"Hey, Riliangiu," Hero Gold-Hair said, frowning as looked over at the
woman beside him. "Are you sure this is the place?"
"I believe it should be, according to the information we received in town
earlier..." Riliangiu said, cocking her head in confusion. She looked around
every which way, but her confusion only grew until she looked every bit as
perplexed as Hero Gold-Hair himself.
Riliangiu had formerly been a familiar of the Realm of Evil, and was
now one of Hero Gold-Hair's companions serving primarily as the party's
source of information. Right now, the two of them found themselves in the
middle of a vast grassy field without a single man-made structure as far as
the eye could see.
"But Riliangiu," Hero Gold-Hair pointed out. "I don't see a building
anywhere that could possibly be any kind of recruitment center!"
"It's strange," Riliangiu agreed, looking down at the map in her hands
and the red X symbol marking their destination. "I'm certain this is the
place we were told about."
"Hmm..." Hero Gold-Hair said, peering at Riliangiu's map from the side
as well. "Well, this does seem to be the spot marked on the map."
"Yes," said Riliangiu. "Perhaps we had best return to town..."
"I don't know," Hero Gold-Hair grumbled. "That job offer you sniffed
out seems like it would pay a good deal of money. If it's real, it would be a
shame to let it go."
"I agree," Riliangiu said. "If we could secure a job like that, Lady Tsuya
and the others would no longer have any need to work part-time in town..."
As they spoke, the pair kept looking between the map and their
surroundings, trying to find any sign of their destination.
At the moment, Hero Gold-Hair's party had halted their travels in a
town nearby. Tsuya, who was in charge of the group's finances, had finally
reached the end of the money they had on hand, so they had split up to find
part-time jobs and earn what they could. Hero Gold-Hair had gotten a job
washing dishes in a local pub, while Riliangiu worked as a waitress. One
day, however, one of Riliangiu's customers happened to mention a job
promising a tremendous reward in cash, and the two of them hurried off
right away.
When they reached the spot where the recruitment center should be,
however, they arrived to find nothing at all remotely fitting that description.
That was why they now found themselves glancing around a grassy field
looking thoroughly befuddled.
Hero Gold-Hair looked up from the map and heaved a heavy sigh. "If
only Valentine could do something about that appetite of hers... That would
make managing our finances a hell of a lot easier."
"A-As you say..." Riliangiu admitted. "But as a former denizen of the
Realm of Evil, I know that consuming the trace amounts of magic power
contained within foodstuffs truly is the fastest way for her to obtain the
energy Lady Valentine needs to sustain her body in this world. She could
absorb energy from magic gems as well, but I am afraid that would be even
harder on our finances."
"Yes, yes, I know," said Hero Gold-Hair. "Don't mind me—I'm just
complaining. But speaking of which...Riliangiu."
"Yes? What is it, Sir Hero Gold-Hair?"
"You're from the Realm of Evil too, aren't you?" Hero Gold-Hair asked.
"How come you don't need to eat such a ridiculous amount of food?"
"Ah," Riliangiu replied. "In my case, I was created with a corporeal
body for the purpose of performing reconnaissance in the world of Klyrode.
Unfortunately, that also means that I am incapable of using the magic of the
Realm of Evil."
"I see. So it has its pros and cons, then, I take it." Hero Gold-Hair
nodded in understanding. "Well," he added, turning back the way they
came, "there's no use waiting around in a place like this. Should we head
back to town?"
Just then, however, something caught Riliangiu's attention. "Sir Hero
Gold-Hair," she said. "Wait a moment."
"Hm? What is it, Riliangiu?"
"Quiet..." she said. "Do you hear that noise?"
"A noise?" Hero Gold-Hair asked. Following Riliangiu's lead, he
focused on listening as intently as he could. Before long, he heard it—
thump thump thump thump thump thump thump... "Hm?" He craned his
neck, listening closer. "Hmmm?!" He turned to face Riliangiu. "You're
right! I do hear something!"
"Yes..." Riliangiu said. "And perhaps it's just my imagination, but it
seems to be growing louder."
"Then," Hero Gold-Hair ventured, "what do you suppose that sound is?"
"I'm afraid I have no idea..."
The two looked all around as they spoke, scanning the horizon for the
source of the sound.
Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump...
"It is getting louder..." Hero Gold-Hair agreed. "But where in the world
is it coming from?"
"Perhaps it's just my imagination," Riliangiu said, turning to face a
nearby forest, "but it seems to be coming from the trees over there..."
Hero Gold-Hair followed Riliangiu's gaze, and the two peered into the
woods. Looking closely, they noticed that something deep in the forest was
causing the trees to sway back and forth. And perhaps it was just their
imagination, but it seemed to be drawing towards them as well.
The swaying in the trees grew closer and closer until suddenly, with a
loud rustling of leaves, an enormous magic beast sprung forth into plain
sight.
"What?!" Hero Gold-Hair exclaimed.
"Ah!" cried Riliangiu.
The creature before them resembled a powerfully muscular kangaroo,
running along so quickly that it was hard to believe it was nearly five times
the size of Hero Gold-Hair. Its head was disproportionately large even for
its massive body, and it was charging straight for Hero Gold-Hair and
Riliangiu, its mouth opened wide.
"Th-This is bad!" Hero Gold-Hair said. "We have to escape!"
"Y-Yes, sir, Hero Gold-Hair!" Riliangiu replied, snapping back to her
senses.
The two turned on their heels in a panic, looking for all the world like
frightened rabbits in their hurry to get away.
"Hurry, Riliangiu!" cried Hero Gold-Hair.
"A-As you command!" Riliangiu readily agreed, running for all she was
worth. As a familiar of the Realm of Evil specially designed for search and
destroy missions, Riliangiu's running speed was nothing short of
phenomenal, and in short order she had left Hero Gold-Hair far behind.
"W-Wait! Wait!" Hero Gold-Hair cried. "Riliangiu, wait! Don't leave
me behind!"
"B-But sir!" Riliangiu protested. "My top running speed is—"
"I don't want to hear it!" Hero Gold-Hair snapped. "I told you to hurry,
not to leave me behind!"
"D-Don't be unreasonable, Sir! With my strength I am far too weak to
carry you on my back!"
The two ran like their lives depended on it, but the enormous magic
beast stayed right on their tail. Its mouth was open wide, sending flecks of
saliva flying every which way.
"D-Damnation..." Hero Gold-Hair cursed. "Has this magic beast
mistaken us for food?!"
"Mistaken, you say?" Riliangiu repeated. "But magic beasts are
omnivores. I believe we would serve perfectly well as its sustenance."
"As if!" Hero Gold-Hair shot back. "I'm not letting some magic beast
gobble me up!"
Desperate, he forced his legs to move even faster. Riliangiu, worried,
looked back over her shoulders at Hero Gold-Hair as she ran on ahead.
"R-Riliangiu!" Hero Gold-Hair barked. "Slow down a little, would
you?!"
"If I did that, I might very well be eaten by the magic beast myself,"
Riliangiu replied. "But there is no need to worry. Should you end up eaten
by this magic beast I will be sure to relay the news to Lady Valentine and
the others so they can come rescue you at once."
"Y-You!" Hero Gold-Hair shouted. "You're planning on sacrificing me
so you can get away!"
Hero Gold-Hair kept running, but the magic beast pursuing him was
quick. Despite his best efforts, it was drawing closer little by little. But then,
suddenly, he heard a scream.
"H-Heeelp!!!"
Hero Gold-Hair might have been occupied with running for his life, but
that didn't stop him from looking all around, trying to find the source of the
scream. No matter where he looked, however, he couldn't see anyone who
looked like they might have been the one calling for help. Then he heard it
again, clearer than the last time.
