◇Somewhere—A Tavern◇
That night, Hero Gold-Hair and his companions were enjoying a round
of drinks at a tavern in a village somewhere in the world.
"Ha ha ha!" Hero Gold-Hair laughed, holding high his tankard, filled to
the brim. "Alcohol is wonderful, I tell you! It's true what they say—liquor
is the best medicine!"
Next to him was Aryun Keats, staring up at the sky as she slumped back
in her chair, three empty bottles dangling from her mouth. "I-I couldn't
drink another drop..." she whined.
"Bwa ha ha ha ha!" Wuha Gappoli laughed in amusement, smacking
Aryun Keat's hefty chest from the seat beside her. "Aryun, you're such a
lightweight!" Each time Wuha stuck Aryun Keat's chest her breasts would
wobble gloriously, drawing no shortage of sidelong looks from the
surrounding men.
"Tee hee hee!" Valentine giggled, stuffing her face with an enormous
helping of meat and washing it down with alcohol. She seemed to be in a
very good mood. "Eating with all of you really is such a lovely way to pass
the time!" The other patrons in the tavern gazed in awe at the slender
woman's boisterous spirits and heroic appetite.
"Alcohol is wonderful..." Riliangiu agreed, her cheeks turning red as she
drained her glass. "There is nothing that does a better job of knocking out a
day's fatigue."
"That's right!" said Hero Gold-Hair, grinning as he clapped a hand on
Riliangiu's shoulder. "And you're always a big help, Riliangiu, scouting
ahead for us day in and day out. So drink up! Don't hold back!" He poured
more liquor as he spoke, refilling Riliangiu's empty glass.
"There is no greater joy than hearing you speak highly of my services,"
said Riliangiu, grinning widely in delight at Hero Gold-Hair's words as she
went to drain her glass once again.
"Hee hee hee!" Tsuya smiled happily as she drank her own glass dry.
"We have looots of money, so no need to worry about paaaying today! Hee
hee hee! I'll drink a lot toooo!"
"Of course!" Hero Gold-Hair nodded. "You're always tiring yourself out
with this and that, Tsuya. Today's the time to forget all of that and drink
yourself stupid!" Still... he thought to himself. Today's job was a bit strange,
wasn't it? Digging a hole down from the top of a mountain is simple
enough, but then there was that weird barrier partway down... Not that it
was any problem for me and my legendary item, the Drilldozer Shovel! He
finished off his own drink as he mulled the matter over in his mind. They're
paying a decent bit of money, though. Perhaps I shouldn't let it bother me...
Hero Gold-Hair's party kept drinking and chatting boisterously through
the night, until it was nearly dawn...
◇The Following Morning◇
"What did you just say...?" Hero Gold-Hair's eyes went wide as he
heard what the tavern's proprietor had to say. Behind him the rest of his
party stood on teetering legs, satisfied smiles on their faces from their long
night of drinking and eating up a storm.
The proprietor furrowed his brow as he looked over the coins he had
received from Hero Gold-Hair. "Yes, well..." he said, whispering in Hero
Gold-Hair's ear to prevent the other customers from listening in. "I really
am terribly sorry to have to tell you this, but these coins you've given me
all seem to be nothing but well-made forgeries..."
"I-It can't...be..." Hero Gold-Hair's eyes opened wider still. Tsuya, who
was standing next to him, went motionless, her expression identical to his.
"So..." the proprietor said, glancing between Tsuya and Hero Gold-Hair.
"Perhaps you have some other coins you could provide as payment...?" He
rubbed his hands together, sidling up closer.
Hero Gold-Hair turned his eyes to look in Tsuya's direction without
moving his head. "Do we have any other money?" he asked,
communicating using only the movement of his eyeballs.
Tsuya, who was fully fluent in Hero Gold-Hair's looks, slowly and
deliberately brought her black eyes to dead center. A flat "no." She looked
like she might burst into tears at any second.
Hero Gold-Hair turned his gaze back towards the proprietor of the
establishment. "Y-Yes, well, you see, my good tavernkeep... Hang on, just a
moment." He reached back and grabbed Wuha Gappoli, who had been
standing directly behind him, by the shoulder.
"Huh?" Wuha asked. "Hero Gold-Hair? Whassup?" Drunk out of her
mind, she glanced over at Flio's hand on her shoulder with languid eyes.
"I'm sorry about this, tavernkeep," Hero Gold-Hair said. "But I promise
you—I will pay today's tab! In the meantime, why don't you put this one to
work and let the rest of us go?!"
The words had hardly left Hero Gold-Hair's mouth before he fled the
scene, leaving Wuha Gappoli behind. Tsuya, Riliangiu, and Valentine,
carrying Aryun Keats on her back, followed closely after.
"Fwah?!" Wuha Gappoli cried in distress at finding herself abandoned.
"H-Hero Gold-Hair! Wait!"
"Hah..." the tavern's proprietor sighed. "Well, I suppose if they're
leaving one of them here, I'll let it slide for now..." He gave Wuha Gappoli
a hearty smack on the back. "So, now that that's settled, let's get you
washing dishes until those friends of yours get back!"
"Huh? Huh? W-Wait! Hang on, just a moment!" Wuha pleaded, tears of
distress welling up in her eyes.
The rest of Hero Gold-Hair's party ran out of the tavern for all they were
worth. "Now that I think about it, I had been thinking that client's jobs paid
suspiciously well..." Hero Gold-Hair muttered through gritted teeth, his
eyes narrowed in anger. "To think they were paying us with counterfeit
coins this whole time!"
The party, minus Wuha, made it safely out of the village and vanished
from sight.
◇ ◇ ◇
A few hours after throwing Wuha to the wolves, the rest of Hero GoldHair's party convened at the base of a towering tree deep in the forest.
Hero Gold-Hair furrowed his brow. "Wizard gold?" he said, repeating
the phrase Riliangiu had used.
"Indeed..." Riliangiu confirmed. "According to the information I
gathered from the surrounding villages, there has been a recent rash of
counterfeit coins in the nearby towns, so well-made as to be nearly
impossible to distinguish from genuine currency. It seems people have
taken to calling them 'wizard gold.' I can only surmise that the coins we
received from our employer were these same counterfeits."
"So?" Hero Gold-Hair asked, folding his arms. "Did you figure out
where this wizard gold is coming from?"
Riliangiu frowned. "The ones commissioning work and paying people
using the wizard gold all seem to be contracted intermediaries..." she said.
"However, I did manage to find one promising lead."
"A promising lead?"
"Yes. I spoke with someone who said they saw the intermediaries in
question entering Castolia, a small kingdom neighboring the Magical
Kingdom of Klyrode."
"Hmm...Castolia, is it?" Hero Gold-Hair rested his chin in his hand,
mulling the situation over. "Well, I suppose there's no use in sitting here
thinking about it. We'd better hurry to the Kingdom of Castolia, expose
whoever's behind this wizard gold nonsense, and make them compensate us
for our labor with proper legal currency!" He gave a single, decisive nod
over his folded arms. "After all, it sounds like we're not the only ones
who've been victimized in all this..."
◇ ◇ ◇
The party traveled along the road in the carriage djinn Aryun Keat's
transformed body. Hero Gold-Hair himself sat inside Aryun's carriage
compartment with his arms folded, listening to Riliangiu's report.
"I have confirmed that the same group who gave us the job to dig the
hole in that island nation to the east yesterday have been spotted entering
the Kingdom of Castolia," Riliangiu said.
"Hmm..." Hero Gold-Hair hemmed in thought, glancing down at the bag
of wizard gold lying at his feet on the carriage floor. "If this client of ours is
in Castolia, I suppose we can't assume they mistakenly paid us in wizard
gold..."
Riliangiu nodded in agreement. "I mobilized all of my mantis familiars
to investigate this case. They tell me there have been many reports of
people being paid in wizard gold recently in this region...and every single
one of these cases leads back to Castolia."
Hero Gold-Hair mulled over Riliangiu's words for a moment before
speaking, keeping his arms folded stoically over his chest. "Riliangiu," he
said, "If I'm remembering right, didn't you tell me the king of Castolia or
whoever died some time ago? In that case, who would be creating the
wizard gold?"
"It seems there is a certain noble that gained influence just as King
Castolia passed away," Riliangiu explained. "They had been raised to
nobility by the late king only very recently, and rumor has it they have been
spending considerable sums of money left and right behind the scenes in
order to secure their current position."
"I see..." Hero Gold-Hair nodded. "So they may be using wizard gold..."
Tsuya smiled brightly in her seat next to Hero Gold-Hair. "So aaall we
need to dooo is fiiind these nobles and get them to exchange our wiiizard
gold for the reaaal stuff!"
"That's the long and short of it, I suppose..." Hero Gold-Hair said,
turning his head to look out the window. Well, he thought, maybe the
straightforward approach would cause the least headache...
Just then, however, someone came right up beside Aryun Keats's
carriage form—a girl riding on horseback galloping along the road as fast
as she could go.
"What?!" Hero Gold-Hair, who had been looking out the window,
exclaimed in surprise.
The girl rode fast, passing Aryun by as a group of centaur men came
pursuing her from behind. The centaurs were dressed in armor, and they
raced along the road at an astonishing pace.
"Those centaurs are firing arrows, aren't they?!" Valentine cried in
astonishment, leaning out of the window to get a better look as the centaurs
ran down the road ahead of them. "Of all the absurdly dangerous things!"
