“Nnn, nyaa~” Divine Beast Rollodeen meows while having her tentacles head our way as she circles in the sky.
She’s greeting Helme while entwining a tentacle around her body.
“Fufu, I’m sorry for avoiding your greeting earlier, Rollo-sama――”
Helme is being tightly hugged by Rollo’s tentacle. And then Rollo begins to play around with Helme as if imitating a sky trampoline, lifting Helme’s body up and down.
“Hauuu~ Please treat my butt kindly, Rollo-sama――”
“Puyuyu? Puyuuuu.”
I can’t see Puyuyu because it’s so small.
“I’ve caught you, Puyuyu~”
“Ahahaha, Puyuyu’s legs are so tiny~~”
“Puyuyuu~”
“Did we finally reach paradise? I’ll do my best!”
“Even though we haven’t even negotiated yet, the prospects look grim.”
“It’s still too early…you got to challenge your negotiation partner with a mindset along the lines of, 「What cannot be achieved with the power of one man can still be achieved with the power of many」.”
“――Oh Shuuya, so you can also jump through the sky!? However, I can’t really look ahead since Divine Beast-sama’s fur blocks my sight!”
Everyone happily chats away on Rollo’s back. The grandpas and grannies, including Gramps Ton, admonish the young folks.
“Voices and weird noises of the people Your Excellency brought along…and I can also see a lively beastwoman among them…” Helme comments while casting a sidelong glance at my entourage as she’s being toyed with by the tentacle.
It sounds like she’s curious about Puyuyu and Higlia’s voices. Higlia with her conspicuous silver attire is visible, but…Puyuyu’s tiny body and the children are out of sight.
For the time being…we should hurry back to Quiche’s village――
“――Rollo, follow slowly as you have everyone with you. If the battle should be violent――”
As soon as she hears my words, Rollo stops playing with Helme, reeling her tentacle back into her chest with a whoosh, and then extends sharp claws from her paws, making it look like she’s getting ready to fight.
“…Your Excellency, there’s still something I have not told you yet.”
“Hmm, what is it?”
“Most of the orcs have already been annihilated thanks to the strenuous efforts of Catiza and the Burning Knights under the command of Commander-in-Chief Quiche. Thus the village is safe for the moment.”
I see, that’s a relief, I guess. Well, I suppose it’s only to be expected with Catiza and the Burning Knights being over there.
“However, I cannot exclude the possibility of an ambush by an enemy as of yet. Moreover, in addition to the roaring of trolls, a huge, semi-transparent orc is currently eating the corpses of its former allies at a spot further away from the village’s front.”
Troll voices and a semi-transparent orc?
“What’s up with it eating the corpses?”
“I don’t know any details since we haven’t fought it, but it might be the orc’s secret weapon.”
“Okay, I got it. I suppose we don’t need to hurry if the orcs have a falling out. Anyway, since it’s faster for me to see it with my own eyes, come back into my eye, Helme――” I beckon her over with my left hand.
It’s a gesture carrying the meaning of “Hey, come on!”
“Certainly――” Helme breaks into a broad smile after seeing my gesture.
In the next instant, she turns into a fervent spiral while rushing into my left eye, just as usual. Immediately following, a tiny, smiling Helme-chan manifests at the edge of my visual field.
“Eh? Inside his eye…”
Having watched everything from near proximity, Kisara is astonished. She probably can’t see how the tiny Helme is swimming around in my visual field, but still stares at my left eye.
“A Demonic-Eye-like small mark has…”
“Hey, Stranger. Are your eyes something like the Focale I stole from Schmihazar?”
For some reason Rotalz calls me a Stranger… If I recall correctly, Strangers were…
“Be silent, Rotalz. You were allowed to take it rather than stealing it, right?”
“Guess so. I won’t forgive you for having a part of my head devoured and absorbed, but I’ll overlook the pain of my butt with this.” Rotalz says while projecting an illusion right above him from the burning magic symbol on his forehead.
It’s an illusion of a small wand and a tiny R letter.
Still, it’s funny how his butt swelled up. He’s a whale, but…I sure didn’t expect him to wake up to a liking in that direction.
“Hmm? Rotalz, you like it in the butt…?”
“Like hell! It was caused by the flames of the divine beast over there. She basked the witch spear in a ridiculous amount of fire in the middle of its transformation, didn’t she? Those flames evaporated not only Schmihazar’s prided
Rollodeen only responds with a questioning look though.
I guess he’s talking about the time when Rollodeen got back. Well, even though it got deflected in the end, that fireball definitely looked like a mini-sun.
“Indeed. It was convenient for us, but let me ask you, Shuuya-sama, is the mark in your left eye a Death Angel type of magic circle as it was possessed by Schmihazar? The power of a spirit with a consciousness and a definite shape?”
