Chapter 5: The Former Dark One and the Two Fox Sisters

◇A Forest in the West◇

A man and a woman walked alone together through the thick undergrowth. “And?” said the man. “So this shrine is where they sealed that sword? What was it...the Champion’s Edge?”

“Yes, my Lord Hero Gold-Haaair! I took a part-time job in a bar in the last city, riiight? I heard all about it from this party of adventurers who were gonna come take it! I’m sure this is the plaaace!” Tsuya straightened her back and proudly thumped her chest with her fist. Hero Gold-Hair, walking beside her, nodded emphatically.

“I see! Then we just have to beat those adventurers to the punch! No time to waste! We’ll take that sword out from under their noses!”

“Yes, Hero Gold-Haaair!”

Hero Gold-Hair began to walk faster. Tsuya was still following behind with a smile on her face. If I can get my hands on that sword, I’m sure it will give me incredible power! I’ll show all those fools in the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode not to dismiss me!

◇Klyrode Castle—The Maiden Queen’s Office◇

The Maiden Queen sat back in her chair, an expression of complete exhaustion on her face. She had taken over rule of the kingdom from her father, the former king, but the more she learned about the state he had left the country in, the more aghast and overwhelmed she felt.

It started with the kingdom’s finances. The expenditure paperwork was in complete disorder to begin with. Even after she had deciphered it, she found that nearly a fifth of the kingdom’s wealth had disappeared without any legal record, spent on who-knows-what by who-knows-whom. The Maiden Queen had deemed this a matter worthy of attention and summoned her finance officials to hear their account of the situation.

The officials seemed agitated as they spoke. “I’m terribly, terribly sorry, Your Majesty,” one said. “The former King Klyrode, you see, handled most of his expenditures through a private accounting firm... Even we don’t know the details of how he spent it.”

The Maiden Queen worked with the information her finance officials provided to set their records in order as best they could, and also sent for the former king’s private accountants to appear in front of her court. However, it seemed that the accountants in question had fled the castle when the King was deposed and were gone without a trace.

She had tracked down what few former members of the firm she could find, but what they told her left her even further aghast. “Yeah, what we mostly did was set up a secret fund for the old king. He kinda did whatever he wanted with the money, but most of it went into, like, his own private capital reserve. I got no idea where he’s hid it, though.”

With the accountant’s testimony, the Queen ordered the former King Klyrode to appear in court and testify, but the villa to which he was sent to live out his retirement was found empty, the former King’s whereabouts unknown. She had assigned guards to watch over him, but “When he came to,” they said, “he told us he wished to go for a walk. Somehow during his stroll he managed to vanish on us.” With this information, the Queen declared her father a fugitive from justice and gave orders to the soldiers throughout the country to arrest him on sight.

At the same time as this was going on, the Queen was working night and day with her finance officials to double-check the past paperwork and put it back in order as it should be. However, the more she investigated, the more irregularities she found from her father’s dubious accounting, and the greater the scope of the damage to her kingdom became.

The Maiden Queen clutched her head, overwhelmed by it all. “And to do this during a time when preparations for war with the Dark Army were paramount... Father, what in the world were you thinking?” She looked over the piles of papers scattered on her desk: reports on the former king’s misconduct. She sighed deeply. “No,” she said to herself, “he is no father of mine. He is a miserable old bastard, and it would have been best for all of us had he died.”

◇Houghtow City—Hysui General Store◇

“Fakes?” Flio was surprised by the news that Hysui, the troubled store owner, had told him.

“Yes,” said Hysui. “There have been lots of cases lately—merchandise in Houghtow City vanishing, replaced with inferior-quality fakes. It’s even happened at my shop, much to my shame.” He pointed to a wooden box by his feet. It was packed full of potions, but when Flio looked, almost all of the flasks were cracked. The contents were leaking out, and they didn’t look at all their proper color. Whatever was inside these flasks was more like muddy ditch-water. It was obvious at a glance that they were fakes.

“More than half of the stores in the shopping district have been targeted like that. As you can imagine, it’s causing everyone a bit of a headache. All you can really do is keep a careful eye on your merchandise. You never know when it will be swapped out with rubbish like this.” Hysui sighed.

“Do we know where these things had come from originally?” asked Flio.

“Yes, about that,” said Hysui. “It seems like they were mixed in with merchandise from wholesalers in the major cities—in bundles of excess stock. Because of the way they’re bundled together, there’s no way to tell which shop is supplying the fakes.”

“I see. And overstock is gonna go for cheap... You can’t separate out the merchandise in each box?”

“Well, see, the way it works is that the entire wholesale market will bundle their surplus together and, after checking the contents, place it all in a box. And it’s always bundles of the same item, which makes it even harder to identify the criminal.” As Hysui spoke, Flio strolled up to where Hysui had set the box full of fake potions. He reached out towards the box with his right hand, and a magic circle appeared before his palm. It slowly expanded until it enveloped the whole of the box.

Whatever Flio’s magic circle told him, it made him look up in shock. “Huh?!”

◇A Building Somewhere—Basement Room◇

In a dimly lit room, a man lounged back in his lavish armchair as he smoked a cigar. The door opened and one of his underlings entered. The man turned his head in their direction and spoke. “Tell me,” he said, “are the wholesalers moving our goods along properly?”

“Yes, sir. Everything is proceeding according to plan. Our goods are selling out with the fakes hidden amongst them.”

The man nodded, satisfied, and took another draw of his cigar. “And they would never imagine that there are illusion spells cast on the boxes themselves.”

The underling shook his head. “Concealment is a high-level spell. Too high for any mage most in our profession can employ. But if we get sloppy even once, someone is sure to track us down. Perhaps it’s time to switch to a different wholesaler?”

“Perhaps.” The man brought the cigar to his mouth and took a long, luxuriant smoke.

“And...there is another thing, Master.”

“Hm? Speak your mind.”

