Chapter 2: The Creeping Shadow

“Gwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” The Dark One Yuigarde swung his iron club wildly, smashing through rank after rank of the enemy. Zanzibar’s rebellion couldn’t stand up to his ferocity. They were in a total rout.

“Damn him, that amoeba-brain!” Zanzibar cursed, watching Yuigarde rampage from afar as he fled on horseback.

His lieutenant Meiden rode beside him. “I thought the Dark One Yuigarde was just some meathead,” she said, a bitter expression on her face, “but this is ridiculous! I never imagined we were so outmatched.”

The two rode into the forest at a fast gallop, the rest of the rebellion following behind in a frantic retreat. “Zanzibar!” Yuigarde yelled as he took chase from behind. “This is the day I’ll have your head!”

Yuigarde was crude, rough, and ill-tempered by nature, and moreover he had suffered a decisive defeat when he led the whole Dark Army to attack Klyrode Castle. To Zanzibar, it seemed like he did not have the charisma necessary to keep the Dark Army together as a coherent force.

“This is my chance!” Zanzibar decided. “I will strike down Yuigarde and become the new Dark One!”

He had launched a rebellion against Yuigarde, but the Dark One wasted no time in retaking the Dark Citadel, stopping his plan to declare himself the new Dark One. And now he was forced to retreat, bunkering down and trying to fend off Yuigarde’s attacks.

However...

◇A Mansion, High in the Mountains◇

Zanzibar finally managed to shake off Yuigarde’s pursuit and retreated to one of his hidden bases—a mansion hidden high in the mountains. For a while he just threw a tantrum, grinding his teeth in irritation and stomping on the floor. “That blasted Yuigarde! It’s been one defeat after another ever since he took to the field!”

Meiden’s lips were pursed in a thin straight line. “We assumed that with the Dark Citadel under attack, he would lock himself inside and not come out. It was a terrible miscalculation. We were going to separate the Infernal Four and deal with them individually before launching an all-out assault on the Dark Citadel, but the Infernals never left...”

“Not only that,” Zanzibar said through gritted teeth, “but we had no idea how strong Yuigarde was. I thought he was nothing compared to Gholl, but he might be even stronger...”

Meiden knitted her brow. “The Dark One’s rampaging power scattered our main force into the wind,” she said. “Some of them were captured, some of them surrendered, and more of them were defecting to join the Dark Army each day. And now all the demons watching this incident will come to the conclusion that they have us outmatched. That will only lead more of them to side with the Dark Army.”

“Gah!” Zanzibar shouted, slamming his fists into a desk in a fit of rage and splintering it into a million pieces. “I hate it!” He lifted his eyes to look at Meiden, panting hard as he spoke. “Meiden, tell me you have a plan. Tell me you have some way to turn this around.”

Meiden pressed her clenched fist to her lips. She stood silent in thought for a while, until suddenly she raised her index finger into the air. “One, anyway,” she said.

“What?”

“One, anyway. I can think of one plan, Master.”

“Really?! You can?!” Zanzibar ran over to Meiden and grabbed her firmly by the shoulders. Meiden nodded seriously. “What is it?” Zanzibar asked. “Tell me, Meiden!”

“Yes...” Meiden said. “Perhaps...we could call on the Mistress of Evil...”

“What?!” Zanzibar’s eyes shot open at Meiden’s words. “The Mistress of Evil?! The goddess who rules the Dark World? The goddess who allows the Dark One to use the power of that land in exchange for tribute? Isn’t she allied with the Dark One? Why would they lend us any aid?”

Meiden’s lips curled up in a smile. “I’ll just say that it’s possible, Master,” she said.

“It is?! Truly?!”

Suddenly, another woman’s voice intruded on their conversation. “Oh, certainly,” she said. “It is quite possible.”

“Mmh?!” Nobody was allowed in the estate’s chambers without Zanzibar’s permission. He turned to look at the source of the voice, and found a woman standing there. Zanzibar wasn’t sure where she had come from. I couldn’t sense her presence at all... he thought, but he stifled his surprise to face the woman with a coolheaded demeanor.

The woman was slender, and dressed in the garb of a shadow demon—brown and black, and styled like a ninja outfit. Meiden stepped up to the woman. “Master,” she said, “this is Riliangiu. She is one of the Mistress of Evil’s familiars.”

“What?!” Zanzibar couldn’t maintain his cool. His eyes were wide open in shock.

The woman—Riliangiu—stepped forward. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Zanzibar,” she said. “I am Riliangiu. My people have long served as intermediaries between the Dark One and the goddess Sterner, Mistress of Evil.” She placed her right arm to her chest in a salute.

