An Ordinary Day for the House of Flio

◇Houghtow City—The Fli-o'-Rys General Store◇

One day, it just so happened that Flio and Greanyl were out on delivery,

Rys was occupied with housework, Hiya and Damalynas were away dealing

with some business, Blossom was doing farmwork, Byleri was tending to

the horses, and Belano was teaching at the Houghtow College of Magic.

And so it was left to Uliminas, Balirossa, and Ghozal to tend to the shop.

Uliminas, who had once served as treasurer for the Dark Army,

continued to focus on financial work, working the shop's register and

handling its records. Today was no exception—she was sitting behind the

counter, dealing with customers.

A man who looked to be an adventurer was gazing at the dragonscale

shield decorating the counter with an expression of wonder. "This shop's

equipment is all so well made!" he said. "This is dragonscale, right? That

stuff's hard to work with. To craft it into a masterpiece like this... I don't

know what to say!"

Uliminas smiled cheerfully at the adventurer. "Our artisans are the best

around! We have lots of purrpawsterously powerful magic items too. Why

don't mew take a look around?" The magic items in this shop were made by

the likes of Flio, Hiya, and Damalynas: three of the greatest magic users in

the land of Klyrode. They were phenomenal items that were casually

displayed like any old magic staff or what have you. The prices were an

absolute bargain too. As you can imagine, more and more customers came

to the shop every day.

As she dealt with today's customers, Uliminas kept turning to steal a

glance in the direction of the shop's door. Ghozal stood there, looming over

the shop with crossed arms and an imposing stance. He was working as the

shop's guard. His presence was hidden from the customers with magic so as

to not frighten them. The majority of customers never so much as glanced

in his direction.

Ghozal, for his part, was staring fixedly at the area of the shop where

Balirossa was hard at work restocking the shelves. Dressed in an apron, she

hurried in and out of the shop, replenishing the supplies of magic gems or

equipment as they ran out. Every now and then a customer would ask her a

question about the merchandise, and she would smile and do her best to

explain. Ghozal was engrossed by her every movement. Hrm... Balirossa is

beautiful, even at work, he thought, and nodded his head once.

"Don't tell me," Uliminas muttered to herself, "that man's going, 'Hrm...

Balirossa is beautiful, even at work.' Mew could spare a glance at me for a

change!" She puffed out her cheeks.

"Um, is there something wrong, miss?"

"Bweh!" Uliminas's face flushed bright red. "No! Meowthing at all!

Meowt a thing! Aha ha..." She put on her best friendly smile.

The customer looked uncertain. "No? Well, all right... Say, is that fire

sword for sale?"

"Y-Yes! Thank you! For your business!" Uliminas smiled again and took

the weapon down from the wall. At some point, Ghozal had started looking

her way. Hrm... he thought. Uliminas is beautiful, even disguised as a

human... But with his presence magically concealed, Uliminas never

noticed him checking her out.

Balirossa saw Ghozal nod in Uliminas's direction. Oh, she thought,

sighing softly, I am certain Sir Ghozal is thinking, "Hrm... Uliminas is

beautiful, even disguised as a human." If only he would look at me like that,

even a little... She shook her head vigorously. "What am I thinking? Don't

be ridiculous, Balirossa," she whispered to herself, then got back to

stocking goods.

Not Ghozal, Uliminas, nor Balirossa had any awareness of how

convoluted their relationship had become.

◇Meanwhile, in Front of Flio's House—Part 1◇

In front of Flio's house was a ranch managed by Byleri and a farm

managed by Blossom. Byleri was in the ranch's office, getting some

paperwork in order. Byleri, who had a real gift for working with horses,

used this space to raise horse-type magic beasts. Sometimes she would lend

her horses to merchants to use to pull their wagons. The papers she was

handling right now were records of those transactions.

Hiya stepped into the office. "Ser Byleri, may I have a moment?"

"Oh?" Byleri said, greeting Hiya with her usual big smile. "Hi, Mx.

Hiya! Like, what's up?"

Hiya gave a shallow bow. "I would like to express my gratitude for your

assistance the other day."

"The other day?" Byleri pressed her finger to her cheek and tilted her

head. "Like, I'm not sure what you mean?"

Hiya gave a genuinely cheerful smile. "I speak of you lending us your

precious book, Ser Byleri." Byleri's face went red.