“I think we had best meet with our friends from the west sooner rather than later...”

The man pondered at length. “Very well,” he said. “Then let us not waste time. Go, and bring them to me.”

◇Near a Building Somewhere◇

Boralis, captain of the Maiden Queen’s royal guard, moved out of sight through the back alleys, deeper into the city, until she came upon a certain building. “Is this it?” she said. Her company of knights following behind her—all women—drew their weapons, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

One of the knights stepped forward. “This is it, Lady Boralis. I’m certain. The headquarters of the merchant company we suspect of being behind the fake merchandise.”

“And his stronghold...” Boralis pursed her lips and gestured: a single wave. “Let’s move. And be careful. Not a single sound.” Boralis led the way, edging along the building’s wall towards her target. Her knights surrounded the entrance. Again, Boralis signaled wordlessly with her hand, and the knights burst in the building at once.

A guillotine blade flew down from the ceiling of the corridor Boralis had been about to enter. “Whoa!” She sprung back, dodging the lethal instrument by a hair. She looked behind her. Her knights were unhurt. She gave them a signal, making a precise shape with her hand, and the knights drew back, allowing the witches in their party to come to the front with Boralis.

“They’ve trapped the place,” said Boralis. “You stay behind me and scan ahead with magic. Keep a sharp eye out.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“The rest of you, follow after the magic users. I’ll take the front.” With that, she stood up in the middle of the hallway. “I think we can assume from our welcome that they know we’re here. Let’s move fast.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Boralis took off running down the corridor. Her witches used the spell Scan, locating most of the traps before they became an issue. Thanks to their efforts, Boralis’s company made their way unimpeded.

Unimpeded, that is, until a group of demihumans—bodyguards, perhaps—blocked their way, rushing in to attack.

Boralis at the head, the knights tried to force their adversaries back, but more attackers kept coming from the side or from behind, popping in from corridors or out of rooms. The royal guard pressed on valiantly, but more and more of their number were becoming injured.

Finally, they had reached the lowest basement level. “Is this as deep as it goes?!”

“Yes, ma’am!” said a knight, looking over the building’s blueprints they had acquired and comparing it to their surroundings. Boralis nodded.

“All knights, forward!” Boralis unstrapped the great shield from her back and readied it to bash through the door like a battering ram. She struck once! Twice! And the third strike splintered it to pieces. Boralis led the knights through the broken door and into the room ahead of them.

The room was empty, save for an unconscious man bound to a chair in the center.

One of the knights went to get a closer look. “Lady Boralis... Isn’t that man our informant?”

Boralis grit her teeth. “They got away. Damn them!”

◇A Room in a Different Building◇

A man smoked a cigar as he peered into a large crystal ball. Inside the orb, he could see Boralis and her knights as they continued their search of the basement. He had been watching them from beginning to end. Next to him was a woman wearing a silver cheongsam cut with deep slits. “It is as you said. Had we been but half an hour later in our escape, that knight woman would have caught us.”

The woman chuckled and then yipped, “But of course! Your protection is assured...so long as you keep your end of the deal. We signed a contract, after all.”

The man turned away from the crystal ball to face her. She was quite the beauty, although she hadn’t stopped chuckling. “I understand full well. I give you my word that we will sneak into Klyrode Castle and take the item your people desire. And you will provide us with protection?”

The woman stopped chuckling just long enough to say, “For our future prosperity, then!” and once again she yipped.

“Hrm. For our future prosperity.”

They shook hands, and both began to laugh.

◇Dark Citadel—Throne Room◇

The Dark One Yuigarde cried out, anger in his voice. “What are those layabouts doing?! Phufun! Tell me!” When Yuigarde had first ascended to the throne, more or less all of the peoples living near the Dark Citadel sent emissaries to publicly declare their loyalty. However, the chiefs of the demons in the west had yet to send word.

“I’m sorry, Master,” said Phufun. She was kneeling before him and pressing her head to the floor. “We’ve sent our own emissaries demanding an explanation, so if you could wait a little longer...”

Yuigarde folded his arms and glared at Phufun, clearly displeased. Then he looked up at the ceiling, giving the matter some thought. Those western bastards were always unruly, even when my brother was in charge... He lowered his head to look back down at Phufun. “Hey, those chiefs are foxes, right?”

“Indeed. The demon fox sisters Kintsuno the Gold and Gintsuno the Silver.”

“Ahh, I remember them! They’re that cowardly pair who’s always up to cheap tricks!” Yuigarde looked annoyed just at being made to remember their faces. “This stinks.”

Phufun suddenly looked up, pressed her fake glasses up on the ridge of her nose, and immediately started sniffing at her own body. “I... I stink, Master? But I take a bath every day...”

“What?! Who the hell said we were talking about you?!” Yuigarde cocked his fist and punched her with his full strength, mercilessly driving her face into the floor. “It’s them! Those abysmal sisters are plotting something, you useless succubus!” Having said his piece, Yuigarde sank back down onto his throne.

Phufun’s face was still buried in the floor, her body not even twitching. Aaaah, Master... This is it. The sweet pain... So strong that I can barely hold on to my consciousness... I can hardly endure it! Beneath the floor her face was red, her breath heavy. Even among succubi, Phufun was an extreme masochist.

◇Houghtow City—Hysui General Store◇

“It sounds like that group got the better of the castle’s knights,” said Flio.

Hysui nodded slowly, his expression strained. “There must be a spy,” he said. “These are some of the best knights in the kingdom, directly under the command of Her Majesty the Maiden Queen. If they can’t manage to catch up to them...” But then Hysui raised his face. “But,” he said, “it’s been a few days since we’ve had problems with fakes, thanks to the knights who broke up one of their bases.” Hysui smiled cheerfully, and Flio smiled back.