Zanzibar stared intently at Riliangiu, not concealing his distrust in the slightest. “And why is a familiar who works as an intermediary with Yuigarde here? Isn’t the Mistress of Evil on friendly terms with the Dark One?”

“I am here because of two men,” she said. “The Dark One Gholl, and the Dark One Yuigarde.”

“Gholl and Yuigarde?”

“Yes. For generations, the Dark Ones of this world made offerings to the Mistress of Evil in exchange for a blessing of magic power from the Dark World. My people have long served as the collectors of that tribute, but—”

“But the Dark One Gholl stopped paying your mistress tribute?” Zanzibar interrupted. “Is that it?”

“Precisely.” Riliangiu nodded.

Zanzibar folded his arms and thought. I can believe it. No Dark One has ever had as much magic power as Gholl. Perhaps he did not feel it necessary to obtain the power of the Dark World... “But,” he said, realizing something, “the current Dark One is Yuigarde. He’s all brawn and no brain. He has nothing like the sort of magic power Gholl wielded. He must have a use for the power of the Dark World. Can you not come to the same arrangement with him?”

Riliangiu gave him a wry smirk. “I am afraid the goddess Sterner is rather angry with Yuigarde.”

“Angry?”

“Indeed. That man tried to draw out the power of the Dark World by force in order to defeat the Dark One Gholl. The goddess Sterner does not look fondly on such actions.”

“I see...” A smirk came to Zanzibar’s face. He really is all brawn and no brain, he thought. To think he would incur the wrath of the Mistress of Evil! “So,” he continued, “you, a familiar of the Mistress of Evil, came to us, prepared to offer me the blessing of power?”

“Just so.” She saluted again, holding her hand in front of her chest. “If you agree to offer this world to the Mistress of Evil, she will grant you the power of the Dark World with which to conquer this one. In exchange, the Dark Ones of this world will be entrusted with its administration.”

“Offer the world to the Mistress of Evil...” Zanzibar mused. “That’s a lot to ask, isn’t it? The previous Dark Ones only made yearly offerings in exchange for her acknowledgment as Dark One, if I’m not mistaken.”

“That was the arrangement with those who already ruled as Dark One. You seek to defeat the Dark One of this world, do you not? I have heard reports that the former Dark One Gholl is still alive and in good health, as well.” As she spoke, Riliangiu took a jewel from a pouch on her belt. It seemed to shine with an inner light. “It will not be enough to defeat the Dark One. You must send the former Dark One to his grave as well. Then you must crush the human kingdom of Klyrode. In exchange, we will offer you power. Is that acceptable?”

Riliangiu set the jewel on the ground at her feet and began to chant. As she did, the jewel’s light grew brighter and brighter until it became a great magic circle. That jewel! Zanzibar thought. Could that possibly be the Jewel of Passage, the one that can allegedly conjure a gate between this world and the Dark World?!

While Zanzibar’s mind was racing, a vast gate materialized above the jewel. It slowly opened. Zanzibar and Meiden watched with bated breath. Then, a woman appeared, with beautiful black hair almost long enough to reach her feet. Her hair billowed around her like a cloud as she alighted to the ground. She wore brown clothing, but her outfit covered very little of her body. She laughed under her voice as she turned to look at Zanzibar.

“So, you’re little Zanzibar?” she asked. “I am Valentine, one of the Twelve Evil Generals.”

“The Twelve Evil Generals?!” That title sent Zanzibar reeling. The Twelve Evil Generals?! Those are the direct subordinates of the Mistress of Evil! The greatest warriors in the Dark World! I-If one of them is on our side... “Ah ha ha ha ha!” Zanzibar laughed triumphantly. “This world is as good as mine!” He got down on one knee. “I agree to your terms,” he said. “I will offer this world, and everything in it, to the goddess Sterner, Mistress of Evil!”

Valentine glanced over at Riliangiu. “This is the boy?” she asked. “Your new candidate for Dark One?”

“Yes, General,” Riliangiu said. “This is he.”

“Hm.” Valentine chuckled as she looked over Zanzibar. “He’s quick on the uptake, at least,” she said. “That makes things easier.” Behind her, the gate she had passed through made a loud sound and vanished, scattering into the air. “Well,” Valentine said. “It looks like my own magic power was all the Jewel of Passage could handle. Riliangiu, is everything ready to complete the Grand Passage?”

“Yes, General. Everything is complete. All we need now is the magic circle.”

“I see.” Valentine chuckled, and a lavish armchair appeared behind her. She sat down. “Well then, get on it! Chop chop. Summon me my three djinn so I can bring this world to heel!”

“It will be done.” Riliangiu saluted the general and vanished.

