◇Deep in a Forest◇
A great two-headed winged beast descended from the sky, its two heads
each letting out a long breath as their body became engulfed in light. The
creature grew smaller and smaller until it took the form of a human man,
slender and short of stature. This was the doppeladler Hugi-Mugi, a former
member of the Infernal Four. After leaving the Dark Army they had taken
up residence deep in a forest, where they now lived a peaceful life with
their children and three wives.
A woman ran up to the man, carrying a hoe over her shoulder. "Hugi!"
she said. "Is something the matter? You'll give me a heart attack if you keep
flying up into the sky with no warning like that!" This was Cartha, a girl
from a farming family who resided in the nearby village. She had fallen in
love with Hugi-Mugi's human form at first sight, and after trying time and
time again she finally succeeded in earning the coveted position of wife.
Now she lived in Hugi-Mugi's hut in the forest, along with their two other
wives.
"It was nothing, Cartha, yes!" Hugi-Mugi answered. "Yes, nothing to
worry about. Only some poor unfortunates, yes! Yes, very poor..." Even in
their human form, with only the single head, Hugi-Mugi always spoke with
two distinct voices.
"Poor unfortunates?" Cartha asked.
"Yes, yes! Some magic beasts tried to make a nest in the new Enchanted
Frigate station, yes! Yes, we were informing them of their mistake..."
"Oh no!" Cartha gasped, her brow furrowing with worry. "How terrible!
Will our children still be able to go to school, do you suppose?"
"Well, it was a little frightening for them, yes," Hugi-Mugi said. "Yes,
but we are certain those magic beasts won't do anything like it again!" they
added, smiling cheerfully.
"I suppose not..." Cartha said, a worried look on her face as she wrapped
her arms around one of Hugi-Mugi's. "You're so frightfully strong, Hugi.
I'm sure the children will be safe with you around...but I really wish you
wouldn't push yourself too hard! Even if you're certain everything will be
okay, I can't help but worry..."
Hugi-Mugi laughed merrily. "There's no need to worry, yes! Yes, no
need at all! We are frightfully strong after all, yes!"
Cartha, however, still looked distressed. She hung her head low, clinging
to Hugi-Mugi's arm.
"W-Well, yes..." Hugi-Mugi conceded, wrapping their arms around
Cartha and pulling her head in close. "Yes, well... We suppose we can at
least be careful, yes. Yes, but there really is no need to worry so much!"
"Mm..." Cartha mumbled, finally seeming to relax in Hugi-Mugi's arms.
"I know..." she said, a smile returning to her face. "Um..." A blush crept
into her cheeks as she looked up at Hugi-Mugi with pleading eyes. "ThThere's still some time before the children return from the Houghtow
College of Magic, you know..."
"Hm, yes?" Hugi-Mugi replied. "Y-Yes, wh-what about it?"
"Oh, would you stop playing dumb?" Cartha said, sulking ever so
slightly. "Don't make me spell it out for you!"
Just then, they heard a pair of women's voices shouting from the woods
around the hut. "Aha!" they cried, bursting out of the trees and running
towards Hugi-Mugi and Cartha. One—Shino—was wearing a priestess's
habit as she ran along the path through the forest. The other—Mato—came
from the animal path leading up to the nearby mountain peak and carried a
large basket on her back.
Shino came from the same village as Cartha, where she served as a
priestess at the local temple. Like Cartha, she had also fallen in love with
Hugi-Mugi the moment she laid eyes on them. Now she lived with the
doppeladler as one of their wives. She spent her days tending to the
village's sick and injured.
Mato, meanwhile, was a traveling merchant who Hugi-Mugi had
rescued when she came under attack by bandits in the forest. She made the
decision to live with Hugi-Mugi to pay back her debt of gratitude, but in
that time she too fell in love and became the third of their wives.
"Cartha!" Shino cried, fury in her eyes as she came stomping up to her
co-wife. "Were you trying to do you know what with Hugi while I was away
in the village?! How dare you!"
"How dare you indeed!" Mato agreed. "Didn't the three of us all make a
solemn promise not to try and cut in line?!"
"O-Oh!" Cartha said. "I-It's just, you know...I was so relieved just now
that I suppose I forgot myself! Aha...aha ha ha..."