"Keats!" Hero Gold-Hair barked. "Follow those centaurs!"
"Alas, there's no way for me to catch them at that speed..." Aryun Keats
reported. "Unless I do this!" Suddenly, a hatch opened on the rear of the
carriage, producing a smaller carriage fastened by a rope with an oddly
lascivious moan. "Ahnnhh..."
"That was...quite the noise, Keats..." Hero Gold-Hair said. "Where in
the hells did that carriage come from anyway?"
"Th-That's..." Aryun said. "A-Ahem! What I mean is, never mind the
details! Now, get in that Compact High-Speed Carriage and chase after
those centaurs!"
"R-Right, got it!" Hero Gold-Hair said, entering the smaller carriage.
"The Compact High-Speed Carriage is a part of myself optimized for
mobility," Aryun explained. "At the foot of the driver's seat you will find an
acceleration pedal. Step on that to speed up. You can use the reins to steer it
left and right!"
"I-I see," Hero Gold-Hair said. "I think I get the gist of it anyway." As
Aryun explained the controls, he settled into the driver's seat, took the reins
tight in both hands, and pressed down on the acceleration pedal. The
compact carriage took off, quickly passing Aryun Keat's main body, hot on
the hooves of the centaurs.
This is pretty fast all right! Hero Gold-Hair thought, pressing the
accelerator pedal down still farther. The carriage sped up, and soon he could
see the centaurs from earlier ahead on the road.
Just then, Hero Gold-Hair felt a sudden sense of unease. "By the way,
Keats..." he ventured. "How do you stop this Compact High-Speed Carriage
of yours anyway?"
"By crashing it into something!" came Aryun Keats's response.
"Excuse me?" Hero Gold-Hair blinked in confusion. "Keats, I'm not
sure I heard you right. How do you stop this thing?"
"Just as I told you!" Aryun said, her telepathic voice sounding oddly
smug. "I designed the Compact High-Speed Carriage for speed and nothing
else. Consequently, I did not include any extraneous parts that might hinder
its acceleration. A breaking mechanism would only get in the way of moving
as fast as possible, so I left it out! Those fools at the academy would never
understand its brilliance!"
"You imbecile!" Hero Gold-Hair bellowed. "Stick with the academy on
this one!" Despite his protests, however, he had already picked up a
considerable amount of speed. Soon, he was out of sight of Aryun Keats's
main body.
The rest of the party watched as Hero Gold-Hair vanished into the
distance. "A-Aryun..." Valentine said, nervous sweat forming on her brow.
"Is Hero Gold-Hair going to be all right?"
"He'll be just fine!" Aryun replied, voice full of confidence. "No matter
what should befall my Compact High-Speed Carriage, once I retrieve it, it
will be completely restored within two hours!"
"I honestly don't care in the slightest what happens to this Compact
High-Speed Carriage of yours," Valentine said, looking up at the ceiling to
speak to the carriage djinn. "What I want to know is, what happens to the
human inside the carriage when they crash it somewhere to stop the thing?"
"Ah..." said Aryun. After a curiously long pause, she continued. "Ha ha
ha... How silly of me! It seems I neglected to consider the person inside the
carriage!"
"What?!" Tsuya, Valentine, and Riliangiu all sprung to their feet at
Aryun's lackadaisical response.
"H-Hero Gooold-Haaair!" Tsuya shouted, leaning out the window.
By then, however, Hero Gold-Hair was long out of sight.
◇ ◇ ◇
"M...ister..."
Hero Gold-Hair could hear a voice coming from somewhere that
sounded far, far away as he slowly regained consciousness. His head still
felt hazy and confused, and his body was refusing to move no matter how
hard he tried, but after some time he could make out the voice clearly.
"Mister?" said the voice. "Mister, are you all right?"
"M...mngh..." Hero Gold-Hair grunted in response, slowly opening his
eyes.
"Oh!" The voice's owner—a young girl—had placed the fallen Hero
Gold-Hair's head on her lap to recover. She had been holding his hand
tightly as she cried out desperately to him again and again. "Thank
goodness! You're finally awake!"
"Gh... H-How did I end up like this...?" Hero Gold-Hair tried to pull
himself to his feet, only to collapse once again as intense pain shot through
his entire body. "Ngh?!"
"P-Please, you mustn't force yourself!" the girl exclaimed, pressing his
head back down into her lap. "You charged the centaurs who had been
pursuing me, and then you ended up falling down the cliff..."
As Hero Gold-Hair lay back down on the girl's lap, his memories started
to gradually return. He remembered getting in Aryun Keats's Compact
High-Speed Carriage and chasing after the girl on horseback. He had
charged into the centaurs from behind as they pelted the girl with arrows,
crying, "if I'm going down, I'm taking you out with me!" He had sent the
centaurs flying, but without any means to stop the carriage, he careened on
ahead, overtaking the girl on horseback and plummeting off a cliff.
"If you hadn't risked your own life to drive off those centaurs," the girl
said, "they would have taken me back to Castle Castolia, where I am to be
forced into an unwanted marriage." She bowed deeply. "I am Culbiez, first
princess of Castoli— Aah?!" Just as she began introducing herself,
however, First Princess Culbiez let out a scream. Suddenly, she was hoisted
into the air, expelling Hero Gold-Hair from her lap and headfirst into a
nearby boulder.
First Princess Culbiez was being carried into the sky in the arms of a
group of hawkmen. "Come in," the leader of the hawkmen said, speaking to
some unseen person using telepathic communication. "First Princess
Culbiez managed to give the centaur team the slip, but we were able to
recover her without incident. Hawkman brigade, returning to base."
"Mister!!!" First Princess Culbiez cried, nearly wailing as she reached
out desperately for Hero Gold-Hair with her free arm. Her hand, however,
found nothing but empty air, and soon both the princess and the hawkmen
disappeared from sight.
"N-Ngh..." Hero Gold-Hair groaned, desperately willing his body to
move in spite of the pain. As he struggled to pull himself to his feet,
however, he found himself surrounded by a group of four slimes, slowly
closing in.
"Bloop... Is this the lowlife who tried to help First Princess Culbiez get
away?"
"Blirp... If he's interfering with our master's plans, I guess we'll have to
kill him!"
"Blap... Prepare yourself, human!"
"Blump... We four slimes will wipe you out in a second!"
Confound it all! Hero Gold-Hair thought, grumbling in irritation as the
slimes drew closer, cutting off his escape. Ordinarily, a bunch of slimes
would be no trouble at all... If only it weren't for these injuries!
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, in Castle Castolia, preparations for the wedding ceremony
were well underway. A throng of townsfolk stood outside, whispering to
each other as they looked up at the ostentatious ornamentation decorating
the castle for the occasion.
"So it's a marriage between First Princess Culbiez, daughter of the late
King Castolia, and Lord D'arkness, a noble who was selected to be the
former king's right-hand aide..."
"Didn't Lord D'arkness start out as just another low-ranking noble?"
"That's right...and they say his influence in the court grew suddenly
right as King Castolia passed away..."
"All the rumors say he gained his position using some kind of suspicious
money..."
"So he became the most powerful person in the kingdom thanks to the
power of ill-gotten funds?"
"Poor First Princess Culbiez...She's meant to take the throne after what
happened to her father, but she's only just reached the age of adulthood,
hasn't she?"
"Lord D'arkness only seems to care about money...and there's
something off about those people he surrounds himself with..."
"You mean that pompous man who's always smoking a cigar and those
two women in cheongsams and gaudy makeup?"
"They say all these cases of counterfeit coins started around the same
time the three of them started showing up at Lord D'arkness's manor..."
"Shhh! Watch what you say! You never know when Lord D'arkness's
guards are listening..."
A carriage came down the road leading to Castle Castolia, past the
gossiping crowd. It came to a stop, and who should exit but the vampire
Zarmas. "So thiz iz to be the zite of my next zecurity job..." she said as she
dismounted from the carriage.
Zarmas was the aide of Yorminyt, current headmaster of the Houghtow
College of Magic and former member of the Dark Army's Infernal Four.
Most recently she had been charged with establishing and running a
security company as a place for students to find employment after
graduation—Nyt Security Incorporated.
Work iz work, but I cannot help feeling a little unmotivated when it
comez to thiz particular caze... Zarmas thought as she gazed up at Castle
Castolia. She dutifully struck the whip she was carrying against the ground
with a loud snap, however, signaling for the members of Nyt Security
Incorporated to assemble behind her. They saluted smartly.
"All members accounted for, Madame Zarmas!" one of the security
detail members reported.
"Excellent," Zarmas said. "You are to head at once to your assigned
dormitoriez, where you will depozit your luggage, do what preperationz
you need, and ztand by ready to patrol. I will go report our arrival and zee
what I can learn about the detailz of our zecurity mizzion."
"Yes, ma'am!" The company gave a spirited response and moved out,
wasting no time in finding their rooms. Zarmas watched as they left and
made her way into the castle, her high heels clacking on the pavement as
she walked.
◇Castle Castolia—Detached Room◇
Overlooking the Castle Castolia stood a tower, isolated from the rest of
the building and impossible to reach without passing over a drawbridge.
Lord D'arkness stood in a room at the very top of the tower, First Princess
Culbiez sleeping soundly on the bed before him. She showed no sign of
stirring anytime soon—it seemed she had been put into an enchanted
slumber using some sort of sleep magic.
