, you have achieved mass production of Enchanted Frigates,
which you would offer for the benefit of the common folk of the land. It is a
feat unprecedented in history, one worthy of the ovation of humankind!"
Hiya rhapsodized breathlessly.
Even someone as coolheaded as Hiya is all worked up about this... Flio
thought as he looked back out the window at the newly constructed
Enchanted Frigate station next to the shop. Is it really that big a deal?
The station was two stories tall, with a central tower that shot up nearly
three times the height of the rest of the building. At the edge of the tower,
the Enchanted Frigate was floating, docked in midair. The surrounding
buildings were decorated with festive red and white rope, done up in rows
of wreaths and garlands. Carriages kept arriving at the scene, full of eager
guests. The line of traffic stretched out of sight down the main road,
snaking its way through the city streets.
"But," Flio started, pursing up his lips in a strained smile, "I only
wanted to invite a few people to the launch ceremony, the ones who've been
helping us out since we arrived in Houghtow City..."
At that point, the door to the back of the shop opened, and Flio's wife
Rys stepped out. Rys was a lupine demon and a former soldier of the Dark
Army. She had once fought Flio, only to be utterly defeated. After that,
she'd made the decision to walk alongside him as his wife. She was
positively excessive in her love of Flio, and she was seen as something of a
mother figure for everyone in the house.
"My lord husband, you're still over here?" Rys asked. "The ceremony is
about to begin! We really need to get everything ready."
"Huh?" Flio sputtered. "E-Everything should already be ready to go,
right?"
"But that won't do!" Rys's eyes went wide at her husband's words.
"You're not planning to conduct the ceremony dressed like that, are you?"
Rys herself was wearing a gorgeous and elaborate white dress for the
occasion in place of her usual outfit. "I gave you the outfit to wear for the
ceremony last night, didn't I? Why haven't you changed into it?"
"A-Ah, well, you see..." Flio stammered, retreating a step or two in the
face of Rys's exuberance. I know Rys worked hard making the ceremonial
outfit, he thought to himself, but it's mostly going to be humans attending
today's ceremony. I don't know how I feel about going out in...that.
Wincing, he glanced over at the outfit Rys made, all hung up and ready to
wear. The collar was abnormally large, and it was fitted with two bulky
pauldrons on the shoulders, shaped like a pair of skulls. A jet-black cape
completed the look. All in all, the whole thing looked thoroughly demonic.
As Flio regarded Rys's outfit with a very forced smile, the hellcat
Uliminas entered the room. Uliminas was known as Ghozal's confederate
back when he held the seat of Dark One. When Ghozal abdicated his
throne, Uliminas left the Dark Army alongside him and came to work at the
Fli-o'-Rys General Store disguised as a common demihuman. She was
Ghozal's wife and the mother of his daughter Folmina.
"Is there a purroblem, Meowster Flio?" she asked. "It's just about time
fur the ceremeowny to...to..." Her eyes, however, went wide when she saw
the ceremonial outfit hanging on the wall. "What is that meowtfit?!"
"Excuse you, Uliminas!" Rys huffed, puffing out her cheeks in
indignation. "Do you have some sort of complaint about the ceremonial
attire I worked so hard to prepare for my lord husband?!"
"M-Meowt exactly..." Uliminas muttered. "But...mew know the
attendants are going to be human, right? If he comes meowt wearing that,
the guests are going to run screaming in meowrtal terror! I mean, is that
real bone on the pawldrons?!"
"I made those pauldrons out of the skull of a mantilion my lord husband
and I hunted together on one of our dates..." Rys sighed.
"But...well...perhaps you're right. This really isn't suited for today's
ceremony at all, is it?" Persuaded by Uliminas's argument, Rys headed for
the door to go pick up a new, more appropriate outfit for her husband, only
to bump into Ghozal coming the other way.
Ghozal had once gone by the name Gholl, back when he had reigned as
the Dark One of demonkind. He abdicated his throne when challenged by
his younger brother Yuigarde, however, and now lived as a human
freeloader at Flio's house. He and Flio were something akin to best friends.
Since then, he had taken two wives—Uliminas, his former confederate in
the Dark Army, and Balirossa, who was originally a swordswoman in
service to the Magical Kingdom. He had two children with them, Folmina
and Ghoro.
"Hrm," Ghozal grunted. "Rys, is something wrong? I was just coming to
call Mister Flio, since the ceremony's about to start."
"I prepared a set of ceremonial attire for today," Rys explained, "but it
seems the outfit I created is not suitable for the occasion after all. I thought
I had best go and find some other set of clothes."
"Hrm?" Ghozal cocked his head curiously. "That's the outfit you say
isn't suitable?" he asked, pointing towards the hellish garb hanging from the
wall. "Hrm," he repeated. "But that collar! That jet-black cape! I can just
imagine it fluttering in a maelstrom of demonic malicium! And the
mantilion skull on the shoulders is the perfect touch! What exactly is wrong
with this outfit?!"
Rys's expression lit up. "I know!" she said. "What is wrong with it?!"
Flio and Uliminas went stiff.
O-Oh, no! Flio thought. W-With Mister Ghozal in this conversation...
Rys is going to be a lot harder to purrsuade! thought Uliminas.
Things went just as Flio and Uliminas expected. "My lord husband!"
chimed Rys, a great big smile on her face as she went right back to insisting
on the ceremonial attire she made. "I knew it! The outfit is perfect! Now,
let's get you changed!" Beside her, Ghozal gave a single satisfied nod.
"I-I don't know..." Flio protested. "I really don't think it matches today's
ceremony..."
"Meow way, meow how!" Uliminas added in a desperate attempt to
convince Rys and Ghozal.
In the end, with Uliminas's help, Flio was saved from having to appear
in the demonic ceremonial garb, but only after losing fifteen minutes to
arguments.
◇Some Time Later◇
Tanya wiped her brow, standing in the shadow of the extravagant stage
they had set up by the entrance to the Enchanted Frigate station next to the
Fli-o'-Rys General Store. "Phew..." she sighed. "I confess I worked myself
into something of a panic when I saw how many more guests there were
than we had expected, but we somehow managed to finish everything with
time to spare."
Tanya's full name was Tanyalina. She had once been an angelic disciple
of the Celestial Plane famous for her magic power, which was immense
even by angelic standards. Her superiors on the Celestial Plane had sent her
to observe Flio, but she lost her memory in a freak midair collision with
Wyne, and now she lived and worked as Flio's full-time maid.
As the proud maid of the house of Flio, Tanya had gone to great lengths
to prepare things for the throng of guests attending the ceremony. She cut
logs into sections to prepare chairs for everyone to sit on and set up the
empty lot nearby as an event venue, even hurrying to get extra food and
drink to accommodate the number of guests. She had done all this at
lightning speed, faster than the human eye could even follow.
As Tanya surveyed her handiwork with a satisfied smile on her face,
Balirossa, Blossom, Byleri, and Belano watched on in sheer amazement.
The four of them had once served Castle Klyrode as a knightly
company, but they quit the knighthood to live together at Flio's house.
Balirossa now spent her days working for the Fli-o'-Rys General Store. She
found a husband in Ghozal, becoming one of his two wives. Together they
had a son named Ghoro.
Byleri, the company's archer, was gifted with tremendous talent for
handling horses, and now worked on the stables outside Flio's house
looking after the equine magic beasts. While not officially married, she
lived openly with her lover Sleip, and their daughter Rislei. Every day she
spent with her family was a delight—she smiled all the time these days.