“This Concealment spell, though,” Hysui continued, “which is supposed to be so high level, and with the sheer quantity of goods, and in such a short time too... Whoever’s behind this must have quite a number of mages in their employ. High-level ones, at that.” The other day, when Flio had examined the fake merchandise using magic, he found traces of the spell Concealment on the items. He had told the Houghtow Merchants’ Guild, who in turn relayed the information to Klyrode Castle. “There isn’t much for us to do here other than hope the knights get it under control.”

“I suppose.” For a second, the two fell into awkward silence.

“Oh, that’s right!” said Hysui, striking his palm with his fist. “Mister Flio, we have your usual in stock!” He pointed to a crate in one of the corners of the shop. Flio put on a strained smile. “But those lembon fruits... You’ve been buying so many of them. Can I ask what you’re using them for?”

Just as Hysui had said, the box was full of lembons. Rys had been imposing on Flio to buy them for her just in case her pregnancy gave her cravings and her initial purchase proved insufficient. “Ah,” said Flio. “Well, you see...”

Unable to bring himself to tell the truth, that they were precautions for his wife’s pregnancy, Flio trailed off. All he could do was give Hysui a very forced smile.

◇Klyrode Castle—Sanctuary◇

Several days had passed since the raid on the mysterious malefactor’s base. It was the middle of the night, and Boralis was running for all she was worth.

“Hurry!” she shouted. “Don’t let them get away!” Running along behind her came her company of knights. Not long ago she had received a report that the castle sanctuary was under attack by unknown persons and readied herself for combat as fast as she could, rushing to the scene.

“How did they get in?!” asked one of her knights. “What is the night guard doing?!”

Boralis spat on the floor, her eyes narrowed in irritation. “It seems that they were able to get in through one of the secret passages.”

“A secret passage? But only the royal family should know how to find them!”

Boralis hissed, her irritation rising still further. This is his handiwork, she thought. It has to be. Of course a former royal would know of the secret passages... She turned to her knights. “We can worry about that later! For now, dedicate everything you have to catching the thieves. Hurry! In the name of Klyrode!”

“Yes, ma’am!” they responded in unison.

They arrived in the sanctuary just in time to see the culprits making an escape through a secret passage. “Don’t let them get away!” shouted Boralis, drawing her sword. “After me!” Shouting a furious battle cry, she charged at her enemies and joined the battle.

The first light of dawn was breaking over the horizon as the clash drew to a close. Boralis surveyed the thieves they had captured, bound tightly on the ground. “We were able to capture some of them,” she said, “so I suppose we must call this a victory.” She did not, however, look particularly triumphant. She fixed her captives with a contemptuous glare and sighed throatily in irritation.

“All right,” Boralis said, “make sure they’re properly restrained. I don’t want to give any of them an opportunity to kill themselves. When Her Majesty awakens, we’ll bring them before her for questioning.” A few of her knights approached the thieves to properly arrest them while Boralis watched on, her arms folded.

“Lady Boralis,” one of her knights approached.

“Yes? What is it?”

“The bureaucrats are done looking over the sanctuary. I’m sorry to say, but the thieves made off with a number of the castle’s treasures.”

Boralis brought her hand to her face. For a second she was silent. “Make a list of the stolen items,” she ordered. “We’ll include it in our report to Her Majesty the Maiden Queen this morning.”

“Understood,” said the knight, and went back into the sanctuary. Boralis watched her go with a bitter expression.

“Your Majesty...” she said. “Please, forgive me for my weakness...and my failure.”

◇Klyrode Castle Town—A Basement◇

A man on an extravagant chair shook the ash from his cigar. “And? Were you successful?”

“Yes, for the most part. We were able to retrieve the treasures they wanted, but...well, the knights were faster to react than we had anticipated. A number of our men have been taken prisoner.”

The man narrowed his eyes at his underling’s report. “Captured by mere knights,” he said. “Pitiful.” He clicked his tongue and took a long draw of his cigar. “Well, no matter. We’ve fulfilled our contract with the demons. I can’t say I care for their attitude towards humanity—they don’t even try to disguise their contempt. But their protection is exactly what we need.” The man smirked as he brought his cigar to his lips. “At least until our organization has achieved its completed form.”

He laughed, his low chuckle muffled by the cigar in his mouth, and turned to look at his subordinate. “You. Take our plundered treasure where it’s meant to go. We aren’t far from the castle, so don’t draw attention to yourself.”

“Understood. I will make preparations immediately.”

“Oh, yes,” said the man, remembering something, “and don’t forget to attach this to the crate, so they can recognize it.” He took out a hair ornament styled after a fox’s tail.

“Understood.” The subordinate took the ornament, bowed once, and hurried out of the room.

Alone, the man nursed his cigar and once again laughed in a low voice. “Disguised by our Concealment spell, the spoils will leave the castle along with goods from the city wholesalers and reach the hands of our friends. There will be no need for us to incur the risk of carrying stolen goods through Klyrode’s intelligence network ourselves.” He looked up at the ceiling. “I can’t show my face in public anymore, but who cares. I’ve had my fill of dealing with the allied army, inquiring after everyone’s readiness, keeping an eye on the enemy... As long as I can keep making money, I need nothing else. And now—now there is no reason for me to restrain myself.”

The man cackled again and again.

◇Klyrode Castle—Throne Room◇

“I knew it.” The Maiden Queen glared at the men Boralis had brought to her, a tortured expression on her face. These, of course, were the unidentified thieves who stole from the castle sanctuary.

“The companions of these men removed a number of treasures from the castle. We will have to learn where the treasures are headed and how they intend to use them, but first we should make them confess to their crimes.” Boralis stood tall at attention as she reported to the Queen.

But Her Majesty was not listening to Boralis’s words. She was staring at the thieves’ faces. She bit her lower lip, realizing that she had seen these men before. They had once been the personal guards of her father—the former king. When King Klyrode was deposed, they were among those exiled from the castle as accomplices. “You...worked for my father...”