"My, but things have come along quite nicely, haven't they?" Lord
D'arkness said, leering lasciviously at the sleeping maiden. "And to think,
we owe it all to my silver tongue and the power of the wizard gold!"
"Hah! Don't delude yourself!" A heavyset man strolled into the room,
waving a cigar as he spoke, flanked by two women wearing matching gold
and silver cheongsams.
"That's right!" the women in the gold cheongsam yipped. "You would
never have been able to become king of Castolia without the help of the
Shadow King and the demon fox sisters!"
"You couldn't have made all that wizard gold without us!" the woman in
the silver cheongsam agreed. "And how would you have gained so much
influence in such a short period of time if we hadn't been there?"
The Shadow King and the demon fox sisters seemed quite confident—
the three of them all wore nearly identical haughty grins.
"I understand perfectly well, I assure you!" Lord D'arkness said, turning
an unsettling smile on the three newcomers. "Why, if it wasn't for your
assistance, I could have never obtained so much influence in this land in
such a short period of time! And to think that I, who once wielded power as
a member of the Dark Army, will sit on the throne of a kingdom—to rule as
a human! Truly, I never could have imagined such a thing!" He turned back
to look at First Princess Culbiez, laughing under his breath, when he
received a telepathic communication.
"Lord D'arkness." It was Djorno, Lord D'arkness's trusted minion, who
was currently at work in the castle.
"Yes? What is it?"
"Nyt Security Incorporated, the security firm we hired, has arrived.
Their leader wishes to arrange a meeting with you, Lord D'arkness."
"Very well, tell them I am on my way!" Lord D'arkness said. Before he
left, though, he brought his face up close to First Princess Culbiez's,
grinning lewdly as he examined her up close. How sad, to think this poor
girl is going to have an unforeseen accident right after I ascend the throne...
he thought. I must make sure to enjoy her thoroughly before then! There
really is nothing quite so stimulating as drinking the lifeblood of a virgin...
Leering as unsettlingly as ever, Lord D'arkness left the room through its
only exit, followed by the Shadow King and the demon fox sisters. The
drawbridge was raised, and once again the tower was isolated from the rest
of the castle. Inside, First Princess Culbiez slept on...
◇ ◇ ◇
Hero Gold-Hair heaved ragged breaths as he clutched his legendary
Drilldozer Shovel, legendary item tightly. Before him was a field of freshly
dug pitfall traps. The slimes who had been menacing him had fallen to their
ignominious defeat.
Moments ago Hero Gold-Hair had been struggling to move his bodies
thanks to his injuries from the fall as the slimes closed in. "Blirp... Now, say
your prayers!" said one, and all four leaped at him at once. That very
moment, however, Hero Gold-Hair managed to produce his trusty shovel
from his Bottomless Bag.
"Nrh!" With a grunt of effort, Hero Gold-Hair began furiously digging
hole after hole in every direction all around him. In just a split second, the
slimes found themselves hurdling straight towards the traps, unable to
dodge in midair. They cried out as they plummeted to their doom.
"Bloop... What?!"
"Blirp... How?!"
"Blap... Why?!"
"Blump... When?!"
"Take that, you idiots!" Hero Gold-Hair shouted, propping his body up
using the Drilldozer Shovel. "The word 'defeat' isn't in my vocabulary—
not as long as I have my partner in my hands!"
Just then, the rest of Hero Gold-Hair's party came running, Valentine at
their head. "Hero Gold-Hair!" she cried. Aryun Keats was in the rear, still in
her carriage form. It seemed like Valentine and the others had come rushing
out when they saw Hero Gold-Hair was safe.
"Valentine! Where were you a moment ago?" Hero Gold-Hair said,
doing his best to keep a brave face even as he struggled for breath. "Not
that I wasn't more than enough to handle small fry like that on my own,
mind you..."
Valentine ran up to Hero Gold-Hair and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"That's quite enough!" she said, her voice cracking as if she might start
crying at any moment. "You shouldn't push yourself to act tough with
injuries like that! Are you really, really all right?"
"M-Mgrf!" Hero Gold-Hair protested, his face smothered between
Valentine's voluptuous breasts. I-I was all right! he thought. B-But now I
can't breathe! I'm going to suffocate at this rate! He waved his arms
desperately as he struggled for breath, but Valentine, who hadn't noticed his
predicament at all, only hugged him tighter.
◇ ◇ ◇
In the end, it was Tsuya who noticed that Hero Gold-Hair couldn't
breathe, narrowly saving him from the brink of death.
"H-Hero Gold-Hair, I'm so terribly sorry!" Valentine said as the man
coughed violently, clutching at his chest. "I was so worried about you I
must have forgotten myself!"
"N-Never mind that!" Hero Gold-Hair said, walking up to Aryun Keats.
"We have to hurry!"
"Hurry?" asked Valentine, chasing after him. "But where to?"
"Good question..." Hero Gold-Hair said, mulling it over. "For now, let's
start with Castle Castolia!"
◇ ◇ ◇
Beneath its festive decorations, Castle Castolia was in a state of high
alert, the regular castle guard supplemented by mercenary security forces
from lands near and far.
Zarmas from Nyt Security Incorporated led her team on patrol around
the perimeter of the castle gate at a fast clip, the other members following
behind in double file. Wearing a formal maid's outfit, she walked with
military stiffness at the group's head.
Ztill... Zarmas thought to herself. Thiz really iz an abnormal level of
zecurity. And that Lord D'arknezz might have hidden hiz face and
concealed hiz prezence, but that waz unmistakably the aura of a demon...
Zarmas had met Lord D'arkness in one of the parlors when she first arrived
in the castle, but he had insisted on wearing a mask the entire time, never
once letting Zarmas see even a peek of his face.
As they marched along, Zarmas glanced up at the castle. Then she
noticed something coming from the sky—an unidentified silhouette. "Full
halt!" she ordered, raising her hand to indicate for the team to stop. She
looked up, straining her eyes to follow the silhouette as it flew towards the
detached tower separated from the rest of the building by a drawbridge...
◇ ◇ ◇
"Keats!" Hero Gold-Hair bellowed, almost shrieking as the pointy
carriage-like contraption he was riding on sailed through the air towards
Castle Castolia. "Are you sure this thing is going to get us into that tower?!"
"Absolutely!" came Aryun Keat's telepathic voice. "Your trajectory and
altitude are both on course! The Detached Landing and Penetration Craft
will be impacting the tower momentarily!"
"I-Impact?!" Hero Gold-Hair asked. "What is this, a cannonball?!"
"You could call it that, in a manner of speaking..." Aryun Keats
confirmed. "Oh! But Hero Gold-Hair, never mind that!"
"N-Never mind?! This is an emergency!"
"Brace for impaaact!" Aryun sang.
"What?!"
"Now!"
Crash! Just as Aryun Keats said the word "now," the Detached Landing
and Penetration Craft collided with the tower where First Princess Culbiez
was being held prisoner, smashing its way inside.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Wh-What in the world...?" Culbiez opened her eyes and sat up in the
bed she had been laid in, finally awoken as the silence of the chamber was
broken by an earsplitting crash. She looked to see a section of the wall had
been broken through, the sharp tip of some strange object poking in from
outside.
"I am opening the exit now!" said Aryun Keats's voice. Culbiez could
only watch on in astonishment as the thing opened up like a hatch,
revealing none other than Hero Gold-Hair.
"I swear..." Hero Gold-Hair muttered, wincing in pain and shaking his
head as he extricated himself from the seat. "If it wasn't for this Safety Belt
thingamajig, that landing could have gotten ugly fast..."
"M-Mister..." First Princess Culbiez said, timidly approaching Hero
Gold-Hair. "You are the kindly man who rescued me on the road earlier, are
you not?"
"That's right," said Hero Gold-Hair, smiling when he saw Culbiez
unharmed. "I may not know the first thing about you, but I wouldn't have
been able to sleep at night if I let someone get snatched away right under
my nose!"
"Th-Then...you came here to save me?" For a moment, Culbiez looked
stunned by Hero Gold-Hair's words. Then she stepped forward, offering her
rescuer her hand.
They were interrupted, however, by Zarmas. Zarmas had seen Aryun
Keats's Detached Landing and Penetration Craft flying into the tower and
ran straight up the wall, stabbing the high heels of her shoes into the
masonry in order to scale the sheer surface. "Ztop right there!" she said,
bursting into the room. She regarded Hero Gold-Hair and Culbiez with an
icy glare, striking her black whip on the tower floor. "I've zeen you
zomewhere before, haven't I? Well, no matter. I took the mizzion to provide
zecurity for thiz wedding in the name of Lady Yorminyt. All intuderz muzt
be apprehended at once!"
Culbiez, however, darted in front of Hero Gold-Hair. She spread her
arms wide, protecting him from Zarmas.
"Your Highnezz..." Zarmas said, coolly adjusting her glasses. "What iz
the meaning of thiz?"
"I beg of you!" Culbiez pleaded, refusing to stand down. "Spare this
man! He is only here to rescue me from Lord D'arkness!"
"He iz...protecting you from Lord D'arknezz?" Zarmas asked, raising a
single eyebrow.
Suddenly, a flurry of arrows came shooting into the room from outside,
aimed for Hero Gold-Hair and Zarmas alike.
"Ngh!" Hero Gold-Hair cried.
"Zha!" exclaimed Zarmas.