As if he were swapping out with Riliangiu, Zanzibar stepped in front of Valentine and kneeled again. His lieutenant Meiden knelt behind him. “G-General Valentine,” he stammered, “what would you have us do? Speak, and we will obey.”

“Hee hee hee... Well, I certainly appreciate the sentiment,” Valentine chuckled. “But all I want you to do, boy, is act the part of the new Dark One. I’ll take care of everything.”

“Ahh...” said Zanzibar in relief. “I am glad to hear it...”

“Hee hee... We’re getting the world out of this deal,” she said. “So think of it as on the house.” Now, she thought, I wonder how much entertainment this world will give me? Oh, I can’t wait!

◇Underground◇

Tsuya cried out with joy at the enormous vein of magic gems before her eyes. “Wow, Hero Gold-Haaair! This is amazing!”

Hero Gold-Hair was digging farther ahead. The gems gleamed beautifully in the light of Tsuya’s magic lantern. “Yes!” he said. “When I saw fragments of magic gems on the top of this hill, my intuition told me there’d be a vein of magic gems down here.” He hoisted his Drilldozer Shovel over his shoulders, a triumphant grin on his face. “Okay, Tsuya! Let’s get ourselves a handful of these gems!”

He got back to work, wielding his Drilldozer Shovel vigorously as he excavated the magic gems. Tsuya followed along, putting the gems into her Bottomless Bag. The two labored on, beaming happily.

◇At the Foot of a Hill in the Forest◇

Riliangiu raced through the forest until she came upon a smallish hill. She stopped and looked up. “Yes, this is the spot. At a glance, this looks like an ordinary hill, but underneath lies an abundant vein of magic gems. I will use the power of those gems and open the Grand Passage, connecting this world with the Realm of Evil.” She pointed at the ground and began to chant.

Her body shone brightly, the light concentrated into the tip of her right hand. After a moment of this, she released it. “T-Tch...” she grumbled. “Casting the Grand Passage is going to take every last bit of magic power in my body.” She steeled herself and continued chanting. Before her, a great magic circle appeared.

Riliangiu gasped. “Th-That’s one...” She nodded proudly at the completed magic circle. The amount of magic she had used was taking a toll on her body, though. She was panting and heaving her shoulders for breath. “Th-Three more to go...”

And then, she vanished.

◇Several Minutes Later◇

From the hill near the magic circle, the sound of digging could be heard. Slowly, it grew louder and louder until a portion of the ground crumbled, the head of a shovel peeking through. A man’s voice rang through the air as the shovel moved from left to right, widening the hole. When it was big enough for a human to pass through, the man stepped out.

Hero Gold-Hair let out a big sigh of relief. “It seems we made it back to the surface.”

Tsuya followed along from behind, just as happy to be in the fresh air. “Yeeeah! I thought we were dooone for when the tunnel entrance collaaapsed!”

“Well, but still!” Gold-Hair said, patting the Bottomless Bag on his belt. “Who would’ve thought there were so many magic gems under that hill?” The bag was as big as a fist, but inside it could fit about as much as your average treasury. It could carry a truly staggering amount of magic gems.

“But you know,” he continued, “I got a bit of a look from the top of the hill. I think this vein might continue deeper into the forest!” Tsuya nodded along, beaming happily. “And these definitely aren’t stolen goods, so there’s no reason we can’t sell them in town! Let’s go, Tsu—yah?!” Suddenly, something near his foot caught Hero Gold-Hair’s eye. “What are these lines?” He stared down where Riliangiu’s magic circle was etched into the earth. “I’m not sure what this is,” he said, “but probably best to get rid of it.”

“Reeeally??” Tsuya said. “You thiiink so?”

“Yes. My intuition is telling me it’s better off erased.” Hero Gold-Hair took his shovel back out from his magic bag, while Tsuya retrieved her own. The two dug out the area of the magic circle, and tossed the dirt around to ruin it.

The magic circle was composed of lines etched with the power of Riliangiu’s magic. An ordinary shovel would simply dig out the earth beneath it without touching the lines themselves. They weren’t physical lines that could be moved in such a way. However, this was the Drilldozer Shovel—a treasure passed from generation to generation in the royal line of Klyrode. Not only could it dig deep holes in the blink of an eye, but it was enchanted to dig on unimpeded, no matter the obstruction. Gold-Hair and Tsuya dug up the magic circle Riliangiu had spent so much of her magic to cast, and erased it.

A while later, Hero Gold-Hair sighed with exhaustion as he surveyed the site where the magic circle used to be. “Right! That does it!”

“Hero Gold-Haaair!” said Tsuya, proffering a handkerchief. “Use this to wiiipe yourself off!”

