Side Story: Everyone’s Morrow Part 13

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◇Houghtow College of Magic◇

It was a visitation day at the Houghtow College of Magic, when the parents and guardians of the younger children had the opportunity to come by the campus and see the college at work. Classes were in session and the hallways were full of people—presumably the parents and guardians—coming and going.

Among their number was none other than Hugi-Mugi.

Hugi-Mugi was a doppeladler—a two-headed monster bird—who had been part of the Dark Army’s Infernal Four during Ghozal’s reign as Dark One. Right now, however, they were disguised as a human. After leaving the Dark Army, they had taken up residence deep in a forest, where they lived a life of leisure with their three wives and children.

“Hmm...” Hugi-Mugi said, looking all around. “So this is the school our children attend, yes?” They appeared to be a young man of slender proportions, but when they spoke it was with two voices at once, a mark of their true nature as a doppeladler. “Yes, the school attended by our children! We came here to see how everyone is doing, yes, but it does seem to be a more serious school than I expected...” Hugi-Mugi nodded in approval.

Some of the people passing by cocked their heads at Hugi-Mugi’s strange way of speaking, but since their appearance was outwardly normal, nobody had a stronger reaction to their presence than that.

Until, that is, Hugi-Mugi heard a voice from behind. “What’s thisss?”

“Hm?” Recognizing the voice from somewhere, Hugi-Mugi looked back over their shoulder. When they saw who it was, their eyes shot open wide. “Wh-What?! Wh-What are you doing here, yes?! Yes, why are you here?!”

Before their very eyes stood a woman with long blue hair wearing a pair of glasses. She smiled, taking a step towards Hugi-Mugi. “Why, you asssk? Well, it jussst so happens that I am the headmassster of this ssschool.”

Hugi-Mugi stared in shock. “You?! Yorminyt, yes,you’rethe headmaster?!”

“My, my, but it hasss been quite some time sssince anyone called me by that name. I have been going by the name Nyt of late. It’sss a pleasssure to make your acquaintance once again.” Nyt gave Hugi-Mugi a smirk, playfully holding up a finger to her lips.

Nyt was another of the Infernal Four during Ghozal’s time as Dark One—known then as the Serpent Princess Yorminyt—although currently she too had adopted a human form. She deserted the Dark Army during Yuigarde’s reign and, after a series of misadventures, found herself being begged by the staff of the Houghtow College of Magic to accept an appointment to the post of headmaster.

“Ah, yes!” Hugi-Mugi nodded their head a bit too quickly, grasping the gist of the situation from Nyt’s gesture. “Yes, we understand...more or less, yes.”

Nyt found herself smirking in amusement at Hugi-Mugi’s behavior. “Ah ha ha... But I mussst say, I never expected to have your children attending our inssstitution...”

“Wh-What is that supposed to mean, yes?” Hugi-Mugi demanded. “Yes, is there something strange about our children going to this school?”

“No, not at all,” Yorminyt said. “But you were the youngessst member of the Infernal Four, you know, and I had alwaysss worried about whether you might be able to find a ssspouse. I sssuppose I was sssimply moved to sssee you’ve not only found a ssspouse, but even produced offssspring.” Then she smirked again, daintily hiding her mouth behind her fingertips. “Although I sssuppose there wasss the time you tried asssking Phufun’sss underling Coqueshtti out on a date...”

“Ah! Ah! Ah!” Hugi-Mugi cried, cutting Nyt off as the Serpent Princess grinned wickedly. “Th-There’s no need to bring up something that happened so long ago, yes! Yes, and besides, Coqueshtti worked for Yuigarde’s minion Phufun, Lord Gholl’s enemy, yes! We could have never gotten close to her, yes, never!” Hugi-Mugi had turned bright red in the face at this point, their shoulders heaving with anger.

Just then, Hugi-Mugi felt a hand grab them from behind. Shocked out of his rant, he slowly turned around to see his three wives standing there; Cartha, Shino and Mato.

Cartha was the daughter of a farming family. She had fallen in love at first sight with Hugi-Mugi’s youthful human form, and after a long and hard-fought battle, finally secured from them the vaunted position ofwife. She now lived with Hugi-Mugi in their cottage in the forest along with their other two wives.

