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Monster Girl Saga	By : GenocideHeart Category: +M through R > Monster Girl Quest Views: 113526 -:- Recommendations : 6 -:- Currently Reading : 16
Disclaimer: I do not own Monster Girl Quest, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
(A/N: Finally, a new chapter. Can't apologize enough for the wait. Sorry! As usual, thanks to Toraneko from The Fanfiction Forum, as well as EagleCeres, Nanya and FH_Meta, also from TFF, for suggestions and proofreading. Additionally, thanks to TenSARS from Monster Girl Unlimited for help with the action scene. Now, read on!)
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CHAPTER 12

Upon the wicked, grim vengeance

--Hellgondo, the Monster Lord’s castle--

“I’m home~~” Alma Elma’s voice rang across the Monster Lord’s castle hall. The Succubus Queen came in with a spring in her step, merrily humming a tune. She was clearly in a good mood.

“Oh, hi,” Tamamo called back from where she was seated, quietly sipping her tea. A little ways towards the corner, Granberia didn’t even look up, busily examining a piece of jagged metal.

Looking around, Alma raised an eyebrow. “Is Erubetie not back yet?” she asked, curious. Tamamo shrugged in response, while Granberia gave a noncommittal grunt.

“She’s at Undine’s spring,” the nine-tailed fox helpfully answered. “You know how she is when she’s there. It’s where she was born, after all.”

“Oh, okay,” Alma nodded. She then started giggling. “I met an interesting young boy, you know~~”

“So did I,” Granberia spoke up for the first time, still observing the piece of metal in her hand. The succubus and the Kitsune both gave the dragon swordswoman a surprised look: she rarely, if ever, talked about grown men, let alone young ones. After a bit of silence, they realized Granberia wouldn’t volunteer any further information, and returned to chatting with each other.

“So how was he?” Tamamo asked conversationally. Alma stuck her tongue out with a wink.

“Ehehe... I have no idea. I actually lost the fight with him,” she answered, causing Granberia to suddenly look up, her interest piqued. “I met him on a pirate ship that managed to leave port. They had Poseidon’s Bell. You wouldn’t know anything about that now, would you, Little Tamamo?” she asked the fox with a pointed glance.

“I wonder...” Tamamo replied with a completely straight face. Alma gave her a look that clearly said she didn’t believe her. Then she shrugged and continued.

“Anyway, I went to stop that ship, and there was this cute boy on it,” she kept narrating. “He was traveling with a monster swordswoman, and our esteemed Monster Lord was on board, as well; imagine that! Well, one thing led to another, I started teasing him, and a fight broke out. I thought I could beat him with just my tail, but... he surprised me, I guess. He was very skilled for a human, and even knew how to perform a Bloody Fissure Thunder Thrust. I ended up having to use my hands, and--”

“Did that boy have light purple hair and blue eyes?” Granberia suddenly interrupted her. Alma gave her a surprised look.

“Huh? Yeah, he did. How did you--” she answered, but Granberia cut her off again.

“About this tall?” the Dragonkin continued, raising her hand to a little over Tamamo’s height. “Wearing plain clothes? The monster he was traveling with was a strong-looking Living Armor wearing decorated plate and wielding a bastard sword?”

“So you met him too!” Alma clapped her hands, delighted. “So, was he tasty? Hmm?”

“He only used Demon Decapitation when I fought him...” Granberia muttered to herself, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Is he really improving at such a fast pace? Perhaps... I wonder if he also knows Demon Skull Beheading? He undoubtedly had potential, but this is beyond what I expected...”

“...Hello? Granberia? Did you hear me?” Alma asked in an annoyed tone. The dragon shot her an equally annoyed look.

“I heard you, and your question was so inane I didn’t bother answering it,” she replied flatly. “I will only tell you this: that boy has skill. Dropping your guard even once in front of him can be fatal. In fact, I nearly lost my head to him.”

“What...?” Tamamo asked in amazement. Someone had nearly scored a killer blow on Granberia? A boy, at that? Granberia merely looked up at her and tossed her the piece of metal she’d been examining until now. Tamamo deftly snatched it out of the air and took a close look at it. Then she looked up, surprised.

“This... it’s a piece of your armor?” she asked. At Granberia’s nod, she blinked. “That boy broke off a piece of your armor?!”

“He very nearly did a lot more than just that,” she murmured, her eyes growing vacant. “I was confronted by him and his companion as I was preparing to take over the town of Iliasburg. We ended up exchanging blows, and he proved skilled enough to parry one of my attacks, but at one point he was knocked down, and seemed to be out of the fight.”

She sighed and shook her head, continuing. “I thought he was defeated, too tired and powerless to attack me from the kneeling position he was in, so I shifted my attention to the other one, who showed knowledge of a Cursed Sword skill herself. I defeated her with my own skills... but as I did, the boy saw a hole in my defenses, capitalized on a vanishingly small window of opportunity, and managed to muster up enough strength to get back on his feet and attack me with his own Demon Decapitation skill.”

“That was a really big blunder on your part, dropping your guard like that,” Tamamo pointed out, half-serious, half-teasingly. "Were you trying to invite him in, perhaps? Desperately seeking the man who might defeat you, even if you have to throw a fight to do it?"

“I was not and would not,” Granberia testily answered, glaring at the Kitsune. “As for dropping my guard... It was indeed foolish.” She pointed at her pauldron, where the other two saw that a piece was missing. “I was caught by surprise, and barely managed to twist myself out of his sword’s way... but his blade’s trajectory was true, and the hit still landed. He broke that piece off my shoulder armor. Then the Monster Lord interrupted us, and I was forced to retreat.”

“So that’s what happened,” Tamamo murmured, thinking about what Granberia told her. “No wonder Nanabi was struggling against him. And even when he fought me, he displayed excellent skills...”

“You met him, too?” Granberia asked with interest. Tamamo nodded.

“Yes, in Poseidon’s Cave. His name is Luka, and he’s an independent Hero, or at least that’s what he calls himself,” the nine-tailed fox answered. “He doesn’t seem to like the Church of Ilias much, and his ideals seem to be closer to those of a genuine Hero, like the ones in fairy tales, than to the Church’s followers.” She twirled one of her tails’ tips between her fingers as she thought back to the encounter. “He has remarkable skill for one so young, having defeated Ako and forced Nanabi to use hypnotic magic. Although, he also seems to have some kind of strange power. I’ll have to look into it more carefully.”

“Hm? You mean he’s part monster, Little Tamamo?” Alma chimed in, curious. Tamamo shook her head.

“I don’t think so. I couldn’t feel any monster power from him, although I did feel something vaguely familiar for a few moments,” she clarified. She then became introspective as she added, “Oh, and he has a Dark Arm in his possession.”

“...what?!” Granberia and Alma simultaneously asked, taken aback by the sudden declaration. Tamamo nodded.

“Hmm. That was definitely a Dark Arm. In fact,” she murmured with a strange look on her face, “I’m almost positive it’s the Third Monster Lord’s weapon. And it’s apparently recognized him as a worthy wielder.”

“So that’s what that other sword was...” Alma mused. At Tamamo and Granberia’s curious glances, she giggled in amusement. “Right, I didn’t tell you that part, did I? When we started fighting, at first he was using what I assume was Angel Halo. At least, it looked like that ugly thing our Lord carries around at times. Anyway, he got really mad at my teasing, and started swinging in a rage. Of course, that still wasn’t enough, and before long I had him cornered. That’s when things... got a little crazy.”

“Get to the point,” Granberia impatiently growled, motioning for her to hurry up. Alma giggled again.

“Now, now, don’t be so impatient, honey. Don’t you know foreplay is also important?” she teased the Dragonkin in a seductive, inviting tone, causing Granberia to get even more irritated. She then shrugged and continued. “Anyway, as I said, things got crazy. He started muttering to himself, then dropped Angel Halo and drew that other sword he had - the Dark Arm, I guess. Then... he sort of dropped the ship’s main mast on me.”

“Huh-wha---?” Granberia asked, blinking in confusion. Alma nodded with a huge grin.

“Yup. The ship’s main mast. Bird’s nest, sails, the whole thing - boom, he swung the other sword at the mast and chopped it down in a single blow, making it fall right on my head,” the Succubus continued, enjoying the Dragonkin’s incredulous stare. “It hurt, by the way. I got a nice bruise on my head to show for it. And that wasn’t all he did, either - I can honestly say this one fight was the craziest of my life.”

“What else did he do that could possibly top throwing part of a ship at you?” Tamamo asked, her own tone disbelieving.

“Oh, nothing special. He just set up a trap for when I managed to untangle myself from the sails,” Alma nonchalantly replied. This time, neither of her fellow Heavenly Knights spoke up, merely waiting for her to finish. She huffed. “Oh, poo, if you don’t react it’s no fun. Fine, I’ll hurry along. Basically, what he did was take one of the anchors and tie all the ropes on the deck to it, and when I finally managed to get out from under the sails, he kicked it overboard, causing my leg to get caught in them as they tightened and stopping me from moving around."

"In other words, he threw another part of the ship at you," Granberia snarked. Alma Elma pretended not to hear her as she continued her story.

"He then grabbed Angel Halo again and tried to stab me in the face with what looked a whole lot like a Bloody Fissure Thunder Thrust, and I instinctively grasped his weapon's blade to defend myself..." Alma paused, and clapped her hands together loudly. "...with my hands, thus breaking my own rule of only using my tail.”

She paused, stretching slightly and letting out a luxurious sigh, then began to quietly laugh in amusement at the other two’s incredulous stares. “And the best part of all of this? He wasn’t fighting so hard to gain the right to get past me or to save his own skin. Oh, no. He got mad because I said I could beat him with just my tail, and that hurt his pride. That’s the only reason he spent so much effort on this whole insane thing! Hahaha! What a delightfully entertaining man he turned out to be!”

“Nice. Using the environment to lessen the disadvantage against a superior opponent. And his being able to use a Dark Arm... if that’s true...” Granberia murmured. Turning to Tamamo, she gave the fox a serious look. “Are you sure it was the Golden Lord Steelburn’s weapon? Wasn’t it enshrined in Remina back when it was destroyed? It’s pretty far away from home, if what you say is true. And a human using it...”

“It is,” the Kitsune agreed. “I wonder what the significance of it resurfacing now is. And that feeling... no, never mind. I wonder if this, too, is part of the Golden Lord’s will...”

“Oh, come on. ‘The Golden Lord’s will’? There you go again with your worship complex towards the Third Monster Lord,” Alma commented, rolling her eyes. “Why is it that you never have a bad thing to say about her?”

“I do not have a worship complex. I simply admire her for starting from nothing and accomplishing more for this world than anyone else since the Dark God,” Tamamo answered defensively. “I merely allow modern day monsters to know of her exploits through my tales.”

“And you don’t suppose you’re just a little bit biased when doing so?” the Succubus Queen continued her argument. “I mean, every other Monster Lord you tell us about has something or other that could have been seen as a defect, and you always point that out, yet your picture of the Third is basically perfection. I don’t know... I just have this feeling that you’re a bit... prejudiced when talking about her.”

“I-I’m not,” the fox answered, appearing to lose her cool for a moment. “And regardless of what you think, can you deny that her rule was the best period for monsterkind in hundreds of years? The only comparable period I can think of was when the Dark God was still with us. That’s why I admire her.”

“I wasn’t even born yet back then, Little Tamamo,” Alma patiently pointed out. “All I have to go on is your word, since you’re basically our history teacher, but you seem just a little bit too enthusiastic about the Third compared to how you talk about the rest.”

“Don’t tell me you’re arguing over the Third again?” Granberia asked, sighing heavily. “Alma, you really need to stop provoking Tamamo like this. She obviously cares about the subject, or she wouldn’t be so talkative about it, and I have to agree with her - Dragonkin records do show that the period of the Golden Rule was one of great prosperity for my kind. Even if they say next to nothing else about the Golden Lord... I wonder why,” she pointedly added, looking at Tamamo. The fox huffed.

“You young people will never understand,” she complained, looking unhappy. “I was there, and it was good. I want today’s monsters to know how good it was back then. Maybe, if I repeat it enough times, that time of peace and prosperity will return. That would be the best thing for monsterkind as a whole, short of Dark God Alicefeeze herself coming back to us.”

“Suit yourself. I’m going,” Granberia shrugged as she collected her sword and got up from her seat. As she walked towards the castle’s main gate, Tamamo eyed her curiously.
“And just where are you off to?” she asked her. Granberia didn’t even bother to turn around as she replied.

“Where else? To witness Luka’s improvement for myself,” she replied, causing both Tamamo and Alma to raise an eyebrow as they detected a faint trace of excitement in her otherwise calm voice. “I’ve got a good feeling about him. Maybe I finally found a man who can keep up with me...”

With those words she left, slamming the main doors behind her. Her fellow Knights stared at the direction she’d left in for a few seconds, then looked at each other in surprise.

“Is Granberia... excited about a man?” Tamamo asked Alma, blinking. The Succubus Queen blinked back.

“I... think so. In fact,” she added with an intrigued and somewhat mischievous look, “I could swear she wasn’t just excited, but actually aroused. I never thought this day would come.” She then shrugged with a smirk. “Well... having a man would do her good. After all, who’s ever heard of a virgin Heavenly Knight?”

----

--Ilias Continent, Poseidon’s Cave--

Luka awoke with a groan, feeling more tired than when he’d gotten to sleep. He sat upright on his bed inside the room that Lamaia had graciously lent to him and his companions, rubbing his eyes before yawning and stretching. He then slumped forward with a sigh. He couldn’t precisely remember, but he was sure his dreams hadn’t been pleasant.

“I see you’re finally awake,” a familiar voice spoke up from his side. Looking in that direction, he spotted Alice, who was observing him with an unusually serious expression. He yawned again, covering his mouth out of politeness.

“Good morning, Alice,” he greeted her sleepily. “Where’s Thermidor?”

“She went to get some food for breakfast outside,” Alice replied, still observing him. She then surprised him by slithering closer and sitting on the edge of his bed. He blinked at her, confused. The Echidna sighed, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at him.

“How do you feel?” she asked without preamble. “Are you sure everything’s all right?”

“Huh? Where does this come from?” Luka asked, puzzled. “I mean, I’m a bit tired, and I suppose it shows, but it doesn’t seem like something to worry about so much to me... I just need some food in my stomach and I’ll be fine.”

“You’re a horrible liar,” Alice replied flatly, frowning. “You’ve been tossing and turning all night, and at one point you cried in your sleep. You called out for your mother a few times, too.” She peered at him more closely. “Yesterday’s talk affected you a lot more than you let on, didn’t it? You just tried to stay calm to not worry Thermidor.”

“Ah... I...” he muttered, grasping for words that eluded him. Alice shook her head and interrupted his attempts at justifying himself.

“Don’t bother. It’s obvious even to me that you aren’t taking the news well, and I have only known you for a very short time,” she told him, causing him to fall silent and stop shifting around. “Thermidor spent most of the night awake, trying to comfort you with her proximity, and only took a break herself when you calmed down.” She shook her head again. “You really shouldn’t keep things like these to yourself. It’s only going to make them worse. Last night was bad enough that you worried me, too.”

“...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause you trouble,” the young Hero murmured, looking depressed. “It’s just... this feels so wrong. Mother has been my point of reference, around which all my life revolved. To be told that she wasn’t my birth mother...” He sighed. “I know that what Thermidor said is right - that she loved me as if I was her true son, and I loved her as I would have my true mother, and that’s what really matters... but it’s still a very hard thing to accept.”

Luka fell silent after that, lost in thought with his head lowered, until he felt a light touch on his shoulder and looked up to see Alice, her hand softly squeezing his arm with a tiny smile.

“Just take your time,” she told him in a reassuring tone. “I don’t expect you to bounce back from something like this in a flash. In fact, if you did, I’d worry that you might have lost the ability to feel. But don’t keep it in, either. If you need to talk, I’m sure Thermidor will listen... and if she can’t, come talk to me. I don’t mind.”

“Thank you, Alice,” the boy nodded, warmly smiling back at the serpentine monster. “I appreciate your kindness, especially seeing how you don’t have to be nice to me or anything. Thanks for spending your time on me.”

“Eh... It’s just that I have an idea how you feel,” she explained awkwardly, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. “It’s not something I’d take lightly myself... so, I wanted to help.”

“As I said, I appreciate that very much,” Luka told her, his smile growing a little bit larger as he relaxed and appeared to be in a good mood again. He then heard familiar footsteps from the tunnel outside and looked at the Echidna with a knowing smirk. “How about an eating contest? Last to finish his breakfast is a Temple choir boy!”

“Then I’ll be the obvious winner. After all, I’m a girl,” Alice retorted with a triumphant grin as the two got up and turned towards Thermidor, who had entered the room with a tray full of food. “And now I’m really curious to hear your singing voice. Hohohohoho...”

----

The rest of the day was spent cutting trees and transporting lumber to the shore. Fortunately, the damage Luka had caused to the Grishend was less extensive than feared at first, and that sped up the repair job. Captain Greybeard cautiously estimated the ship might be seaworthy within four days.

The old seaman was spot on, and four days later, the pirate galleon was ready to cast off once more. Heavy activity could be seen all across the shore and cave entrance as the pirates and monsters transported various materials to and from the ship, storing various goods within Poseidon’s Cave and bringing supplies for the sea trip ahead onboard. Here and there, in secluded corners, the occasional crewman could be spotted pausing for a few amorous moments with a monster, though it never went beyond heavy petting.

Luka spent the early morning wandering around the area, taking in the sights one last time before his own departure. As he walked near a room stuffed with chests and trophies, he spotted the Mimic, whose name he learned was Rufa, wave at him and waved back, smiling hesitantly as he thought back to how she’d ended up in there.

When the cave monsters and the Grishend’s crew had met, the pirates unexpectedly befriended her, and after some talking the two sides reached an agreement: the Mimic would station herself in the pirates’ treasure room and watch over their treasures, and in return she was allowed to eat any intruders who entered the room without permission, be they animal or otherwise. The Mimic appeared positively giddy at the thought; being well aware of the irresistible lure that a room packed with loot represented, she agreed right away and scampered off to find a prime position to ambush unwary scavengers from.

Luka couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for anyone who ran afoul of her, but on the other hand, he could see the logic in the deal the pirates made with the chest monster. Few guardians would be more effective than Rufa in protecting their hoard.

Shrugging, he moved back outside and began to head towards the Grishend. While all of his and his companions’ belongings had already been brought aboard the ship - and they had been given a larger room as well, thanks to some crewmembers remaining behind to spread the news about the storms being gone, watch the new hideout and clean up the place - it had all been piled up in a messy fashion, and Greybeard estimated that due to the winds being unfavorable, the trip to Sentora could take as long as four or five days. He figured he could keep himself busy reordering his inventory in the time before the ship set sail.

Eventually, Luka reached his newly-assigned room and entered. His eye twitched as he took in the baggage scattered around, and with a sigh and a shake of his head, he closed the door behind himself and began to tidy up and make the quarters at least a little more livable.

A few minutes later, as he was still in the middle of fixing the mess lying around, he heard the door to the room open, and looked up to see Alice standing in the doorway, eyeing the cabin critically. Spotting him, she gave him a nod.

“Nice work tidying up,” she told him. “When I first saw the state this place was in when the pirates were done moving our things in, I was honestly a little horrified. This is much, much better.”

“Thanks. If you want some food, I placed all our supplies over there,” he told her, pointing at a table with a variety of jars and small packs on it. “I still have quite a bit of Happiness Honey, too.”

“That’s great! Oh, and don’t eat the honey in the jar with a red top,” she casually mentioned as she strolled over to the food and picked a few choice bits. “It’s the aphrodisiac variety.”

“...you waited until now to tell me, why, exactly?” Luka asked in an irritated tone as he paused in his activity. Alice gave him a small smile.

“Isn’t it obvious? I was hoping you’d accidentally eat it and make a fool of yourself,” she candidly told him. The boy’s eye twitched at the response, but he chose to hold his tongue and resumed sorting his items out.

After a bit more time during which Alice lazily lounged around and Luka kept tidying up, the door opened again and Thermidor came in, accompanied by Lamaia. Luka paused at that, surprised to see the Spider Girl, who waved at him with a smile. He smiled back, wiping the sweat from his brow, and walked up to her.

“Oh, hi, Lamaia. What brings you here?” he asked her in a friendly tone. The spider monster smiled again as she reached out, grabbed his left hand and shook it.

“I just wanted to thank you for your help,” she said, sounding happy. “Thanks to you, not only do we have a steady supply of food, but many of us found good mates. Things are looking good for us all.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Luka replied, his own smile widening. “I hope everything works out for you. But you didn’t have to come all the way here just to thank me. Didn’t you say that being on this ship scares you?”

“Y-yes, I still feel a little uneasy, even though I know it’s not going anywhere just yet,” the monster nodded, her smile becoming just a little bit nervous. “But I had to talk to the Captain, too.”

“Hmm? To Greybeard? What for?” Luka asked, curious. Lamaia fidgeted a bit, then sighed, blushing slightly.

“Um... it’s about Largo,” she admitted. “I came to ask the Captain if he could look after him and return him to me safely.”

“Oh? So you’ve chosen him, after all?” Alice chimed in, looking pleased. “That’s good. I’m glad to see my cute subjects are doing well!”

“Uh... thank you, Lady Alicefeeze,” Lamaia nodded to the Monster Lord, bowing slightly. Her gaze then returned to Luka. “To be honest, it’s not so much that I chose him, but rather that he grew on me in the past few days. He’s persistent... I thought he’d be scared of me, since I’m a spider monster and we... well... tend to eat our mates sometime. But he seems pretty confident he could get me to keep him around. Reckless as he is, he’s endearing. I’d like it if he returned in one piece.”

“I see. I’m sure the Captain will listen to you,” Luka reassured her. “Besides, Largo seems to me like he’s too damn stubborn to die. I don’t think you have to worry about something killing him. And I doubt any other monster would have the patience to deal with him, so you’re probably pretty safe on that end too.”

“That’s... reassuring? I think?” Lamaia said, sounding dubious. She then realized the meaning of his words and glared at Luka. “Hey! Don’t badmouth Largo! He’s just a little enthusiastic, is all.”

“Okay, okay, I take it back,” Luka conceded, throwing his hands up in surrender. “He’s really grown on you, huh? Well, I hope you’ll be happy together. Guess neither monsters nor pirates waste any time when it comes to mates, huh?”

“That’s how we are,” Lamaia shrugged, as if it was an obvious thing. “Well... you seem busy, so I’ll leave now. Have a safe sea trip! I’ll never understand how you can stand the thought of being on a piece of wood, surrounded by water everywhere, though...”

With a final wave of her hand, the spider girl turned around and left the room, closing the door behind her. Luka stared after her for a few seconds, then looked at Thermidor, frowning.

“You know... she has a point. When you get past the awe factor, being on a ship is pretty scary, isn’t it?” he commented. Thermidor chuckled.

“It took you a while to realize it,” she pointed out. “Most people get terrified out of their minds much sooner than that. I guess you just don’t mind the sea, after all.” She then became somber. “By the way, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you, if you have time. Do you mind...?”

“Sure, I can always finish later,” Luka nodded, setting down the items he had in hand. Heading towards the nearby table, he pulled a chair out for Thermidor, then took the second chair and sat down on it, looking at her. The fencer seated herself as well, and sighed, searching for the right words before looking up at him.

“Right... This is something I’ve been wanting to say for a while now,” Thermidor began slowly. “As you know, before I met you, I lived in Sabasa. I was a royal guard there, in fact. Back then, I left in a hurry, without saying any farewells and leaving much business unfinished. I was thinking... of going back there for a while. Would you feel alright about traveling with just Lady Alicefeeze for a bit?”

Luka remained silent for a bit, looking at her with a thoughtful expression after she was done speaking. Eventually, he seemed to reach a decision, and spoke up.

“If you feel you need to go back and tie up loose ends, then do it. It’s your life, and if it’s that important to you, I’ll just have to bear with it,” he said. He then gave her a worried look. “Just... you are eventually coming back, right?”

