Bonus Side Stories
Side: Alunaya
Fire Dragon Emperor Alunaya currently lived inside of Shizuka, but he could temporarily leave her body if he so desired. Doing so in too large a form, however, consumed a significant amount of mana and would earn him Shizuka’s ire. So after some trial and error, Alunaya discovered that he could get away with creating a small illusion of himself and transferring his consciousness and a portion of his power to it without consuming too much mana. That let him do as he pleased without angering Shizuka, so he would sometimes leave her body for fun and take a jaunt around the neighborhood.
“I’ve been wondering this for some time now, but what is this contraption?”
“That’s a postbox, ho!”
“It’s for sending out handwritten letters, ho!”
“Ah, yes, I see. I believe Forthorthe used to have such a thing as well.”
Whenever Alunaya went out exploring, there was a high chance that Karama and Korama would accompany him. The two haniwas had plenty of free time now that the issues underground had been resolved, and their powers of flight and invisibility made it easy for them to sneak out. But most of all, they adored Alunaya. The regal, draconic form he’d take from time to time had captured their hearts.
“Dragon uncle, there are some locals we’d like to introduce you to, ho!”
“They’re in the middle of a meeting right now, ho!”
“Oh? Locals, you say?”
“They run this town, ho!”
“That’s why we want to introduce you, ho!”
Alunaya hadn’t had any particular plans out on the town today, so he decided that following after the haniwas would be preferable to wandering around aimlessly. Just before reaching their destination, however, they ran into some trouble. While they were taking a shortcut through an alleyway, they happened upon a pack of stray dogs surrounding a kitten.
“Hmph! Not on my watch!”
The moment he saw what was happening, Alunaya took off. The dogs were practically frothing at the mouth, and it was clear the kitten was in danger.
“Dragon uncle’s so cool, ho!”
“We’re coming too, ho!”
Alunaya could easily drive the pack of dogs off on his own, but the two haniwas couldn’t just sit by and let the emperor they so admired fight alone. They quickly gave chase.
“You curs! Going after full-grown animals would be one thing, but a kitten?! And as a pack?! For shame!”
The fight was nearly settled before it even started. When Alunaya arrived on the scene, most of the dogs fled in terror. Their instincts told them that he was to be feared.
“Grrr! Woof!”
However, a few of the dogs held their ground and attacked. It was the pack leader and a few of his subordinates whose survival instincts weren’t quite as sharp.
“Leave this to us, ho!”
“We won’t let you touch dragon uncle, ho!”
The attacking dogs were easily kept at bay by the haniwas’ barrier. Alunaya took the opportunity to bare his fangs and roar, which sent even the braver dogs running with their tails between their legs. Only the cowering kitten remained behind.
After the fight, the haniwas showed Alunaya to a small park that was completely desolate, save for a large clowder of cats.
“Mew!”
Upon seeing its brethren, the kitten pranced right over to the group. They welcomed the kitten, and then all eyes fell on the non-feline visitors.
“Looks like the little fellow was able to reunite with his friends.”
“A happy ending, ho! Now let’s introduce you to the boss, ho!”
After some mewing between the cats, a relatively large black cat approached Alunaya. He appeared to be the leader.
“Mrrrow.”
The black cat walked right up to Alunaya and sat down in front of him. The kitten from before ran up too, submissively rolling over to show his belly.
“This here’s Fishsnatcher, ho! He’s the boss, ho!”
“And the fated rival of the local fishmonger, ho!”
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m Alunaya, emperor of all fire dragons.”
“Mrow!”
Alunaya was thusly introduced to the fat cat in town, and they immediately hit it off. Alunaya saving the kitten had made quite an impression. The only problem was the gifts that kept arriving on Corona House’s doorstep afterward. To a cat, you see, the greatest gift they can offer is a rat they caught themselves. This was a source of nonstop terror for Shizuka.
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