“So this is Mismede. What a bustling place!” A few days after I made the bicycles, I fulfilled my promise of using a [Gate] to take Sue to Berge, Capital of Beasts. We weren’t alone, of course. Yumina, Kohaku, Leim — Ortlinde family’s butler and Laim’s younger brother — and a number of escort knights of both genders accompanied us. That was only natural, given Yumina and Sue’s royal status. Well, I didn’t think the guards were really necessary, considering that this stealthy little adventure of ours wouldn’t last more than two or three hours, but it never hurt to be careful. The knights and Leim were wearing clothes that allowed them to blend in, but they were still armed. “They are selling so many strange things! I must buy something for mother and father! Touya, let us go over there!” “Yep, yep. As you wish.” Sue innocently pulled on my hand, leading me through Berge’s streets. Compared to Belfast, Mismede isn’t exactly a safe place to be. Well, both are kind of on the same level when compared to the safety of the world I used to live in. I don’t mean the crime rates or anything. More the general roughness of the population. It was especially common to find brutish people among the beastmen, even compared to other demi-human species. Many might assume that the king’s nature has something to do with it, but I disagree. It’s more likely that beastmen — especially those with predator qualities — are predisposed to aggression from birth. Oh, look. There’s a street brawl starting right now, even. Doesn’t look like a fight to the death or anything, just fisticuffs. The people passing by didn’t intervene, treating it like a daily occurrence not worthy of a second glance. Not only that, the fighters themselves didn’t look like strangers to each other. It felt like a fight between two great friends. I’d began to realize that what looked like “fights” to outsiders was merely “messing around” to the beastmen. But again, that was probably their nature. It was nothing I wanted to get involved with, at any rate. As Sue and I walked through Berge’s streets, I put more force into the hand that held hers. She led me straight into a fancy-looking accessory shop. The nonchalant manner in which she chose such a luxurious place made me aware of just how blue blooded she was. “Father should like this pipe. The tiger carving makes it look very cool! What should I get for mother, though...?” Sue took a pipe with a silver tiger decoration embedded in it, and handed it over to Leim. Then, she stood before a case full of other accessories and began thinking. While she did that, Leim paid for the pipe and had it wrapped. As I was looking around the shop, trying to find anything the girls would like, Yumina tugged at my sleeve. “Touya, isn’t that Arma?” “Hm?” I followed her gaze and looked through the window to see a girl walking through the streets all by her lonesome. A pair of twitching fox ears and a fluffy tail... There was no mistaking it. It was Arma, the younger sister of Olga, former Ambassador to Belfast. I lightly knocked on the window. Arma heard it, stopped walking, noticed us and ran over while wagging her tail. She made her way to the entrance and ran into the shop. “Heya Arma. Didn’t expect to see you here.” “Me too! I didn’t even know you were in Mismede!” I gave Arma a casual greeting, and she responded in kind with a cheery smile on her face. Yumina and Arma held hands, seemingly overjoyed. The fox girl didn’t seem to care that Yumina was a princess. “Are you shopping, too, Arma?” “I am! What’re you buying, Yumina?” Yumina introduced Sue, and the three began a peaceful little exchange. Hesitant to take part in their girly chat, I went back to searching for accessories. Getting something for the girls seemed like a good idea. «Master, is that not Olga and Lyon?» “Huh?” Kohaku suddenly beamed a telepathic message into my head. I took a look through the window and, sure enough, I could see a man and a woman walking through the streets with wide smiles on their faces. Indeed, the fox was definitely Olga, and she was accompanied by Lyon, the steadfast Belfastian knight. Lyon’s still in Mismede? He’s dressed pretty casually and has a dumb look on his face, so I guess he’s off duty. “What’s wrong, Touya?” “Look at that.” I pointed outside, causing both Yumina and Arma to close in on the window and take a look at the two. “Think they’re on a date?” “Most probably.” “Wait, big sis is on a date?!” Arma’s eyes opened wide, as if she didn’t expect it at all. Why are you that surprised, kid? Olga seems like the kind of beauty who’d be super popular with boys. Then again, you can’t deny the fact that her serious vibe wards people off. Combined with her beauty, it sort of creates an air of coldness and unapproachability. That image melts away as soon as you meet her, though. The girl’s sweet as candy. “We have to go after them!” Arma hastily left the shop. What?! We’re following them now? “This sounds interesting. I shall also make haste!” “Hey, Sue! No, c’mon now!” Sue and Yumina chased after Arma. And, like clockwork, Leim