“What a stupid question! Of course I am,” Thermidor smiled, relieved that he seemed to have no issue with her decision. “You weren’t really thinking I was abandoning you, were you? I’ll come back to you as soon as I put order in my life. Besides,” she added, “chances are you’ll stop by Sabasa anyway on your quest to seek the Spirits out, right? I might well be done taking care of my own issues by the time you return. I just want to spend some time there... I left some good friends in Sabasa, and I'd like to let them know that I’m fine and I finally sorted my own feelings out.”

“Oh, then that’s okay,” Luka smiled. “I can live with being on my own for a bit. Besides, Alice will be good company.”

“And why am I an afterthought, hmm?” Alice’s voice rose up from the bed she was lying on, sounding irked. “‘I’ll be fine on my own. Oh, and Alice’s there, too, so there’s that.’ I feel so needed and appreciated.”

“Ahahahaha... sorry. I didn’t mean that you were unimportant,” the boy apologized as he cast a glance at the Echidna lazily resting her head on a pillow. “Of course I like your company. It makes things more lively, even if you’re a little difficult to please. But then again, you wouldn’t be you if it were otherwise.”

“Hmmm... well, I’ll let your insolence go this once,” Alice muttered, mollified by Luka’s words. “You’d better be appreciative of my company in the future, though. After all, your traveling companion’s the Monster Lord. Isn’t that an honor?”

“I guess that’s also true. I doubt many humans could talk to a Monster Lord so casually,” Luka nodded in reply. He then crossed his arms, cocking his head to one side. “Of course, if anyone found out, it’d be a lot of trouble... I’m already going to be pretty disliked by the Church for not killing monsters on sight; imagine the fit they’d throw if they discovered I was traveling with the lord of all monsters.” He looked at the Echidna again. “We should probably be careful about your identity. I can get away with being accompanied by a random monster to an extent, but...”

“Hmm, good point. Well, I wasn’t planning on announcing my identity in a public plaza anyway,” Alice agreed. “We’ll just keep the arrangement we have now. I’ll pose as a human while we’re in town.” She then got a mischievous look on her face and looked at him again with a faux-innocent expression, her voice changing to a girlish, high-pitched tone. “Oh, Hero Luka! You will protect your poor, defenseless, attractive companion from those brutes who would roughly ravish her body if they could, won't you?”

“I’m not sure I should answer this question,” Luka muttered, glaring at her. He then sighed. “But sure, we have to keep up appearances. If some drunk harasses you too much and you can’t get rid of him without blowing your cover, I’ll do it.”

“I was joking, you know,” Alice pointed out, somewhat subdued. She then smiled slightly. “But I appreciate the chivalrous intent.” Her smile turned coy as she leaned forward slightly, making her bust more prominent. “Then, I’ll be counting on you to keep roaming hands at bay. After all, don’t you want to be the only one who gets to touch?”

Luka zoned out at that. “That would be pretty ni--” he began as his eyes involuntarily roamed over Alice’s generous forms, before he caught himself as an expression of panicked realization dawned on his face. “Uh... I mean, I’m pretty sure this is a question I really shouldn’t answer,” he continued hastily, then quickly looked around himself. Spotting the items he’d left scattered across the room earlier, his eyes lit up. “Ah, look at all the chaos! I’ve got to finish putting our things away. Yeah, I’ll be busy. ‘Scuse me...”

With those words he scampered off to a corner of the room, blushing slightly. Alice and Thermidor followed him with their eyes, then looked at each other, nonplussed. The Echidna blinked.

“Wait... did he just suggest...?” she murmured in a tone too low for Luka to hear. “I know he sometimes looks at me, but...”

“All of a sudden, I’m not sure whose wandering hands I should be more concerned about,” Thermidor lamented, looking worried as she slowly rubbed her temples. “I was going to ask you to please not do anything untoward, but it seems I’ll have to have a talk with Luka first. I need a breath of fresh air...”

With those words, the fencer got up from her seat and left the cabin, closing the door behind her. Left in the room alone with Luka, Alice glanced at the boy, who was ostensibly trying to ignore her, and a small smirk creased her lips.

This might be fun, she thought as she considered the future. If nothing else, she wouldn’t be bored anytime soon.

----

Later that afternoon, after the pirates finished moving their belongings to their new home, the Grishend finally cast off, and set sail towards Sentora. At long last, Luka’s journey truly began. Unfortunately, due to the unfavorable winds, he was informed that the trip would take four to five days, a fair bit longer than initially expected. In the meanwhile, the pirates offered to teach him some basic sailing knowledge. Hesitant at first, Luka quickly got into the unusual ‘lessons’, and in a couple days he’d learned some basic terminology - and quite a few other words Thermidor would have strongly disapproved of - and had been taught how to make several different types of knots using rope.

He also got some more... unorthodox ‘lessons in manliness’ courtesy of Greybeard, who invited him to drink some liquor. Luka attempted to refuse at first, but Greybeard reminded him that he’d promised he would drink together with him after the issue with the storms was over, and the young Hero was forced to cave in. This resulted in him spending most of the fourth day of the sea trip in his cabin, nursing a horrible hangover and silently uttering curses towards whatever holy or unholy figure he could think of.

On the fifth day, the Grishend finally came within view of land in the distance. Hearing the news, Luka quickly made his way to the deck, anxious to see the new continent awaiting him. However, the sight disappointed him: all he could see was some distant land to the north, and he couldn’t make out any details. He sighed, standing on the ship’s right side railing while holding on to one of its ropes as he’d been taught by some of the pirates.

“Oi, lad, what’s with the sighin’? Yer soundin’ like a woman, thar,” a rough voice came from his side. Glancing to his left, he spotted Largo, and smiled at the pirate’s familiar face, jumping off the railing.

“Hey, Largo. Just checking Sentora out. Or at least, trying to,” he amended, looking a bit unsatisfied. “Guess we’re still too far out to see anything, huh?”

“Aye, ye won’t be seein’ much fer a coupla hours still,” the First Mate nodded, leaning on the parapect. “Don’t worry, though. Ye’ll be seein’ plenty o’ Sentora soon enuff. Mebbe ye’ll even miss bein’ on ol’ Grishend, eh?”

“I gotta admit, I like sailing more than I thought I would,” Luka agreed. “The sea breeze on my face feels wonderful, and fishing from the ship’s side was also pretty fun... until you pretended to shove me in the drink, at least,” he added, glaring at the stocky man, who let out a short laugh in reply. He then grew thoughtful. “Although, running the ship seems really complicated at times. Is it worth the effort?”

“We be men o’ the sea, lad. This be the only life fer us, an’ we love it,” Largo replied, nodding sagely. “Ol’ Grishend may sometimes be finicky, but she be a fine ship, an’ we take good care of ‘er.”

“That was kinda deep,” Luka said, impressed. He then smirked. “...You just repeated what the Captain said, didn’t you?”

“Ahahahahah... it be that obvious, huh?” the pirate admitted. “Yeah, I be not much o’ a thinker. But what the Cap’n said be true. Not all o’ us may have been willin’ at first, but we all grew ta love bein’ on this here ship, in this merry band o’ sea dogs.”

“Wait... not willing? What do you mean?” the young Hero asked, frowning. “I thought you were all recruited...”

“Lad, just ‘cuz we be friendly ta ye don’t mean we be good men. We be pirates, an’ pirates seldom be nice,” Largo pointed out. He then leaned on the railing, arms crossed. “An’ think fer a minute: ye do know how rare monster-blooded men be, aye? Do ye really think puttin’ this here crew together was easy as nailin’ a message on a city’s board sayin’, ‘Arrr, we be recruitin’ landlubbers, ta make ‘em into seasoned men o’ the sea! If ye got the blood o’ monsters in ye, come ta meet us!’ or sumfin’ daft like that? ‘Course not.”

“Yeah, aside from you being pirates, I imagine that wouldn’t fly too well with the Church of Ilias, since they recruit any monster-blooded men and women they can find to be mages in their ranks,” Luka nodded. Largo nodded back.

“Aye, an’ they don’t always take ‘em willingly, either,” the stocky man said. “Fact o’ the matter, most o’ em be jes’ plain kidnappings. So then, them Church types cast off on their fancy, shiny ships wit’ their ‘guests’... an’ then they run inta us. An’ we sink ‘em.”

“...I think I see where this is going...” Luka muttered, shaking his head. Largo grinned like a shark.

“Not too hard ta imagine, yah? We take in them prisoners,” he confirmed. He then cocked his head to one side. “Well, more like we tell ‘em, ‘Oi, landlubber, ye got three choices: ye c’n walk the plank an’ hope some mer-lass takes ye in ‘fore ye drown, ye c’n be dumped on the nearest shore wi’ naught but the clothes on yer back, or ye c’n join us an’ share our plunder an’ riches!’ Funny thing, that, most o’ em choose the pirate life.”

“Gee, I wonder why,” Luka commented in a sarcastic tone. Largo laughed again.

“Hahaha, knew ye wouldn’t approve, lad,” he commented, still grinning. “But this be how this motley crew came together... well, a chunk o’ it, at any rate. Rest o’ it be random finds by the Cap’n, an’ our kids.”

“Wait... your kids?” Luka asked, confused again. Largo nodded, his grin becoming lecherous.

“‘Course it be some o’ our kids,” he pointed out. “We be pirates. There be wenches waitin’ fer us spread-legged at any port... an’ accidents do happen. An’ when we make landfall again later, them wenches saddle us wit’ their bundles o’ joy, cuz they don’t wanna raise some pirate’s kid. Sooo... good chunk o’ this here crew be workin’ alongside their Pas.”

“...there are mothers who willingly give up their kids?” Luka frowned, looking angry. “That’s... shameful.”

“Don’t be judgin’ them wenches. Theirs be a harder lot than ye’d think,” Largo told him, looking oddly serious. “Makin’ a livin’ wit’ their bodies when any monster c’n do whatever they do, only better, an’ for free... it be not an easy lifestyle. Some o’ them women be tougher than any o’ us, I tell ye. But raisin’ a kid on top o’ that?”

“I... suppose that’s true,” Luka murmured, still sounding unhappy but somewhat placated. Thinking, he leaned on the railing himself, looking at the sea’s waves. He then seemed to remember something, and gave Largo a curious look. “Say, there’s one thing I want to ask you.”

“Sure, hit me wit’ whatever question ye got,” the pirate nodded in a friendly tone.

“Well... it’s my understanding that it’d be pretty bad if you got discovered by monsters, wouldn’t it?” he asked. At the pirate’s nod, he continued. “Then... why did you reveal the truth about your ship to Alice and Thermidor right away? Weren’t you afraid they could do something terrible?”

Largo stared at him in silence for a few long seconds, then sighed and scratched his head, looking uncomfortable.

“Well... I’d like ta tell ye that we men o’ the sea c’n tell who be trustworthy, an’ that we felt yer lasses were awright,” he began reluctantly. “But truth be, I dun goof’d. When ye an’ the silver-haired lass - the Monster Lord - were invited aboard our ship by the Cap’n, we thought she be human - her disguise be very good. We realized what she was only after she got near us, an’ by then ye both were already onboard an’ headin’ ta meet the Cap’n in his cabin. I thought, bein’ so close ta us, she’d pick up on our blood right away, but seems like ol’ Grishend’s hiding charms be stronger than I thought.”

Luka stared at the pirate as he sighed, lowering his head in shame. “When she left without doin’ anythin’ bad, I figgered she was safe cuz she didn’t care ‘bout us, what wit’ already havin’ ye an’ all...”

“Wait... let me see if I am getting this right,” Luka interrupted him, incredulous. “You’re saying that, because she got on board and didn’t rape anyone unconscious, you thought she’d figured your secret out and simply wasn’t interested because she already had me? And since you thought she knew, you didn’t think about watching what you were saying later?” At the pirate’s slow, reluctant nod, Luka slapped his hand on his forehead, groaning. “I’m sorry to tell you this, Largo, but it’s the truth - you're one dumb bitch.”

“The Cap’n said the same thing, an’ a few harsher ones,” Largo admitted. “That be not my finest moment. Must be gettin’ old... woulda never slipped like this ten years ago.”

“Well, thankfully nothing bad came from it,” Luka shook his head, exhaling. “But you really need to start paying attention to your cover again. It’ll be real bad if it gets out in the open. The monsters in Poseidon’s cave will be fine - they’re too excited at the idea of having so many men all to themselves, and I doubt they’ll tell a word to anyone, especially since Alice exerted her power as Monster Lord and forbade them from talking about you, but if anyone else finds out...”

“Aye, we be screwed. In all senses o’ the word,” Largo agreed. “Cap’n gave us a lecture ‘bout it few days back. We’ll be more careful from now on. But thanks fer carin’.”

“Yes, well--” the boy Hero began, only to be interrupted by a cry from the bird’s nest.

“Land, ho!”

Looking up, he realized that in the time he and Largo spent talking, they had drawn closer still to Sentora’s coast, and the crew had begun preparations to cast anchor. Glancing back at the First Mate, he nodded at him.

“Looks like you’ll be busy from now on,” he said, offering his hand to the other man. “Well... in case we don’t have time for farewells, it was good to meet you all. Hope to see you again.”

“Same here, lad,” the stocky pirate nodded with a smile, firmly grasping Luka’s hand in a vice-like grip and vigorously shaking it. “Stay healthy, now, an’ may the Abyss Queen allow ye a long life afore welcomin’ ye ta her bosom.”

With those words, the pirate turned around and ran off, shouting orders across the deck. After a few seconds of watching the activity, Luka sighed and headed below deck to prepare his belongings. It was time to say farewell to the Grishend and start the next leg of his journey.

----

A while later, Luka stood on a secluded beach surrounded by rocks a ways away from Port Natalia along with Thermidor and Alice. Before him, Greybeard and a pair of crewmembers stood on the jolly-boat which carried them there from the Grishend.

The pirate captain had decided to avoid docking directly into Port Natalia. The decision came partly because Port Natalia’s town guards were notoriously twitchy, and while they allowed the ship to dock, they tended to watch the crew like hawks, which predictably made the pirates nervous and irritable.

The other reason was that he was doing Luka a favor: being associated with pirates would have been a fairly heavy blow to the young Hero’s reputation, and the old seaman decided to spare him the problems that would have inevitably come from being seen with him and his crew. Hence why he’d been dropped off on a section of beach that couldn’t be seen from town.

“Well, lad, looks like this be where we part ways,” Greybeard said, giving Luka a friendly nod. The boy smiled, then walked up to the boat and extended his right hand towards the pirate captain.

“Thanks for everything, Captain Greybeard,” he told him as the pirate shook his hand firmly, before backing up to avoid getting his boots too wet. “Good luck with your future plans. I hope we’ll meet again.”

“Same ta ye, lad,” the pirate replied with a friendly grin. His grin then became a smirk. “I see ye’ve loosened up a bit in yer time wit’ us. Largo done told me ye called ‘im a dumb bitch fer his blunder wit’ yer monster friends. Never thought the prim an’ proper lad I met coupla weeks ago would go off like that on someone. Harharhar!”

“Wha--?! Luka?! Where did you pick up such language?!” Thermidor asked, aghast. “You shouldn’t be using this kind of words!”

“What did you expect from him spending a couple weeks with pirates, Thermidor? They aren’t known for their politeness and manners,” Alice pointed out to the outraged fencer as Luka scratched his head sheepishly. “You really should’ve expected this. Personally, I like it. He’s finally starting to act less stiff and more natural.”

“I really don’t approve of this!” Thermidor repeated, looking agitated. “Luka, please try not to use such words again. That is hardly language fit for a Hero.”

“Harharhar! Now, now, give the lad a break. Can’t be easy, bein’ all polite all the time,” Greybeard spoke up, drawing a glare from the fencer. He gave her a placating smile as he continued. “I understand where ye come from, but what matters be his actions, not how he speaks. Let ‘im be ‘imself. Leave the lyin’, actin’ an’ puttin’ on airs ta noblemen an’ politicians.” The pirate chuckled again, then became somewhat serious. “That said, lad, if ye meet people in positions o’ power, ye prob’ly should stick wit’ bein’ all proper-like. Rulers an’ lordlings be more prone ta listen ta ye if ye butter ‘em up by showin’ em respect... even when they may not deserve it.”

“Right, I was thinking the same thing,” Luka nodded. “I’ll be careful how I talk to whom. Don’t worry, Thermidor,” he added, turning towards the monster swordswoman. “I don’t intend to start acting like a pirate or anything. It’s just... well, being able to speak my mind is refreshing. I never really did realize how nice it can be to just say what I think without mincing words, even if it probably is a terrible idea in some cases.”

“I guess I can let this slide,” Thermidor sighed after a pause. “It’s just... well... I haven’t seen this side of you in a long time.” She then smiled slightly. “I remember that when we first started, you’d excitedly chatter all the time, and not always make sense. I guess it’s a little nostalgic. Still... try to avoid some words. I’m not used to you insulting someone... or threatening them like you did to that poor Mimic back in the cave.”

“Sorry about that,” Luka apologized, scratching his head again. “It’s just that Rufa really infuriated me that one time, and I kind of lost patience.”

“I suppose it’s understandable, but be careful who you threaten with bodily harm,” Thermidor cautioned him. “Not everyone will cave in as fast as Rufa did.”

“I’ll remember that. Now, we should go before town guards come to investigate the ship and make this secretive drop-off pointless,” Luka said. Turning to Greybeard, he smiled at him one last time. “Well then, goodbye, Captain.”

“Ne’er mind them titles. Ye’ve been a good friend ta me, lad. Ye c’n call me Eduard,” the old pirate told him. “I’ll be leavin’, then. May the sea’s blessin’ be wit’ ye always.”

With those words, the Captain turned around, seated himself and made a gesture with his hand. Immediately, the two pirates on the boat pushed it away from the beach and then began rowing, steering towards the Grishend as they did so. Luka paused for a few minutes, watching the jolly-boat approach the anchored pirate warship, then turned around and picked up some of the group’s supplies. Looking up at his companions, he nodded.

“Okay, let’s go. We’ve wasted enough time as it is,” he announced. He looked up at the sky, where the sun was beginning its descent towards the horizon. “I’d like to reach Port Natalia before nightfall. I doubt I could gather wood for a fire, and I definitely don’t want to be out on a beach at night with no light and shelter whatsoever.”

Alice and Thermidor nodded back, picking up their own items, and the trio began to walk along the beach, towards the rooftops that could be spotted over the rocks scattered across the area.

As they walked on the sandy beach, Luka peered around, curious. The vegetation he could see scattered across the rocky beach was different from what he’d seen on Ilias Continent, and the texture and color of the sand was also different - where the sand on Poseidon’s Cave’s beach had been a light brown color, this was leaning towards white, and the individual grains were much finer. Stopping briefly, he bent down to pick up a handful of sand and watched it slip through his fingers with interest. Noticing his action, Alice grew curious and also picked some sand up, eyeing it with curiosity.

“Huh, so this is the sand they use in hourglasses,” she commented as she watched the grains slip away. "I had heard that the sand of Southern Sentora is the finest in the world, and the most indicated one for use in hourglasses... I can see why. It even feels nice to hold in my hand.”

“Yeah,” Luka agreed as he looked around. “And... are those trees growing on the beach? I don’t remember any trees actually on the beach in Ilias Continent... only a ways off, where there’s fertile soil.”

“That’s a palm tree,” Thermidor helpfully offered. “It doesn’t grow on Ilias because the climate there is generally too cold. Here on Sentora, though, they’re quite frequently found in sandy areas close to water. Even in Sabasa... desert oases frequently have palm trees growing around them.”

“Oh, right. I read about them in some of Mother’s books,” Luka commented as his face brightened. Approaching one of the palm trees, he peered upwards intently, looking for something, and made a delighted noise when he spotted what he was looking for. “This one has coconuts! I hear they’re delicious. I wonder if they’re already edible?”

“Delicious fruit? I like how you think,” Alice remarked as she quickly slid closer and looked up as well. “Ah, there they are. They... look kind of hard.”

“It’s the inside that’s good,” Thermidor explained. “Coconuts have a tasty, fleshy inside, and the liquid within is also very refreshing. But don’t drink it raw. It has to be boiled or it’ll upset your digestive system.” Walking closer to the palm tree, the fencer inspected the fruit with a critical eye. “Ah, the husk’s all brown. Those are good to eat, if you want to try them.”

As soon as the words left Thermidor’s mouth, Alice immediately coiled around the palm tree, apparently undisturbed by its rough exterior, and quickly slithered upwards towards the palm’s top. Reaching the spot where the fruits were hanging, she picked four of them and held them out, dropping them in Luka’s waiting hands, before coming back down and uncoiling. She approached Luka with a happy look on her face, rubbing her hand as she anticipated tasting the new delicacy. The boy examined the hard fruit, frowning.

“Let me see... I have to break this open, right?” he murmured, examining the hairy outer shell. “How should I go about it?”

“Just crack it in half. You can always try the juice later, and I really don’t recommend drinking it as it is,” Thermidor advised him. “In fact, you may want to take out your water flask to rinse the coconut’s edible parts before eating them.”

Nodding, Luka quickly found a pair of stones that could be used for breaking the coconuts open, and after a few awkward tries, managed to crack one in half. He frowned as the liquid inside spilled out: it had a faint sweet scent, and he regretted not being able to get a taste of it. He then cut out the white, fleshy parts within the coconut’s shell, rinsed them and set them on a small plate, offering them to his companions as he took a bite from a piece himself. He immediately hummed appreciatively as the exotic fruit’s taste assaulted him.

“Mmmm... nice. This was definitely worth trying,” he commented while slowly chewing on the sweet fruit. “I wonder if I could use it to make some dishes tastier. Do you know any recipes, Thermidor?”

“I’m not much of a cook, but I think Sabasan cuisine has a few recipes that include coconuts - mostly sweets,” she replied. “When you come visit, try asking around. I’m sure you’ll find something.”

“This is good,” Alice declared as she grabbed a few more pieces of coconut off the plate. “I’ll need to get some palm trees in my private garden.”

“Ah, I don’t think they’d grow in Hellgondo,” the fencer warned her. “It’s too far up north, and besides, isn’t it a volcanic area?”

“Our volcano hasn’t been active for centuries,” Alice shook her head as she wolfed down the fruit pieces. “It’s not a problem. And I do have some exotic plants from all over the world in my garden. It should be fine.”

“In that case, feel free to try,” Thermidor shrugged before looking up at the sky. “May I suggest we finish eating when we are in Port Natalia? The sun’s starting to set.”

“Right, let’s go,” Luka nodded as he licked his fingers clean. Moving quickly, he packed the remaining coconuts in his backpack - which was now a little too full - and cleaned up and put away the plate he’d used. The group shortly began to walk again, hunger satisfied by the brief stop.

A few minutes later, the group once again came to a stop, this time prompted by a sudden shriek from behind some rocks ahead. Luka blinked, surprised: he was fairly sure that the scream he’d just heard was a feminine one. Regardless, he immediately picked up speed, running over to the rocks and rounding over to see what was going on.

As he cleared the obstacle, he finally spotted the source of the scream: a young woman in an elaborate white dress, wearing a large-fold hat, was standing in a frightened pose before a monster - a Sea Cucumber Girl, if Luka’s memory of Liese’s books didn’t deceive him. He blinked again: monsters in general weren’t known for attacking women, unless they were carnivorous types and just plain hungry.

He then remembered a bit in one of his mother’s books about monster feeding habits: Sea Cucumber Girls could feed on fluids in general, and when hungry, they were known to assault females and even other monsters if males were not available. He also seemed to recall something else about those monsters, but its exact nature escaped him for the time being, though he vaguely remembered it being important.

As he thought, the woman in white shrieked again, apparently not having noticed him, and the monster advanced on her, seemingly intent on seizing her. Deciding to leave his misgivings aside for the time being, Luka dropped his backpack and ran towards the two figures, hoping to put a stop to the attack. Behind him, Thermidor reached out with a hand, alarmed.

“Ah! Luka, wait! Those are--” she began, only to be interrupted by Alice’s hand firmly grasping her wrist and lowering her arm. The fencer looked at the serpentine monster, with an expression halfway between annoyed and confused. Alice nodded towards the running boy.

“Let him do what he feels is best,” she told the monster swordswoman. “I know very well what is really going on, but I’m curious to see how he’ll handle this.”

