Side Story: Everyone’s Morrow Part 2

[AI CENSORSHIP BLOCKED THIS CHUNK - RAW ENGLISH RETAINED]

◇Deep in a Forest◇

Hero Gold-Hair looked at the shovel in his right hand, his eyes large with awe. “This Drilldozer Shovel is something else!” he said. In front of him was a great hole, hot water gushing out with surprising force.

“I thought we were digging a well for drinking waaater...”

“Yeah, me too. I didn’t expect something like this to come out.” The two exchanged a glance as the hot water continued to issue forth.

It took half a day for the water to reach equilibrium. It had settled into something you might call a small pond with the hole Gold-Hair dug at its epicenter. Tsuya timidly stuck her hand in the water. “Hero Gold-Haaair,” she said, “this feels pretty good!”

“Yeah? Let me try!” Following her example, Hero Gold-Hair stuck his own hand in the hot water. “You’re right! It turned out quite nicely. Shall we take a bath?”

“Yeees!” Tsuya cheered. “Hooray!” Her clothes were already halfway off. She cast off her cloak and tossed her rather provocative undergarments aside until she stood entirely naked. She skittered off towards the pond.

“Y-You fool!” Hero Gold-Hair shouted, flustered. He picked up her abandoned clothes to shake off the mud and folded them neatly. “Who just gets naked with no hesitation like that?! It’s shameful!”

Gold-Hair’s words seemed to snap Tsuya back to reality. “O-Oh noooo?!” she cried. She blushed and began doing her best to cover her breasts and body with her hands as she got in the water.

Hero Gold-Hair sighed and walked behind a tree to take off his own clothing, which he folded and laid on a nearby boulder. “That woman... Should I just avert my eyes from her entirely?” He wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out from behind the tree. “Well, it is what it is,” he said. He lowered himself into the water.

“Oh!” said Gold-Hair. “Thisisa good temperature.”

“Isn’t iiit?” Tsuya smoothly moved through the water, coming up close to him. While Hero Gold-Hair had been busy with his clothes, Tsuya had wrapped a towel around herself as well. However, a single towel was plainly too small to fit around her voluptuous chest. It was plain to see that the cloth was digging into her breasts, binding them tight.

Gold-Hair caught himself staring.I still can’t believe that chest of hers...he thought.

Suddenly, the towel, pulled taut around Tsuya’s breasts, launched off of her like a sling. “O-Oh? Oh, nooo!” Tsuya tried frantically to hide her chest with her arms.

Gold-Hair was overtaken by a sudden coughing fit. Given where he had been looking, he had just caught an entire eyeful of Tsuya’s naked chest. His cheeks red, he stared determinedly up at the sky.

“W-Well!” he declared. “It seems one towel won’t cut it. Here. Use mine.” Still staring up at the sky, he procured one of his own towels and held it out to her.

“Reaaally? Maaay I?”

“Of course, just put it on quickly! I want to have a calm, relaxing bath, and I can’t do it if you’re traipsing around likethat!”

“O-Okaaay!” she said, and then she noticed something. “Oh?” There was something stiff and erect under the towel Hero Gold-Hair still had wrapped around his waist. The sight of Gold-Hair’s too-natural reaction to seeing her naked breasts made her freeze up for a second.

“Eeeek!” Tsuya shrieked, splashing water on his face. “H-Hero Gold-Haaair! Don’t be a peeervert!”

“Wait! Tsuya! You’ve got it wrong! Or...maybe not entirely, but—”

“Get away from me, you peeerv!”

“Imbecile!” Gold-Hair shouted back. “Who areyoucalling a pervert?! First of all, it’s all because ofyourridiculous—”

As the evening sun shone from the crest of the mountains, Gold-Hair and Tsuya continued to shout at each other. Truly, Hero Gold-Hair was in some hot water.

◇Dark Citadel, Throne Room◇

The Dark One Yuigarde sat upon his throne, his feet twitching irritably. His expression looked like he had just swallowed a bug. “Hey Phufun.”

“What is it you wish, my master?” Phufun, who had been waiting to the side of his throne, pushed her fake glasses up the ridge of her nose and maneuvered around to the front of the Dark One.

“Are we still waiting on a response from those western foxes? Well?!” he spat.

“W-We’ve sent three different emissaries to inquire about them, but we still don’t...”

