Chapter 3: Capriccio for the Horsey

The Dark One Yuigarde sat on his throne. For some time now, he had been pursuing his brutal campaign against Zanzibar’s rebellion. It had left him in rather high spirits. Ever since the fiasco with Klyrode Castle, he would brood in the throne room, making faces like he had swallowed a bug. As Yorminyt and Hugi-Mugi waited on him, they could only regard his sudden change with unease.

“Hey, Phufun,” Yuigarde grunted. “Is Calsi’im not here?”

“M-Master!” Phufun took a nervous step forward, pressing her glasses against the ridge of her nose. “Lord Calsi’im is busy making preparations for an event meant to test the fighting strength of the Dark Army’s newest members—”

“Oh, is he? I see, I see!” Yuigarde interrupted, laughing and waving his hand to dismiss the explanation.

“A-Ah!” Phufun blinked, startled by how reasonable Yuigarde was being. “Yes, Master. Thank you for understanding.” She had expected him to say something like “Whaddaya mean he didn’t come when I called for him?!” and slug her a few times to take out his frustration. In fact, she had preemptively taken off her glasses so that they wouldn’t be broken when she was hit.

“Hm?” said Yuigarde. “Something up, Phufun?”

“Eh?! N-No, Master! Not at all!”

“Hmph. All right then.” Yuigarde shot Phufun a dubious glance before turning his attention back to Sleip, who was kneeling in front of him. “Hey, Sleip,” he said, still grinning cheerfully. “How’s it coming with that Klyrode army stronghold I ordered you to attack?”

Sleip tensed up at the Dark One’s words. He’s making a fool of me, he thought. How dare he speak to me like that after rejecting my requests for supplies?!

Sleip had every reason to be angry. His forces were encamped opposite the position the Klyrode army regarded as their most important stronghold. It was under the protection of MacTaulo, the greatest commander of the Klyrode army, and his elite forces. Even Sleip, a member of the Infernal Four, could not overcome them easily.

And yet despite that, the Dark One Yuigarde had ordered Phufun to have all new supplies sent to his own forces for the fight against Zanzibar. None had been spared for Sleip and his army. It was the same situation with the soldiers—the forces under Yuigarde’s direct command were being given priority. No matter how much he begged, Sleip was being given nothing but scraps.

Sleip was at a loss for words. What was he expected to do in this situation?!

Suddenly, a soldier burst into the throne room. “Dark One Yuigarde!” he said. “I apologize for interrupting!”

“What’s up?” said Yuigarde. “Something you gotta tell me?”

“Yes, Dark One. I have an urgent message from Sleip’s forces.”

“What?” Sleip whipped his head around. “From my outpost?”

“Sir,” the soldier said, “MacTaulo led the Klyrode army in an all-out attack at daybreak. Our outpost has fallen.”

“Wh-What?!” Sleip was stunned. He gritted his teeth and tightly squeezed his hand into a fist. Blast and damnation! he thought. If only I hadn’t been caught up in all these useless meetings! If I had been there, I could have stopped this!

Yuigarde’s good mood soured immediately. Sleip had rarely seen him more upset. “What’s that?” he said. “The outpost fell? Tch. Pathetic.” He fixed Sleip with a hostile glare. “You hear that, Sleip?! Your elite forces are just pathetic. They fell just ’cause the Klyrode army attacked? I think you might be past your time, old man.”

Slowly, Sleip took to his feet. “Perhaps so,” he said. He bowed once and made to exit the throne room.

“Sssleip, wait!”

Yorminyt ran after him, but Sleip just turned to her, bowed his head, and said, “Thanks for everything.” And then, he left.

Yuigarde watched Sleip go, grumbling and clicking his tongue. “This is what happens when you put senile old men in charge of an outpost,” he said. “I gotta get a breath of fresh air...” He stood up. “Hey, Phufun! I’m gonna finish off Zanzibar, and then I’ll go take back the outpost! I can handle everything myself! Watch me! Gah ha ha ha ha!” He strode off towards the hallway leading away from the back of the throne room.

“Y-Yes, Master!” said Phufun, chasing after him. “I’ll have the army ready at once!”

“Five minutes!” Yuigarde told her. “Get it done in five minutes and no more. Got it?!”

“Yes, Master Yuigarde!”

Yuigarde and Phufun vanished down the hallway, leaving a deeply irritated Yorminyt behind in the throne room. “Get a breath of fresh air, he sssays. Thisss isss the problem with having an idiot in charge of the Dark Army...” She rushed out the throne room after Sleip. Hugi-Mugi followed along behind her.

Hugi-Mugi seemed worried. “Yorminyt,” they said. “Is Sleip all right, yes? Yes, will he be all right?”

Yorminyt didn’t respond. Wordlessly, she continued down the hallway. Sssleip, she thought. We have alwaysss been companionsss, have we not? Pleassse...do not do sssomething rash...

She came to Sleip’s chambers and opened the doors, but Sleip was nowhere to be found. On his desk was the Demon Ring that Sleip had worn for all those many years—the symbol of his oath of fealty to the Dark One. For him to part with that ring could only mean one thing: he had left the Dark Army.

“Sssleip...” Yorminyt picked up the discarded ring and sighed deeply.

And so Sleip, the longest-serving member of the Infernal Four, left the Dark Citadel.

