◇Houghtow City—Flio's House◇
It was early in the morning—Blossom's customary time to get out of
bed. The sky was gradually becoming less dark, but it would still be quite
some time before the sun crested the horizon.
"Fwaaah!" rousing herself from slumber, Blossom yawned, stretching
her arms wide as she sat up in bed. Like the other rooms in Flio's house,
Blossom's room was divided into two chambers, one for sleep and one to
serve as a private sitting room. Blossom slept in the nude by habit, alone in
her large bed. Today, too, she had woken up as naked as the day she was
born.
"All right! Time for another day working hard in the... Hm?" As got out
of bed, Blossom felt something strange—a weight resting atop her hips. She
looked down at her body. All of her hard labor in the fields had given
Blossom a powerfully built physique to rival any man's, her chiseled
abdominal muscles forming a distinct six pack. At the moment, however, a
slender pair of arms was wrapped around her muscular middle. There was a
small girl clinging to Blossom's body, sound asleep. Even though Blossom
had already roused herself and gotten out of bed, the girl had held on tight,
clinging to Blossom's body without waking up herself.
"That's right..." Blossom said. "Kora came to bed with me last night,
didn't she?" She smiled fondly, remembering the previous night as she
looked down on the determinedly snoozing Kora.
She's gotten quite attached to me, hasn't she... Blossom thought to
herself, patting Kora softly on the head. Well, if Kora's fine with it, it doesn't
bother me none...
Just then, the door to Blossom's room shot open. "Good morning, Lady
Blossom!" said Ura. "I'm here to pick up Kora!"
Blossom's bed chamber was separated from the entrance to her room by
a partition, one partition over from the entrance to her room. Ura would
have to pass through her private sitting room if he wanted to reach Blossom
and his daughter.
"O-Oh!" said Blossom, poking her head out the door to her bed chamber
with a smile on her face. "Well, good morning, Ura! Or rather..." Suddenly,
remembering she was naked, Blossom ran up to the door and forced it shut.
"H-Hold your horses, will ya? G-Give me just a moment!"
"H-Hm?" said Ura. "Is something the matter, Lady Blossom?"
"No!" Blossom answered. "I-I mean, there's a bit of a situation! It's a bit
much to explain, but just wait a bit, you hear?"
"Won't you tell me what's wrong?" Ura asked from outside the door.
"I'll gladly give you my assistance if you need it!"
"N-No! I-It ain't something I need help with..."
"Really, I'm happy to help!" said Ura. "Here, I'm coming in."
"No, I'm telling you! That'll just make things worse!"
They stood on opposite sides of the door, Ura trying to pull it open and
Blossom desperately trying to hold it closed like a wild game of tug-of-war.
And all the while, in spite of the vigorous motion, Kora kept sleeping as she
peacefully dangled from Blossom's abs, the blanket from the bed wrapped
over her shoulders.
◇Later that Day—Oni Mountain Peak◇
Some time after Blossom had woken up, Flio stood at the foot of the
mountain outside the farm—the one with the oni village located at its peak.
"This village has gotten quite big, hasn't it?" he said, gazing up.
When Flio had first transported the village here, mountain and all, the
village had been limited to the very top of the mountain and immediately
surrounding area. Now, however, there were a number of dwellings even
down near the base of the mountain. Here and there were fields and fruit
orchards as well, each full of hardworking demons.
"Another great achievement on the part of my lord husband, for taking
in those demons who had nowhere to go out of the goodness of his heart,"
Rys gloated as she looked up at the mountain herself. Her lupine demon tail
was fully manifested, wagging happily as well. Hee hee hee! she thought to
herself. Our fighting force continues to increase!
Rys... Flio thought. You're thinking rather loudly, you know... He
smirked wryly at his wife's thoughts that he had inadvertently overheard.
Still, fighting force and such aside, I'm glad I was able to help all those
demons find a stable livelihood...
Ura had founded the village back in the day when he encountered a
group of demons who had turned to petty banditry for want of work. He
took the group under his wing, supporting them with his own labor. There
was only so much he could do to secure a decent life for so many demons,
though, and soon Ura was at his wit's end trying to earn enough money all
on his own.
After Flio's magnanimous act of transporting the village (mountain and
all), the other demons were able to find gainful work at Blossom Acres or
the Fli-o'-Rys General Store. And now that the residents all had plenty of
resources to safely support their lives, rumors of the village had spread
throughout the land, attracting demons from all over to come settle.