The two barely managed to dodge the attack, and looked out of the
tower's window to see a large force of hawkmen, bows in hand. They must
have arrived while Zarmas and Hero Gold-Hair had been occupied with
each other.
Hero Gold-Hair scooped up Culbiez in his arms and dived under the
bed. "You! Get under here!" he shouted, turning towards Zarmas.
Zarmas, however, defiantly struck her whip against the floor.
"Prepozterouz!" she declared. "I am in charge of zecurity for thiz—"
"Quit your yapping!" Hero Gold-Hair seized Zarmas by the leg and
pulled her under the bed by force. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"H-How dare you!" Zarmas sputtered, hastily fixing her skirt, which had
been pulled up in Hero Gold-Hair's effort to drag her to safety, exposing her
undergarments for the world to see. "Thiz izn't an appropriate way to
rezcue zomeone at all!"
Hero Gold-Hair, however, dismissed Zarmas's protests with a wave of
his hand. "We need to get back in the Detached Landing and Penetration
Craft!" he barked, pointing towards the pointy object that had wedged itself
in the tower wall from outside. "As long as we can make it in there, we'll
manage one way or another."
"Fine!" Zarmas spat, clearly chagrined. "For the time being, at leazt, I
will work with you."
Hero Gold-Hair nodded. He waited for a moment when the barrage of
arrows dwindled ever so slightly. "On three!" he said. "One...two...three!"
When he said the word "three," he burst out from under the bed, followed
closely by Culbiez and Zarmas. This time, however, they were met by a
blast of magic bullets from the direction of the tower's door. Hero GoldHair had been so focused on the arrows coming from the window that he
was unable to dodge, taking a number of the projectiles straight to the chest.
"Gah!" he cried, coughing up blood as he collapsed to the floor.
"Mister!" shrieked Culbiez, running to Hero Gold-Hair's side only to be
scooped up in the arms of Lord D'arkness, who came bursting into the
room.
"This way, my darling beloved wife!" he said, effortlessly carrying her
out of the room.
"No!" Culbiez cried. "Unhand me, you fiend! Mister, help!"
Soon, however, Lord D'arkness was out of the door, his escape covered
by a group of his own personal guards who came flooding into the room
armed with magic guns. "First Princess Culbiez is safe in my arms," he
declared. "Now, see to it that these two loathsome thieves who dared
infiltrate my castle never leave this room!"
Zarmas's expression grew even colder at Lord D'arkness's words. "You
dare to treat me az a common thief?!" she scoffed, lashing out with her
whip and striking the guards' firearms out of their hands. The guards
faltered, and Zarmas wasted no time in dragging Hero Gold-Hair's prone
body into Aryun's Detached Landing and Penetration Craft. As soon as
Hero Gold-Hair was safely inside, the hatch began to close automatically.
"Entering forced recovery mode!" said Aryun Keats's voice. "Please
seat yourself quickly and attach your Safety Belt to—"
Clang! Aryun Keats was cut off as something violently impacted the
outside of the vessel.
"Wh-What iz it thiz time?!" Zarmas demanded, falling into the cockpit
still holding Hero Gold-Hair in her arms.
Outside, Lord D'arkness celebrated gleefully. "Excellent!" he said. "Just
one more should do the trick!" Three more soldiers had entered the room
beside him, carrying an enormous magic bazooka between them. The thing
took all three of them to use properly, but they scored a direct hit, leaving a
large dent on the body of the Detached Landing and Penetration Craft. A
fiendish smile flickered over Lord D'arkness's face as he watched.
"I yield!" Culbiez pleaded in Lord D'arkness's arms, looking up at him
with desperation. "You may make me your wife, or whatever else you like!
I won't run away any longer! Just please—let him live!"
Lord D'arkness, however, just leered wickedly at her request. "But of
course I won't!" he said. "You were already set to be my wife, after all! And
as for these souls who dare stand in my way, I am afraid they deserve
nothing but a miserable death!" He waved his hand, giving a signal for the
guards to fire the oversized magic bazooka once again at point-blank range
right at the vehicle's cockpit, inflicting yet another large dent. He clicked
his tongue. "The nerve of this contraption! Surely we should have blasted a
hole in it by now! Well, nothing for it but to fire another round!"
The guards readied the bazooka once more on Lord D'arkness's
command, pouring their magic into the device to power another shot when
their target began to slide out of the wall right before their eyes, making a
low rumbling sound as it detached and plummeted down to the earth below.
"Mister!" Culbiez cried, extending her arm in the direction of the falling
craft. Held fast in Lord D'arkness's arms, however, there was nothing she
could do.
◇ ◇ ◇
"I can't reach the zeat!" Zarmas cried, still carrying Hero Gold-Hair as
she struggled for all she was worth to try to secure herself in the chair. With
the vehicle in free fall, however, she was having difficulty maneuvering her
body.
"Passengers unsecured..." Aryun Keats's voice rang out inside the
landing craft. "However, due to the ongoing emergency, we will be
commencing operations regardless! Shifting to Evacuation Mode! Both of
you, find something to grab hold of and brace yourselves!"
They hardly had a second to follow Aryun's instructions before the
Detached Landing and Penetration Craft began emitting compressed magic
energy from its rear, sending the thing flying off to gods know where.
"Kh!" Zarmas did her best to cling to one of the handrails, but the force
of the acceleration sent both her and Hero Gold-Hair tumbling chaotically
around inside the cockpit as they flew away into the sky.
"Don't let them get away! Shoot them down! Quickly!" Lord D'arkness
ordered. Once again, the three mages hefted the magic bazooka and took
aim at the Detached Landing and Penetration Craft, switching their weapon
to automatic homing mode.
The bolt of energy flew in a curved line, unerringly seeking its target
until it found its mark, exploding with a loud Kaboom! and sending the
broken pieces of the Detached Landing and Penetration Craft flying every
which way.
"M-Mister...!" Culbiez shrieked as she watched helplessly from Lord
D'arkness's arms, and fainted dead away.
◇ ◇ ◇
In a forest, not far from where the Detached Landing and Penetration
Craft had exploded in midair, Valentine and the others stood on top of
Aryun Keats's carriage form, staring up at the sky. "There he is!" Valentine
exclaimed, catching sight of Zarmas and Hero Gold-Hair as they were sent
flying from the blast. "Allow me!" She quickly determined the trajectory of
Hero Gold-Hair's body and began releasing threads of darkness from her
fingertips, blanketing the area around Aryun Keats in a net. Her
calculations, it happened, were exactly correct—Hero Gold-Hair fell right
into the middle.
"Amaaazing, Lady Valentine!" Tsuya gasped in admiration. "That was
dead ceeenter!"
"Hee hee!" Valentine laughed, a smug grin coming over her face. "That
was nothing! Easy as pie!"
"We shouldn't waste time!" said Aryun Keats, accelerating quickly.
"Now that we've recovered Sir Hero Gold-Hair, we should make our escape
at once!"
As for Zarmas, well, she was quite a bit lighter than Hero Gold-Hair and
overshot Valentine's net considerably, landing somewhere in the middle of
the forest.
◇ ◇ ◇
Aryun Keats drove as fast as she could along the road until they came to
an inconspicuous shed they could hide in at the city's outskirts. Valentine
made an impromptu bed out of her threads of darkness and laid Hero GoldHair down to rest. For a while, everyone stood watch over his unconscious
body.
At long last, Hero Gold-Hair opened his eyes. "Where...are we?" he
asked, looking all around.
"Hero Gooold-Hair?!" cried Tsuya, who had been staring directly at
Hero Gold-Hair's face when he awakened. Tears welled up in her eyes.
"Everyooone! Hero Gooold-Hair is awaaake!"
"Hero Gold-Hair!"
"Sir Hero Gold-Hair!"
Everyone came rushing up at once, Valentine at their head.
"Hero Gooold-Haaaair!" Tsuya wailed, sobbing messy tears and
sniffling as she clung to Hero Gold-Hair's chest. "I'm sooo glaaad! I was
suuure you were deeead!"
Valentine and Riliangiu, for their parts, were crying their eyes out every
as much as Tsuya.
"H-Hang on!" Hero Gold-Hair pleaded. "Tsuya, wait!" His chest had
been wrapped in bandages where he had taken a direct hit from Lord
D'arkness's magic missiles—right where Tsuya was now thoughtlessly
pressing her face, sending searing pain through Hero Gold-Hair's entire
body.
"Hero Gooold-Haaair!!!" Tsuya cried.
"Stop it!" Hero Gold-Hair pleaded. "Calm down! Calm down, I'm
telling you!"
◇A Short While Later◇
"A-A-Are you okaaay, Hero Gooold-Hair?" Tsuya asked when she
finally calmed down.
"Yes, yes," Hero Gold-Hair answered with a grimace. "It's just a bit of
(excruciating) pain, no big deal."
"Umm..." Tsuya started. "Is it just meee, or did you slip some of your
reeeal thoughts in between words there?"
"Never mind that! We have bigger fish to fry!" Hero Gold-Hair said,
turning to Riliangiu. "Riliangiu, am I correct in thinking the wedding
between Culbiez and D'arkness is going to be held tomorrow?"
"I believe so," Riliangiu answered. "The invited dignitaries from
neighboring lands have been arriving in the country in a steady stream all
throughout the day. Moreover, the security Sir Hero Gold-Hair encountered
when he infiltrated Castle Castolia was much heavier than it had been in the
past. I am afraid it may be impossible to reach the room where they are
holding First Princess Culbiez under the current circumstances..." Riliangiu
produced a map of Castle Castolia she had obtained in secret and pointed
out the red Xs that had been printed all over the map, indicating where
guards had been dispatched. There truly was a great number of them.
