Side Story: Everyone’s Morrow Part 12

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◇A Town near a Certain Forest◇

An enormous Enchanted Frigate came to its regularly scheduled stop outside the boarding tower in the middle of town. As the passengers disembarked from the ship and made their way down the tower’s stairs, a storage unit was lowered from the hull of the Frigate to the ground below, where it was carried to the local warehouse to distribute foodstuffs and other air delivery orders made by the people in town.

Greanyl the shadow demon watched from the magic window installed in the helm of the ship, ensuring everything was proceeding smoothly.

Greanyl was a member of the Dark Army’s former spy network, the Silent Listeners. Now, however, she was piloting the Enchanted Frigate as the demon in charge of the Fli-o’-Rys General Store’s transportation network.

Good,she thought.It looks like the demons we have handling the warehouse’s groundside have gotten used to their tasks.

The warehouse demons were all lesser demons vouched for by Ura. Some of them had objected to the idea of taking such unassuming work, but...

All we had to do was advertise the Wolf of Justice’s relationship with the Fli-o’-Rys General Store, and they were more than happy to work...Greanyl recalled. She watched, nodding in satisfaction as the demons carried out their tasks at a brisk pace.

During the war, Flio had taken to wearing a mask patterned after a lupine demon, assuming the persona of the Wolf of Justice and driving off demon raiding parties all over the land with judicious application of overwhelming force. It got to the point that many demons, who traditionally revere power above all else, began to worship the Wolf of Justice with something akin to religious fervor.

We have more demons working for us than we used to,Greanyl thought.Lately I’m even often finding myself with free time at work. Well...I suppose there’s nothing wrong with enjoying one’s leisure now and again.An image of the demon horse Dalc Horst popped unbidden into her mind at the idea. Suddenly, her face flushed bright red.

Wh-Wh-Why would Sir Dalc Horst’s face come to my mind at a time like this?!she thought, covering her face with trembling hands in shame.Y-Yes, perhaps Sir Dalc Horst has treated me more kindly than I deserve...a-and I suppose I don’t entirely dislike him...

On the platform next to her were two tickets for admission into the Dark Mountain Pudding Pudding Park racing hall. Greanyl, it seemed, had been thinking of inviting Dalc Horst if she ever got a chance. But...

I-I-I just can’t do it!she thought.Asking a gentleman to accompany me for something like that is far too high a barrier for an absolute novice to romance like myself!

She shook her head, which had turned as red as a steamed lobster, clearing her mind as best she could. It seemed it would still be some time before she would work up the courage to use those tickets.

◇ ◇ ◇

Soon, the Enchanted Frigate had finished loading and unloading its passengers and cargo. It disembarked from the boarding tower, heading on to the next town on its route as two children stared up at the vessel from the tower’s base.

“Can you believe it?” one of the children said to the other. “We were on that big ship just a second ago!”

“Yeah!” the other answered with a smile. “I take that ship to school every day, you know! It’s a lot of fun!”

Suddenly, with a noisy fluttering of wings, an enormous two-headed bird monster descended from the sky. As it landed, it glowed with light, becoming smaller and smaller. Soon it had transformed completely into a man with a slender, slight build. This was the doppeladler Hugi-Mugi, former member of the Infernal Four. Since quitting the Dark Army, they had retired to a quiet life deep in the forest with their three human wives.

When the children saw Hugi-Mugi, they ran up to hug them, smiles on their faces.

“Papa!”

“We’re home, papa!”

“Welcome home, you two!” Hugi-Mugi said, smiling from ear to ear themselves. “Yes, you two, welcome home. Did you have a good time at school, yes?” Hugi-Mugi’s original form was of a two-headed monster bird—they spoke with two distinct overlapping voices even in their human form.

Hugi-Mugi’s children each took one of their hands as the group set off walking down the road.

“Guess what, papa!” said the first child. “I’ve been learning how to use magic at school! Isn’t that amazing?”

“Well! How amazing, yes! Yes, very amazing! You’re very clever, Huca, yes!”

“I can use magic too!” said the other child. “Praise me too!”

“Of course, yes! Yes, of course!” Hugi-Mugi said, turning their happy smile from one child to the other. “You’re quite amazing too, Muno, yes! Yes, well done! Now, yes, shall we buy those things your mamas needed and return to our cottage?”

“Yes, papa!” the children cheered.

“I’ll help with the shopping!” volunteered Muno.

“Oh! Well, I’ll help too!” added Huca.

“Yes, yes!” said Hugi-Mugi. “Let’s do our shopping and head home, yes! Yes, shopping together!”

The three (or four, depending on how one counts Hugi-Mugi) made their way down the street to the town’s shopping district. As they left, however, a woman in a tattered gothic lolita-style dress with abnormally large and shiny black eyes stepped out of the shadows behind them. She was a very strange-looking person, enough so that a crowd of townsfolk had already begun to form a circle around her, keeping a wide berth. The woman did nothing to change the townsfolk’s impression, then, when she suddenly began to dance.