This removes all doubt, the Queen thought. My father is involved in this affair. In which case, we need not wonder how they were able to make use of the secret passageways. Boralis was speaking, but the Queen’s mind was somewhere else, furiously considering her next course of action.

◇Klyrode Castle Town—Wholesalers’ Market◇

The wholesalers’ market in the Klyrode Castle Town was the largest in the whole kingdom. That is to say, they handled a huge number of goods dealt by a huge number of traders. And in the underground storerooms of the wholesalers’ market, a huge number of items awaited inspection. Items were given a brief inspection when they passed through the city gates, and because it wasn’t against the rules for merchants to carry their goods into the storehouse themselves, there were also a number of those who used the storehouse as a place to hand off items to other members of their organization.

“Right, put that here.”

“Got it—” the man carrying the box cut himself off. “Oof!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, uh, s-sorry, sir! I bumped a box and knocked something off...”

“Is that all? Well, put it back on!”

“Y-Yessir!” The man gulped. “Wh-Which box was it again? Was it this one?”

A worker for the market leaned their head in and shouted. “Hurry it up, you two! We got new merchandise coming in!”

“Got it!” shouted back the man’s superior. “Hey, we gotta go!” he added.

“Yessir...”

The two hurried out of the storeroom and into the crowd outside. A woman followed by several others walked in, each wearing a cloak with the hood pulled up that concealed their faces. There were many others milling around in the area, however, so their appearance didn’t attract much attention.

“I have to admit,” said the woman, “that old human man knows what he’s doing. A dead drop in the wholesalers’ market... In other words, he’s making it our problem to get it out of the city.” She let out a squeaky bark, then chuckled as she made her way through the crowd of humans. Eventually she reached a corner of the storeroom and approached a particularly disorganized pile of boxes. A hair ornament fashioned after a fox’s tail was attached to one of them.

A grin came to the woman’s face. “Here, this one! This is ours,” she yipped. The woman casually waved her hand, and the men who had been waiting behind her came up around the pile and got to work. Each man took one box, and left in the direction they came. She snickered as she watched on. “Not the hardest job we’ve ever done.” With that, she followed the men out and vanished into the crowd.

“Hysui General Store’s goods were around here, I think.” A middle-aged man—an official working for the wholesalers’ market—led another man along into the warehouse. “You know,” he added, “I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Are you a new employee?”

“Oh, no,” said Flio. “I just happened to have business with the market office. Mister Hysui asked me to pick up some items for him while I was here.” He pulled a document out of his Bottomless Bag and handed it to the official.

“Hm. I see. Mister Flio, representing the Hysui General Store. I’m sorry to have doubted you; it’s just that lately there’s been some shady group using this place to send illicit goods to each other. We’re all a little on guard at the moment.”

“Illicit goods? What sort?”

“I wouldn’t repeat this too loudly if I were you, but they’re fencing stolen goods, distributing to black markets... That sort of thing.”

“Ah,” said Flio, “I see.”

As they spoke, they drew close to a certain corner where a messy pile of boxes sat in a heap. “Oh, here we are,” said the official. “The boxes all look the same, you know. I almost walked right on by!” He tapped one of the boxes with his fist for emphasis. “Looks like they’ve been inspected already. You’re free to take them.”

“Thank you for your help,” said Flio. “Now...” Flio focused and in an instant the boxes were transferred inside his Bottomless Bag.

“I believe there’s another inspection point at the city gates, but show them this and they should let you through.” The official handed Flio a slip of paper. It read: “Notice of Delivery.”

“I see.” Flio reached out to shake the man’s hand. “Then I’ll be off,” he said, and he too left and joined the crowd outside.

◇Klyrode Castle Town—A Building Somewhere◇

The woman took off her heavy cloak to reveal a silver cheongsam underneath. “I found it!” she yipped, pulling the fox tail hair pin out.

Another woman sat in a chair before her, wearing a golden cheongsam with deep slits cut on the sides. She was smiling like a fox in a henhouse.

“I can hardly believe we would find one of our people’s hidden treasures in the sanctuary of Klyrode Castle,” the second woman said. She stood and walked up to the box, allowing herself a yip. “Now we have all three.”

“And now there is nothing that Yuigarde has to make us swear allegiance to him,” the woman in the silver cheongsam said. “I’ve had about enough of him.”

The two shared a look and both started snickering at once. “Oh, I heard that one of Yuigarde’s emissaries showed up at the stronghold demanding an explanation,” said the woman in gold. “But now we have a pretext to drive him away.”

“And if they show up again,” said the woman in silver as she placed a hand on the box, “we can come out to meet them—with the armies of the western demons at our back!” She howled with excitement.

“With one of the three Hidden Treasures of the Fox Clan, lost to us in our grandfather’s day: the Eastern Wind!”

“The legendary magic fan, said to conjure winds so great as to extinguish dragon fire!”

“Let’s see it!” both of them shouted at once, yipping with jubilance. Together, they wrenched open the lid.

“Yip?” said the woman in gold.

“Yip yip?” said the woman in silver.

What the two saw when they opened the box made them both stop still in shock.

“What...are these yellow things?”

“Are they...fruits?” The woman in gold picked one up and took a big bite out of it. “Ack! Sour!” she squealed. “These are lembons!”

“They’re what?! Why?!” The two shared another look and then stared into the box, but it was still full to bursting with nothing but lembons.

“W-We got the wrong box,” said the woman in gold. “It must be in one of the other boxes.”

“Y-Yes, you’re right! This one must be camouflage.” The two shared a laugh and moved on to the next box, and the next, and the next. But all they found inside were lembons, lembons, and lembons. When they got to the last box, the woman in gold flipped it over just to check that it really was nothing but lembons. It really was.

She screamed in a rage and threw the box to the floor with a violent crash. “That human! Is this a joke?! Did he betray us?! Is he making an enemy of me, Kintsuno the Gold?!”