"Don't you 'aha ha ha' me!" shouted Shino.
"This isn't something you laugh about!" said Mato. "Really, how
despicable..."
Hugi-Mugi looked around as their three wives all began to argue,
innocently tilting their head. "You all want to spend time with me, yes?"
they said. "Yes, then why don't we all spend time together?"
All three of the women's faces blushed bright red, their eyes opening
wide.
"Huh?" said Cartha.
"Eh?" said Shino.
"Oh?" said Mato.
"O-Oh..." Cartha said. "B-But...the children will be here soon..."
"We do still have some time before they show up, don't we?" said
Shino.
"W-Well..." said Mato. "I suppose so, when you put it that way..."
The three all drew close to Hugi-Mugi, fidgeting nervously as they led
their wives inside...
When the group went to pick up their children from the Enchanted
Frigate station later that day, they were being even more affectionate and
touchy than usual with their husband. Suffice it to say, the children had no
idea what to make of their behavior.
◇Dark Citadel—Throne Room◇
In the throne room on the second floor of the Dark Citadel, Dark One
Dawkson, master of that grand edifice, sat as he always did on the floor in
front of his throne. His minion Phufun stood ready to his side.
"Master..." Phufun said, pushing her false glasses up the ridge of her
nose.
"Yeah? What's up, Phufun?" answered Dawkson.
"You still refuse to sit on the throne, I take it?" Phufun ventured,
adjusting her glasses once again.
Dawkson spared a glance for the succubus and sighed. "It makes me
happy to know you think I should, but I'm not gonna," he said. "It wouldn't
feel right, y'know?"
"But..." Phufun protested.
"Really, it makes me happy to know you think I should," he repeated.
"But I've said all I wanna on the subject. Hit me with the daily reports,
okay?"
"Y-Yes, Master. As you command," Phufun said, bowing politely and
looking over the paperwork in her hands. "The Infernal Lady Belianna has
been busy improving the security of your domain," she read. "She reports
no major incidents or rumors of note in the past several days."
"I see," Dawkson said with a satisfied nod. "Glad to hear it." Phufun
nodded in agreement.
When Dawkson had reigned as the Dark One Yuigarde, if Phufun had
given him a report like that he would have bellowed something like,
"Whaddaya mean there's nothing?! Is everyone just slacking off again?!"
and been utterly unable to listen to reason. Phufun found herself deeply
grateful that he was now willing to simply take the information under
advisement.
"And? Anything else?" Dawkson asked.
"Yes, Master," said Phufun. "The Princesses Nerona, Selinaphott, and
Snow White have invited you to join them for supper this evening..."
No sooner had the words left Phufun's mouth than Dawkson slumped
his shoulders in disappointment. "Those three again?" he said, heaving a
sigh. "Are they just showin' up every day now?"
"They are..." Phufun confirmed. "And, if I may, it might be unwise to
continue to refuse invitation after invitation from representatives of such
powerful demon tribes."
"Callin' them the representatives of their tribes makes the whole thing
sound all official..." Dawkson grumbled. "But you and I both know they're
only here to make small talk and try to convince me to take one of 'em as
my bride..." He sighed again, turning to look straight at Phufun.
"Is something the matter?" Phufun asked, noticing her master's gaze and
pushing her glasses up the ridge of her nose.
"Hey Phufun," Dawkson said. "Got any plans tonight?"
"My plans?" Phufun replied. "I was thinking of spending tonight
working on my pharmaceutical research. Why do you ask?"
"It's no problem if you put that off till tomorrow, is it?"
"Not at all. It's just a project I've been working on in my spare time, as a
hobby of sorts. It's nothing particularly urgent."
"In that case," Dawkson said, "go tell the three of 'em I'm eating dinner
with you tonight."
"W-With...me?" Phufun asked.
"That's what I said" was Dawkson's curt reply. And with that he stood
up and hurried out of the throne room, leaving Phufun behind.
Phufun bowed deeply as Dawkson departed. "Well then," she said,
pushing her glasses up the ridge of her nose. "I suppose I will have to tell
the three of them that the Dark One must sadly refuse their invitation, due
to urgent plans of his own..."
Coqueshtti of the Infernal Four, the little mad scientist girl, watched
from her post in the side of the room. Oh, my! she thought, glancing at
Phufun out of the corner of her eye. Am I just imagining it, or is Lady
Phufun blushing...?