As Flio looked up at the mountain in thought, a man with a loud voice
greeted him from behind. "Oho! I was wondering who that was. If it isn't
Lord Flio!"
Flio turned to see Ura, smiling cheerfully as he walked up. Blossom
stood next to him, holding Kora's hand tight in her own.
"Good morning, Ura," said Flio. "And good morning Blossom and
Kora, as well."
"Good morning yourself, Mister Flio!" said Blossom. "Come on, Kora,
say good morning."
"Okay..." Kora said, quietly bowing her head. "Morning..." She must
have been in an especially shy mood today, because she hid behind
Blossom's leg as soon as she squeaked out the words, lowering her head.
Blossom smiled and lovingly ruffled Kora's hair. "Ah ha ha! You're
getting better at your greetings every day, Kora! Good job, kiddo."
Flio smiled his usual easygoing smile. "So, it seems the village is
coming along nicely."
"Yes, quite!" Ura beamed happily. "This is the result of everyone's
efforts. Back in the day it was just me and a small handful of the residents
doing mercenary work to try to earn enough money to keep things going,
but it was always rough going. But since you moved the village here—
mountain and all, as they say—we've all been working in the fields or in
jobs you introduced us to at the Fli-o'-Rys General Store. Now, far from
just barely covering the costs of maintaining the village, we have enough
resources to take on more demons who've lost their employment! Gah ha
ha!" He punctuated the sentiment by cheerfully thumping Flio square on the
shoulder.
"It's been a huge help to me too, let me tell you," said Blossom, smiling
just as happily as Ura. "Now that I've got the help of everyone from the oni
village we have enough manpower to expand the fields in the blink of an
eye. We've even been using the slopes of the mountain for fruit orchards
and the like!" She thumped Ura on the shoulder just like the oni had done to
Flio. Blossom was tall for a woman and had a muscular build, but even in
his human form Ura had a physique worthy of an oni. Needless to say, he
was quite a bit larger still. Your typical woman might have felt intimidated
by the difference in size between the two of them, but Blossom seemed to
pay it no mind at all, cheerfully roughhousing with the much larger oni.
"Oh, I nearly forgot!" Ura said suddenly. "Lord Flio, there is something
I wish to discuss with you before we get to work."
"Something you wish to discuss, hm?" Flio asked, cocking his head.
"Yes. Actually, we at the village have been thinking of holding a
festival," Ura said. "Might we have your permission for such an activity?"
"A festival, huh?" Flio asked.
"That's right!" Ura declared. "We hold a festival in the village every
year, you see. We set up outdoor stalls, and dance, and drink together... It
can get to be a pretty raucous time with everyone up there! Although, I'm
ashamed to say it's been a while since we've been able to hold a proper
festival, what with the shortage of funds we'd been dealing with up until
recently..."
"And now that you're flush with surplus thanks to my lord husband's
generosity, you wish to hold your festival once again?" Rys asked, nodding
along to Ura's account.
"Yes, Lady Rys, that's precisely right!" said Ura.
"Well, I for one don't see the harm in it," Rys said. "A festival is an
excellent way to raise everyone's fighting spirits!" Her tail had appeared
once again, wagging furiously as she smiled and nodded her head.
Rys... Flio thought, smirking wryly to himself. I'm not going to stop
them from having a festival, fighting spirits or not. He smiled his usual
easygoing smile as he turned to address Ura. "Well," he said, "how about
this for an idea—why don't you extend an invitation to the festival to
everyone in Houghtow City as well? It's a special occasion, isn't it? You
might as well liven things up a bit."
"That sounds like a great idea!" Ura said, laughing as he stretched out
his arm as if in preparation for hard labor. "Some visitors to liven up our
festival sounds like a rare treat!"
"You sure are raring to go, eh, Ura?" Blossom observed.
"Of course I am!" answered Ura. "Festivals are an oni's favorite
pastime! I'm sure you'll love it too, Lady Blossom!"
"Well, if you're gonna say all that, I suppose I'd better look forward to
the event!" said Blossom. "I'll be glad to help out with the preparations too,
of course!"
"And we're very glad for your help!"
As Ura and Blossom chatted merrily, Kora came running up between
them on her tiny legs. "Dad...I'll help too!" she said.
"Of course you will!" said Ura. "We'll be counting on you, Kora!"
"I guess me and Kora will both be helping out!" said Blossom, patting
Kora on the head from one side as Ura patted her from the other.