"Hmm..." Hero Gold-Hair crossed his arms in thought. "If only they
were keeping her somewhere underground...I'd be able to use the Drilldozer
Shovel to get her out in a flash!"
"Hero Gooold-Hair?" Tsuya asked, taking a long glance at his
expression. "Do we reeeally gotta do all this juuust to save First Princess
Culbiiiez? I thought we came here to get wiiizard gold changed for
nooormal gold. If we could prooove Castooolia was the one making the
wiiizard gold, we could get a leeeg up in negotiations! I'm suuure they'd
haaate to have a big scaaandal right when so many people from ooother
countries are paying attention..."
Hero Gold-Hair nodded. "You're right, Tsuya. Our goal here is to
exchange this wizard gold for the genuine article. But...even so, I can't just
stand by and watch quietly as this girl goes off to a life of misery! What
would my fans think of Hero Gold-Hair then?!" His mind made up, he
turned to look over Riliangiu's map of Castle Castolia.
"You really are diiifficult sometimes..." Tsuya said, her cheeks flushing
pink as she watched Hero Gold-Hair pore over the map, a serious
expression on her face. "But I guuuess that's what makes Hero Gooold-Hair
Hero Gooold-Hair!"
◇ ◇ ◇
Hero Gold-Hair and company pored over the map, discussing potential
stratagems. Alas, none of them could come up with a sufficiently brilliant
idea. Just when it seemed like they might carry on strategizing to no avail
forever, however, they heard a woman's voice from the shed's window.
"Are you in trouble, perhaps?" the woman asked.
"Who's there?!" Hero Gold-Hair jerked his head in the direction of the
window as Valentine began producing her threads of darkness and Riliangiu
transformed her forearms into blades. Aryun Keats wielded a nearby bottle
in both hands, while Tsuya armed herself with a convenient frying pan.
Everyone, it seemed, was ready for a fight.
The girl, however, simply hopped in from the window and strolled up to
Hero Gold-Hair. She wore a white mask, concealing her face, and a gothic
lolita style maid outfit. "I am an information specialist in the employ of a
certain individual," she explained. "I'm afraid I cannot reveal my identity,
but I will say that my employer has given me permission to offer you
assistance." At this, the mystery maid produced a single sheet of paper and
handed it to Hero Gold-Hair.
It was an article clipped from a local Castolian newspaper. The headline
read, "Representative from Dark Army to Attend Ceremony."
"Hold on..." Hero Gold-Hair said, looking up from the article. "What—"
The woman, however, was already gone.
◇ ◇ ◇
Inside the bounds of Castle Castolia, there stood a solitary lodging
house. At that moment, the building was surrounded by guards dispatched
from the Castolian army, equipped with magic guns and other such deadly
devices. It was being watched so carefully that even an ant would find itself
hard-pressed to sneak inside.
Zarmas sat in one of the lodging house's rooms. She and the members of
Nyt Security Incorporated who had accompanied her to Castolia had found
themselves trapped here, surrounded by enemies. They were being kept
prisoner under the pretext that Zarmas had assisted Hero Gold-Hair in an
attempt to kidnap First Princess Culbiez.
"You certainly have made a nuisance of yourself, haven't you, Miss
Zarmas?" the woman in the gold cheongsam said with a cunning smirk. "Or
should I address you as Helzarmas the vampire?"
"What are the demon fox zizterz doing here?" Zarmas demanded. She
was sitting up in bed, too injured to move, but still fixing the woman—
Kintsuno the Gold, older of the two demon fox sisters—with a searching
glare. "Weren't you expelled from the Dark Army? How did you end up in a
pozition to give orderz to the Caztolian military?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Kintsuno asked, elegantly waving the fan she was
holding. "Our boss, the Shadow King, has a business partnership with Lord
D'arkness, the new king of this land."
"Then the Shadow King haz been manipulating eventz behind the
scenez?" Zarmas asked.
"Correct!" Kintsuno yipped. "Are you surprised?"
"Damn right I'm zurprized," Zarmas said, looking thoroughly
nonplussed. "After all of hiz failurez, I'm aztonished to learn that man iz
ztill alive!"
For a moment Kintsuno's face contorted with rage, but she quickly
collected herself. "Ahem! Y-Yes, yes, get your barbs in while you can. After
all, once the ceremony is over, you'll be executed along with Hero GoldHair! Now, do be a good girl and stay put until then, won't you?" And with
that she sauntered out of the room, a victorious smile on her face, casting a
spell to lock the door behind her.
◇ ◇ ◇
"That Helzarmas..." Kintsuno muttered as she locked the door behind
her. "Always looking down on us with that cool expression of hers just
because she used to be the Infernal Yorminyt's aide... But this time, there
will be no escape." A wicked smirk crossed her face as she made her way
down the hall.
"Are you finished with your talk, elder sister Kintsuno?" the woman in
the silver cheongsam—Gintsuno the Silver—asked, stepping up to her
sister.
"Yes, everything went well," Kintsuno answered. "What about your part
in the arrangements? A little bird told me that your operation in Hi Izuru
encountered some sort of trouble."
"The plan succeeded, to a point..." Gintsuno began, "I hired a man who
specialized in digging holes to dig an opening into the mountain where the
Divine Beast was sealed and it appeared right on schedule. Everyone was
running away in a panic, just as planned, but before I could go on to rob the
treasury, the Divine Beast suddenly disappeared."
"It disappeared? The Divine Beast?"
"That's right! And thanks to that, I didn't have any time for my robbery!
I was forced to beat a hasty retreat..."
"I see..." Kintsuno said as she considered her sister's report. "Well, you
couldn't have done anything about that. The Divine Beast must have grown
weak during its time sealed away. I suppose the Hi Izurans were able to
defeat it without much trouble..."
"Maybe..." Gintsuno replied. "I couldn't say what happened for sure.
But we'll soon be able to make up for this loss as well, won't we?"
"Quite right!" Kintsuno yipped, stars in her eyes as she squeezed her fist
triumphantly. "With Castolian metallurgy on our side, we'll be able to keep
using wizard gold for as long as we like! If things keep going the way they
have, we may soon have the whole of Klyrode under our control!"
"I'll do my best too, Elder Sister Kintsuno!" yipped Gintsuno, squeezing
her own fist tight in imitation of her sister. The two left the lodging house in
high spirits, grinning all the while.
◇ ◇ ◇
Zarmas heaved a heavy sigh once Kintsuno left the room. To think I
should zee zuch villainy taking place right before my eyez, only to be
trapped here with my body too hurt to move... she thought, lying back on
the bed and closing her eyes. Before long, however, she received a
telepathic message from one of her subordinates.
"Miss Zarmas."
"Alune," Zarmas replied. "Did you share our information with Hero
Gold-Hair?"
"I did," Alune reported. "I delivered it just as you instructed."
"Excellent. Proceed az we dizcuzzed."
"Yes, ma'am," Alune said, cutting off communication. Zarmas sensed
her presence vanish from where she had been hiding underneath the
floorboards.
I waz told Lord D'arknezz waz elevated to the nobility due to hiz
zubztantial contributionz to public workz, Zarmas thought to herself. But
when we looked into the matter ourzelvez, it zeemz that mozt of the money
he uzed to finance hiz conztruction projectz waz a type of counterfeit
currency known az wizard gold. Lord D'arknezz himzelf doez not zeem to
have any aptitude in forgery or in public workz, but if he haz teamed up
with the Shadow King, the zituation makez a little more zenze. That man
zpecializez in all zortz of wicked deedz, after all...
Zarmas rolled over on her side, her mind racing as she lay in bed alone.
Zooner or later, other landz are zure to zend emizzariez here to inveztigate
the wizard gold, but if Lord D'arknezz is king, they will have to be
circumzpect. After all, the people he paid with the wizard gold were moztly
fighterz who found themzelvez unemployed thankz to the peace treaty
between the Magical Kingdom and the Dark Army. Their word will not be
zufficient proof to launch an inveztigation into another kingdom'z affairz. If
that girl becomes queen, on the other hand, she will have every right to
carry out a bazic inquiry into a noble of her own country and expoze Lord
D'arknezz and the Shadow King's mizdeedz for the world to zee...
◇The Following Morning◇
It was the day of the noble Lord D'arkness's wedding to First Princess
Culbiez, eldest daughter of the departed king, and the roads leading to
Castle Castolia were packed full of carriages heading to the ceremony. Dark
One Dawkson's minion, the succubus Phufun, glanced at the packed streets
out of the corner of her eye as she traveled on foot along the side of the
road. She was wearing a luxurious dress, suitable for a dignitary from a
foreign power, and was accompanied by a score of harpy familiars.
"I can't imagine why all these people would choose to ride a carriage
when you can see this traffic jam from miles away," Phufun remarked,
pressing her false glasses up the ridge of her nose. "Humans truly are a
ridiculous species."
Of course, while Phufun and her retinue were traveling on foot, in a
manner of speaking, they were moving along much faster than a human
could run thanks to their sustained magical flight.
I can't believe I'm being sent to an insignificant kingdom like this, even
if I am here as an emissary of Master Dawkson... Phufun thought, adjusting
her glasses once again as she sped through the interminably jammed traffic.
