Chapter 2: An Ordinary Day for the House of Flio

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

One day, it just so happened that Flio and Greanyl were out on delivery, Rys was occupied with housework, Hiya and Damalynas were away dealing with some business, Blossom was doing farmwork, Byleri was tending to the horses, and Belano was teaching at the Houghtow College of Magic. And so it was left to Uliminas, Balirossa, and Ghozal to tend to the shop.

Uliminas, who had once served as treasurer for the Dark Army, continued to focus on financial work, working the shop’s register and handling its records. Today was no exception—she was sitting behind the counter, dealing with customers.

A man who looked to be an adventurer was gazing at the dragonscale shield decorating the counter with an expression of wonder. “This shop’s equipment is all so well made!” he said. “This is dragonscale, right? That stuff’s hard to work with. To craft it into a masterpiece like this... I don’t know what to say!”

Uliminas smiled cheerfully at the adventurer. “Our artisans are the best around! We have lots of purrpawsterously powerful magic items too. Why don’t mew take a look around?” The magic items in this shop were made by the likes of Flio, Hiya, and Damalynas: three of the greatest magic users in the land of Klyrode. They were phenomenal items that were casually displayed like any old magic staff or what have you. The prices were an absolute bargain too. As you can imagine, more and more customers came to the shop every day.

As she dealt with today’s customers, Uliminas kept turning to steal a glance in the direction of the shop’s door. Ghozal stood there, looming over the shop with crossed arms and an imposing stance. He was working as the shop’s guard. His presence was hidden from the customers with magic so as to not frighten them. The majority of customers never so much as glanced in his direction.

Ghozal, for his part, was staring fixedly at the area of the shop where Balirossa was hard at work restocking the shelves. Dressed in an apron, she hurried in and out of the shop, replenishing the supplies of magic gems or equipment as they ran out. Every now and then a customer would ask her a question about the merchandise, and she would smile and do her best to explain. Ghozal was engrossed by her every movement. Hrm... Balirossa is beautiful, even at work, he thought, and nodded his head once.

“Don’t tell me,” Uliminas muttered to herself, “that man’s going, ‘Hrm... Balirossa is beautiful, even at work.’ Mew could spare a glance at me for a change!” She puffed out her cheeks.

“Um, is there something wrong, miss?”

“Bweh!” Uliminas’s face flushed bright red. “No! Meowthing at all! Meowt a thing! Aha ha...” She put on her best friendly smile.

The customer looked uncertain. “No? Well, all right... Say, is that fire sword for sale?”

“Y-Yes! Thank you! For your business!” Uliminas smiled again and took the weapon down from the wall. At some point, Ghozal had started looking her way. Hrm... he thought. Uliminas is beautiful, even disguised as a human... But with his presence magically concealed, Uliminas never noticed him checking her out.

Balirossa saw Ghozal nod in Uliminas’s direction. Oh, she thought, sighing softly, I am certain Sir Ghozal is thinking, “Hrm... Uliminas is beautiful, even disguised as a human.” If only he would look at me like that, even a little... She shook her head vigorously. “What am I thinking? Don’t be ridiculous, Balirossa,” she whispered to herself, then got back to stocking goods.

Not Ghozal, Uliminas, nor Balirossa had any awareness of how convoluted their relationship had become.

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

In front of Flio’s house was a ranch managed by Byleri and a farm managed by Blossom. Byleri was in the ranch’s office, getting some paperwork in order. Byleri, who had a real gift for working with horses, used this space to raise horse-type magic beasts. Sometimes she would lend her horses to merchants to use to pull their wagons. The papers she was handling right now were records of those transactions.

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

“Oh?” Byleri said, greeting Hiya with her usual big smile. “Hi, Mx. Hiya! Like, what’s up?”

Hiya gave a shallow bow. “I would like to express my gratitude for your assistance the other day.”

“The other day?” Byleri pressed her finger to her cheek and tilted her head. “Like, I’m not sure what you mean?”

Hiya gave a genuinely cheerful smile. “I speak of you lending us your precious book, Ser Byleri.” Byleri’s face went red.