“…I’ve seen such spirits before, but very rarely. Or rather, the great desert houses many entities like ancient spirits and blood bone nymphs, but I’ve never seen a spirit just like her among them. Even the hollow wolf beasts, which are worshiped by the Ahmeph people, are different.” Rotalz agrees with Kisara while making his forehead tremble.
“Yep, isn’t she a being originating from an ancient city treasure or demonic tools as they appear in fairy-tales like the ones circulating among the Ahmeph people and North Mahaheim people in the great desert, and the Muryu tribe of the Eyhabla Plains next to the desert. I’m sure she must have been in direct contact with a supreme god as kin, fused with Shuuya-sama after getting absorbed by him, or had some other °special circumstances°…”
“Oh, you mean the Stranger himself is a legendary, sacred treasure? The ancient hougu is said to have been loved by the last emperor of the Dawn Empire at the height of its glory.”
“…The legendary hougu or sacred treasure called Ruby Abyss? Ufufu, how thrilling! So he’s a crow piercing through the moonless dawn after all. A being as hailed in the song about the attendant of witches following Damo’Anun! For this very reason I believe it’s got to be Shuuya-sama, who’s also the bearer of the Dawn’s sorcery skills.”
Kisara has noticed Helme’s mark, huh? Speaking of songs, I might accompany hers with my Justice lute.
As I’m pondering about such things…Kisara’s eyes gleam up. The design of her black mask, which actually reminds me of a black queen, resembles the reliefs I’ve seen in the underground world, just like before.
The look she’s sending my way through that mask is one of reverence towards a sect leader. It’s filled with intense passions, but…it also contains an impressiveness that reminds me of a cold wind, not to mention a refreshing, azure sky.
Honestly, it’s scary, but Kisara’s conjecture isn’t that far off the mark. And Helme’s mark, which seems to exist in my left eye, is the same one that was imprinted on my butt in the past, isn’t it…?
Oh, is that the reason?
I remember Sol’s place, where Viine, Mysty, and Hankay are currently staying, from back when I spent some time there with Yui. When I entered the bath after finishing my training, Yui stared at my ass.
While I’m carefreely reminiscing here…
“――The fur and tentacles of Divine Beast-sama felt wonderful, but―― right now something else is more important!” Freeing herself from Rollo’s fur, Higlia climbs atop Rollo’s forehead.
Rollo looks up to her, and tries to get her off by extending her tongue. She seductively licks Higlia’s bodyas if grooming it. But in the end, Higlia manages to somehow escape Rollo’s tongue, moves to the edge of the forehead, and hesitatingly looks at Kisara, Rotalz, and me.
And then she shouts, as if declaring war as a woman, with a tense and frantic expression, “――Shuuya! Aren’t you forgetting that you have something more important to deal with than Boobs over there!”, while pointing at Kisara with a silver claw that had its shape changed.
“Fufu, what a cute beast girly.” Kisara isn’t perturbed in the least.
“This again, huh?”
“Quite so. We have to hold a duel on the plaza with the statues of Hurley-sama and the twin moon gods! It’s a promise for you to strive for glory together with me!”
She might be an ancient wolfwoman and a divine princess, but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s cute. She’s a gentle woman who’s been trying to protect everyone, despite acting tough on the surface. And I also thought so when we fought together, but I feel like it’d actually be fine for us to pair up. Though I doubt it’ll become the pairing she desires…
I guess I’ll humor her just this once.
“…You mean the duel where you exchange fist blows after having learned each other’s names? Okay, I’ll fight you once after I’m done with all my other business.”
“Fufu―― Yahooo!”
Higlia grabs one of Rollo’s tentacles and adopts a triumphant pose in joy, and then jumps. After pulling off a “Shoryuken” out of overflowing happiness, she almost falls off Rollo’s forehead, but Rollo saves her by twining a tentacle around her body, just to do the same trampoline play with Higlia she had earlier done with Helme.
『Aahh～ Being inside you is really the best, Your Excellency～』
Helme’s telepathic message echoes in my mind. After swimming around furiously, using all kinds of different forms, Helme stands up with the leafy skin waving, turns around, and asks with a tense expression, 『…Your Excellency?』
The tone resonating with her voice has a touch of Iglued’s enviousness. Helme transforms from her small illusionary form into an adult illusionary form that seems to fill half of my visual field. Her boobs are shaking quite conspicuously.
『…Is there still anything else you are keeping hidden from me besides the witty beastwoman and the increased presence of your water, Your Excellency?』
It’s not a question teeming with jealousy, but still, nothing less of Helme. She’s sensed not only the matter with Iglued and the demonic duke, but also my growth. After all, I’ve acquired