FORMING BONDS

LUGUNICA

Back when Ein returned with Emilia...

The Summoned watched her as if she were a saint. Her face was blank and her stride unwavering as she carried Emilia on her hands.

"Emilia.." Mark muttered as he tried to approach Ein. Suddenly, an invisible force rendered him motionless as Peria appeared in the form of a tiger like creature, with black and green striped fur.

"Stay away from her.. It's best if you do that." She stated. The other summoned ran towards Ein, surrounding her. 

"Emilia.... Is she-" Valeria asked as a faint line of hope appeared in her mind.

"Yes, she is alive.. They revived her.." She said. Her heart felt warm as she said those words.

"She.. Is alive.." She repeated again as she broke down into tears of happiness together with Virginia and the rest.

The three generals along with King Azrael rushed towards them, confirming the news that she was alive.

"There is a lot of confusion right now.. I want you all to take a break first as we solve everything else. Knights, lead the Summoned to their rooms. Ein, you can take Emilia to her room and report to us when she wakes up." The king commanded. 

"Yes sir."

Ein walked ahead, Peria behind her and the Summoned beside Peria. The Knights then made a Schiltron formation in front of them all as they walked past the people, as if protecting the unconscious Emilia. The people watching the spectacle all bowed down, a sign of respect and gratitude for their first war against the demons. The whole capital went silent. The only voices that could now be heard were the bells of the main cathedral, and the sound of swords clanking against the armor of the knights.

"Thank goodness she survived.." Tyra thought as she watched them leave. As the King and the three generals approached her together with the elders once more, they bowed again, waiting for instructions.

"Rise." King Azrael commanded.

"I once again apologize for not being able to send over powerful recruitments.." He said.

"We are already thankful enough that the three generals were there themselves, your Majesty. You have nothing to apologize for." Vettel said, bowing slightly.

"What is the extent of damage, if I may ask, generals?" Elder Remma asked.

"The whole place has been leveled completely. The city doesn't exist anymore.." Augustine said in a sad tone.

"I... See..."

The other townspeople who were there also heard this and a sad mood covered the air. That town had a lot of their memories, properties, riches... It constituted of all their hard work throughout generations, and now it was all gone, like dust.

"My condolences... We shall allocate mages to take-"

"Suddenly, a portal appeared above them, and out of it came Valeria and Poki.

"Greetings, King Azrael." They both said as they bowed slightly.

"Who are you, and why have you appeared here?" The King asked as he readied himself to attack.

"My King, they are-"

"Don't!" Tyra shouted as she noticed the king preparing himself to attack. She immediately closed her mouth, realizing that she had shouted at the King.

"My name is Poki Itsuo."

"My name is Valeria Legion." , the two said. Upon hearing those names, the king immediately composed himself and greeted them.

"My apologies... I did not mean to.." He said.

"No worries, we do not mind." Valeria replied.

"S- So, what brings you two here?" Marcus asked in a respectful tone, as he tried to forget how they had disrespected the two girls back before the fight.

"We have come to take the townspeople back to their place." Poki said.

"Wait.." Tyra said, "But wasn't the whole city destroyed?"

"Yes, but Aq- Lord Aqua along with two chosen ones, including the masked one, have restored it." Valeria said.

"Forgive me if I am being presumptuous, but I believe there was a dense Curse energy field there... Has it been taken care of?" Augustine asked.

"Yes, all of it has been absorbed and the barrier was now set by Lord Aqua himself, so you can all be even safer than before," Poki said loudly as she turned towards the townspeople. They all shouted in joy, as they couldn't contain all the joy they were feeling."

"We are thankful for this all.." The King said as he himself bowed at the two.

"Huh?!! No, don't worry about it...." The two said simultaneously, nervous about the king bowing in front of them.

"Now then, as your King, I have permitted you all to enjoy yourselves for now for free! Go around the capital and enjoy all you want!" He shouted.

"Yeaah!!!" They shouted back.

As they all went around, doing some shopping and enjoying themselves, The King, the three generals, Poki and Valeria all went to the palace. They reconciled after the generals apologized for what they did back then, then they started discussing about economic relations that would better their Kingdoms with the Legion and the Itsuo family. As the two girls got out of the castle after hours of talking to them, they all sighed deeply, feeling tired.

"Yow two also hate that, right?" Tyra asked. She was waiting for them outside the palace all that time.

"I hate formal discussions a lot..." Poki said, sighing.

"Tell me about it.. This is why I went to serve as Aqua's maid, to escape all of this.." Valeria said as she pouted.

"Damn, that's actually a good idea.. Might there be an extra slot for me?" Tyra joked, making all of them to laugh.

"We can talk to him for you, who knows? Maybe you will actually join the mansion." Poki teased.

"Enough of this.. I'm very hungry!" Valeria said.

"Then let's go, I know a good spot to eat." Tyra said. She led them to an inn that was next to the Adventurer's guild and they ordered all kinds of food.

"Have you two ever visited the kingdom?" Tyra asked as she took a bite out of a large boar meat.

"Only once.. We were small, around ten years old, and we both accompanied our fathers, so at that time all we visited was the castle and the school of Lugunica." Poki said. 

"Wait! You have visited the school??!!" Tyra asked, almost choking from the meat she was eating. 

"Yes, we are goin to join it once it opens again." Valeria said as she savored the taste of a dish she had never had.

"That's impressive! When are they opening again?" Tyra asked.

"We are not allowed to say that, but just know it will be soon enough.. We might or might not join on the opening date." Poki said.

"Soon? Then I need to train quickly!"

Their conversation went on. They laughed and laughed, forming a tight bond between them.

"Oh and by the way, how did you see him?" Poki asked.

"Who?" Tyra asked.

"Mitsuki, the one who set up the barrier.." Valeria said as the two leaned towards Tyra. 

Tyra's cheeks reddened slightly as she smiled.

"He looks like a sweet guy. His voice, his gaze, his delicate face..." She said as a warm feeling coursed through her veins.

"Who is he to you two?" Tyra quickly asked to change the conversation.

"Well..." The two said, looking at each other.

"He's our boyfriend.."

"Oh my... How did that even happen? Did he just casually steal the hearts of girls from such families?"

"Well, we both liked the ever warm aura he has around him.. He always smiles at you, regardless of the problems he has faced. He always has time for us, he does not judge us.... Honestly, there is a lot he has." Poki said as she touched her neck, remembering the collar that was on her neck before she met Mitsuki.

"I see.. What else?" Tyra asked.

"Oh? You seem rather curious," Valeria said, as she and Poki laughed.

"N-No! It's not like that!" Tyra replied shouting.

"Your face is red." Poki said.

"Ahem! Now, are you two the ones who confessed or is he the one who confessed?" She asked as she chewed her food vigorously.

"Well, we were set up by Cupid." Valeria said. "He made us to awaken our cursed energy in front of Mitsuki."

"How the hell do you two call gods by their names alone as if you are neighbors with them... Anyway, what does curse energy do when you awaken it?"

"Well, it can make you to confess everything about a particular thing, and for us, we both ended up confessing our feelings, together with the dirty thoughts.." Poki said as she blushed slightly.

"You two are blushing.. What the hell did you say back then?"

"Well, for Poki-" Valeria said. Poki chucked a bone full of meat into Valeria's mouth, shutting her up.

"I will say yours first!" Poki shouted as she started talking about it.

"You said you wanted him to cho-"

"You begged him to make you spread your le-"

In the midst of the happy bustling noisy inn, the two could be seen shouting at each other, and Tyra was seen laughing heartily as she listened to the bold words they both said back then.