Bölüm

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“O-Ohhh?” said Telbyress. “I-If it ishn’t Hokh’hokton! Wh-What’sh got you so angry?”

“That’s quite enough out of you!” Hokh’hokton declared.

“B-Buuuut,” the no-gooddess protested, “I was jusht havin’ a nice time drinkin’ in the bath! Can’t you cut me shome shlack?!”

“I will not!”

“S-Shuddenly I see the errorsh of my waysh!” Telbyress pleaded. “I-I’ll jusht be leaving, then?”

“Yes,” said Hokh’hokton. “Because I’m kicking you out!” He descended upon her, heedless of her pleas. A moment later, the sound of a single merciless blow rang throughout the bathhouse.

“Well,thatwas certainly a bit of trouble!” Hokh’hokton declared, arriving back in the bathhouse lobby with the rolled up towel he had used as an improvised weapon slung over his shoulder. “But I assure you, the culprit has been punished!”

“Th-Then...” said the attendant. “The woman...?”

“I taught her a lesson and expelled her from the premises—don’t you worry about that!” Hokh’hokton said. “You can all go about using the bath in peace.”

The demon men who had been forced to wait in the lobby let out a cheer and went back into the bath.

“E-Excuse me...” the attendant said, smiling down at the triumphant goblin. “Mister Hokh’hokton?”

“Yes?” said Hokh’hokton. “What can I do for a lovely lady?” He gave her his coolest smile—a far cry from the enraged expression he wore when dealing with Telbyress.

“I just wanted to thank you,” she said, reaching down into her booth and rummaging for something. “You were a tremendous help today. Here, let me give you something...”

“No need, no need at all!” Hokh’hokton assured her, grinning with delight and striking a pose. “But if you really want to thank me, perhaps we can have dinner together sometime, in a restaurant somewhere with a beautiful view of the night sky! And then afterwards, perhaps, we could spend a night entwined in passion! Ahhh—my blood is boiling just thinking of it!”

The woman in the attendant’s booth, however, didn’t seem to have heard him. “Here you go!” she said, producing a bottle and handing it over to Hokh’hokton.

“What...is this?” Hokh’hokton asked.

“It’s cuffee milk!” she said. “A new item from the Fli-o’-Rys General Store!”

“C-Cuffee...?” Hokh’hokton repeated.

“That’s right!” the woman said with a smile. “It’s made with cowdin milk combined with a drink called cuffee. It’s the perfect beverage for right when you get out of a bath. Take it along with my gratitude!”

“Ah...right...” Hokh’hokton said, accepting the bottle with a dazed look on his face. He left Flio’s Bathhouse, cuffee milk in hand, towel still slung over his shoulder.

◇Flio’s House—Elinàsze’s Room◇

That day, Zofina arrived in Elinàsze’s private chambers.

Zofina was an angel and disciple of the Celestial Plane, as well as a resident of that realm. She also served as one of the Contract Executors who enforce the magic of the Blood Oath Contract. When she worked in that capacity, she took on an appearance that was half young maiden and half skeleton.

“H-Huh...?” Zofina said, looking around Elinàsze’s room with evident confusion.

Elinàsze had been sitting at her desk in her room poring over a magic grimoire. She was just in the middle of conjuring a magic circle when Zofina appeared. “Um... It’s Miss Zofina, isn’t it?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right,” Zofina said. “But um...do you know what I’m doing in this room, by any chance? I came here to pick up the usual supply of medicine from Mister Flio, but somehow I ended up here...”

The medicine in question was a very special concoction that could only be synthesized from the bones of a Beast of Disaster, a dangerous type of monster not meant to exist in the world of Klyrode at all. It had all sorts of powerful restorative effects, from nourishment to fatigue recovery to skin beautification. Moreover, it worked even on the goddesses of the Celestial Plane, who were ordinarily unaffected by mortal medicine. However, not even the celestials themselves possessed the ability to refine Beast of Disaster bones. In fact, of everyone in all the worlds under their purview, Flio and Flio alone was capable of carrying out the process.

Or so Zofina thought.

“Yes, here it is,” said Elinàsze, handing a bag over to Zofina.

“Excuse me,” Zofina said, looking between the bag and the girl in front of her. “M-Miss Elinàsze... Is this...?”

“It’s the medicine,” Elinàsze answered. “Papa asked me to make it for him.”

There was a moment of silence. Then...

“Wh-What?!” Zofina’s eyes threatened to boggle out of her head as she finally managed to wrap her head around what Elinàsze had just told her. “M-M-Miss Elinàsze! Wait a moment! D-Do you mean to say thatyouwere the one who synthesized this?!”

“Yes, that’s right,” Elinàsze said. “Here, look.” She opened one of the drawers of her desk, pulling out a Beast of Disaster bone left over from the last batch of medicine she had created. The ends of the bone had been broken off and neatly polished, a telltale sign of the refinement process that went into producing the much desired medicine.

Zofina looked at the paper bag in her hand in disbelief. She summoned a magic circle, scanning the contents up and down. Once her spell had finished its investigation, it displayed the results in a window that appeared before her eyes.