Byleri was a healthy young adult in her early twenties. Ever since her

time with the castle's knights, she had been fascinated with the idea of

trysts between men and women. By now, she had built up a secret collection

of literature on the subject, which she would often quietly enjoy. The other

day, Hiya had found one of her books and helped themself to it.

"And the book in question..." The book magically materialized in Hiya's

hand. Byleri, still blushing furiously, snatched it away from them and hid it

behind her back.

"Um!" she said, her voice suddenly squeaky. "I didn't actually, like, lend

it to you, y'know? You just came in and took it..."

Hiya smiled at the girl. "Now, now, there's no need for that," they said

as if they were trying to mollify a child. "That book was very intriguing. Of

course, everything in your collection is excellent. I hope that you will lend

me more."

Byleri moved from her chair to sit on top of a nearby box. She seemed

like she wasn't going to budge. She shook her head urgently. "Well, like,

there aren't any more! None! That book was totally the only one, y'know?

A-And there definitely aren't any in this box, so, like, don't even think

about it!" She couldn't have possibly made it more obvious that the books

were hidden in the box she was now sitting on.

Hiya, of course, realized immediately. They glanced down at the box

underneath Byleri's butt and smiled again. "Is that so?" they began, and

then seemed to change course. "No. I do not wish to take your books by

force." They waved their hand and another book appeared in their grasp. "I

happened upon this specimen when I was visiting another world," they said.

"If it suits your interests, Ser Byleri, I would like to propose a trade."

"It doesn't, it doesn't, it doesn't!" Byleri shouted as she pushed Hiya out

through the office door. "It totally doesn't suit my interests! Like, please

just go home!" She slammed the door shut and pressed her back against it,

holding it closed with her body. "Oh my gods," she whined. "Like, that Mx.

Hiya is just...y'know?" Still blushing, she raised her head. If they find any

more of my books, I'm totally gonna die of humiliation!

Then she noticed the book Hiya had called a specimen, left behind on

top of her desk. "H-Huh?!" she exclaimed. "M-Mx. Hiya! You, like, forgot

your book!" She picked it up and began to hurry after the djinn. But then

she stopped in her tracks. Her eyes fell upon the book's title—it was called

The Princess and the Horsemen.

Byleri had loved horses since she was a little girl. She had always

excelled at their care, so much so that she was given the great honor of

tending to the warhorses of Klyrode Castle. In fact, she took such good care

of them that when she left the army the horses under her care became

severely depressed. That was the extent to which Byleri loved and

understood horses. She took a closer look at the book.

Horsemen? Huh? What? Huh? Like, I didn't know there were

demihumans like that! I-I mean, it would be totally cool if there were,

but...huh?

◇ ◇ ◇

Hiya watched Byleri from the other side of the door, using magic to

observe her as she picked up the book and began to stare, spellbound. Hah.

I believe I will have new research materials sooner than I expected, they

thought, a satisfied smile on their face.

◇Meanwhile, in Front of Flio's House—Part 2◇

In front of Flio's house was a ranch managed by Byleri and a farm

managed by Blossom. Right now, Blossom was standing with one hand on

her hip and scratching her head with the other. "Is this for real...?" she

asked, not fully aware that she had spoken out loud.

Next to her the goblin Hokh'hokton stood in a near-identical posture,

one hand on his hip and the other running through his hair. "W-Well, I

certainly never expected this..." he said.

They were staring at Maunty, the other goblin farmworker.

◇Several Days Earlier◇

Blossom and the two goblins had finished their work for the morning

and had been enjoying lunch together when Maunty said something that

made Blossom's eyes go wide. "A wife?!" she exclaimed. Maunty blushed

and scratched his cheek.

"Y-Yes," he said. "The truth is, I have a wife and kids... Might I have

your permission to bring them here, Lady Blossom?"

"What? Of course!" Blossom grinned and gave Maunty a friendly smack

on the shoulder. "But I had no idea you were married, Maunty! Gave me a

bit of a shock!"

"I-I may?"

"Hey, if having her here helps you settle in, I'm all for it! I'll talk to

Lord Flio for you, all right?"

"Oh, Lady Blossom, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!" Maunty

took a deep bow again and again. Blossom just smiled.