Kora, for her part, smiled happily, thrilled to be getting head pats from
both Ura and Blossom at once.
◇Houghtow City—Flio's House◇
That day, like always, everyone living in Flio's house had all gathered in
the living room to eat breakfast.
"A festival, you say?" Elinàsze asked, looking over towards Blossom as
she ate a spoonful of her soup.
"That's right!" said Blossom, who had begun delivering an impassioned
monologue on the subject to all in attendance the moment she had finished
her food. "It's a commemoration of the day old man Ura put the village up
there on the right track! We'd like all of you to take part and help out with
things if you can!"
"I see, I see!" Calsi'im said, nodding in approval as he sipped his aftermeal tea. "How splendid! It'll be good for the villagers to have a bit of
fun!"
Calsi'im's daughter Rabbitz, incidentally, was currently perched on top
of his shoulders, snoring away with her arms wrapped around his head. The
young girl was still quite sleepy on account of having eaten until her
stomach just about burst at dinner last night.
"Why don't we have meowr store set up a stall?" Uliminas suggested.
"It would be a waste not to!"
"A festival?" Uliminas and Ghozal's daughter Folmina sat up tall in her
chair, beaming and waving her arms. "That sounds fun! I wanna go!"
"If big sis Folmina's going, then me too..." said Balirossa and Ghozal's
son Ghoro, finishing off his drink and looking up at his big sister in the
chair next to him.
"I'd be glad to help with something like that!" Rislei offered with a
smile, already in the middle of helping clean up after dinner.
"Gah ha ha!" Sleip laughed, grabbing Rislei from behind and hoisting
her up into the air. "I'll give it all I got for my little Rislei too!"
"H-Hey!" Rislei exclaimed, her face turning bright red at having
suddenly been lifted off the ground. "Papa! W-Would you stop doing things
like this?! You're embarrassing me!"
In spite of Rislei's protests, however, Sleip began waving her from side
to side in the air without a care in the world.
"Like, Lord Sleip?" Byleri said. "Rislei's, like, just a bit shy, y'know?
You should probably, like, save that kinda stuff for times when the others
aren't around?" She sounded rather easygoing about the whole thing.
"M-Mama!" Rislei objected, turning to look Byleri's direction. "I-It's
not because I'm shy! I don't want to be picked up like this!"
The rest of the household who were still at the table watched the Sleip
family antics with knowing smiles. Same as ever, I see... was the thought
shared universally between them.
The lively conversation continued in the living room for a while. After
some time, Blossom stood up and turned to Kora in the seat beside her. "All
right, Kora," she said. "Wanna come get in the bath with me?"
Kora nodded happily and jumped down from the chair, following close
behind Blossom with a great big smile on her face.
"Ah ha ha!" Blossom laughed, patting the girl fondly on the head. "You
really like your baths, huh, Kora!"
"Uh-huh..." Kora said, smiling. "I like baths... This house has a really
big bath... It's nice..."
Just as Kora said, the bath in Flio's house was abnormally large. It was
split into men's and women's sections, each boasting as much space as the
entire living room. The baths themselves were kept supplied with plenty of
clean, hot water to bathe in thanks to one of Flio's permanent enchantments,
with a mechanism designed to automatically replenish the water in the tubs
whenever it started running low.
The water, it bears mentioning, was transported directly from the Yanagi
bath in the Kinosaki Hot Springs at the strong insistence of Rys and a few
of the other women in the house. They had, of course, explained the
situation to the Kinosaki Hot Springs Village Association and received
formal permission—for the price of a regular fee for the usage of the
spring's water. There was even an official certification posted on the wall
by the entrance to the baths proudly stating: "Water sourced from Kinosaki
Hot Springs."
"In our house, we have to wash with a pail of cold water..." said Kora.
"C'mon!" Blossom beckoned her over. "And remember, you gotta keep
your whole body up to your neck underwater for a count to one hundred!"
"Okay!" said Kora, holding hands with Blossom as they left the living
room headed for the bath.
Flio watched the pair leave, peering intently after them.
◇The Next Day—Oni Village Mountain Foot◇
The next morning, Flio paid another visit to the foot of the mountain
where the oni village was situated, where he was met by Ura.
"Mister Ura," Flio said. "I'm sorry for calling you out here when you
were in the middle of getting ready for the day's work."
