Chapter 4: Flio Goes to the Mountains (Again)

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◇The Alips Mountains◇

The Alips Mountains lay far to the north of the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode. Today, Flio’s family was there, in the middle of the range.

“It’s been far too long since we last visited this place!” Rys said, a look of pure delight in her eyes as she watched the white snow pile up, her lupine tail wagging furiously. She wasn’t wearing her usual dress, but warm winter clothing. It looked very cute on her.

“Gare-Gare, look! Snow! Snow!” Wyne, wearing no more clothing than she usually did, pointed at the snowy mountains, a big grin on her face.

Garyl was grinning too. “Wow! This is amazing!Allof this white stuff is snow?”

Elinàsze, dressed in a cute poncho-like outfit, smiled brightly as she clung to Flio’s arm. “Let’s have lots of fun, papa! We came all this way, after all!”

Flio looked around cheerfully at everyone who had come with him to the mountains for vacation. As thanks for preventing the Calamity Wyrm from doing any harm to the land, the Maiden Queen had given them permission to stay at the royal resort spa in the Alips mountain range. The Magical Kingdom of Klyrode would pay for all expenses, she’d said, although the truth was that the Maiden Queen was paying it herself out of her own personal savings.

The party had just arrived using Teleportation. Everyone was there, except for Blossom, who was busy managing the farm, Belano, who had a class to teach, and Tanya and Minilio, who were keeping the Fli-o’-Rys General Store up and running.

“Sothisis snow!” cried Rislei, her eyes sparkling as she looked out at the slope. “This looks kinda fun!” Rislei was part lichsteed. Her horse tail was out like Rys’s was, swishing happily.

As she stood there, her father Sleip sneaked up from behind and lifted her up in the air. “Ha ha ha!” he laughed, shaking the girl from side to side. “Just let your papa show you how fun snow can be, my lovely Rislei!”

Byleri watched the two with a smile on her face. “Oh my gosh! Like, you totally love spoiling Rislei, don’t you, Lord Sleip?”

“M-Mama!” Rislei cried. “P-Please don’t say that... You’re embarrassing me! Let me down!”

“Like, really?” said Byleri. “But I totally know what you’re thinking. ‘It’s a bit embarrassing, but it’s kinda fun,’ right? Are you, like, totally sure you wanna stop?”

Rislei twitched.Mama!she thought.She’s always doing that... How can she read me so well?

In the end, Rislei allowed Sleip to wave her around a little while longer.

Ghozal folded his arms and looked up at the snowy mountains. “The first time I came here, I thought, ‘What’s so fun about playing in the cold and snow?!’ But when I tried it, I had a pretty good time!”

The mountains were dotted with a number of lodges. In front of the buildings was a slope where a crowd of humans and demihumans were zooming down the mountains with long boards attached to their feet. They were playing a game called “skiing.” Some people were also riding down the slope on a vehicle known as a “sled,” while others were throwing snowballs at each other. There were far more people here than last time, perhaps because of the newfound peace between the Magical Kingdom and the Dark Army. Everywhere they looked, they saw people crying out with delight.

“And this time,” Ghozal went on, “I’m here with my children...” Balirossa was walking beside him, holding their son Ghoro’s hand. She met her husband’s gaze and smiled. Ghozal smiled back, very happy. “Don’t you two think so, Uliminas and Folmina?” He turned the other way to where his other wife was standing.

But Uliminas and Folmina said not a word. Rather, they seemed to be completely unable to respond. The pair of them were covered from head to toe in an extraordinary number of layers of clothing, to the point that they looked like nothing less than a pair of round snowmen, completely immobile. Their faces were wrapped up with heavy scarves. Ghozal could see their mouths moving, but the layers of scarves made their words inaudible.

“I knew Uliminas couldn’t handle the cold...” Ghozal said. “I guess you’re the same, huh, Folmina?”

Folmina nodded.

Uliminas was a hellcat demon. Cold was one of her biggest weak points. She had dressed this way the last time they’d come here as well. Her daughter Folmina had inherited her hellcat blood, and like her mother, she had an elemental weakness to cold.

Uliminas and Folmina were mumbling to each other, apparently able to understand what the other was saying.

“When it’s this snowy, I just wanna curl up under a nice warm blanket...”

“Me too, mama Uliminas...”

Ghozal smacked Uliminas affably on the shoulder. “Look at you! You can’t even walk wearing that much clothing! Well, let’s get you to the spa. You can warm up inside.”