◇Houghtow City—Blossom Acres◇
"Sniff, sniff... Waaaah!!!" In one corner of Blossom Acres was a
sprawling complex home to the goblins who worked on the farm. One of
the dwellings there belonged to Hokh'hokton, who currently found himself
staring agape as the woman occupying his house wailed with lamentation,
tears streaming down her face. This was the former goddess Telbyress.
"Telbyress..." Hokh'hokton ventured. "I'm very sorry the tree you were
using to hide your stash of liquor vanished to gods-know-where when
Mister Flio brought Ura's mountain here..."
"Hic... Wah..." Telbyress cried.
"But really..." the goblin continued. "What is the need for all these
tears? If you need liquor, just work for the money and go buy it!"
"Sniffle... B-But..." Telbyress managed between sobs. "O-One of the
bottles I had stashed there was a super rare super limited Red Waomachi! I
might never get my hands on one of those ever again! Hic..."
"Ah, that truly is a shame..." Hokh'hokton conceded. "And yet...why
exactly do you find it necessary to cry on my bed? You have a bed of your
own, don't you? Wouldn't you rather sleep there?"
"Sniff... B-But...if I cried on my bed, I'd get it all wet and gross!"
Telbyress complained, loudly blowing her nose on Hokh'hokton's
bedsheets.
"What are you doing?!" Hokh'hokton demanded. "Did you just blow
your nose?! Are you blowing your nose on my sheets?!" He shook his head.
"Or rather...if you find it gross to sleep on a bed like that, did it never occur
to you that I might find it gross as well?!"
"Wah... B-But I shouldn't have to do gross things..." Telbyress cried.
"Aha! There it is! That ridiculous egotism of yours! I've had it up to
here with your attitude, you know!" Hokh'hokton stamped his foot, glaring
daggers at Telbyress as he pulled out a large wooden box from the far end
of the room.
"Hic... Hic... Wait, what?!" Telbyress exclaimed, her eyes going wide as
Hokh'hokton produced a bottle of liquor. The words "Red Waomachi" were
written on the label, plain as day.
"I tell you..." Hokh'hokton snapped. "I asked Mister Flio to retrieve
your liquor for you, you know. I'm quite cross with— Gwah!" His speech,
however, was interrupted by a suddenly rejuvenated Telbyress leaping off
the bed and squeezing him tight in her arms.
"I love you! I love you so much, Hokh'hokton!"
"Hrmph!" Hokh'hokton scoffed. "What you love is the liquor I
retrieved!"
"Well, of course I do!" Telbyress admitted. "But I love you too,
Hokh'hokton! I'll even share a bed with you if you like!"
"The hell of burning flames will freeze over before I sleep with a lousy
no-gooddess like you!" Hokh'hokton insisted.
"Don't be like that!" pleaded the no-gooddess. "Drink with me! And
share my bed until the morning!"
"You can say some romantic-sounding things, but we both know you'll
pass out as soon as your head hits the pillow, and then you'll end up
vomiting in your sleep!" Hokh'hokton shouted back. "No! Thank! You!"
"You're so mean!" Telbyress objected. "I love love love you,
Hokh'hokton!"
"Stop that! Quit it with the I love yous and take back your damned
liquor!"
The sound of Telbyress crying with joy and Hokh'hokton snapping with
rage continued well into the night.
◇Houghtow City—Fli-o'-Rys General Store◇
In the back of the Fli-o'-Rys General Store was a secondary building
that served as a workshop. Originally it had been used for storage, but since
then Flio had expanded the basement into a two-story-deep storehouse,
enabling him to repurpose the building towards increasing the shop's
production. At first Flio had taken it on himself to develop all the
merchandise for sale, but lately he had assembled a team dedicated to
creating magic items with Hiya at its head. However...
Hiya stepped into the workshop only to stop in their tracks. There was a
man in one of the rooms, in the middle of casting a spell. "Oh?" Hiya said.
"I recognize you... You were at the Houghtow College of Magic, if I'm not
mistaken..."