“Thank you, Tsuya!” Hero Gold-Hair wiped the sweat from his brow. “Well then! We should head to a nearby town for now and sell all these gems! Let’s go, Tsuya!” he said, and headed off towards the road.

“Okaaay, Hero Gold-Haaair! I’m coooming!” Tsuya followed along, a smile on her face. “Do you thiiink they’re vaaaluable?”

“Mm. This is just my intuition speaking, but I think they just might fetch a good price.”

“Yaaay! And theeen, let’s go get a good meal! It’s been sooo looong...”

“Let’s! It doesn’t hurt to indulge from time to time!”

“Hooraaay! I can’t waaait!”

Chatting on, the two vanished into the forest.

◇Half a Day Later◇

A stunned look came over Riliangiu’s face as she finished the fourth magic circle. “Something... Something’s wrong...” She had set magic circles in all directions surrounding the hill. With them and the power of the lode of magic gems underground, it should have opened the Grand Passage to connect the world of Klyrode to the Dark World—the Realm of Evil. But even though it had already been an hour since she’d finished the fourth, there was no sign of anything magical happening anywhere nearby.

She sunk down to the ground, completely baffled. “What happened? I’m certain I set the magic circles properly...” She had expended almost all the magic power in her body creating those circles—she couldn’t even muster the force to stand. “I can only imagine that something unexpected has happened. I should... I should investigate...”

Riliangiu tried her hardest to take to her feet, but her knees buckled and she collapsed to the ground once more. “But...” she said. “But first I’ll take a little rest...” She spread out her arms and legs, and lay down on the forest floor.

◇Meanwhile, in a Nearby Town◇

Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya stood in a general store, a number of their freshly excavated magic gems set out on the counter. The person behind the counter—a woman with silver hair—eyed the gems hungrily and adjusted her glasses.

“Well?” said Gold-Hair, eager to move things along. “How much can we get for these?”

The woman looked up. “These are excellent-quality magic gems.” She yipped—and then caught herself, covering her mouth. “A-Ahem! Yes, magic gems. I’ll buy them for a high price.” She gave them a strained smile, hoping they hadn’t noticed her earlier blunder, and withdrew a bag of coins from underneath the counter.

“Huh?!” gasped Hero Gold-Hair.

“Wooow!” chirped Tsuya. The two cried for joy. The bag was much, much bigger than what they had expected.

“If you’re giving us this much for the magic gems, I certainly don’t have an objection!” said Gold-Hair. “I’ll take you at your word! We’ll sell you all the magic gems we brought to town today!”

Hero Gold-Hair began to shift the magic gems from the Bottomless Bag to the counter, while the silver-haired woman smiled wickedly to herself. That was a very low price I quoted them! she thought. I didn’t expect them to actually bite! But who are these two? Where are they getting so many high-quality magic gems?

The silver-haired woman watched the magic gems pile up further and further with an expression of growing shock. “E-Excuse me,” she ventured. “Sir, may I ask where you found these magic gems?”

“Oooh!” said Tsuya. “There’s a hiiill to the— Mmph!” Hero Gold-Hair hastily shoved his hand over her grinning mouth.

“Idiot!” he whispered. “We were going to keep that vein of magic gems a secret! If some company finds out, they’ll snatch it away from under us!”

“Mghhf! O-Oooh, thaaat’s right. I’m sooorry, Hero Gold-Haaair...” Tsuya nodded fervently.

“Um...” the silver-haired woman asked. “Sir? Ma’am?”

“Oooh!” said Tsuya in an unnatural monotone. “I’m sooo sooorry! I thooought I kneeew, but I must have forgooot! Aha ha ha...” She grinned stiffly.

“Yes, that’s it!” Hero Gold-Hair added. “If we remember, we’ll go back to dig up more! Aha ha ha ha...” He didn’t sound any more convincing.

Those two are clearly lying... the silver-haired woman thought, giving them the side-eye. Well, whatever. “We’ll buy any more magic gems you bring us for the same price,” she said, counting out their pay.

“Wooow!”

“Yes! Thank you!” Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya looked at each other and nodded, and then stuffed the coins they had been given into their Bottomless Bags.

“If you can bring me more magic gems by tomorrow,” the woman said, a cunning gleam in her eyes, “then I’ll offer you an extra twenty percent as a bonus.”

“Fweeeh?! Twenty perceeent?!” Tsuya’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

Hero Gold-Hair took Tsuya by the arm. “Tomorrow, is it? All right! I-I still don’t remember where the magic gems were,” he lied unconvincingly, “but we’ll see what we can do!” The pair left the shop with astonishing speed.

The silver-haired woman watched them go, her eyes sharp. “I must tell my sister Kintsuno the Gold at once!” she said. “We’ve found a good mark!” She yipped as she rushed to the back of the store. Her body glowed, and suddenly she transformed back into her form as Gintsuno the Silver. None of the customers took any notice.