“...Very well,” Thermidor agreed, stopping her movement. Somewhat anxious, she then turned her head towards Luka, who had almost reached the woman and the monster assaulting her.

As the boy reached the two females, he immediately interjected himself between the woman in white and the Sea Cucumber Girl, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. The monster blinked at the sudden, unexpected intrusion, and regarded him with curiosity.

“Please, wait!” he pleaded with the monster girl, drawing her attention. “I don’t know why you are attacking this human, but couldn’t you reconsider? I may be able to offer you something in return... so, please, think about it.”

“Huh... a human boy? Where did you come from?” the Sea Cucumber Girl frowned, taking a good look at him. “And why are you butting in and shouting at me all of a sudden?”

“I was walking towards the port on the beach, and heard screaming, so I came to see what was going on,” Luka explained before giving the monster a pleading look. “Listen, can’t we reach an agreement? Isn’t there something that could persuade you to let this woman go?”

“I don’t think I follow you, but I can think of a few things you could do for me...” the Sea Cucumber Girl commented with a lewd smile as she shifted, looking ready to attack. Luka tensed, his right hand dropping down towards Angel Halo, but stopped as he noticed the monster’s gaze shift to somewhere behind him, and her expression change from hungry anticipation to annoyance, and then to frustrated resignation. The Sea Cucumber Girl dropped her arms back down to her sides, sighing. “Ah, just my luck. There she goes again...” she muttered. Luka gave her a confused look, before a new voice spoke up from behind him.

“Oh my... a real, brave Hero did come to save the distressed damsel...” he heard someone murmur. Looking behind him, he was shocked when he found himself face to face with a second monster - an attractive female whose lower body fused into a giant shell. He immediately turned around and backed off, wondering how this second monster had snuck up on him, until he took a closer look at her face and stopped, incredulous. He slowly raised a finger at her.

“W-wait... the girl who was being assaulted... you’re a monster, too?!” he croaked in disbelief. “Why in the Abyss were you being attacked by a fellow-- hold on, I think I’ve read about your kind before. Aren’t you a Shellfish Girl? And isn’t your kind in friendly terms with Sea Cucumber Girls?”

“W-well, yes,” the second monster replied with a slight blush. “I’m very sorry for causing this misunderstanding. My name’s Crea, and that’s my best friend, Edy. We play ‘Princess and the Monster’ every day.” She then blushed a little harder, giving him a starry-eyed look. Luka suddenly got a very bad feeling about the situation. “Although, this is the first time a dashing Hero actually did come rescue me from the hungry monster...”

“Uh, uhm... I think I horribly messed up this time,” Luka replied awkwardly, scratching his head in embarrassment. “I hope you don’t mind... I thought you were being attacked for real.” Turning around, he bowed in apology to the Sea Cucumber Girl, as well. “Sorry about thinking badly of you, too. I didn’t mean to. I kind of jumped to conclusions. I knew I was forgetting something important.”

“That’s fine, your assumptions were understandable,” Edy reassured him with a smile. “And it made the game even better, in a way. Crea’s right - we were lacking the Hero swooping in to chivalrously stare down the monster and save the damsel in distress. Although, we had a few ideas about the Hero’s rewards...” she added with an inviting smile. Luka started sweating, holding his hands up in a hopefully placating gesture.

“Uhhh... you’re welcome, I guess? And don’t worry about, ah, rewards,” he replied, shifting around uncomfortably as he noticed the Shellfish Girl stare at him intensely. “If there’s nothing else, then I’ll be--”

“That was very romantic, the way you charged in to save me,” the Shellfish Girl interrupted him with an adoring expression as she clasped her hands before her. She then became fidgety, and anxiously began to sway. “Um... will you marry me?” she blurted out. Luka gaped at her.

“Wait, what? I think you lost me somewhere along the way... or skipped some steps...” the boy spoke up after a brief moment of total confusion induced by her words. Behind him, the Sea Cucumber Girl sighed.

“I knew it. There she goes again. It’s always like this,” she muttered in a low tone. Luka peered back at her, blinking.

“‘Again’? Does she, uh, do this often?” he asked in a whisper as the Shellfish Girl stared off in the distance, daydreaming as she drooled slightly. Edy nodded.
“Whenever a human catches her eye by doing something ‘romantic’, she starts pining after him,” she explained. “All Shellfish Girls are hopeless romantics. It’s probably because for them, picking a mate is a commitment; they become physically connected, you know?”

“A-Actually, I think I missed that when reading about them,” Luka replied, sweating slightly as he nervously glanced at the Shellfish Girl. “And, uh... I’m kind of already taken. Got a mate, and kids on the way back home, and all...”

“Then why are you even out there?” Edy scolded him with a severe look. “Shouldn’t you be back there taking care of your family?”

“Yeah... things are a little complicated,” Luka admitted, scratching his head. “I’m on a mission of sorts, and she’s all right with that. I think. I hope she meant it, at least.”

“I really wouldn’t be all right with it at all, but it’s her choice,” the monster commented, disapproval clear in her tone. She then shrugged, glanced at Crea and sighed, taking a deep breath before yelling loudly. “Hey! Daydreamer! He’s already taken, so snap out of it!”

The sudden yelling caused Crea to come back to her senses, and she stared at Luka with a disappointed expression, almost like a puppy that had just been kicked.
“What...? Oh, no... I was hoping...” she murmured, tearing up a bit. Luka felt a sting in his chest and winced. He really hated it when women became sad in his presence.

“I’m really sorry, but it’s true,” he apologized quietly. “I hope you won’t hold it against me, but... for the time being, I’m really not inclined to accept marriage offers, even if my mate likely wouldn’t mind, being a Harpy and all. Please understand...”

“I... see,” the Shellfish Girl reluctantly nodded. She then brightened up a bit. “You said, ‘for the time being’. Does that mean that maybe, later...?”

“Uh... I really can’t promise anything,” the young Hero replied hastily. “Look, you’re a nice girl, and you’re quite beautiful. It’s just that right now my life’s kind of already complicated. I’m on a quest, too, and I really have to-- um, hello?” he added, noticing the monster had zoned out when he mentioned the word ‘quest’. Edy sighed again.

“Oh! A quest!” Crea exclaimed dreamily. “I see, I see. You must go and right the wrongs in this world, right? Of course. That’s what a dashing Hero does, after all. Ah, how I wish I could be there and see all those brave battles...”

“I suggest you sneak away and leave while she’s in dreamland,” Edy whispered in Luka’s ear as the Shellfish Girl rambled on. “By the time she’s out of it she’ll have gone back to normal again, and I’ll help her calm down.”

“Uh, yeah. Thank you,” the boy nodded as he began to back off. He then stopped, eyeing her curiously. “I have to ask, though. Why didn’t you attack me?”

“Well... I was tempted, but the way you jumped in to protect my friend was nice, so I decided to leave you alone. Although, I was surprised to hear you had a mate already, and a monster at that. A Harpy, eh? Not bad,” the monster replied with a smile. She then licked her lips with a seductive look in her eyes. “Of course, if you wander on this beach again and I run into you, I’ll probably change my mind and help myself to a nice snack. Maybe I’ll see you soon~”

“R-right, I’ll be going now. Good luck with your friend,” Luka said as he hastily backed away, scampering off back to the rock Thermidor and Alice were hiding behind as they watched. Rejoining them and grabbing his backpack again, he shot the Echidna a dirty look as she struggled to not break out into laughter. “You knew what was going on all along, didn’t you?”

“I did, and it was highly entertaining to watch you blunder your way through all that,” Alice candidly admitted with a huge grin, causing him to twitch in annoyance. “Why, the brave Hero almost got the damsel, but chickened out at the last minute...”

“Shut up and let’s go,” the boy growled with a glare as he began to quickly circle around the two monsters on the beach. “Ugh, sometimes you’re so insufferably smug you make me want to strangle you...”

Alice’s only answer as she followed after him was a chuckle. Watching the two bicker, Thermidor shook her head and sighed, then followed them as they resumed walking towards Port Natalia.

----

The rest of the trip reserved no surprises, and the trio reached Port Natalia just as the sun began to set on the horizon. The guards at the port’s gate, unaware that Luka had been aboard the pirate ship from earlier, asked him and his companions a few quick questions about their business in town, then let them into town after giving them directions to the closest inn.

While walking down the port town’s main street, Luka looked around, curious. Port Natalia was very different from Iliasport: its buildings had a different architecture, and most importantly, he could see monsters everywhere, something which at first caught him off guard. Mermaids busily shuffled around the streets, looking perfectly fine out of their natural element as they interacted with the humans out and about, buying and selling goods from shops before closing hours came, chatting with neighbors, and more. Luka noticed that the bar closest to the port was staffed almost entirely by mermaids, and a few of the finned beauties peddled their wares along the docks, as well.

“Huh... this is surprising,” he murmured, sounding somewhat pleased. “I had heard that Port Natalia was somewhat lax in regard to relations with monster races, but I didn’t think there’d be so many Mermaids.”

“I think it has to do with that old story,” Alice commented. At his curious glance, she elaborated. “From what I know, the reason why Mermaids are so accepted is because in the past, there was a Mermaid who fell in love with an injured human she’d rescued from sharks. In order to save him from death, she fed him her own blood, which had healing properties. But that man was too heavily injured, and so that mermaid took to living with him so she could feed him her blood every day. Back then, however, the Natalia region hated monsters... she was found out, and sentenced to death.”

“What...?! Why?!” Luka protested, stopping as he gave her an outraged look. A few passersby gave him curious glances due to his outburst. “She was saving his life! That makes no sense no matter how you look at it!”

“What can I say? It’s how it was back then,” Alice replied, shaking her head sadly. She resumed walking towards the port’s plaza and he hurried over to her side, wanting to hear the rest of the story. “Anyway, shortly before the execution, that Mermaid asked that she be killed through skewering - the bloodiest method possible - so that her beloved could collect all her blood and use it to stay healthy. But when the human found out, he refused to let her die for his sake, and killed himself with poison.”

“No...” Luka murmured, looking crestfallen. Thermidor shook her head in disappointment. Alice nodded, looking somber.

“Unfortunately, that’s what happened,” she confirmed. “The Mermaid found out, and was heartbroken. Not wanting her lover’s death to be in vain, she escaped and fled back in the water, where her grief summoned up a storm that lasted for days and violently blew through town. The humans, at that point, realized that the two genuinely did love each other and just wanted be happy. They grew ashamed of their actions, and sought to make amends by extending a friendly hand to the Mermaids and accepting them as their own. And this is how Port Natalia came to accept Mermaids.”

“I see... that’s a sad story,” Luka sighed, still saddened by the tale. He then looked up, puzzled. “But wait... I thought the pirates mentioned that the Queen Mermaid hates humans?”

“I can answer that question, stranger,” a new voice chimed in from the side. The three turned around to see an impoverished-looking brown-haired Mermaid wearing ragged clothes, standing near a small stand off towards the port’s docks where something appeared to be cooking. The Mermaid waved at Luka, and he approached, curious. She nodded at him. “Sorry for butting in, but I overheard you talking about that old story. The reason why the Queen Mermaid hates humans is because she’s that very same Mermaid who lost her lover. Queen Laura has held a deep resentment for the human race ever since. A large number of Mermaids sided with her and still despise humans. We’re the ones who accepted their offer of friendship, and began to live among them.”

“Oh, so that’s why...” Luka murmured. He shook his head, shoulders slumping. “To be honest, I can’t say I blame her. Humans would react the same way, if not even more harshly. She has reason to be so hateful. But won’t that just make things worse?”

“That’s what we thought, too,” the brown-haired Mermaid nodded. “It’s why we decided to try and live in harmony with humans. It’s been hard since Remina, to be honest - to hear that a community like that, dating all the way back to the Third Monster Lord, vanished overnight... but the locals refused to believe it was monsters who destroyed it. Quite a few of the people here knew people from Remina, and they adamantly denied that the monsters were responsible, and took our side when others in town tried to have us thrown out. Among them were some very powerful men and women, and so it was decided we’d stay. But other monsters are viewed with suspicion...”

She then glanced surreptitiously at Thermidor and lowered her voice. “I see one of your companions is a monster, and even the other one looks a little odd. Be careful about that. There’s no telling how locals will react if they find out.”

“H-huh, is it that obvious?” Luka asked with worry, glancing at Thermidor, who frowned upon hearing those words. The Mermaid shook her head.

“Only to monsters, and as long as you all behave, we’d never rat you out to the town guard,” She reassured him. She then got a calculating look in her eyes. “Of course, I want to be rewarded for that... so come on, buy something!”

“Hey, wait a second!” Luka protested, taken aback by the sudden request. “What do you mean, ‘buy something’? And what are you selling anyway?”

“What kinda question is that?” the Mermaid aggressively replied. “Of course, ‘buy something’ means ‘take some of my stuff and gimme money for it’! And come on, I helped you, don’t you owe me? I have all kinds of grilled seafood here! Get some already!”

“Wait, this is more mugging than selling! You can’t just-- huh?” Luka protested as he started looking around for a way to avoid buying from the monstergirl. As he did so, he paused, puzzled, upon spotting a man emerge from a side road a little further away and look up and down the main road. The man, a lanky, long-haired individual with an unkempt beard, dressed in ratty plain brown clothes and wearing a blue cloak, appeared strangely familiar to Luka.

The boy kept observing him as he got a strange feeling of déjà vu, and as he watched, the man took what appeared to be matches and a rolled-up bundle of leaves - a cigar, Luka realized after a moment. The stranger bit off one end of the cigar, lit it and took a few deep drags, the ember from the burning leaves illuminating his face for a second. He then smirked nastily. At that point, something in Luka’s mind clicked.

“Wait, is that...?” he muttered. He was fairly sure the man was in fact the ‘friend’ who helped his father found Ilias Kreuz - Nero Lazarus, a Heavy Knight from the Church of Ilias. Luka had been very little when Lazarus last visited Liese’s house, but he remembered well the yelling and shouting his presence caused, and he also remembered the very same cruel smirk he’d just witnessed bloom on his lips back then. He wasn’t likely to forget it anytime soon.

“Luka? Is something wrong?” a voice snapped him out of his trance, and he glanced to his side, seeing Thermidor watch him with worry. Behind her, Alice was peering with cautious interest at the Mermaid’s stand, and the Mermaid herself was glaring at him, obviously angry at being ignored. Luka paused for a few seconds, then shook his head.

“Nothing... I think I saw someone I know a little farther ahead, but it’s probably nothing important,” he explained. The monster swordswoman gave him a dubious look.
“Was it that ratty-looking man with the blue cloak? You were staring at him pretty intensely,” she inquired. “Who’s he? Someone your mother knew?”

“You could say that, yes...” he replied, declining to elaborate. Thermidor glanced at him again, but before she could say anything, Alice suddenly looked up, loudly sniffing the air. Luka and Thermidor both stared at her, weirded out by her sudden sniffing, and she gave them an odd glance.

“Hey. Do you smell something strange?” she told them, sounding hesitant. At their questioning looks, she insisted. “Come on, take a whiff of the air. The wind’s carrying a weird smell... spicy, and makes my nose burn... I could swear it’s explo--”

The rest of Alice’s words were lost in a roaring noise as an explosion rocked a building on the other side of the road. The noise hit first, causing Luka to feel a lancing pain in his ears and reach to cover them with his hands. Before he could complete the move, however, the shockwave from the detonation hit him like a warhammer between his shoulderblades, lifting him off his feet and throwing him across the air like a rag doll, sending him smashing straight through the Mermaid stand’s wooden supports and sprawled onto the ground face-first.

Luka moaned in pain as he skidded to a halt on the pier’s hard stone, feeling as if his entire body had just been ground on the floor by a giant’s hand. All around him, shouting and panicked sounds could be heard, and he confusedly tried to shake the dizziness off as he struggled to move into a more comfortable position.

As he did so, he suddenly felt a pair of hands gently take his backpack off him and roll him over, slightly picking his head up and laying it on something smooth and somewhat warm. Blinking hard to get rid of black spots in his vision, Luka looked up and saw an unfamiliar face framed in brown hair look down at him, appearing worried.

“...ight? Hey, are you all right? Come on, don’t die on me!” an equally unfamiliar voice reached him as he slowly regained his senses. He realized the face hovering above him was that of the Mermaid whom he had been talking to, and the warm surface under his head was probably her scaly fish-tail. He blinked as she resumed talking. “If you die in my arms I’ll be in real trouble! Hang on, the guards will soon be here to help!”

“Hrgh...” Luka muttered as he struggled to get his accelerated breathing and heart rate back under control. Feeling searing pain from all over, he closed his eyes and relaxed, attempting to meditate and heal whatever damage he’d sustained.

Seeing him close his eyes and his breathing slow down sent the Mermaid helping him in a panic, and she frantically started looking around for help, until a gauntleted hand closed on her upper arm, gently but firmly squeezing it. Looking to her side, the Mermaid saw Thermidor shake her head reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, it’s a healing technique,” she told her with a smile. “He’ll be fine if you let him do his thing. But can I ask you a favor? Please keep an eye on him along with Lady Alice. I’m going to help people rescue those trapped under the debris. I’m stronger than humans or Mermaids, so I’ll be useful.”

“Wait, if you do that--” the Mermaid cautioned her, but Thermidor dismissed her concerns.

“They’ll realize I’m a monster, I know. Well, what will be, will be. I can’t, in good conscience, leave people in danger like this,” she told her firmly. “Besides, I have a bit of a reputation here in Southern Sentora. With any luck, someone will recognize me, and I’ll clear things up. So, please...”

“O... okay. I’ll try,” the Mermaid nodded, hesitantly, as Alice walked up to them with a shocked expression. Thermidor nodded at the two monsters, gave the groaning Luka one last, worried look, and then rushed off towards the destroyed building, where rescuers were already gathering to help the explosion’s victims.

----

“Hurry! Lift that piece off! There are people under it!” a guard wearing officer insignia ordered to a group of lower-ranked men, pointing to a large section of wall which had collapsed on the left side of the smoking wreckage. The smell of explosives was clearly detectable from up close, and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind as to what the cause of the explosion was. Grim, angry faces could be seen everywhere, on human and monster alike, as the denizens of Port Natalia assisted the wounded to the best of their capabilities.

As the town guards struggled with the collapsed wall, Thermidor quickly made her way up to them and gently but firmly nudged one of the men aside, bending over and gripping the wall’s underside. Looking up, she nodded at the confused guards.

“I will hold this up for you,” she instructed them with the stern look of someone used to giving orders and seeing them followed. “You should be ready to seize anyone under the rubble and drag them out of harm’s way. Be quick about it; I cannot hold this much weight up forever.”

Before the guards could protest or ask her how she planned to move the huge slab of stone, the monster swordswoman firmly planted her feet on the ground, and with a grunt of exertion, she suddenly began lifting. The dubious guards’ stares became open surprise and amazement as the large piece of wall moved, slowly but surely rising until it was high enough for a person to comfortably fit under it. At that point it stopped, and Thermidor glared at the gawking guards.

“What are you doing?! Move!” she chastised them, causing them to flinch. “Even I have limits! Pull out anyone you find under this wall!”

The guards didn’t need to be told twice and immediately began to work, slipping under the wall in pairs and swiftly coming out holding some of the attack’s victims. As the guards worked in cooperation with Thermidor, a few more Port Natalia militiamen and the officer observed her.

“Hey... that woman’s a monster, isn’t she?” one of the militia, a slim young man with red hair partly covered by a light helmet, asked his nearby colleague, a much larger and older black-haired soldier with a thick beard. The older man nodded.

“Gotta be. No human woman’s this strong. Where’d she come from?” he frowned, sounding suspicious. The younger man glanced at him.

“No idea. I wasn’t told that there was a non-Mermaid monster in town. What should we do? Should we--” he replied. Before he could finish, however, the officer beside them let out a surprised exclamation, his eyes lighting up in recognition.

“Hold on... I think I know her,” he told the two militiamen. Pointing at Thermidor, he looked at them. “Remember the lessons you were taught about other military forces in Sentora? That armor... it’s Sabasan Royal Elite armor, only worn by the palace guards assigned to defend the Sabasan royal family.” He then nodded to himself, his eyes returning to Thermidor. “And now I remember where I’ve seen that woman before... nine years ago, I was in Sabasa along with a diplomatic escort, and she was the only monster in the Royal Guard. The Royal Elites’ captain, in fact... she’s got to be Lady Thermidor, King Zado’s personal bodyguard!”

“Wait... what?! You can’t be serious, Sergeant,” the younger recruit said, incredulous. “What would a King’s bodyguard be doing here anyway? Port Natalia isn’t exactly a town I’d expect to see royalty in...”

“I think she resigned from her post a few years back and left Sabasa,” the Sergeant murmured, shaking his head as he watched the monster fencer issue orders to the soldiers surrounding her and then quickly move over to the rescued survivors to ascertain their conditions. “I remember it caused a bit of a ruckus because she was well liked by the populace, and the King trusted her fully...”

“Huh... so it wasn’t her who made this mess, was she?” the recruit asked. The question earned him a glare from both his older colleague and his superior officer, and the latter smacked him across the helmet with an open hand.

“Don’t be an idiot!” he chastised him angrily, pointing at Thermidor as she moved to another spot and lifted another huge stone slab out of the way. “She’s famous all across the entire Safina region as a knight of peerless honor and courage! There’s no way she’d stoop so low as to do this! And besides, why would she be helping us save the people trapped under the ruins if she’d been the one to do this?” He shook his head as he grimly surveyed the wreckage around him. “No, this mess carries a very distinct mark. No one else but them would do something as vile as blowing up a school full of children.”

“Them...? You mean...” the younger man began, hesitant. The older soldier besides him nodded, his features hardening.

“Who else? This is clearly Ilias Kreuz’s style,” he growled as he looked around, his eyes blazing with indignant rage. “I knew they were planning something... they’d been a little too quiet, lately...”

The three men fell silent as they became lost in thought. All of a sudden, their beloved Port Natalia’s peace didn’t seem so assured anymore.

----

As Thermidor busied herself helping with the rescue operations, Alice and the brown-haired Mermaid observed the scene while watching over Luka, still stunned by the explosion. Here and there, humans in various states of injury could be seen, having been hit by the explosion just like the young Hero, but unfortunately being less sturdy and much closer to the detonation than he was.

The Mermaid and Alice watched the disturbing scene for a few seconds, then the fish-girl shook her head sadly, looking like she wanted to cry.

“Was... was this an attack? Why... who would attack the Mermaid school? The children were in there, waiting for evening lessons... a few human teachers, too,” she murmured. “Mermaid children and adults probably survived, but the humans...”

“Wait... it was... a school...?” a tired question came from her lap. The Mermaid looked down at Luka, whose eyes had snapped open upon hearing her words, and she nodded.
“Yes, that’s the evening school where Mermaid children go to learn about the world and coexisting with humans,” she confirmed. “I can’t believe someone would do something like that. I’d like to think it was an accident, but your friend over there said she smelled explosives, and now I can smell them in the air, too.”

“Urrrgh... that rat bastard...!” Luka growled through gritted teeth. He then closed his eyes again and his brow furrowed slightly as his meditation intensified. Alice stared at him, suddenly becoming aware of an aura of hostility developing around the young man. She and the Mermaid watched as the cuts and scrapes he’d remedied from the explosion closed within seconds. The brown-haired monster exhaled, surprised.

“Wow, he can regenerate just like us,” she murmured, looking at Alice. “Is he half monster or something?”

“Something like that, yes,” Alice replied cautiously, and refused to say more. The Mermaid shrugged, detecting her reluctance to talk, and dropped the subject. Looking back at Luka, she was startled when he suddenly moved and got back up to his feet, groaning slightly as he stretched. He shook his head to remove the last of the dizziness from the explosion, then began to scan the street up and down, eyes narrowed, looking for something.

It didn’t take long for him to spot what he wanted. Alice had no idea what he was looking for, but knew he’d found it when a low growl of pure hostility escaped his lips. Turning around, he glared at her. The snake monster flinched; she could tell the anger wasn’t directed at her, but it was so thick it was almost palpable.

“Do me a favor - stay here and look after my things. I’ll be right back,” he brusquely told her. Alice blinked at the sudden order, then frowned and crossed her arms.