Byleri was a healthy young adult in her early twenties. Ever since her time with the castle’s knights, she had been fascinated with the idea of trysts between men and women. By now, she had built up a secret collection of literature on the subject, which she would often quietly enjoy. The other day, Hiya had found one of her books and helped themself to it.

“And the book in question...” The book magically materialized in Hiya’s hand. Byleri, still blushing furiously, snatched it away from them and hid it behind her back.

“Um!” she said, her voice suddenly squeaky. “I didn’t actually, like, lend it to you, y’know? You just came in and took it...”

Hiya smiled at the girl. “Now, now, there’s no need for that,” they said as if they were trying to mollify a child. “That book was very intriguing. Of course, everything in your collection is excellent. I hope that you will lend me more.”

Byleri moved from her chair to sit on top of a nearby box. She seemed like she wasn’t going to budge. She shook her head urgently. “Well, like, there aren’t any more! None! That book was totally the only one, y’know? A-And there definitely aren’t any in this box, so, like, don’t even think about it!” She couldn’t have possibly made it more obvious that the books were hidden in the box she was now sitting on.

Hiya, of course, realized immediately. They glanced down at the box underneath Byleri’s butt and smiled again. “Is that so?” they began, and then seemed to change course. “No. I do not wish to take your books by force.” They waved their hand and another book appeared in their grasp. “I happened upon this specimen when I was visiting another world,” they said. “If it suits your interests, Ser Byleri, I would like to propose a trade.”

“It doesn’t, it doesn’t, it doesn’t!” Byleri shouted as she pushed Hiya out through the office door. “It totally doesn’t suit my interests! Like, please just go home!” She slammed the door shut and pressed her back against it, holding it closed with her body. “Oh my gods,” she whined. “Like, that Mx. Hiya is just...y’know?” Still blushing, she raised her head. If they find any more of my books, I’m totally gonna die of humiliation!

Then she noticed the book Hiya had called a specimen, left behind on top of her desk. “H-Huh?!” she exclaimed. “M-Mx. Hiya! You, like, forgot your book!” She picked it up and began to hurry after the djinn. But then she stopped in her tracks. Her eyes fell upon the book’s title—it was called The Princess and the Horsemen.

Byleri had loved horses since she was a little girl. She had always excelled at their care, so much so that she was given the great honor of tending to the warhorses of Klyrode Castle. In fact, she took such good care of them that when she left the army the horses under her care became severely depressed. That was the extent to which Byleri loved and understood horses. She took a closer look at the book.

Horsemen? Huh? What? Huh? Like, I didn’t know there were demihumans like that! I-I mean, it would be totally cool if there were, but...huh?

◇ ◇ ◇

Hiya watched Byleri from the other side of the door, using magic to observe her as she picked up the book and began to stare, spellbound. Hah. I believe I will have new research materials sooner than I expected, they thought, a satisfied smile on their face.

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

In front of Flio’s house was a ranch managed by Byleri and a farm managed by Blossom. Right now, Blossom was standing with one hand on her hip and scratching her head with the other. “Is this for real...?” she asked, not fully aware that she had spoken out loud.

Next to her the goblin Hokh’hokton stood in a near-identical posture, one hand on his hip and the other running through his hair. “W-Well, I certainly never expected this...” he said.

They were staring at Maunty, the other goblin farmworker.

◇Several Days Earlier◇

Blossom and the two goblins had finished their work for the morning and had been enjoying lunch together when Maunty said something that made Blossom’s eyes go wide. “A wife?!” she exclaimed. Maunty blushed and scratched his cheek.

“Y-Yes,” he said. “The truth is, I have a wife and kids... Might I have your permission to bring them here, Lady Blossom?”

“What? Of course!” Blossom grinned and gave Maunty a friendly smack on the shoulder. “But I had no idea you were married, Maunty! Gave me a bit of a shock!”

“I-I may?”

“Hey, if having her here helps you settle in, I’m all for it! I’ll talk to Lord Flio for you, all right?”

“Oh, Lady Blossom, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!” Maunty took a deep bow again and again. Blossom just smiled.

“Oh!” she said, turning to Hokh’hokton. “By the by, Hokh’hokton... If you have a wife or kids or something, you’re welcome to... Huh?” Blossom cut herself off, her mouth wide in surprise. Hokh’hokton had cast his eyes down, staring miserably at the ground.