◇Powdered Medicine (Beast of Disaster Bone)

Zofina stared in disbelief.

“Is there a problem?” asked Elinàsze.

“Huh?” said Zofina.

“I believe that should be the precise quantity of medicine promised to you by my father.”

“O-Oh! Yes!” said Zofina, finally coming back to her senses. “D-Duly received,” she added, bowing her head low.Th-This medicine can only be derived from Beast of Disaster bones, I’m sure of it...she thought, a bead of cold sweat running down her brow as she stared at the paper bag.I-I never would have imagined that anyone other than Mister Flio himself could do it...

Zofina was still dumbstruck as she left the house through the front door.But no matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t make sense,she thought.The fact that Mister Flio can produce this medicine is unbelievable enough in the first place. But his daughter Miss Elinàsze can do the same thing?

As Zofina puzzled it over, she passed Rylnàsze coming the other direction riding on a magic beast.

“Good afternoon, miss!” Rylnàsze greeted her, bowing politely from atop her mount.

“Ah, yes. Good afternoon,” said Zofina, returning the greeting out of habit. As Rylnàsze went by, however, Zofina did a double take. “W-Wait! That magic beast you’re riding...” she said, trembling at the realization. “C-Could it be...?”

“Oh!” said Flio, coming up from behind her. “That would be a Bear of Misfortune cub.”

“M-Mister Flio!” Zofina exclaimed, startled, as she wheeled around to face him. It looked like Flio had just arrived home via a Teleportation spell—the door he had come out of was still visible behind him. Zofina glanced between Flio and Rylnàsze, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, at a loss for what to say.

“We heard a rumor about a Beast of Calamity during one of our recent visits to the Land of the Rising Sun, and Garyl and I went to go capture it,” Flio explained.

“C-Capture it, you say...” said Zofina. “But even if it is a juvenile, a beast like that would be extremely dangerous...”

“Yes, the mother bear was quite tough,” Flio agreed. “Still, we managed to defeat it.”

“Y-Yes, I suppose you are more than capable of defeating a Beast of Disaster on your own...” Zofina nodded.

“Oh, no,” Flio corrected her. “It was Garyl who took down the Bear of Misfortune this time.”

“What?!” Once more, Zofina found herself reeling.W-Wait! Slow down!she thought.It takes a whole team of Disciples of the Celestial Plane to challenge a Beast of Disaster without seriously imperiling an angel’s life! Mister Flio’s magic is on par with a goddess’s power, so perhaps I can understand why he is capable of defeating Beasts of Disaster alone...but his child Mister Garyl can do the same thing?!

As Zofina’s distress mounted, Flio gave the best explanation he could, smiling his usual easygoing smile all the while. “After we defeated the Bear of Misfortune, we found this cub in its nest. It seemed fond of Rylnàsze, so we decided to take it home as one of her familiars. Oh, and not to worry—we made sure to perform the familiar contract properly.”

Zofina’s face was completely blank as she took in Flio’s account.A familiar contract...she thought, her head positively spinning.With a child, perhaps, but still. A Beast of Disaster...as a familiar.She pushed through it, however, and snapped out of her befuddled state. “I see... Well, I suppose I will be back for my next scheduled pickup.” It was a strangely businesslike thing for her to say, but it would have to serve for parting words. Zofina conjured her Scythe of Judgment and spun it in a full circle. The space where the blade of the scythe passed through split open, and she gracelessly threw herself into the space between worlds.

I need to stop thinking about Mister Flio and his family...she thought to herself as she left.They’re simply too exceptional. Trying to understand it is a waste of time.Having reached that conclusion, she quieted her mind and returned to the Celestial Plane.

Flio cocked his head with benign curiosity, staring after the space where Zofina had vanished. “Miss Zofina seemed to be in a strange mood today,” he said. “I wonder if she’s doing all right.” With that, he turned and headed towards home.

“Papa!” cried Rylnàsze as she noticed Flio returning to the house. “Welcome home!” she said, beaming with her whole face. She rode the Bear of Misfortune cub up to her father.

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“I’m home, Rylnàsze!” said Flio, holding back his daughter’s exuberant mount as it bounded up to him. It might have been a cub, but it was still a Beast of Misfortune, and its charge was a force to be reckoned with. With all of Flio’s continual magic effects, however, he had no trouble at all arresting the monstrosity in place. “Rylnàsze, you have to make sure not to let this cub charge at anyone other than me.”

“Of course!” Rylnàsze nodded, smiling brightly. “I know!”

“Speaking of which...” Flio continued. “Have you decided on a name yet?”

“Well...” Rylnàsze considered, “I have a lot of ideas, actually. I’m having trouble picking one.”

“How about coming up with something together with your papa?” Flio suggested.

“Oh, may we?” Rylnàsze said, nodding happily. “I’d be delighted!”

The Bear of Misfortune nodded its head eagerly as well, seeming to understand what was happening. And so, the bear, man, and girl together made their way inside the house.

“I’m home!” Flio called as he stepped into the threshold.