and the knights responsible for their safety also charged behind them. Staying there by myself didn’t seem like a good way to spend my time, so I took Kohaku with me and went after them. Good grief... We followed the duo through the streets, keeping just the right amount of distance behind them. I didn’t worry about Lyon too much, but Olga — being a beastgirl — could have easily noticed us. Arma did a good job at keeping us out of the reach of her sister’s perception. “They seem so innocent.” We were spying on the two from behind the corner of a building, Yumina felt the need to comment. As he walked by her side, Lyon repeatedly reached for Olga’s hand. Though he clearly wanted to go for it, he repeatedly failed to reach his goal. Well, I guess “innocent” is one word to describe it. “Man, that is so irritating!” “Get a grip, Sir Lyon! You’re being pathetic!” “This is too good...” Out of all of us, the ones who seemed to care about this the most were the group of knights escorting us. Guess seeing a co-worker on a date upped their curiosity to the max. “What is he doing?” “He wants to hold her hand, Sue. But he can’t figure out if he should.” “It is naught but a hand. He should just hold it if he wants!” She was completely right, but love was an emotion that needlessly complicated such things... Not that I had any right to say that. Nonetheless, the two — despite being quite mature — seemed to be really awkward about stuff like this. To my knowledge, Lyon was twenty-one, while Olga was nineteen. In this world, marrying young was the normal thing to do. About half of the normal citizenry had husbands and wives before their twenties. There were no such things as coming-of-age ceremonies (though, some tribes had coming-of-age rituals), and if both sides were independent and stable, they didn’t even need their parents’ permission. Though, that completely changed with nobles. Lyon had baronial blood, while Olga was from a powerful Mismedian merchant family. They couldn’t marry just because they felt like it. There were even families that gave fiances to their newborn children. Luckily that didn’t apply to either of those two. Either way, they’ll need to hold hands before anything else. “Ah, they’re going into a shop!” The two entered a nearby cafe. They’d easily notice us if we went after them. None of us were strangers to them, so we would need disguises. “Touya, can you do anything about this?” “Well, I can’t say that I can’t, but...” I disapproved of what Sue wanted from me. I had to consider their privacy, after all. “This event might change big sis’ life! As her sister, I have to know about it!” Even Olga’s family was insisting that I do it... Everyone besides Leim was pushing me to hurry up and get on with it, so I caved in, took out my smartphone and ran the camera app imbued with [Long Sense]. The screen began to display the inside of the shop. It presented exactly what it could perceive through [Long Sense]. Even sound came through just fine. “I’ve never been here before, so I don’t know if you’ll like the food here...” “No no no! Don’t worry about me! This is a great place, really!” I could hear the knights behind me try to hold back their laughter. Lyon was tense out of his mind, but that was only natural, really. “You’re heading back to Belfast soon, aren’t you?” “Ah, yes... B-But with the alliance between our two countries, I’m sure I’ll have many more chances to come here! I-I’m thinking of doing so the next time I get a long enough holiday!” “Heheh, be sure to tell me when you visit... I’ll take you to a better restaurant.” Heh, they’re not doing too badly at all. Olga seems pretty happy with the situation. “Ah, r-right! I-I have these things with me.” “Is that a... mirror? It looks somewhat strange...” Lyon put his hand in his pocket and took out two mirrors held by strangely long frames. Oh, it’s the Gate Mirrors I gave him. He still hasn’t given her one? “These are a set of magical items. S-Sir Touya gave them to me... please have a look. When you put something in one...” “Ah, it came out the other one...!” “They allow the instant exchange of letters over long distances. I-I was thinking of giving this one to you today...” “...Thank you so much. I’ll treasure it.” Olga held her Gate Mirror against her chest and smiled widely. Hohoh, so she accepted it. Yep, she definitely likes the guy. Look at how happily her tail’s wagging, it’s way too obvious. “Sis looks so happy...” “Seems like he really has a chance with her.” Arma and Yumina made their comments, their eyes not straying from the screen for a moment. I’d say they just need one more big push to close that distance between them. After a light meal in the cafe, the two left the building. I asked Arma, who was obviously the most knowledgeable about Berge, for directions. “The central plaza is off in this direction. There are many stalls selling rare imported goods or bargain accessories. That’s probably where they went to.” First a meal, now shopping? Pretty basic progression for a date. “He should just buy a ring for her.” “No, this is