"Heeeeelp!!!"
"That scream!" Hero Gold-Hair said, completely at a loss. "Where in the
world is it coming from?!"
Riliangiu, though, suddenly seemed to notice something as she ran
ahead of him. "Sir Hero Gold-Hair!" she called with a start, pointing up at
the magic beast's head as she ran. "Up! Look up!"
"Up?" Hero Gold-Hair repeated, blinking in surprise as he looked where
Riliangiu was pointing.
There, tied around the large horn atop the creature's enormous head, he
could see something like a rope. There was a woman clinging to the other
end of the rope with both arms. Each time the magic beast moved its head,
the rope shook violently from side to side, causing the woman dangling
from the other end to sway precariously as well. She was doing a valiant job
of holding on so far, but it was only a matter of time before she would be
flung clean off.
"A woman!" Hero Gold-Hair cocked his head as he ran, looking back
over his shoulder. "What's she doing in a place like that?!"
Just then, a carriage crested over the horizon, speeding along with nary a
horse in sight. "Hero Gold-Hair!" came a woman's telepathic voice. "It's
good to see you well!"
"Well, what do you know!" Hero Gold-Hair cried, a joyful grin
spreading over his face. "It's Aryun Keats!"
Yes—the carriage was none other than the carriage djinn Aryun Keats
transformed, a proud member of Hero Gold-Hair's party. As a carriage
djinn, Aryun had the power to assume the form of any vehicle she had ever
touched. Her personal magic power, however, was not especially high,
leaving her unable to become anything particularly large.
"I came to meet you once I finished work for the day, but the staff at the
pub told me you went this way on the trail of some sort of high-paying
work," Aryun Keats told them. "Naturally, I came to join you straightaway!
But...why are you being chased by a magic beast?"
"I'll explain later!" Hero Gold-Hair shouted. "Just do something about
that thing!"
Not a moment later, the doors of Aryun Keats's carriage form shot open
and out leaped Valentine.
"Just leave it to me, my dear Hero Gold-Hair!" she said, jumping up on
Aryun's roof. She spread her fingers wide, preparing to shoot her threads of
darkness. "Now, you will regret attacking the likes of Hero Gold-Hair. I'll
drag you to the underworld!"
Valentine raised her arms and swung them down, causing the threads to
soar through the air towards the magic beast in an elegant wave. At first the
beast bit at the threads with astonishing fury, but the more it moved, the
tighter the threads binding it became. Soon, its body was completely
immobilized.
"Abababahhh..." Unfortunately, the woman the magic beast had been
dragging along through the air as it ran found herself trapped by Valentine's
threads of darkness as well.
"Ngh!" Hero Gold-Hair exclaimed. "That won't do! Riliangiu! Cut that
woman free!"
"Y-Yes, sir!" Riliangiu's arms transformed into blades past the elbows,
and she leaped towards the magic beast, performing an elegant midair slash.
Her arm blades were unable to cut through Valentine's threads, but with a
skillful motion she was able to sever the rope the woman had been holding
without hitting the indestructible threads of darkness.
"Fwahaaah?!" the woman cried as she flew through the air. Beneath her,
the magic beast collapsed to the ground with a thunderous sound, bound up
in a tight cocoon of thread. The woman landed atop the beast and bounced
several times before finally crashing face-first to the ground. "Gweh!"
"Hey! You there!" Hero Gold-Hair said, hurrying to the woman's side.
"Are you all right?"
"Pfaaah!" The woman spat out a mouthful of sand. "I-I was sure I was
about to die!" she said, looking up at Hero Gold-Hair with an expression of
astonished gratitude as she wiped the rest of the dirt off her face. "You
saved my life!"
Incredible... Hero Gold-Hair thought. That woman's lucky to be alive
after taking a fall like that!
"Hero Gooold-Hair!" cried Tsuya, exiting Aryun Keats's carriage door
and running up to his side, followed by Wuha Gappoli. Valentine, finished
with her dark thread attack, hurried along as well. "Are you okaaay?"
"Who do you think I am!" Hero Gold-Hair declared, folding his arms in
a haughty pose. "Of course I'm okay!"
"Uh-huh," Wuha Gappoli snickered, jabbing Hero Gold-Hair in the
flank with her elbow. "But if Lady Valentine hadn't shown up when she did,
you'd be in deep magic beast doo-doo right about now, wouldn't you?"
"W-Well..." Hero Gold-Hair admitted, looking the other way and
clearing his throat in embarrassment. "Let's just say I'm grateful you
showed up when you did..."
The woman who had landed face down on the ground not long ago
watched as Hero Gold-Hair's party carried on their banter. When she
noticed the roll of vellum clutched in Hero Gold-Hair's hand, however, her
eyes shot open in recognition. "Oh?" she said. "Could you be here looking
for work...?"
"Oh, this?" Hero Gold-Hair said, his expression darkening. "We heard
there was someone recruiting for some kind of job around here, but there's
no sign of them anywhere... It's been quite the headache, I tell you."
"It's me!" the woman said, her expression brightening considerably.
"I'm the one recruiting people!"
"Wh-What?!" Hero Gold-Hair's eyes widened in shock. He took another
look at the information written on the scroll and glanced back up at the
woman. "Then...you'd be Telma, the tamer looking for assistants?"
The woman, Telma, smiled brightly and pulled herself to her feet. "Yes,
exactly! Thank you ever so much for responding to my request! Now, let's
get started at once!"
"Hold on!" Hero Gold-Hair protested, holding out his right hand. "We
haven't agreed to anything yet! Shouldn't you explain what it is you want
from us first?" What in the world is with this job? he thought. This whole
situation is nothing but red flags...
"O-Oh, yes! Of course! You're exactly right!" Telma said, clearing her
throat and wiping the mud from her clothing. "Allow me to introduce
myself once again. I am Telma, the tamer who put out that request for
workers. You see, I thought I might try to capture some giant magic beasts
for use in the new racing hall they opened in Dark Mountain Pudding
Pudding Park. Unfortunately my own ability as a tamer isn't quite enough
to restrain a beast of that size! If I want to do this, it seems I will need some
help..."
Here, she lowered her head, bowing deeply. "Please!" she begged.
"There isn't much time until the deadline I promised my client! Would you
perhaps lend me your assistance?"
Hero Gold-Hair listened to Telma's words with a serious look on his
face, considering her proposition. He glanced over at the enormous magic
beast now lying bound up in Valentine's threads of darkness. "So?" he said.
"How many of these things do you need to capture, exactly?"
"Forty in total," Telma said.
"And..." Hero Gold-Hair asked. "How many have you managed to
capture so far?"
"Just the one!"
"Just one?" Hero Gold-Hair repeated.
"Yes, just the one," Telma confirmed.
"Wait..." Hero Gold-Hair's expression darkened once more.
"Telma...don't tell me... When you say you've managed to capture one
magic beast, you don't mean the one lying here, do you...?"
"Yes, that one!" Telma replied, a cheery smile on her face.
Meaning... Hero Gold-Hair thought, furrowing his brow, that until this
very moment, she hadn't managed to capture any...
"Isn't that funny?" Telma said, holding her stomach as she doubled over
with laughter. "There's only three days to go until the deadline, and I still
have to capture thirty-nine more!"
A bead of cold sweat dripped down Hero Gold-Hair's brow as he
watched Telma laugh in cheery amusement at her own plight. "Wh-What
are you laughing about?!" he said. "You're in some serious hot water, by
the sounds of things!"