“We have to question him!” said the other. “If he can’t explain this, I, Gintsuno the Silver, will eat him alive!”

Both sisters had anger written on their faces. Indeed, they were so enraged that they lost control of their magic and lost their human forms, reverting back to their true faces as demon foxes.

◇Houghtow City—Hysui General Store◇

Hysui was shocked. “What? Why is that in here...?” He tilted his head to the side as he checked the contents of the box.

Flio peered into the box over Hysui’s shoulder. “Hm? Is that not what’s supposed to be in there?” Inside the box was a large object wrapped in many layers of cloth.

“This order’s supposed to be all lembons...”

“A-Ah!” exclaimed Flio, sensing that Rys had put in yet another order. “You...don’t say.” He grimaced. “I assumed it was some kind of magic item. But if you didn’t order it, then what in the world...?”

Hysui could only stare, dumbfounded.

◇Klyrode Castle Town—A Building Somewhere◇

“What? Are you serious?” The demon fox Gintsuno the Silver’s tail bristled as she glared daggers at the man sitting in the lavish chair. “Your minions messed up and now the Eastern Wind is out somewhere?” She yipped furiously. All around, the mercenaries that the former King Klyrode had brought for his security were bloodied and lying on the floor.

Even under the force of Gintsuno’s glare, the former King smoked luxuriantly. “That’s the only explanation I can think of. We fulfilled our promise to you. We stole your damned treasure from the castle and delivered it to the underground storeroom, your mark attached. Perhaps the contents ended up switched somehow, or there was some other absurd misadventure.”

“Oh? How nice. Or are you just blowing smoke?!” Gintsuno brought her claws dangerously close to the former King’s face.

“Gintsuno, that’s enough.”

“B-But, sister!”

Kintsuno the Gold, in human form, jumped down off her little sister’s back and approached the former King. “Is what you said the truth?”

“It is. I swear it.” The former King Klyrode held out a sheet of paper, handing it to Kintsuno.

“What’s this?” Kintsuno yipped.

“It’s a list of where the boxes near ours were to be delivered to. If there was some mishap, you’ll most likely figure it out at one of these places.”

“Oh? You’re well prepared.”

“Of course I am. You know I value my life.” He took another puff. “This one’s going to some run-of-the-mill general store in Houghtow: ‘Hysui General Store.’ And the next is—”

Kintsuno yipped and held a hand over the former King’s mouth, interrupting him. “We’ll do the recovery ourselves. I’d hate to have another mishap.”

He clicked his tongue in clear irritation. “Understood,” he said. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“And,” added Kintsuno, “we expect compensation for the trouble. We’ll be by to pick it up once we have the treasure.”

Kintsuno ran out of the room with her sister turning to her human form and following.

“Godsdamned nuisances,” the former King Klyrode grumbled and clicked his tongue again and again, staring out the door through which the demon fox sisters had left.

◇Houghtow City—Hisui General Store◇

When they heard about the strange item, Uliminas, Ghozal, and Balirossa came to Hysui’s shop to have a look, and were now looking down into the box.

“It’s not something mew see everyday, that’s fur sure...” Uliminas took the thing in her hands, its cloth wrappings now removed. It was a fan, radiant with color. The leaf was made out of beautiful rainbow-colored feathers, and it was set with an uncommonly large magic gem in the pivot—the unmistakable hallmark of a magic item. In all, it was almost three times as large as a human’s head.

“I cast Apurraise Item, but all I got was ‘analysis failed,’” said Uliminas, slumping her shoulders. “It’s hidden by a really powerful Concealment spell.”

Balirossa nodded at Uliminas and turned to Ghozal. “Sir Ghozal, would your magic fare any better?”

Ghozal shook his head. “When it comes to appraisal magic, Uliminas is better than I am. If she can’t do it, I can’t either.” Balirossa folded her arms and looked curiously at the fan.

Flio also looked a little confused as he turned to Ghozal. “Even I can’t get much. Just its name: the Eastern Wind. When I check the other categories, it asks me for proof of ownership.”

“Oh?” Ghozal sounded impressed. “Well, good thing we had Mister Flio here to tell us that much, but...the Eastern Wind, was it? I feel like I’ve heard that name before...” he closed his eyes tight, thinking hard.

Balirossa stared at the fan. “But that makes it only stranger to have found it in a wholesaler market!” she said. “I don’t believe you can order something even Sir Ghozal and Lord Flio can’t analyze from a catalog.” The others nodded in agreement.

“It’s purrculiar, that’s fur sure,” said Uliminas. “Purrhaps we should send it to the castle?”

“Oh, I’m afraid that’s not allowed,” a woman’s voice yipped from the doorway. “Not after we worked so hard to steal it away from there!” Everyone turned to look at once and saw two women standing there. Gholl and Uliminas’s eyes widened in shock when they realized who they were.

“You’re the demon fox sisters, aren’t you?” said Gholl.

“No mewstaking it,” said Uliminas. “That’s them. The chiefs of the western demeowns.”

“My,” said Kintsuno. “It seems these humans know of us, sister.”

“They could be from the west?” Gintsuno replied. “All the humans there are our slaves.”

Ghozal and Uliminas gave each other a look as the sisters started to yip and laugh. The two of them had hidden their true forms with a high level Concealment spell. Well enough, it seemed, that the demon foxes seemed to have no idea that the humans before them were the former Dark One Gholl and his confederate Uliminas. Ghozal and Uliminas, on the other hand, knew all sorts of details about the demons they governed back in those days. They had recognized the foxes’ human forms immediately.

“That belongs to us,” yipped Kintsuno, “so hand it over!”

“If you give it back, we’ll let you be,” said Gintsuno. They were both standing with one leg exposed through the slits in their cheongsams: Kintsuno her right leg, and Gintsuno her left. They chuckled again, and of course yipped.