"Oh!" she said, turning to Hokh'hokton. "By the by, Hokh'hokton... If

you have a wife or kids or something, you're welcome to... Huh?" Blossom

cut herself off, her mouth wide in surprise. Hokh'hokton had cast his eyes

down, staring miserably at the ground.

"Some goblins have all the luck..." he muttered darkly. "A wife and

children? Bollocks. Strike me down right now, why don't you..." He

continued on in that vein, almost as if he were performing an incantation for

a curse. Blossom was at a loss for words.

◇And Back in the Present...◇

After all that was over, Maunty had headed out to fetch the rest of his

family. Upon his return, Blossom and Hokh'hokton went out to meet them.

What they found was a veritable horde of goblins.

"This is my wife, and these are my children," Maunty said. "We have

fifteen in total, starting with Cynthia, our eldest." He bowed, and the other

sixteen members of his family followed suit.

"Nice to meet you!" the goblin family said in unison.

Blossom nudged Hokh'hokton with her elbow as she stared. "Hey,

Hokh'hokton... Did you know Maunty had such a big family?"

"N-No... I didn't even know he was married until the other day..." he

said in disbelief. Blossom made a strained smile.

Maunty, by contrast, was grinning jubilantly. "Oh, I was so worried

about the family I left behind in the old country... I had resolved myself that

there was nothing I could do about it! It is such a relief to have them here. I

promise you, I will work the fields harder than ever before!" He laughed

heartily.

While he was celebrating, Maunty's wife pulled him aside. She looked

worried. "Are... Are you sure this is safe? That woman...she's a human,

isn't she?"

It was only natural that she be concerned. The world was embroiled in a

war between the human armies of Klyrode and the demons of the Dark

Army, and goblins were one of the weaker demons to exist. Even a human

with no experience in fighting could easily dispatch a goblin if they came to

blows.

Blossom, who had overheard, grinned brightly. "Now, there's no need to

worry about that, madam," she said. "The master of this house treats

everyone the same, human and demon alike. Anyway, look!" Blossom

pointed at something behind the goblins. They followed her finger to see a

magic circle taking shape. Not long after, a door appeared from the middle

of the circle. It opened, and out poked Ghozal's head.

Ghozal turned to look at Blossom. "Hey, Ser Blossom!" he said. "We're

running out of vegetables at the shop. We're gonna need some more." He

held out a stack of empty baskets.

"Well, that's good to hear!" said Blossom, smiling as she walked over to

the door. "It means they're selling well!" She took the baskets.

"Hrm. Your vegetables are very well-regarded. Uliminas said a

restaurant in town wanted to sign an exclusive contract for them."

"You serious? Well, that's just incredible!"

Maunty's wife watched Blossom and Ghozal chat amiably, tilting her

head like she was puzzled by something. "Excuse me...Lady Blossom?" she

asked. "Who is that man...?"

"Ah, of course! You can't tell who it is 'cause he's in disguise as a

human!" Blossom turned back to look at Ghozal. "Well, what do you say?

Nothing wrong with showing the goblins your demon form, is there?"

"Oh, would you mind, Mister Ghozal?" said the wife.

"Hrm," said Ghozal. "Very well." He turned just his upper body back

into its original demonic form.

"Whaaa?" The wife's eyes shot open wide. "No, it can't be... Lord

Gholl?!"

"Hrm." Ghozal turned back into his human form. "I was Gholl, once.

Now I am Ghozal, a freeloader at Mister Flio's house."

Blossom walked up to Maunty's wife, who was now staring at Ghozal

and trembling, and nudged her with her elbow. "See? Our master Lord

Flio's the kind of guy who's perfectly happy living with the former Dark

One. Me too, of course." She flashed the goblin a cheerful grin. "Well? That

good enough for ya?"

"Y-Yes," she said. "More than enough." Gradually, she calmed down,

and seemed to be more relaxed than before.

"Hey, Ser Blossom!" Ghozal interjected. "Would you mind getting the

vegetables?"

"Oh! Sorry, sorry! I'll do it straightaway!" Blossom ran off into the

fields.

"I'm going to help," said Maunty, and he set off after Blossom.

Behind him, his wife and their troupe of children followed along. "I'll

help too!" said his wife.

Hokh'hokton trailed behind, dragging his feet. "I-I'm not jealous..." he

sobbed. "I'm not jealous at all!"

Ghozal watched Hokh'hokton trudge towards the fields. "Hey!" he

called after him. "Uh... Good luck?"