“Some goblins have all the luck...” he muttered darkly. “A wife and children? Bollocks. Strike me down right now, why don’t you...” He continued on in that vein, almost as if he were performing an incantation for a curse. Blossom was at a loss for words.

◇And Back in the Present...◇

After all that was over, Maunty had headed out to fetch the rest of his family. Upon his return, Blossom and Hokh’hokton went out to meet them. What they found was a veritable horde of goblins.

“This is my wife, and these are my children,” Maunty said. “We have fifteen in total, starting with Cynthia, our eldest.” He bowed, and the other sixteen members of his family followed suit.

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

Blossom nudged Hokh’hokton with her elbow as she stared. “Hey, Hokh’hokton... Did you know Maunty had such a big family?”

“N-No... I didn’t even know he was married until the other day...” he said in disbelief. Blossom made a strained smile.

Maunty, by contrast, was grinning jubilantly. “Oh, I was so worried about the family I left behind in the old country... I had resolved myself that there was nothing I could do about it! It is such a relief to have them here. I promise you, I will work the fields harder than ever before!” He laughed heartily.

While he was celebrating, Maunty’s wife pulled him aside. She looked worried. “Are... Are you sure this is safe? That woman...she’s a human, isn’t she?”

It was only natural that she be concerned. The world was embroiled in a war between the human armies of Klyrode and the demons of the Dark Army, and goblins were one of the weaker demons to exist. Even a human with no experience in fighting could easily dispatch a goblin if they came to blows.

Blossom, who had overheard, grinned brightly. “Now, there’s no need to worry about that, madam,” she said. “The master of this house treats everyone the same, human and demon alike. Anyway, look!” Blossom pointed at something behind the goblins. They followed her finger to see a magic circle taking shape. Not long after, a door appeared from the middle of the circle. It opened, and out poked Ghozal’s head.

Ghozal turned to look at Blossom. “Hey, Ser Blossom!” he said. “We’re running out of vegetables at the shop. We’re gonna need some more.” He held out a stack of empty baskets.

“Well, that’s good to hear!” said Blossom, smiling as she walked over to the door. “It means they’re selling well!” She took the baskets.

“Hrm. Your vegetables are very well-regarded. Uliminas said a restaurant in town wanted to sign an exclusive contract for them.”

“You serious? Well, that’s just incredible!”

Maunty’s wife watched Blossom and Ghozal chat amiably, tilting her head like she was puzzled by something. “Excuse me...Lady Blossom?” she asked. “Who is that man...?”

“Ah, of course! You can’t tell who it is ’cause he’s in disguise as a human!” Blossom turned back to look at Ghozal. “Well, what do you say? Nothing wrong with showing the goblins your demon form, is there?”

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

“Hrm,” said Ghozal. “Very well.” He turned just his upper body back into its original demonic form.

“Whaaa?” The wife’s eyes shot open wide. “No, it can’t be... Lord Gholl?!”

“Hrm.” Ghozal turned back into his human form. “I was Gholl, once. Now I am Ghozal, a freeloader at Mister Flio’s house.”

Blossom walked up to Maunty’s wife, who was now staring at Ghozal and trembling, and nudged her with her elbow. “See? Our master Lord Flio’s the kind of guy who’s perfectly happy living with the former Dark One. Me too, of course.” She flashed the goblin a cheerful grin. “Well? That good enough for ya?”

“Y-Yes,” she said. “More than enough.” Gradually, she calmed down, and seemed to be more relaxed than before.

“Hey, Ser Blossom!” Ghozal interjected. “Would you mind getting the vegetables?”

“Oh! Sorry, sorry! I’ll do it straightaway!” Blossom ran off into the fields.

“I’m going to help,” said Maunty, and he set off after Blossom.

Behind him, his wife and their troupe of children followed along. “I’ll help too!” said his wife.

Hokh’hokton trailed behind, dragging his feet. “I-I’m not jealous...” he sobbed. “I’m not jealous at all!”

Ghozal watched Hokh’hokton trudge towards the fields. “Hey!” he called after him. “Uh... Good luck?”