"Not at all, not at all!" Ura laughed boisterously. "For a summons from
the one and only Lord Flio, I'd drop whatever I was doing and come
running, no matter what it was! Although, having someone speaking
directly in my head like that was quite an experience..."
Flio had telepathically contacted Ura earlier that morning, saying,
"Pardon me for the interruption, but I'd like to have a short talk before
work today, if you don't mind."
"Sorry about that," Flio said, lowering his head apologetically. "I guess
I've just gotten in the habit lately..."
"Ha ha ha!" Ura laughed. "And that's exactly why I'd drop what I was
doing and come running at one of your summons! Although, and I beg your
pardon, if Kora needed me for something, I might have to prioritize her..."
"Of course," Flio said, smiling his usual easygoing smile. "I'd expect
nothing else when it comes to your child."
The two shared a moment of good cheer before Ura broached the main
topic. "Now then, Lord Flio, what is it you need?"
"Well, the truth is, I was hoping you could tell me more about the state
of affairs in your village," answered Flio. "Do the people there have access
to baths?"
"Baths, is it? Well, mostly we just use things like this," Ura said, holding
out the twisted hand towel he had been wearing draped around his neck.
"Um..." Flio frowned. "What is that...?"
"Well, you see," Ura began, "you dunk a towel in well water, twist it up
tight, and scrub every nook and cranny! That's what we do for bathing. In
the summer months, we'll dig a hole and fill it with water to swim in and
clean our bodies too. Oh, and we occasionally used to go on trips to use the
public bath in the nearby town, but it was run by humans, so the only
people who could come were the ones who could disguise themselves as
humans..."
Flio listened to Ura's explanation with a complicated expression on his
face. Back in my old world Palma, demihumans faced horrible
discrimination. They wouldn't even build waterways in the demihuman
quarters within the capital, to say nothing of bathing facilities. I set up the
baths in our house here myself, but unfortunately, it looks like things ended
up that way in other parts of this world...
"Lord Flio?" Ura said.
"Y-Yes?" Flio answered.
"What's the matter, Lord Flio?" Ura asked, looking in confusion at the
expression on Flio's face. "You went quiet all of a sudden!"
"Oh!" said Flio, wincing. "I'm sorry! We were in the middle of a
conversation, weren't we? Um, Mister Ura...would you prefer it if there
were something like a public bath in the village for everyone to use?"
"A public bath for everyone to use?!" Ura's eyes shot open wide at the
offer. "I'd be delighted to have something like that—everyone in the village
would be overjoyed, I'm sure!"
"I see," said Flio. "Well, in that case..." Holding his arms outstretched,
he turned to face the forest that stood beside the mountain—the original
terrain of the land from before Flio had transplanted Ura's village.
"Lord Flio? What are you doing?!" Ura asked, looking between Flio and
the forest with a dumbfounded expression even though he really should
have been able to guess what Flio had in mind.
Flio cast a spell and, like always, a magic circle appeared before him. It
appeared first in front of his hands before quickly flying forward, growing
bigger and bigger as it approached the forest ahead. Soon there was an
enormous magic circle in the sky above the trees, rotating slowly as Flio
continued casting his spell.
"Wh-What in the world...?" Ura said, nervously swallowing at the sight.
Next, Flio began moving his fingers this way and that. The trees of the
forest were ripped from the ground and flew into the sky in response to his
movements. These were sizable trees, big enough that even with a demon's
preternatural strength, it would still take a considerable amount of labor to
pull one from the ground. Then Flio gestured with his fingers once more,
and all the floating trees suddenly split apart. Bark, roots, and foliage all
sloughed off the woody bodies of the trees in blocks, leaving clean
rectangular logs. The logs began emitting steam, apparently being dried out
in midair.
"N-No way..." Ura stared agape, his wide eyes fixed on the unfolding
scene. "You're doing construction work in midair with those massive logs!"
He watched as the logs came flying together, assembling themselves into
a building. Once Flio had reached a certain stage in the construction, he
pointed his hand straight down. Immediately, the land before him was
cleared with astonishing force, the ground becoming level as countless
rocks and boulders came flying from the forest. Flio laid the rocks down
neatly in the freshly cleared plot, the bumps and roughness polished away
as they flew through the air. Magic circles appeared around them, cutting
the rocks into shape and sending shards of stone flying everywhere. The
shards were sucked into the magic circle and vanished so as not to dirty the
area, while the cut stones flew in to join with the wooden materials
harvested from the trees atop the cleared land to form a completed building.