Still, I suppose it's worth maintaining friendly relations with this land, since
they employ so many demons who lost their jobs in the Dark Army.
Before long, Phufun reached the castle gates and made her way inside.
◇ ◇ ◇
Preparations for the wedding ceremony were well underway in the grand
chapel inside Castle Castolia. A great number of guests had already arrived,
making their way through the door to the venue where Castolian guards had
set up a series of checkpoints to carefully inspect all the attendees luggage
before they were allowed in. There were even more guards stationed in and
around the chapel, performing their incessant patrols.
"And how are the preparations for my wedding coming along?" Lord
D'arkness asked as looked down on the venue from his waiting room above
the crowds, resting his chin on his hand. He regarded the room below with a
perverted smile on his face.
"Don't be impatient," the Shadow King scolded him, puffing on his
cigar as he strolled up beside Lord D'arkness. "It takes time to inspect each
and every guest's possessions for potential contraband! Now settle down
and wait for the ceremony to start. We've come this far—what could
possibly go wrong?" And of course, he thought to himself, chuckling under
his breath, the Shadow Conglomerate stands to make a pretty penny
between inspection fees and security costs!
Lord D'arkness nodded, satisfied by the Shadow King's explanation.
"Very well, very well! Then perhaps, while I wait, I shall make sure
everything is in order for our plans after the ceremony..."
"Yes, of course, our plan for First Princess Culbiez to die tragically a
few short days after her marriage to Lord D'arkness," the Shadow King
said. "To think she would find herself abducted for ransom by Hero GoldHair, the nefarious criminal wanted throughout the Magical Kingdom of
Klyrode! You'll find we have already selected a group of demons to play
the part of Hero Gold-Hair..."
"And once the villainous Hero Gold-Hair has met his final end, the
Magical Kingdom of Klyrode will owe us a debt of gratitude!" Lord
D'arkness gushed. "I tell you, I simply can't believe the Magical Kingdom
neglected to offer me even a single word of congratulations, when I invited
them to my wedding and everything. Simply terrible manners!"
"You'll simply have to content yourself with the reward money for
exterminating Hero Gold-Hair, I suppose..." the Shadow King said.
Although most of the reward is going to go to paying my fees for helping set
up the plan!
The Shadow King and Lord D'arkness shared a wicked look and tossed
their heads back, laughing loudly.
◇ ◇ ◇
Phufun arrived at the chapel and made her way down to the seats
reserved for visiting dignitaries, surrounded on all sides by a good dozen
guards who accompanied her under the pretense of security, keeping pace
with her strides as she walked down the hallway, the long skirt of her dress
trailing elegantly behind her. Lord D'arkness had requested her harpies stay
behind in the waiting room, leaving Phufun alone.
"Excuse me," Phufun said, turning to the guards with a graceful curtsy
as she made her way to a nearby restroom. "I am afraid I must make use of
the facilities." The guards, needless to say, did not follow Phufun into the
toilet. They waited outside the door for her to finish.
Phufun took a quick glance around to make sure she was alone and
stepped inside one of the individual stalls. "You can come out now," she
whispered, pressing her false glasses up the ridge of her nose. Suddenly,
something inside her skirt began to squirm about.
"You made it all the way through the security inspections? I'm
impressed..." came a quiet voice from underneath her dress as Phufun
turned on the sink faucet to disguise the sound of conversation from anyone
listening in.
"I am a succubus, you know," she said. "I merely had to charm the
guards performing my security inspection. In fact, they were happy to let
me through."
"And the way you were able to get in without anyone searching your
skirt..." Hero Gold-Hair said, emerging from Phufun's voluminous outfit.
"Well, that aside, I should thank you for your help."
"Sir Hero Gold-Hair," Aryun Keats said, following Hero Gold-Hair out
of Phufun's dress. She was wearing a miniskirt skimpy enough that anyone
looking from behind could get a clear view of her panties, but the exposure
didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. "Perhaps we could use that air
vent to make our way inside!" she suggested, looking up at the stall's
ceiling.
"Right, sounds like a plan," Hero Gold-Hair said. "I suppose this is
where we say goodbye," he added, nodding in Phufun's direction before
prying the air vent open and vanishing inside.
"It was traveling with you that finally got Master Dawkson to mend his
ways," Phufun said, pressing her false glasses up the ridge of her nose as
she watched them go. "I was merely paying back a small part of that debt."
The first time Dawkson had taken power, back when he used the name
Yuigarde, he had wrested the throne from his brother, Dark One Gholl. He
had overestimated his own power, however, and soon found himself
exhausted by the constant rebellions and desertions by the demons under his
command. He had later come to hate his position as Dark One and
eventually abandoned his throne, running away from the Dark Citadel. He
changed his name to Dawkson and began wandering the land alone, until he
met Hero Gold-Hair and began traveling with his party.
Dawkson learned many things on his journey with Hero Gold-Hair and
matured considerably both as a demon and a leader, laying the foundation
for his present reign as an enlightened despot. Dawkson felt a tremendous
sense of gratitude for Hero Gold-Hair, a sentiment fully shared by Phufun.
Phufun turned off the faucet and took her leave of the restroom. "My
apologies for the wait," she told the guards, keeping a straight face as if
nothing at all had happened. "Now, let us continue."
They walked on down the hallway, Phufun once again surrounded by
guards as she made her way to the dignitaries' seats.
◇ ◇ ◇
By now the chapel was packed full of guests, as well as reporters from
neighboring kingdoms who had arrived the previous day in order to gather
material to write articles about the royal wedding. They chatted noisily
among themselves waiting for the ceremony to start until they heard the
sound of pipe organ music filling the room. The musicians, who had been
standing by for this moment, began to play, accompanied by a chorus of
beautiful voices singing sacred hymns. It was all perfectly suited for a
solemn and majestic ceremony.
Lord D'arkness, the groom, appeared first, wearing a traditional
Castolian costume—red with black stripes, accompanied by a mask of the
same color and a cape that fluttered dramatically—as he made his way
down the aisle, stopping in front of the altar. Next came the bride, First
Princess Culbiez, wearing a white dress. The crowd let out a gasp of
admiration at the sight of her beauty, and cheers and applause soon filled
the room. Culbiez stepped up next to Lord D'arkness, her face curiously
expressionless.
A satisfied smile crossed Lord D'arkness at the sight of Culbiez being so
obedient. With my Dampen Emotions spell in effect, Culbiez is little more
than my puppet! he thought, looking her over head to toe like a hungry
animal slavering over a slab of meat.
"Right, let's get a start on this so-called wedding," the priest said.
"Excuse me...?" Lord D'arkness narrowed his eyes in suspicion. No
priest would speak like that at such a solemn event, after all. It was clear
that something was wrong. He peered at the man's face and did a double
take, his eyes shooting open wide. "Y-You! What are you doing here?!"
"Excuse you indeed!" scoffed the priest—who was, in fact, Hero GoldHair. "We're in the middle of a wedding! Stop looking so alarmed!" Hero
Gold-Hair met Lord D'arkness's gaze, a cocksure smile on his face. "Oh
well, it's not like it matters to me. I came all this way to wreck your
ceremony, after all!"
Lord D'arkness retreated behind Culbiez, using her as a shield while he
backed away from Hero Gold-Hair. "Guards!" he shouted. "Arrest this man
at once! I demand it!" At his command, the armed guards stationed all
around came bursting into the main hall. Culbiez, however, gave no
reaction to the chaos happening around her whatsoever. She simply
wandered absently, her eyes unfocused and her expression blank.
"Hm," Hero Gold-Hair grunted. "You have her under some kind of
emotional suppression spell, don't you? Well, no matter. We can figure that
part out once we get her out of here."
"Get her out?! Don't be absurd!" Lord D'arkness sneered with haughty
pride. "How do you intend to escape from this place surrounded by my
security?!" His guards ran forward to cover himself and Culbiez,
surrounding Hero Gold-Hair from all sides.
"Think you can take on Hero Gold-Hair, do you?" Hero Gold-Hair
scoffed, producing the Drilldozer Shovel from his magic bag and grabbing
the shaft tight in both hands. "You've got guts, I'll give you that!" Three
guards rushed forward to apprehend him, but before they could reach him,
each individual guard fell, plummeting into a pitfall that had appeared right
underneath their feet.
"Wha—?!"
"The hell?!"
"Argh!"
The guards cried out as they plummeted from sight. "Wh-What's going
on?!" one of the other guards demanded, looking down at the ground in
confusion. "Those holes weren't here a second ago, were they?!"
Hero Gold-Hair, meanwhile, stood untouched in front of the crowd, the
Drilldozer Shovel slung over his shoulder.
The Drilldozer Shovel was a legendary item capable of digging through
everything from topsoil to bedrock in the blink of an eye. With the skill Dig
and his flawless mastery of the Drilldozer Shovel, Hero Gold-Hair had
simply dug dozens of pitfalls at his feet faster than the naked eye could
follow. The whole thing had taken a mere tenth of a second.
"And now, it's my turn!" Hero Gold-Hair declared, switching his grip on
the Drilldozer Shovel.
"Shoot him!" bellowed the Shadow King from his seat in the second
story balcony, flinging order after order. "Use magic! Whatever long-ranged
attacks you have, use those! That man's only ability is digging holes! If you
keep your distance, there's nothing he can do!" The guards in the balcony
responded to his orders immediately, readying their bows and casting magic
spells all aimed for Hero Gold-Hair.