“And where do you think you’re going?” she asked him, sounding annoyed. “You just got knocked through a food stand by an explosion. Shouldn’t you be taking it easy?”

“I’ll take it easy after I exterminate a particularly repulsive creature I’ve seen,” he snapped in reply, clearly not in the mood to argue. Alice blinked: she’d heard him angry before, but right now, there was pure hatred in his words. Luka glared at her again. “Alice… please stay out of this. I mean it.”

Without waiting for an answer from the surprised monster, the young Hero took off at top speed, running as fast as he could towards the direction he’d been looking in. Left behind, the two monsters stared in surprise at his form as it ran down the street. He briefly stopped at a crossroads, then ran down a side alley, disappearing from sight.

A few moments later, Thermidor ran up to them, appearing concerned. She shot an angry look at the other two monsters.

“Where’s Luka? I thought you said you’d keep an eye on him!” she said, upset with worry. Alice shrugged, helplessly spreading her arms.

“I would have, but when this Mermaid mentioned the building that was blown up was a school, he got really mad, sent his healing power in overdrive and healed himself as fast as he could,” she explained. “He then took off down the road, talking about having to exterminate something. I’m not--”

“Wait - which direction did he go?” Thermidor interrupted her, a feeling of dread welling up within her chest.

“Uh… down the road and into the second alley on the right…?” the Mermaid replied, pointing towards the direction she’d seen Luka disappear in. Without another word, Thermidor turned around and began to run down the main road. Alice blinked, then ran after her, picking Luka’s bag up as an afterthought and leaving the confused Mermaid behind.

“Hey! Where are you going all in a hurry like this?” the silver-haired monster called out as she tried to keep up with the armored warrior. Thermidor didn’t turn around or slow down at the question.

“To keep Luka from doing something rash!” was her reply as she kept running. “That man from earlier - he must have been Ilias Kreuz. If I don’t find Luka soon and stop him, he just may kill that person!”

“Wait… Luka, kill someone?” Alice murmured, slowing down for a moment as the fencer’s statement hit her. She couldn’t picture the young Hero killing anyone in cold blood. And yet, the palpable hostility she’d felt earlier… Alice exhaled as a memory of her own past hit her, and her pace increased as she ran to catch up with Thermidor.

Suddenly, she didn’t find the idea of the boy murdering somebody in a fit of vengeful rage all that unlikely anymore. After all, she was intimately familiar with such feelings.

----

Luka ran through the side roads of Port Natalia, looking for traces of the man he’d seen earlier. There was no doubt in his mind that Lazarus was the one responsible for the attack on the school, and it was likely he’d try to leave town soon, having achieved the mass panic and terror he’d been aiming for. Luka planned to catch up to him before he managed to do so.

“And what do you intend to do once you catch up with that man?” a voice abruptly rang out in his mind, causing Luka to stumble mid-run. He managed to recover his balance before ending up planted face-first on the ground, and then resumed running, directing his thoughts at Steelburn, who had addressed him mentally.

Where have you been the past few days?, he asked testily. First, you basically give me the silent treatment for nearly a week, and now you suddenly make your presence known again. I’m getting mixed signals, here.

“There is no need to be so angry at me. I was observing you, to get a feel for what kind of man you truly are,” was the sword spirit’s answer. “We will be working closely in the future, and it makes sense for me to get to know you better as a person. I found that the best way to know someone is to observe their everyday life and interactions. It gives more information than even talking directly.”

And when am I going to get answers about you? It seems a little unfair that you’re the only one learning things, here, Luka inquired as he stopped at an intersection and looked around. Spotting a familiar-looking cape disappear around a corner further down, he resumed his pursuit, anxious to reach his quarry.

“If you like, I’ll answer any questions you may have later today, or whenever you feel inclined to ask,” Steelburn replied without missing a beat. “But right now, I would like to know what you plan to do when you catch that man.”

Luka’s answer was to reach for the handle of the Dark Arm slung across his back as he cleared the corner he’d seen Lazarus disappear behind. Seeing the caped man a little further ahead of him, he drew the Monster Lord’s blade, running even faster as they neared the city’s walls.

“Are you really sure you want to do this?” Steelburn asked him in a neutral tone. “Taking lives is not something that should be done lightly, and regardless of how righteous the reason may be, it is an action that will often haunt you for the rest of your life.”

Are you telling me I should ignore what he did?! was Luka’s angry reply. His thoughts subdued a bit as he drew closer to Lazarus, his focus shifting. I can’t let this go unpunished. Attacking people who can defend themselves is one thing, but a school? That’s too vile for words! He has to be eliminated, if nothing else for the sake of others like the children and teachers in that building. He will not stop here - he never has. He’ll do this again.

“I see… I cannot say I disagree in this case, although I think your emotions are being warped by the fact you will soon be a father yourself. Of course, it’s fully understandable...” the sword spirit answered after a brief pause. Luka felt as if he caught a hint of approval in her thoughts. “Very well, then. My blade is yours to do with as you see fit. Use it well!”

I will! was Luka’s last thought before he finally came within striking distance of Lazarus. Tensing up, he produced one last effort, and leapt forward, the Dark Arm’s tip aimed at the Ilias Kreuz leader’s back.

“I have you now, you degenerate beast!” he yelled, and then struck.

----

Lazarus felt the danger coming before even hearing the words, and his reaction was immediate: he drew his longsword and pivoted around to meet the assailant closing in on him from behind. Raising his sword, he managed to deflect the thrusting attack from Luka, and quickly scrambled to the side, assuming a defensive stance as he examined his attacker. Upon seeing Luka, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“A kid…? What do you think you’re doing, boy?” he grunted, eyeing the sword in the young Hero’s hands as he lazily held his own weapon in his left hand. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but… hmm?”

The older man paused, examining Luka as the boy circled him with a murderous expression on his face. He was sure he’d seen this particular kid somewhere, but was having a hard time placing his face somewhere in his memories. As he tried to remember, Luka spoke up in a low, angry voice.

“I see you’re still as much of a warped lunatic as ever, Lazarus,” he addressed him, making no effort to conceal his hostility as he adjusted his two-handed grip on the Dark Arm. “I can see why Mother said you were bad news, and nothing good could possibly come from your presence anywhere. What’s wrong - have you gotten too old to face people your own size?”

“How do you know my--” Lazarus began, surprised. Then his voice trailed off as it dawned on him, and he pointed an accusing finger at Luka, scowling. “...you! You’re Marcellus’s kid! Luka, was it? What do you think you’re doing, sneaking up on people and trying to stab them in the back like some mugger?”

“Why should I bother fighting fairly against someone who tries to blow up a school full of children in the name of some insane half-baked crusade?” Luka shot right back. “A blade between the shoulders is exactly what a wretch like you deserves - no more and no less!”

“What, are you a monster-lover or something?” the older warrior replied in a snarl. “Who cares about a bunch of fish-tails stinking up human towns? I’m doing this clueless town a favor--”

“Shut your trap and die already!” Luka furiously cut him off as he lunged forward, slashing diagonally at him. Lazarus promptly knocked the blade aside, causing Luka to misstep and then hastily fall back, but frowned as he felt his sword arm vibrate under the blow.

“Huh… that was a solid hit. I see Marcellus did teach you how to fight before he was killed,” he commented, glaring at the boy. Luka scoffed.

“Don’t be an idiot. I was too young to learn the sword when he died. He didn’t teach me a thing,” Luka said as he resumed circling around him after recovering from the other man’s parry. Lazarus’s lips thinned in annoyance as he noticed Luka’s eyes dart towards his knees and his right side. Looking for holes in my defense? Huh. He’s good for someone this green, he reluctantly conceded, remembering how he’d managed to close in on him enough to almost assassinate him earlier.

“So who is it that taught you swordplay?” he asked Luka as he kept his eyes on the boy’s movements. “I don’t remember Liese - pardon, Ms. Fortner, I shouldn’t talk so casually about strangers, after all - being an amazing fighter or anything, even if she could whip up a spellstorm given half a chance--”

“I don’t want to hear Mother’s name coming from your filthy mouth,” Luka interrupted him. “In fact, I’d appreciate it if you stopped breathing entirely. Every second you draw breath makes this world worse for all decent people.”

“Such hateful words. Why so malicious, boy?” Lazarus grinned tauntingly. “Did a special something of yours get killed by my boys?”

“Drop dead!” was Luka’s abrupt reply as he lashed out without warning. Taking a quick step in, he aimed at Lazarus’s chest with the tip of his sword and charged at full speed, unleashing his Thunder Thrust move in an attempt to run the other man through on the spot.

Lazarus was caught off guard, and it was all he could do to raise his sword and deflect the blow aside. Luka’s charge led him past the man’s stumbling form, his Dark Arm cutting through the ragged mantle’s fabric as his momentum carried him forward. As soon as the boy’s feet hit the ground again, he immediately stepped backwards, outside the danger zone of Lazarus’s reach. As the thin man recovered, his eyes narrowed and he stared at Luka, suspicious.

“That move… I’ve seen monster swordswomen use it. There’s some small differences, but I’d recognize those techniques anywhere. Why are you using monster skills?” he asked brusquely. This time it was Luka’s turn to grin in mockery.

“Wouldn’t you like to know? Tell you what - I’ll tell you all about it when we meet in the Abyss. Meanwhile, go on ahead without me and show me the way, will you?” he replied, and once again moved in to attack. Stepping in quickly, he gripped the Monster Lord’s blade with both hands and slashed twice at the older man’s chest, but Lazarus’s longsword parried both hits before they came anywhere near vital points, batting the sharp blade aside with ease. The tall man scoffed, shifting the grip on his longsword as he backed away a bit.

“Fine, I’ll just cut it out of you, one body part at a time,” he replied, and then struck without warning, thrusting his sword’s tip at Luka’s face. The boy whipped his head to the side, narrowly avoiding the sharp weapon, but the sword’s blade grazed his cheek nonetheless, leaving a shallow cut which began to bleed slowly. Lazarus smirked. “Heh. First blood’s mine.”

“It’s last blood that counts,” Luka retorted as he leapt forward, intending to keep Lazarus from recovering from his attack. At that, the older man smirked, and almost immediately, Luka realized his mistake when a screeching sound accompanied his attempt to swing his sword around: Lazarus had backed away in a part of the alley that was too narrow to perform large swings or dodge properly in, and the wide arc from Luka’s attack had just caused his Dark Arm to impact against a nearby wall’s stone.

Realizing the danger, Luka immediately backed off, but Lazarus quickly stepped in and violently brought his own longsword down on the boy’s head in a vertical chop aimed at his left shoulder. Luka barely had the time to raise his sword and intercept the other man’s blade, but the vicious slash was still powerful enough to stagger him, causing him to stumble backwards and flail around in an attempt to regain his balance, his sword ending up in his left hand and away from his body. Lazarus grinned nastily, seeing his chance.

“You’re wide open, fool!” the tall man taunted him as he brought his sword around for another downward strike just as Luka’s left knee hit the ground. The young Hero reacted on instinct and reached for Angel Halo, still sheathed at his side, with his free right hand. Drawing it as fast as possible, he brought it up, and just barely managed to intercept Lazarus’s second blow, deflecting the strike before it could cut deep into his chest.

However, the force behind the blow was still considerable, and Luka found himself losing what balance he had left and being painfully thrown on the ground. The boy cursed under his breath, struggling to get back to his knees, and swung the Dark Arm at the taller man, forcing him to take a few steps back and putting some distance between them. Lazarus warily eyed Angel Halo, suspicious.

“What in Ilias’ name is that abominable thing supposed to be…?” he muttered, staring at the deformed sealing sword. “There’s something about it that gives me a bad feeling…”

“Tch… none of your business!” Luka snapped as he sheathed the exotic weapon again and once more gripped the Dark Arm with both hands. He backed away from the alley Lazarus had holed himself up in and frowned as he looked at him. The position the older man was in made it impossible for the boy to capitalize on his strongest point - his mobility - and on top of that, the Ilias Kreuz leader was wielding a longsword and was considerably taller than Luka, which gave him a big reach advantage. Reduced to just thrusting and vertical slashes, Luka didn’t see much chance to overcome the older man’s defenses in a straight fight without being at least able to flank him.

“Hmph… scanning me to look for a weak point to attack again, huh? You were doing that earlier, too,” Lazarus suddenly addressed Luka, causing his attention to focus on the man’s smirking face. Lazarus gestured at him with the tip of his sword. “I have no idea who taught you, but I gotta admit - they did a good job teachin’ you. That was a pretty good save you did back there with that weird, messed up sword-thing at your side. Thought I had you…”

“I’m really not interested in the praise of a lunatic like you, and I don’t plan to lose to a common villain,” Luka muttered as he kept his guard up. He then glared at the other man. “Why’d you blow up a school of all things? Kids have done nothing wrong. And what of the humans in there?”

“Feh… so you’re sayin’ waiting ‘til the kids are adult to kill ‘em is somehow more righteous than just killin’ ‘em right now? Dead’s dead, brat,” the fighter retorted with a sneer. “As for those traitors of the race who were in there… bah, they were all on the other side of the building when I blew it up. If they got lucky, they’re still alive. If not… as I said, traitors. Shouldn’t have been teaching monsters in the first place!”

“Why, you--” the boy Hero angrily began to growl, but before he could continue, shouts were heard from his left, causing him to glance to his side.

“This way! Someone’s fighting this way!” a female voice shouted. Immediately afterwards, the sound of steel boots could be heard as several armored feet clanged against the stone road, running. Another voice, this time male, rose.

“Hurry up! Maybe it’s those bastards who blew up the Mermaid school!” it exclaimed, as the running feet’s pace picked up. The noise diminished slightly, as if someone had stopped running, and another voice rose, a different male tone.

“Ma’am, step back. It could be dangerous here,” it said in a gentle but firm tone.

Luka frowned at the commotion. Guards? Of all the rotten timing--, he thought, before a soft thump and the sound of footsteps caused him to turn back to the alley. Lazarus had disappeared from right before him, and was now lightly jumping from low rooftop to low rooftop, making haste for the city walls. The boy growled, mentally slapping himself. Idiot! Why did I take my eyes off him?!

“Sorry, kid, we’ll play again ‘nother time,” Lazarus called out with a wave of his hand as he hopped from roof to roof. “Gotta be somewhere else, now. Places to see, monsters to kill, all that stuff.”

“Wha-- stop! Lazarus! Come back he-- hrgk?!” Luka began to shout, but before he could finish, a large, scaly red tail wrapped around his neck and tightened its hold, cutting his voice off and dragging him back into an opposite, darker alley. Luka’s body was quickly pulled out of sight. Curious, Lazarus stopped, scanning the alley the younger man had disappeared to. For a brief instant, he saw a glimpse of a gleaming, armored figure - a female, judging from the slim frame and the barely visible facial features - glare at him with murderous eyes. Then the figure turned around and vanished in the darkness of the side alley.

“Huh… was that a woman? Wonder if she’s the one who taught Marcellus’s kid his moves… she looked tough. And that tail I spied around his neck when he was dragged away…” he mused, thinking about what he’d witnessed as he stared at the now vacant dark alley. “Interesting. Wonder what that was all about…”

As he thought to himself, a Natalian guard came into view, sword drawn, followed by two more, similarly battle-ready. The soldiers glanced around, and one of them noticed him. Pointing his weapon at him, he raised a shout, drawing his companions’ attention. Lazarus cursed under his breath.

“Over there!” the guard shouted. “There’s a man… wait, I’ve seen him earlier this morning, loitering around the school!”

“Tch! I hadn’t planned on being seen. That damn kid's a pain in the ass,” the Ilias Kreuz warrior growled as he turned around and fled. "Just like his old man."

“Stop right there, criminal scum!” the guards shouted at his retreating form as they gave pursuit from the streets below. Soon, the sounds of the chase became faint as the pursuit moved towards the gate, and the alleyways fell silent once more.

----

Elsewhere in the back alleys, the Mermaid merchant whom Luka and his companions had met earlier was returning home, worn out and still shaken up by the day’s events. As she approached her home, she heard a small commotion from the left and glanced to her side, curious. Her eyes widened as she spotted the armored woman from earlier, accompanied by a large snake monster who was unceremoniously dragging along the boy who’d been flung through her market stand by the explosion with her tail.

The snake monster’s features seemed familiar, and after a few seconds she pinpointed them - it was the ‘human’ woman that had been in the boy’s company. Another vague memory surfaced upon seeing the snake-woman, but the Mermaid couldn’t pinpoint exactly where, if anywhere, she’d seen her.

As she observed the trio, she noticed the woman in armor - Thermidor, if her memory served - look around, appearing concerned. She paused, thinking; it appeared as if the armored monster was looking for shelter, and while she had no idea why, she found it difficult to believe it was for any unsavory reasons. After a bit of hesitation, she made up her mind and called out to the three figures down the road.

As Thermidor looked for a safe, secluded spot to hide in, just in case the town guards gave pursuit for some reason, she heard a familiar voice call out to her, and looking up the road, spotted the Mermaid whose stand they’d been browsing when the explosion struck. The fish-woman motioned for them to come closer and pointed at the door to the house next to her - her own residence, Thermidor presumed. Thinking fast, the swordswoman decided to trust the new friend they’d made, and motioned for Alice, still firmly holding a struggling Luka in her coils, to follow. The Echidna nodded and quickly slithered in the wake of the running woman.

The trio caught up to the Mermaid, who had already unlocked the front door to her home. Thermidor quickly slipped inside, and Alice followed suit. The Mermaid came in last, locking the door behind her before cautiously peering out of a window, dreading the possibility of seeing guards coming barreling down the street. She’d acted on impulse, but wasn’t too sure she’d done the right thing.

The Mermaid’s thoughts were interrupted by a shuffling sound at her side, and she glanced at Thermidor, who’d walked up to the window as well and was looking outside, as well. She scanned the empty street for a while before nodding to herself, apparently satisfied. Turning to the fish maiden, she gave her a brief bow.

“Thank you for letting us in. I understand it was a risk for you, since we probably looked very suspicious out there,” she told her with a smile. The Mermaid shook her head, a bit anxious.

“I-it’s fine. I don’t think you’d do anything bad. You helped us earlier, after all,” she replied. Pausing a bit, she appeared hesitant, then inhaled deeply and took on a serious expression. “But, if it’s not too much to ask, could you tell me what happened?”

Before Thermidor could answer, Luka finally struggled free from Alice’s coils and landed on the floor with a thump. Straightening up, he glared at her, adjusting his Enrikan shirt.

“What’s the big idea, tying me up with your tail?! And why did you stop me?” he complained. “I could’ve caught up with that bastard. He hadn’t gotten too far ahead of me--”

The rest of Luka’s protest was lost as Thermidor strode up to him, reared back, and punched him in the face with her gauntleted fist, knocking him off his feet and sending him skidding across the floor and against the far wall. Alice gaped, and the Mermaid gasped at the scene, startled by the sudden display of violence. At Luka’s confused, hurt expression, Thermidor replied with a stern glare, clearly angry.

“What in the Abyss do you think you were doing back there?! Did you take leave of your senses?!” she shouted at him, unmindful of the volume of her voice in her anger. “The entire town is on high alert because of that bombing! What do you think the guards would’ve done if they’d come across you standing over a bloodied corpse, or even fighting in the back alleys at all, after that?!”

“But I was just--” Luka attempted to explain as he wiped a small trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, only for Thermidor to cut him off with a chopping motion of her hand.

“Quiet! I know what you were trying to do!” she snapped. She then shook her head again, her angry expression melting in one of half-worry, half-disappointment. “Luka… I understand that what that man did deeply offended you, but you should never take a life purely out of hatred. And, there’s a time and a place for everything. I won’t tell you to never kill at all - sometimes, it’s what needs to be done - but if you absolutely feel that you must slay someone to exact justice for a wrongdoing… At least consider the where and when! There’s no point in ruining your own life over someone like that.”

Thermidor sighed again, and suddenly slumped to her knees. Luka looked at her with alarm, and scrambled up to her, only to be met by a pair of concerned eyes. It looked as if Thermidor would’ve been crying by now, had she been still capable of it.

“Luka… I’m concerned about you. Please, don’t do things like these again,” she pleaded with him, shaking her head. “How can I rest easy when you insist on doing things that make me worry about you?”

“...I’m sorry,” Luka replied quietly, hugging her tightly from his kneeling position. “I won’t do it again.”

Thermidor didn’t answer that, but returned the hug, slightly driving the points of her gauntlets in Luka’s skin in the process. If the boy felt discomfort, he didn’t make it obvious. Off to the side, Alice sighed.

“Well… it seems they’re at least calming down,” she muttered to herself. Turning to the Mermaid, who’d been observing the scene with concern, she nodded at her. “Say, what’s your name? I don’t think we formally introduced ourselves to each other, did we?”

“H-huh? Ah - I’m Mernel,” the Mermaid replied after a moment of hesitation. She then curiously peered at Alice. “Um, have we met somewhere? I feel like I should know you…”

“Don’t worry about it, I get that a lot,” Alice waved her hand dismissively. “My name is Alice, and the two over there are Thermidor and Luka, although you probably already knew that. It’s not like we’re keeping our names secret or anything…” Alice chuckled, then looked at Mernel again. “Anyway, Mernel… is there an inn around here where we could get a room and calm down a bit? I don’t think your house is quite big enough for four people, if you'll pardon me for saying so.”

“Ahhh… right, it’s only two rooms, after all,” Mernel admitted, looking around in embarrassment. Her gaze then returned to the Echidna. “Well, there are two inns in town, but one was right next to the school and, you know…”

“Yeah, that’s probably not an option with the current situation,” Alice agreed. “What about the other?”

“It’s near the old bathhouse, on the western side of town,” the Mermaid replied, vaguely pointing to her right. “You should spot it right away. With a name like ‘The Strange Grey Cat’, and that sign outside, there’s no way you’ll miss it.”

“...’Strange Grey Cat’...? What?” Luka inquired, having rose to his feet along with Thermidor. “What kind of name for an inn is that?”

“You’ll see soon enough,” Mernel promised with an impish smile. “And while you’re at it, ask the owner about the story behind the name. It’s a good one to hear at least once.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask…” Luka muttered, rolling his eyes. Alice snickered.

“Am I the only one who thinks an inn named after a cat in a city full of fish-people is… hilarious?” she got out in between giggling fits. Luka shot her an exasperated look.

“Come on, now, what are the chances of the inn’s name and that being related?” he asked plaintively. He then noticed Mernel give him a strange, somewhat amused look, and gave her a flat stare. “... you’re kidding me, right? They can’t be related.”

“Just ask for the story,” the Mermaid replied, struggling to retain her composure. Alice giggled again.

“Now I’m curious, too. Come on, Luka, Thermidor. Let’s go see this mysterious inn,” she urged them. “And then maybe we can have some good food, get a good story, and relax after all this stress.”

“You make things sound so simple, Alice,” the boy Hero muttered as he shook his head, taken aback by his serpentine companion’s cheerful demeanor. “But fine, let’s go. If nothing else, it’d be nice to have a place to kick back, rest and… talk,” he added, glancing at Thermidor. The swordswoman nodded, a neutral expression on her face.

“Yes, we should get ourselves a room,” she agreed. “It’s less suspicious than vanishing in thin air right after a terrorist attack, anyway.” Turning towards Mernel, she nodded at the Mermaid. “Thank you again for trusting us in spite of appearances. I won’t forget this kindness.”

“Uh, you’re welcome. You did help save the wounded, after all,” the fish-maiden replied. She then got another impish look on her face. “But if you’re so grateful, then buy something from me! Especially now that my stand has been wrecked! Come on…”

“Fine, fine, we’ll drop by your market stall tomorrow and buy something,” Luka agreed. He then sheepishly scratched his head. “Sorry about totaling your stand, by the way…”

“What’re you apologizing for?” the Mermaid asked as she unlocked the door for the trio. “You aren’t the one who asked to be blasted through my stuff. I’m still amazed you didn’t die.”

“I’m made of stern stuff, I guess,” Luka replied, half-jokingly.