Yuigarde clicked his tongue and shifted in his seat. “Hmph. Driven out of the hot springs, officers not talking, listening to every damned complaint any demon has...” Yuigarde sprung to his feet, suddenly shouting with a loud voice. “Am I not the Dark One?! The greatest of all demonkind?! How did things turn out so wrong?!” Spent, he slumped back into his throne and started tapping his foot on the floor in irritation.

He looked to his side, where the Infernals were meant to be waiting. There was no one. “And what are the Infernal Three doing?! Why aren’t they here?! Huh?!”

“Ahh... Those three said they were going to observe their assigned regions...”

“Idiot!” Yuigarde bellowed. He threw the crown on his head at Phufun, scoring a hit directly to her forehead. Trickles of fresh blood ran down her face. “‘Observe’?! They hadunderlingsto do that when Ghozal was in charge! They just don’t want to talk to me!”

Yuigarde kept rambling as he sank into his seat. Time and time again he kept adjusting his position. It looked like he was rather uncomfortable sitting on his throne.

◇Klyrode Castle—Maiden Queen’s Chambers◇

The Maiden Queen lay on her bed resting on her stomach, moaning, her face red. A smaller girl was on top of her.

“Is that good, my sister the Queen?” the smaller girl asked.

“Ohhh, yes... There... Right there, Princess... Harder...”

“Here? Very well then.”

“Aaah, yes! Oh, I can feel it...”

The Maiden Queen’s teenage sister was perched on top of her, working her thumb and the ridge of her hand into the tense spots of her sister’s back as the Queen cried out in relief.

“My sister the Queen, your muscles are terribly stiff... I would not think you to be only thirty years of age.”

The Queen winced. “My sister the Third Princess... I am only twenty-nine years old.”

“I do not believe one year more or less should make much difference.”

“No, my sister the Third Princess, that one year is a woman’s pride.”

“That isn’t very persuasive, not with your back so tight and bunched up like an old woman’s.”

“Ohhh!” the Queen cried as her sister pushed on a pressure point. “Yes! Right there! It feels so good...”

The Third Princess sighed. “My sister the Queen, I’m afraid you have been working too hard. From dawn to midnight you’re in meetings, conducting interviews, or handling paperwork... You scarcely give yourself time to breathe!”

“It’s unavoidable, I’m afraid, my sister the Third Princess. We had to banish everyone the old King so much as breathed on, and now we simply don’t have enough people to govern the kingdom. Until we can find new people to fill out their ranks, Ihaveto do this. I am the one who deemed it necessary to drive them out, after all.”

“I understand,” said the Third Princess, pushing harder on the pressure point in the middle of her sister’s back, “but even so, there’s no reason to push your body to such a— Huh?” Suddenly, she tilted her head, realizing something was wrong. Her sister had been soresponsiveto her touch until now, but this time she gave no response at all.

Frantic, the Princess took a look at the Queen’s face. She had fallen asleep, and was now snoring peacefully before her eyes. Her hair was ragged, her body was in shambles, and she had dark bags under her eyes. In order to cut costs, she had eliminated any budget for her own personal cosmetics or wardrobe, dedicating everything to hiring new staff from the castle town, putting her appearance a distant second to her duties. She had likewise eliminated any budget for massage therapy, which was why, when her body built up too much fatigue to function, it fell to her younger sister to massage her back.

“My sister’s so worn out...and it’s all because of that wicked old man...” the Princess wiped a tear from her eye. She had gotten so emotional that she couldn’t hold herself back from crying. “My wonderful, wonderful sister... At the very least, I can get rid ofallyour fatigue while you sleep!” She seized her sister’s leg and wrenched it, twisting it upwards as hard as she could. It bent back unnaturally.

There was a sickening crunch, and the Maiden Queen’s screams filled the chamber.

For the next few days, the Maiden Queen performed her official functions sitting in a wheelchair. And the one pushing the chair, with a very apologetic expression, was none other than the Third Princess.

◇Houghtow City—Flio’s House◇

Flio’s house stood outside the walls of Houghtow City. In front of it was a large sprawling garden and pasture. Recently, a small cabin had been set up to the side of the garden.

Two goblins stepped out, both stretching their arms wide as they began a set of physical exercises.

“Hmm... Good weather again,” said the larger goblin, Maunty.

“Indeed!” replied the smaller goblin, Hokh’hokton. The two continued their exercises, watching as the morning sun rose above the horizon.

“It’s another busy day, Hokh’hokton!”