◇Meanwhile, on the Highway to the Calgosi Coast◇

A fast horse-drawn coach thundered along the highway, under orders from their Queen to investigate the conditions of the Calgosi Coast. Mages from the Magic Corps were seated in the front, repeatedly casting spells like Reinforce Speed and Recover Stamina on the horses to strengthen them. Thanks to their efforts, the coach was moving at nearly ten times its usual speed.

The atmosphere inside the coach was somewhat odd. A company of knights sat on the left side, and a man and a woman sat on the right. The man wore an extravagant red outfit. The woman, who was pressed up close against him, wore hardly any clothing at all. The two—well, you’ve probably already guessed by now that they were Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya.

The knights, who were all men, kept stealing glances at Tsuya’s exposed body, each and every one of them flustered. From time to time the silence would be broken by somebody or other clearing their throat, but nothing more.

One of the knights smiled and turned to look at the pair. “Um...” he said. “You’ve had a hard time, haven’t you? Getting attacked by bandits in the mountains and everything...”

Tsuya smiled cheerfully. “We haaave,” she said. “They wouldn’t leave us alooone!”

“They kept chasing after you?”

“They diiid! It was sooo unfair! Even if our stuff was stooolen or fooorgeries, they didn’t need to chase us aaalllll the way from the ciiity to the mountains! It’s prooobably because we stole it from those shaaady traders, but— Ow!” Hero Gold-Hair thumped her on the head, interrupting her careless ramble. It was a hard blow. Tsuya bent forward, clutching her head and giving the knights a clear view of her ample cleavage. They couldn’t help themselves from staring.

Hero Gold-Hair grinned and laughed, speaking loudly in an attempt to take advantage of the knights’ confusion. “Yeah, that really was a shock!” he said. “I could handle two or three bandits on my own, but we were attacked on our way to the city by a dozen men from every direction! They stole every last bit of our merchandise!” He spoke as civilly as he could manage, gesticulating wildly as the knights stared at Tsuya’s bosom.

Tsuya had said all sorts of things in her rant—things about stolen goods and shady traders—that were probable cause for arrest, or at least an investigation, but the knights were so engrossed by her chest that her words went in one ear and out the other. The only explanation they would remember later would be Hero Gold-Hair’s. They nodded their heads as he spoke, stealing glances at Tsuya’s cleavage.

One of the knights, who looked to be the leader of the company, seemed to finally notice that he had been drooling over Tsuya’s breasts. He loudly cleared his throat. “W-Well!” he said. “If there were that many bandits, you might still be in danger here. Would you like us to take you to a town on the other side of the mountains?”

“Ohhh, nooo!” Tsuya started. “Thaaat city’s no gooood! We tried the same thing theeere, so they alreadyyy think we’re criminals! They might send mooore guards after us—or mercenaries! Ow!” Gold-Hair gave her another thump, and she doubled back over, again clutching her head. Once again the knights found themselves staring straight into her cleavage.

Hero Gold-Hair stood up in front of the knights, raising his voice and waving his arms. He was trying to draw their attention to himself. “Y-Yes, well!” he said. “You never know if the bandits have allies waiting to ambush us in the nearby towns! We’d appreciate it if you took us a little further away, if you can!”

The knights still seemed too captivated by Tsuya’s breasts to register what she had said. They nodded along to Gold-Hair’s story. “Well...I suppose I can’t deny the possibility...” the leader said. “Tell you what. We’re headed to the Calgosi Coast. We could drop you off there, if that’s acceptable.”

Hero Gold-Hair nodded. “Thank you!” he said with a boisterous laugh. “Glad to travel with you!”

◇ ◇ ◇

It was standard practice that if a team of knights were to rescue someone from bandits or the Dark Army during their mission, they were to deliver that person to where they needed to go. It would be an exception if the mission was secret, of course, but these knights’ only orders were to reach the Calgosi Coast quickly and ascertain conditions there. They were quite willing to take Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya where they asked. They had no idea that the ones attacking them had been mercenaries and guards sent by the cities where the two had tried to sell their ill-gotten gains to arrest and interrogate them.

Taken in by Hero Gold-Hair’s story, the knights held a quick meeting to discuss their plans. In order to prevent the two civilians from overhearing their discussion of military matters, they spoke quietly and screened their faces from view with their hands.