As the foxes talked and posed, Uliminas sent a telepathic message to Flio. These two are raring fur a fight. They’re not gonna want to leave witnesses...

Flio looked behind him where Hysui and Balirossa were standing. Well, first we should get the humans to safety... But he didn’t have time to complete his thought before Balirossa drew her sword, dashing past him to face the demons.

“Fiends!” she declared, facing Kintsuno and bringing her sword to a guard. “What treachery are you plotting?” She glared at them both.

Ghozal was staring openly at Balirossa. Hrm... he thought. Her stance is so beautiful. He gazed in admiration, giving no sign he recognized the danger of the situation.

Uliminas glanced to her side at Ghozal, her mouth agape. Don’t tell me... she thought, that meowron is purrobably thinking something like, “Hrm... Her stance is so beautiful.” She hissed.

Uliminas probably had too good of a read on Ghozal.

Meanwhile, the fox sisters faced Balirossa. “Well, well,” said Kintsuno. She sounded somewhat impressed. “A human, pointing a sword at me. You’ve certainly got some nerve, girl.” Kintsuno glanced at Gintsuno, who reached into her Bottomless Bag and retrieved an item that looked something like a gourd. She removed the lid.

“Who are you, girl?” asked Gintsuno. “Take it as a token of respect for your courage that we would ask your name.”

“I am a knight in the service of Lord Flio!” Balirossa declared. “My name is Balirossa!”

Gintsuno pointed the gourd at the knight. “Balirossa!” she cried.

“What?!” Balirossa cried back in a loud voice. But the next second, Balirossa’s whole body was sucked into the gourd. It happened in the blink of an eye. Flio, Ghozal, and Uliminas looked on in shock. Hysui fainted.

The Scouring Gourd that Gintsuno was holding was one of the hidden treasures of the fox clan. To use it, one must open the lid and call out the name of the person in front of them. If that person were to respond, their body would be sucked into the gourd itself, ground down and dissolved into magic wine.

“Aha ha,” Gintsuno laughed, yipping triumphantly. “Such a gallant knight will make for some excellent wine.” She shook the gourd and snickered.

◇A Mountain in the West◇

At last, Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya reached the sealed shrine. They opened the door, took the treasure by force, and now they stood outside after Gold-Hair had equipped their spoils. “Hey, Tsuya,” he said. “We were looking for the Champion’s Edge, right? But this is clearly armor...” He was wearing jet-black armor on his upper body and looked quite confused.

“Hmmm... Well, I’m suuure this is the right place,” said Tsuya. “I bet the adventurers just got it confused.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, I’m suuure! But Hero Gold-Haaair, that armor looks good on you!” Hiya grinned happily.

Hero Gold-Hair blushed a little and rubbed under his nose. “R-Really?!”

“Yeaaah!”

“It’s pretty comfortable too... Now, let’s see how its abilities are...” Hero Gold-Hair opened his own status window to check his condition and glanced at his equipment. “Hm?”

“What’s wrooong?”

“Hold on, Tsuya... This isn’t the ‘Champion’s Armor’—it’s the ‘Cambion’s Armor’!”

“Whaaat?! What did you saaay?! Cambions are bad news! Don’t tell me it’s cuuursed!”

Suddenly, Hero Gold-Hair fell silent.

“H-Hero Gold-Haaair?” Tsuya asked. No response. “Heeero Gold-Haaair?” Gold-Hair still said nothing. Tsuya blinked and tilted her head, concerned. And then, Gold-Hair suddenly started to scream.

“GWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” he howled to the sky.

“Oh, oh nooo! Hero Gold-Haaair?!” Tsuya was frantic. The armor seemed to be emitting a dark smoke as Hero Gold-Hair grew before her eyes, becoming a huge monster with a golden mohawk.

Tsuya scrambled up onto him and managed to cling to his mohawk. “Oh nooo! Hooow could this haaappen?!” she wailed. “Hero Gooold-Hair, stay strooong!” Crying, she desperately kept shouting as Gold-Hair charged off into the mountains.

◇Houghtow City—Hysui General Store◇

Gintsuno shook the gourd in her hand, chuckling. “For a mere human, she’s good enough to celebrate with before we head off to fight the Dark One!” she yipped.

Kintsuno was keeping an eye on her sister and an eye on Flio’s party. “Now, hand it over if you don’t want to end up like your friend. If you do—” Suddenly, Ghozal was inches away from her face.

“Huh?” she and her sister yipped in unison.

A second later, they were unconscious.

◇ ◇ ◇

When she came to, Kintsuno noticed that she was on the ground outside the shop. What... What just happened? She looked to her side and saw her sister, Gintsuno, lying spread eagle, unconscious. “G-Gintsuno!” she called, crawling over and shaking her shoulders. “Wake up!”

Suddenly, Ghozal burst from the shop, out for blood. When she saw his face, her memory of the past few minutes came rushing back to her: she had just told Flio’s group to hand over the fan when Ghozal had charged them at full speed, smashing his fists into their faces with enough force not only to knock them unconscious but to send them flying out of the shop. “Th-That man! What kind of human can do that?!” She shook her sister again, but Gintsuno showed no signs of awakening.

Then she noticed that her unconscious sister still had the Scouring Gourd clutched tightly in her hand. All right... she thought. It’s do-or-die. She took the gourd from Gintsuno’s hand and opened the lid. “Human!” she shouted, “Out of respect for your power, I ask your name!” Uliminas and Flio both burst out laughing.

She can’t be serious, can she? thought Flio. She’s going to try the same trick again?

She’s a meowron, thought Uliminas. We just saw Balirossa get sucked into that thing! Even Ghozal wouldn’t—

“It’s Ghozal,” said Ghozal.

Flio and Uliminas both came tumbling down the stairs. “D-Don’t!” shouted Flio.

“Mew blockhead!” shouted Uliminas.

Ignoring them, Kintsuno held out the Scouring Gourd and grinned fiendishly. “Ghozal!” she cried.