"Oh?" the man echoed, looking over his shoulder back at Hiya. "You
know of me? I suppose I'm flattered." He turned around to face the djinn, a
smile on his face. "Allow me to introduce myself properly," he said,
touching his right hand to his chin in an elegant pose and bowing deep. "I
am Metálzobi, teacher of projection art at the Houghtow College of Magic."
Having completed his self-introduction, Metálzobi returned to his work.
"Ah," said Hiya. "So you were the one Madame Uliminas hired to
produce our commemorative picture cards."
"Indeed," Metálzobi answered. "I heard a rumor that the Fli-o'-Rys
General Store was looking to hire staff with an aptitude for visual art, and
so I headed to interview for the position straightaway. Thankfully, I was
deemed fit to hire. Of course, I asked for a contract that would allow me to
continue to teach classes at the Houghtow College of Magic as well..."
"Yes, I heard we had hired someone from Madame Uliminas," Hiya
said. "Now, let me see..." They stepped up, taking a close look at the cards
Metálzobi had created. "Indeed, you have skills worthy of a teacher of
magic projection art. The craftsmanship is excellent. And not only that..."
They plucked up one of the cards depicting a rather serious-looking Garyl.
As they did, the picture's expression changed to a cheerful smile. "I see you
have enchanted them to change their expression, as well."
"Of course!" said Metálzobi. "A simple trick for an expert of projection
art! The staff you have working on your current line of cards are all
excellent artists in their own right, of course, but such diversions are my
specialty."
"I see..." Hiya said, peering deeply at Garyl's expressions in the picture
card. They snapped their fingers, summoning a blank card of their own, and
conjured a brush with a wave of their hand, magically directing the brush to
paint in midair using minute motions of their fingers.
"Aha! What a splendid technique!" Metálzobi gasped in awe as he
watched Hiya work. Suddenly, however, Hiya stopped.
"How peculiar..." Hiya said, furrowing their brow. "That was meant to
be a perfect copy of the card you designed..."
"Oh?" Metálzobi said, tilting his head to look at the card in Hiya's hand.
It did resemble Metálzobi's card to a certain extent, but the brushwork was
exceptionally crude. It looked for all the world like a doodle done by a
child.
"Tell me," Hiya asked. "Why did mine come out so poorly?"
"How do I put this...?" Metálzobi considered. "Artistic skill is just like
magical ability—one must train diligently day after day if they hope to gain
expertise..."
"Hmm..." Hiya mused, nodding in understanding at Metálzobi's words.
"I see..."
Hiya, the djinn who commanded the origin of light and darkness, was a
spellcaster par excellence. Their artistic talents, however, would take some
time to develop.
◇Houghtow City—Houghtow College of Magic◇
Classes had ended for the day, and the members of the Houghtow
College of Magic fencing club gathered in the arena for club practice.
"Really though..." Elinàsze said with a deep sigh as she got to work
cleaning the spectator seats on the second floor. "Having all these people
observing our training for the open campus event has been quite a lot of
trouble..."
"No helping it, I guess," Rislei said with a smirk. "Since Gare gave
everyone those dumplings as souvenirs from the Land of the Rising Sun, his
popularity's been higher than ever. People were already fanatical about him,
but now it's on a whole other level."
"Honestly," Elinàsze sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. "That
boy just can't stop seducing women despite himself, can he?"
"No kidding..." Rislei agreed with a bitter laugh. She glanced down at
the first floor, where Garyl and Reptor were busy tidying up. She could see
the flower crest key chain she had given Reptor dangling from his belt. He's
wearing the key chain I got him as a souvenir from Hi Izuru... she thought,
a smile coming over her face. I'm glad...
"Rislei?" Elinàsze asked. "Is something wrong?"
"Huh?" Rislei said. "Oh! U-Um, no, not at all! I'm fine!"
"Hmm..." said Elinàsze. "Well, that's good, I suppose. Now, let's hurry
up and get this over with. The longer we spend cleaning, the less time we'll
have to train with Garyl."
"Y-Yeah, right away!" Rislei nodded and got to work sweeping the
floors.
◇ ◇ ◇
After they finished cleaning, the fencing club began their training while
Rune watched wide-eyed, frozen stiff in her seat. She had come all the way
to the Houghtow College of Magic by Enchanted Frigate to observe the
fencing club's practice, but now she found herself trembling in awe at the
exchange of blows taking place before her eyes. "Wh-What's going on?"
she muttered. "How can this be possible?"