◇Later, South of the Hill◇

When Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya made it back to the hill, they were out of breath but both had big smiles on their faces. “I neeever expected the magic gems to sell for that muuuch!” Tsuya exclaimed. “I was so surpriiiised, Hero Gold-Haaair!”

“Tell me about it!” Gold-Hair grinned. “We need to bring some more of these gems back to that shop before they change their minds! Quickly, Tsuya!”

“Yeees, sir!”

The two ran on, bobbing their heads, until they reached the site of their previous tunnel. “Hm...” said Hero Gold-Hair. “We should try somewhere else. We already dug up a good chunk of the magic gems around here!”

“Oh... Okaaay Hero Gold-Haaair!” said Tsuya. The pair continued on to the east and vanished into the trees.

A patch of grass to the west rustled, and out popped Riliangiu. She appeared so soon after Gold-Hair and Tsuya left that it looked for all the world like she was tagging in. “I thought I heard somebody talking just now...” she said as she scanned the area left and right, on high alert. She kept a careful watch for some time, and then she cocked her head, confused.

Ordinarily, it would have been easy for her to cast Search to scan the area and find Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya running along, but today she had spent most of the magic in her body creating those magic circles. She didn’t have enough magic left to cast the spell. Instead, to conserve magic, she manually searched the area with her eyes and ears. But it was not enough to detect the two running to the east.

“It must be my imagination,” she said. She didn’t sound completely convinced, but still she stood up from the thicket and stepped forward. “Ghk!” What she saw left her stunned. “Th-The magic circle! It’s gone!”

Riliangiu stared at the patch of earth, speechless. She was sure this was the place she had set the first magic circle. It should have still been there, but because Hero Gold-Hair had followed his intuition and gotten rid of the circle, there was no sign of it anywhere.

Riliangiu had no idea what could have happened. “Th-This can’t be! I am certain this is the place! So... So... Where did it go?!” Her body was shaking, her eyes wide open. “C-Could I be in the wrong place?”

Stumbling on unsteady feet, Riliangiu went off to inspect the area and vanished into the tall grass.

◇Later Still, East of the Hill◇

At the foot of the hill there was a hole. It was clearly freshly dug, and it seemed to extend inward, underneath the hill itself. Hero Gold-Hair was sauntering out of it, his shovel resting on his shoulder and a grin on his face.

“What a haul! I knew it was the right decision to dig in from a different direction! I never imagined there were so many magic gems to dig up! We had pretty much gotten all there was to get from the south.”

Tsuya, following along after him, smiled as she spoke. The two went to look at their Bottomless Bags—each one packed full of magic gems.

“All right, Tsuya!” said Hero Gold-Hair. “Let’s take these back to that general store!” He took off in the direction of the town.

“Okaaay! Yes sir, Hero Gold-Haaair!” Tsuya saluted and ran along after.

“But you know, Tsuya,” Gold-Hair said after a while. “I really wonder what those weird circles are...”

“I knooow. The one to the east was juuust liiike the one to the south!”

“Hm. My intuition told me I should get rid of that one too for good measure, so I took care of it with my Drilldozer Shovel! But I wonder... Do you think there’s another one to the north?”

“I dunno... Do you wanna go looook?”

Hero Gold-Hair gave it some thought. “Maybe we should,” he said. “But our Bottomless Bags are full. We should go back to sell the gems at that general store, and then come back and check out the north!”

They ran at full speed in the direction of the town as they talked, and soon vanished out of sight into the tall grass.

Rustle rustle rustle...

As soon as Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya were out of sight, a patch of tall grass in the other direction began to shake. Gintsuno the Silver parted the grass to get a better look at the scene. She chuckled and yipped. “It looks like they have no idea I followed them.”

Gintsuno stepped out to get a better look at the hole Hero Gold-Hair had left behind. “Looks like, looks like!” She snickered. “And this must be where they’re excavating those magic gems!”

Kintsuno the Gold emerged from behind her, followed by a number of people who looked like workers. They were carrying shovels and pickaxes—tools for excavation. They had even brought horse-drawn carts to carry the gems back.

Gintsuno crossed her arms. “That Shadow King, though,” she said. “He’ll provide tools and manpower, but he himself insists on holding down the fort. I can’t help but feel a little like we’re getting the short end of the stick.”

Kintsuno looked at her sister, then leaned in to whisper in her ear, smirking. “Pay it no mind,” she said. “Even for a human, that man is in terrible shape. Climbing mountains would be a lot to ask. And anyway, since he’s not here, he won’t notice if we sneak a few extra for ourselves!”