The whole thing happened lightning fast, all at once.
"I-Incredible..." Ura muttered. It was all he could do to watch as the
fantastically high speed construction unfolded before his eyes.
"I divided the bathhouse into men's and women's sections," Flio said.
"Would you like me to build you an outdoors bath as well?" He had lots of
other ideas for revisions too, discussing each idea with Ura before quickly
going to implement it. "Why don't I expand the reception area so you can
use it for taking meals?" he proposed before adding, "Maybe we should set
up a lodging house too, just in case..."
All Ura could say in response, however, was, "Sure, sounds good..."
over and over again like a parrot. "Sure, sounds good... Sure, sounds
good..."
Flio kept working, magically implementing one idea after another and
making the building grander and grander.
◇ ◇ ◇
After half an hour of work, Flio finally lowered his hands. "All right,"
he said, nodding and smiling his usual easygoing smile. "That should do it."
Before him stood a two-story building, with one large room on each
floor. Visitors would enter through a curtain hanging over the main door,
the word "Bath" written on the fabric.
"W-Wait..." said Ura, raising his voice a little more than he had
intended. "This is the bathhouse?!"
"That's right," said Flio. "I thought it would be good for the people of
the village to have a bath they could use. I hope this will be of service? If
there's anything about it that doesn't fit the village's needs, don't hesitate to
let me know. I'll have it changed in no time."
"Never mind that!" Ura laughed. "It wouldn't bother us in the slightest if
there's something a little different from how we do it. I'm sure everyone
will be overjoyed just to have a public bath we can use! Ha ha ha ha!"
The other villagers began coming down from the mountain to see what
had their chief in such high spirits. Soon they were gathering around,
chattering as they inspected the building that had appeared next to their
mountain.
"Wh-What's this building doing here...?"
"It wasn't here when I woke up, that's for sure!"
"Huh? Look what it says on the curtain on the entryway! Is this a
bath?!"
When they realized that the mysterious building was a public bath
intended for their use, the villagers let out a great cheer.
"Wait..." said Ura, the smile suddenly vanishing from his face. "Excuse
me... Lord Flio, pardon me for asking, but how much are you gonna
charge?"
"How much...?" Flio echoed, confused.
"Well, you know..." Ura said, awkwardly choking out the uncomfortable
words. "How much are you gonna charge us for using the bath? Public
baths have to collect fees to stay in business..."
"Oh!" said Flio, smiling like always. "There's no need for that!"
"Wh-Whaaat?!" Not just Ura, but the villagers assembled behind him
cried out in astonishment.
"L-Lord Flio..." said Ura, bringing his own face up close to Flio's. "MMaybe I'm misunderstanding you, but are you saying we won't have to pay
a fee to use the bath?"
Flio surveyed Ura and the crowd of other villagers staring at him with
the selfsame bewildered faces. "That's right," he said, his usual smile still
on his face as he nodded in confirmation. "I have no intention of collecting
bathing fees from the village. Although I was hoping I could ask you to help
manage the bathhouse."
"Manage the bathhouse, you say?" Ura asked. "Well, what exactly do
you mean by that?"
"Well," Flio explained, "we'll need someone to clean the bathhouse and
its surroundings. And I was thinking we might charge a fee if anyone from
outside the village wants to use the facilities. We'll need someone to collect
that as well. Would your people be able to do that?"
"W-Well, yes, that would be no problem..." Ura said. "But is that really
all you want from us in exchange for such an amazing bath?"
"On the contrary," said Flio, "I would very much appreciate the help."
Maintaining the spell that cleans and cycles the water is essentially free, he
thought, and I can easily handle any repairs and maintenance the buildings
need with magic. But if I let people outside the village use the baths for free,
we'd be flooded with requests for me to build more bathhouses all over the
land. I'll have to take care with how I manage things...
Around him, Ura and the other villagers were cheering for joy. The
building that Flio had set up in a scant few minutes was named "Flio's
Bathhouse."
The ever modest Flio, of course, found himself wishing they had called
it something else.
◇One Night—Oni Village Mountain Peak◇
It was a few days after Flio set up the bath outside the oni village, and
the sun was setting beyond the horizon, casting the land around Flio's estate
in deepening twilight. The road that stretched from Flio's house to the oni
village was usually a dark and treacherous path this time of night, hard for a
traveler to follow without any light of their own. Tonight, however, the way
was brightly lit. A great variety of stalls and carts were set up along the
road, creating a string of lights that stretched all the way to the village.