"Oh, you know..." Telma said. "It's just, at first I thought I would
somehow be able to manage using my abilities as a tamer, but it turns out
there's nothing I can do against a rampaging magic beast! I'm really at my
wit's end—what else can I do but laugh? Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!" She
laughed, holding the rope she had been clinging to for dear life only
moments earlier up beside her face. "But it's strange," she added. "My
taming abilities shouldn't be that weak. It's almost like something has
worked these creatures into a state of abnormal excitement..."
No, no, no, come on... Hero Gold-Hair thought, wincing at the sight of
the feeble length of rope. This is no laughing matter! And abnormal
excitement or no, how was she expecting to control a magic beast like that
with nothing but a rope! If that's the only trick this woman has, I might be
exposing my party to a considerable amount of danger by accepting this
job... He sighed. "Well...I'll admit you're offering some decent money if we
could actually pull it off, but I don't know if—"
Before he could say another word, however, Tsuya interrupted, holding
up the bag she used to store the party's money as a purse. Even at a glance,
it was obvious that it was completely empty.
I suppose we haven't had any big jobs lately, now that I think about it.
Hero Gold-Hair heaved another heavy sigh.
Tsuya just stared up at Hero Gold-Hair with tearful eyes, clutching the
tragically empty bag tight in her hands. "I knooow this job is kinda fishy..."
her eyes seemed to be saying. "But we need to make money sooomehow..."
Kh... Hero Gold-Hair mentally clicked his tongue. Better to lose a limb
than a life, I suppose...
◇ ◇ ◇
Some time later, enormous thundering sounds rang out in the forest as
Valentine faced off against yet another enormous magic beast.
"Now it's time for me to get serious!" Valentine declared, swinging her
arms up towards the sky and sending a rain of dark threads down upon her
opponent.
"Graah?"
The magic beast, who had been stomping furiously in an effort to squash
Valentine flat, looked up at the oncoming threads. A second later its head
had been wrapped up thoroughly, cutting off its field of view.
"Graaaaah!!!" it shrieked, charging towards Valentine in spite of its
bindings, but more threads followed the first, covering up its enormous
body bit by bit. It struggled for all it was worth in an effort to escape, but
the threads came faster than it could shake them off and in no time at all the
beast was completely bound. Wrapped up like a cocoon, it found itself
unable to move even a single muscle.
"Miss Valentine, thank you ever so much!" Telma said, running over to
join them. "Please leave the rest to me." She held out her hands in the
direction of the magic beast's head, casting a spell. "Now, mister magic
beast, be a good boy for me, would you?"
A magic circle appeared, rotating in midair. After a moment, the magic
beast stopped trying to escape from the threads of darkness and seemed to
calm down, eventually ceasing its movement altogether.
"Ehe hee!" Telma giggled, looking up from the magic beast with a
happy smile on her face. "It looks like my taming abilities aren't useless
after all, as long as you can hold the target still!"
"I suppose so..." Hero Gold-Hair said, following along behind her. "And
that makes number seven, I believe? But Telma..." he added with a sigh.
"Y-Yes? What is it?" Telma asked.
"Look, I don't mind working for you..." Hero Gold-Hair said. "But
would it have killed you to do just a little bit of planning? Hiring someone
to capture the giant magic beasts for you is one thing, but I can't believe
you never once considered how you were going to transport these things..."
Behind Hero Gold-Hair came Aryun Keats, transformed into a large
cargo wagon as she made her way over to the fallen magic beast. In the
body of the wagon were six other magic beasts Telma had managed to tame,
bound up by dark threads.
"Okaaay!" Tsuya chirped. "Let's get this one loooaded! Aryun, are you
holding uuup?"
"More or less..." Aryun Keats answered. "I think I could manage two or
three more..."
"'Kay 'kay!" said Wuha Gappoli. "Let's go!"
"On three!" said Valentine. "One...two...and heave!"
With Valentine, Wuha Gappoli, and Hero Gold-Hair's combined efforts,
they managed to load the seventh magic beast onto Aryun Keats.
Wuha's certainly making a great show of effort... Hero Gold-Hair
thought, glancing over at his companion. But those arms of hers aren't any
stronger than your average human child, are they? Her help doesn't
particularly matter much...
"I'm so terribly sorry," Telma said, bowing apologetically over and over
again as she explained. "My plan had been to lead the magic beasts away
using my taming abilities, you see, but that didn't exactly work out..."
Hero Gold-Hair sighed as he turned Telma's way. "And don't you see
how careless that was?" he chided. "You accepted a task you had no hope of
actually completing!"
Telma frowned and folded her arms, apparently unwilling to accept the
point. "But you know..." she said, lowering her head. "It really is peculiar. I
never used to have a problem getting the magic beasts in this region to obey
me using my taming abilities. But as soon as I took this job, I found the
forest full of magic beasts I'd never seen before, and my taming abilities
wouldn't work at all! Really, what in the world is going on...?"
"Hmm..." Hero Gold-Hair said, resting his chin on his hand in thought.
"So in other words, there's something out of the ordinary happening here..."
◇ ◇ ◇
As Hero Gold-Hair and company were busy loading Aryun Keats's
cargo bay full with magic beasts, another group kept watch from atop a cliff
a short distance away. At the group's head were two women, hiding behind
a large tree as they grumbled and spied on Hero Gold-Hair's companions.
"I don't believe it..." said the woman in the black gothic lolita dress.
"They've come here to capture magic beasts, just like us! This will damage
our profit margin considerably."
This was Janderena, the treasurer of the Shadow Conglomerate who
oversaw all of the organization's financial matters. She was a frail woman
with a fondness for gothic lolita fashion who carried an oversized abacus on
her back everywhere she went. Right now she was clacking the beads of her
abacus back and forth, clicking her tongue as she calculated the precise sum
that Hero Gold-Hair's party's activities would cost them.
"This spot is at the very edge of the Dark One's territory," Janderena
continued, seething as she glared down at Hero Gold-Hair's companions
below. "It's right outside human lands, making it a prime location for
demons looking to release all the magic beasts they no longer have use for. I
thought we could make a tidy sum by scooping up their abandoned magic
beasts and selling them at the new racing hall in Dark Mountain Pudding
Pudding Park, but it looks like someone beat us to the punch. Shit!"
She cursed furiously at the impediment to her plans. "This is all the
Shadow King's fault, anyway. Everything that man's ever touched has been
a complete and utter failure. I've told him time and time again that our
finances have been completely ruined by his idiocy, but still he keeps
sending those fox sister lackeys of his to demand more money! Shit! Shit!
Shit!!!" Her hands trembled as they clutched the abacus tight.
As Janderena swore and fumed, her younger sister Yanderena, dressed in
a nearly identical dress, danced wildly behind her, large dark eyes open
wide as she spun and spun on one leg. Yanderena served as Janderena's
bodyguard. Her affinity for gothic lolita fashion was on par with her older
sister's, and she seemed to dance furiously every second of her life. In
combat she fought with spinning kicks and unarmed strikes, singing in an
operatic style all the while.
Yanderena spun faster and faster as her sister's rage grew, as if her dance
were an expression of Janderena's anger. "All who oppose, oppose, oppose
us must die, die, diiie!" she sang, raising her voice in a high falsetto.
"Shut up, you lousy excuse for a sister!" Janderena snapped, smashing
her abacus right into Yanderena's face.
"Gwaaaaah?!" Yanderena cried as the blow sent her flying backward
through the air. She fell to the ground where she lay twitching and covering
her face with her hands. "My...jaw..."
"You're too loud! Do you want them to find us? Shit!" Janderena said,
looking down at her fallen sister in irritation as she returned the abacus to
her back, before peeking back out from behind the tree to continue spying
on Hero Gold-Hair. "I thought we'd gotten our hands on some choice magic
beasts in that wretched backwater Houghtow City, but that dragonewt and
maid got in our way, and the mission ended in failure..." she recounted in a
low voice. "If we can't capture the magic beasts here to sell to the racing
hall, our war chest will be essentially screwed! Shit! Do you understand?!"