“I suppose that’s one way of looking at it!” The two sisters grinned at each other and nodded their heads.

“That settles it then!” said Kintsuno. “Let’s hurry up and help ourselves to these gems!” She waved to the workers and they started towards the hole, when suddenly they heard a woman’s voice.

“You! What are you doing there?!”

“Yip?” barked Kintsuno.

“Yip yip?” barked Gintsuno. The fox sisters looked at each other.

“That wasn’t me,” said Kintsuno.

“That wasn’t me either,” said Gintsuno. “Then, who...?”

The two looked around for the source of the voice, until both pairs of eyes settled on a patch of grass. Then, from that patch, Riliangiu emerged. She was trembling as she looked back at them.

“Who are you?” asked Kintsuno.

“I’ve never seen you before,” said Gintsuno. The two stared at the shadow demon. She seemed to be sizing them up.

“So it was you...” Riliangiu said, slowly moving closer despite her unsteady body. “It was you who erased my magic circles...” She crossed her arms in an X-shape in front of her, and from the elbows to the tips of her fingers they changed shape to long blades.

Kintsuno and Gintsuno transformed into giant foxes—one gold and one silver—readying for a fight. “I don’t know what kind of demon you are...” said Kintsuno.

“...But don’t think for a second you can beat the demon fox sisters!” Gintsuno finished.

“Don’t make me laugh.” Riliangiu raised the blades on the ends of her arms. “No demon of this world is a match for me. I am Riliangiu, familiar of the Mistress of Evil!”

“Huh?”

“Th-The Mistress of Evil?!” Kintsuno and Gintsuno shrunk back, hesitating, as Riliangiu danced into the fray.

◇ ◇ ◇

The fight was over quickly. As drained of magic as she was, Riliangiu was still a familiar of the Mistress of Evil. She called on her last reserves of power and attacked the foxes viciously.

“Wh-Who cares about the Mistress of Evil?!” said Kintsuno.

“If we combine our powers, we can overcome anything!” said Gintsuno.

But even with the two of them working together, they were knocked off their feet by the force of Riliangiu’s magic. The workers had been sent flying by the attack. Only Kintsuno and Gintsuno remained.

“This isn’t good!” Kintsuno yipped. “We can’t beat someone from the Dark World!” Gintsuno had suffered a serious wound and lost consciousness. Kintsuno took her sister in her mouth, grabbing her by the scruff, and ran away as fast as her legs could take her, the surviving workers running along after her, fleeing for dear life.

“J-Just wait!” said Riliangiu. “I’ll have your heads!” She tried to make chase, but she had pushed herself far too hard already. She didn’t have the strength to keep up with Kintsuno and Gintsuno. Her arms turned back to normal, and reaching out in the direction the foxes had fled, she collapsed on the ground unconscious.

◇The Next Morning, by the Hill◇

Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya drove their wagon through the forest, grinning deliriously at each other. “Hero Gold-Haaair!” Tsuya said. “That foxlion steak we had last night was sooo gooood!”

“It was!” Gold-Hair nodded cheerfully. “It was so tender...like it could melt on my tongue!”

“The fiiish soooup was really good toooo!”

“It was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten! It isn’t often you find good seafood so high up in the mountains!”

The two rhapsodized to each other about the meal they had shared last night. Hero Gold-Hair and Tsuya had made a small fortune from selling the magic gems they had found and treated themselves to a night of luxury. They stayed at a high-class hotel, ate at a high-class restaurant, and even went ahead and bought a high-class horse-drawn wagon to drive to the hill.

“Now!” said Hero Gold-Hair. “Just like yesterday, let’s dig up the magic gems and take them back to that shop!”

“Yeaaah! They saaaid they’d give us an eeextra twenty perceeent!”

Suddenly, Gold-Hair noticed something behind Tsuya. “Hm?”

“What iiis it, Hero Gold-Haaair?” Tsuya turned to look, and found a woman collapsed on the ground.

“What’s up with her, do you think?” said Hero Gold-Hair. “Not a lot of people come this deep in the mountains. And she’s unconscious?”

“She’s riiight byyy the hole you dug! She wasn’t here yeeesterday...” Tsuya pressed her index finger against her lips and tilted her head in confusion.

“Well, it isn’t our problem,” Gold-Hair said. “But still...she might show up in my dreams if I let her die by the side of the road. I guess we’d better go look.” He turned the wagon in the direction of the fallen woman.

Tsuya gazed adoringly up at Hero Gold-Hair. Hero Gold-Haaair... she thought. It’s so nice when you help people like that...

“What? Is there something on my face?”

“Nooo!” Tsuya shook her head. “It’s nooothing!” She had been staring.