definitely not the time for rings. Wayyy too heavy.” “If she likes him, wouldn’t it just make her happy?” “Thing is, we still don’t know if she really likes him. Messing up the timing of such things can lead to tragic results, y’know...” The knights behind us nonchalantly spoke their opinions. I couldn’t help but feel that they were amused by the situation. Then again, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious myself. Once they reached the central plaza, the two began looking at the stalls. Just as Arma said, I could see some strange things being sold there. Honestly, I wanted to take a good look around myself, but I couldn’t leave Arma’s side as long as we were following the happy couple. “Leim! Let us buy these masks! Souvenirs for father and mother!” “Very well.” Sue went off to buy some fox and cat masks, right next to the dating duo. The level of freedom she displayed made me jealous. At the front, I could see Lyon buying souvenirs for his family while Olga was helping him pick them out. With all the people crowding around these stalls, we almost lost sight of them. Well, even if did lose them, I could use my smartphone’s search function to find them again, so there was no need to worry. However, Arma was unaware of this, so she rushed a bit and ran into the person in front of her. “Owie...” Arma fell on to her backside, having ran smack-bang into a large, hooded figure. “Oh, my bad. You okay, kid?” “Ah, y-yes. Sorry. I forgot to look where I was going...” The hooded person took Arma’s hand and helped her up. “Arma, are you alright?” “Ah, yes. I’m fine...” “Sorry about that, we’re in a rush, so...” As I began to apologize for Arma, I looked straight at the face under the hood, but what I saw made my eyes open with surprise. I turned numb. The other party reacted in the exact same way. “HUH?!” “WHUH?!” We simultaneously screamed, pointed at each other, and closed our mouths. Ack, too loud! Lyon and Olga could’ve heard that... “What the heck are you doing out here?!” “That’s my line! Didn’t ya return to Belfast?” No, no, no! Me being here is way less unusual than a king walking around without anyone accompanying him! His Beastliness, King of Mismede, lowered his voice and spoke to me.
“Well, ya know... I like leaving the castle and taking a walk now and then. Also, I recently heard about a buncha thugs who think they’re hot stuff, so I came to beat them up.” You came out to beat thugs? Seriously? What kind of king does that...? I’m sorry, Chancellor Glatz... This man clearly just does whatever he wants. “Wh-Wha—?!” Oh, guess Arma finally realized who it is she bumped into. That’s right, they did both attend that party a while back... Guess they know each other. His Beastliness put his finger against his mouth to tell her to be quiet, which made Arma put both of her hands over her mouth. Yumina, who came a moment later, also recognized the beastking. However, Sue, Leim and the escort knights weren’t familiar with him, so they assumed he was simply an acquaintance. “So what’re you guys doing out here anyways?” “Well, if we have to answer that question... we’re tailing someone.” I tried to be as honest as I could get. His Beastliness tilted his head slightly while I took out my smartphone and pinpointed where the two had gone off to. They were in a park a short distance ahead. Looked like they were sitting on a bench. Once again, we hid behind the corner of a building as we kept an eye on them. We could easily see them from where we were. “That’s... Olga and the young Belfastian knight. Bwahah, I see... So that’s what it’s all about, eh?” “Nothing more, nothing less.” His Beastliness joined us for some reason, so I told him to be quiet. Probably wasn’t the best way to deal with a king, but we’ve been pretty friendly ever since our battle. Though, it might’ve had something to do with me being engaged to Yumina. The presence of a king usually forced people of lesser standings to abase themselves. However, with him being such a candid guy and a bit of a meathead — or, er, a man ruled by instinct — he probably didn’t care about me being so buddy-buddy with him. As I shifted my attention back to Lyon — still sitting on the bench — I saw him try to casually yawn and put his arm around her shoulder, only to end up failing and looking really awkward. Clearly, that was too high of a hurdle for him. Then again, he couldn’t even hold her hand. “Oh dear.” “This hurts to watch...” “Get a grip, damn it!” “Well, you can’t really say it’s not like him...” The whispering of the knights behind me made me grin. “Bwaha... this is pretty sad. When I was young, men were more straightforward. I’ll have you know that I—” Right as His Beastliness began talking about himself, things suddenly got rowdy a short distance ahead of the bench Lyon and Olga sat on. I looked over to see a few men destroying one of the nearby stalls. The man who looked like the owner was being beaten up by a number of rough-looking hoodlums. It clearly wasn’t a simple squabble. The owner was the victim of a one-sided attack. “Enough of