Yanderena nodded from where she lay on the ground, still holding her
face in her hands.
"Our only hope is for that other group collecting magic beasts in the area
to clear out at once..." Janderena concluded as she once again began fussing
with her abacus.
"Well then, well then, you know what we should do?" Yanderena sang,
springing back up to standing using only her shoulders. "Shoot the beasts
full of our special stimulant to set them on our impertinent intruders!"
"You're right," Janderena said, frowning as she calculated sum after sum
until finally her fingers came to a sudden stop. "Sending the magic beasts
on a blind rampage might be the only way to stop them from capturing
every last one. I tell you, those lowlifes have gotten on my last nerve!
Goddamn!"
She glared down at Hero Gold-Hair, grumbling and cursing. Then,
suddenly, a sinister smile came over her face. "Although," she said,
chuckling darkly to herself as she once again began clacking the beads of
her abacus back and forth, "Perhaps I've come up with something of a
plan..."
◇ ◇ ◇
"Come ooon..." A while later, Tsuya was running through the forest at a
mad dash, tears in the corner of her eyes as she wove between the trees.
Behind her came a magic beast in hot pursuit, running all out on its four
legs. If a tree got between the beast and its quarry, it would simply be
knocked aside from the force of its charge.
"J-Just a bit fuuurther..." Tsuya told herself, but the magic beast was
gaining fast. Tsuya, after all, ran like the daintiest maiden you've ever seen.
With her feet pointed inward and her arms swinging from side to side, she
was hardly able to speed up at all, no matter how hard she tried. "Eeeek!"
she cried as the beast approached closer and closer.
But just as the beast seemed poised to catch its prey, Valentine appeared
from where she had been waiting atop a nearby cliff. "Well done, Madame
Tsuya!" she said. "Allow me." She released her threads, wrapping them
around Tsuya's midsection and hoisting her up into the air.
"L-Lady Valentiiine!" Tsuya cried, relief washing over her face even as
she struggled to catch her breath. "I thought you'd neeever come!"
The magic beast let out an aggrieved growl as Tsuya rose into the air,
then bent down on its haunches, preparing to leap into the air after her.
Before it could leave the ground, however, it found itself plummeting down
a hole that had suddenly appeared right beneath its feet.
"Yes! Got 'em!" Hero Gold-Hair cried, jumping out from behind a
nearby tree when he saw that the beast had safely fallen into his pitfall trap.
He ran up to the edge of the hole, his signature Drilldozer Shovel in hand,
grinning widely.
"That was incredible!" Telma said, running up after Hero Gold-Hair and
peering down into the hole with evident awe. Inside, the magic beast lay
unconscious, not moving a muscle.
"Ehe he!" Wuha Gappoli chuckled, grinning with pride as she stepped
up alongside Telma to look down the hole herself. "Whaddaya think?" she
asked, lounging back and resting her head on her entwined hands. "Pretty
cool, huh?"
"Hang on!" Hero Gold-Hair protested. "I'm the one who dug that hole,
you know! Why are you acting all high and mighty about it?"
"Hey, come on!" Wuha said, waving her right hand dismissively and
smirking cleverly in the face of Hero Gold-Hair's befuddled expression.
"All for one and one for all, right?"
"Hah. Cheeky, aren't you?" Hero Gold-Hair smirked wryly as he rested
the Drilldozer Shovel on his shoulder. "Well, then, let's get that magic beast
out of there!"
"Oh, yes, of course!" Telma nodded, reaching towards the magic beast
trapped in the pit. "I'll tame this one right away!"
As Telma was handling her part of the job, Aryun Keats rolled up in her
cargo wagon form, followed by Valentine and Tsuya, who had been waiting
from atop the cliff.
"Haaah...haaah..." Tsuya panted as she made her way down. "WhWhyyy do I have to be the baaait, though...?"
"Magic beasts are quite clever," Valentine answered, resting her jaw
against the index finger of her right hand as she followed Tsuya down the
cliff. "They would be much more cautious if it were Riliangiu or myself
playing your part."
"We need Aryun to carry the luggage, Hero Gold-Hair to give us
instructions, and Miss Telma to tame the magic beasts," Wuha added,
turning her cocksure smile Tsuya and Valentine's way. "You've gotta play
the role of bait by process of elimination."
"Yes, quite right," Hero Gold-Hair said, nodding along to Wuha's
explanation as he watched Valentine pull the magic beast out of the hole
with her threads of darkness. "And by that logic, there should be no issue
with using you as the bait for our next round...right, Wuha?"
"Exactly!" Wuha said, nodding in agreement until it suddenly dawned
on her that it was her name Hero Gold-Hair had mentioned. "I
mean...wait...what?!" Her eyes went wide, panic overtaking her smug
expression.
"I seeee!" said Tsuya, placing a hand on Wuha's shoulder and smiling
cheerfully down at the djinn. "Let's have Miss Wuuuha do it this time,
then!"
"Wait...what? What?" Wuha repeated, looking well and truly distressed.
"All right, Wuha, we're counting on you," said Hero Gold-Hair.
"Everyone, return to your positions!"
"Yes, sir!" replied Valentine, Tsuya, and Telma as the three of them, plus
Hero Gold-Hair, spread out to assume their places.
"Wait!" said Wuha, looking around frantically every which way. "Me?
Are you serious? Me?"
"I will lead the next magic beast your way," came Riliangiu's telepathic
voice speaking in Wuha's mind. Riliangiu had been playing the role of
reconnaissance, scanning the forest for serviceable magic beasts.
"You're serious?" Wuha said, cold sweat running down her back.
"You're seriously doing this? With me?"
The next second, an enormous magic beast appeared from deeper in the
forest, felling trees as it charged straight for Wuha Gappoli.
"E-Eeeeeeeek!!!" Wuha shrieked, running like her life depended on it.
"H-Hey! Wuha!" Hero Gold-Hair shouted from behind a nearby tree.
"The next hole is this way!"
Wuha, however, was entirely too preoccupied with running for her life
for Hero Gold-Hair's words to register. "Aaaaaaahhh!" she cried. "I can't, I
can't, I can't, I can't, I caaaaaan't!!!"
◇ ◇ ◇
"I tell you..." Hero Gold-Hair furrowed his brow as he looked down at
Wuha Gappoli. "Is it so hard to just follow instructions?" He'd had to
scramble to dig a new pitfall trap to catch the beast chasing after Wuha,
who was now lying on the ground with her arms and legs spread eagle, both
physically and mentally exhausted.
Wuha seemed to be trying to say something back but she was unable to
catch her breath, let alone form articulate words.
"Miss Wuuuha..." Tsuya said, her smile looking distinctly strained. "I'll
do the neeext one, okaaay?"
Off to the side, Valentine was just finishing up wrapping their newest
acquisition. Aryun Keats was waiting to the side, her cargo wagon form
already piled full with a considerable number of magic beasts.
"All right..." Hero Gold-Hair grunted, nodding as he counted the magic
beasts they had caught so far. "I suppose it's about time we take a break."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you ever so very very much!" gushed
Telma, running up to Hero Gold-Hair and bowing her head over and over
again between her profuse words of gratitude. "The way things have been
going, I might just manage to make the shipment by the deadline!"
"It is peculiar though, isn't it?" mused Valentine, tilting her head
curiously to look over at Telma as she manipulated her threads of darkness.
"With your taming abilities, I wouldn't expect you to have any trouble
earning the obedience of magic beasts of this level."
"I couldn't have said it better myself!" Telma cried out, her eyes
suddenly full of tears. "I swear, I've never had trouble taming magic beasts
before! I thought this time would be the same as always, but no matter how
hard I tried, they would just break free of my control and go on a rampage!