Blossom was the heavy knight of the company, and Balirossa's best
friend. When Balirossa quit the knighthood, Blossom didn't hesitate for a
moment to follow suit. Blossom had come from a family of farmers, and
she excelled at farmwork. Since moving in, she had developed a patch of
land outside the house into a vast, sprawling farm.
Belano was a witch. She was also, however, a small and shy girl who
could only use defensive magic. Having quit the knighthood together with
her company, she now lived at Flio's house and taught classes at the
Houghtow College of Magic. She was married to Minilio and had a child
with him named Belalio.
"W-We came here to offer our assistance," Balirossa said. "But perhaps
that wasn't necessary..."
"Yeah..." agreed Byleri. "Like, Tanya just started zooming around all
over the place?"
"She finished everything in the blink of an eye!" added Blossom.
Belano said nothing. She was too stunned to move.
"There is no need for you to trouble yourself over such trifling tasks,"
stated Tanya, approaching the four ex-knights. "This is merely one of the
duties I must perform as maid of the house of Flio. Now, if you will excuse
me, I must be off to direct the guests." She bowed deeply and sped away,
leaving the four humans blinking in her wake.
As Tanya left, Sleip and Rislei came up to approach Balirossa's
company. Sleip had once been a member of the Dark Army's Infernal Four.
When he left the army, he moved into Flio's house, where he took
responsibility for looking after the stable of equine magic beasts. He loved
to dote on his daughter Rislei, whom he'd had with Byleri, his unofficial
wife.
As Sleip and Byleri's daughter, Rislei was half lichsteed and half
human. She was a serious-minded young girl and something of a leader for
the younger children of the Flio household.
"Mama?" Rislei called. "Also, Gho's and Bela's mamas, and Miss
Blossom? The ceremony's about to start. Our seats are over there."
"That's right!" said Sleip. "If we don't get to our seats quickly, that djinn
Hiya is going to lord it over us. They'll say something like, 'Is it your
intention to delay the Exalted One from ascending the stage?' Gah ha ha ha
ha!" he laughed mirthfully.
Suddenly, a hand appeared from thin air and grabbed hold of Sleip's
shoulder. Sleip turned his head to look behind him and saw a hand
stretching out of a dark magic circle floating in the middle of the air.
Gradually, the hand was followed by an arm, then a shoulder, then the rest
of the body, revealing Damalynas, dressed in a scandalously revealing outfit
and grinning fiendishly down at the lichsteed Sleip.
"Well! So understanding, aren't we?" Damalynas quipped. "In that case,
why don't you hurry along to your seats?! I'm sure we'd all hate to trouble
Their Divinity Hiya with such a trifling matter..."
Damalynas was known as the Grand Magus of Midnight—a magician
who had achieved the highest level of mastery of the dark arts. Her magic,
however, was not enough to prevent her from losing to Hiya, who had
absorbed her into the mindscape of their own mental world, where
Damalynas now lived as Hiya's beloved training partner.
"Yes, well, let's be off, then!" Sleip amiably agreed.
"Like, totally!" said Byleri, a smile on her face. She ran up to her lover
Sleip, taking his arm in hers.
"Why must papa and mama be so lovey-dovey all the time...?" Rislei
grumbled, making a face.
"What are you talking about?" Sleip replied, effortlessly lifting Rislei up
in his free arm. "I'm not just lovey-dovey for Byleri, you know—I've got
plenty of love for you too!"
"W-Wait! P-Papa!" Rislei protested, turning red in the face. "S-Stop!
You're embarrassing me!" That was understandable enough. There was a
huge crowd of onlookers today, here to witness the launch ceremony, and
quite a number of them had stopped to gawp at the family's antics.
"Ha ha ha!" Sleip laughed, holding his daughter high in the air for all to
see without a care in the world. "Your old man loves you, Rislei!"
"I-I'm telling you—put me down!" Rislei complained as she grew
redder and redder still. "This is humiliating! Everyone's watching!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" a human man wearing the armor of a knight of
Klyrode laughed as he walked up. "Ever the doting parent, eh, Sleip?" This
man's armor was clearly a step above the kingdom's run-of-the-mill
soldiers, engraved with ornate decorations. The man himself had a deeply
scarred face that spoke to his long history of battle. He gave the group a
grizzled smile.
"Well, I was wondering who it was!" Sleip said with a grin, not putting
Rislei down for a second. "MacTaulo, you old devil!"
Knight Captain MacTaulo was a storied hero of Klyrode. In the war
between the Magical Kingdom and the Dark Army, he had never been far
from the front lines, where he and Sleip had clashed swords time and time
again. Now that the war was over, the two had formed a friendship out of
their fierce rivalry.
"Are you here for the ceremony as well?" Sleip asked.
"I'm not here on personal business, I'm afraid," said MacTaulo. "Her
Majesty the Queen will be in attendance today. I am here to provide
security."
"I see..." said Sleip. "In that case, I suppose you'll be free after the
ceremony? Perhaps we could catch up over drinks once it's over. It's been
an age and a half. You won't believe some of the stories I have to tell!"
"It has been too long indeed," MacTaulo agreed. "I have something I
wish to ask of you myself, as it happens. I believe I'll take you up on your
offer."
As the two old enemies chatted cheerfully, Rislei kept on protesting.
"Let me down! You two can talk once I'm on the ground, can't you? Uncle
MacTaulo, tell papa to put me down! Please!" Sleip had been holding her in
the air the entire time, as a red-faced Rislei kicked her legs in a futile effort
to escape.
"Rislei?" came a girl's voice. "What are you doing?" Suddenly, Rislei's
body was enveloped in light. The next second, she had vanished from
Sleip's hand and reappeared safe and sound on the ground. Rislei turned to
see Elinàsze walking towards her.
Elinàsze was one of Flio and Rys's children, part of a twin set with her
brother Garyl. She also had a younger sister, Rylnàsze, and an adoptive
older sister, Wyne. She was a serious girl who loved her papa Flio more
than anything in the world and had a serious talent for magic.
"We need to hurry!" Elinàsze urged. "Papa's ceremony could start any
second!" There was a magic circle lingering by her outstretched hand—no
doubt the Teleportation spell she had used to rescue Rislei from her father's
grasp.
"Th-Thank you, Eli..." said Rislei.
"Of course!" said Elinàsze. "Don't mention it! Now, Uncle Sleip,
everyone, let's get to our seats." Elinàsze had come to the ceremony today
in a fashionable dress decorated with frills. She had a delighted smile on her
face as she surveyed the crowd.
"Yes, I suppose we should," said Sleip. "Well, MacTaulo, we'd best find
our seats. I'll see you after!"
"Very well," said MacTaulo. "Then I shall return to my duties as guard."
They shook hands and parted ways for the time being. Sleip made his way
to the seats, with Balirossa and her gang of former knights following along
behind.
"Big sister Elinàsze!" chirped a girl waving her hand ahead of them.
"This way!"
"Oh, Rylnàsze!" said Elinàsze, waving back to her little sister with a
smile. "There you are!"
Rylnàsze was Rys's thirdborn child and her second daughter. She was
growing up quickly thanks to the influence of Rys's demonic blood. She
had already reached about the same height as Elinàsze.
"I was so worried when I lost sight of you!" Elinàsze began, when she
got a proper look at how Rylnàsze was sitting. Her eyes shot open wide.
"I... Erm, that's certainly..."
Sitting on Rylnàsze's lap was Sybe in his unicorn rabbit form as well as
the female unicorn rabbit the house had picked up recently.