“Really, now,” Mernel replied, a calculating look appearing in her eyes. “Then, maybe I should ask you to pay me in favors. An all-nighter should be enough--”

“Ah, uh - sorry, we have to go!” was Luka’s hasty reply as he left the house, just a little too quickly. Mernel chuckled as she watched the boy scramble away.

“Heh… that was fun,” she murmured. Looking at Thermidor and Alice, she nodded at the two monsters. “Have a good evening, such as it may be after a day like this, and may the Abyss Queen protect all of you.”

“Likewise,” Thermidor replied as she left. Alice returned a nod of her own and slithered out, following her companions. The Mermaid slowly closed the door behind her unexpected guests, then turned around and laid against the door, breathing deeply.

“Could that have been the Monster Lord…? No, I must be imagining things,” she murmured, wondering about Alice. Shaking her head, she sighed. “Ah, no point making wild guesses about them. I should go get some sleep… have to wake up early to repair my stand tomorrow. What a day.”

----

“This… must be it, right?” Luka muttered as he stood outside a large, three-stories building, nursing his aching cheek from the earlier punch from Thermidor while looking incredulously at the inn’s sign.

“A cat with a fish tail and no rear legs…?” Alice commented, looking amused as she stared at the sign. Indeed, it represented a large grey cat, with what appeared to be a mischievous smirk, who had a fish tail in place of its rear legs. For whatever reason, the cat was quietly nibbling on its own fish tail. All in all, it was a pretty surreal sign. Alice chuckled. “Now that’s a novelty. A ‘catfish’?”

“That was a horrible pun, and you should feel bad for having made it,” Luka flatly replied. The Echidna, now back in her human disguise, chuckled. Turning back to the inn’s sign, Luka stared a bit longer, then shook his head, still incredulous. “Well, that’s a way to draw customer attention, for sure,” he commented as he headed for the building’s entrance, followed by his companions.

As Luka entered the inn, he couldn’t help but look around, impressed. While the place was hardly as luxurious as the Sutherland Inn in Iliasburg, it was clean and well-kept, with nice furniture and good lighting. He spotted a bored-looking man sitting at the counter, apparently playing heads or tails with a silver coin. The man spotted them at that time, and his expression became more lively as he smiled pleasantly at the newcomers.

“Ah, welcome, welcome!” He greeted them. “This is the ‘Strange Grey Cat Inn’, and I am the owner, Gaius Caro. May I interest you in one of our fine establishment’s rooms?”

“Ah, yes… what rooms do you have available? If possible, we’d like a room for three…” Luka replied, examining the man. He was a pudgy fellow, and gave off a bit of a weaselly vibe, but looked genuinely friendly overall, and didn’t seem like the type who’d rip newcomers off - or, at least, not too badly.

“Ah - I’m sorry, but there are no triple rooms available in this inn. There are only doubles and singles,” the man shook his head apologetically before grabbing the ledger and flipping through it. “Let me see… yes, there are adjacent rooms available, if you like. We have a single-double combination, interconnected through internal doors. Unfortunately, we’re out of singles - earlier, customers from the other inn came here due to, you know--”

“Yes, that attack. We were there, too. Luka was hurt during it, even if he doesn’t look like it, and needs some rest,” Thermidor explained. Gaius Caro peered at the obvious bruise on Luka’s face and nodded understandingly.

“Horrible thing, that. I do want more business, but not this way,” he commented as he fetched two keys from the wall behind him. “And there’s this gloomy atmosphere at the moment… as you saw earlier, I can’t even be happy about the unexpected income. I slashed prices for everyone - least I can do after this. Can’t drop them to zero - this place does cost me a pretty penny - but I’m only asking for a pittance.” Handing the keys to the trio, he held out his hand. “Speaking of which, advance payment only. Three silver, please.”

“Three-- are you serious?!” Luka exclaimed. “Three silver barely buy a dinner at any proper inn. What’s the usual rate, anyway?”

“As I said, I’m only asking for a pittance today, in light of what happened,” Gaius nodded. “Normally, admission price is ten times higher - one gold per person, per day, food not included. But seeing how most people here are severely traumatized, I thought I had to think less about my wallet and more about my fellow human beings’ needs.”

“And I don’t suppose it has anything to do with it being good publicity for you, being this generous in a time of need?” Alice shrewdly observed as Luka handed the silver to the innkeeper. The portly man scratched his balding head sheepishly.

“Ahahahaha… you saw through me, eh, lady? Yeah, I’ll admit, this makes for good publicity,” he admitted. He then grew serious. “But I mean it when I say I feel for the people who were caught up in this mess. By some miracle, nobody in the school died, although two humans were severely injured. But the children were traumatized, and the whole town is on edge now. Them no-good Ilias Kreuz goons… someone needs to stop ‘em someday.” Luka stiffened at those words, and Thermidor frowned, noticing his sudden tension.

“I wasn’t implying you were solely doing this out of self interest, just that it had a part in it,” Alice clarified. She then smiled at the man. “But I’m impressed. You’re a good human.”

“Ahahahaha… well, it’s a little odd to be called a good ‘human’, but thanks, lady,” Gaius chuckled, blushing a bit. He then noticed the Echidna peering at a miniature of the inn’s cat mascot, and his smile became a knowing smirk. “Oh-ho… interested in the legend of the Strange Grey Cat?”

“Legend? I did hear there’s a story behind this inn’s sign, but I didn’t know it was a legend. Do tell,” Alice replied, her interest piqued. The innkeeper smiled in satisfaction: he clearly enjoyed telling the story he was about to relate.

“Well, it all happened, oh… a hundred years ago? This inn was just a small tavern at the time, and its owner, my own ancestor Lucius Caro, owned a small grey cat,” the innkeeper began. “It was an odd one, always looking like it was smiling in a mysterious, humanlike way… and it liked Mermaids.”

“Well, cats do like fish…” Luka commented. Gaius shook his head, smirking.

“No - this cat really liked Mermaids,” he insisted. “He’d go up to them all day, get them to pet him, and nibble on their tails all the time. Sometimes he’d bite hard enough to hurt, but most of the time it was just play-biting, and the Mermaids didn’t mind - they liked the cat, in fact.”

“Huh… I see. Still doesn’t sound like an odd story to me,” Luka said. The innkeeper chuckled, his face twisting in a sinister smile.

“Oooh, but what would you say if I told you that the cat’s ghost still haunts this town?” he chortled, enjoying the trio’s incredulous stares. “Because that’s absolutely what it does. It mysteriously disappeared one day, and for nearly ten years no one saw it… then, all of a sudden, reports began to come in all day of a grey cat with glowing eyes constantly napping on rooftops, strolling about balconies, and even occasionally poking in the bathhouse next door, poised to pounce. It was all fleeting sightings, but they all agreed on one thing: the cat had a weird, almost human-like smile on its face.”

“Oh, come on. A haunted house story? That’s just--” Luka began, then froze as he saw Alice had become slightly pale and very rigid. Oh, right, she’s afraid of ghosts… he remembered belatedly.

“T-t-that cat… it d-doesn’t appear in the inn… right?” Alice stuttered, attempting to remain as dignified as possible while being obviously terrified. “M-maybe we should go elsewhere…”

“Come now, young lady, I’m just messing with you,” Gaius reassured her. “I’ve been running this inn for three decades now, and not once did I see or hear a cat in the vicinity. It’s just a scary ghost story that folks like to spread. Besides… even if it was true, it’s a ghost cat. What could it possibly do to you?”

“T-that’s true… right, it’s just a cat,” Alice agreed, relaxing visibly after a few moments. “At most it’d want me to feed it fish. Or ghost fish, whichever it is.” She laughed lightly. “Silly of me to worry. It’s not like this is a haunted cave or anything…”

“Even if it was actually still there, I doubt it’d pay you any attention,” Gaius commented. “It was enamored with Mermaids, but more or less ignored humans like they didn’t even exist. Now, if you had a plump, juicy fish tail…”

“I’ll pass on that. I’m just fine with what I have,” Alice commented with a wave of her hand. Luka couldn’t help but chuckle at the hidden joke. The Echidna turned around and nodded at her companions. “Come on, I’ve heard enough of spooky cat stories. Let’s go see our rooms.”

“Third floor, end of the corridor,” Gaius informed them. “Would you like room service? It’s a bit late, but dinner’s still available.”

“Yes, please. Do you have any local specialties?” Alice asked, her eyes lighting up at the mention of food. The innkeeper nodded.

“Yes. We have seafood specialties, primarily, but if you like, there’s also some dishes from San Irias, to the north--”

“I’ll pass on those. I plan to visit San Irias, as well,” Alice decided. “The seafood will do nicely. I hope it’ll be ready soon.”

“Understood, lady,” Gaius replied with a bow as Alice turned around and headed for the stairs. He then peered at Luka and Thermidor. “And you…?”

“Same as her for me, too,” Luka replied. Thermidor waved a hand dismissively.

“No food for me,” she told the pudgy man. “I’ll be fine as it is.”

“Very well. Room service will be there soon. Enjoy your stay,” Gaius bowed again as Luka and Thermidor also left, following Alice up the stairs. He then turned around and headed for the kitchens, whistling as he juggled the coins he’d received from Luka.

----

“This seafood is very good,” Alice commented with a pleased smile, before taking another mussel and happily slurping it up. Seated beside her, Luka nodded.

“It really is,” he agreed, eyeing his own mussel before bringing it to his lips. “I thought these things looked too weird to be edible at first, but I was wrong. They’re really good.”

“Especially when dipped in lemon sauce,” Alice remarked as she reached for another mussel and scooped it up. “I knew seafood could be tasty, but I didn’t think such a simple recipe could be so good.”

“Ah, that’s right. Hellgondo is too far north for you to be able to have mussel breeding grounds, right? The water would be too cold,” Thermidor commented. She then paused, an odd shadow crossing her face, and shook her head. “Wait, no... Hellgondo has no outlets on the sea. You couldn’t farm them regardless. I think…”

“Yes, Hellgondo is an enclosed space,” Alice nodded before slurping up the next mussel and making an appreciative noise. “Tasty! Anyway, I wish it was otherwise, just so I could have a few of these whenever I want.”

“Alice, aren’t you eating a little too many…?” Luka asked with concern, eyeing the rather sizable pile of mussel shells on Alice’s plate. There were so many of them the plate was almost invisible. The Echidna, who had reverted to her monster form earlier, scoffed.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’m barely working up an appetite,” she chided him, as she reached for more mussels. She then paused, eyeing the rest of the food on the table, and briefly appeared to debate before changing her target and snatching up a piece of fish fillet. Pushing her plate aside, she seized an empty one and deposited the fish on it. She sniffed the fish appreciatively.

“Hm, this smells good. I wonder what it is?” she mused, curious. Thermidor glanced at the plate and shrugged.

“I think the room service mentioned it was swordfish filet. I hear it’s quite expensive, by the way. It’s lucky that there’s currently a discount on this hotel’s services, or it could be a pretty heavy hit on our wallets,” she replied. She then began pondering. “Hm, the mermaids must have caught them. Swordfish are rather dangerous creatures for humans to hunt, but I’d imagine the mermaids would have a much easier time catching them than land-dwellers. A boat is a bit of a static target. Mermaids, not so much. And their water magic helps.”

“I’m more surprised they have fish at all, given the mess Alma was making of things down south,” Luka commented. Thermidor nodded.

“Yes, all those unnatural storms must have caused a lot of trouble for the fish trade in general,” she agreed. “Tropical currents being redirected, fish banks being displaced, sudden waterspouts… Can’t imagine it was pleasant for the humans here, or the mermaids for that matter.”

“Hmm. I’ll have to rebuke Alma when I see her next time,” Alice commented with a frown as she cut a piece of fillet and prepared to eat it. At Luka’s surprised look, she scoffed. “What? I’m not going to condone what she did. I explicitly ordered that monsters were not to attack humans unless in self defense. Calling what she did a preemptive defense is an excuse only an idiot would fall for, and I’d like to think I’m smarter than that. I only let her fight you because you’re a Hero.” She then gave him a thin smile. “Besides, I had a feeling that you’d come out of it just fine.”

“You had a feeling? That’s a pretty lame excuse, too,” Luka replied with a wry smile of his own. He then shook his head. “Still, I appreciate the compliment. But to be fair, I only won on a technicality.”

“Alma is the one who set the rules,” Alice dismissed Luka’s statement with a handwave. “Her loss is entirely her fault for underestimating you so badly. It’ll serve as a lesson for her, too.” She then grew serious. “With that said, don’t expect her to underestimate you again. You’re going to want to step up your training… Alma is a very prideful person, and she’s going to want to return the favor. Not to mention you’re just the type of cute young boy she likes…”

“Yeah, my current best won’t cut it next time. Still, I’m not sure all the praise I get is deserved,” Luka mused as he looked at a piece of swordfish fillet stuck to his fork without really seeing it. “Even when I faced Granberia, Thermidor did most of the job, I was just in the right place at the right moment. Yet, everyone was praising me instead of her…”

“Believe it or not, I can understand why. Thermidor actually looks like she can fight,” Alice told him as she waved her own food-covered fork at him. “You… no offense, but you look like you’re just some cute kid. Someone like you landing a hit on a Heavenly Knight is going to make much more of an impression than someone like her putting up a fight. It’s a matter of looks.”

“Even aside from looks, seizing an opportunity when it presents itself is also the mark of a good warrior,” Thermidor added. “The fact you were able to take advantage of such a fleeting chance means you’re a lot better than you yourself think.”

“Hmm… thank you,” Luka nodded. He then frowned, looking at his now-empty plate. “Still, I let Lazarus play me like a fiddle. He was in total control of our fight from start to finish, and he managed to make me act recklessly, too. I could’ve died from that last attack of his…”

“I saw that from afar. You did well defending yourself from his attack, given the position you were in,” Thermidor commented. “Lesser warriors would have died or been seriously wounded. Still, the fact you let yourself get lured in such a position…”

As Thermidor began to lecture Luka on his mistakes, Alice tuned the two of them out, concentrating on the delicious food before her. Licking her lips, she brought a piece of fillet to her mouth… and paused, blinking in confusion as she heard what sounded like a cat’s mewing over the sounds of the conversation next to her. Confused, she looked around, then peered out of the window, but saw nothing resembling a cat. She shrugged: hunger was probably giving her auditory hallucinations. Dismissing the sound as her imagination, she brought the fillet of fish back up to her lips.

“Meeeeeeooooowwww….”

Alice froze, stiffening, as the noise returned. This time, she was sure she’d heard it: it was definitely a cat mewing. And close by, too. The Echidna began to sweat, remembering the innkeeper’s story. Was the ghost cat a real thing? Was it looking at her from somewhere, stealthily waiting for the moment it could pounce on her? Shaking slightly, Alice set down the fork with the food, and slowly turned towards Luka and Thermidor, who were still arguing.

“Uh… Luka? Thermidor?” she began in a low tone, a hint of trembling in her voice. The two, who had been talking about swordplay and tactics and mostly ignoring the food, blinked and turned towards her. Luka peered at Alice curiously.

“Yes…? Hm? Alice, are you alright?” he asked, frowning. “You suddenly look very pale… did you eat too much fish?”

“C-cat…” Alice answered after a short pause. “Can’t you hear the c-cat?”

“Cat…? What are you talking about?” the boy Hero asked, genuinely confused. Alice violently shook her head, causing her hair to whip around.

“The cat that mewed j-just now!” she explained with urgency. “The noise came from outside, I’m sure of it! Do you think it’s the g-ghost cat the innkeeper was talking about?”

“What? Come on, Alice,” Luka said with an amused smile. “There’s no way that story is true. Besides, we’re on the third floor and there are no--”

“Meeeeeoooooowwwwww…” came the sound of the cat’s voice. All heads turned towards the window leading to the balcony outside. The sound had unmistakably come from there.

“T-there! It’s that noise again!” Alice exclaimed, her agitation becoming apparent. She looked at her companions expectantly. “You heard it too, right? I’m not imagining things, right?”

“What the hell…? I thought this building had no ledges,” Luka muttered, getting up with an alarmed look on his face. “And it’s the tallest one around, it should be impossible to just jump to its roof. Everything else’s at least one floor shorter.”

“You think that ghost cat thing is true, then?” Thermidor frowned as she got up herself. “But I can’t feel the presence of other undead… although I can’t feel animals in general, only humans and monsters...”

The conversation was interrupted by the pitter-patter of padded feet coming from outside the window. It definitely sounded like a cat’s footfalls, although they were unusually loud for a feline. His eyes narrowing, Luka promptly moved towards the window, grabbing Angel Halo along the way. Alice immediately moved directly behind him, clutching at his left arm as she stared at the balcony window with apprehension. Luka glanced at her, noting that she appeared genuinely frightened for the first time since he’d met her, and turned back to the window, absently pushing the snake monster behind him with the arm she was holding on to as he pointed Angel Halo before him.

Besides them, Thermidor took note of the movement and smiled in spite of herself. Always ready to protect, even when no protection is needed, she thought fondly. Never change, Luka. Then, the fencer’s attention was drawn away from Luka’s actions by the mewing sound, which this time sounded closer. Outside, the darkness of the balcony was replaced by a faint glow coming from the right. Luka’s eyes narrowed as he gripped Angel Halo more firmly, and Thermidor drew her own sword. She wasn’t sure what a ghost cat would be like, but undead in general could be unpleasant, and one was never too careful with them.

As the trio tensely stared at the window, the source of the glow came into view: it was a grey-colored cat, all right… a cat whose eyes were a luminescent aqua green. The glow was caused by its lit eyes, which projected a vaguely spectral light around it. Luka blinked, staring at the feline; aside from the unusual glowing eyes, it looked like a perfectly normal, if a bit pudgy, cat. Disentangling his arm from Alice, who was still hiding behind him, he cautiously advanced towards the window, his eyes never leaving the cat. For all he knew, it could turn into a tiger and try to eat him any minute, and he preferred to err on the side of caution.

As he got close, the feline sat down and raised a paw, scratching lightly on the window panel. Luka blinked again. The cat seemed solid enough and definitely not ghostly to him. As he examined it, he noticed it sniff near the window’s bottom, where a small piece of panel seemed to have broken off. He paused as it finally dawned on him: the room they were in must have been smelling of fish, and the cat had to have been attracted by it. It was no ghost cat: merely a common, albeit oddly sparkly-eyed and very hungry, housecat.

Exhaling loudly, Luka relaxed as he straightened up and approached the window. Peering outside, his suspicions were confirmed: the front of the hotel had no ledges, but its sides did, and that must have been how the cat got to their room. Reaching out, he opened the window, causing Alice to gasp, and let the cat in. The feline quickly slipped in and started rubbing against the boy’s leg, purring in gratitude. Luka looked back at his companions.

“False alarm. This is just a cat, glowing eyes or no,” he told them, causing Alice to deflate in relief. The Echidna quickly composed herself again, trying to assume a dignified air as she disdainfully looked at the cat.

“O-of course I knew that! After all, who would believe a ghost story?” she protested, just a little too vehemently. “I was just… uh… testing you, that’s all!”

Before Luka could answer, the cat moved away from him and approached Alice. The Echidna flinched, still unsure whether the feline was normal or not, then blinked as the cat began to rub against her tail, purring loudly. Thermidor chuckled.

“It seems he likes tails. Just as the owner predicted,” she commented, amused. Alice shot her an annoyed look.

“I do not have a fish tail, in case you failed to notice,” she testily pointed out. She then yelped and glared at the cat, who had pounced on her tail’s tip and was playfully pawing and nibbling at it. She opened her mouth to angrily protest, then paused, a confused expression crossing her face. She turned towards Thermidor, looking puzzled. “Say… Thermidor? Doesn’t this cat feel… odd to you?”

“Hm? Odd how? I don’t--” Thermidor began as she examined the cat, before abruptly stopping as surprise flashed in her eyes. Looking up at Alice, she returned the Monster Lord’s confused stare. “This is strange… I detect a faint trace of monster power in it. How can this be?” she muttered. Turning back to the cat, she kept examining it as it played with Alice’s tail, until the cat bit too deeply and made Alice yelp again as it drew blood. Alice pulled her tail away, looking irritated, and the cat mewed in protest. As Thermidor observed the scene, she remembered something the innkeeper had said, and understanding dawned in her mind.

“The Mermaids… it has to have been them!” the fencer stated, suddenly piecing the puzzle together. At Alice and Luka’s questioning looks, she nodded towards the cat. “The innkeeper… he was partly right. There really is a cat haunting Port Natalia. It just isn’t dead. It’s simply very, very, very old.”

“Are you serious, Thermidor? That’d mean this cat is more than a hundred years old…” Luka pointed out dubiously. Thermidor nodded.

“Remember what else the innkeeper said? The cat liked to nibble on Mermaid tails. Sometimes hard enough to draw blood,” she pointed out. At Luka’s blank stare, she elaborated. “Mermaid blood has healing and life-extending properties. Mermaids in general do - I’ve heard some Mermaids can conserve a human lover’s semen for decades, even centuries, in a vital state within their bodies, before using it to impregnate themselves. Something as trivial as extending a cat’s lifespan is accomplished easily enough by a few drops of blood every day.”

“That… does make some sense,” Alice slowly nodded as she thought about Thermidor’s explanation, glancing at the cat thoughtfully. The feline chose that moment to cock its head and make an odd expression - almost as if it were smiling. Alice blinked. “Is… is it grinning?” she asked in surprise. Luka peered at the cat as well, and snapped his fingers, recalling the legend.

“The innkeeper did say the cat had a strange, almost human-like smile,” he pointed out, nodding at the feline. “And it has glowing eyes… I assume because of the monster power within it. I think Thermidor’s right… we have an immortal cat here.”

“Not quite immortal,” Thermidor corrected him, while Alice began to absentmindedly pet the cat on its head, causing his purring to start anew. “Even Mermaid blood has limits. But from the cat’s size, and assuming it’s been ingesting some drops every day… I’d say by now it can comfortably outlive both of you combined. Its extended lifespan probably clocks in at centuries now, maybe even a full millennia.”

Before Alice or Luka could comment on Thermidor’s words, there was a knock at the door. Alice resumed her human disguise so quickly Luka missed it entirely, and nonchalantly kept playing with the cat, which had been startled by the sudden disappearance of her tail and was now searching for it, curious about the vanishing extremity. Thermidor exchanged a brief glance with Luka, then turned towards the door.

“Who goes there?” she inquired. From outside, Gaius Caro’s voice responded.

“It’s me, Gaius the innkeeper,” the man replied through the closed door. “Terribly sorry to disturb you, but there’s a Mermaid here who insists her pet snuck into your room. I tried to dissuade her, but--”

“Actually, she’s probably right,” Thermidor interrupted him. “And so were you. Come in.”

“Huh? All right…” the puzzled innkeeper replied before opening the door and walking in. Behind him, a young, lithe blue-scaled Mermaid girl with aqua green hair and eyes followed, looking around the room. Upon seeing the grey cat playing with Alice’s fingers in her lap, she brightened.

“Smiley Cat! You’re here!” she exclaimed with delight as she approached it. Looking up, the cat seemingly recognized her and ‘smiled’ again, hopping off Alice’s lap and strolling over to the fish-girl, who picked it up and hugged it, relieved. “Naughty cat, sneaking into people’s rooms to steal their fish…”

“Uh, we kind of let him in,” Luka corrected her sheepishly. Seeing her look at him questioningly, he explained. “We heard meowing outside our window, and when we investigated, there he was. We let him inside and have been talking about him since.” Shaking his head, the young man looked at the cat in the pretty Mermaid girl’s arms. “That’s an adventurous cat, there. I didn’t think it was possible to climb this high.”

“He’s been lounging around this inn for a hundred years, of course he’d know a way to get this high,” Alice pointed out. Gaius Caro and the Mermaid both froze at those words, though Caro was surprised and the Mermaid appeared worried. Waving at the cat, the disguised Echidna explained to the innkeeper. “That ghost story of yours? Almost right, except no ghost. Remember when you said the cat liked nibbling on Mermaid tails? Well, when he drew blood, he probably also ingested it… and Mermaid blood, as you may know, has healing qualities.”