I haven't been able to tame them unless they're unconscious at the bottom
of a hole or wrapped up in those dark threads of yours! It's very strange..."
Having said her piece, she hung her shoulders despondently, choking back
her tears.
Hero Gold-Hair folded his arms in thought. Hmm... he wondered. So
something strange is going on. It's almost like the magic beasts around here
have all suddenly gone savage...
As Hero Gold-Hair thought the matter over, Aryun Keats came up to
speak to him, still in her cargo wagon form. "Hero Gold-Hair, may I
perhaps have a word?"
"Hm?" Hero Gold-Hair responded. "Oh, Keats. What's wrong?"
"Well, Sir," Aryun Keats reported. "It seems that the magic beasts you
loaded into me just now had foreign objects stuck to their bodies..." A small
rack appeared beside her cargo compartment, displaying a number of what
appeared to be large needles. They were hefty implements and were
fletched with feathers like arrows. It appeared that someone had shot the
magic beasts with these needles from long range.
"What are these needles?" Hero Gold-Hair asked, picking one up in his
hand and staring at it intently.
"These needles were found in the bodies of every single one of the magic
beasts who were resistant to Madame Telma's taming abilities," Aryun
answered. "Upon closer inspection, they seem to have been coated with
some sort of stimulant."
"Hmm..." Hero Gold-Hair muttered, looking the needle up and down
once again as he took in the information. "You don't suppose these are the
reason Telma's taming ability hasn't been working, do you?"
"A-A needle, you say?" Telma asked, staring at it over Hero Gold-Hair's
shoulder.
"Let me see," said Valentine, picking up one of the needles herself and
touching a fingertip to its tip. "Well! This is quite the stimulant indeed! If
these magic beasts were all injected with a drug like this, it's no surprise
your taming ability didn't work on them."
"Huuuh! I seeee," Tsuya said, joining in the crowd peering at the
suspicious needles.
Next came Riliangiu, who had returned from her separate operations in
the forest. She stepped up to the scene and held out her right hand towards
the needle, speaking a quick incantation. As a specialist in surveillance,
Riliangiu possessed the skill Identify. A magic circle appeared in midair in
front of her hand, rotating around the tip of the needle.
"Well now, this is quite a hazardous little thing!" she exclaimed. "The
stimulant drug coating the tip of this needle is strong enough to be in
violation of the law. It's so powerful that it could even cause its target to die
of overstimulation under the wrong circumstances. I can only imagine that
whoever is behind this must be fairly dangerous."
"Huh," Hero Gold-Hair said, leaning in to peek at the window
Riliangiu's skill had created. "Who would have thought this needle would
be coated with such a troublesome drug?"
Thunk.
Just then, Hero Gold-Hair felt a strange sensation in his thigh. "Hm?" he
mumbled, turning his head to look. What he saw was a needle sticking out
of his leg, exactly like the one he had been examining only moments ago.
"Wh-What in the blazes?!" he cried, hastily grabbing the needle to yank it
out.
"H-Hero Gold-Hair! No!" said Riliangiu, holding out her arm to stop
him. "If you try to pull that needle out, the stimulant will enter your body
all at once! And since your body isn't nearly as large as one of these magic
beasts, you might end up in a truly dangerous situation. Leave this to me."
She held out her arm and cast a spell, conjuring a magic circle that appeared
around the needle sticking out of Hero Gold-Hair's thigh, when...
Thunk.
"Wh-What?" As Riliangiu reached out to remove the needle, she felt
something strike her right arm—another needle, just like the one in Hero
Gold-Hair's thigh. "We're being targeted! But where are they shooting
from?!"
"Th-This is bad!" said Hero Gold-Hair, barking orders as he hid behind
a tree. "We're taking fire! Everyone, scatter!"
The rest of Hero Gold-Hair's party ran every which way, hastily hiding
themselves behind trees as well. Just then, however, a deluge of needles
came raining from overhead. It was as if their attacker had been waiting for
them to do precisely that.
"Well, well, well..." said Valentine, weaving a web with her dark threads
to protect the party from the missiles coming down from above. "We seem
to be in a rather precarious situation..."
"Grh..." Hero Gold-Hair grunted as he hid behind his tree. "Where are
those needles coming from?" He searched every which way for a sign of
where their attacker might be located, but he could already feel his thoughts
growing confused from the drug coursing through his system.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Tch." Janderena clicked her tongue in irritation, glaring down at the
protective webbing Valentine had erected to protect the party from their
needles. "They've stopped us with some kind of barrier..."
"Attack, attack, more more more!" Yanderena sang to a rhythm of her
own, her abnormally large black eyes open even wider than usual. "I can
shoot you any time, anywhere! Ah ha ha ha ha!" She had a large bow in her
hands, ready to shoot more needle-tipped arrows at a moment's notice.
Yanderena was proficient in all sorts of deadly weapons, and was well able
to handle the hefty longbow. Even from as far away as they were, she had
been able to hit Hero Gold-Hair and Riliangiu as easily as the much larger
magic beasts.
"No," said Janderena, fiddling with the beads of her abacus as
Yanderena waited impatiently to take another shot. "According to my
calculations, your arrows would be unable to penetrate the threads making
up that obstruction."
"Oh reeeaaally?" Yanderena sang, spinning in a dissatisfied pirouette.
"But we won't know until we tryyy!"
"No need," said Janderena, returning the abacus to her back. "Some of
the needles will have hit their target. Now all we need to do is wait for the
stimulant to take effect as they hide behind that wall..." Her lips curled up
in a leering smile, chuckling darkly as she watched.
"I suppose, I suppose, I suppose that's true!" Yanderena agreed, pressing
her cheek up against her sister's, a near identical smile coming to her face
as well. "Ah ha ha ha ha!"
◇ ◇ ◇
As Janderena and Yanderena spied with leering smiles, on the other side
of the barrier, Wuha Gappoli wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.
"Phew!" she said, breathing a sigh of relief as she pulled Riliangiu's face
back with both of her hands. "Just in the nick of time..."
Riliangiu, meanwhile, seemed to have no idea whatsoever what was
going on. "I... What was I doing...?" she said, utterly stupefied. Underneath
her, Tsuya was lying on her back...or, to be more accurate, it seemed that
Riliangiu had been lying on top of Tsuya, her arms holding the human
woman down.
"O-Oh thank goooodness," Tsuya said. "That was so scaaarry,
Riliangiuuu! Your eeeyes suddenly went all bloooodshot when you pushed
me dooown!"
"I...pushed Madame Tsuya down?" Riliangiu repeated, trying
desperately to recall what she had been doing. How peculiar... she thought,
her mouth frowning underneath Wuha Gappoli's hands. The last thing I
remember is realizing that there was a needle sticking out of my leg...
"Heh heh heh..." Wuha giggled, letting go of her face and smacking her
on the shoulder. "Want me to explain?"
"Y-Yes, if you don't mind..." Riliangiu said, looking genuinely puzzled.
"It's the effect of that stimulant! You know, the one from the needle you
got shot with. You got crazy worked up and went to take it out on Madame
Tsuya's defenseless body!"
"What?" said Riliangiu. "B-But..."
"Well, not that I blame you," Wuha went on. "I ran an analysis on the
stimulant's basic composition, and it seems like this thing has the effect of
kicking a living thing's three fundamental appetites into overdrive. First
food, then sex. And when both of those appetites are fulfilled, finally sleep.
That's why those critters ended up like that." She pointed a finger in the
direction of the magic beasts stashed in Aryun Keats's cargo bay.
"Y-You were able to figure out all that?" Riliangiu asked, balking with
surprise. "You?"