Sybe was originally a wild psychobear Flio had met in a random
encounter. Realizing at once that he had no hope of victory, Sybe
surrendered and from then on lived in Flio's house as a family pet. Flio
eventually used his magic to grant Sybe the ability to transform between his
natural psychobear form and a new unicorn rabbit form in order to be less
frightening to innocent citizens. The female unicorn rabbit was a magic
beast Flio had saved from the Divine Beast Leonorna. She and Sybe had
taken a liking to each other, and Flio decided to adopt her as another house
pet, giving her the name Shebe.
"I know Sybe and Shebe are very fond of you, Rylnàsze..." Elinàsze
observed. "But where in Klyrode did those other magic beasts come from?"
She pointed behind Rylnàsze, where a veritable assembly of all kinds of
magic beasts seemed to have gathered. There were bearlike beasts, wolflike
beasts, avian beasts, and many, many others, all seemingly here to
accompany Rylnàsze. The other guests in the area looked like they couldn't
believe their eyes any more than Rylnàsze's big sister.
It was quite understandable that they'd be surprised, of course. Some of
the magic beasts that had gathered around Rylnàsze were highly dangerous,
said to harbor no kindness for humanity in their hearts. And yet, even they
seemed as docile as lambs beside Rylnàsze.
"Oh!" said Rylnàsze, smiling brightly. "These are some friends I made
when I was going for a walk earlier this morning, big sister! They are all
very kind creatures—very fun to play with too!" The beasts began to nuzzle
and lick Rylnàsze in response, as though they could understand her words.
"A-Ah! That tickles!" Rylnàsze giggled as the magic beasts kept up their
affections. "Ah ha ha! You're such sweeties! Thank you!" Her face was
getting sticky with magic beast saliva, but Rylnàsze didn't seem to mind in
the slightest.
All around, onlookers watched the scene with bemused smiles on their
faces. "H-Huh. And here I was scared to see all those dangerous magic
beasts around..." said one.
"They're all being so well-behaved!" agreed another.
"It looks like they're fond of that girl, don't you think?"
"Oh, Rylnàsze..." Elinàsze sighed. "Magic beasts really do love you,
don't they? But I suppose that's a wonderful blessing, after a sort." She held
out her hand to conjure a magic circle and quickly cast a spell to dry off
Rylnàsze's face.
"By the way," Rylnàsze started, "big brother Garyl said he was going to
help protect the guests!"
◇ ◇ ◇
Inside a room in the Enchanted Frigate station were the guests who had
been invited to attend the day's ceremony, including even the Maiden
Queen of Klyrode herself. The Maiden Queen was the current reigning
monarch of the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode. Her name was Elizabeth, but
her friends tended to call her Ellie.
Her father, the former king, had been banished from the castle when his
many misdeeds came to light, leaving her in control of the kingdom.
Fortunately for Klyrode, the Maiden Queen was a woman utterly devoted to
politics—so devoted, in fact, that despite being in her early thirties, she had
never taken a lover in her life.
She stood in one corner of the room, surrounded by her royal guard—a
company of exclusively female knights charged with protecting the Queen
herself—led by their captain Boralis. Garyl was there as well, standing
nearby.
Garyl was the younger of the two twins—Elinàsze's little brother—
which also made him the older brother to Rylnàsze. He was a friendly boy
whose ready smile had made him a miniature celebrity in the Houghtow
College of Magic lower grade classes, which were taught for the benefit of
the children of Houghtow. He excelled at physical activity. Ordinarily he
would be on his way to school, but today he was standing guard over the
Queen, dressed in a suit of armor he had purchased from the Fli-o'-Rys
General Store.
"E-Excuse me. Garyl? Thank you ever so much for going out of your
way to help protect me today," the Queen said, favoring him with a smile.
"Or rather, I should call you Mister Garyl, shouldn't I?"
"There's no need for thanks!" Garyl said, grinning back cheerfully. "Dad
asked me to, after all! Just leave it to me!"
Suddenly, the gazes of the room seemed to turn at once in Garyl's
direction. He could hear a whispered conversation from nearby.
"Who is that man?" someone asked. "He seems rather close to Her
Majesty the Queen, doesn't he?"
"But the Maiden Queen has to marry our kingdom's second prince!" the
person's companion whispered back.
"We must bring her to visit our kingdom, using any means necessary..."
agreed a third.
The group seemed to be some sort of dignitaries sent from a neighboring
kingdom. Right now they were watching Garyl and the Maiden Queen like
hawks.
I-I really didn't think they would take it this far... the Maiden Queen
thought. She took care not to let her diplomatic smile falter, but she felt like
she might break out in a nervous sweat at any moment.
◇Several Days Ago—Klyrode Castle, Maiden Queen's Chambers◇
The Maiden Queen heaved a heavy sigh as she returned from the
conference room to her own private chambers. "Haaah... It looks like I
managed to make it through that conference in one piece..." she said to
herself. She didn't look to be in her best shape, though. There were beads of
sweat running down her forehead, and her skin had turned a sickly pale
white.
"My sister the Queen..." said the Third Princess, who had accompanied
her back to her room. "Are you unwell?" She looked at her older sister with
an expression of concern.
"I am quite all right," the Queen responded. "Thank you for your
concern, Third Princess. And thank you even more for your help in that
conference just now. Thanks to the documents you collected, we were able
to get an answer from the ministers without needing to suffer through too
much of their endless questions."
"I thank you for your kind words," the Third Princess said. "But it was
you who anticipated the ministers' every question and sent me to investigate
the matters they would ask about even before they posed the question, was
it not?"
The two sisters were sharing a moment of satisfaction for a job well
done, when the middle sister, the Second Princess, came butting into their
conversation. "Hey!" she shouted. "Excuse me for interrupting your sisterly
bonding time, but now that we've overcome the big meeting with the
ministers about internal affairs, do you think we could do something about
our diplomatic issues?" She took the folder she had been carrying and set it
down in front of the Maiden Queen with an emphatic thud. A crease formed
in the Maiden Queen's brow at the sight of yet more paperwork.
"My sister the Second Princess," the Third Princess began, tilting her
head as she glanced at the folder, a puzzled expression on her face. "What
exactly is in this folder?"
"Tell me, Third Princess..." the Second Princess started. "Do you know
what they say about our sister the Queen in lands abroad?"
"But of course!" the Third Princess replied, puffing out her chest with
sisterly pride. "Our sister the Queen is the first woman to ever rule this land
—the benevolent monarch who brought an end to our long war with the
Dark Army by signing a treaty with the Dark One! They call her the Savior
of the Kingdom! She has the full support of the people both in and outside
our lands!" No matter how you looked at it, her speech sounded more like
the Third Princess's own sentiments than any sort of accurate report.
"Yes, indeed, the Savior of the Kingdom..." the Second Princess
repeated. "And yet, the great Savior herself has yet to take a groom! I'm
sure you can imagine there's all sorts of people out there thinking about
what they might stand to gain if Her Saviorliness were to marry a man of
their own kingdom..."
"Hwuh?" the Third Princess started, taking the file in her hands. "ThThen, you mean...is this...?" Inside, she found portrait after portrait of
blandly smiling young men, each appended with a brief outline of their
titles and accomplishments. Many of them were accompanied by letters of
introduction from their father, the king of some land or other, as well. "Are
these...?"
"Yes." The Second Princess smirked. "These are requests for a formal
meeting with the Maiden Queen. All of them." She smacked the back of the
folder. "You put me in charge of diplomacy, you know, and no matter where
I go, this is all anyone wants to talk about. Frankly, I'm getting a little sick
of it."