◇Meanwhile, on the Highway to the Calgosi Coast◇

A fast horse-drawn coach thundered along the highway, under orders

from their Queen to investigate the conditions of the Calgosi Coast. Mages

from the Magic Corps were seated in the front, repeatedly casting spells like

Reinforce Speed and Recover Stamina on the horses to strengthen them.

Thanks to their efforts, the coach was moving at nearly ten times its usual

speed.

The atmosphere inside the coach was somewhat odd. A company of

knights sat on the left side, and a man and a woman sat on the right. The

man wore an extravagant red outfit. The woman, who was pressed up close

against him, wore hardly any clothing at all. The two—well, you've

probably already guessed by now that they were Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya.

The knights, who were all men, kept stealing glances at Tsuya's exposed

body, each and every one of them flustered. From time to time the silence

would be broken by somebody or other clearing their throat, but nothing

more.

One of the knights smiled and turned to look at the pair. "Um..." he said.

"You've had a hard time, haven't you? Getting attacked by bandits in the

mountains and everything..."

Tsuya smiled cheerfully. "We haaave," she said. "They wouldn't leave

us alooone!"

"They kept chasing after you?"

"They diiid! It was sooo unfair! Even if our stuff was stooolen or

fooorgeries, they didn't need to chase us aaalllll the way from the ciiity to

the mountains! It's prooobably because we stole it from those shaaady

traders, but— Ow!" Hero Gold-Hair thumped her on the head, interrupting

her careless ramble. It was a hard blow. Tsuya bent forward, clutching her

head and giving the knights a clear view of her ample cleavage. They

couldn't help themselves from staring.

Hero Gold-Hair grinned and laughed, speaking loudly in an attempt to

take advantage of the knights' confusion. "Yeah, that really was a shock!"

he said. "I could handle two or three bandits on my own, but we were

attacked on our way to the city by a dozen men from every direction! They

stole every last bit of our merchandise!" He spoke as civilly as he could

manage, gesticulating wildly as the knights stared at Tsuya's bosom.

Tsuya had said all sorts of things in her rant—things about stolen goods

and shady traders—that were probable cause for arrest, or at least an

investigation, but the knights were so engrossed by her chest that her words

went in one ear and out the other. The only explanation they would

remember later would be Hero Gold-Hair's. They nodded their heads as he

spoke, stealing glances at Tsuya's cleavage.

One of the knights, who looked to be the leader of the company, seemed

to finally notice that he had been drooling over Tsuya's breasts. He loudly

cleared his throat. "W-Well!" he said. "If there were that many bandits, you

might still be in danger here. Would you like us to take you to a town on the

other side of the mountains?"

"Ohhh, nooo!" Tsuya started. "Thaaat city's no gooood! We tried the

same thing theeere, so they alreadyyy think we're criminals! They might

send mooore guards after us—or mercenaries! Ow!" Gold-Hair gave her

another thump, and she doubled back over, again clutching her head. Once

again the knights found themselves staring straight into her cleavage.

Hero Gold-Hair stood up in front of the knights, raising his voice and

waving his arms. He was trying to draw their attention to himself. "Y-Yes,

well!" he said. "You never know if the bandits have allies waiting to

ambush us in the nearby towns! We'd appreciate it if you took us a little

further away, if you can!"

The knights still seemed too captivated by Tsuya's breasts to register

what she had said. They nodded along to Gold-Hair's story. "Well...I

suppose I can't deny the possibility..." the leader said. "Tell you what.

We're headed to the Calgosi Coast. We could drop you off there, if that's

acceptable."

Hero Gold-Hair nodded. "Thank you!" he said with a boisterous laugh.

"Glad to travel with you!"

◇ ◇ ◇

It was standard practice that if a team of knights were to rescue someone

from bandits or the Dark Army during their mission, they were to deliver

that person to where they needed to go. It would be an exception if the

mission was secret, of course, but these knights' only orders were to reach

the Calgosi Coast quickly and ascertain conditions there. They were quite

willing to take Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya where they asked. They had no

idea that the ones attacking them had been mercenaries and guards sent by

the cities where the two had tried to sell their ill-gotten gains to arrest and

interrogate them.

Taken in by Hero Gold-Hair's story, the knights held a quick meeting to

discuss their plans. In order to prevent the two civilians from overhearing

their discussion of military matters, they spoke quietly and screened their

faces from view with their hands.