"That'll teach you to underestimate a manor djinn!" Wuha chided her,
cackling pridefully. "We manor djinns are creatures who take the form of
habitable dwellings, luring humans or demons inside and lulling them to
sleep with our special medicine. With a background like that, you can bet I
know a thing or two about drugs! One taste is all it takes me to analyze the
precise effect of a drug—and whipping up something to counteract it is a
piece of cake!" She puffed out her chest and stood haughtily with her hands
on her hips—although with how flat her chest was, it unfortunately didn't
have much of an effect...
"I-I see..." said Riliangiu, a faraway look on her face. "So you were the
one who restored me to my senses. But where were those needles being
fired from, I wonder..."
"Uuum..." Tsuya sat up, her cheeks blushing red. "You really don't
remember aaanything?"
"I don't," Riliangiu confirmed. "Perhaps it's a side effect of the drug..."
"Ah ha ha! Well, that's a pity!" Wuha laughed, to the chagrin of Tsuya
and Riliangiu both. "In my case, as soon as the drug entered my body, I was
able to break it down into its components. Right now I have my whole body
producing the antidote I made. So this is the fastest way to get it into your
system!" With that, she grabbed Riliangiu's head with both hands and
brought her lips to hers, their tongues entwining as she transferred saliva
from her mouth into Riliangiu's.
M-Meaning... Riliangiu thought, finally understanding why Tsuya had
been blushing so furiously, the antidote is her saliva. I-I must have been
partaking of Madame Wuha's saliva this way just moments earlier! She
pulled away, peeling Wuha Gappoli off her. Their mouths separated with a
wet smack.
"And so!" Wuha cackled, wiping the saliva from her face with her right
hand. "That's the gist of it!"
"W-Well, I-I suppose it was an emergency, so I'll refrain from making
too much of a fuss..." Riliangiu said, wiping the spit from her own mouth as
well. "B-But perhaps there was some way other than kissing..." Her cheeks,
however, were turning a particularly vivid shade of red. I-I can't believe my
first kiss was with a girl...!
"We have biiigger fish to fry!" said Tsuya. "Hero Gooold-Hair was hit
with one of the neeeedles! We need to get him the aaantidote! A-And
maaaybe, we could put it in thiiis if you don't mind," she added, holding
out one of the party's canteens.
"Really?" said Wuha. "Wouldn't it be faster to give it to him directly
than put it in a container like that?"
"S-S-Stiiill!" Tsuya protested. "You caaan't just go around kiiissing
people like that!"
As Wuha Gappoli and Tsuya argued, however, Valentine, who had been
busy protecting them with her threads of darkness, looked over at Hero
Gold-Hair and cocked her head. "Hm?" she said, noticing a change.
Hero Gold-Hair slowly turned his head to look back at Valentine, his
shoulders heaving up and down with heavy breaths. His eyes were red and
bloodshot, his trousers straining mightily against a protuberance in his
crotch region that seemed poised to rip the fabric apart. "Woooman..." he
moaned, panting like a beast as he began shambling Valentine's direction.
"What? H-Hero Gold-Hair?!" Valentine recoiled at Hero Gold-Hair's
strange behavior, her eyes going wide in disbelief. "This is bad! The
stimulant's gotten to Hero Gold-Hair! He's acting strange!" Valentine was
busy keeping her wall of threads directly overhead to stop the needles from
raining down upon them, meaning she was stuck unable to move from the
spot. She looked all around, frantic for some kind of solution.
"Heeey, Hero Gold-Hair!" said Wuha, interposing herself between Hero
Gold-Hair and Valentine. "How about a steamy hot kiss full of my special
antidote? I promise it'll perk you right up!" She ran towards Hero GoldHair, puckering her lips, only to be stopped in her tracks by Hero GoldHair's muscular arms.
"Hmpf..." Hero Gold-Hair grunted.
"Huh?" said Wuha, confused and distressed. "Wh-What? Hang on, what
are you doing?" Hero Gold-Hair wasn't moving to embrace her at all;
rather, he was pushing her back, preventing her from getting near his face.
"Give me wooomaaan!!!" Hero Gold-Hair bellowed, tossing her to the
side with both arms.
"N-Nothing?!" Wuha protested as she soared through the air. "You don't
see me as a woman at all?!"
"This is just conjecture," Aryun Keats offered, "But perhaps to a true
boob fiend like Hero Gold-Hair, someone with a chest as flat as yours
would not qualify as a target for sexual attraction. Incidentally, as I am
currently in the form of a cargo wagon, I, too, am outside the range of his
preferred body type."
"Th-Thank you for the explanation, I guess— Oof!" Wuha Gappoli said
as she finally landed face-first on the ground, losing her consciousness on
the spot. Hero Gold-Hair, meanwhile, was drawing closer and closer to
Valentine, still under the effect of the stimulant.
"Oh no!" said Valentine. "At this rate, Hero Gold-Hair is going to
assault me!" Suddenly, however, her distressed eyes lit up. Wait a minute...
she thought. Would it be so bad to be assaulted by Hero Gold-Hair? I could
never manage to successfully entice him with Madame Tsuya around
keeping an eye on everything... But now, since it's an emergency, perhaps...
She nodded and looked up at the oncoming man. "Everyone!" she declared,
undulating her body more than was perhaps strictly necessary. "Hero GoldHair has lost his mind thanks to the drug! But fear not! I, Valentine, will
offer my own body to keep him occupied and stop him in place! Please
forgive me for any unseemly acts I might commit!"
"Um..." Telma said from behind the cover of a nearby tree. "Couldn't
you just capture him with your threads, like you did with the magic beasts?"
She was, of course, absolutely correct. Valentine, however, chose to ignore
Telma's words entirely.
"Here, Hero Gold-Hair!" she said, her voice breaking as her cheeks
began to flush with desire. "Don't hold back! Enjoy my voluptuous,
alluring body and keep yourself occupied for as long as you can!"
Ah... Telma thought, a cold look in her eyes as she descried Valentine's
intention. She's doing it on purpose...
Before Telma's eyes, Hero Gold-Hair, who had lost his senses
completely, contorted his body with lust as he advanced on Valentine,
grabbing at her chest with greedy hands.
"Anh!" Valentine moaned. "I-I'm certainly not letting you do this
because I want to! But I must protect everyone from Hero Gold-Hair's
rampage, for Hero Gold-Hair's own sake! Yes—I have no choice but to
sacrifice my very body!" She seemed quite excited herself as she let Hero
Gold-Hair do whatever he liked. "Yes... No need to hold back! I, Valentine,
will use my body to hold you in place. But only because I have no choice!
This is the only way!"
Ahhh... Valentine thought to herself, her breath hot, her cheeks flushed,
and an elated smile on her face as the drugged out Hero Gold-Hair fondled
her body to his heart's content. Hero Gold-Hair is so wonderful! At this
rate, he'll end up doing this...and that...and maybe even that! Yes, and all
because I have to. It was the only thing I could do!
Hero Gold-Hair's hands grasped at Valentine's outfit, poised to rip it off
and expose her generously portioned breasts, when he was interrupted by
the sound of Tsuya's scream.
"I-It's the middle of the daaay!" she shouted. "No hanky-paaanky, please
and thaaank you!" She swung the Drilldozer Shovel, which she had picked
up off the ground after Hero Gold-Hair dropped it in his delirious haze, and
hit Hero Gold-Hair hard in the face.
"Gwaaaaah!" Hero Gold-Hair cried out, collapsing to the ground and
clutching his face with both hands.
"H-Hero Gold-Hair?!" Valentine's face went pale.
"Oh, my..." said Telma, furrowing her brow as she looked pityingly at
Hero Gold-Hair, who was writhing on the ground. "That looks painful..."