◇ ◇ ◇

With agonized slowness, Riliangiu blinked awake. It felt like she had been sleeping for a long time. Nhh... Where am I...? Then she remembered. That’s right... I collapsed chasing after those reprehensible louts who stole the magic gems and destroyed my magic circles... She started to sit up.

“Oh?” She heard a man’s voice. “It looks like she’s waking up!”

“Nwuh?!” Startled, Riliangiu cried out in distress. She opened her eyes to see a man’s face floating in the middle of her field of vision. He had hair like spun gold, and a very attractive face. He was carrying Riliangiu in his arms, princess-style. Riliangiu blushed red. Wh-Wh-What is this?! Why is some golden-haired Prince Charming fellow carrying me in his arms?! This sight of it shook her so much that she stayed in his arms, peering up at him, not moving an inch.

“Hmm...” Hero Gold-Hair said as he carried Riliangiu to his wagon. “Looks like you’re doing pretty bad. I guess that’s not surprising after you collapsed in the mountains like that!”

Wh-What’s happening to my body? Riliangiu thought. She couldn’t look away from his silky, radiant hair and his utterly perfect face. He looked more and more handsome by the second. I suppose...I should just wait and see what happens for now... She closed her eyes and touched a hand to Gold-Hair’s chest.

Just then, she heard Valentine speaking in her mind. “Riliangiu? Riliangiu, can you hear me?” After sleeping for a night, after a fashion, Riliangiu had recovered a bit of her magic—enough to receive telepathic communication. “What’s happening with the Grand Passage?” Valentine asked. “I’m getting bored of waiting.” Her voice sounded angry.

Riliangiu’s mind started racing. It would be impossible to create the magic circles again with the amount of magic power in my body right now. And it looks like those giant foxes took the gems from under the hill, so I couldn’t use them as a power source anyway. All I can do now is... She sighed.

She focused her thoughts and responded to Valentine’s message. “I may be going outside of telepathy range,” she said. “And I am unavailable due to lack of consciousness.”

“Huh?”

“Please allow me to try again later.”

“What?! Riliangiu, what’s—”

Riliangiu cut off the conversation. General Valentine, I am so terribly sorry, she thought. There’s nothing I can do. I need to delay creating a new Grand Passage until I find another suitable location and recover my own power. I’m not doing this because I want that Prince Charming to hold me more, or because I want to get to know him. Absolutely not.

But despite what she told herself, Riliangiu was clinging tightly to Gold-Hair’s shirt.

◇A Room in Zanzibar’s Mansion◇

In a room in the mansion, Valentine shouted at thin air. “Riliangiu? Riliangiu?! Riliangiu!” But no matter how hard she tried to project her thoughts, she wasn’t able to reconnect. “Ridiculous!” she said. “Worthless familiar! This is why they sent you away to this backwater world.” She plopped down on the bed. “If we can’t summon the Grand Passage, then we can’t call my armies here from the Dark World! I suppose I’ll have to go looking for a suitable spot.”

“Although,” she said, giggling, “why should I, General Valentine, one of the Twelve Evil Generals, do work meant for a familiar?” She extended her arm, and three magic circles appeared. “This might be a waste of magic,” she said, “but I’ll worry about that later. First, I need to summon my cuties!”

Valentine’s body began to glow ominously, and the three magic circles grew bigger and bigger. They began to spin and then slowly descended to the floor. A figure stepped out of each of them—three djinn in total, all dressed in black vestments. Valentine giggled as they knelt before her.

“I am Maglion, the djinn who has mastered the magic of the Dark World,” said the first. “At your service, General Valentine.”

The other two followed suit. “I am Powlion, the djinn who has mastered the power of the Dark World. At your service, General Valentine.”

“I am Speelion, the djinn who has mastered the speed of the Dark World. At your service, General Valentine.”

Valentine looked over the three and grinned. “Nice, nice,” she said. “Glad the summoning went off without a hitch. Now, the four of us are going to conquer this miserable world!”

“General!” The three bowed their heads as Valentine giggled happily.

◇Klyrode Castle—Throne Room◇

The Maiden Queen sat on her throne, listening to the day’s report’s, when Boralis, the captain of her royal guard, said something that surprised her. “Did I hear you correctly, Boralis? The Shadow King’s organization?! We haven’t heard mention of them in some time. I thought that perhaps they had broken up. They are active again?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. They’ve been pretending to be an ordinary company in some town. Over the past several days, they’ve been selling an extraordinary amount of magic gems. We decided to investigate, and found the Shadow King and his accomplice Gintsuno the Silver acting as managers of the shop under assumed identities.”

“What has become of Gintsuno and the Shadow King?”