"Hah!" Murasame swung her sword in a rising motion, her whole body
rising up with the force of the blow. Murasame hailed from the Land of the
Rising Sun, far to the east of the Magical Kingdom, and was dressed in a
traditional outfit from her homeland—a sort of overcoat called a haori,
paired with a style of voluminous trousers known as hakama.
"Whoa! Nice one, Miss Murasame! That was fast!" Garyl's voice
sounded cheerful as he met Murasame's blade with his own, parrying with
the blade held parallel to the ground and stepping into the attack.
That isn't just a block... Murasame thought. He's going to deflect it to the
side and come in with an attack of his own! She planted her foot down,
closing the distance between herself and Garyl to take the strength out of
his counterattack. Garyl, however, read her movements perfectly and struck
her on the back with the hilt of his sword, striking her down with pure arm
strength despite his stance putting him at a disadvantage. "Haah!" she cried.
Her forward momentum was halted, but Murasame didn't panic for a
second. She withdrew, returning her sword to a guard.
"Here I come!" Garyl said, charging forward himself. He had a cheerful
smile on his face, clearly at ease despite the ferocity of the duel. Murasame,
on the other hand, pursed her lips in serious concentration as she fell back,
trying desperately to check Garyl's blade. The exchange was over in the
blink of an eye.
"H-Hey..." Reptor, a lizardfolk member of the fencing club, said as he
watched the bout in disbelief from across the arena. "Did anyone see what
just happened?"
"Not me," said Rislei, who was sitting beside him watching Murasame
and Garyl's exchange of blows. "I couldn't tell what was going on at all..."
She squinted her eyes, trying as hard as she could to follow the action, but it
was completely hopeless. Their movements were far too fast. "There's just
no way..."
Even Elinàsze, who was sitting next to Rislei, had deep furrows in her
brow as she watched. Her eyes, as well as the jewel on her forehead, both
shone with rainbow-colored light. "I can imagine..." she said. "I would
never be able to see what was happening at that speed without my magic."
Elinàsze was born with a jewel on her forehead, a sign of the goddess's
blessing, that shone whenever she released her full magic power. It was that
jewel that served as the wellspring for her prodigious magic reserves. With
all of her magic power focused on amplifying her sense of vision, Elinàsze
could just about make out what Murasame and Garyl were doing. That
being said, if her concentration lapsed for even a second, she would miss a
great deal of action, hence the creases in her brow.
Nearby, Salina, Irystiel, and Snow Little—three more of Garyl, Elinàsze,
and Rislei's classmates—were watching in a somewhat less studious
manner.
"Did you see how wonderful my Lord Garyl was?" Salina cooed, hearts
in her eyes as she clutched her hands together in front of her chest. "Even
Miss Murasame can't keep up with him!" She bounced up on her knees in
her excitement, her pink miniskirt fluttering as she bobbed up and down.
Irystiel, who was wearing her customary black gothic lolita style dress
and sitting beside Salina, held her stuffed cat doll in front of her face. "Lord
Garyl's amazing! Absolutely wonderful!" the doll said, opening and closing
its mouth courtesy of Irystiel's ventriloquism skills. "That's what Irystiel
says anyway! Mreowr!" Irystiel was quite the shy demon indeed. She used
her stuffed animals as an intermediary in order to overcome her difficulties
in communicating with her classmates...but her stuffed cat, unfortunately,
seemed to have something of an attitude problem. "But more importantly,
have some shame, you hussy! All you ever do is get in Lord Garyl's way!
Irystiel thinks so too! Mreowr!"
"How dare you?!" Salina sputtered. "I only wore this outfit because it
emphasized my natural cuteness!"
Irystiel's ventriloquism was always getting her into arguments with her
friends. At the very least, though, it did achieve her original goal of
facilitating communication with her classmates, for better or worse...
As Salina and Irystiel began their customary exchange of vitriol, Snow
Little kept her attention fixated on the sparring match. "Garyl really does
look quite dashing today..." she said, resting her cheeks in her hands and
staring dreamily at the boy.
Snow Little was one of the fable folk, a tribe of demons with the ability
to summon tangible manifestations of characters from the fairy tales of
various worlds. Currently she was using that power to create a number of
miniature dwarves—barely taller than her feet—playing a rousing chorus
on their various musical instruments in support of Garyl. Snow Little sat in
the middle of them, wearing a white dress.