“Drat, drat, and damnaaation!” she sang in a high operatic voice with musical cadence but no particular tune, twirling and contorting her body in a strange dance all the while. “We failed, oh failed, oh failed in our plan to capture the magic beeeaaasts! Now, oh, now, oh now, what can I do, but catch the rumored, rumored, rumored golden bird! If only I could fiiiind it, my sister Janderena would surely forgive, forgive, forgive me...but oh where, where, where could it be?”

Of course, this strange singing and dancing woman could only be Yanderena.

The golden bird Yanderena was hunting, incidentally, was none other than Hugi-Mugi in their monstrous demon form, but she had no hope of guessing their identity from the display of doting parenthood she had witnessed.

Unfortunately, Yanderena had another problem to worry about immediately.

“Excuse me, sir guard!” cried one of the townsfolk. “That’s her, I’m sure of it!”

“Well, she’s certainly a suspicious individual...” said the guard. “You there! You aren’t the criminal we’re looking for, are you?!”

“Waaaiiit!” Yanderena wailed. “Please, oh please, oh please, don’t call the guuuaaards!”

“What was that?” the guard replied. “I knew you were suspicious! Now come along quietly!”

“No, no, no, I won’t, I won’t, I woooon’t!” Yanderena sang, quickly dancing away from the scene. The guard followed her as she left the road, twirling all the way into the forest.

“What was that commotion about, yes?!” said Hugi-Mugi. “Yes, what was that commotion?!”

“Never mind that, papa!” said Huca. “We need to buy potalpos for mama Cartha!”

“Yes, yes, the shopping is more important, yes!” Hugi-Mugi agreed. And so the family continued merrily on their way, completely ignoring the altercation.

◇Houghtow City—Flio’s House◇

Right in the middle of the second floor of Flio’s house was a living space shared by Ghozal, Uliminas, and Balirossa. It had one room for Ghozal’s private living space, one for Uliminas, one for Balirossa, and one bedroom that all three shared. From the hallway, it didn’t seem any larger than any of the other two chamber rooms used by the residents of Flio’s house, but thanks to Flio’s magic, the interior had been expanded to a size suitable for a married triad.

Ghozal sat in a chair in his private room, reading a magic grimoire when someone came knocking on the door. “Hrm,” he said. “It’s open.”

The door opened up, and Uliminas stepped inside. “Meow isn’t a bad time, is it?” she asked.

“No, now is fine,” said Ghozal. “What do you need?”

“Mrr...” Uliminas considered, awkwardly avoiding eye contact as she approached her husband. “Well,needis a bit of a strong word... A-Actually, I was just thinking of how meowch fun I had at the magic beast racing hall...”

“Oh, that,” said Ghozal. “Dawkson built something pretty decent, didn’t he? I had a good time on our visit too.”

“Yes! Folmina and Ghoro both had a great time! A-And I had a purretty good time too...” She had stepped right up to Ghozal now, but she was still looking down at the floor.

Ghozal tilted his head, puzzled. Uliminas was fidgeting terribly, clearly struggling to find the words to something she wanted to say. “Uliminas... What exactly is this about?”

“Mreow!” Uliminas exclaimed, twitching involuntarily. “Erm, well... I-I, um...” she said, stumbling over her words. She stood there, averting her eyes and squirming uncomfortably, clearly hiding something behind her back, until she finally worked up the courage and held out the thing she had in her hands. “H-Here!” she blurted out, blushing bright red and still refusing to lift her head.

“Magic beast stir-fry...?” Ghozal said, looking at the large plate in Uliminas’s hands piled high with a large helping of stir-fried meat.

“W-Well...mew know...” Uliminas said. “It seemed like mew really enjoyed the homemade meowgic beast stir-fry Rys meowde us for lunch when we went to the racing hall, so...I-I thought I’d try meowking it myself, as best I can...”

“Oh?” said Ghozal. “You made this, Uliminas?”

“Th-That’s what I’ve been trying to tell mew!” said the blushing hellcat.

Ghozal accepted the plate from Uliminas with a great smile. He grabbed the spoon Uliminas had provided him and scooped up a bite of meat. “Hrm!” he declared. “This is delicious!”

“Meow way...” said Uliminas. “Mew don’t gotta flatter me...”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ghozal reassured her. “You know full well I don’t say anything I don’t mean!”

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“W-Well, I can’t purretend to denythat...” Uliminas admitted, her face growing redder still.

“Hah,” Ghozal laughed, grinning as he took another bite of the stir-fry.

“E-Excuse me?!” said Uliminas. “Meowt exactly do you find so funny?!”