The Maiden Queen let out a long breath. "Yes," she agreed. "This topic
comes up whenever I am speaking with a foreign delegation as well. I'm
getting a little sick of it myself, to be quite honest..." She took a sip of black
tea as she tried to put her thoughts in order. I once expected that I would
marry some royal or other, who would become the next king of Klyrode
while I supported him from behind like a good wife should... she thought.
But when I learned how badly my father had been misusing the throne, I
devoted myself to politics in an attempt to fix his mistakes. Before I knew it,
I had already passed thirty years of age! But...I suppose if it were the right
partner... An image of Garyl popped unbidden into her head.
"Speaking of," said the Second Princess. "Any progress with that Garyl
boy of yours?"
"Pfffffffff?!" The Maiden Queen spat out her tea with alarming force.
"M-My sister the Queen!" the Third Princess exclaimed, rushing over to
rub her sister on the back. "Are you all right?"
"I-I am fine, Third Princess..." the Queen managed. "B-But Second
Princess...wh-why in the world would you bring up Garyl's name at a time
like this?!"
"What do you mean why?" the Second Princess asked. "He's the boy
you like, isn't he?"
"Th-The boy I—" the Maiden Queen shook her head. "I-I am the Queen
of the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode! I-I would never allow my private
emotions to take precedence over my duty!"
"So you're not denying that you like him, then..."
"Gwah!" the Queen found herself at a loss for words. The Second
Princess snickered in amusement at the sight of her dignified sister in such a
state.
"Ah ha ha!" she laughed. "Sorry to tease. But think about it. There's a
mountain of princes from lands all over seeking your hand in marriage, but
if Her Majesty would rather marry the eldest son of a certain general store
manager, I'm sure I could make them understand."
"I-I see. Well..." the Maiden Queen mumbled to herself, apparently not
able to formulate a proper response.
The Second Princess sighed. My older sister has always been like this...
she thought. Prioritizing her kingdom above all else and putting her own
needs last. Well, I suppose with our father being like he was, I can't exactly
blame her for it. We'd have never gotten through that without that selfsacrificing streak of hers. Suddenly, she remembered something. "Wait.
Sister, didn't Fli-o'-Rys come to us the other day to obtain our permission
for that project?"
"That project?" the Third Princess asked. "What do you mean?"
"You know," said the Second Princess, pointing her finger straight up.
"That one."
The Maiden Queen and Third Princess both followed their sister's
finger, looking up at the ceiling of the Queen's chambers.
"The...ceiling?" the Third Princess asked, tilting her head in bafflement.
"Is...Is something the matter with the ceiling?" echoed the Maiden
Queen.
"No, no, come on you two," the Second Princess smirked. "Not the
ceiling..."
◇ ◇ ◇
I came to participate in the launch ceremony for the new Enchanted
Frigate, just like the Second Princess said... the Queen thought. And it did
seem as if a flood of attendees from the neighboring kingdoms came
pouring in the minute I made the announcement...but I never would have
imagined that more than half of them would turn out to be here to try and
take my hand in marriage!
The moment she had stepped foot inside the waiting room for the
ceremony, she had found herself surrounded by a mob of representatives,
each from some kingdom or other.
"I am here today as a representative from the land of Germaniana."
"I have been sent by the Azuntec Kingdom."
"And I'm the second prince of Alzteca."
Thankfully, Boralis had shown up to drive off the crowd of dignitaries.
"My most sincere apologies," she said, "but Her Majesty the Maiden Queen
is here today to participate in the ceremony commemorating the launch of a
new Enchanted Frigate route by the Fli-o'-Rys General Store. I am afraid I
will have to ask you to please refrain from discussing unrelated matters
until after the ceremony."
If nothing else, the situation was proof of how high the Maiden Queen's
reputation had risen among the kingdoms of humanity. There was no
shortage of rulers who were desperate to bring her into their own house as a
bride or else send their princes to serve as her husband.
A group of them stood off to the side, whispering frantically to each
other.
"Every time anyone asks for a meeting to discuss marriage, the Second
Princess—the one in charge of diplomacy—gets in the way!" one of them
griped.
"We've tried persuading the Second Princess herself, but everything she
has to say on the matter is vague and noncommittal..." agreed another.
"We can't miss this opportunity. We need to speak to the Maiden Queen
directly and arrange a meeting!" added the third.
They kept waiting for an opportunity to get past the Maiden Queen's
security and talk to her alone, but with Garyl helping out, they had no such
luck.
"That Garyl boy... He doesn't let anything slip by, does he?"
"If it were just those lady knights, we might find some way past..."
"And he seems quite close to Her Majesty..."
Garyl took a long glance over the waiting room and sighed. Miss Ellie is
incredible, huh...? he marveled. She's so beautiful, no one can keep their
eyes off her... He then turned his gaze towards the Maiden Queen himself.
For a second, their eyes met.
"A-Ah!" the Maiden Queen exclaimed, her face turning bright red as she
hastily looked the other direction. "E-Excuse me!"
"Huh?" Surprised, Garyl came running up to the Queen. "Your Majesty,
what's wrong? Do you have a fever? Your face looks red..." He placed one
hand on his own forehead and the other on the Queen's, comparing their
temperatures. He did it so naturally that none of the people nearby thought
to stop him.
Gradually, it dawned on the Maiden Queen that Garyl's face was right in
front of her own, looming large in her field of vision. "I...!" she squeaked,
the redness spreading all the way to the tips of her ears as she froze stiff on
the spot, unable to move a muscle.
"Well, it doesn't seem like you have a fever..." Garyl said. "If you're not
feeling well, though, my father would be happy to give you a place to rest,
so don't hesitate to say so!" He gave her one of his cheerful grins and
returned to his original position. The Maiden Queen, still blushing
furiously, watched him go.
The dignitaries, who'd had a panoramic view of the whole exchange,
began whispering even more than they had been before. It seemed Garyl's
action had made quite a stir.
"Wh-Who is that youth? He seems completely at ease with the Queen!"
"It can't be... Is he the Maiden Queen's partner?!"
"Impossible. We would have heard something if the Maiden Queen was
in a relationship."
"Besides which, that boy isn't from any noble house I've ever heard of!
I refuse to believe he's a suitable partner for the Maiden Queen!"
As they carried on their whispered conversation, the Second Princess
walked up beside Garyl. "Mister Garyl," she said, "I wanted to thank you
for inviting my sister the Maiden Queen and myself to the ceremony today.
Please give your revered father, Mister Flio, my regards and congratulations
as well."
"All right," Garyl agreed with a smile. "I'm sure my father will be
overjoyed!"
The conversation sent yet another stir through the crowd of gathered
dignitaries.
"W-Wait just a minute... That youth is the son of Mister Flio, the head of
the Fli-o'-Rys General Store?!"
"I-I had been told Mister Flio's children were all much younger!"
"Could he be a candidate for the Maiden Queen's hand after all?"
"But it can't be! The Maiden Queen would never marry the son of a
merchant!"
I knew they'd make a fuss about that! the Second Princess thought to
herself. "And another thing," she continued, "I would like to meet with your
father at his earliest convenience. The Magical Kingdom of Klyrode has
elected to grant Mister Flio peerage and noble standing in recognition of his
achievement in reviving the lost technology of the Enchanted Frigate.
Would you be so kind as to let him know?"
"What?! W-Wait a moment, Second Princess!" the Maiden Queen
protested, apparently somewhat frazzled by her sister's words. "W-We still
don't know if Lord Flio will—"
Before she could say any more, the Second Princess clapped her hand
over the Queen's mouth and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Don't worry; I
am fully aware that Mister Flio already refused the offer of peerage when
we were sounding him out earlier."
"Th-Then you should know not to say things like that!" the Maiden
Queen furtively whispered back.