As they did, Gold-Hair leaned in to whisper in Tsuya's ear. "What is

wrong with you?!" he hissed. "Going on and on, saying steal this and

criminal that... Are you trying to get us arrested?!"

"Fweh! S-Sooorrrry!"

"Look, we're in danger here. We need to hold on until we reach Calgosi

Coast. Until then... Not. Another. Word. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yeeess...I understaaand..."

"And another thing...don't lean forward like that!"

"Fweh?"

"Those...knights...were staring right at those ridiculous tits of yours. I'm

telling you to be careful!"

"O-Okaaay! I wiiill!" Tsuya bowed sharply.

This woman... Hero Gold-Hair thought, I wish she'd stop showing men

other than me so much of her body... He took his cape and wrapped it

around her shoulders as the coach sped up, hurrying along towards the

Calgosi Coast.

◇Dark Citadel—Throne Room◇

The Dark One Yuigarde sunk heavily into his throne, grumbling in

irritation. "Hmph. The dragon brat quit out of nowhere, and our fighting

force isn't anywhere near ready... This is absurd," he spat.

He was interrupted from his brooding self-pity by his minion Phufun.

She stepped up to his throne. "Master Yuigarde, do you have a moment?"

Yuigarde glanced at Phufun, his miserable expression not changing in

the slightest. "Well? Out with it. If it's boring, I'll smash your face in."

Phufun, ever the masochist, seemed a bit overly affected by those words.

She flushed. "I would be quite happy if you did, you know..." she said, and

then, mastering herself, she cleared her throat and pushed her fake glasses

up the ridge of her nose. "P-Pardon me," she continued. "I mean, I spoke

with the southern demons. It seems that there is a group of human pirates

that employs some demons among their number. They have a fleet of over a

hundred ships, and a fighting force of over a thousand pirates." She pushed

her glasses up the ridge of her nose again. "What do you say? Shall we

arrest these demons the pirates hired and conscript them into the Dark

Army?"

"Well." Yuigarde stopped moping. An evil smile spread over his face.

"That's pretty interesting after all. So? You have a plan?"

"Yes, Master," said Phufun. "The south is within the Magical Kingdom

of Klyrode's sphere of influence, so we will have to do this without

attracting attention. I propose we form an elite task force with the Infernal

Four at its core, and—"

Suddenly, Yuigarde stood up. "Good thinking, Phufun. And I'll take the

command of this task force!"

"Wh-What?! Y-You're going yourself, Master?"

"Yeah! I've been so agitated, you know. This'll be a good way to relieve

stress! I'll head over there and tear things up a little!"

Yuigarde laughed and laughed. He seemed to be having a grand old

time. We're all going to get in trouble if you keep deciding to attack on a

whim! Phufun thought, but she couldn't bring herself to say it and ruin

Yuigarde's spirits. "Th-Then," she said, "I will make preparations." She

bowed and left the throne room.

Yuigarde stretched his arms, warming himself up. "Mwa ha ha ha ha!"

he laughed. "Finally, some violence! This is what I live for!"

◇ ◇ ◇

High up near the ceiling of the throne room, eyes shone in the darkness,

watching the Dark One Yuigarde from the shadows of the grand reliefs

carved into the walls. "It looks like he took the bait..." said a voice.

Another voice spoke in response. "Your plan was brilliant as ever,

Master."

The first voice laughed. "I knew that amoeba-brained idiot would insist

on going himself if he heard there was an opportunity to strengthen his

army somewhere only a small team could reach, but that was even easier

than I thought!"

"Master," said the second voice, "please allow me to handle the next

stage of our plan."

"Very well. I'm counting on you."

"C-Counting on...me? Such kind words... Then I won't let you down. I

will carry out our plan if it costs me my life."

Their conversation finished, the eyes vanished, along with their owners.

Far below, the Dark One Yuigarde was swinging his arms, completely

oblivious to their presence.

◇Houghtow College of Magic◇

The Houghtow College of Magic wasn't far from the Fli-o'-Rys

Company. It was there that Belano, one of the members of Flio's household,

taught classes in defensive magic for adult students. Today she was on her

way to the classroom to do just that.