“Oh… oh!” Caro exclaimed as it dawned on him. “Of course, that explains everything! Then… this is my ancestor’s cat? Wow… he outlived king and castle, so to speak.” Nodding to the girl, he smiled at her. “And I assume you Mermaids took him in and cared for him all this time? That’s kind of you. You’re welcome to visit anytime. And, uh, maybe bring him along? After all, the inn is kind of named after him…”

“Then you’d best change the inn’s name to Smiley Cat Inn,” Luka chuckled. “After all, that’s what the Mermaids seem to be calling him.”

“Um… you aren’t mad that we kept your family cat?” the Mermaid hesitantly asked. The innkeeper shook his head.
“Nah, why would I? He’s only still alive because of you ladies, after all. He’s better off with you - he always liked pretty Mermaids better than boring old humans, anyway,” he dismissed her concern with a handwave. He then chuckled nervously. “Er, but I do mean it when I say you’re welcome to bring him here while visiting…”

“I don’t suppose having The Immortal Cat on display being the biggest attraction in town has anything to do with it?” Alice sarcastically suggested. Caro sweated a bit, embarrassed.

“Ahahaha. Er… am I that transparent, lady?” He laughed nervously, reaching for a handkerchief and dabbing at his sweat. Deflating slightly, he sighed. “Okay, I admit it. Yes, he’d be amazing publicity. I’d even be willing to rename the inn after him. So, uh…”

“Well… I’ll have to ask the others, but if they say yes, I don’t mind,” the Mermaid girl replied with a small, hesitant smile. Caro beamed, showing all his teeth as he bowed repeatedly to the fish-girl.

“Excellent! Excellent! Of course, any of you who wish it can stay free of charge anytime - cat included!” he exclaimed as he gently took her by the arm and led her towards the door. “It’s the least I can do, after all. Come, let me escort you out, pretty lady. And be sure to ask the other Mermaids about it! I’m counting on you.”

“Um… okay?” the slightly stunned Mermaid meekly followed him. Stopping at the door, she looked back one last time and smiled at Luka and his companions. “Thanks for taking care of Smiley Cat!” she said, waving at them, before closing the door behind her.

“Well… that was different,” Luka commented after a moment of silence, chuckling. “And that poor cat didn’t even get the fish it climbed up our window for! I hope that girl feeds him later.”

“Cats are good at making it known when they’re hungry. He’ll be fine,” Thermidor waved dismissively. “And they aren’t dogs, at any rate. They can take care of themselves to an extent - if nothing else, enough to not starve.”

“Hmm. If you say so…” the young Hero commented, cocking his head. “You seem to know a lot about cats, Thermidor. Did you have one before?”

“No, but a guard under my command in Sabasa did,” she replied, shaking her head as she sat down again. “He wouldn’t stop talking about his cat. He taught me - more or less against my will, I might add - a bit about cat behavior.”

“I see…” Luka trailed off. There was silence in the room for a while, the arguments for chatter seemingly exhausted. Finally, Alice, who had returned to her snake form, looked up, giving Luka a sharp glance.

“Say… this is the first time you actually tried to kill someone,” she asked Luka, causing him to flinch in discomfort. “Just who was that man to you, that you hate him so much?”

“...I’d rather not talk about it, to be honest.” Luka replied slowly after a long pause. Both Alice and Thermidor frowned at that, and the young man realized there was no avoiding the subject, no matter how unpleasant. Sighing, he sat down at the table again, hands set before him as he collected his thoughts. Alice also sat back down, waiting. After a few more moments of silence, he sighed deeply, looked up at his companions, and began to talk.

“That man’s name is Nero Lazarus,” he explained in a low voice. “He was a Church fighter, a Heavy Knight, specifically, and was an acquaintance of both Mother and her husband - my father,” he added, a hint of distaste in his voice as he pronounced the word ‘father’. “They worked together on a mission to kill the Monster Lord when I was… five? Six? Somewhere around that age. They failed, naturally - didn’t even make it to Hellgondo before monsters crushed their team and forced them to withdraw in shame.” The young Hero sighed at the unpleasant memories. “After that, they came back and… changed. Both Lazarus and my father developed an irrational hatred for monsters, and my father grew more and more distant and uncaring towards Mother, often leaving for weeks and even months on end… and after a while, they founded Ilias Kreuz, the monster-hating terrorist organization. You know the rest.”

“I see… I had imagined that man was Ilias Kreuz. But its founder? That, I didn’t expect,” Thermidor murmured, appearing lost in thought. “And he was a Church fighter… He must have been a skilled one, then. His movements weren’t casual, and he behaved like someone used to taking on beings far stronger than he is. Did he really fail so easily? Someone with his skill… I’d imagine that with a good team, he’d have made it at least to Hellgondo.”

“That was what my father himself told Mother, anyway,” Luka shrugged. Shaking his head, he continued in a bitter tone. “I’ll never understand what my father was thinking. Attempting to kill the Monster Lord? All Marcellus and Lazarus attained was to get those two friends of theirs - Karen and… Marlon? Merlin? Something like--”

“W-wait… those names…” Alice suddenly interrupted him, looking very pale as her eyes widened. “Did you just say… Marcellus? And Karen? And… that man was Lazarus?”

“Eh? W-well, yes… why do you ask?” Luka asked, confused. Alice became even paler as she stared at him, aghast.

“T-that travel of theirs… when did you say it happened?” Alice continued, a hint of tremor now creeping in her voice. Luka blinked again, confused and a bit alarmed by her behavior.

“Uh… about… it will be eleven years ago this year, I think?” he muttered. Frowning, he stared at her. “Alice, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen Death itself.”

“I-it was them,” the snake monster replied in a low voice, her face filled with shock. “They’re the ones who killed my mother.”

“...Wait, what did you just say?” Luka replied after a few moments, Alice’s words not fully sinking in at first. Realizing the enormity of what she was implying, he paled as well. “What do you mean, ‘the ones who killed your mother’? Surely you don’t mean…”

“Those names, I’ll never forget them as long as I live. How could I?” Alice murmured before looking up and straight into Luka’s eyes. “Luka… that man, he lied to you and your mother. They didn’t fail. They succeeded. They made it all the way to Hellgondo, and… killed the Monster Lord. Alicefeeze Fateburn the 15th, my mother…”

“This… this is a joke, right? Please, tell me it’s a joke...” Luka managed to croak out, a stiff, humorless smile stretching his lips. There was no smile in his eyes, however - only something akin to desperation as he questioned her, hoping that she’d burst out laughing and reveal her words as a sick joke. His hopes were instantly dashed when the Echidna slowly shook her head. He slumped, aghast. “I… my father killed your mother? No…”

Opposite him, Alice bit her lip, looking uncharacteristically somber as she seemed to debate something internally. Finally, she looked up, apparently having reached a decision, and addressed Luka.

“There’s… more to the story than just that. Listen to me carefully. I’d rather only tell this once, because…” she flinched slightly as she paused, then resumed. “...because it’s very painful for me to remember my own shame.”

“Your.. own?” Luka asked, looking up in confusion. Alice just shook her head.

“Just be quiet and listen,” she commanded, her lips thinning in a frown. “I normally would never tell any of this to anyone, but it seems our own pasts are interconnected, and if that’s true, then you need to know. Because I suspect… I may be the one responsible for your father’s change.”

“You…?” Luka asked, looking even more confused. Alice ignored his question and inhaled deeply, before she began narrating.

“It happened a little over ten years ago. Year… 1373 by your human calendar, I think,” Alice began, looking at him for confirmation of the date. At Luka’s slow nod, she exhaled deeply. “I see, so the dates coincide. Then… let me continue.” Taking one more deep breath, she kept talking.

“There had been word of a group of very skilled warriors from the Church of Ilias having reached Hellgondo to face and defeat the Monster Lord in the Goddess’s name. They allegedly weren’t much individually, but were a devastating force when taken together, able to support and assist each other like no other team of Church warriors had. It wasn’t long before their presence at the castle’s gates became known, their amazing teamwork having enabled them to defeat even monsters capable of routing entire armies.” She paused for a moment, giving Luka a thoughtful look. “They were a lot like you. No one would have bet a single copper coin on their chances based on their looks, yet they made it so far.” Shaking her head she continued her story.

“I was twelve at the time. When the Hero Marcellus and his companions approached, my mother decided to face them alone. I protested, wanting to help her, but she denied my request and locked me up in the castle’s dungeon to keep me from interfering.” Alice lowered her head, a low sound escaping her lips as she squeezed her eyes shut. “If only I’d obeyed and stayed put, none of this might have happened…”

“...what happened then?” Luka spoke up for the first time since the beginning of her story. Alice looked up, giving him a humorless smile.

“I ruined everything, that’s what happened,” she snapped, self-loathing suddenly evident in her voice. Shaking her head, she looked down. “My mother had intended to die from the very beginning. She never wanted to actually fight your father and his team. Her intention was to offer her death as a sacrifice of good will, along with a message - that the late Monster Lord desired nothing but peace, and gladly offered her life so that dream could be fulfilled.” She looked up, smiling thinly. “Who would have thought that, eh? That the Monster Lord herself was tired of fighting, and just wanted peace? No faithful of Ilias would believe that for a moment.” Her smile vanished. “Except, your father did. He and his companions believed my mother’s message. They were prepared to return to the human lands and spread her message of peace and coexistence, come what may.” She looked down again, her hands slowly clenching into fists, and Luka heard the sound of teeth grinding.

“And then I ruined it all,” the snake monster stated flatly. “Rather than stay put and trust my mother, I broke out of the cell - I was much stronger than she thought, and it was insufficient to hold me in. I started looking for her… and came upon her lifeless body, and your father’s team standing over her.”

“...ah!” Luka gasped, paling again at the words. He had no trouble imagining the scene, and it cut deeply - into a pain he was all too familiar with. And he had no trouble imagining Alice’s state of mind at the time, either. How could he? He was familiar with it, after all. Hatred…

“I lost all semblance of control,” Alice finally continued, as if reading his mind. “I gathered every ounce of power I had and lashed out at them with it. They weren’t expecting it - why would they? The late Monster Lord had just convinced them of the sincerity of her feelings. They didn’t even have the chance to defend themselves.” She sighed, looking up. “And just like that, the dream for which my mother had died... It was all gone, all for nothing. I destroyed it myself.” She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth again.

“The mage and the woman died instantly under the force of my attack, and your father and that man, Lazarus, were severely wounded. At first they were in shock from my attack, but when they saw that woman - Karen - fall, they snapped out of it,” she murmured slowly. Once more, she looked up at him. “That was when they both screamed her name. The way they called out to her…” she hesitated for a moment, looking uncertain, then continued. “They sounded as if their very souls had been torn out. At the time I didn’t care, but looking back on it… I think they both were in love with that woman. And when she died, whatever good will they may have felt towards monsters died with her.”

“Unbelievable,” Thermidor murmured, having trouble believing her ears. Who would have imagined Luka, the boy she’d come to see as her beloved little brother, was so deeply connected with the Monster Lord herself?

“I remember plain as day the looks they gave me. Even through my own rage, I hesitated - there was a hatred so intense in their eyes, it made me back away from their weakened bodies. Even in his wounded state, your father - Marcellus - attempted to move towards me and attack me, but Lazarus pulled him back, calling out to him to not throw his life away like that,” Alice continued, her voice now barely audible. “There was a very brief argument, and the whole time, your father’s hateful gaze never left me, freezing me in place in spite of the anger I myself felt. Then they fled, supporting each other. I didn’t pursue them - instead, I knelt beside my mother’s body, feeling lost without her.” She sighed deeply and looked at Luka again.

“I don’t know how long I stayed like that before Tamamo found me - my mother had apparently knocked her unconscious to keep her from stopping her sacrifice. She took me away from the castle, and ultimately decided to care for my training and education in Yamatai, among the Kitsune and away from the Monster Lord’s castle.” She took a deep breath, reaching what appeared to be the end of her story. “I didn’t return to that castle for two years, when I participated in the Grand Melee to decide the 16th Monster Lord. I won that melee - which Tamamo also participated in, as well as Alma Elma, Erubetie and Granberia. As for your father and Lazarus… well, you probably know better than me what happened to them, don’t you?” she commented with a humorless smile. “I’d wager whatever you want that your father changed like he did and founded Ilias Kreuz because of my actions that day. I don’t remember clearly, but I think that before I attacked, there was a very kind light in his eyes. I think he’d have kept his word and worked for peace, if only…”

After Alice came to the end of her long story, silence reigned in the room for a long while, all three inhabitants deeply in thought. Finally, after spending several minutes looking down and thinking, Luka looked up at Alice.

“Why are you telling me all this?” he asked simply. Alice returned his look, pausing to collect her thoughts before answering.

“...you and I, we’re similar,” she told him. “We both loved our mothers very much, and felt the pain of losing them to a cruel fate. And like my mother, you wish for peace in the world. I… like that. I feel I can confide in you, and you’ll understand. And I thought you deserved to know why your father changed like this - even if you may come to hate me for it.”

Luka let those words sink in as he looked down again, thinking. After another long pause, he got up, walking a few steps away from the table the three had been seated at and leaning with his hand against the wall, head downcast. For a few seconds, he stood still, then he pushed off the wall and turned towards Alice, his expression hardening. Seeing the change, the snake monster shook her head, grimacing, and glanced away.

“Of course, I should expect you’re angry,” she commented, sounding depressed. “After all, I--”

Her speech was cut off as she suddenly felt Luka’s hand snake around her shoulders from behind and wrap around her. She froze, uncertain and confused by the sudden action. She’d expected many things from the human boy… a hug, however, wasn’t among them. As she tried to make sense of the sudden action, Luka began speaking quietly, while Thermidor observed with raised eyebrows from the side.
“There’s no amount of words and no compensation good enough to earn your forgiveness for the pain my family inflicted upon yours,” the young Hero said in a low, sad tone. “All I can say is that I know what you experienced all too well, and I’m completely ashamed at the thought of being related to the person who made you suffer so much. If you won’t forgive me, I’ll understand. All I ask is that you believe me when I say that I can’t express how mortified I am for what happened, and if you want me to make amends, I will.”

“...what…?” Alice replied, mouth hanging open as she sat still, stunned by Luka’s declaration. After a few instants struggling to find the right words, her expression changed from stunned to incredulous and she attempted to turn around to face him. “You… you’re asking me for forgiveness? Even though I'm the one who ruined everything and quite possibly destroyed the best chance this world has had at peace in centuries?! Even though your own family has almost certainly been broken apart by me?!”

“You were a child and loved your mother, how else should you have reacted?” Luka countered, still holding on to her from behind as she tried to turn around. Alice stopped struggling for a moment at those words, and he continued. “I think a child’s bond with its mother is deeper than any other… you acted the way any loving daughter would have upon seeing her mother murdered by a group of armed strangers. If anything, it was my father’s fault that he didn’t stop to think why a young girl would react that way to seeing unknown people standing over her mother’s bloodied corpse.” He lowered his head against the top of her head as he continued. “I don’t blame you for loving her this much. I’d… probably have done even worse in your place. The fault lies entirely with my father.”

“No, it doesn’t!” Alice protested as she resumed trying to break free and turn around, although her efforts seemed less convincing than before. “I told you, if only I hadn’t--”

“Hadn’t what? Lashed out at your mother’s killers?” Luka asked sharply, frowning and raising his head slightly, meeting her eyes as she glanced backwards. Alice paused again, taken aback by the sudden outburst. “Do you really think that’s a shameful thing to do? Regardless of consequences, that’s something any loving son or daughter would’ve done in your place.” He sighed as he straightened up, loosening his hold around her but still keeping his hands on her shoulders. “You may think of yourself as guilty, but this is where we have to disagree. I don’t see you as guilty, merely as uninformed. And I still think I need to make amends to you for your mother’s murder.” Luka closed his eyes, sighing. “From this point onward, I am in your debt. Ask me anything as retribution, and I will do it. Even if…”

“No.”

Luka blinked at Alice’s flat reply, looking at her. The Echidna shook her head and abruptly stood up, causing him to lose his hold on her shoulders and stumble backwards slightly, then turned to face him, frowning. “No.” she repeated.

“No…? But…”

“I said no,” Alice cut his protests short with a chopping motion of her left hand. “If you won’t consider my view of things, then I won’t consider yours. You think you owe me a life debt? Well... then I think the same! And my request to you, as repayment for your father’s actions… is for you to forgive me as well, and also allow me to forgive you, rather than seek revenge.”

“W… what? But… your mother…” Luka protested. Alice shook her head again, giving him a sharp glare that allowed no disagreement.

“She’d want it this way, and would haunt me with her disapproval if I did otherwise. I’m sure of it. She’d forgive you herself if she could,” she replied decisively. Her gaze then softened. “I really appreciate that you want to make amends. Honestly, I do. But I myself think I’m as guilty as you are, if not more, because while you’re carrying the burden of something your father did, my own burden is something I did with my own hands.” She exhaled, then inhaled deeply and looked at him intensely as she rose one hand to her heart. “But, if you insist in asking for my forgiveness, then I must ask you to also forgive me for what my actions caused. If only I heard that from you, I’d feel a little better… even if you don’t mean it.”

Luka paused and looked down after hearing Alice’s words, thinking. After a few moments, he peered at her, and was met with an inflexible gaze: she clearly had no intention of changing her mind anytime soon if at all. Luka’s shoulders slumped in defeat, and he sighed, yielding to the Echidna’s will.

“All right… I still don’t think you have anything to be forgiven for, but if this is how you feel… I don’t mind if we agree to forgive each other for the past,” he said slowly. He straightened up, and a tentative smile appeared on his face. “To be honest, I’m relieved. I was afraid you’d keep resenting me. I’ve come to like being friends with you, and I’d be unhappy if we started hating each other.” His smile widened a little. “Thank you for being understanding. I really appreciate it.”

“You need to become less stubborn,” Alice grumbled. “Why do you have to take responsibility for everything bad that happens? ...although that may be hypocritical, coming from me…”

“A little, yes. But that’s fine,” Luka laughed, shaking his head. “We’re all hypocrites at some point or another, aren’t we?”

“I guess so…” Alice nodded. She then stretched, raising her arms over her head, which had the unfortunate effect of drawing Luka’s eyes to her generous bosom in spite of himself and the situation. However, this time he caught himself and shifted his gaze away before she could notice. Cocking her head to the side, the white-haired monster crossed her arms, pouting. “Ah, this kind of stress always makes me antsy. I’m going to take a breath of fresh air outside.”

With those words she turned around, slithered up to the balcony window, opened it and moved outside, closing the glass door behind her. Luka raised an eyebrow.

“Is it safe for her to lounge around on the balcony while in her natural form?” he muttered, sounding a little worried. “If someone sees her…”

“We’re on the third floor, and there are no street lights on that side of the inn,” Thermidor spoke up for the first time in a while, causing Luka to turn towards her. “Even if someone sees her, we’re in a Mermaid town. They’ll think she’s a mermaid, since she has a tail and can’t be clearly seen even with the moon’s light.”

“Good point… I didn’t notice that,” the young Hero agreed. He then looked at Thermidor. “I wish I was as aware of my surroundings as you are. Is it something natural or did you learn how to do it?”

“...You’re making small talk. Is something still disturbing you?” Thermidor pointed out, ignoring the question. Luka froze slightly, then sighed, his smile fading a bit.

“That easy to read, huh? I need to get better at masking my thoughts,” he murmured, sounding disappointed. He then looked up at the monster fencer and nodded. “Yeah, I’m still upset. I know that what Alice said is technically right, but…”

“For someone like you, who considers the bond between mother and child sacred, the thought that someone related to you, even on paper, caused such pain to a child has to be unbearable,” Thermidor commented. Luka nodded reluctantly, his smile disappearing completely. The fencer, however, wasn’t done talking, and continued. “Even so, that same child, now an adult, wishes for both of you to forgive past misdeeds and move on. If you really want to atone, you should respect her will and do as she asks you. It’s obviously something important even for Lady Alicefeeze. Your insistence on making amends is admirable, but if it goes against the will of the person you’re trying to make amends to, what is the point? It just becomes a selfish desire.” She closed her eyes and leaned back on her chair, steepling her fingers before her lips. “If she wants you to allow yourself to be forgiven, do so. And if she wants you to find it in your heart to forgive her, do so as well. That will be your atonement… and hers as well.”

“...You’re right. I wish I could do more, but… as you said, if I try to do that even when she told me she doesn’t want me to, then I’m not really atoning, am I?” Luka murmured, shaking his head as he propped himself against a nearby chair with both hands and leaned over. “I suppose this is at the very least a start. Maybe, as time goes on, I’ll find a more proper way to apologize. For now, I’ll just do what she wants me to do.”

“She’ll be looking for a way to make it up to you, as well. You know that, right?” Thermidor warned him. “Regardless of what you think, she feels just as guilty as you do. If she tries to make amends to you, you should also accept… within reason, of course.”

“Yeah…” Luka nodded, glancing at Alice’s form outside the room’s glass door. Thermidor glanced at him with a knowing look and smiled slightly.

“If you have something you want to tell her, why not do so now?” she suggested. “Just be honest, and don’t insist on taking all the world’s burdens on your shoulders. You can’t do that. No one can, be it a Hero or a Monster Lord. Just do what you can, and try to help each other to move beyond this unpleasant memory from the past.”

“Hmm. You’re right as usual,” Luka nodded, straightening up as a more lively expression appeared on his face. Turning around, he began to walk towards the balcony’s window. “I’ll go talk to her - I think it’s what I should do right now. I’m not sure what to say, but I’ll think of something.”

“That’s the spirit,” Thermidor nodded in approval as she watched him open the glass door and step outside beside Alice. As the glass door closed behind Luka, she exhaled loudly, feeling relieved. She hadn’t expected something this important to come out of the evening’s talks, and was still shocked at how closely tied together Luka and the Monster Lord’s lives turned out to be. Truthfully, she had been worried about the consequences of this revelation, but now, she felt she could relax; it appeared as if things would settle down over time.

Glancing at the two figures outside the glass door, she pondered briefly for a few more instants, then reached a decision and stood up. Within seconds she quickly and efficiently collected her belongings, then she vacated the room, moving to the single room next door.

She had a feeling it would be best to leave Luka and Alice alone for the night.

----

Alice heard the door to the bedroom open and close behind her, but didn’t bother looking back and kept staring out at the surrounding rooftops and the dimly lit streets below. She had no need to look to know it was Luka who had just stepped out on the balcony.

“Alice?” Luka called out to her, confirming her guess. The snake monster still didn’t turn, but beckoned him next to her. The young man complied, walking up to the railing and leaning on it, letting the cool night breeze blow over him.

For a while, neither of them spoke, both looking out at the admittedly pretty sight of Port Natalia by night. Then Alice stirred and gave a long sigh, glancing at him.

“You have something to say,” she stated without preamble. “Go ahead and say it already. There’s no point dallying around waiting for the Founder only knows what.”

“One of these days you need to tell me more about this Founder you occasionally invoke,” Luka commented, sounding genuinely curious. Alice stared at him.

“You don’t even know that? Of all the--” she began before throwing her hands up in exasperation as she trailed off. Luka shook his head.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a monster-only thing, so no, I wouldn’t know about it. Am I wrong?” he countered without missing a beat. The Echidna glared at him, then grudgingly nodded.

“True enough. Humans wouldn’t know a thing about the Founder,” she conceded reluctantly. She then looked straight at him, crossing her arms. “But you didn’t come out there to ask me about monster religion. What did you want to say?”

“Honestly? I don’t know,” Luka admitted as he kept gazing out in the night, drawing a sarcastic smirk out of Alice. “I just thought I had to come out here and… talk. I felt it was the right thing to do.”

“You’re strange,” Alice commented, shaking her head. “I thought I had you all figured out, but I hadn’t. I was sure you’d despise me over that incident with your father, and instead you’re the one thinking I should despise you. I want to take responsibility, but you want to absolve me of any sins. No one’s supposed to be so selfless.”

“I could say the same of you, but that’d just get us in another argument, and I’d rather avoid it,” Luka replied, looking back at her. “I just want to make sure you really are okay with letting bygones be bygones. I mean, such a thing…”

He trailed off and resumed staring out in the night. As Alice observed his face in the dim light provided by the moon, she suddenly had a flash of understanding, and found the missing piece of the living puzzle before her. She stared at him.