Shino was a holy sister who lived in the same village as Cartha, and, like her, had fallen in love with Hugi-Mugi at first sight. Now she was happily living with them as one of their three wives, although she spent most of her time in the village, where she worked as a priestess healing the sick and injured.

Mato, meanwhile, was a passing merchant who happened to come under attack by bandits in the forest where Hugi-Mugi lived, only for Hugi-Mugi to come flying to her rescue. In gratitude to them for saving her life, she pledged herself to their service and fell in love over the course of their living together. Now she too lived with the rest of the wives.

“There you are, Hugi!” Mato said, grabbing Hugi-Mugi by their right arm. “Hurry! Our children’s class is about to start!”

“A-Ah! Yes! We understand, yes!” Hugi replied, sounding just the least bit panicked.

“Please do hurry,” said Mato. “It would make them so happy to see the whole family in attendance!”

“And think of how sad they’ll be if there’s nobody to cheer them on!” added Shino.

Together, Hugi-Mugi’s three wives grabbed them by both of their arms.

“Y-Yes, yes!” the doppeladler cried. “Y-Yes, let us hurry, yes!” They lowered their head in a farewell to Nyt, a smile on their face, and turned to continue down the hallway.

“That was the headmaster, wasn’t it?” Cartha asked.

“Y-Yes, so it was, yes,” said Hugi-Mugi.

“I’m certainly not complaining, mind you...” she began. “But am I imagining it, or were the two of you just having a curiously personal conversation?”

“N-No, yes! Yes, no, nothing of the sort! Yes!”

“And I thought I heard something about someone named Coqueshtti...”

“That’s right!” said Shino. “I heard that too! Weren’t you saying something about adate?”

“Yes, a date!” Mato agreed. “I would certainly like to hear more details, if I may...”

Suddenly, the three wives’ gazes seemed full of suspicion as they held Hugi-Mugi firmly between them on their way down the hallway.

“W-Well, no, a little, yes...” Hugi-Mugi admitted. “Yes, it was about something that happened a long time ago...” Part of them wished they could vanish on the spot, but surrounded as they were on all sides, Hugi-Mugi found themselves completely at the mercy of their wives.

“My, my,” Nyt said as she watched Hugi-Mugi go. “So the girls love Hugi-Mugi after all, I sssee...” She laughed happily, being sure to cover her mouth with her hand. “To think that after their role in Lord Ghozal’sss Infernal Four they would get married and even have children! And come to think of it, our comrade Sssleip married a human woman and had a child asss well, and at hisss age no lessss...”

Then it hit her.W-Wait...D-Doesss that mean that of the sssurviving members of the old Infernal Four, the only one who still hasn’t gotten married isss...me?she thought, the smile vanishing from her face.Even when I fought in the Dark Army, my fearsssome reputation as the Ssserpent Princessss meant that no man would ever approach me...I-I hope my marriageable daysss haven’t completely passssed me by...A bead of sweat trailed down her forehead.

“Ah! There you are, Headmaster Yorminyt!” Nyt heard the voice of Taclyde, the administrator of the Houghtow College of Magic, calling her from behind.

“My...” said Yorminyt. “Taclyde? Whatever do you want?”

“What do you mean, whatever do I want?!” Taclyde exclaimed. “We have important figures of Houghtow City visiting us today! I told you you need to wait in the headmaster’s office!”

“My, my...” Yorminyt touched a finger to her cheek in thought. “Now that you mention it, I do ssseem to recall there being sssomething like that...perhapsss...”

“Yes, yes, now save it for later, if you please!” said Taclyde, taking her by the arm. “The bigwigs are arriving as we speak—come along with me!”

“Yesss, yesss, I’m coming...” said Nyt.

Taclyde hurried down the hallway at a run, Nyt following along behind, her eyes boring into his back.Hahhh...she thought, slumping her shoulders and touching her hand to her forehead.At thisss rate, my marriageable period will ssslip through my fingersss completely...