As soon as she opened the classroom door, though, Belano's eyes shot

open. The class was so full that there wasn't enough room for everyone to

sit down, leaving a pack of students standing up in the back of the room.

Students at the Houghtow College of Magic were free to register for

whichever classes they liked. Normally, students would avoid registering

for overcrowded courses and find another that was less packed, but

Belano's class was an exception. The classroom she was supposed to start

lecturing in was absolutely jam-packed.

Belano froze stiff in the doorway. She was beginning to have second

thoughts about this. But then the students noticed her. They stood as one—

even the ones with seats—and turned to greet their teacher.

"Good morning, Miss Belano!" said a torrent of voices.

"Eeek!" Belano shrieked and jumped in the air.

◇ ◇ ◇

Belano taught her class, internally panicking until the very end, and then

ran as fast as she could to the administrative office. She burst inside and

darted up to Taclyde the clerk's desk, face red and breathing hard. "M-MMister Taclyde!" she cried.

Taclyde smiled at the frantic young teacher. "Miss Belano!" he said.

"What seems to be the trouble?"

Belano flapped both arms in a panic, trying to calm herself. "Th-Th-The

students! In my class!"

"Oh, is this about your class earlier? We were absolutely swamped with

applications, you know. When we ran out of desks, we started telling people

they should try again next semester, but everyone said they were fine

standing!" Taclyde produced a stack of application forms and showed them

to Belano. Taclyde, as the only clerk at the College of Magic, had collected

these himself. There had been so many applications for Belano's class that

it had left him shocked.

There was a reason for all that, of course. Belano, who had an extremely

high degree of social anxiety, would get flustered and embarrassed as she

taught. She would oftentimes deliver her lectures blushing and staring

determinedly at the floor. She was so small, she had to stand on a footstool

to write on the chalkboard. She would drag her stool from place to place,

making cute little noises of exertion as she did. If she needed to reach the

top of the chalkboard, she would stand on her tiptoes, straining herself and

stretching her arm up as high as it would go, her legs trembling.

Something in her mannerisms touched something deep within the

students' hearts—something that said: "How can a teacher possibly be this

cute?!" An ever-increasing number of the student body had become fans of

Miss Belano, and more and more people applied for her class until there

wasn't enough room in the classroom for them all.

"S-Some of the students don't have chairs or desks," Belano stammered.

"Isn't that a problem for them?"

"Oh, is that what's bothering you?" asked Taclyde. Belano nodded

fervently. "Let's see..." Taclyde said as he folded his arms and thought.

"Well, why don't we move your class to the main hall? There's more than

enough room there for the entire student body to—"

"Oh no, I can't do that! I can't, I can't, I can't!" Belano shook her head.

"B-B-But! Please don't put so many students in the class that they have to

stand! Please?"

"Should I not? The students said that they didn't mind...and the more

students who take your class, the higher your bonus!"

"I mind, even if they don't!"

"Are you sure?"

"I am!"

Taclyde sighed. "All right," he said. "I'll see what I can do."

"Th-Thank you... You're such a big help..." Belano bowed again and

again.

From then on, students in her classes were limited to the number of

desks in the classroom. It would get to the point that prospective students

would line up all the way out of the hallway on the first day of registration

to try and score a seat in Miss Belano's class, but that's a story for another

time.

◇Houghtow City—Flio's House◇

"Hmm..." Rys stood in the kitchen, deep in thought with her arms

folded. She was looking at a great pile of wooden crates. Inside those crates

was only one thing: the fruit known as the lembon. Lembons were a

singularly sour fruit, not suitable to eat in large quantities. Rys had heard

somewhere that pregnant women crave sour foods, and had become

obsessed with stocking up on lembons just to be safe.

But to her despair, Rys still showed no signs of becoming pregnant. "My

lord husband is certainly doing his part. I'm sure I'll have a child sooner or

later...but I really do need to do something about these lembons. I bought

these with my husband's hard-earned money. I can't waste them..."

Even so, she thought, what was I thinking? Why did I order this many?!

Things had gotten to the point where even she, after some serious soul

searching, had to admit that she had bought too many lembons.

As Rys was thinking, Wyne popped up beside her. "What's that?" she

said. "Fruit?" The wyvern picked up a lembon and bit into it. As soon as it

touched her tongue, her cheerful smile vanished. "Bleh! Sour! Bleeeh!" she

cried, running over to grab a drink of water and guzzling it down.