"Snow Little!" Salina scolded her. "Would you kindly make your
dwarves cut out that awful racket?! You're bothering Lord Garyl!"
"For once Irystiel agrees with you! Mreowr!" piped in Irystiel's stuffed
cat.
"Ahhh..." Snow Little sighed, completely ignoring the other two girls.
"Garyl's so dreamy..."
"Those three never change, do they?" Rislei said, smirking as she
glanced at the trio out of the corner of her eye.
"There's nothing wrong with a bit of friendly banter, I suppose, but I
really do worry about them bothering Garyl..." Elinàsze agreed. She held
out her right hand, summoning a magic circle underneath Salina, Irystiel,
and Snow Little's feet. Suddenly, the girls' voices went silent. They were
still arguing away about something or other, but now, thanks to Elinàsze's
Silence spell, nobody outside the circle could hear them.
I don't think they mean anything bad by it anyway... Rislei thought as
she watched the three silently flap their mouths—or the stuffed cat's mouth,
in Irystiel's case. At least this way Garyl should be able to focus on the
match, I guess!
All the while, Garyl and Murasame kept engaging in bout after bout of
high-speed swordplay. Rune watched from the front row, wide-eyed at the
display. "I-Incredible!" she gasped. "Such movements! I've never seen
anyone in my life who could fight like that."
"Oh, Rune," Elinàsze said with a chuckle. "Garyl can move much faster
than that. He's trying to lower his swordplay to a level the rest of us can
follow."
"Wh-What?" Rune exclaimed. "H-He's lowering his level?!"
Rislei couldn't help laughing out loud at Rune's dumbfounded stare. "If
Gare went all out, it wouldn't help the rest of our training at all!"
"Exactly!" said Elinàsze.
Just then, a cloud of mist formed in one corner of the arena, and out
stepped none other than Ben'ne. "My master Garyl-dono has defeated the
likes of me—Ben'ne," she said. "Or did you think him so sluggish as to be
overtaken by a mere child, girl?"
"B-Ben'ne?!" Rune gawked, stupefied. "N-Not the peerless sword
master from the Land of the Rising Sun I read about in the library's
compendium!"
"It is!" Elinàsze volunteered. "We went on a family trip to the Land of
the Rising Sun just the other day, where Miss B lost a duel to our Garyl."
"Yeah!" said Rislei. "And she ended up coming home with us as Garyl's
familiar!"
Ben'ne nodded stoically at the girls' explanation, her arms folded
imposingly. "Just so," she said. "From my youth spent studying the blade
until now, when my mortal body has rotted away and I have become a
psychic construct, I have tasted true defeat but once, at Garyl-dono's hands.
Thus did I pledge my loyalty to him, to serve as his faithful retainer."
Uncle MacTaulo told me I should come see what Garyl can do for
myself... Rune thought, glancing between Ben'ne and Garyl. She held her
head in her hands, shaking it in confusion. But I didn't expect this! He's
frightfully strong, and he has a legendary sword master doing his bidding! I
don't understand what's going on anymore...
And still, the sound of Garyl's and Murasame's blades rang throughout
the arena.
◇Houghtow City—Flio's House◇
Flio's household had grown to a truly impressive size since he had
arrived in the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode, so it stood to reason that the
house's baths were commensurately grand. They were divided between men
and women, and were full of hot water at all times of day. Flio's magic kept
the water circulating continuously, ensuring that it remained pristine.
"Ahhh..." Garyl sighed as he stepped into the men's bath. "Today was a
blast, wasn't it?"
"You're always so cool, big bro Garyl..." Ghoro said, timidly following
along behind. He had just finished practicing sword drills with Garyl, and
his body was drenched in sweat. He looked more than a little tuckered out.
Garyl, on the other hand, had hardly sweat at all and was showing no sign
of fatigue whatsoever.
"I'm nothing special," Garyl said. "There's people out there who are
way cooler than me, like your dad, or mine." He sat down, pouring hot
water over his body to rinse himself off.
Just then, however, Ben'ne suddenly materialized behind him. "Please,
allow me to wash your back," she said, approaching with a lathery towel in
hand.