that!” Lyon ran over to them. As befitted a Belfastian knight, he couldn’t stomach the vile assault happening right before his eyes. He sure has a strong sense of justice... Well, when you consider who his father is, it makes sense. Leon probably punched him every time he did something wrong. “How about you back off and mind your own business, shithead.” “You will let that man go. I don’t know what’s going on here, but you will leave him alone. Who are you to gang up on and attack a man like this? Cowards. Have you no shame?!” Whoa, he’s so cool! What happened to that sad loser who couldn’t even hold hands just before?! Since it was a day off, Lyon wasn’t in his knightly outfit. The thugs probably thought that he was just a random guy with a sense of justice. On top of that, they clearly had the advantage of higher numbers. There was no reason for them to back down. “...What’re the odds that those are the thugs you were looking for?” “Pretty high. Pretty high indeed.” There were more than twenty of them. All of them were beastmen, too. Lyon was weaponless, so it was clearly too much for him to handle by himself. Some of them were even wielding blades. “Mind your damned business, human scum. I don’t poke my nose into your shit, do I?!” “Whether you’re a human or a beastman is completely irrelevant here, cur. What you’re doing is lowly and despicable, regardless of race!” “Grr... what’d you just say?!” One of the beastmen ran to Lyon with a closed fist ready for a punch. The knight evaded the blow with a smooth movement of his upper body and hastily retaliated with a punch into his foe’s stomach. As the man fell to the ground, the hoodlums readied their weapons. “Bastard! Get him, boys!” With that, they began to swarm Lyon. This doesn’t look good... They’ve got him totally outnumbered. “Sue! Throw me a mask! One of the ones you bought earlier!” I took the fox mask from Leim and put it on. Alright, this should do as a disguise. I looked to my side and realized that the beastking was nowhere to be found. Where’d he go...? “Guah?!” “Wh-Who the hell are you?! Where did you come from?!” “Geheheh, I’m just a helping hand for this here lad. Prepare yourself, vermin!” “I don’t know who you are, masked stranger, but I’m thankful for your aid!” The beastking had already entered the fray. Donning the cat mask, he jumped in and blasted one of the ruffians away. He’s using [Accel]! I quickly put on the fox mask, jumped out from behind the building and kicked one of the thugs in the back. “Th-There are even more of these weirdos?!” I’m not a “weirdo,” thank you very much... I could totally see why he said it, though. One of the beastmen tried to punch me, so I grabbed his arm and used his momentum to throw him into the ground. As I threw a punch into his solar plexus, I evaded a knife thrown by another criminal. In the midst of such a melee, one had to be careful not to let anyone come from behind. Focus was key, always try to keep as many enemies in sight as possible. I hadn’t expected Yae’s teachings to come in handy so soon. That being said, the mask I was wearing definitely didn’t help me with the “sight” part. I looked to the side and saw His Beastliness, still masked, smash into a couple of beastmen with apparent glee. It didn’t seem like the restricted sight even got in his way. He just looked like he was relieving stress. Better just to leave him to it. Lyon, too, was fighting with great ferocity. As expected of a Belfastian knight, he was strong even without a weapon. This would be much easier if I could use [Paralyze] or something. But I don’t want to run the risk of Lyon or Olga getting suspicious. I can’t even use [Slip], this sucks... Well, it’s not like small fry like these guys can’t be beaten without spells. As one of the hoodlums slashed at me with a knife, I knocked it out of his grip with a right hook and used a left swipe to smack him in the face. They really were pathetic. Standard thugs had no chance against seasoned knights and adventurers, after all. In the end, they were nothing more than scumbags who were only good at bullying weaker people. It only took a few moments for us to defeat the whole lot. The last one was downed by Lyon. “Did we go overboard?” “Bwahaha... probably! Does it matter? Even if it does, these guys totally have a criminal record. We did nothing wrong.” Hrm... we were the ones that started it, though. Then again, if the most powerful man in the country says it’s fine, who am I to disagree? I glanced at Lyon to see him staring at me. Huh? What is it? “...You’re Sir Touya, aren’t you?” “Whuh?! How did you—?!” I slammed my hand over my mouth, but it was too late. How did he figure it out?! “Well, you are the only person I’ve ever seen who wears a coat like that. And I’m familiar with your voice.” Crap. Why did I even think this would work?! That coat of mine was a one-of-a-kind I bought from Berkut. There was no other coat like it. I should’ve taken it off before the battle began. “Lyon! Are you okay?!” Olga ran over to Lyon. She took his hand, making him turn red and flustered. He