“We confiscated the magic gems and the coins they had been using to run their business,” Boralis reported, “but we were unable to apprehend the masterminds: the Shadow King, Kintsuno the Gold, and Gintsuno the Silver.”

“I see.” The Maiden Queen looked relieved. “It is a pity that the masterminds escaped, but I am glad you were able to cut off their source of funds. I would ask you to continue investigating the organization; I hope it is not too much trouble.”

Boralis nodded once, her face deadly serious. “It is not, Your Majesty. Trust me. I will arrest the three masterminds and pull out the roots of their organization.”

◇A Backstreet Somewhere◇

A carriage sped along a disused backstreet. A corpulent old man sat up front, gripping the reins tight.

“Shadow King!” said a woman—Kintsuno the Gold—poking her head out from inside the carriage. “What’s going on?! I just got back... Why are we under attack by the Klyrode army?!”

The Shadow King clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Would you be quiet?! I wasn’t expecting this any more than you were! It must be because we made a good sum of money for once...but how did they find us so quickly?!”

“Wh-What do we do?” Kintsuno said. “They took all the magic gems Gintsuno got for cheap, and every last bit of the profit from the store! I’ve never been more frustrated in my life!” She kicked the seat in front of her and screwed up her face into a scowl.

Next to her, her sister Gintsuno lay on her side. She had been injured in the fight with Riliangiu. Her life didn’t seem to be in danger, but she still had not yet regained consciousness.

The Shadow King cracked the reins, making the horses speed up. “All we can do now,” he said, “is wait for Gintsuno to recover.”

“This is ridiculous,” said Kintsuno. “We ruled the demons of the west! We were a contender for the Dark One’s throne! How could things have gone so terribly...?”

“Believe me, I know what you mean,” said the Shadow King. “I used to be the king of Klyrode and the master of the black market!”

The two shared a look and sighed deeply as the carriage sped off towards the north, taking care to avoid being seen.

◇Houghtow City—Flio’s House◇

“I’m home!” Flio cried as he stepped in through the entryway.

Rys came out to greet him, a smile on her face. “Welcome back, my lord husband!”

Two children, who looked to be about five years of age, ran up beside her, grinning happily. “Welcome home, papa!”

“Welcome back, daddy!”

These were Flio and Rys’s children, born one month ago—Elinàsze and Garyl.

“Good to see you two,” said Flio. “Have you been good? Not giving your mother any trouble?”

“I’d never!” Elinàsze said, cheerfully taking Flio’s hand.

“I’ve been good,” Garyl said, grinning and leaning his head back on his entwined hands. “I’ve been playing with Wyne!”

As he said the name, Wyne dashed up to the door, a step behind the others. “Dada’s back!” she said, jumping into Flio’s arms and wrapping her arms around the back of his neck. She nuzzled him affectionately.

“No fair!” Elinàsze objected, pouting. “Wyne’s keeping papa to herself!”

Flio looked around at the three children and smirked. “When we had Elinàsze and Garyl,” he said, turning to Rys, “Mister Ghozal told us that half-demon, half-human kids grow up fast, but I never imagined they’d get this big in just a month!”

“Me neither,” Rys said, smirking back. “It was quite the shock! All those baby clothes I knitted turned out to be completely useless!” Despite her words, she had a big smile on her face.

“Still, watching them grow up so quick and healthy has been a real joy.” Flio patted Elinàsze and Garyl on the head, Wyne still dangling from his neck.

As he roughed up Elinàsze’s hair, he could see a brilliant white jewel through her bangs. She had had this jewel on her forehead since her birth. Hiya had said this was a sign that sometimes appeared on children born with the blessing of the goddess. It was very rare, though, and they had never before seen an instance of it in actuality. Still, if having the gem on her forehead ever put Elinàsze in danger, they would have to think about hiding it with magic.

While he was thinking about magic and blessings, the impulse struck Flio to check on his children’s statuses. He cast Identify, and a window popped up above both Garyl’s and Elinàsze’s heads. Stealth mode was set on, so only Flio could see them.

Elinàsze (Child)
Lv: 0
Strength: 1
Defense: 1
Speed: 1
Magic: 3
HP: 3
Skills: None

Garyl (Child)
Lv: 0
Strength: 5
Defense: 3
Speed: 5
Magic: 1
HP: 3
Skills: None

Flio let out a sigh of relief. Their abilities seem normal for small children, he thought. They’re growing up so fast, but it looks like they didn’t end up with any weird powers like I did. He nodded, satisfied. “Okay, let’s go inside, everyone!”

They all went in together. Rys nuzzled up close to Flio, Elinàsze clung to his arm, and Wyne was still hanging down from his neck. Garyl walked normally. All of them were smiling—Flio as carefree as ever.