But his smack proved too hard. Uliminas lost her balance and fell forward, rolling at a high speed down the slope. “Mreow!” she screamed as she rolled along. “I knew it! It’s happening agaaaiiin!”

Ghozal laughed as he watched her roll along. “That’s right! You went rolling last time too! Looks fun!”

Flio noticed what was happening. “No, Ghozal!” he cried, flying quickly down the slope after the tumbling hellcat. “She’s falling! Just like last time!”

Folmina had been watching the scene play out next to Ghozal. Suddenly, she gave her father a big push from behind.

“H-Hrm?!” Ghozal cried.

Folmina was still a child, but with both hellcat and demonic royal blood in her veins, she had a considerable amount of strength. Ghozal, too, went tumbling down the slope, fast enough that he caught up with Uliminas in no time.

Folmina watched with delight as Ghozal gathered snow on the slope until he looked like a snowman himself. “I hate falling, but I love watching things fall!” she said, joy evident in her tone.

◇Alips Ski Slopes—Health Spa◇

The royal resort spa was a single-story building set a level above the other ski slopes on the mountain, as if the whole area around it was its own private slope. It was just like they remembered it from last time—a single large open room for the whole household to relax in, with a number of small private rooms around the central one. It was set up for them to have meals together in the large central room and then go off to the individual rooms to rest. There was also a veranda with a hot spring on top of a large indoor bath.

“I-I almost died!” Uliminas, who had been rescued safely by Flio, ran straight for the fireplace in the central room, desperately trying to warm her frozen body.

Ghozal and Folmina settled in cheerfully beside her. “You seem like you enjoyed yourself, Folmina!” said Ghozal, folding his arms and grinning.

“I did!” Folmina grinned back, pressing close to her mother to help warm her up.

During the incident, Folmina had found the sight of her mother rolling down the mountain hilarious. “Wow, papa Ghozal!” she had said, “I wanna seemorepeople roll down the mountain!”

Ghozal couldn’t resist his daughter when she was in such high spirits. “All right, Folmina! Watch this!” he had said, and immediately began rolling down the slope again and again.

The other people on the mountain stared at him and whispered to each other. “What is that persondoing?”

“You know, I think I saw someone else doing that earlier...”

Ghozal paid them no mind and kept rolling and rolling.

He’s so childish sometimes...Uliminas thought as she looked over at her husband, not moving an inch from the fireplace. She smiled.He’s like a big kid. But he sure is doing his best fur Folmina...

Folmina was pressed close, and by her side was Ghozal, folding his arms and laughing. Uliminas’s teeth chattered from the cold as the fireplace gradually warmed her body. Then, Sleip, who had just made it inside, came up to her, his daughter Rislei riding on his shoulders. “Hey, Uliminas! If you’re so cold, why not go in the hot spring? It’s right out on the veranda.”

Only Uliminas’s eyes turned to look at Sleip. “I’ll get in the bath if mew bring the bath here,” she said, and pressed even closer to the fireplace.Hang on...she thought.Didn’t something like this happen last time? And then...Her eyes snapped open. She looked over and saw Ghozal reaching out for her. Before she knew it, he had grabbed her.

“You can be difficult sometimes, you know,” he said, effortlessly peeling her away from the fireplace with a single arm and picking her up. “Let’s get you in the bath.” He began taking off her layers of clothes.

“Mrow! W-Wait! It’s cold! It’scold! And why are mew stripping me in front ofeverymeown?!”

“You can’t take a bath with all these clothes on.”

“Rawr! S-Stop!” Uliminas struggled for all she was worth, but it was in vain. In just a minute, the clothing she had been wearing was on the floor, leaving her stark naked. Stripping off his own clothing as well, Ghozal proceeded to the veranda. “N-Now I’ll never get meowrried...” she wailed, her face bright red as she covered her breasts with her hands.

“What are you talking about?” asked Ghozal. “You’re already my wife.” He brought her into the hot springs with him. Uliminas immediately sank down to her shoulders in the water. “Hrm. It’s good water. How about it? Folmina, Ghoro, Balirossa, wanna get in with us?”

“Are hot springs hot...?” asked Folmina.

“Yeah, Folmina. They’re super hot,” Ghozal answered.

“Then I’m getting in!” Folmina’s face lit up and she tossed off her clothes as she ran into the water.