“You hate humans,” she stated. Luka winced at that, but didn’t answer. “You try your hardest to not let your personal feelings get in the way of what you do, and strive to be as impartial as possible, but you never really forgave your own kind for what happened to your mother, did you? So you always assume humans, and by extension you, are the ones at fault in cases like these, and act accordingly.”

“That’s not true. I don’t hate the people from Ilias Village and Happiness Village, or most of those from Iliasburg, or Greybeard and his crew, do I?” Luka pointed out somewhat half-heartedly. Alice, however, didn’t buy his claim and gave him a hard stare.

“Of course you don’t. You got to know them, and they did good in your eyes,” she retorted. “But what of people you don’t know yet? When it comes to monsters, you’re quick to both give and earn trust. With humans… not so much. Even in Iliasburg… when those four bandit girls moved in, you expected trouble by default and were ready to start a fight for their sake, without considering that they did, in fact, attack human caravans and were, in fact, bandits, kids or not. You took their side by default simply based on them not being human. And even in Happiness Village, you immediately shifted your goal from ‘getting back the men’ to ‘getting humans to share men with monsters’.”

“Ugh…” Luka groaned, unable to find a retort. Alice shook her head and sighed.

“Look, I’m not saying that you have no reason to hate humans,” she pointed out. “The Founder knows I felt nothing but searing hatred for them for a while after my mother’s death, and if not for Tamamo, I may have become an even worse despotic tyrant than the Eighth Monster Lord was. But it may be best to just admit it to yourself and learn to live with it. Even I currently have to seriously reevaluate my own life… I’d guess it’s the same for you. Even if you’re not proud of what you feel, admitting to yourself that you do feel that way is important.”

“...You have a point,” Luka admitted after a short silence. “I should probably be more honest with myself, if nothing else. Yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe ‘hate’ is too strong a word, but I do still resent humans as a whole. Even so, I try to do my best to help them too. It’s what Mother would have wanted, I’m sure.”

“Mine would’ve wanted the same thing, as well,” Alice nodded, smiling faintly. “As I said before, if you’d met her, she’d have liked you.”

“Hmm. She sounds like a nice person,” Luka replied, smiling back at her. He then gave her a look of curiosity. “Say, what’s that about you reevaluating your life? It’s got me intrigued.”

“Ah… maybe I’ll tell you later, after I’m done sorting out my thoughts,” the Echidna told him, her smile faltering a bit. “For now, it’s not something I’m comfortable talking about.”

“Of course, I understand completely,” the young Hero reassured her with another smile. “I’m amazed you’d even share as much as you did with me. That took some courage, Alice.”

“Heh… it did?” she chuckled lightly in response as she glanced towards the hotel room’s doors. For a moment, an expression of surprise crossed her face, but it was just an instant and it vanished as she turned around to look at Port Natalia’s night view one more time. After a brief instant, she nodded to herself, as if deciding something, and turned towards Luka again. Reaching out, she grabbed him by his left wrist, and began pulling him towards the room. At his confused expression, she gave him an impish smile.

“Come on, it’s late and it’s getting cold out there. Let’s go inside and relax. I know a perfect way for us both to get rid of some stress and have fun…” she suggested, her smile turning seductive. Luka blinked, then blushed slightly.

“Uh, wait… this is kind of out of nowhere…” he began to protest, only for another insistent tug to silence him. Alice smirked again.

“Oh? I seem to recall you offering to help me let off some steam when I’m frustrated. Did I imagine things? Or are you going back on your word?” she provoked him with a grin. The young Hero glared at her.

“That’s not what I meant back then and you know it! I--” he protested again, but a final, strong tug pulled him off balance, silencing him again. Alice opened the door to the room, which Luka idly noted was empty, and pulled him in.

“Oh, stop being so stiff. You don’t hate it, and I feel like having some fun,” she chided him as she dragged him inside, shut the glass door and pulled the room’s curtains close. She then turned around, giving him another seductive look as she reached for her bountiful chest and playfully bounced it on her hands. “Besides, I’ve seen you stare at my breasts again and again ever since we met. Isn’t it about time you get a closer look?”

“Uh… I--” Luka replied weakly, his gaze drawn to the Echidna’s luscious body in spite of himself. Alice grinned knowingly.

“Didn’t I just tell you to not lie to yourself about your feelings?” she told him in a teasing tone. “Come on, now, be honest. I still remember your outburst on the ship, you know…”

“T-that was…!” Luka began to protest before trailing off, unable to find the words to continue. He stared at her playfully bouncing her breasts for a few more seconds, then lowered his head, a defeated expression appearing on his face. “...Fine, I admit it… yes, I was looking. Yes, I liked the idea of being the only one touching. No, I wouldn’t hate it at all.”

“There now, it wasn’t so hard, was it?” Alice said with an approving look as she stopped playing around with her chest and approached him. Taking hold of his wrist again, she led him towards the bed. “Now, since Thermidor was so kind as to leave the whole room to us, let’s have fun. Hehehe, I wonder how loudly I’ll make you moan this time?”

“I’m really not sure this is what we should be doing after all that’s been said this evening,” Luka complained, but he didn’t offer any resistance to Alice’s insistent pulling. His lack of conviction didn’t go unnoticed to the Echidna, who gave him a knowing smirk.

“Really now? For someone who says such a thing, I notice a curious lack of resistance to my advances,” she playfully teased him as she turned him around and placed him between her and the bed. Then, she gave a sudden, light push - enough to send Luka off-balance and make him take a step back, stumble against the bed’s edge, and fall to a sitting position on the mattress. “And besides, you think too much. Sometimes, especially when there’s unpleasant thoughts in your mind, it’s better to just forget about the world and simply focus on enjoying yourself. It won’t change things, but it will let you relieve your stress. And speaking of stress…”

As Alice trailed off, she reached up and slowly began to slip her jewel-decorated top off her chest, revealing her full breasts to Luka’s view. The young man swallowed loudly, unable to tear his eyes off from the snake monster’s soft-looking flesh. Idly, he noticed that in keeping with her blue skin tone, Alice's nipples were also blue, a bare shade darker than the surrounding skin. Noticing his wandering gaze, Alice smiled, satisfied at the effect she was having.

“Hehe… so you like what you’re seeing after all?” she asked him in a seductive tone as she noticed a visible growth becoming apparent in his pants. “And to think you were complaining so much not even a moment ago… What a stubborn boy. Oh well, I’ll have to be patient. Now, then…”

Still smiling, Alice slithered up to Luka and lowered herself between his legs, aware of his eyes following her every movement. She paused as she leaned forward slightly, pressing her breasts against the young man’s thighs, and was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath. Her smile became a grin.

“My, you really do like breasts, if you react like this from contact before your clothes are even off. Or, is it you just wanted to enjoy mine, in particular?” she asked in an amused tone. Luka’s answer was an unamused, if half-hearted, glare, and Alice giggled upon seeing it. “Hahaha… don’t worry, I don’t expect a straight answer to that question from you. It’s just so much fun to tease you~”

“...I like breasts in general,” Luka abruptly and unexpectedly spoke up, startling her. “I don’t know why, I just do. Firm, round, supple-looking breasts are difficult for me to ignore. So… yes, I guess yours, as large and delicious-looking as they are, kept attracting me.” He gave her a somewhat defiant look. “There, was this what you didn’t expect me to say?”

“My, I'm surprised! I didn’t think you’d be this bluntly honest,” she admitted, peering at him curiously. Then, her lips curved upward in a sultry smile as she reached for his pants’ belt and buttons, the bulge below them now prominently visible. “I’m rather proud of my breasts, actually. They’re nice and firm, but still very soft… Why don’t I show you? And in the meanwhile, why not show me how much you appreciate the view?”

Without another word, Alice began to unbuckle his belt and unbutton his pants, and unceremoniously proceeded to pull them off, eliciting a sound of protest from Luka at the roughness of the action. Tossing the discarded garment behind her, she chuckled as she took a good look at Luka’s now free erection. His dick was almost painfully stiff, and twitched slightly in the air. Alice covered her mouth with one hand as she gave Luka an amused look, another giggle escaping her lips.

“Hehe, look at how hard you are. I wonder what you expect me to do, hmmm?” she teased in a seductive tone. Without waiting for an answer, she leaned in and blew slightly on the swaying penis’s tip. It gave another twitch, and Luka let out a frustrated-sounding noise. Alice smirked, then leaned just a little closer and inhaled deeply. “Hmmm… you haven’t taken a bath since we left the ship, have you? There’s a certain scent to you…”

“Ah, eh... I forgot. I could--” Luka spoke up as he shifted uneasily, suddenly conscious of his own odor. Alice cut him off by firmly planting her hands on his thighs, pinning him to the bed, and gave him a mild disapproving look.

“I didn’t say I hate it. Actually, I rather like the way you smell,” she told him with a faint, slightly lewd grin as she ran a finger down the back of his penis, causing it to twitch again. “Most men would smell bad after a day like yours, but your scent isn’t pungent like that of, say, those pirates. It’s… not unpleasant at all.” Her smile became lewder as she drew even closer, taking hold of her breasts and pointing them towards his aching hardness. “Horahora… I wonder if my breasts will be stained with your smell after this, too?”

Luka found himself unable to answer as he watched Alice’s full breasts slowly approach his hard erection. Alice watched his expression as she drew closer, enjoying his heated stare as he watched her soft mounds prepare to engulf his penis, and in no hurry to complete the movement. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Luka, Alice decided she’d teased him enough and suddenly leaned forwards, letting the young man’s hardness sink between her soft orbs.

Luka closed his eyes and tensed up as he felt himself become surrounded by warmth, letting out a moan of pleasure that briefly echoed across the room. Alice giggled, pleased at the sound she’d extracted from him simply by enveloping him, and froze in place for a moment, allowing the boy to better enjoy the feel of her silky flesh on his engorged dick while listening to his accelerated breathing. She then firmly took hold of her breasts and squeezed them against each other, crushing Luka’s hardness between them. Luka let out another moan at the sudden pressure, and shifted restlessly. Alice repeated the squeezing motion once, twice, and licked her lips, aroused by his reaction.

“Hahaha… feeling it this much already?” she giggled. Letting up the pressure on him, she allowed the tip of his dick to appear between her breasts, then slightly parted her lips and allowed some of her saliva to dribble down on Luka’s exposed flesh, as well as her own. She then pressed the soft mounds back against each other, swallowing his penis once more, and slowly began to rub up and down his length in slow, firm strokes, spreading her fluids all over Luka’s dick while causing more gasps and moans to escape his lips.

Before long her saliva, helped by Luka’s own sexual fluids slowly oozing out of his tip, had properly lubricated both her breasts and his cock, and her stroking became smoother and more fluid. At this point, Alice sped up her movements a little bit, and was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath and a tensing of his legs as the change of pace sent a shiver up the young man’s spine. She looked up at his face with an impish smile, still kneading her mounds around his dick. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut from the pleasure, and his face was beginning to flush and perspire.

“Hehe… you should at least try to hold on for a bit,” she teased in a low, languid tone. “It’d be embarrassing to come this quickly from something like this, wouldn’t it? And besides, don’t you want to enjoy my breasts for as long as possible? The more you hold on, the more you can savor this pleasure…”

Luka didn’t - or perhaps couldn’t - answer her teasing, but she noticed his jaw set and his muscles shift, and his eyes cracked open again, watching her movements. Alice hummed in satisfaction as she returned her focus on the young man’s dick. This activity, she felt, was much more fun when she knew he was watching her, taking in her every move, and enduring every jolt of pleasure to draw it out as long as he could.

Deciding to change things around a little, Alice modified her movements, and began to move her breasts in opposite directions, kneading and stroking his penis even more intensely than before. Luka began to moan again in spite of his attempts to endure, and Alice smiled at the reaction. Forcing a man to moan in unashamed pleasure was as fun as Alma had insisted it would be, after all. She didn’t often follow the Succubus Queen’s advice, but she had to admit that when it came to pleasure and sex, Alma knew more than just about anyone else.

For several long minutes she continued her slow rubbing motions, slowly increasing the pressure on Luka’s dick, squeezing it until she could feel her soft flesh shape itself around his hard length with every move. Tightly squeezed in her bosom like this, she felt his manhood begin to twitch more often, felt his hips give little jerking, halted thrusts, and realized he was at the limit of his endurance. She found herself impressed; considering how excited he’d been when she’d started stroking him, he’d endured the pleasure far more than she’d have thought possible for a human. She looked up at him again as she slowed down a little.

“Hora hora, you can’t take it anymore, can you? It’s all right… you did well to endure this much,” she breathed out in a seductive tone as she resumed moving her breasts straight up and down his length. “Now, come. Stain the Monster Lord’s breasts with your semen… that’s what you want to do, isn’t it?”

Almost as if he’d been waiting for those words, Luka’s muscles relaxed, and with a long pleasure-filled moan, he came hard between her breasts. His climax, aided by the pressure she was exerting on him, was strong enough to send a jet of semen straight out of the soft, fleshy prison his penis was buried in, and Alice gave a startled yelp as the white liquid hit her in the forehead, before slowly dribbling down her face.

Luka continued to come for a few more seconds, his subsequent spurts weak enough that they simply dribbled out between her breasts, dripping over them and coating them in semen. After the initial surprise from the sudden ejaculation hitting her, Alice kept stroking him as he came, causing loud gasps and cries of pleasure to erupt from his lips with each stroke as he writhed under her touch, his mind blank with pleasure. With each stroke, she spread more and more of his seed over her breasts, making them slick and sticky from the lubrication.

Finally, after one last weak spurt, his spasming began to subside, and he slowly slid backwards, dropping on his back on the bed, where he remained, unmoving, breathing hard. The Echidna gently stroked him with her breasts for a few more seconds, then stopped and allowed his softening penis to slip out from between her semen-coated orbs. Dazedly, Alice raised an equally semen-coated hand to her face and inhaled, involuntarily licking her lips as a blush spread across her cheeks. She remembered the heady scent of his semen, and it was just as delicious, if not more so, than when she’d tasted it last time.

Slowly, she brought her semen-stained hands to her lips, and began to lick them clean, methodically removing every last drop of Luka’s seed from them and briefly savoring its salty taste on her tongue before swallowing. She did the same with her breasts, cleaning them with both fingers and tongue until not a spot remained, wasting none of the delicious fluid, and finally, she brushed the come that had coated her face off with her fingers and sucked them clean.

Licking her lips, she exhaled in satisfaction, a lewd smile adorning her lips, and stretched luxuriously for a few seconds, before slithering on the bed besides Luka’s unmoving form and settling down, watching his panting face as he lay on his back on the mattress. For a while, both the snake monster and the human boy lay unmoving side by side, and as Luka’s breathing slowed down, Alice concluded he’d fallen asleep from the exertion. As she prepared to go to sleep herself, however, she was startled by the young man’s voice suddenly speaking up.

“...that was… amazing,” Luka breathed, his eyes cracking open. His skin was still slick with sweat from the exertion of the past few minutes, but his breathing was under control again, and while he appeared a little worn out, Alice noted with surprise that he wasn’t nearly as tired as she expected him to be.

“You’re still awake… not bad,” she commented with a small grin. “I was sure you’d fallen unconscious from pleasure. You’ve gotten much tougher than I expected. Did the battle with Alma help out your endurance this much?”

“Haha… I think it was you, actually,” Luka replied, slowly turning to face her. At her questioning look, he looked at the ceiling, blushing slightly. “Well… you know, when Alma made me horny, and you helped me get that under control with…” He trailed off, casting a meaningful glance at her tail. Alice blinked, then smirked.

“Oh, so you liked my tail that much? I’ll have to tease you with it again, then,” she said in a seductive tone as she brought her red-scaled tail’s tip up to his face and wiggled it around. She then lifted her breasts up a little with her hands, licking her lips as she looked at him. “Or maybe I should continue with my breasts… from how hard you came, you seem to have enjoyed yourself very much. You covered me in semen, you perverted Hero. Hehehe…”

Luka kept staring at the ceiling, his blush deepening as he tried to ignore the Echidna’s lewd teasing. He then appeared to think of something, and his eyes briefly went blank for a few seconds before refocusing. Alice saw him give her a sidelong glance and blush again, diverting his gaze at the ceiling for a third time. He then whispered something, but his tone was too low for the snake monster to hear his words. She gave him a frowning look.

“Hey now, I can’t hear you if you speak so quietly. You need to speak louder,” she pointed out. Luka didn’t answer immediately, and instead his blush deepened, which made Alice curious: what could the boy Hero be thinking of that made him so embarrassed he’d blush like that after what they’d done?

“...vor?” he repeated, this time in a slightly higher, but still unintelligible, voice. Alice’s answer was a glare of disapproval. Luka frowned, biting his lips, and then took a deep breath before looking at her, still blushing slightly.

“I said, ‘Would you like me to return the favor?’”, Luka said, slowly and quietly. Alice stared at him, puzzled, and cocked her head as she straightened up from her half prone position.

“Favor? I don’t get it,” she told him, confused. Luka opened his mouth, closed it with a hesitant air, then a determined light appeared in his eyes and he sat up, looking straight at her with a serious expression.

“I mean, do you want me to try and pleasure you?” he explained, appearing embarrassed. “I mean, you did say you wanted us both to have fun… but it seems to me I’m the only one who’s had any fun here. I’m not very skilled at it, but…” he paused, pointing at his mouth with a finger. “I do at least know the basics of how to make a woman feel good with my mouth…”

“You… you’re offering to pleasure me back?” Alice asked, unable to mask her surprise. At Luka’s nod, she paused, staring at the boy Hero. She knew he had a peculiar way of thinking, but this was beyond even what she expected from him. She didn’t think he’d offer to pleasure her at all. Masking her surprise beyond a stern look, she crossed her arms. “Aren’t you being a little arrogant here? To think you can please the Monster Lord…”

“I can’t deny there may be some male pride involved…” Luka admitted slowly, before looking her straight in the eyes. “But I’d be a poor excuse of a man if I didn’t at least try to make you feel at least a little bit good after what you did for me.” His look briefly showed uncertainty as he looked away. “Although, Thermidor isn’t very fond of oral sex, so I haven’t had a chance of practicing lately. She prefers actual sex...”

“Mmm… I’m not surprised,” Alice replied, gazing thoughtfully at the young Hero. “She’s an undead monster. Her body is different from that of a human, or even a monster. She draws pleasure from consuming a man’s semen and energy… so for her sex is where the real pleasure is.”

“Oh… right, I always forget that she’s not like a human,” Luka murmured, looking relieved. Alice gave him a long look, cocking her head as she thought. She then sighed and slid up against the bed’s head, raising a hand to her navel and resting it mere inches above her jewelled belt piece. She gave Luka a serious look.

“You do realize I’m not like a human woman, either, right?” she pointed out. “You say you want to please me, but…”

“Well… I wouldn’t know what a human woman’s body is like, anyway, so that’d make no difference. All I can do is improvise, and go from there,” the boy replied as he shifted slightly in his sitting position, smiling at her. “I may be unable to do much for you, but I’d at least like to try. Only if you want to, of course…”

“Ah, well… wait. ‘Wouldn’t know what a human woman’s body is like’?” Alice asked, startled as the implications of Luka’s words sank in. She gave him an incredulous look. “You… lost your virginity to a monster, had sex with several monsters, and are familiar with monsters’ bodies… but you've never seen a human woman’s body?”

“W-well, no, I did see one. I sometimes peered at Mother’s body during bathing hours when I was very little,” Luka replied, looking embarrassed. “But I never saw… well… anything besides her breasts, and I never actually touched a human woman in an intimate way.” He appeared thoughtful for a second. “Maybe that's why I like breasts so much...”

“Y-you…” Alice murmured, unable to find words to convey her thoughts. It was no wonder that Luka had such a curious point of view compared to any other human: his upbringing was abnormal by his own race’s standards.

“A-anyway, that’s got nothing to do with it!” Luka nervously waved away the topic at hand. Glancing at her, he breathed deeply, then gave her a questioning look. “Do you want me to…?” He left the question unfinished.

Alice didn’t speak for a while, her gaze unreadable as she looked at him in silence. Finally, after an uncomfortable length of time, she stirred, and slowly nodded once. Luka blinked, surprised at her agreement, then smiled and nodded back.

“Thank you. I’ll do my best to not disappoint,” he promised her as he shifted his position on the bed’s mattress and drew closer to her. As he did, there was a slight pressure upon his mind, and he suddenly felt the familiar sensation of Steelburn’s presence in a corner of his thoughts.

“Now that’s an ambitious task you set yourself upon, pleasing a Monster Lord,” her words echoed in his mind, a tinge of amusement permeating them. “This is none of my business, but… if you try pleasing her as you would a human woman, you will not do much of anything at all. Monsters work opposite the way human women do.”

Opposite…? What do you mean?, Luka thought back, a flash of uncertainty crossing his face. The amusement in Steelburn’s thoughts increased.

“You’re a bright young man. I’m sure you will figure it out,” she replied, and Luka could almost picture her smiling. “Well… I will leave you some privacy. Good luck.”

With those words, the spirit’s presence was gone from his mind, as quickly as it had come. Luka blinked, and then refocused on Alice, who gave him a curious look, having noticed his pause.

“You know, you don’t have to do this,” she told him, misunderstanding the look of uncertainty that had briefly crossed his face. “I’m fine as it is…”

“No, no, I don’t mind,” the young man replied, shaking his head. “I was just wondering about what I should do, that’s all.”

“Mmmm… well, if you’re sure, then go ahead,” she said after a moment. She then reached down, and slowly unclasped the jewelled belt piece covering her nether regions. stopping one more moment to make sure he hadn’t changed his mind, she finally removed it, and exposed herself completely, all clothing now discarded.

Luka paused as Alice let her belt piece drop at bedside, finding himself unable to keep his eyes from roaming over the serpentine monster’s naked form. He’d known Alice was extremely attractive, of course, but seeing her naked just made that all the more evident. Her smooth blue skin seemed to almost glow in the dim light of the room’s lamps, and the contrast between her skin tone and her purple- and red-scaled tail only served to accentuate her exotic beauty. He peered curiously at several large black markings covering most of her body’s left side, wondering what they were, then discarded the thought. It wasn’t important at the moment.

Finally, his eyes shifted to the place that had thus far been hidden, and he gazed at the Echidna’s womanhood. He noticed it looked a bit different than what he’d seen on Thermidor, Milia or Wriph - the thin slit of her vagina was positioned slightly more out front than in the other girls. He guessed it had to be because instead of legs, she had a tail. He licked his lips, suddenly not sure of what to do, before shaking his head and steeling his resolve. He’d made his choice, and now had to go through with it. He’d just have to do his best.

Advancing slightly and shifting to a prone position on his stomach, he laid down next to Alice’s nether regions, and slowly reached for her groin with a hand, peering at her to see her reaction. Alice didn’t make any move to stop him and, encouraged by her lack of negative reactions, Luka laid a hand on her tail, right below her pussy. A humming sound escaped the snake monster’s lips, though he couldn’t tell if it was approval or otherwise, but as she didn’t appear displeased, he didn’t take the hand away, and instead slightly stroked her scales. She was warm to the touch, rather than cold - something he remembered from the one time she used her tail on him.

Focusing back on the task at hand, he decided to stop delaying, and moved in on the snake monster’s body. However, a problem immediately presented itself to him as he approached her pussy with his face: because Alice had a tail instead of legs, accessing her secret place was not nearly as easy as it would have been otherwise, and he awkwardly bumped his nose against her lower abdomen as he tried to reach in. The Echidna giggled slightly at the sight.

“That’s not where you’re supposed to poke, Luka,” she teased him in an amused tone. He gave her a sour look as he backed away momentarily.

“I’m well aware of it, thank you very much,” he muttered, annoyed, as he looked at her groin. As long as she remained in that position, he’d keep bumping his nose against her smooth belly and have trouble focusing on pleasing her. Glancing around, he spotted the free pillow on the double bed they were on, and an idea came to him. Reaching out, he grabbed the pillow and held it up. “Can you raise your hips a moment, Alice?”

“Hmm? Like this?” she replied as she shifted her waist up, curious at the reason behind the request. Luka immediately slipped the pillow under her hips, positioning it so that she’d be at just the right height for what he had in mind, then nodded at her.