"Hmph! We'll see about that!" Hero Gold-Hair stood undaunted, facing
down his attackers. Before he could act, though, the staff of Nyt Security
Incorporated burst into the second floor balcony, Zarmas at their head.
"Hero Gold-Hair!" Zarmas shouted. "You are a wanted criminal in the
Magical Kingdom of Klyrode! We, Nyt Zecurity Incorporated, shall hereby
take you into cuztody!"
"Miss Zarmas, are these the bad guys?" one of her ranks asked.
"Obviouzly!" Zarmas answered. "Everyone aiming shots down on the
firzt floor muzt be an underling of Hero Gold-Hair! Arrezt them all!"
"What in the devil's name is going on?!" the Shadow King sputtered. "I
had you locked in the dungeon for the crime of colluding with Hero GoldHair."
Zarmas silenced the Shadow King with an icy glare. "I will do whatever
I muzt to apprehend zuch a dangerouz wanted criminal!" she declared
proudly.
"P-Preposterous..." muttered the Shadow King. In no time at all, the
second floor balcony had fallen under the control of Nyt Security
Incorporated.
"Looks like they've got things under control," Hero Gold-Hair said,
looking up at the scene above. "Keats! Now's the time!"
"Yes, sir!" Aryun Keats replied, blasting a hole in the rear of the chapel
with a single shot from her magitank form. "It's time to give them a show!"
Flames belched from the magitank's turret as Aryun fired shot after shot.
"And what do you think you're trying to hit exactly, you imbecile?"
Lord D'arkness scoffed. After all, Aryun's shots had missed all of his allies
and struck the back wall of the chapel. A second later, however, the chapel
wall crumbled with a clamorous sound.
"Finally!" said Valentine, charging inside the chapel from the other side
of the wall. "I'd been waiting for this!" She shot her dark threads from her
fingers, warping the guards up in a binding of silk.
"And take this!" Riliangiu declared, bolting past Valentine and diving
into the crowd of soldiers, swinging her arm blades with deadly precision.
"Ghah!"
"Urgh!"
"Ngwoh!"
The soldiers collapsed in a heap, crying out in dismay.
"They will be all right," Riliangiu said with a glance at the fallen guards
before diving into the next group of enemies. "I struck them with the flat of
my blades."
It looks like my plan went well... Hero Gold-Hair thought, nodding with
satisfaction. Have Keats blast away the chapel wall to open a path for the
others to find their way in! "Good job, Keats!" he said, turning to the
carriage djinn behind him. "Now just two or three more blasts!" When he
saw the state she was in, however, Hero Gold-Hair did a double take. Aryun
Keats was lying on the floor, no longer in her magitank form but reverted to
her default humanoid appearance.
"Hahh...ha ha ha..." she laughed meekly. "I-I can't... I've run out of
magic power..."
"O-Out of magic power?!" Hero Gold-Hair exclaimed. "Surely you have
enough for one more shot!"
"I-I overexerted myself just a little bit, I'm afraid..." Aryun Keats said.
"I put all the magic power I could into those shots, after all..." She certainly
looked the part—she was lying facedown on the floor, her body twitching.
Meanwhile, ever more guards were flooding into the room.
"S-Stooop!" Tsuya wailed, swinging a pair of frying pans wildly at any
guards who drew close. "Stay baaack!" Between her weak-kneed posture
and her tear-filled eyes, however, none of her adversaries seemed especially
intimidated.
"Hang on..." one of them said. "This one's a weakling, isn't she?"
"You're right!" another replied. "Should be easy enough to arrest her,
then..."
Looking distinctly relieved, the guards moved to surround Tsuya and
Aryun Keats.
Suddenly, the woman in the blank white mask and the gothic lolita maid
outfit appeared right beside Tsuya. "What a handful this has turned out to
be..." she said. "For certain reasons I am afraid I cannot reveal my name,
but I am here to assist you on my master's orders." Then, without further
ado, she launched a series of devastating kicks at the incoming guards.
"Oof!"
"Geh!"
"Fwah!"
The guards, who had let their guard down when they realized that Tsuya
was no fighter, fell one by one to the mystery woman's legs. Soon, the
smaller force had proved victorious and the entire chapel was under the
control of Hero Gold-Hair and Nyt Security Incorporated.
Lord D'arkness glanced every which way, a look of panic on his face.
"H-How could this be happening?!"
"There!" Zarmas said, vaulting down to the ground floor of the chapel.
"Our target, Hero Gold-Hair! I will ztop at nothing to catch you, no matter
what ztands in my way!" She pointed dramatically towards Hero Gold-Hair
—only, the way she was positioned, Lord D'arkness happened to be
standing directly between herself and the golden-haired man. She darted
forward in a straight line, followed unerringly by the rest of the Nyt
Security Incorporated team.
The four slimes from earlier appeared in front of Zarmas to block her
from trampling Lord D'arkness.
"Bloop... Lord D'arkness! Leave this to us!"
"Blirp... We were too late earlier, but this time will be different!"
"Blap... Now, prepare yourself for—" But that was as far as they got.
"Out of the way!" Zarmas shouted, sending all four slimes flying with a
single kick of her heels.
Lord D'arkness was between a rock and a hard place. The Nyt Security
Incorporated team was coming from in front, while Hero Gold-Hair was
waiting behind. And all around him, Valentine and Riliangiu were wreaking
havoc. "Guaaards!!!" he wailed. "Aim for Hero Gold-Hair! He's the
weakest, isn't he?!" The remaining guards in the area all turned to rush
Hero Gold-Hair as one.
"Damned nuisances!" Hero Gold-Hair cursed, wielding the Drilldozer
Shovel as fast as he could to dig hole after hole. The guards fell into the
pitfalls one after another, but there were too many of them, and Hero GoldHair's holes were starting to fill up. The effort of digging at such a fast clip
in the middle of a close-range melee was starting to wear him out. "Ngh...
This isn't looking good..." he muttered to himself as he blocked a guard's
incoming sword with the hilt of his shovel.
"Ah ha ha ha ha!" Lord D'arkness laughed as the guards began to
overwhelm Hero Gold-Hair. "Wonderful! Splendid! No reason to take him
alive, you hear? Smash him to a pulp!" Suddenly, however, he was
interrupted by a loud craaash! as an oversized carriage charged into the
guards' ranks.
"Hero Gold-Hair!" Aryun's voice came from the carriage as she came to
a screeching halt right beside him. "Sorry to keep you waiting! Aryun Keats
is back in action!"
"Good to see you, Keats! I was getting worried!" Hero Gold-Hair said,
as Aryun Keats transformed back into her humanoid form. When he saw
what she was holding, however, Hero Gold-Hair's eyes went round. "WWait... Where did you get that?" he asked, dumbfounded by the sight of
Aryun Keats holding a grilled skewer in both hands.
"Ah ha ha!" Aryun laughed. "My depleted magic power is restored,
thanks to a quick trip to the buffet they had set aside for the wedding
party!" she declared, returning to stuffing her cheeks.
Looking closer, Hero Gold-Hair noticed that Valentine, who was
standing in the middle of the chapel and taking on all comers, was also
devouring mouthful upon mouthful of food as she fought. "Usually she
can't do much of anything because of that appetite of hers..." Hero GoldHair muttered to himself, before clearing his throat and turning back to face
Lord D'arkness. "Well, there you have it. Let's try this one more time!"
"Tch!" Lord D'arkness spat. "I-I suppose my best bet here is to take
Culbiez and...run?" He reached out to grab Culbiez's hand, but Culbiez was
no longer beside him, where she had been only moments earlier. Then his
eyes settled on Tsuya, who had been quietly leading Culbiez away by the
hand. "You! What do you think you're doing?!"
"Waaah!" Tsuya cried, jumping up in shock. "H-He noooticed me!" She
ran off, pulling Culbiez along as she made her escape.
"Wretched woman!" Lord D'arkness spat, bearing down on Tsuya with
an expression of fury on his face. "Planning on using a hostage to escape,
are you?"
"Awaaah?!" Tsuya sped up, dragging Culbiez behind her in a mad dash.
Tsuya ran and Lord D'arkness pursued...and soon, Tsuya, who didn't
have much stamina to speak of in the first place, was nearly out of breath.
"I-I can't go ooon..." she wailed, teetering on wobbly legs and collapsing on
the spot.
"Bwa ha ha!" Lord D'arkness laughed, coming up from behind with
triumph in his eyes. "Prepare to meet your doom!" He swung his sword,
only to be intercepted by Riliangiu, who charged in from the side and used
her arm blades to knock the sword out of Lord D'arkness's hands.
"Good job, Riliangiu!" Hero Gold-Hair hurried to Riliangiu and Tsuya's
side, swinging the Drilldozer Shovel with all his might, scoring a clean hit
to Lord D'arkness's face with a resounding claaaang!
"Agah... Agagahhh..." Lord D'arkness stammered, falling to his knees
and then collapsing face-first to the floor, his butt sticking up in the air in a
very undignified pose.
Hero Gold-Hair gave Lord D'arkness's butt a solid poke, but the man
gave no response whatsoever. He seemed to be out cold. "Well, that settles
that, I suppose," he said with a satisfied nod.