"Wh-What the heck?!" Garyl leaped out of his seat, his face turning
bright red. "M-Miss B?!" he exclaimed, hastily covering up his groin with
both hands. "Th-This is the men's bath!"
"Yes, I am aware," Ben'ne replied. "It does not bother me in the
slightest."
"W-Well, maybe it doesn't bother you, but it sure bothers me!" Garyl
objected.
"Why would that be?" Ben'ne asked, seeming genuinely puzzled. "I was
told it is a familiar's solemn duty to wash their master's back."
"What?! Who told you that?!" Garyl asked.
"I heard it from Hiya-dono and Damalynas-dono, who have resided in
this house for longer than I," Ben'ne said, staring at Garyl with obvious
confusion. "Is something the matter?"
"Why did you have to ask those two of all people..." Garyl moaned,
covering his face with his hands. "Talk about the worst possible choice..."
"Oh? The worst possible choice, you say?" Hiya intoned, appearing in
midair beside Ben'ne and alighting to the ground. "Well, if such are the
words of the son of the Exalted One, far be it for the likes of me to brook a
disagreement." Both Hiya and Ben'ne were utterly naked, but neither made
any effort to hide any part of their feminine bodies.
"Hey!" Garyl shouted, desperately trying to cover his increasingly
reddening face. "Get out, both of you! Or at least cover up!"
"Cover up?" Ben'ne asked. "I fail to see why that should be necessary.
In fact, if I were to cover up, would it not impede my duty of washing my
master's back?"
"And why should a humble servant of the Exalted One deny his very son
the sight of my naked body?" Hiya added, looking every bit as baffled as
Ben'ne.
It's no use! Garyl thought. I can't appeal to their sense of propriety!
And so, Garyl gave up on persuading Ben'ne and Hiya and opted instead
to flee from the bath entirely.
◇Meanwhile—Klyrode Castle◇
"What was that?!" The Maiden Queen suddenly looked up from the
paperwork she had been reviewing in her private chambers, her eyes
shooting open. Cold sweat ran down her brow, her expression one of deep
consternation. "I feel...as though something dire has happened to Garyl!
Something that has to do with a woman..."
The Maiden Queen's personality was serious to a fault, and she was
always worrying herself sick over every little thing, no matter how small.
At some point, it seemed, that worry had grown into a genuine sixth sense
for any danger that might befall her precious Garyl.
◇Houghtow City—The Fli-o'-Rys General Store◇
"So," Patermon said, nodding decisively, "the Enchanted Frigate line to
the Land of the Rising Sun is officially set to open..."
Patermon was the shadow demon in charge of the management and
administration of Fli-o'-Rys's fleet of Enchanted Frigates. Like Greanyl,
she had once served in the Silent Listeners, the covert branch of the Dark
Army that answered directly to Dark One Ghozal.
"That's right," Flio said, smiling his usual easygoing smile. "Both
Klyrode Castle and Hi Izuru have given their approval. I was wondering if
you could head over there and oversee the construction of the boarding
tower? I'm going to need you to redo the flight schedule as well."
"Understood. I will begin immediately." Patermon bowed deep and
vanished instantly from the spot.
Now alone, Flio took a good long look at the Houghtow City Enchanted
Frigate station right next door—the headquarters of the Enchanted Frigate
fleet operated by the Fli-o'-Rys General Store. As always, there were a
great number of ships arriving and departing in the sky above. "People from
all over have been able to meet and exchange goods thanks to those
Enchanted Frigates, not just in the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode but further
abroad as well..." he mused as he watched one of the ships come in for a
landing. "The Dark Citadel, the kingdom of Indol, and now Hi Izuru, the
Land of the Rising Sun. At this rate, it won't be long until everywhere in the
world is part of the network..."
Back before I was brought here, when I lived in the world of Palma, I
always thought one of the reasons discrimination against demihumans was
as bad as it was was the poor relations between the humans, who lived in
the capital, and the demihumans, who lived in the outskirts. If only I could
bring the Enchanted Frigate fleet to that world too... Flio lowered his head
just slightly, momentarily lost in thought.
"Well," he said out loud, "the world of Klyrode is my home now. I'll
just have to do what I can for the people living here."
And, of course, for his beloved Rys.