"It looks like they've already gotten started," Flio said as he arrived at
the village entrance at the mountain peak, smiling his usual easygoing smile
as he looked out at the ongoing festivities.
"This way, my lord husband!" said Rys, waving her hand in his direction
with a delighted smile on her face.
"Rys!" said Flio, waving back and running up to his wife. "Sorry I'm
late!" As he approached, he noticed that Rys wasn't wearing her usual dress
but a light robe that seemed to float around her body. "What's that you're
wearing, Rys?"
"Oh, this?" said Rys, doing a quick twirl to show off the outfit. "It's an
arrangement I put together from some of the clothes we bought on our trip
to the Land of the Rising Sun! This is called a yukata. I've heard it's what
they wear in summer festivals in Hi Izuru."
"I see!" said Flio.
"What do you think?" Rys asked. "It doesn't look strange, does it?"
"Not at all!" Flio reassured her. "It looks great on you. I can hardly bring
myself to look away!"
"M-My lord husband!" Rys exclaimed, hiding her blushing face behind
her hands.
Rys really is adorable... Flio thought, watching as Rys wiggled happily
at the praise. Not that that's anything new.
"Oh! Papa!" Just then, Elinàsze came running up, wearing a yukata of
her own that Rys had made for her. Compared to her mother's, her yukata
had a design that gave a neat, refined impression. "Look! Mama made this
outfit for me. Do I look cute?" she asked, tilting her head ever so slightly as
she looked up at Flio.
"You do!" said Flio with his usual easygoing smile. "You look adorable,
Elinàsze!"
"I do?" a big smile spread over Elinàsze's face. "I'm so happy you think
so, papa!"
"Hey! Big sis!" Garyl cried, getting Elinàsze's attention.
"Oh?" said Elinàsze, turning around to face him. "Garyl? Is there
something you need?"
"Well," Garyl began, "me and the other students from the Houghtow
College of Magic were going to look around the festival together. Do you
wanna come along?" Garyl, like his sister, was wearing a yukata that had
been made for him by Rys. With him was Rislei, a fellow member of Flio's
household, as well as Salina, Irystiel, Snow Little, Sadjitta, and Reptor.
"I'm fine looking around with papa," said Elinàsze, sparing the group a
single glance before moving to Flio's side, opposite Rys.
"Wouldn't you rather explore the festival with your friends, Elinàsze?"
Flio asked.
"Of course not!" Elinàsze chirped, shaking her head with a smile on her
face. "I would rather be with you, papa!"
Elinàsze's obsession with her father, as always, was completely
unwavering.
◇ ◇ ◇
The members of Flio's household split up into separate groups to wander
around the festival. As the night wore on, more and more people arrived at
the village until the festival had grown lively indeed. Everywhere, vendors
were noisily hawking their wares.
"Get your magic beast skewers! You'll love 'em!"
"Grilled egg batter cakes! Try a free sample!"
"How about a roast apool!"
There was no stop to the customers either.
"All right! I'll take one!"
"Gimme one of these and one of those!"
"My lord husband, let's try that one!"
As the sun set completely out of view, the festival only seemed to grow
in energy. The residents of the oni village were there, of course, but so were
a throng of humans and demihumans from Houghtow City who had come
here on a special Enchanted Frigate flight for the festivities. People of all
sorts were celebrating in good harmonious spirits—humans and demons,
who had been at war until very recently, were all chatting with smiles on
their faces as they enjoyed the festival to its fullest.
Just as the clamor of the festival reached its peak, Ura raised his arm and
let out a cry. "All right!" he roared. "Come on, everyone—let's show 'em
what we got!"
"Yeah!" cheered the demons living in the village, raising their arms in
response.
Ura ascended the platform the villagers had set up in the middle of the
town square, where a traditional oni instrument known as a taiko drum,
passed down through oni lines from the distant past, was set up and waiting
for a drummer. "So-re!" Ura cried, striking the taiko with a wooden stick.
◇ ◇ ◇
Don! Doko doko doko, don! Doko doko doko... As the rhythm of the
taiko drum echoed throughout the village, Kora came running up beside her
father holding a wooden flute. She brought the mouthpiece to her lips and
closed her eyes as she began to play a slow, lingering melody. The tones of
her delicate flute mingled with the powerful beat of Ura's drum in a perfect
harmony that could be heard all throughout the mountain.