Suddenly, Culbiez looked right at Hero Gold-Hair. "M-Mister?!" she
exclaimed. The light seemed to have returned to her eyes. Perhaps being
dragged along by Tsuya had snapped her out of Lord D'arkness's spell.
"That's right," Hero Gold-Hair said with his most charming smile.
"You're safe now." Culbiez ran forward and hugged him tight, pressing
herself up against his chest and crying her eyes out as Valentine, Riliangiu,
and Aryun Keats kept the guards around them at bay.
Snap! The sound of Zarmas's whip striking the floor made everyone in
the chapel go still. "Thiz man, Lord D'arknezz, iz under arrezt az the leader
of a counterfeit currency ring!" she declared, glancing around at the
assembled crowd. "Anyone who interferez will be arrezted az well!"
The guards somehow went even stiller. "H-Hang on..." one of them said.
"Leader of a counterfeit currency ring? Is that true?"
"You know...there are all those rumors about Lord D'arkness..." said
another.
"And that Shadow King guy he's been working with seems like some
serious bad news..." agreed a third. Zarmas's words seemed to have
seriously compromised the guards' morale.
The Shadow King and the demon fox sisters watched the proceedings
from their second floor balcony seat.
"Well..." the Shadow King muttered. "It seems like we rode this train as
far as it'll go. I suppose we'd better make our exit."
"R-Right away!" yipped Kintsuno.
"We have a getaway carriage waiting in the back!" Gintsuno
volunteered. And with Gintsuno leading the way, the three beat a hasty
retreat.
"Just you watch!" the Shadow King declared with one last spiteful look
at the scene in the chapel before vanishing down the corridor. "The day will
come that this world will be under my control!"
The Shadow King and his companions left the Kingdom of Castolia
shortly thereafter, never to return.
◇ ◇ ◇
Zarmas's declaration seemed to have completely destroyed the Castolian
guards' willingness to fight. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Zarmas
directed Nyt Security Incorporated to apprehend Lord D'arkness and the
rest of his staff, rounding up and arresting the lot of them.
Phufun stood alongside Zarmas, still in the elegant dress she had worn to
the wedding. "We, the Dark Army, will take custody of Lord D'arkness
himself," she offered.
The harpy familiars who had accompanied her hoisted Lord D'arkness
at Phufun's instructions, carrying him out of the chapel. Lord D'arkness had
disguised himself as a human, forged counterfeit currency, and attempted to
marry First Princess Culbiez all in a bid to gain control of the Kingdom of
Castolia. As his true form had turned out to be demonic in nature, however,
the assembled parties agreed that it would be best for Phufun to take him to
the Dark One Dawkson for judgment.
Culbiez watched as the harpies carried Lord D'arkness away. "Mister?"
she asked, turning to Hero Gold-Hair. "Is Lord D'arkness gone for good?"
"I'd say so," Hero Gold-Hair said, patting the princess on the head.
"You're free to do what you like now!" he declared, laughing loudly.
"F-Free..." Culbiez repeated.
"That's right," Hero Gold-Hair said. "Your struggle is over."
Culbiez seemed momentarily stunned at Hero Gold-Hair's words. Then
the weight of everything that had happened hit her all at once and she
collapsed to her knees, covering her face with both hands and weeping
messy tears.
Hero Gold-Hair draped his own cape over Culbiez's shoulders and
gently patted her back. "Good. Go ahead and cry your eyes out whenever
you feel like crying. You can always get back on your feet when you run out
of tears."
Culbiez stayed by Hero Gold-Hair's side for quite some time, and cried
and cried and cried.
◇ ◇ ◇
A few days later, a company of knights from the Magical Kingdom of
Klyrode arrived in Castolia. They had been sent to determine the truth or
falsehood of the claim that the Kingdom of Castolia had been responsible
for producing the so-called wizard gold. In their investigations, the knights
discovered the wizard gold factory within Castolia's borders and began to
look into the individuals involved with the operation.
They learned that it was Lord D'arkness who was behind the counterfeit
currency with help from the Shadow King and his cronies. The Shadow
King's own organization had been in charge of operating the factory,
however, and with them gone, there was nobody left to punish for the crime
of forgery. As for Lord D'arkness, the one behind the whole scheme, he had
already been sent before the Dark One Dawkson and sentenced to a
thousand years of hard labor in the underground workshop beneath the Dark
Citadel—work for which he would not earn even a single coin.
The Shadow King, meanwhile, had the manufacturing of counterfeit
currency and conspiring to take over the Kingdom of Castolia added to his
already impressive list of crimes. As he had once been king, however, the
Magical Kingdom of Klyrode refrained from sending wanted posters to all
corners of the land like they had with Hero Gold-Hair, instead electing to
treat him as a special case.
◇ ◇ ◇
First Princess Culbiez stood in her private chambers in Castle Castolia,
looking out the window with her hands folded in front of her chest, gazing
at the road as it stretched off towards the horizon.
"Are you looking for that man?" Zarmas asked, stepping up beside the
princess. Zarmas had promised Culbiez that she would remain in Castolia
until the land recovered from the chaos that had followed in the wake of
Lord D'arkness's arrest to provide her with security.
Culbiez silently nodded in response.
"That man iz a criminal az well," Zarmas said. "Zay but the word and I
will go at once to—"
"No," Culbiez said, shaking her head emphatically. "There is no need.
Before that gentleman visits us again, I must rebuild this land into a
kingdom I can be proud to call my own. Until then, I am in no hurry for us
to meet again."
Culbiez gave the road one last look before turning from the window and
exiting the room. Her cheeks were flushed pink, a single tear rolling down
her cheek. Nevertheless, the expression on her face was one of solid
resolution.
◇ ◇ ◇
Aryun Keats rolled along the road near the border of Castolia in her
carriage form, Hero Gold-Hair and company sitting comfortably inside.
"Hero Gooold-Hair, are we reeeally going to leeeave without saying
goodbye?" Tsuya asked, cocking her head inquisitively.
"We managed to exchange that wizard gold for real proper coins, didn't
we?" Hero Gold-Hair said, folding his arms. "There's no reason for us to
stay in that kingdom."
"I seeee..." Tsuya said, sidling up close to him. "Well, if it's okay with
yooou, it's okay with meee. Good jooob, Hero Gooold-Hair!"
"You too, Tsuya," Hero Gold-Hair said with a smile, "And you as well,
Valentine, Riliangiu, Keats. All of you did great," he added, nodding to the
rest of the group.
"Speaking of which..." Riliangiu said. "I'm glad we were able to
exchange the wizard gold for real coins, but was it really wise to handle it
in the manner you did? Just taking the money from a carriage you found
parked outside the castle..."
"Of course it was," Hero Gold-Hair answered. "Don't worry about it."
"E-Even if you say we shouldn't worry, I can't help but think—"
"We exchanged the wizard gold for an equivalent amount of coins, right
and proper," Hero Gold-Hair said, cutting Riliangiu off. "There's no
problem at all."
"B-But..." Riliangiu protested, twisting her neck. "The wizard gold..."
"Now, now!" Valentine laughed, cheerfully smacking Riliangiu on the
back. "Hero Gold-Hair says it's all right, so don't let it get to you!"
"That's enough about that, if you ask me," Hero Gold-Hair said, turning
to look out the window. "Now, where to next?" Hang on a moment... he
thought to himself. Why do I feel like we're forgetting something?
◇ ◇ ◇
"Wuha!" The tavernkeeper's voice echoed through the kitchen in the
back of the establishment. "More plates for you to clean!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am! Right away!" Wuha said, accepting the dirty plates with
a note of desperation in her voice. While the others were off looking into
the wizard gold, Wuha Gappoli had been left behind in the tavern at the
beginning of the adventure.
Hero Gold-Hair, please come back soon! Wuha thought, tears in her
eyes as she got to work cleaning the flatware.
"These plates too, Wuha dear, if you please!" the tavernkeeper said,
bringing in a fresh load.
"Yes, ma'am!" Wuha cried out, stifling a sob. "M-My pleasure!!!"
Aryun Keats, meanwhile, was carrying the rest of the party far away,
leaving for lands abroad.
◇ ◇ ◇
In another tavern, somewhere in the realm, the Shadow King was just
finishing his dinner. He reached for his coin purse to pay for the meal, but
the moment took a look inside, he recoiled in shock. "I-It can't be..." he
said, cold sweat running down his brow.
"Wh-What's wrong, Shadow King?" Kintsuno the Gold asked, noticing
that something was amiss. Gintsuno the Silver watched on, frowning
quizzically.
The Shadow King's shoulders were shaking with fear. Why...? he
thought. How did our money all turn into wizard gold?!
Indeed—the coins in the Shadow King's purse were entirely counterfeit!
I was certain that the money we brought out of Castolia was real gold!
the Shadow King thought, his mind racing. But this is wizard gold, I'm sure
of it! And now that our scheme's been found out, using this money is going
to be exceptionally dangerous...
"Sh-Shadow King..." Kintsuno said. "These coins..."
"Are those...wizard gold?" Gintsuno asked.
The sisters stared wide-eyed at the coins in the Shadow King's hand.
The Shadow King and his associates had hidden a supply of coins in a
carriage outside Castle Castolia in case they had to flee the kingdom in a
hurry. What they didn't count on, though, was Hero Gold-Hair, who found
their stash and exchanged it for the wizard gold he had been carrying. The
Shadow King, however, was perfectly clueless as to what could have
possibly happened. All he could do was sit there, shaking in impotent fear.