“Nothing, nothing!” said Ghozal. “I just can’t believe I finally got to taste your cooking, Uliminas! I’m glad.”

“M-Mreowr...” Uliminas said, mumbling as she spoke. “W-Well, mew know. Back in the Dark Army, I was busy with my duties as meowr confurderate. I didn’t have time to do things like this.”

“Hrm,” Ghozal agreed, smiling at his wife’s behavior between bites of stir-fry. “That’s true. We were both always busy with something in those days. Back then, I would have never imagined how soon we would end up living such a relaxed, peaceful life...”

“Yeah...” said Uliminas, sitting down across from Ghozal—although she still hadn’t managed to bring herself to look him in the eyes. “It’s something to be happy about, I suppose...”

Ghozal smiled, and went back to eating his food.

◇One Night—Flio’s Bathhouse◇

“What’s this, what’s this, what’sthis?!” Hokh’hokton came running out of his cottage, running as fast as his legs could carry him towards the public bath.

Hokh’hokton had just recently been appointed to the position of troubleshooter for the new bathhouse Flio had built outside the oni village—the one the villagers had confusingly taken to calling Flio’s Bathhouse.

“I don’t believe this!” he fumed as he stormed into the entrance to the bath. “The very day I’m appointed bathhouse troubleshooter, there’s already trouble to shoot!”

The front door of the bathhouse led to a large front room before the bath proper, lined with lockers for visitors to use to store their shoes while bathing. Hokh’hokton swiftly changed into a pair of slippers and hurried farther inside. Past the front room straight ahead was the attendant’s booth. To the right were the women’s baths, and to the left, the men’s.

It was obvious at a glance that something was wrong. The demon woman villager on duty in the attendant’s booth was looking fearfully in the direction of the men’s bath, while outside a number of male demons paced back and forth in agitation, wearing towels around their waists.

“Mister Hokh’hokton!” said the woman in the attendant’s booth. “This way, here!”

“Hmm...” Hokh’hokton mused as he approached. “So the trouble’s in the men’s bath, is it? So much for using my duties as a pretext to enter the women’s bathing area—notthat that was ever my intention!” he hastily added, realizing he had said a little too much. “Well, whatisgoing on in there, anyway?”

“Well...” the attendant said, “some strange troublemaker has been keeping the bath occupied.”

“A strange troublemaker...you say?” Hokh’hokton asked.

“That’s right!” one of the men volunteered. “Seems she’s been drinking in the bath, making a nuisance of herself to anyone else who steps food inside!”

“Plus, there’s the fact that there’s a woman in the men’s bath,” another added. “Can’t be too careful in how we handle the situation...”

Hokh’hokton twitched involuntarily at the men’s report. “There’s a...woman in the men’s bath?” he asked.

“That’s right,” said the attendant. “That’s what makes this so tricky...”

“Hmmm...” Hokh’hokton said. “And you’ve tried all sorts of methods to get this perv—thiswoman—to leave, I take it? The nerve! Why, my blood is boiling so hot I can just about feel the steam coming from my ears!” He stretched out his shoulders in preparation, grinning jubilantly at the prospect of giving this mysterious drunken woman some much needed discipline.

“And...” the attendant continued with a note of misery in her voice, “I did my best to be brave and kick the woman out, but she wouldn’t listen to me! She just kept going on saying, ‘Who cares? What’s the harm?’ while she stripped off my clothes! And she did this...and that...and some other things...” At this the demon did what she had been threatening to do for a little while and burst into noisy tears as the other demons hurried to reassure and comfort her.

Hokh’hokton’s expression fell. He had been enjoying himself imagining a fantasy of charging in to drive some lady pervert out of the bath, but suddenly, it hit him.There’s only one woman I know who’s that much of a nightmare drunk...he thought.Don’t tell me I’ve gotten involved withheragain!

Keeping a stiff upper lip, Hokh’hokton stepped gingerly into the men’s bath. As he passed through the changing room, he heard someone singing up ahead, an undulating wavering melody: “Oh what fun to roam and quest, with wine in hand from east to weeest.”

That singing voice...Hokh’hokton thought.I knew it!He walked briskly up to the door to the bath, and cast it open. There on the other side was Telbyress, drinking away in the men’s bath.

“Yooou!” Hokh’hokton bellowed. “I knew this was your doing, you damned no-gooddess!”

“Hwuuuh?” said Telbyress. “Who’sh there? Get out! I’m jush gettin’ to the good partsh!” She seemed to be in uncommonly high spirits.

Hokh’hokton seized a nearby washing pail and flung it at the fallen goddess’s face. He scored a clean hit, sending her reeling out of the water. Telbyress didn’t make the slightest effort to conceal her voluptuous body, but Hokh’hokton paid her figure no mind whatsoever as he made a beeline straight for his foe.