"W-Well done, Madame Tsuya!" Aryun Keats said, her voice sounding
somewhat forced. "Not a moment of hesitation..."
Tsuya ran over to where Wuha Gappoli was lying on the forest floor,
still unconscious and twitching after being tossed aside by Hero Gold-Hair.
Then she grabbed Wuha's face in her hands and closed her eyes tight,
kissing her deeply on the lips.
"What?!" Everyone in the area cried out with shock at the development
as a loud sucking sound filled the area. Tsuya, it seemed, was sucking the
saliva right out of the unconscious Wuha Gappoli's mouth.
After a while, Tsuya tossed Wuha back down. She landed with an
undignified "Aghbth!" and resumed her position face down on the ground.
Ignoring Wuha Gappoli's plight completely and keeping her mouth shut
tight to prevent the antidote stored in her cheeks from leaking out, Tsuya
rushed back to Hero Gold-Hair's side, where he was still curled up on the
ground, clutching his face in pain where it had been struck by the Drilldozer
Shovel.
Tsuya grabbed Hero Gold-Hair's face tight in her arms, steeled her
nerves, and kissed him. "Mhhh!" She entwined her tongue with his,
releasing the antidote she had taken from Wuha's mouth directly into his.
"Mhf... Mhgff..." At first Hero Gold-Hair held Tsuya tight, moving to
remove her clothes, but as the medicine entered his body, his movements
began to relax. Eventually he went still, and Tsuya, seeing that he had
settled down, removed her lips from his.
"Hero Gooold-Hair..." Tsuya said, gazing down at him with worried
eyes.
Hero Gold-Hair still seemed to be in a great deal of pain, but
nonetheless he managed to croak out a few words. "That's right... I'm okay,
Tsuya..." he said, only managing to halfway open his eyes.
"Hero Gooold-Hair... Thank goooodness..." Tsuya said, smiling with
relief.
"Yes, thank goodness!" agreed Valentine. "Are you two all right?"
At those words, however, Tsuya took to her feet, wielding the Drilldozer
Shovel in one hand as she advanced on Valentine.
"N-No, Madame Tsuya, please understand!" Valentine said, offering a
desperate string of excuses. "I was only doing that because I had to, in order
to stop Hero Gold-Hair from going on a rampage! It was the only way! I
couldn't stop him, so I had to offer him my body instead!"
Tsuya bounced the Drilldozer Shovel menacingly in her hand. "Oooh?"
she said. "But it seeeemed like you were quite haaappy about it, weren't
you? It didn't look like you were doing it because you had to at aaall!" She
leaned in, pressing her face right up against Valentine's.
"U-Um, well...I-I'm sorry!" was all Valentine could say, tears in her eyes
as she apologized to Tsuya.
A second later, the sound of the Drilldozer Shovel impacting flesh rang
out in the forest.
◇ ◇ ◇
"That was a pleasantly bracing strike!" Valentine opined, fresh red
markings on her face as she maintained the barrier of dark thread.
"You have to keep up your threeeads, after all," Tsuya grumbled, folding
her arms and puffing up her cheeks in a childish pout. "I had to hold back a
liiittle..."
"Yes, yes, thank you for the consideration. And I'm very sorry that I got
just the littlest bit carried away," Valentine apologized, wielding her magic
power even as she spoke to ensure the safety of the group.
Somewhere behind Tsuya and Valentine, meanwhile, Riliangiu was busy
helping Hero Gold-Hair to his feet from where he had been lying sprawled
out on the ground. "I feel like I've been through the wringer, let me tell
you..." he said, shaking his head darkly.
"Well, that's only to be expected," said Wuha as she walked up beside
him, hands folded behind her head. "That stimulant was some pretty strong
stuff. It's one thing for someone from the Realm of Evil like Riliangiu, but
you're a human. It's no surprise you're having a rough time even with my
special antidote in your system."
"I see..." Hero Gold-Hair said, rubbing his forehead as he nodded in
understanding. "That explains the splitting headache, I suppose..." Just then,
Aryun Keats drove up in her cargo wagon form, her cargo bay piled high
with magic beasts—at a glance, there seemed to be at least twice the
number they had assembled up to this point. "Hm? Keats, where did those
magic beasts come from?"
"According to Madame Wuha's analysis of the stimulant, once the magic
beasts have satisfied their appetites for food and sex, the next stage should
be an overwhelming desire for sleep," Aryun explained. "I thought there
might be more magic beasts who've been dosed and ended up fast asleep.
So I looked around, and sure enough there are magic beasts sleeping like
logs all over the forest! I was able to find all we need."
"You're right! There's easily over forty!" Telma cried for joy when she
finished counting and began bowing her head over and over again in
effusive thanks. "Thank you! Thank you ever so much! Now all we need to
do is deliver these magic beasts to the racing hall at Dark Mountain
Pudding Pudding Park!"
"Well..." said Hero Gold-Hair, a satisfied smile coming to his face as he
glanced over at Telma. "I suppose everything worked out all right in the
end, one way or another..."
"We have the magic beasts we need, and the needles seem to have
stopped raining down as well," Valentine said, dismissing her threads. "I
don't see any reason not to head straight for Dark Mountain Pudding
Pudding Park, do you?" She turned towards Hero Gold-Hair, smiling
cheerfully in spite of the shovel mark that was still clearly visible on her
face.
"Fair enough," Hero Gold-Hair agreed. "I'm a bit curious about
whoever those bastards that attacked us are, but completing the job should
take priority for the time being..." Shaking his head, he slowly pulled
himself to his unsteady feet.
"H-Hero Gooold-Hair!" Tsuya cried, running over before he could teeter
once again. She wrapped her arms around his body, lending him support.
"Rhf..." Hero Gold-Hair grunted. "Thank you, Tsuya."
"Not at aaall!" Tsuya demurred. "This is the leeeast I could do! But you
knooow, it seems like this job took a looot out of you... Maybe, once we get
paaaid, we could spend some time taking it easy in the hooot springs! We
haven't done thaaat in a while..."
Hero Gold-Hair nodded in approval at Tsuya's suggestion. "Good idea,"
he said. "Lately it's been part-time jobs morning, noon, and night. It might
be good to treat ourselves for a change."
"Oho?" Wuha Gappoli, who had been keeping an eye on Hero GoldHair and Tsuya, suddenly seemed to notice something. "Well, well, well..."
she said, squatting down in front of Hero Gold-Hair. A djinn of short
stature, Wuha's current stance brought her face directly on level with Hero
Gold-Hair's crotch. "Your body seems pretty exhausted," she snickered,
peering straight between the man's legs, "but it looks like your little guy's
raring to go!"
Indeed, while Hero Gold-Hair seemed tired enough to collapse on the
spot, the organ between his legs, at least, looked to be full of energy.
"Oh dear, that looks like it must hurt!" Valentine smiled seductively,
licking her lips at the sight of the bulge in Hero Gold-Hair's pants. "Why
don't you let Valentine take care of that for you. Only out of concern for
your well-being, of course..." she said, reaching for the zipper of his
trousers.
"I tooold you to knock it oooff!!!" Tsuya cried, swinging the Drilldozer
Shovel at Valentine's face once more as Valentine brought her head down to
the level of Hero Gold-Hair's lower body. No longer occupied with her
threads, however, this time Valentine was free to dodge the blow. The
shovel missed her by a hair.
"My, my!" Valentine teased, grinning beguilingly at the human woman.
"I have the utmost respect for you, Madame Tsuya, but if you think I will
allow you to stand in my way, you are sorely mistaken."
"Hmph!" Tsuya said, readying the Drilldozer Shovel for another swing.