"All of you! Dance! Dance!" Ura urged, and the demons of the village
obliged, dancing around the platform. They raised their arms in time with
the taiko while their legs followed the flute in well-practiced steps. Each
demon was dancing in their own individual style, but judging by the
flawless ring the dancers formed around the central platform, there must
have been some sort of order guiding their movements all the same.
"What a beautiful dance!" Rys gushed, holding Flio's arm in hers and
leaning her head against his shoulder as she watched the villagers dance. "It
looks rather fun..."
"I've never seen a dance like it before," Flio said with his usual
easygoing smile as he watched the dance as well. "It does look kinda fun,
doesn't it?"
Soon, the visitors from Houghtow City and other towns who had arrived
via Enchanted Frigate for the festival had all gathered round the ring of
dancers. And in their midst was Wyne, halfway through devouring a whole
watermelon.
"That looks fun-fun!" she said, jumping with delight as she ran to join
the ring. "Let me dance-dance too!"
"That's the spirit!" Ura cried out cheerfully between beats of the drum.
"Dance! Dance! You don't want to just watch, do you?! You've come all
this way, so join in! Don't worry about how to do it! Just follow the
crowd!"
"A-hip! And a-hop!" Wyne sang, grinning from ear to ear as she danced
around to her own rhythm entirely. At some point her wings materialized on
her back and she took to the air, dancing in the sky above the ring of
villagers. Her yukata, which she had been wearing loose to begin with,
started to come undone from her frenetic dancing, very nearly exposing the
onlookers to a rather scandalous sight.
"How many times have I told you?!" cried Tanya, flying in quickly on
her own angel wings to protect Wyne's modesty from the crowd of
onlookers. "A young lady mustn't act so shamelessly!" She hurried to
where Wyne was dancing in midair, swiftly fixing her yukata.
"Hmph!" Wyne pouted irritably. "But it's harder to dance-dance this
way!"
"Your yukata was coming undone because of your reckless dancing,
Young Mistress Wyne," Tanya said. "I will provide an example for you, if
you will forgive my presumption, so please copy my motions." She held out
her arms in a neat pose in midair and let out a breath, closing her eyes and
focusing on the sound of the drums and flute.
"Behold!" she cried, her eyes snapping open as she began to dance in
time with the music. It was a precise, skillful dance without a single wasted
movement, well suited to Tanya's character. Wyne couldn't have asked for a
better demonstration. Tanya looked for all the world like an illustration in a
textbook.
"Whoa!" Wyne exclaimed as she watched Tanya dance from behind.
"Tan-Tan, you're good-good at dancing!"
"A-Ahem!" Tanya coughed, seemingly embarrassed by the praise. "I
studied the festivals of the lower worlds during my time in the Celestial
Plane, after all. But come, Young Mistress Wyne—dance with me!"
"Okay-kay!" said Wyne, resuming her dance once more. It didn't look
much at all like she was even trying to copy Tanya's movements, but at
least she was closer than last time to matching the rhythm.
A group of children looked up at Wyne, dancing with a great big grin on
her face. "Look at that girl go!" one of them said. "She looks like she's
having lots of fun!"
"Yeah!" another agreed. "That looks like so much fun!"
The children joined the ring of dancers, cavorting around in imitation of
Wyne.
"And after I provided them with a proper example and everything..."
Tanya grumbled, glancing down at the crowd below. When she saw Wyne's
joyful face, however, she decided to let her dissatisfaction go. "Well, it is a
festival, after all. As long as they're enjoying themselves, that's what
matters." She resolved to simply focus on her own dance.
"Oh?" said Ghozal, looking up at Tanya dancing in the sky above the
crowd as he took a bite of his candied apool. "Tanya's dancing, is she?"
"She's so serious most of the time," said Balirossa, following Ghozal's
gaze up as she walked beside him. "I would have expected her to refuse to
take part in anything so frivolous as a festival...but the way she keeps her
back so straight as she dances is truly beautiful, isn't it?" In fact, she
seemed thoroughly charmed by Tanya's movements, unable to take her eyes
off the dancing angel.
"I wanna dance too!" said Folmina, running out from between Ghozal
and Balirossa to join the ring of dancers.
"If big sis Folmina is dancing, then me too!" said Ghoro, hurrying after
his sister. The two did their best to imitate the villagers, cheerfully moving
their hands and feet to the rhythm.
"I thought I heard some kind of commotion..." Rislei said as she
returned from a tour of the stalls with Garyl and the rest of their classmates.