◇Dark Citadel Basement—Infirmary◇

“And...hup!” Coqueshtti, the little mad scientist girl dressed in a pink nurse’s outfit, hoisted her comically oversized syringe up in her arms.

Coqueshtti was one of the current members of the Infernal Four. The reigning Dark One Dawkson had handpicked her in light of her achievements saving the lives of a great many demons with her healing magic, but as she was a cheerful and timid girl, the position didn’t seem to suit her personality at all.

Coqueshtti brought the syringe down, sticking its head into Belianna’s buttock as she lay face down on the examination table in front of her. The needle of Coqueshtti’s syringe was an illusion created by the girl’s magic, but even so Belianna twisted her face and cried out in an incomprehensible shout as the needle penetrated her skin. “Daaamnedadammmn!!!”

Belianna was a devil—a member of the devil nobility, in fact—and one of the new Infernal Four. She was a courageous fighter and specialist in the weapon arts of the scythe with a tendency to plunge straight into enemy ranks. Recently, she had taken up a fanatical worship of the Wolf of Justice that led her to spend the greater part of her salary entirely on the purchase of Wolf of Justice branded merchandise.

“Lady Belianna!” Coqueshtti said. “This treatment doesn’t cause any pain, I promise!”

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“I-I damned well know that!” Belianna scrunched up her face, her cheeks turning red in protest. “But still! There ain’t no damned rule that says a demon can’t have a damned phobia!”

“Oh my!” Coqueshtti said, giggling as she pressed the needle in and began injecting Belianna with the magical medicine contained within the syringe. “Lady Belianna, you’re still afraid of needles even after all the times you’ve had this treatment? You’re just like a child, aren’t you?”

“Damn it all!” Belianna said, gritting her teeth at the sensation of the needle entering her flesh and tensing up with her entire body. “I-I can’t help it! This is the one damned thing I can’t do anything about...”I just damned well hope my little sister Irystiel never sees me in such a damned embarrassing position...she thought.

“Yes, yes, well, the treatment is all finished,” Coqueshtti said, breathing a small sigh as she set the syringe down beside her. “Thank you for bearing with it.”

Belianna sat up on the examination table, moving her body from side to side to test the feeling in her spine. “Ahhh... You’re a damned lifesaver. My damned back doesn’t hurt a bit!” Grinning, she retrieved her boots from where she had set them underneath the table.

“By the by, Lady Belianna,” Coqueshtti asked with a tilt of her head. “How did you wind up hurting your back so terribly?”

“Ugh...” Belianna suddenly found herself at a loss for words.Th-There’s no damned way I’m telling her that...she thought.Who would believe that Lady Belianna of the Dark Army’s Infernal Four hurt her damned back trying to carry too many Wolf of Justice brand buster swords at once from the damned Fli-o’-Rys General Store...Beads of nervous sweat began appearing profusely along her brow. “Um...well...you know,” she said. “I was out there doing my damned duty under Dark One Dawkson’s orders...”

“Oh, I see, I see...” Coqueshtti said, clearly unconvinced by Belianna’s explanation.

Damn it...Belianna thought.I-I’d better find some damned way to change the subject...“S-S-So! Have there been any damned developments with that thing you were talking about earlier?”

“What?” Coqueshtti said, blinking in perfect innocent confusion. She clearly had no idea what Belianna was talking about. “‘That thing’? Whatever do you mean?”

“You know—that damned thing!” Belianna said. “The thing you were damned on about just earlier! About how someone confessed their damned love to you!”

“Fweh?!” Realizing at last whatthingBelianna was referring to, Coqueshtti’s face turned bright red, eyes opening wide in alarm. “N-No, no, no, not at all!” she sputtered. “Th-Th-That was long ago, you know? It’s long gone! Void! Impossible!”

“Oh really?” Belianna said. “But it sounded like there were all kinds of damned promising developments! You seemed pretty happy about it before.”That was a damned close one!she thought, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief.Seems like I managed to change the topic...“Anyway, it sounds like this other person’s made their feelings plenty damned clear. Don’t you give up, damn it!”