began to repeatedly assure her that he was quite fine. She must’ve been in a panic too, given that she’d disposed of formalities and taken to just calling him “Lyon.” “Gahaha... it’s high time to call the guards and hand these losers over to them! Actually, someone mighta called some already...” Olga slightly tilted her head and looked in my direction. Though, not directly at me, but at the one who just spoke. “Your... Beastliness?” The old man in the cat mask suddenly went stiff. Oh, I totally forgot. The mask is enough to fool Lyon, but Olga, being a Beastgirl, can recognize us by smell. Whoa, whoa. I can see an unnatural amount of sweat beading out from underneath that cat mask, old man! You’re probably panicking hard because the chancellor’s gonna find out about this, aren’t you? “...[Accel].” His Beastliness activated the acceleration spell and swooshed away from us in a blink of an eye. H-Hey! Don’t just leave me here! Right as I was about to use [Accel] and follow after him, Lyon grabbed me by the shoulder. “Ah, ah, ah, Sir Touya. Where do you think you’re going? We have something to talk about.” “Well, this is kind of accidental and also not. We saw you two, decided to help you out with kindling your passion for Olga and we got a bit carried away, so— OWOWOW! You’re hurting my shoulder! Olga, help me out here!” I somehow escaped from Lyon’s death grip and hid behind Olga. Standing between us, she looked straight at Lyon. I piped up again, this time more forcefully. “Lyon, it’s your own darned fault for not making it clear, you know?! You have to say it loud and clear to make her understand! Do you like her?!” “Wha—?! Of course I do! I couldn’t like her more if I tried! I honestly believe women as great as her just don’t exist! Cross my heart and hope to die!” “So you’re saying you want to have a serious relationship with her, right?!” “Of course I am!” Leaving himself to the flow, Lyon finally made it clear. Good man. That’s what I wanted to hear! “...Well, you heard him.” “A-Ah...” Lyon shifted his gaze away from me and toward Olga, who was right by my side. Her face was beet red. Lyon had professed his feelings. Now it was Olga’s turn... As she carefully chose her words, Lyon became stiff with fear. I moved closer to Olga and whispered into her ear. “Don’t make it vague. Say either ‘I feel the same’ or ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t feel that way.’ Okay?” Her fox ears twitched a bit as she turned even redder. However, she was still able to word a proper answer. “I-I feel the same...” “Huh...? U-Uhm... S-So, you want to... go out with me...?!” “Yes.” Olga smiled a bashful smile. Lyon’s expression quickly went from worried to overjoyed, and a moment later, he let his emotions explode. “H-HOORAY!!!” Overwhelmed by glee, he threw his fist into the air. Seeing that, Olga smiled yet again. Heheheh... just as I had planned... Well, no. I hadn’t actually planned any of that at all. But it all worked out in the end. Whatever the case, it’s pretty clear that the two needed something to happen or they’d have been stuck in limbo forever. The knights all came forward and erupted into thunderous applause. “You did it, Lyon!” “Thanks!” “Lad, you’re getting better at this! Nice work!” “Well, what can I say, hahahah!” “You’re making me jealous, damn it!” “Haha, don’t worr— Wait, when did you guys get here?” Lyon looked at his fellow knights, who were now patting him on the back. From the expression they made when Lyon asked them that, it was safe to assume they ran out of hiding without thinking things through. “Good job, sis!” “A-Arma?! Why are you here?!” Apparently, the innocent little sister was so happy for her sibling that she couldn’t help but come out and express it as well. Taken in by the flow of the situation, Yumina, Sue, Kohaku and Leim also came out and showed themselves. The two — finally realizing that their date was observed — suddenly glared at me. Absolute terror engulfed the core of my being. “Sir Touya! Explain yourself at once!” They yelled at me in unison, both red as beets. Wait, why are you acting like I was the mastermind behind this?! Though they were probably just hiding their embarrassment, Olga and Lyon began scolding me. This isn’t fair! This isn’t fair at all! Seriously, I’m your cupid, you stupid lovebirds! If anything, I should be thanked! Anyway, that was how the two began a serious relationship. They had regular letter exchanges over their gate mirrors, and on Lyon’s days off, he occasionally asked me to open a [Gate] to Mismede. Of course, he made a point out of telling me not to follow them again. The day after, His Beastliness, King of Mismede got a heavy scolding from Chancellor Glatz. Or so I heard from Lyon, who was told by Olga. If only that was enough to make the beastking stop leaving the castle unauthorized. But I knew in my heart it wouldn’t be nearly enough. I could only send positive vibrations out into the universe, and hope they’d give strength to poor old Chancellor Glatz.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login