“What?!” Ghozal snapped back.

“Mew absolute total enormews blockheeeeead!” Uliminas rushed up to Ghozal and wrapped her arms around his leg. “Mewdiot! Don’t mew dare die before I can say I love mew! Before I ask you to meowrry me!” If I can’t stop him from getting sucked in, at least let us be wine together... She closed her eyes and held on for dear life.

Kintsuno, on the other hand, looked elated as she brandished the gourd. Time passed.

But Ghozal showed no signs of being absorbed.

“Wh-What’s happening here?” Kintsuno yipped, astonished.

Uliminas also looked up at Ghozal, confused. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“Hrm,” said Ghozal, as curt as ever. “Beats me.” Uliminas glared at him.

Kintsuno, for her part, gave the gourd a good rubbing and pointed it back at Ghozal.

“Um... Ghozal!” she yipped.

“What.”

“Ghozal?”

“What.”

“Ghozal! Ghozal! Ghozaaaaaal!”

“I already said, what!” Ghozal snapped, already angry and now annoyed at the fox demon unaccountably shouting his name. He flew into a rage and launched himself at Kintsuno.

Kintsuno shrieked and yipped, gripping her head in fear.

That seems to have worked, thought Flio as he sighed with relief while watching the scene play out, some way or another. He was still lying where he had fallen after tumbling down the stairs, but his arm was stretched out, a magic circle in front of his open hand. He had conjured a small magic circle at the mouth of the gourd, blocking it off completely. Thanks to Flio’s magic, it made no difference whether or not the gourd was open—it was stopped shut.

◇Minutes Later◇

Kintsuno and Gintsuno were lying beaten and ragged on the road, utterly trampled. They had been completely unable to fight back against Ghozal’s overwhelming power. “How... How can a human be this strong...?” muttered Kintsuno, but Ghozal paid her no heed. He took the Scouring Gourd from her hands.

Flio ran up to him. “Could I see that?” he said. “I might be able to—”

“No,” said Ghozal, “I’ve got it.” He fended Flio off and brought the gourd to his mouth. Flio had stopped using his magic to hold the liquid inside, so it all poured into his mouth. He gulped it down.

Kintsuno grinned as she watched. “That’s the solvent inside the gourd! You drank it! Oooh, I can’t wait to watch you melt from the inside!” she barked. Kintsuno was speaking truly. The Scouring Gourd held a solvent so potent that it could even melt down dragon scales, and Ghozal had drunk the whole thing in one swig.

Kintsuno started to dance with joy, sure of Ghozal’s imminent demise, while Flio and Uliminas turned towards him with worry in their eyes. But Ghozal seemed to be working something over in his mouth. He spat, and Balirossa appeared, collapsing on the ground in front of him.

“Meow?! I-Is your stomach okay?!”

Ghozal turned to answer Uliminas, holding his stomach. He belched loudly. “Yeah,” he said, “I still have about ten percent of my throat and stomach lining, and it’ll take the chest burn two or three days to kill me. No big deal.” He glanced down at the gourd in his hand. “And now that I’m done with this thing,” he said, and then crushed it in his hand. Kintsuno stopped dancing and fell to the ground, her face pale, and whimpered in distress.

Without bothering to spare a glance for the fox, Ghozal belched again, loudly, and rushed to Balirossa. He took her in his arms. “Balirossa, are you hurt? Are you alive?”

Slowly, Balirossa opened her eyes in a meaningless gesture. The acid had already robbed her of her sight. Her face and body were melted off in patches. It was a miserable sight. “S-Sir Ghozal...” she managed. “Please...don’t look at me now...”

“Why not?” said Ghozal. “You don’t look even a bit less beautiful.”

“Don’t be ridiculous... I know I must look terrible, in this state...”

“That doesn’t change a thing about your beauty.” Ghozal held her tight.

“Sir Ghozal...”

“Your heart is beautiful,” said Ghozal, “and that will never change.”

Uliminas sighed deeply as she watched and slumped her shoulders. There’s meowthing my healing spells can do against damage like that... she thought. Ghozal’s can’t do anything either... But Flio walked up to them and held his hand over Balirossa. A magic circle appeared, and Balirossa’s body began to shine brightly.

“Mister Flio...” said Ghozal, “I don’t think even you could—” But then he gasped. Balirossa’s wounds were closing with unbelievable speed. Her eyes regained their light and the parts of her skin that had melted off were mended before Ghozal’s eyes. Before long, her body looked like nothing had happened.

“M-Meow strong can that guy’s meowgic possibly be?!” Uliminas was so awed by what she was seeing that her body began shaking.

Balirossa’s eyes blinked, her sight suddenly returned. “Wh-What has happened?” Flustered, she began touching her face and body with her hands, checking if she really had been restored. Ghozal hugged her tight. “Sir Ghozal...”

“I meant what I said,” said Ghozal. “Even in that state, your noble heart was shining with beauty.”

“Th-Thank you...” Balirossa wrapped her arms around Ghozal’s shoulders.

“Well,” said Flio, who had stepped back a little from Ghozal and Balirossa, “I guess that went all right.” He forced a smile. He felt low on magic and was starting to experience a light vertigo.

It would take him three entire minutes to recover.

◇ ◇ ◇

Kintsuno ran for her life. When she saw the incredible healing spell Flio was casting, she turned into a demon fox, took Gintsuno in her mouth, and ran. Her speed was so great that none of the residents of the city were certain what they had seen. Bitter tears streamed down her muzzle as she streaked off towards the west. Not only did we not recover the Eastern Wind, but the Scouring Gourd was destroyed... Ohhh, they’ll pay. Believe me, I will have my revenge!

◇Houghtow City—Flio’s House◇

That night, with his magic recovered, Flio healed Ghozal’s injuries. “The solvent had started to melt your internal organs. That could have been bad.” He grimaced.