Belianna raised her hand in a casual goodbye and walked out of the room, doing her best to keep a level head. When she was gone, Coqueshtti was left muttering to herself in a quiet voice, trembling as she hid her scarlet face behind both of her hands.

“I-I admit, perhaps, they did invite me on dates... I heard them say, ‘Would you like to go to Dark Mountain Pudding Pudding Park together, yes?’ more times than I can count...and I took them up on it a fair number of times too. But then they left the Infernal Four and vanished to who knows where, and I haven’t heard a word from them since...” Coqueshtti wrapped her arms around her oversized syringe, unconsciously holding it close. “But...” she said, “Iamstill waiting for them...” Her face reflected in the side of the syringe had its mouth turned down in a tight little frown, but nonetheless she was blushing all the way up to her ears.

◇A Room in a Building Somewhere in a City◇

In an unlit room somewhere in the world, a heavyset man sat in a lavish armchair, smoking a rolled cigar. Between puffs, he was tapping his foot in clear irritation, clicking his tongue over and over again. This was, of course, the Shadow King. “What is the meaning of this?!” he finally spat, his face twisted in anger. “You’re telling me they weren’t able to sellanyof the clothes we worked so hard to make?”

The man who had brought him the report held his position kneeling down on a single knee, but his face was dripping with sweat in the face of the Shadow King’s anger. “N-No, sir,” he said. “It seems the very first merchant they approached was able to tell immediately that they were low-quality imitations, and not only refused the deal but destroyed our merchandise as well...”

The Shadow King clicked his tongue even more loudly and intently than before, glaring down at his subordinate. “Damn fools... This is exactly why I made such a point of telling them they needed to choose their mark carefully! Do these idiots not know the first thing about the business?! Hrmph!”

“I-I’m so terribly sorry...” the man said. “I’ll be sure to make certain that everyone understands that point in the future...”

“And another thing!” the Shadow King continued. “Am I correct in hearing that those imbeciles tried to interfere with this runway exhibition, and were not only driven off but captured by the last man?!”

“I-It’s true, I’m afraid...” answered the messenger.

“Unbelievable... What were they thinking, the lot of them...” He sat there for a moment just tapping his foot, then heaved a heavy sigh. “What about the demon fox sisters? What have they been up to?”

“W-Well, sir...” the messenger replied. “The two of them said they were off to bet on magic beast races, but they left without giving any more details than that...”

“Well, it’s true you can make a decent enough amount of money at the magic beast racing hall, so I suppose I can’t complain about that,” the Shadow King said, a crease forming in his forehead as he clicked his tongue once again. “But I swear, why is it that nothing we do ever goes right? I’m not sure how much longer we can even stay in business...”

◇Houghtow City—Fli-o’-Rys General Store◇

As always, the Fli-o’-Rys General Store was positively bustling with customers. Greanyl the shadow demon was in the back of the store, busy with the day’s work—in theory, anyway. She was present at the very least, but whenever anyone came up to her she would immediately find a nearby object to hide behind. It couldn’t have been more obvious that she was trying to avoid interacting with anyone at all.

Greanyl had been doing this for a number of days now, much to the concern of a certain Dalc Horst, who looked over at her hiding spot and cocked his head. “Why is Greanyl acting that way, anyway?” he asked aloud, crossing his arms. “It seems she’s getting her work done in spite of her behavior, though...”

“Meow?” said Uliminas, who happened to be passing by Dalc Horst. “Don’t tell me mew haven’t heard?”

“Oh! Uliminas!” Dalc Horst said. “Does that mean you know the reason?”

“Of course I do!” Uliminas said, a cunning smirk spreading over her face. “What, are mew curious?”

“W-Well, yes, of course I am!” Dalc Horst stammered. “She’s my colleague at the Fli-o’-Rys General Store after all!”

“Oooh?” Uliminas grinned in amusement, using her elbow to jab Dalc Horst in the side. “Meowrcolleague,huh? Well, fine. I’ll tell mew. Just lend me meowr ear...”

Dalc Horst leaned in, and Uliminas began to whisper. At first Dalc Horst listened seriously, nodding along to her account, but as he listened his cheeks suddenly began to turn red. “W-Wait, Uliminas! Are you for real?!”