"Now, now," the Second Princess replied, the picture of ease compared
to her visibly frantic sister. Fortunately, the two of them had been speaking
too quietly for anyone else to hear. "Just leave everything to your sister
dearest."
All around them, the foreign delegates were abuzz with rumors,
whispering with grim expressions about the latest developments.
"D-Did you hear that?! Mister Flio is going to be a noble!"
"Then that means...that youth is the scion of a noble house!"
"B-But...then there would be no reason he couldn't marry the Maiden
Queen!"
Garyl frowned as he looked around the room. "Erm..." he hesitated.
"Well, I'll tell him, Your Highness, but...is something wrong? Why is
everyone acting so strange?"
"Oh, it's nothing you need to worry yourself about," the Second Princess
replied, turning back to Garyl. "By the way, Mister Garyl, may I ask you a
question myself?"
"Yes? What is it?" Garyl asked with a smile.
"What do you think of my sister the Queen?"
Garyl answered without a moment's hesitation. "Why, I love her very
much!" he said, beaming brightly.
Garyl really does love my sister the way any boy would love a girl... the
Second Princess thought.
Behind her, the Maiden Queen froze stiff. It wasn't just her face now—
her exposed shoulders and upper chest had turned bright red as well. Her
mouth was opening and closing wordlessly. At that moment, she didn't look
much like a queen at all but simply an innocent girl.
It hardly needs mentioning, of course, but Garyl's comments raised a
tremendous fuss among the dignitaries.
◇Later—Enchanted Frigate Station Front◇
An enormous crowd had gathered by the ceremony platform set up in
front of the Enchanted Frigate Station, here to witness the historic event.
Flio ascended the platform before everyone's watching eyes, wearing Rys's
handmade "human" ceremonial garb. He had his usual easygoing smile on
his face, but inside he was fighting back his panic. I've always been good at
business talks, he thought, but no matter how many times I do it, I never get
used to speaking in front of crowds like this...
Rys watched her husband from her seat in the VIP area. "My lord
husband looks wonderful in anything he wears..." she swooned, gazing up
at him with amorous eyes, her cheeks flushed as she sighed in admiration.
"But I really do think my earlier outfit would have suited him better..."
Next to her, her daughter Elinàsze was gazing up at Flio with a nearly
identical expression on her face. "It's true..." She sighed as she gazed at her
father. "Papa looks wonderful in anything he wears..."
Elinàsze was a lovely young girl who turned many a head, but
unfortunately for her classmates, she had eyes only for her father and
studiously rejected every love confession she received. That, however, is a
story for another time.
Sitting next to Rys and Elinàsze was a skeleton wearing a ceremonial
black robe. This was Calsi'im, who had once served as Dark Regent while
the Dark One was away. He had died once already, but Flio brought him
back to life. Now he lived with the rest of the crew at Flio's house.
"Well, well!" he said. "If he looks so wonderful, I would like to get a
glimpse myself! Now, Rabbitz...would you kindly get down from my head
please? Just for a little while?" Alas, his daughter Rabbitz was perched on
top of his head, wrapping her entire body around his face and completely
blocking his field of vision.
Rabbitz was the daughter of Calsi'im and Tia, a skeleton and a magic
doll, respectively, making her a very unusual life-form. She loved perching
on top of her father Calsi'im's head and always seemed to have a big grin
on her face.
"Nah!" Rabbitz insisted. "Rabbitz like here!" Grinning, she clung even
tighter to her father's skull.
"Well, what do I do now?" Calsi'im lamented. "My dear Rabbitz won't
get off my head for even a moment! What a conundrum!" Despite his
complaints, something in his bony grin made him look like he was actually
enjoying himself.
"My, Rabbitz really does love you, doesn't she, Calsi'im?" cooed Tia.
She was in the seat next to Calsi'im, smiling gently in his direction.
Tia was a magic doll created by a mage who had once served in the
Dark Army. As a doll, she originally lacked emotions altogether. However,
after Calsi'im rescued and refurbished her from her broken-down state, she
began spending time with him and eventually developed emotions of her
own. She even had a child with Calsi'im, who they named Rabbitz.
"Yah!" said Rabbitz. "Love papa! Love mama!"
"But you know," Tia gently offered, "your beloved father Calsi'im will
have a hard time if he can't see what's happening in front of him. Perhaps
you should take your hands off of his face?"
"'Kay!" Rabbitz agreed, grinning. Despite her words, however, she
made no movement whatsoever to release her iron grip on Calsi'im's face.
"Rabbitz..." Tia pressed. "Thank you for agreeing so readily, but you
didn't actually move your hands."
"'Kay!" repeated Rabbitz.
"Again, you haven't moved your hands..."
While Calsi'im's family got up to their antics, other funny business was
going on nearby as well. In the seat next to them sat the small witch Belano,
with her husband Minilio on her lap, and their child Belalio on his. Minilio
was a magic doll Flio created as an experiment. He was given the name
Minilio because he looked like a child-sized version of Flio himself. He had
grown close to Belano while assisting her throughout the day and
eventually the two married and had a child named Belalio.
Belalio, being Minilio and Belano's child, was the offspring of a magic
doll and a human—at least as unusual a being as the magic doll-skeleton
hybrid Rabbitz. Like Minilio, they strongly resembled a younger version of
Flio, but they presented themselves androgynously. Their gender was
unknown.
H-Hm... Belano thought to herself. W-Well, I-I do enjoy this
arrangement...but it's a bit...embarrassing...or something... She was
blushing bright red in her seat, keeping her head studiously lowered.
"Ah ha!" a voice suddenly came from behind them. "So I'm behind
Belalio today!" It was Folmina, the daughter of Ghozal and Uliminas, who
was half demon royalty and half hellcat. She was attached both to her own
mother and Ghozal's other wife Balirossa, and she absolutely adored Garyl.
Folmina, who was sitting in her mother Uliminas's lap, started to hop up
and down in excitement.
"Folmina!" Uliminas scolded her. "Behave meowrself! The ceremony's
starting!"
"Okay, I will!" Folmina said, smiling and nodding. However, she was so
excited to be with Uliminas that she kept right on hopping.
"Pardon me... Ghoro?" Next to Uliminas, Balirossa was stiffly trying to
beckon her own son Ghoro. "Y-You have permission to sit on my lap like
Folmina, i-if you'd like..."
Ghoro, the child of Ghozal and Balirossa, was half demon royalty and
half human. Like Folmina, he was attached to both of Ghozal's wives. He
was a boy of few words, who loved his big sister Folmina dearly.
"I-I'm fine here..." Ghoro said.
Unfortunately, when Ghoro said here, he meant the top of Balirossa's
head. He had crawled up there just like Rabbitz.
"O-Oh, but you know, Ghoro..." Balirossa said, straining with all her
might to keep her neck upright as beads of sweat started to form on her
brow. "I understand that you wished to c-crawl up on my head like you
always do with S-Sir Ghozal...b-b-but I-I...I...I'm afraid my neck strength is
somewhat lacking..."
Oh, no... Balirossa thought. Th-The moment my neck gives out, Ghoro is
going to go plummeting to the ground! S-Sir Ghozal, save me! She glanced
over to her husband in the seat next to her, pleading desperately with her
eyes.
"Ha ha ha!" Ghozal laughed. "You look like you're having a good time
up there, Ghoro!"
"Yeah..." said Ghoro, giving the smallest of nods.
I c-can't ask Sir Ghozal to take Ghoro after he was so happy to see him
up there! Balirossa thought, gritting her teeth to keep from sobbing openly.
Oh g-goodness...
Flio glanced over the assembled crowd.