“Oh? Hrm... I guess I don’t know as much as I thought about myself!” he said, laughing.

“No, Sir Ghozal, listen!” Balirossa was frantic. “You must never do something so reckless again!” Most days, Balirossa would speak to Ghozal from some distance away, but now she was next to him, their bodies almost touching. She placed a hand gently on his knee. Her face was red with embarrassment. “A-And...I, too, will take care. I would hate to cause you worry.”

Uliminas glanced at Balirossa out of the corner of her eye as Balirossa and Uliminas thanked Flio for healing them. They looked like a good pair, bowing and expressing their gratitude. Uliminas was glum. Well, she thought, I can’t really blame them, after what happened... She sighed and turned away.

“Oh, Uliminas.” Ghozal suddenly called out to her.

“Meow?”

“So, you wanna get married?”

“Meow!” Uliminas’s ears and tail stood straight up as her face went red. She started mouthing incoherently. “M-M-M-Mew meowron! What are mew talking about?!”

“Hrm? Didn’t you say that when you were clinging to my leg? That you love me, and that you wanna get married...” He pressed his finger against his chin and strained himself to remember.

Uliminas, meanwhile, was frozen to the spot, the redness in her face now spread to her upper body. Dammewt, I can’t believe I just blurted that meowt...

“Hrm,” said Ghozal. “How about this: among demons, it’s normal to have as many as three wives. If you’re willing, Uliminas.”

“Excuse me?!” Balirossa stammered. “Sir Ghozal! You can’t possibly be saying—” She cut herself off. She hadn’t meant to react to Ghozal’s words, and her face was now red too. She hung her head. “Oh! N-Never mind!”

“My lord husband,” said Rys, “what do you think will happen with those three?” She was sitting next to Flio, watching the proceedings with a shocked expression.

Flio smirked. “Who knows. I certainly can’t imagine,” he said. “Well, whatever happens, happens.”

Rys was silent.

“What’s the matter, Rys?”

“My lord husband...” she said slowly, “you are human, yes?”

“Yeah, last time I checked. Why?”

“Um, I... I promise to devote my whole life to you, so...” a desperate gleam was in her eyes as she did her best to appeal to her husband. Flio thought he understood what she was thinking.

“Me too, Rys,” he said. “I’m yours and no one else’s.”

“My lord husband... Thank you so much.” Rys smiled happily in Flio’s arms and closed her eyes. Beside them, Gholl, Balirossa, and Uliminas continued their conversation. It looked like it would be a while before they would come to any kind of conclusion.

◇Stronghold of the Fox Clan◇

Gintsuno the Silver and Kintsuno the Gold were in shock as they took in the state of their stronghold. Gintsuno yipped. “What... What happened?”

The fox clan’s stronghold was built incorporating the natural mountains and caves of the region. Right now, it was in ruins. Even the mountain itself looked like it had been blasted away. It was a truly horrific sight.

“How...” Kintsuno stared in awe, mumbling to herself, her body shaking. Beside her, Gintsuno sank to the ground in shock.

A surviving demon fox approached. “Elder Kintsuno...” they said. “You see, well... While you were visiting the city, we were attacked by a strange monster.”

“A strange monster?”

“Yes. It wore a suit of black armor on its upper body, and it had a golden mohawk. It looked very strange...but even alone it was absurdly strong. By the time we realized it was here, it had already sent the whole mountain flying...”

“I... What?” Kintsuno gulped in shock. “Well, where is this monster now? I assume you captured it?”

“Well,” the demon fox hesitated, “we destroyed its armor, but that thing was fast. It vanished in the blink of an eye.”

“Imbecile!” yipped Kintsuno. “After all your foolishness, you let this thing get away?! Go after it! It cannot be allowed to escape!”

“Yes, but...”

“But what?! Is there some kind of problem?!”

“W-Well, yes... It’s just that most of us are still trapped under the rubble of our stronghold.”

“What?”

“We need to treat the injured first, and then we need to rebuild...”

The fox’s words made Kintsuno clutch her head in seeming agony. “But,” she whined, “we were going to defeat the Dark One Yuigarde...”

“We might not even be the chiefs anymore after this...” whimpered Gintsuno. The two of them stared in shock for a long while before they finally stood up on their unsteady feet and began to help clean up the scattered rubble.

◇In a Forest◇

Hero Gold-Hair sat on the bank of a river, struggling to catch his breath. “Somehow,” he puffed, “we managed to get away...”

“Yeaaah...” said Tsuya. “I was reeeally worried for a while there...” Tsuya sat down next to Hero Gold-Hair. Her hair and clothing were a mess, her smile dry.

“But how were you able to get me out of that damned Cambion’s Armor?”

“Oh, yes! You hit the mountain like booooom! And then looots of foxes and humans came out! They broke the armor for you, Hero Gold-Haaair!”

“I see,” said Gold-Hair. “Judging from how much my body hurts, it looks like I took all sorts of attacks. Well, I suppose they did break the curse for us. I should be grateful to them.”

“I think so toooo.”

The two sat next to each other by the river for a while, gazing up at the sky. It was starting to get dark, and the first stars of the night were starting to come out. “Tsuya,” said Hero Gold-Hair, “three things.”

“Yeees?”

“First. If you learn about an item, make sure you have the details before telling me about it.”

“Okay, Hero Gold-Haaair!”

“Second, when we find the item, make sure before we use it that it’s actually the same thing.”

“Yes, Hero Gold-Haaair.”

“And last...even if I did get turned into a monster again, that’s no excuse for pulling my hair so hard!” Gold-Hair pointed emphatically at the top of his head, where his famous hair sat.

“Whaaat?! But, your hair was the only place I could grab ooon!”

“I don’t want to hear about it! It’s just something that’s been bothering me, okay?!”

“Um, buuut—”

“No buts!”

The pair’s banter went on and on beneath the starry sky.