“Mra ha ha!” Uliminas laughed. “Every detail, I purromise you!”

“Y-You mean...Greanyl really appeared as one of the models in the runway exhibition?!” Dalc Horst exclaimed, not minding his volume in the slightest. Naturally enough, Greanyl, who had been quietly managing the shop’s inventory in the back, heard as well.

“Wh-What?!” Greanyl said, her own face turning bright red as well. She scrambled over the boxes she had been unpacking, hurdling her way towards Dalc Horst and Uliminas. “Y-You!” she said, drawing a kunai—a favorite weapon of shadow demons everywhere—and pressing it up to Dalc Horst’s throat. “Wh-What was it you were discussing?!”

“H-Hey, my bad!” Dalc Horst said, holding up his hands in submission. “I just heard about you showing up in the runway exhibition, and I guess my imagination got the better of me...”

At those words the blush in Greanyl’s face spread all the way to the tips of her ears, and she glared daggers at Dalc Horst as she held the kunai to his throat with trembling hands.

Dalc Horst, however, didn’t seem particularly bothered.Hmm...he thought, puffing out his cheeks with a horselike snort.Greanyl always seems so cool when she’s on a mission, like she could kill someone just by looking at them...but seeing her struggling so hard to hide how embarrassed she is isn’t bad either! It’s like a whole new side of her...not to mention absolutely adorable!

Greanyl was so embarrassed, in fact, that tears were welling up in the corners of her eyes.

“Hey...Greanyl... S-Sorry...” Dalc Horst said. “You’ve been out of sorts lately, and I’ve been worried about you, is all. Uliminas was just telling me what was going on.”

“I’ve been out of sorts?” Greanyl said. “I’m impressed you were able to tell. I’m certain I had perfectly concealed all signs of my state...”

It was all Dalc Horst could do to keep from bursting out in laughter at those words.D-Did she really think she was hiding it from everyone?he thought, trembling for a somewhat different reason from Greanyl.Seriously, that’s way too cute, Greanyl...

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Greanyl, noticing Dalc Horst’s reaction, curled up on the spot and started trembling all the more. “Y-You see? E-Even you can’t help laughing at the idea of a woman such as myself appearing as a model in a runway exhibition! I know better than anyone how little suited I am to such work...and now, I will never be married...”

Dalc Horst placed a hand on Greanyl’s shoulder as she sat curled up in a ball on the floor, sending a startled tremor through the shadow demon’s body. “I-I dunno,” he said, suddenly shy. “I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you. I mean...I’d be more than happy to have you as a bride, if you don’t have anyone else...”

At this, Greanyl went completely still. A long moment passed in uncomfortable silence.

“U-Um... G-Greanyl?” Calling her name, Dalc Horst peered down at Greanyl’s face. And then...

Poof!

The area where Greanyl had been was suddenly filled with smoke.

“H-Hey!” Dalc Horst staggered back, covering his mouth with his hand. “G-Greanyl! Using a smoke bomb at a time like this...” When the smoke cleared, Greanyl was nowhere to be seen. Dalc Horst slumped his shoulders in disappointment. “Well, dang it!” he said. “I guess that was too sudden, huh? I didn’t get to hear her response...”

After that incident, Greanyl took the entire next week off from work, claiming she had come down with a sudden illness.

◇Oldwass College of Magic—Chairman’s Office◇

“S-Say what...?” Chairman Decona simply blinked, dumbfounded at the report he had received form Sage Ironwall. The sage himself, for what it’s worth, seemed no less bewildered by what he found himself saying.

“Yes...” he said, looking down at Decona as the chairman sat in his chair. “When I first realized what had happened, I didn’t believe it myself either...”

There was a long moment of silence, as neither man seemed to know what to say. After a while, Decona finally spoke up. “Then...” he said. “The results of your investigation...are that the Diabolist stronghold Mister Flio destroyed wasn’t a stronghold at all, but their main base itself...”

“Without any doubt,” Sage Ironwall confirmed. “Furthermore, among the Diabolists Mister Flio apprehended for us was Gringlass, the Master Diabolist himself, as well as every last member of the Diabolists’ upper echelon.”