When I first came to this world, he thought, humans and demons were in
the middle of a war with each other. So many things have happened since
then, but seeing humans and demons gathered together like this... It's
getting me all emotional...
Flio had been summoned to this world from a different one by a ritual
performed by the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode. In the world he had come
from, demihumans were facing severe persecution at the hands of humanity.
In my old world, there wasn't anything I could do about all the
discrimination different species faced. But here, I feel like I was able to at
least help bring an end to the conflict.
In the VIP seats for the ceremony that day were the Maiden Queen of
Klyrode, the former Dark One Ghozal, and the former Dark Regent
Calsi'im. There were Balirossa, Byleri, Blossom, and Belano, who were
once knights of Klyrode, and both Ghozal's former confederate Uliminas
along with Calsi'im's former minion Tia. Then there was Sleip, formerly a
member of the Infernal Four. The djinn Hiya, the Grand Magus of Midnight
Damalynas, and the former Celestial Plane disciple Tanya were there as
well.
And beyond that, there were visitors from lands near and far come to
celebrate the launch of the Enchanted Frigate. They were of all different
species and came from all walks of life. If he had all that to show for his
efforts, Flio felt like he could permit himself just the slightest bit of pride.
Flio looked around, smiling his usual easygoing smile. Then he
whispered an incantation under his breath, conjuring a tiny magic circle in
front of his mouth, set up to project his voice to every corner of the square.
"Erm...good afternoon!" he began. "To be honest, I'm not nearly as
grand a person as many of our guests today. I truly am grateful from the
bottom of my heart to see such an enormous crowd gathered for the launch
ceremony of the new Enchanted Frigate operated by the Fli-o'-Rys General
Store. This ship will fly a regular service route between here in Houghtow
City, the Dark One's domain, Calgosi Coast, and Indol, but we intend to put
more ships into service soon and increase the number of routes. This will
improve the flow of people and goods around the world, enabling our
mutual development."
In front of Flio's eyes was a window set so that only he could see it,
containing the words of the statement he had spent all evening writing the
night before.
When he finished his speech, the Maiden Queen went to say a few
words. Then a representative of the Dark One, the Infernal Zanzibar, said
some words as well, followed by Countess Junia Van Biel from the Calgosi
Coast and Esto of the Esto Mercantile Association as a messenger from
Indol. When they had all said their pieces, the entire crowd entered the
station and ascended the boarding tower to embark on the Enchanted
Frigate.
"Incredible, isn't it?" marveled Rys. "Even with all these people on
board, we have plenty of room to spare!" She looked around, pulling up a
magic window of her own as she began looking around the ship's control
room, gasping intermittently with awe at this or that discovery.
"It might not look this big from the outside," said Flio, "but I expanded
the ship's interior using magic. This is the only ship we have capable of
carrying this many passengers, though. I'd need another magic gem as large
as the one I used for this ship to make another of the same scale..."
"Leave it to me, my lord husband!" Rys declared, the hair on her head
perking up like a wolf's ears as she began to stretch her arm in wide circles.
"I will head out for Dogorogma tomorrow and hunt a Beast of Disaster for
you at once!"
"There is no need for the wife of the Exalted One to trouble herself on
such trifling matters," remarked Hiya, appearing out of thin air and kneeling
down before Flio, bowing deeply. "Say but the word, Exalted One, and your
Hiya shall slay a Beast of Disaster and return to you, magic gem in hand."
"Hey, just one second!" said Ghozal. "It sounds like you're trying to
leave me out of the fun part! That's not very friendly of you!"
"Quite agreed!" said Sleip, standing right beside Ghozal and laughing
uproariously. "We'll be coming with you!"
"Papa!" Elinàsze came running up to her father. "Please, leave this to
me! I'll capture a Beast of Disaster for you with my magic!"
"W-Well," said Flio, looking between his five eager volunteers. "I
suppose we should write up a schedule for magic gem collection duty at
some point, but for the time being, let's focus on the Enchanted Frigate
launch..."
Flio held out his arm for Rys, who took his hand in her own. Then the
two of them, hand in hand, grabbed the lever by the side of the steering
wheel. "And the Enchanted Frigate is hereby officially launched!" Flio
declared, and together they pulled the lever at once. The ship separated
from the tower and began to rise slowly into the air.
Suddenly, they heard a girl's voice coming from outside the vessel.
"What gives, what gives?! I got sick of waiting-waiting!"
In front of Flio was an array of windows displaying the ship's status and
visuals both inside and out. He turned his attention to one of them, where he
could see a girl flying circles around the Enchanted Frigate, a smirking grin
on her face.
"W-Wyne!" said Flio. "I thought you weren't coming to the ceremony!
What are you doing here?!"
Wyne was a dragonewt—the strongest warrior among all of dragonkind.
One day, she had collapsed mid-trip from famine only to be rescued by Flio
and Rys, who adopted her as their daughter. She was the eldest of Flio and
Rys's children. Right now, her dragon wings were fully manifested on her
back. She flew around and around the Enchanted Frigate as it ascended into
the air.
"So big! So big! Ah ha ha!" laughed Wyne. "This is fun-fun!" She was
wearing her customary loose poncho, and as she made her circuits the wind
caught its hem, flipping it up.
Tanya's expression switched immediately. "Y-Young Mistress Wyne! I
have told you so many times! Why are you not wearing your underwear
today?!" Darting forward, she waved her hand and vanished from the
control room. A second later, she appeared on the screen behind Wyne, a
pair of feathered angel wings sprouting from her back. "Young Mistress
Wyne!" Tanya shouted, chasing quickly after the dragonewt with a pair of
underwear in each hand. "Be a good girl and put on your undergarments!"
"No way!" taunted Wyne. "I hate underwear! I hate it!" Changing her
heading, she flew straight up in the air, Tanya in hot pursuit.
"You cannot escape!" Tanya declared. "I am going to make you wear
your underwear, young mistress Wyne, if it's the last thing I do!"
The guests inside the Enchanted Frigate, fortunately, knew nothing
about the drama transpiring outside the ship. They were all busy looking out
their physical windows at the land below.
"That Wyne..." Rys frowned as she watched. "And on my lord husband's
big day!"
"Oh, let her have her fun," Flio said, smiling his usual smile. "It's just
how things are at the Fli-o'-Rys General Store."
The Enchanted Frigate flew on towards its first destination inside the
Dark One's domain, as Wyne and Tanya followed along after...
◇Dark Citadel—Throne Room◇
The Dark One Dawkson strode into his throne room on the second floor
of the Dark Citadel and sat himself down on the floor in front of the high,
imposing throne of demonkind.
Phufun, Dawkson's minion, stood next to him. "It may not be my place
to say this, Master..." she said, taking a step forward and pressing her false
glasses up the ridge of her nose.
"Huh?" Dawkson asked. "What's up, Phufun?"
"It's just..." Phufun continued. "Your efforts to rebuild the Dark Army
are well underway thanks to your patient diplomacy as Dark One. After all
you have done, do you not think you have earned the right to sit upon your
throne...?"
Dawkson let out a small sigh at Phufun's words. "Yeah," he said. "I see
what you're saying. There's no denying the Dark Army's back on its feet.
But y'know...it's still a lot weaker than it was when I first took over. Plus,
there's still loads of demons out there who say they won't serve the Dark
Army as long as I'm in charge, and they're causing all sorts of problems out
there. It just wouldn't feel right to me, sitting on the throne with the state of
things. Sorry 'bout that."
"N-Not at all, Master," said Phufun, bowing so low her upper body was
at a ninety-degree angle to the ground. "Rather, I am the one who spoke out
of turn. I apologize most profusely."