As they did, Gold-Hair leaned in to whisper in Tsuya’s ear. “What is wrong with you?!” he hissed. “Going on and on, saying steal this and criminal that... Are you trying to get us arrested?!”

“Fweh! S-Sooorrrry!”

“Look, we’re in danger here. We need to hold on until we reach Calgosi Coast. Until then... Not. Another. Word. Do you understand?”

“Y-Yeeess...I understaaand...”

“And another thing...don’t lean forward like that!”

“Fweh?”

“Those...knights...were staring right at those ridiculous tits of yours. I’m telling you to be careful!”

“O-Okaaay! I wiiill!” Tsuya bowed sharply.

This woman... Hero Gold-Hair thought, I wish she’d stop showing men other than me so much of her body... He took his cape and wrapped it around her shoulders as the coach sped up, hurrying along towards the Calgosi Coast.

◇Dark Citadel—Throne Room◇

The Dark One Yuigarde sunk heavily into his throne, grumbling in irritation. “Hmph. The dragon brat quit out of nowhere, and our fighting force isn’t anywhere near ready... This is absurd,” he spat.

He was interrupted from his brooding self-pity by his minion Phufun. She stepped up to his throne. “Master Yuigarde, do you have a moment?”

Yuigarde glanced at Phufun, his miserable expression not changing in the slightest. “Well? Out with it. If it’s boring, I’ll smash your face in.”

Phufun, ever the masochist, seemed a bit overly affected by those words. She flushed. “I would be quite happy if you did, you know...” she said, and then, mastering herself, she cleared her throat and pushed her fake glasses up the ridge of her nose. “P-Pardon me,” she continued. “I mean, I spoke with the southern demons. It seems that there is a group of human pirates that employs some demons among their number. They have a fleet of over a hundred ships, and a fighting force of over a thousand pirates.” She pushed her glasses up the ridge of her nose again. “What do you say? Shall we arrest these demons the pirates hired and conscript them into the Dark Army?”

“Well.” Yuigarde stopped moping. An evil smile spread over his face. “That’s pretty interesting after all. So? You have a plan?”

“Yes, Master,” said Phufun. “The south is within the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode’s sphere of influence, so we will have to do this without attracting attention. I propose we form an elite task force with the Infernal Four at its core, and—”

Suddenly, Yuigarde stood up. “Good thinking, Phufun. And I’ll take the command of this task force!”

“Wh-What?! Y-You’re going yourself, Master?”

“Yeah! I’ve been so agitated, you know. This’ll be a good way to relieve stress! I’ll head over there and tear things up a little!”

Yuigarde laughed and laughed. He seemed to be having a grand old time. We’re all going to get in trouble if you keep deciding to attack on a whim! Phufun thought, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it and ruin Yuigarde’s spirits. “Th-Then,” she said, “I will make preparations.” She bowed and left the throne room.

Yuigarde stretched his arms, warming himself up. “Mwa ha ha ha ha!” he laughed. “Finally, some violence! This is what I live for!”

◇ ◇ ◇

High up near the ceiling of the throne room, eyes shone in the darkness, watching the Dark One Yuigarde from the shadows of the grand reliefs carved into the walls. “It looks like he took the bait...” said a voice.

Another voice spoke in response. “Your plan was brilliant as ever, Master.”

The first voice laughed. “I knew that amoeba-brained idiot would insist on going himself if he heard there was an opportunity to strengthen his army somewhere only a small team could reach, but that was even easier than I thought!”

“Master,” said the second voice, “please allow me to handle the next stage of our plan.”

“Very well. I’m counting on you.”

“C-Counting on...me? Such kind words... Then I won’t let you down. I will carry out our plan if it costs me my life.”

Their conversation finished, the eyes vanished, along with their owners. Far below, the Dark One Yuigarde was swinging his arms, completely oblivious to their presence.

◇Houghtow College of Magic◇

The Houghtow College of Magic wasn’t far from the Fli-o’-Rys Company. It was there that Belano, one of the members of Flio’s household, taught classes in defensive magic for adult students. Today she was on her way to the classroom to do just that.