Once again, Decona found himself at a loss for words.Th-The Diabolists have been giving us no end of trouble fordecadesat this point,he thought.And now, Mister Flio wiped them out just like that, with only a handful of magi?

It was simply too much. All Decona could do was laugh dryly in disbelief at the news.

Now that I think of it,Sage Ironwall thought,back when Mister Flio gave his report of the incident, he had that peculiar reaction for a moment when I mentioned the main Diabolist base, didn’t he? I suppose he must have been aware of it at the time, then.At that thought, Sage Ironwall found himself laughing dryly as well.

The two men laughed and laughed, unable to do anything else for quite some time.

◇Houghtow City—Flio’s House◇

It was early in the morning, before sunrise. The sky had only just begun to grow brighter as dawn approached. As the light grew, its illumination gradually reached Flio’s house and its surrounding environs. Before long, everything had become pleasantly bright.

A single bird was perched on the highest point of the roof of the three-story structure that served as Flio’s house—the Divine Beast Grimby, one of Elinàsze’s familiars. Grimby sat there with his eyes closed, perfectly still, not moving a single muscle. In due time, however, the rays of the sun began to crest the ridge of the mountain. The very moment they reached Grimby, the bird’s eyes shot open. He spread his wings and let out a mighty “Kiyaaaaaaaaah!!!” which reverberated throughout the property.

From its epicenter at Flio’s house, Grimby’s cry could be heard in the nearby dormitory housing the farmworkers who lived on Blossom Acres, and even all the way in the oni village atop the mountain.

It was the Divine Beast Grimby’s natural instinct to let out a loud cry upon the coming of morning. His voice was no coarse bellow, but a beautiful clarion tone that worked directly on the subconscious of those who heard it, helping them to awake refreshed and happy.

Grimby looked out proudly, watching as the residents of Flio’s informal little fiefdom began to stir. Soon, however, his expression turned sour as his eyes fell on one corner of the farm next to farmworkers’ dormitory, at the cottage where the goblins who served farm’s overseers lived: Maunty, his family, and Hokh’hokton.

Grimby took flight, soaring from the roof down towards the goblins’ cottage, where he alighted upon one of the window frames in Hokh’hokton’s wing of the building and deftly opened it with one of his wings. A terrible stench of alcohol wafted out from the window, making Grimby scowl involuntarily when it reached his nose. The divine bird poked his head inside and looked towards the bed.

Lying there, completely naked and clutching a bottle of liquor, was none other than Telbyress, fast asleep and happily snoring. She must have heard Grimby’s call to wake up, and yet the former goddess showed no signs of rousing anytime soon. The scores of empty bottles lying atop the bed and all around the room made it clear that she had spent the previous night deep in the drink.

Grimby clacked his beak in open disdain at the shameful display of slovenliness. “This woman...” he said. “It’s always sleep, sleep, sleep every day, and then drink, drink, drink every night. No wonder they call her the no-gooddess...” He came up next to the bed, bringing his beak right up next to the top of Telbyress’s head. Then he took a deep, deep breath, and let out another mighty “Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!” right next to Telbyress’s ear.

Grimby used his power as a divine beast to prevent the sound from escaping the confines of the room. The same cry that had been loud enough to echo throughout every corner of Flio’s vast territory was concentrated entirely on Telbyress.

“Fhgwaaaaaah?!” As soundly as Telbyress had been sleeping, even she could not hope to sleep peacefully through such a sonic assault. She leaped out of bed and into the air with a shriek, which Hokh’hokton heard from his own private room on the second floor.

“Damn that no-gooddess...” Hokh’hokton muttered in exasperation as he changed into his work clothes—he had been awakened by Grimby’s first cry along with the rest of the farm. “She must have needed to be woken up by force yet again! I swear, there’s been no stop to the noise ever since she came tumbling down here. I’m really at my wits’ end...” Sighing, he grabbed his signature pair of goggles, hanging them from his neck to complete his outfit. “Although...” he admitted. “It would be a little lonely around here if she suddenly vanished, I suppose...”