Ahh, Phufun thought. Master Dawkson truly has changed. Back when he
went by the name of Yuigarde, if I would ever dare to question him like that,
he would shout something like, "Shuddap! Don't you talk back to me!" and
punch me through a wall like it was nothing... An unbidden tear came to her
eye as she thought back to her master's brutish former self. And yet... I do
somewhat miss the way he used to hit me for the slightest infraction!
Sometimes I long for him to hit me hard enough to send my consciousness
flying somewhere far away... She blushed at the memory. Phufun, as it
happened, was an inveterate masochist.
"But tell me," Dawkson said, moving the subject on to matters of
business, "you got anything that needs my attention? Anything happen
while I was out visiting the pandamen?"
"A-Ah, yes, Master," Phufun stammered, returning to herself. "My
apologies." She adjusted her glasses again and glanced down at the
paperwork she had in her hand. "The Infernal Lord Zanzibar is out today,
attending the launch ceremony the Fli-o'-Rys General Store is putting on
for their new Enchanted Frigate line. He should be returning shortly. And
regarding the issue you've been working so hard on of late...we've received
yet more reports of victims, I'm afraid..."
The Dark One clicked his tongue in frustration at the news. "Those
bastards! Somehow I managed to keep the pandamen safe, but there were
even more victims while I wasn't looking, huh?"
"Yes, most unfortunately," Phufun answered. "Your subordinate, the
Infernal Lady Belianna, is currently en route to investigate."
"What are they trying to do, kidnapping members of rare demon species
like that...?" Dawkson muttered. "The fable folk and the others we
promised protection are safe in the Dark Citadel, but the losses small clans
have been suffering out in the borderlands ain't no joke. As long as they're
limiting themselves to abducting small groups of demons, I can't just send
out the entire army either. Well, for the time being, we should put every
intelligence agent we've got on the case."
"Yes, Master," said Phufun, pressing her glasses up the ridge of her nose
as she bowed. "It will be done."
We established a new intelligence agency for the Dark Army, per Master
Dawkson's orders... Phufun reflected as she left the throne room, a
complicated expression on her face. But our espionage capabilities are still
far from what they were in the days of Dark One Gholl's spy network, the
Silent Listeners.
Dawkson heaved a heavy sigh as he watched Phufun leave. This sorta
thing never used to happen back when my brother Gholl was Dark One, he
thought. I've still got a long ways to go before I'm worthy of the throne.
During Dawkson's reign as Yuigarde, he would invariably blame his
subordinates whenever there was any sort of problem. Now, however, he
made it a point to take the initiative to look for a solution himself whenever
problems arose, without placing the blame on anyone under his command.
◇The Outskirts of the Dark One's Domain◇
"You there! In the damned suspicious carriage! I order you to stop!"
Belianna glided through the forest in pursuit of a fast-moving carriage,
weaving between the trees as she dramatically spun her scythe.
"C-Could you perhaps give us a moment?!" came a woman's telepathic
voice from inside the carriage. "I swear we're not suspicious!"
"Gimme a break!" Belianna shot back. "Any damned suspicious person
would say they're not suspicious! That's the most damned suspicious thing
in the world! Besides which, I found your damned carriage idling about in
the same damned spot where a bunch of rare demons got themselves
abducted. Now quit whining and stop your damned vehicle!" She swung
her scythe, cutting a swath of nearby trees in half and sending them
toppling towards the carriage. Her target, however, was agile. It dodged
between the gaps of the falling trees as it carried on full speed ahead.
"Hang on!" Hero Gold-Hair snapped in irritation as the vehicle veered
violently to the left and right, sending the occupants tumbling around. "Isn't
that one of Dawkson's underlings?! Why in the world would she be
attacking us?!"
"W-W-W-Well, you knooow!" Tsuya managed, clinging tight to Hero
Gold-Hair's arm as the carriage pitched. "The moooment she spoke to us,
you were all, 'Confound it! Run!' and Aryun Keaaats took off! Of cooourse
she thinks we're suspicious!"
"W-Well, what did you expect me to do?!" Hero Gold-Hair protested. "I
thought for sure she was an enemy!"
"Should we use Vaaalentine's thread to stop her from moooving, Hero
Gooold-Hair?" Tsuya asked, but Hero Gold-Hair shot her down.
"No way! That woman is one of Dawkson's subordinates! He'll be
furious if we hurt her!"
"I-I mean, you can say that..." Wuha Gappoli objected from the floor of
the carriage—she had fallen out of her seat. "But how else are we gonna get
out of this one?!"
"My lord," Riliangiu volunteered, "I am prepared to negotiate with this
woman if needs must..." She was clinging to the ceiling of the carriage,
directly above Wuha, her arms transformed into a pair of blades just in case.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Hero Gold-Hair barked, making Riliangiu stiffen
up in surprise. "I would never order one of my precious companions into
harm's way like that! Keats, see if you can get into that gap in the cliff!"
"Yes, sir!" came Aryun Keats's telepathic response. Aryun Keats was a
carriage djinn, currently transformed as the carriage itself. She sped up,
aiming for a narrow chasm in the cliff face ahead.
"Wait, damn you, you damned carriage!" Belianna shouted as she flew
after them. Suddenly, however, she came upon a sheer cliff. Unable to fly
farther, she floated down to the ground. "H-Huh? Where did that damned
carriage get to?" It had been just ahead of her, but suddenly it seemed to
have vanished completely.
"Was that a damned Teleportation spell?" Belianna wondered,
shouldering her scythe as she stepped into the narrow passageway formed
by the crevice in the cliff, looking every which way as she proceeded. "No,
there wasn't enough time for a damned incantation! Then where did they
get to...?"
Some time later, Hero Gold-Hair's head popped out of a patch of tall
grass at the end of the passageway through the cliff. "Good," he said after
looking all around to make sure Belianna was nowhere in sight. "Looks like
she passed us by." Holding the Drilldozer Shovel in one hand, he emerged
from a hole in the ground.
Hero Gold-Hair had used his legendary item, the Drilldozer Shovel, to
dig a hole big enough for the entire party the very moment they entered the
crevice, covering up the hole's entrance with a convenient patch of nearby
grass. The whole operation had taken a mere eight-tenths of a second.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Aryun Keats cried as she climbed out of Hero
Gold-Hair's hole. The shock of the fall had undone her transformation,
returning her to her humanoid form. "Sir Hero Gold-Hair, I wish you would
tell me before digging a hole like that! I fell headfirst, you know!" She was
massaging the top of her head, which had turned bright red and tender from
the fall. Valentine, Riliangiu, and Tsuya came crawling up after her.
"It was an emergency situation," Hero Gold-Hair insisted as he offered
the rest of the party a hand out of the hole. "I'll hear no complaints!"
Hm... Hero Gold-Hair thought to himself. I've heard rumors about
someone abducting demons. If Dawkson's subordinate's on the case, I guess
it's true after all...
◇That Evening—Flio's House, Pasture◇
That day, once the Enchanted Frigate's maiden voyage was finished,
Sleip returned home to Flio's house ahead of everyone else and got to work
on the pasture.
"I was wondering where you got to," MacTaulo, still clad in his armor,
said as he stepped up to the old lichsteed. "So you came back here, hm?"
"That I did," Sleip said, grinning cheerfully as he easily hefted an
enormous bale of hay over his shoulder with his superhuman strength. "I've
never been much good with big ceremonies. Looking after the horses here
suits me much better."
"So you, your missus, and your daughter run this pasture together, do
you?" MacTaulo asked.