“You can lie back down, now,” he told her. Alice complied, and as she returned to a prone position, the pillow kept her groin in a higher position than the rest of her body - and at the same time, made her soft slit more accessible. Luka smiled as understanding dawned in Alice’s eyes. “Perfect! Now it should be much better.”

“Nice thinking…” Alice murmured with a small smile, shifting her back in a more comfortable position that would allow her to see what he was doing. “Well, then… I’m waiting. Go on.”

“As you wish,” the young man replied with a smile of his own, pleased at having solved the problem. Lying back down on his stomach, he placed his hands on both sides of Alice’s waist, and finally approached his target. He paused a few inches away from her pussy, inhaling her scent. She smelled a little sweet, and there was another scent which he couldn’t place, but which reminded him of wilderness. It wasn’t at all like the scent of other monsters he’d been with, but he found it pleasant all the same. Drawing even closer, he reached with his fingers for her outer lips, slightly parted them with a gentle tug, and gave a tentative lick. Another light hum welcomed his action, and he decided it was a positive sign. Setting aside his caution, he began to earnestly run his tongue along the outer rim of Alice’s vagina, licking and prodding gently at any place he remembered to be sensitive from the knowledge he’d gleaned out of his less… wholesome reading material.

Alice shifted a bit as she felt Luka’s tongue begin to prod her vagina. The efforts were clumsy and with no direction at first, but quickly became more focused as he familiarized himself with the shape of her sex. She sighed softly as he kept licking, then frowned slightly. His tongue’s soft touch was pleasant, there was no denying that, but she felt as if something was missing. It was not for lack of effort, but she felt… unsatisfied. Looking down at Luka, she saw him closely watching her for any reactions to his ministrations, and she noticed a flash of disappointment in his eyes at her apparent lack of reaction. She exhaled again, closing her eyes. It’s not that he’s doing badly, she thought. It does feel nice, but… I don’t see what Alma finds so special in this that she’d call it a forbidden pleasure for monsters…

Hearing her sigh again, Luka frowned as he slowed his licking down. He could tell that his actions were at least somewhat enjoyable for Alice, but it was a far cry from pleasure, and nothing even close to what she made him feel. He kept prodding around her pussy with his tongue as he began to think, examining it. He was sure he was hitting all the supposed right spots to make a woman feel good, but apparently they had little effect on Alice, which probably meant he needed to do something different. Problem being, he had no idea what. He had no clue what to try next, and all he had to go on was Steelburn’s rather cryptic advice on how monsters ‘worked opposite’ to human women, which he still couldn’t get the meaning of. All he could do was try things that he knew of.

This isn’t going to work, he thought in frustration as his most recent attempt at a different spot turned up fruitless. I’m groping around blindly and she’s not enjoying herself. If only I had a book about techniques to please monsters. I can’t even use what I read as reference because it’s all… human… sex…

His thoughts trailed off as his eyes widened, and he suddenly realized what he’d been doing wrong. Steelburn’s advice! ‘Opposite’..., he suddenly realized, finally grasping the meaning of what she was saying. Human women’s most sensitive bits, save for one, are all on the outside of their pussies… so then that means…!

Suddenly shifting his focus, Luka stopped tracing the edges of Alice’s outer lips with his tongue, and moved back to the center of her sex. Gently, he pulled it open with his fingers, revealing the quivering hole leading inside her. Then, he partly slipped his tongue inside and began to run it across the flesh of her inner folds.

The effect was immediate. Alice, who had been lying on her back without moving much until then, tensed up as a sudden moan escaped her lips as she felt an abrupt jolt of pleasure shoot up from her groin. Luka stopped briefly and looked up at her, smiling slightly.

“Can I assume that your reaction is a good sign?” he asked her, unable to completely conceal his satisfaction at having figured the secret out. Alice blinked, looking slightly dazed by the sudden burst of pleasure, then nodded slowly.

“Yes… that was a good spot,” she told him. Luka’s smile widened slightly at that, then his expression became serious again, although the ghost of a smile lingered on his lips.

“Good, at least I figured out what I was doing wrong,” he said. “Still… I don’t know your body as well as you do. Why don’t you show me where it feels best, and guide me? I’ll follow your cues.”

“Huh… you want me to instruct you on how to best please me?” Alice replied, a smirk creeping upon her lips. “That sounds a bit like a master/slave relationship. My, I had no idea you were that type of man...”

“Oi! I didn’t mean it that way-- argh, can’t you be serious at least when I’m trying to give you a good time?” Luka protested, blushing slightly. “A-anyway, just tell me when it feels good, and let me know if you want me to do anything particular.”

“Hmm… all right,” Alice nodded. She then gave him a seductive look as she lightly ran her left hand’s fingers over her pussy, which by now was slick with Luka’s own saliva. “Please do feast on my pure, virginal body, Hero Luka. I hope the meal will be to your liking…”

“...I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Luka muttered with a stronger blush as he shifted position and grasped her hips again. In truth, her words and the soft, seductive way in which she’d spoken had aroused him, and he was currently doing his best to hide his growing erection. Deciding that the best way to distract Alice was with pleasure, he earnestly set about the task with renewed enthusiasm, now secure in the knowledge that he could at least make her feel a bit good.

Gently spreading her pussy lips again, he once more slipped the tip of his tongue in and began to lick and suck at her inner folds. Alice tensed again at the action, and after a few seconds, light moans began to escape her lips as the tip of her tail started swishing restlessly in the air. Encouraged, Luka increased his efforts, going a little deeper, before temporarily withdrawing, wetting his index finger with his saliva, and beginning to lightly, cautiously finger her with his digit, giving his tired tongue a respite.

His tongue wasn't especially long, so there was only so much he could do, and he had to make that count. He briefly wished he had a longer tongue, like the one Alice herself had, before getting distracted by the feeling of Alice’s pussy lightly squeezing down on his invading finger. He zoned out a bit at the sensation - her insides were very soft and smooth, and even though he’d just shallowly inserted a finger, it felt incredibly good nonetheless. As he pulled his digit out and resumed licking her, he couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel if it were his dick he put inside her, rather than a finger. The thought caused his own excitement to grow.

As he kept licking, sucking and prodding her, Alice’s breath accelerated slightly, and she began to breathe through parted lips as she watched him alternate between plunging his tongue and finger into her pussy. She was now getting a better idea of what Alma meant when she called this a ‘forbidden pleasure’: not only was the sensation of his tongue shallowly diving in her vagina very pleasurable, the mere fact that a man was putting his efforts into pleasing her gave her a thrill that sent small shivers down her spine. Men rarely were willing about sex with monsters, and one so ready to devote his energy solely to a monster’s pleasure was rarer still. It was an experience that few monsters enjoyed, and it demanded to be savored like a fine wine.

Sighing, Alice leaned back on the bed and instinctively reached for Luka’s head, lightly running her fingers through his hair for a few moments before gently, but firmly, pressing his face against her puffy mound a little harder. At his questioning glance, she smiled faintly.

“I’m not a fragile little girl, Luka,” she breathed out. “You can be a little rougher, you know.”

Her words had the desired effect, prompting Luka’s efforts to become more forceful, and she moaned as his tongue and fingers went even deeper and stroked her pussy’s fleshy walls even harder. Alice moaned in approval, then closed her eyes and leaned back, enjoying the pleasant sensations as she kept lightly stroking Luka’s hair.

Before long, the snake monster’s moans became more frequent, and her pussy juices began to flow, filling Luka’s mouth with an unexpectedly sweet flavor which aroused him even more and caused his erection to come back with a vengeance. Shifting a bit to hide his discomfort, he kept working hard on pleasuring Alice, occasionally feeling her pussy twitch and gently squeeze down on him, and inwardly made a mental note to thank Steelburn for her advice. Without it, he doubted he’d have been this successful in making Alice feel good.

As Luka focused of licking and prodding her, Alice cracked her eyes open, glancing down at him, and noticed him squirm in an odd way. Her puzzled look was replaced by a lewd smile as she realized that he kept shifting his groin around, and correctly guessed that he had to have become erect again. She licked her lips as she pondered the situation, remembering something else Alma had said about this particular situation. Grinning, she decided to put the Succubus Queen’s advice into practice.

Luka’s focus on Alice’s pussy was interrupted when he abruptly felt her tail coil around his body, restraining his freedom of movement. A startled yelp escaped his lips as he stopped licking her, and he glanced up at her, confused by her sudden actions. He was met with a sultry smirk as a flushed Alice gazed at him through lidded eyes.

“Say, you look like you’re… uncomfortable, Luka,” she said seductively, her gaze shifting to his erection, which was prominently sticking out from where her tail had coiled around him. “I think I can do something about that…”

With those words, Alice shifted her entire upper body, and suddenly moved downwards until her face was level with Luka’s crotch, and his now fully erect penis. Licking her lips, she took it in her hands, and gave it a gentle squeeze. Luka moaned in protest.

“Ah! W-wait! I wasn't done--” the young man attempted to protest. However, he was silenced by a second shift in Alice’s body which brought her wet, dripping pussy right before his face, followed by a sudden, insistent pushing against the back of his head which needled him closer to her sex. Looking at her again, he saw her give him a small smirk as she slowly stroked his dick with her hands.

“I didn’t say to stop, did I?” she breathed out in a lustful tone. “You can continue like that. And in the meanwhile, I’ll help myself to you… Hehehe. Alma said there are few things more satisfying than being pleasured by a man’s mouth while feasting on the highest quality semen…”

“H-hold on! Why are you following advice from Alma Elma of all people?!” Luka protested again, struggling against her coils. “She’s not what I’d call trustworthy--”

“I normally wouldn’t,” Alice admitted, still stroking him. “But she is the Succubus Queen. There’re very few, if any, people who know more about sexual things than she does. So I’m following her advice in this.” She then gave him a look of mild chastisement as her tail resumed prodding his head closer to her waiting sex. “Now, instead of talking, why not put that mouth to good use again? You were doing very well… I’d like for you to continue.”

At that, Luka paused, pondering. Then, after a few moments, he gave her one last look, nodded slowly and turned back to her wet pussy. Without the pillow’s support, he floundered for a bit to find a position which would allow him to probe deep without suffocating, but once he found one, he set himself in place and quickly returned to work on her, plunging his tongue in her folds once more as he began to lick and suck her with redoubled effort.

Alice hummed, pleased at his acceptance. Her gaze then shifted to the hard cock she was stroking, and she licked her lips as a lustful expression spread across her face. While Luka’s seed was absolutely delicious, she was tired of having to scoop it up and lick it off, and she didn’t like how most of it was cooling by the time she did. She wished to feel it explode in her mouth directly from the source, hot, thick and full of flavor.

As she drew her mouth closer to Luka’s hard cock, she wondered how it’d feel to savor and slowly swallow his warm semen while his equally warm tongue probed, stroked and invaded her quivering pussy. She had no idea what she’d experience, but she had no doubt it’d be amazingly pleasurable. Smiling again, she closed up distance and, opening her mouth, she extended her tongue, dripping with saliva, and slowly coiled it around the hard length of Luka’s manhood, slowly stroking every inch as she completely enveloped him. As she did so, she sighed, enjoying the lingering taste of semen on it.

Luka choked and involuntarily plunged his own tongue almost fully inside Alice’s vagina as he felt something warm, soft and slick wetly snake around his penis. Looking down, his eyes widened as he saw her tongue completely coiled around his manhood, as if it was a snake capturing its prey. He then squeezed his eyes shut and gasped loudly, a jolt of pleasure shooting up from his erection when Alice’s tongue began to constrict around it, squeezing every part of his length at the same time.

As he tried to resist the pleasure, he once more felt Alice’s tail nudging the back of his head, and looked up in a daze, trying to refocus on her waiting pussy. He gripped her hips a little harder with his hands, drawing a moan from her as he did so, and once more resumed licking and scraping at her folds, attempting to focus as much of his attention on her womanhood as he could. He knew that if he didn’t, he’d lose control in short order and come within seconds.

Alice smiled slightly as she felt Luka’s tongue slip between her pussy lips once more and resume stroking her inner folds, the boy clearly trying to ignore her actions and focus on pleasuring her. She remained still for a short time to allow him to regain his composure, then began to slowly withdraw her tongue in her mouth, pulling Luka’s dick in along with it. Gradually, she uncoiled her tongue from around him as she engulfed him, and eventually, her full lips closed around the root of his penis, his whole length buried in her warm, inviting mouth. She remained still for a while, simply savoring the delicious taste of his manhood as the blush across her face grew more intense. She could feel him twitch inside her mouth, his tip hitting the back of her throat. She moaned slightly, lost in a pleasurable haze.

The vibrations from Alice’s moan were very nearly enough to cause Luka to lose control, and he had to pause in his licking and struggle to hold his climax back. As he managed to calm himself a little, he looked down, and couldn’t help but feel a jolt of excitement at seeing his dick disappearing completely between Alice’s lips. Her mouth was amazingly warm, wet and soft, moreso than anything else he’d experienced so far, and he was sure he wouldn’t last very long if Alice did anything more than simply hold him inside. Refocusing on her dripping womanhood, he earnestly plunged his tired tongue back in her folds, determined to pleasure her as much as possible before he inevitably lost control.

As it turned out, it wasn’t very long at all: his sudden forcefulness caused a sudden surge of pleasure to shoot through Alice’s body, and prompted her to moan again, even louder than before, while simultaneously tightening her mouth around his penis. The sudden stimulation was entirely too much for the already excited Luka, and he let out a muffled scream into her flesh as he went over the edge and came in her mouth, hard.

Alice herself was caught by surprise as the first spurt of semen invaded her mouth, but as more came, she instinctively reacted and began to suck on the erupting member inside her mouth, drawing every last drop of the delicious substance out of it and causing more screams and gasps to escape Luka’s shaking, bucking body. Grasping on his hips, she firmly held him in place as she sucked him dry, savoring each mouthful before swallowing it with pleased hums. The humming further stimulated Luka’s sensitive cock and sent even more pleasure into him, until he finally blacked out from the overstimulation.

Even after his body went limp, however, he kept coming, and Alice kept sucking until no more semen came out of his spent member. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she allowed his empty, twitching cock to slip out of her mouth, licked up any stray drops of semen on her lips, and swallowed Luka’s final load with a satisfied moan, eyes half-closed in pleasure. For a brief time, she didn’t move, simply resting against Luka’s legs as she felt her breathing and heartbeat go back to normal. Then she lightly shifted around and dragged herself back to a half-prone position against the bed’s head. Idly, she reached for her sex, and was surprised to find it soaked and extremely sensitive. She concluded she had to have hit a climax of her own as she feasted on Luka’s semen, and smiled slightly. He certainly had kept his promise to make her feel good.

“Nnnn…” a light moan reached her ears as she thought, causing her to glance at Luka, who was shifting weakly and attempting to turn towards her.He was clearly very tired, and she was honestly surprised to see him conscious again so quickly after he’d blacked out. The young man looked at her, his tired expression being replaced by a hopeful one.

“...felt… good…?” he asked weakly. Alice blinked, then began to giggle as the words sank in. Looking at him, she gave him a gentle smile, patting his head before nodding.

“Yes, it felt quite good,” she told him, before grinning impishly and adding: “I’m looking forward to a repeat, in fact. It’s your fault for spoiling me.”

“...hahaha… not sure I’d… survive another time…” Luka laughed tiredly before sighing and closing his eyes. “...sorry… need to rest…”

“Yes, you do need the rest,” she chided him as she shifted him to a more comfortable position with her tail before pulling the bed’s covers up and over him. She smiled again and ran a hand through his hair. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you? A quick learner at both swordplay and intimacy… some Hero. I’m sure no fairytale would include any of this… hahaha.”

A light snore answered her words, and she realized the tired young man had fallen asleep almost instantly after she covered him up. Exhaling loudly, she sat up and stretched, feeling some of her tense muscles relax a little. Peering out of the room’s balcony door, she saw it was still very dark. She glanced at Luka, then at the glass door, and shrugged, getting up off the bed.

A breath of fresh air was what she needed right now, she thought.

----

A few seconds later, Alice stood on the balcony, eyes closed as she enjoyed the night breeze on her naked body. She hadn’t bothered covering herself up before leaving the room; it was still very dark outside, and she was unlikely to be seen at best. Besides, the slight chill in the air actually felt nice on her skin.

As she slowly breathed in the fresh, slightly salty sea breeze, she heard the door to the adjacent room open and close. She didn’t bother looking towards the source of the noise - she already knew who it was.

For a while, Alice and Thermidor remained silent, content with enjoying the night. Eventually, however, the Echidna decided she’d had enough of the silence and, without turning or opening her eyes, addressed the monster fencer.

“I know you didn’t come out here just for the fresh air,” she stated, sounding unconcerned. “You don’t even need to breathe in the first place. If you have something to say, do so.”

“...we seem to talk like this often, don’t we, Lady Alicefeeze?” Thermidor replied casually as she looked at her gauntleted hand. Much like when she had been indisposed in Iliasburg, she had removed her body armor, only keeping her gauntlets and boots on, and was wearing a silk tunic that did very little to hide her curves and would likely have turned several heads had she worn it in public. The undead monster continued talking, absently rubbing her fingers together. “It seems we spend an inordinate amount of time on balconies, talking about Luka. Speaking of which… I wonder what the innkeeper was thinking. The walls between our rooms are really thin, unlike the ones between them and other rooms.”

“So you listened in? I didn’t think you were a voyeur,” Alice quipped at that. She then opened her eyes and turned towards the blonde monster, her expression serious. “Get to the point. I can’t read your mind, and while I know it has to do with Luka, I have no idea what upset you this time.”

“I’m not exactly ‘upset’... just concerned,” Thermidor answered after a brief pause, looking back at Alice with a steady gaze. “What you did just now with him, it’s not something people simply do among humans. It implies a certain level of intimacy… usually, only lovers do this.” The fencer closed her eyes and sighed, shaking her head, before looking at Alice again. “I believe I asked you before, but now I must ask you again. What are your intentions towards Luka?”

“You’re reading too much into it,” Alice scolded her with a frown. “I simply enjoy his company. He’s fun and interesting to have around, and he doesn’t mind indulging in pleasure. What’s the problem?”

Thermidor’s reply was a stony gaze and total silence. She kept looking at Alice for a long time, until the snake monster started growing restless under the swordswoman’s unflinching stare. Alice tried to half-heartedly glare back, but found herself unable to maintain eye contact, and eventually looked away with a huff.

“Fine, I’m not indifferent to him. How could I be after all we said and did tonight?” she admitted, annoyed. Her gaze then softened. “I really do just enjoy his company. He’s nice, I can talk to him and be sure he’ll understand, and he’s even willing to try and make me feel good. To be honest, I’m a little bit irritated that Queen Sophie got to him first, but there’s not much I can do about that anymore.”

“Hm. Well, I appreciate the honesty,” Thermidor finally spoke up, cracking a smile. “He does have a habit of growing on you, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, like ivy or kudzu,” Alice commented ironically. “Or some other highly infesting and invasive herb like that.”

“Says the woman with plants growing out of her head,” Thermidor replied in a mildly prodding tone, leaning against the railing. She then got a serious look on her face. “With that said… what are you going to do if he loses a battle? I would assume your disposition towards him changed at least a little bit…”

“What do you expect me to do? It’s not like he’d let me interfere in his fights,” Alice pointed out, somewhat irritated. “All I can do is watch from the sidelines and hope that he either explicitly asks for help, or doesn’t get himself killed before I can drag him off. But the moment that happens, I’m going to ship him back to Happiness Village, regardless of what he says. I did promise to Queen Sophie that I’d see to it he’s returned to her alive and whole.”

“Oh? You never mentioned that,” Thermidor commented, looking thoughtful. “So Queen Sophie does like him enough to want him back by her side…”

“She technically just asked for him to mate with her once, but the real meaning of her request was clear to all,” Alice said, spreading her arms wide in a helpless gesture. “Even Luka is perfectly aware of it. He doesn’t talk about it, but it’s telling that he repeatedly claimed to already be married, and he’s thinking about it every day, I’m sure of it. I’m not even sure he’d have gone as far as he did with me tonight if we hadn’t had that talk earlier.”

“Mmm… I have to disagree on that,” the fencer replied, shaking her head. “Luka is clearly attracted to you, and besides, he makes a distinction between being faithful and being chaste. He thinks as long as his heart is in the right place, he can use his body as he sees fit. If he were in love with you, for instance, it wouldn’t matter how many other monsters he had sex with - his heart would still be yours alone.” She then frowned. “If anything, what worries me is the possibility of him developing deep feelings for you as well. He already feels a connection for you, but… Sophie is still the mother of his future firstborns, and his feelings for her are undeniable based on that alone. I’m not sure how he’d react to feeling deep love for more than one woman at once.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re not going to fall in love or anything. We just like each other’s company,” the snake monster scoffed, dismissing her concerns. The armored monster’s answer was a slow shake of her head and an unconvinced glance.

“If you really think that, you’re underestimating what happened between the two of you,” she stated flatly, causing Alice to blink in puzzlement. “Love needs a lot less than what you and he already have in order to bloom. You’re free to think it’ll never happen, but don’t be surprised if your own heart - or his - decides to prove you wrong."

Alice scoffed at this. "You're overthinking things, Thermidor. Surely our little Hero wouldn't be so easily swayed as that."

"He's a very young man, Lady Alicefeeze," Thermidor chided her. "I'm positively certain that you're underestimating the deep influence this sort of intimacy can have on a heart as young as his, Hero or no. And,” she added, almost as an afterthought, as she pushed herself off the railing and straightened up. She looked at the perplexed Echidna with a meaningful glance. “His being taken wouldn’t be a problem, either. After all, Harpies don’t mind sharing. And I think he’d find you worth having to readjust his life for. Good night, my Lady.”

With those words, the monster fencer opened the door to her own room and returned inside, leaving an uncertain, confused Alice to contemplate what the future may hold. Was Thermidor right, or was it just wishful thinking? And, more importantly to Alice, what did she really want?

Sighing, the Echidna turned around and returned to her own room. It was best to just sleep on it and hope the night would bring advice. Although, she had a feeling that sleeping right next to Luka wouldn’t be easy at all.

----

Hours later, the first light of dawn shone over the cobblestone road leading from Port Natalia to San Irias, the capital of Ilias Kingdom. Along the roadside, a passerby could have observed a wagon parked under some trees, and two female figures, pale-skinned and dressed in frilly black-and-white maid outfits complete with headpieces and silk gloves, busily setting up what appeared to be a roadside shop. A third maid, as pale as the other two, stood by the wagon, beside a tall man with long, sand-colored hair and bandaged eyes, wearing heavy earth-toned robes. The man and the maid beside him stood idly for a while, then she turned towards him and bowed slightly, her black hair partially concealing her face in the motion.

“Master, Astraea and Adorea are almost done setting up the shop,” she informed him. Her voice, while clear and pleasant-sounding, felt somewhat formal and cold, and her eyes were curiously heterochromatic: her left eye was azure, while her right eye was a deep orange, almost red. The man nodded and smiled warmly.

“Thank you, Asteria,” he replied in a gentle, low baritone, shifting a long brown-and-white staff from his right hand to his left. “Would you kindly begin preparing the merchandise? We have busy days ahead of us, and I’d like to start as soon as possible.”

“As you wish, Master, although… should we really be peddling our goods in this particular spot? San Irias is very close…” the maid named Asteria questioned the man. He waved away her concerns with another smile.

“I have a good feeling about this spot,” he told her in a kind but firm tone. “I believe this is the best place to be for the time being. I have no doubt that we’ll find what we are looking for if we just wait and have faith in Her providence.”

“Understood, Master,” Asteria bowed again. “Then, I will proceed to prepare everything…”

With those words, the maid girl turned away and strode up to the wagon, entering it in search of the items she needed. The peddler raised his head to the sky, a calm, unconcerned expression on his face.

“Yes, indeed. I have a good feeling,” he murmured quietly. “Surely, all that is happening is as She foresaw and intended it to be. Now, all I need is another sign...”

Up in the sky, the clouds kept wandering by, oblivious to the events unfolding in the world below.

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Monster Girl Saga