“Yes! We must be of use to the noble Lady Blossom, to pay her back for this house.” As the two stretched, they could hear the clattering noise of a cart’s wheels. “Oh, is she already awake? How splendid!”

Now they could see Blossom coming from the direction of Flio’s house. Behind her, Sybe in psychobear form came pulling the cart. The two goblins stood at attention.

“Good morning, Lady Blossom, Esteemed Sybe!” said Maunty.

“It is, as always, an honor to serve you,” said Hokh’hokton.

“Yok canım, size de kaç kere söyledim, asıl siz bana yardım ediyorsunuz! Minnettar olması gereken benim.” Blossom neşeyle gülümsedi, iki goblinin de omuzlarını patpatladı. “Sizin sayenizde otları kolayca temizliyor, bahçeyi büyütüyor ve hasadı çok daha hızlı yapıyoruz. Bana kalırsa her şey yolunda!” Blossom çantasına uzandı, içinden iki sarılı paket çıkardı. “Alın bakalım, kahvaltı getirdim. Rys Hanım sizin için sarmış.”

“Aman ne güzel!” diye neşeyle haykırdı Maunty.

“Rys Hanım’ın yemekleri, her gün canla başla çalışmamız için yeter de artar bile!” diye ekledi Hokh’hokton.

İki goblin çabucak paketlerini açıp yemeye koyuldu. “Bu kulübede kalmanız gerçekten sorun değil mi sizin için?” diye sordu Blossom. “Daha önce de söyledim, Lord Flio’nun evine gelip kalabilirsiniz.”

“Ne diyorsunuz Blossom Hanım?” dedi Maunty. “Biz sizin mütevazı hizmetkarlarınızdan başka bir şey değiliz!”

“Kesinlikle!” dedi Hokh’hokton. “Bir hizmetkarın, bir hizmetkar gibi yaşaması önemlidir… Bay Maunty! O yumurta ruloları benim!”

“Sadece azıcık alıyorum… hem zaten sen de bir pirinç topu fazla yedin!”

Blossom’ın gülümsemesi zorakiydi. Hem o hem de Flio onları ikna etmeye çalışmış, ancak iki goblin hizmetkar konumlarında ısrar etmiş ve birlikte yaşama teklifini şiddetle reddetmişti. Sonunda Flio, bahçenin kenarına onlar için küçük bir kulübe inşa etmişti. Dışarıdan dar görünse de aslında ikisi için özel odaları, mutfağı ve banyosu olan oldukça konforlu küçük bir evdi.

Ah, Blossom Hanım,” dedi Maunty, “bahçeyi epey genişlettik, değil mi?”

Blossom gülümsedi. “Aynen öyle!” dedi. “Ne de olsa, bundan sonra deliler gibi ürün yetiştirip satacağız!”

“Satmak mı? Vay canına!” diye haykırdı Hokh’hokton. “Şehirdeki toptancıya zaman zaman sebze sattığınızı biliyorum. Bu sayıyı artırmayı mı düşünüyorsunuz?”

“Hayır, tam olarak değil!” dedi Blossom. “Lord Flio bir dükkan açacak! Yetiştirdiğimiz sebzeleri satmaktan memnuniyet duyacağını söyledi.”

“Vay canına, bu gerçekten sürpriz! Doğrudan pazara yani!”

“O zaman sıkı çalışmamız gerekecek!” İki goblin hızla ayağa kalktı.

Blossom kararlılıkla yumruğunu sıktı. “Evet,” dedi. “Bundan böyle müşteriler sebzelerimizi doğrudan bizden görüp alacak. Öyleyse dükkanımızı utandırmayacak bir hasat yetiştirelim! Fli-o’-Rys Genel Mağazası’nı Houghtow’un bir numarası yapalım!”

“Evet!” diye bağırdı ikisi birden.

İkisi yemeklerini bitirdikten sonra bahçeye doğru aceleyle yola koyuldu.

***

“Şu ikisi gerçekten iyi iş çıkarıyor,” diye mırıldandı Blossom, omzunun üzerinden beraberinde getirdiği psikobayıya bakarak. “Sybe, biz de geri kalmayalım!”

“Gwor!” Sybe iki koluyla kaslarını şişirerek güçlü adam pozu verdi.

Blossom gülümsedi. “Pekala! Hazır mısın?”

“Gwowor!”

Blossom ejderha pullu çapayı omuzladı ve Sybe arkasından arabayı çekerek tarlalara doğru ilerledi.