"Indeed I do," confirmed Sleip. "It's a pretty good life, spending my
days in peace and watching my daughter grow up."
"I see..." MacTaulo nodded. "It does seem like a decent way to live, I
suppose."
Back when the Dark Army and the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode were
at war, Sleip of the Infernal Four and MacTaulo, the Magical Kingdom's
most storied commander, had clashed on the battlefield time and time again.
Their fierce battles with each other had given the two men a sense of
mutual respect. At some point, their long rivalry gave rise to a kind of
camaraderie between them. Now that the war was over, the two had come to
know each other as good friends.
"So, MacTaulo," Sleip grunted, "you said at the ceremony that you had
some kind of business with me?"
"Yes, that's right..." MacTaulo cleared his throat as he leaned back
against the wooden fence. "You see, the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode is
reorganizing their Knight Academy as the Klyrode Institute for Chivalric
Education. I've been nominated as the first headmaster of the new
institution."
"Well, now!" Sleip marveled. "That sounds like quite the promotion if
I'm not mistaken! I suppose I outta congratulate you! But what's the
difference between the old Knight Academy and this new institute?"
"The Knight Academy," MacTaulo answered, "was just as its name
suggested—a school for educating the kingdom's knights. It was mainly a
military institution that trained knights to go off and fight in the war against
the Dark Army. But now that we're at peace, it only seems appropriate for
the role of the institution to change. The school's being restructured as a
general education institute for Klyrode's youth. Young folks are the future,
after all..."
MacTaulo fell silent, and looked over at Sleip. The old lichsteed looked
back. For a second, they just stood facing each other. Then MacTaulo
cracked a smile.
"And so," he continued, looking out at the pasture, "the favor I would
like to ask of you, Sir Sleip, is if you would perhaps lend us some of your
equine magic beasts for equestrian drills at the Chivalric Institute."
"Oho!" Sleip exclaimed, laughing boisterously at the request. "If that's
what this is about, then just leave it to me! I'd be happy to supply you with
horses!"
In truth... MacTaulo thought, his eyes still studying Sleip's face, I was
hoping to make him a teacher at the school. I would have liked to work
alongside him. But the minute I met his eyes, I knew...
MacTaulo had read a clear message in Sleip's expression: "I'm happy
with my life here. Sorry, but I can't go along with your expectations." After
all the times the two men had crossed swords, they had learned to
understand each other without words.
"Well, would you look at the time!" MacTaulo said. "You had best get
going to dinner, I suppose! It wouldn't do to keep Rys and her delicious
home cooking waiting!"
"It would not," agreed Sleip. "And since you're here, perhaps you'd care
to join us for a meal?"
The two men made their way to the main house, arms slung around the
other's shoulder.
Well, then, MacTaulo thought. Sir Sleip may have rejected the offer, but
perhaps my other target here will prove more amenable...
◇A Village, Deep in the Mountains◇
Inside a demon village's local pub situated near the border of the
Magical Kingdom of Klyrode, a great crowd had gathered for the evening.
Ever since the Dark Army had signed their peace treaty with the Magical
Kingdom of Klyrode, the village had opened the once-closed road to all.
There were even a number of humans in the crowd among the demons.
Two horse demon men sat at the bar counter, chatting merrily as they
drank.
"By the by, have you heard the rumor?" one of them asked.
"You mean, about demons being spirited away...?" his companion
replied.
"Yes, that! They say there's been demons going suddenly missing on the
road outside town."
"People've said it must be the gods of demonkind doing it, since almost
everyone it happened to seems to have vanished without a trace."
"This is just something I overheard," the first demon said, "but it seems
like the victims all shared a particular trait."
"A trait?" the other demon repeated.
"That's right. Only rare demon species are getting abducted."
"Rare demon species?" the second demon repeated. "You mean like
fable folk and doppeladlers?"
"Yeah, exactly." The demon took a swig of his tankard of ale. "And
guess what—another spiriting away happened on the pass leading to
town..."
Suddenly, a scythe blade appeared from behind and pressed against the
demon's throat. "Wh-What?!" he exclaimed. The pair froze stiff in shock.
"Mind giving me the full damned version?" asked the woman holding
the scythe.
"Y-You're...milady!" exclaimed the first demon.
"L-Lady Belianna of the Infernal Four!" said the second.
She was wearing a hood to hide her face, but the demon men were
correct—this was, indeed, Belianna herself. "I'm looking into all these
damned disappearances of rare demon species under the order of the Dark
One Lord Dawkson," she explained. "I don't suppose you two have any
damned information you'd like to share?"
"O-Of course! It would be my pleasure!"
"We'd be happy to share our story if it will be of use..."
Belianna withdrew her scythe from around the demon's horselike neck
and slung it over her shoulder, sitting down in the seat beside the pair as
they continued their story.
While Belianna was listening to their story, a mixed group of men and
women were drinking and conversing at a table near one of the pub's
windows.
"Ah ha ha!" a small-framed woman—Wuha Gappoli—cackled.
"Aryun's already passed out drunk! You could stand to learn a lesson or two
on holding your liquor from the great Wuha Gappoli!" Next to her, a
woman in a tidy black outfit lay unconscious, facing the ceiling with a
bottle still hanging out of her mouth.
"I...I...I am a hopeless case, I fear..." sobbed the red-faced woman
dressed in an outfit reminiscent of the ninja clans to the east as she lay face
down on the table.
"Oh, Riliangiu..." tutted the woman next to her dressed in a revealing
and beguiling garb. "You always get so weepy when you're drunk!" For her
part, she was grinning cheerfully as she devoured plate after plate of food.
"M-Miss Vaaalentine..." another woman in an even more revealing outfit
protested, pale in the face as she checked the contents of the group's purse.
"Y-You're eating faaar too much! W-We don't have enough moooney!"
Hero Gold-Hair, meanwhile, wasn't paying attention to the women at his
table—he was focusing on the conversation happening over at the bar
counter. "Hmm..." he muttered. "So rare demon species really have been
disappearing..."
"Ummm..." said the woman with the purse. "Hero Gooold-Hair? Is
something wrooong?"
"Oh, Tsuya!" Hero Gold-Hair said. "It sounds like Dawkson's people are
in some kind of trouble..."
"Whaaat?!" Tsuya followed Hero Gold-Hair's gaze over to where
Belianna was busy pressing the horse demons for more information about
their story. "You don't saaay!"
"Oh, Hero Gold-Hair!" Valentine sang, pushing Tsuya out of the way to
hug him tight, interrupting his efforts to focus on listening in to Belianna's
conversation. "Would you like something to drink? Something to eat?" She
was in the middle of devouring a huge chunk of meat herself.
"Ah ha ha!" Wuha Gappoli laughed, darting up behind Hero Gold-Hair.
"Drink up, drink up! You'll be sleeping safe and sound inside me tonight,
after all!" Wuha was a mansion djinn, and as such, she had the power to
transform into a wide variety of dwellings.
"Shut up, you lot!" Hero Gold-Hair snapped. "I can't hear a word those
three are saying with all your racket!"
"Now, now, Hero Gold-Hair!" said Valentine. "There's no call for such
language!"
"Yeah, yeah!" agreed Wuha. "The food and drink are both great! You
should have some!"
"Idiots!" Hero Gold-Hair barked, struggling to push Valentine and Wuha
Gappoli off of him as the two clung on tight. "I said, shut up! I'm in the
middle of something serious!" His table had gone completely out of control.
"What's up with that damned racket?" Belianna said, sparing an
annoyed glance at Hero Gold-Hair's table. "I can't hear a damned thing
these two are saying over that group!"