"They're doing some kind of dance!"
"It looks kinda fun!" said Garyl, running up to take part in the festivities.
"I'll try joining in!"
"I-If Lord Garyl wishes to dance, I shall join as well, naturally!" said
Salina, hurrying after Garyl. She had been sticking close to him the whole
time they were exploring the stalls as well.
Irystiel followed after them, using her ventriloquism to speak through
the black rabbit plush in her arms. "Irystiel says she'll dance if Lord Garyl
is dancing!"
"Hmm..." said Snow Little. "This seems quite a bit different from
ballroom dancing, but...very well! I-I'll do my best!" She nodded
emphatically, steeling her nerves as she ran up to join the dance.
"Seems like everyone's having a blast!" said Rislei, her eyes shining
with excitement. "All right! I'll go too!"
Before she could reach the ring of dancers, however, her father Sleip
came up from behind, grinning wide as he took Rislei by the hand. "Ha ha
ha!" he laughed, pulling her forward into the ring. "Come on! Let's dance
together, Rislei!"
"Wah!" cried Reptor, going stiff on the spot. "R-Rislei's papa!" He had
just been about to ask Rislei to dance, only to be interrupted by Sleip.
"What's up?" said Sadjitta, smacking the stupefied Reptor on the
shoulder. "Let's go dance."
"A-Ah!" Reptor cried. "Th-Thank you!"
Soon, Sadjitta and Reptor too were dancing in a circle around the central
stage.
A short distance away from the center of town where the crowd was
dancing along to joyful music, Calsi'im and Charun sat on a reed mat. "Oh
ho ho!" Calsi'im laughed, his jawbone rattling happily. "These summer
festivals have quite a way to them, don't they? And that's to say nothing of
this delicious tea of yours we have to enjoy as we watch the dance!"
"My!" Charun exclaimed happily, refilling the teacup in Calsi'im's
hands. "If you keep saying such sweet things, what choice do I have but to
pour you another cup?"
"Mrrr..." Rabbitz, who had been snoring away on Calsi'im's back, sat up
and rubbed her eyes awake. "Something sounds fun..."
"Oho?" said Calsi'im, looking back over his shoulder. "Rabbitz, you're
awake!"
"Papa!" said Rabbitz, crawling up Calsi'im's body and seizing hold of
his head. "Dance! Let's dance!"
"I-I'd love to!" said Calsi'im, frantically waving his arms as his
daughter fastened herself tight to his head. "But how am I going to dance
with you on top of my head?!"
"Go, papa! Go!" said Rabbitz.
"H-Hmm... You want me to dance like this, then, do you?" Calsi'im
said, distress evident in his voice. "You're asking rather a lot of your old
man, you know!" In spite of his protests, however, he took to his feet with a
grunt and stepped up to join the circle with Rabbitz still atop his head.
"Shall I accompany you, then?" said Charun, neatly folding up the mat
and following after Calsi'im. Soon, the family of three had joined the dance
as well.
"My lord husband!" said Rys, tugging on Flio's arm as she watched.
"We should dance as well!"
"We should!" agreed Flio. "But first..." He raised his arms towards the
sky and cast a spell, a magic circle appearing at his fingertips and flying up
and up until it burst in a shower of color, shining against the night sky like a
radiant flower in bloom.
"It's beautiful..." Rys gasped.
The rest of the crowd was of much the same opinion, crying out with
delight as they gazed up at Flio's magic.
"Wow! Incredible!"
"Is that magic?!"
"I've never seen a spell like that before!"
"Exalted One," said Hiya, appearing behind Flio. "Allow your humble
servant to offer their meager assistance." They raised their arms high as
well, and an array of smaller magic circles appeared in the sky around
Flio's large one, painting the sky in a panoply of color.
Next, Damalynas appeared, materializing next to Hiya. "Let me help,
Your Divinity!" she said, raising her arms skyward.
"Hrm!" grunted Ghozal as he too raised his arms to the night sky. "In
that case, I'll help too!"
"Well, if all of you are joining in, I suppose I should show you a little of
what I can do when I'm serious," said Elinàsze, tearing her eyes away from
the dazzling display of Flio's magic and joining the other spellcasters.
It was a display of artistry from the greatest mages in the whole world of
Klyrode. Later on, the performance would come to be known as the Miracle
of the Oni Village Festival, but at the time, everyone in attendance simply
enjoyed the moment of magic without a care in the world.