Rys was starting to panic. "Even Wyne can't handle them..." She stood

there for a while longer, racking her brain, until she suddenly remembered

something. "Of course! There might be something in one of the cookbooks

I bought in Sojieya!"

Sojieya was a rural town to the north of Houghtow. Not long ago, the

whole house had gone on a trip there. Rys had stopped by a general store

called Miyan Walkey that had an impressive variety of books. She bought a

number of them, all related to cooking. She had been hoping to increase her

repertoire of dishes to serve the household, especially Flio.

Rys went upstairs to the bedroom she shared with her husband Flio, and

went up to the bookshelf attached to the wall. There, next to Flio's books on

magic theory and practice, were Rys's cookbooks.

"Maybe something in one of these..." she said, taking a number of books

off the shelf. She sat down on the dresser and started leafing through the

pages. Her hair swayed in the breeze that blew in through the window as

she read attentively, not taking her eyes off the pages.

"This might work!" she said finally. "I'm going to try it."

◇ ◇ ◇

Rys returned to the kitchen, where she covered her long hair with a cloth

and tied on an apron. She began picking out all sorts of ingredients: sugar,

eggs, flour, and butter... She placed them all on the kitchen counter. Wyne

and Sybe, who had been playing together in the living room, noticed

something was happening in the kitchen and poked their heads through the

door to see.

"Wait just a minute, please," said Rys, turning to look at them and

smiling happily. "I'm going to do my best to make this good!" Wyne and

Sybe smiled and nodded.

Rys mixed the sugar and eggs into the butter. Then she washed a lembon

and removed its skin with her sharp wolf claws. She grabbed the flesh of

the fruit in her fist, and with a little "mmf!" of exertion, squeezed the juice

into the bowl with the sugar, eggs, and butter. She mixed the grated peel

with the flour and added the dry mixture in with the rest. She then poured it

into a mold and switched on the magic oven. When it was finished baking,

she took her first attempt out of its mold and arranged it on a large plate,

which she placed on the kitchen counter to cool.

She began to start on a second, while Wyne and Sybe sneaked their way

into the kitchen. Sybe, who had been in its psychobear form, transformed

into a unicorn rabbit. It was much less visible that way. They crept along on

their tiptoes, moving silently while Rys's back was turned. Before long they

had reached their target. The two looked each other in the eyes, and nodded

in unison. Then they looked up to where the cake was sitting and slowly

reached up to grab it, when...thwack! Rys's monstrous wolf claw stabbed

into the counter, right before their eyes. The pair froze.

Rys had been a ways away busying herself with cooking a second ago,

but somehow, at some point, she had come up behind them. She brought her

face close to the would-be thieves. "Wyne? Sybe? If you will not wait when

you are told to... You won't get off so easily next time."

Wyne and Sybe nodded wordlessly again and again, before slowly

making their way out of the kitchen.

"M-Mama's scary..." said Wyne.

Sybe snuffled in agreement.

◇ ◇ ◇

It didn't take too long. Rys dissolved sugar in boiling water to make a

syrup, added lembon juice, and used the mixture to glaze the cake. "So this

is what it looks like," she said, turning her head to get a good look at the

fresh-baked cake from all angles. She had succeeded in making the lembon

cake from the cookbook.

Rys cut the cake into slices and took it out of the kitchen to where Wyne

and Sybe were patiently waiting on their knees. Sybe, who wanted to eat

more than it could as a unicorn rabbit, transformed back into a psychobear.

"Thank you for waiting! Now, are you ready to try it?" she said, holding

out the plate with the cake on it. Wyne and Sybe grinned and reached out to

take a slice of cake each.

"This is great!" Wyne exclaimed. "Mama, this is so good!"

"Waoorh!" cried Sybe. The two kept on stuffing themselves with cake.

Rys took a slice of her own to taste. "Oh! This really is good!" she said.

Before long, the rest of her slice had disappeared into her mouth. "I'm sure

my husband will be thrilled!" she said. Beaming, she went back into the

kitchen to make more.

"Although," she said, looking over at the crates of lembons as she

grabbed the ingredients from the shelves, "with this many lembons, perhaps

we should sell these cakes at the Fli-o'-Rys General Store..."

As she was thinking, Wyne and Sybe came up behind her holding the

now-empty plate, eagerly demanding seconds.