"Fwa ha ha ha ha!" cackled Valentine, crossing her arms dramatically as
she faced off against Tsuya.
And then, just at that moment...
Gurgle...
A loud rumbling sound issued from Valentine's stomach, cutting through
the tense atmosphere that had surrounded the pair. A second later,
Valentine's body abruptly shrank. "Oh, my..." she said. "It seems I've run
out of magic power..."
Ordinarily, Valentine was the taller of the two women, but between
capturing magic beasts and creating the barrier to protect the party from
incoming missiles, she had spent a considerable amount of her magic power
creating threads of darkness and was now suffering the effects of magic
depletion—complete with a smaller stature. Valentine was not originally
from the world of Klyrode, but hailed from the Realm of Evil, a world thick
with malicium. To survive in Klyrode, with its low density of atmospheric
malicium, she required constant infusions of magical power to sustain her
physical body.
"Well, let's call it a truuuce for now..." Tsuya said. "We should go to
Dark Mountain Pudding Pudding Paaark as faaast as we can, complete the
jooob, and recharge your maliiicium first..."
"Yes, thank you, I very much appreciate it." The miniaturized Valentine
nodded in agreement.
"N-No need to worry on my account..." Hero Gold-Hair said, using his
cape to conceal his crotch as casually as he could manage as he made his
way over to Aryun Keats. "Let's just hurry up and finish the job."
◇ ◇ ◇
Before long, Hero Gold-Hair and company piled on board Aryun Keats
and made their way through the forest. They made a point to stick to areas
with a thick leafy canopy overhead, preventing Janderena and Yanderena
from getting a clear view of their progress as they watched from their camp
atop the nearby cliff.
"L-Look! They're getting away!" Janderena shouted, urgently raising
her voice. "Yanderena! Hurry up and fire more needles at them before they
escape!"
Yanderena, however, did no such thing. "Gone, gone, gooone!" she
sang, dancing frantically with her bow in hand. "No more needles leeeft!
There's nothing, nothing, nothing I can dooo!" The only thing it seemed she
was able to do now was dance, her huge eyes brimming over with tears.
"Wh-What do we do?!" Janderena said, panic rising as she looked
between Yanderena and Hero Gold-Hair's party. "That was the only method
of long range attack we had!"
"No needles, no drug, nothing to be dooone!" Yanderena sang, dancing
through her bitter tears.
Janderena clicked her tongue in irritation and began adding sums on her
oversized abacus. "In that case, our only option is to meet up with the
carriage team and lie in wait for them at the forest exit..." she said, clacking
the beads of her abacus back and forth as she considered her strategy.
"We'll ambush them and take their spoils..."
At that moment, as Janderena was distracted with her calculations,
something seized her by the head and hoisted her up into the air.
"Wh-What's happening?!" she cried, clutching her abacus in both hands
and swinging it every which way in an attempt to break free of whatever it
was that had her in its grip. "Who's there?!" she demanded. "What are
you...d-do...ing..."
The creature held Janderena up in front of it, and the color drained from
her face when she saw what had her in its grip. It was a giant—a humanoid
magic beast nearly ten meters tall, staring intently at her as a smile crept to
his face.
Something about that smile struck Janderena as distinctly lecherous.
"W-Wait!" she protested. "Wh-Why is a giant looking at me like that?!
D-Don't tell he sees me as a potential mate! But I thought giants barely
even had emotions!" Then she saw a glint of light reflecting off something
—something that made her gasp. "W-Wait..."
Sticking out of the giant's head was a needle, one of the ones Yanderena
had fired off only moments ago.
"It can't be..." Janderena said, somehow managing to go even paler with
horror. "You're...under the effect of our stimulant..."
In response, the giant stuck out his tongue and gave Janderena a big,
wet, slobbery lick right on the face.
"E-Eeeewww!!!" Janderena shrieked. "Y-Yanderena, what are you
doing?! Come help me at once! This is your arrow's fault in the first place!"
She looked down at the giant's foot, where Yanderena had been dancing
earlier, only to find her sister gone.
Damn that good-for-nothing sister of mine! Janderena thought, a vein
popping on her forehead from sheer anger. She ran away!
The giant just beamed down at the much smaller woman in his arms.
Hero Gold-Hair's party, of course, had no idea any of this was
happening. By now, they were long out of sight.
◇A Few Days Later—A Building Somewhere◇
In a second-story room of a nondescript building located in the back
alley of a town near the border between the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode
and the Dark One's territory, the demon fox sisters Kintsuno the Gold and
Gintsuno the Silver were making their case to Janderena, treasurer of the
Shadow Conglomerate.
"And so," Kintsuno concluded, wringing her hands and bowing
obsequiously to the woman seated in the chair in front of them, "we would
very much appreciate some funds from the Shadow Conglomerate war
chest..."
"I-It's a direct order from the Shadow King himself, you know,"
Gintsuno added. "And if you could, we'd appreciate a bit more money than
last time..."
The two put on their most mollifying smiles, bowing again and again as
they begged before Janderena. Janderena, for her part, merely regarded the
pair with silent contempt. She leaned back on her chair's armrest with her
legs folded imperiously, revealing the thigh-high boots she wore under her
black gothic lolita dress.
Wh-What's this...? Kintsuno thought. Why isn't she saying anything?
I-I don't know how much more of this silence I can stand... thought
Gintsuno.
Still, despite their mounting distress, the demon fox sisters kept on
wringing their hands pleadingly, forcing themselves to smile.
Finally, Janderena spoke. "Money, is it...?" she said with a sigh.
"Y-Yes!" yipped Kintsuno.
"As soon as possible, if you please!" Gintsuno added.
Taking heart in the fact that Janderena had finally replied, the two leaned
forward with renewed eagerness. Janderena, however, glared at the foxes
through heavy-lidded eyes and sighed once more. She produced her
oversized abacus from the wall behind her and began flicking the beads
back and forth. Then, with a loud clack, she abruptly stopped.
"Hm..." Janderena said, sighing yet a third time as she thrust her hand
into her pocket. She produced a bag of gold and tossed it over to Kintsuno.
Kintsuno's face split into a broad grin as she snatched the bag out of the
air. "Thank...y-you...?" she started to say, but the second she looked inside
she went abruptly stiff.
"Wh-What's wrong, elder sister Kintsu...n-no...?" Gintsuno started to
ask, sensing something was off and following her sister's gaze into the bag.
When she saw its contents, however, she went stiff as well.
Inside the bag was nothing but a single gold coin.
The two turned to look up at Janderena with mounting distress.
"U-Um..." Kintsuno ventured.
"What's this...?" Gintsuno asked.
"Money," was all Janderena said.
"Yip?" said Kintsuno.
"Yip yip?" echoed Gintsuno.
"I gave you your money," said Janderena. "Now get out of my face."
"Y-Yip?"
"Y-Yip yip?"
The fox sisters' eyes went wide. They seemed to be rooted to the spot.
"I told you, didn't I?!" Janderena snapped, seething with anger. "Right
now, that's all I have to give you! That's the limit! Am I understood?! Now
get out there and make me more money!" Enraged, she lifted the abacus
high above her head.
"Eeeeek!" Kintsuno cried.
"I get it! I get it!" pleaded Gintsuno.
The two scrambled out of the room, fleeing before Janderena's wrath.
Once they were gone, Janderena sat back down on her chair, glaring after
them as she caught her breath.
"What a week..." she grumbled, returning to her abacus. "I barely
escaped being violated by a giant...Yanderena's run off to gods know
where...and on top of it all, we didn't capture a single magic beast..."
For the next several days, townsfolk swore they could hear the telltale
sound of the beads of an abacus clacking back and forth almost nonstop
whenever they happened to pass by the building.