As soon as she opened the classroom door, though, Belano’s eyes shot open. The class was so full that there wasn’t enough room for everyone to sit down, leaving a pack of students standing up in the back of the room.

Students at the Houghtow College of Magic were free to register for whichever classes they liked. Normally, students would avoid registering for overcrowded courses and find another that was less packed, but Belano’s class was an exception. The classroom she was supposed to start lecturing in was absolutely jam-packed.

Belano froze stiff in the doorway. She was beginning to have second thoughts about this. But then the students noticed her. They stood as one—even the ones with seats—and turned to greet their teacher.

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

“Eeek!” Belano shrieked and jumped in the air.

◇ ◇ ◇

Belano taught her class, internally panicking until the very end, and then ran as fast as she could to the administrative office. She burst inside and darted up to Taclyde the clerk’s desk, face red and breathing hard. “M-M-Mister Taclyde!” she cried.

Taclyde smiled at the frantic young teacher. “Miss Belano!” he said. “What seems to be the trouble?”

Belano flapped both arms in a panic, trying to calm herself. “Th-Th-The students! In my class!”

“Oh, is this about your class earlier? We were absolutely swamped with applications, you know. When we ran out of desks, we started telling people they should try again next semester, but everyone said they were fine standing!” Taclyde produced a stack of application forms and showed them to Belano. Taclyde, as the only clerk at the College of Magic, had collected these himself. There had been so many applications for Belano’s class that it had left him shocked.

There was a reason for all that, of course. Belano, who had an extremely high degree of social anxiety, would get flustered and embarrassed as she taught. She would oftentimes deliver her lectures blushing and staring determinedly at the floor. She was so small, she had to stand on a footstool to write on the chalkboard. She would drag her stool from place to place, making cute little noises of exertion as she did. If she needed to reach the top of the chalkboard, she would stand on her tiptoes, straining herself and stretching her arm up as high as it would go, her legs trembling.

Something in her mannerisms touched something deep within the students’ hearts—something that said: “How can a teacher possibly be this cute?!” An ever-increasing number of the student body had become fans of Miss Belano, and more and more people applied for her class until there wasn’t enough room in the classroom for them all.

“S-Some of the students don’t have chairs or desks,” Belano stammered. “Isn’t that a problem for them?”

“Oh, is that what’s bothering you?” asked Taclyde. Belano nodded fervently. “Let’s see...” Taclyde said as he folded his arms and thought. “Well, why don’t we move your class to the main hall? There’s more than enough room there for the entire student body to—”

“Oh no, I can’t do that! I can’t, I can’t, I can’t!” Belano shook her head. “B-B-But! Please don’t put so many students in the class that they have to stand! Please?”

“Should I not? The students said that they didn’t mind...and the more students who take your class, the higher your bonus!”

“I mind, even if they don’t!”

“Are you sure?”

“I am!”

Taclyde sighed. “All right,” he said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Th-Thank you... You’re such a big help...” Belano bowed again and again.

From then on, students in her classes were limited to the number of desks in the classroom. It would get to the point that prospective students would line up all the way out of the hallway on the first day of registration to try and score a seat in Miss Belano’s class, but that’s a story for another time.

◇Houghtow City—Flio’s House◇

“Hmm...” Rys stood in the kitchen, deep in thought with her arms folded. She was looking at a great pile of wooden crates. Inside those crates was only one thing: the fruit known as the lembon. Lembons were a singularly sour fruit, not suitable to eat in large quantities. Rys had heard somewhere that pregnant women crave sour foods, and had become obsessed with stocking up on lembons just to be safe.

But to her despair, Rys still showed no signs of becoming pregnant. “My lord husband is certainly doing his part. I’m sure I’ll have a child sooner or later...but I really do need to do something about these lembons. I bought these with my husband’s hard-earned money. I can’t waste them...”

Even so, she thought, what was I thinking? Why did I order this many?! Things had gotten to the point where even she, after some serious soul searching, had to admit that she had bought too many lembons.

As Rys was thinking, Wyne popped up beside her. “What’s that?” she said. “Fruit?” The wyvern picked up a lembon and bit into it. As soon as it touched her tongue, her cheerful smile vanished. “Bleh! Sour! Bleeeh!” she cried, running over to grab a drink of water and guzzling it down.

Rys was starting to panic. “Even Wyne can’t handle them...” She stood there for a while longer, racking her brain, until she suddenly remembered something. “Of course! There might be something in one of the cookbooks I bought in Sojieya!”

Sojieya was a rural town to the north of Houghtow. Not long ago, the whole house had gone on a trip there. Rys had stopped by a general store called Miyan Walkey that had an impressive variety of books. She bought a number of them, all related to cooking. She had been hoping to increase her repertoire of dishes to serve the household, especially Flio.

Rys went upstairs to the bedroom she shared with her husband Flio, and went up to the bookshelf attached to the wall. There, next to Flio’s books on magic theory and practice, were Rys’s cookbooks.

“Maybe something in one of these...” she said, taking a number of books off the shelf. She sat down on the dresser and started leafing through the pages. Her hair swayed in the breeze that blew in through the window as she read attentively, not taking her eyes off the pages.

“This might work!” she said finally. “I’m going to try it.”

◇ ◇ ◇

Rys returned to the kitchen, where she covered her long hair with a cloth and tied on an apron. She began picking out all sorts of ingredients: sugar, eggs, flour, and butter... She placed them all on the kitchen counter. Wyne and Sybe, who had been playing together in the living room, noticed something was happening in the kitchen and poked their heads through the door to see.

“Wait just a minute, please,” said Rys, turning to look at them and smiling happily. “I’m going to do my best to make this good!” Wyne and Sybe smiled and nodded.

Rys mixed the sugar and eggs into the butter. Then she washed a lembon and removed its skin with her sharp wolf claws. She grabbed the flesh of the fruit in her fist, and with a little “mmf!” of exertion, squeezed the juice into the bowl with the sugar, eggs, and butter. She mixed the grated peel with the flour and added the dry mixture in with the rest. She then poured it into a mold and switched on the magic oven. When it was finished baking, she took her first attempt out of its mold and arranged it on a large plate, which she placed on the kitchen counter to cool.

She began to start on a second, while Wyne and Sybe sneaked their way into the kitchen. Sybe, who had been in its psychobear form, transformed into a unicorn rabbit. It was much less visible that way. They crept along on their tiptoes, moving silently while Rys’s back was turned. Before long they had reached their target. The two looked each other in the eyes, and nodded in unison. Then they looked up to where the cake was sitting and slowly reached up to grab it, when...thwack! Rys’s monstrous wolf claw stabbed into the counter, right before their eyes. The pair froze.

Rys had been a ways away busying herself with cooking a second ago, but somehow, at some point, she had come up behind them. She brought her face close to the would-be thieves. “Wyne? Sybe? If you will not wait when you are told to... You won’t get off so easily next time.”

Wyne and Sybe nodded wordlessly again and again, before slowly making their way out of the kitchen.

“M-Mama’s scary...” said Wyne.

Sybe snuffled in agreement.

◇ ◇ ◇

It didn’t take too long. Rys dissolved sugar in boiling water to make a syrup, added lembon juice, and used the mixture to glaze the cake. “So this is what it looks like,” she said, turning her head to get a good look at the fresh-baked cake from all angles. She had succeeded in making the lembon cake from the cookbook.

Rys cut the cake into slices and took it out of the kitchen to where Wyne and Sybe were patiently waiting on their knees. Sybe, who wanted to eat more than it could as a unicorn rabbit, transformed back into a psychobear.

“Thank you for waiting! Now, are you ready to try it?” she said, holding out the plate with the cake on it. Wyne and Sybe grinned and reached out to take a slice of cake each.

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

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

Rys took a slice of her own to taste. “Oh! This really is good!” she said. Before long, the rest of her slice had disappeared into her mouth. “I’m sure my husband will be thrilled!” she said. Beaming, she went back into the kitchen to make more.

“Although,” she said, looking over at the crates of lembons as she grabbed the ingredients from the shelves, “with this many lembons, perhaps we should sell these cakes at the Fli-o’-Rys General Store...”

As she was thinking, Wyne and Sybe came up behind her holding the now-empty plate, eagerly demanding seconds.