◇Days Later, in a Forest◇

That...was the worst mistake of my life. Sleip tried for all he was worth to pull his bloodied body to its feet, but it wouldn’t budge. He had taken more damage than he had realized.

That day, Sleip had finally worked up the resolve to quit the Dark Army. “Well!” he’d said. “Let’s see what’s next for this old body of mine!” He’d set out with no destination, wandering the wilderness in the form of a horse. But while he was trotting through a forest he’d come upon, he misplaced a step and went tumbling down a cliff.

Normally Sleip would never make such an error, but he had been lost in his thoughts over everything that had befallen him: Yuigarde’s reprimand, his own mistake, every failed stratagem he had tried in his battle with MacTaulo... His mind was elsewhere, and he had completely failed to note the presence of a cliff. The fall had taken him completely off guard. And while he was tumbling through the air, he took a hit from a large tree branch. He was wounded, and had broken several bones.

No! I have to get up! He tried and tried to make his body move, but it just wouldn’t listen. And then he heard the growls of magic beasts. He looked around, and he saw them drawing towards him from a nearby thicket—psychobears.

They must be attracted to the scent of my blood, he thought. Once again, he tried to stand up, but just like before, it was useless. Who would have thought that I, who stormed so many battlefields as a member of the Infernal Four, would meet my end here, like this... He closed his eyes.

“Lord Flio! Like, over here!” Suddenly, he heard a woman’s voice.

Wh-Who is that?! Sleip’s eyes shot open. There was a man standing between him and the psychobears. The man held out his arm. A magic circle appeared, and all five psychobears collapsed to the ground at once. Was that spell...Gravitation?! Still in his horse form, Sleip watched as one psychobear after another was crushed flat. It must have been the doing of the man’s spell.

When the psychobears were taken care of, a young woman popped up and ran over to Sleip. “Oh! Oh, good. The horsey’s totally still alive!” She hugged Sleip’s equine head and rubbed her cheeks against him, tears streaming down her face.

The man who had defeated the psychobears turned and walked over to Sleip. This man... Sleip thought. What did the girl call him...? “Flio”?

“Byleri,” the man said, “would you step aside for a moment?”

“Oh! Like, totally, Lord Flio!” The woman called Byleri stepped back, letting Flio take her place.

Flio knelt down in front of Sleip’s face and touched him on the head. He knit his brow. For a second, it looked like he was about to say something, but he stopped himself. He ran his hand down Sleip’s body. “It’s not just the one injury,” he said. “He has a number of broken bones too. I’m gonna try a healing spell.”

Power flowed into Flio’s hand, and a magic circle appeared at his fingertips, while many more magic circles appeared here and there on Sleip’s body. They precisely covered every part of his body that was hurt, including every broken bone. Sleip’s eyes went wide. He could feel the pain subsiding. Healing magic like this...and with no incantation! Who in the hells is this man?!

Sleip’s wounds were even worse than he had realized. If he had received treatment from Phufun’s laboratory—the best healers in the entire Dark Army—it would have taken them weeks to fully heal him, even making full use of incantations. But Flio was casting his spells wordlessly, and his wounds were already almost completely better.

Flio dismissed the magic circles and once again ran his hand along Sleip’s body. “It looks like that did the trick,” he said. “His wounds are gone, but we should still let him rest for a while.” He looked up at Byleri, who had been making worried faces at Sleip from behind him for some time. “Byleri, do you mind bringing us some water from the wagon? I think he might need some.”

“Like, right away! I’ll be back in a second!” Byleri waved cheerfully and ran off. Squinting in her direction, Sleip could see another psychobear loading the ones Flio had killed onto a wagon. “Like, excuse me, Sybe!” she said, pushing her way past it and into the vehicle.

Flio watched as Byleri entered the wagon and then leaned forward to whisper in Sleip’s ear. “You don’t have to respond if you don’t want to,” he said, “but I have no intention of pressing you on whether or not you’re a demon. Until your body’s all healed, you can rest as long as you like.”

Sleip startled a little internally. This man noticed I’m a demon, but would harbor me anyway?

“But,” Flio continued, “I’d really appreciate it if you let Byleri treat you as one of her horses. Oh, Byleri’s the girl who just went to get water. She adores horses, you see, and she seems to be particularly taken with you. She was the one who found you at the bottom of a cliff, you know.” He grinned and began imitating Byleri’s accent. “Lord Flio! There’s, like, totally a hurt little horsey down there!” Sleip listened attentively.

“Lord Flio! Sorry to, like, keep you waiting! I got th-th-th-th-th-the water?!” Byleri tripped over a rock as she ran with the big bucket of water and stumbled, staggering back and forth. Somehow, just barely, she managed to save herself. “Aha ha! I’m, like, totally fine!” she said. “I brought water for you, horsey!” Byleri giggled with embarrassment at her blunder as she stood in front of Sleip and gave him a big grin.

Sleip felt a bit embarrassed, being looked at head-on like that. He shook his head. W-Well, I suppose I might as well stick around, at least until my injuries are better. I owe this girl my life, after all...

◇Later Still, in the Pasture by Flio’s House◇

In front of Flio’s house was a fence-enclosed pasture with a large two-story barn in one corner where Byleri cared for her horses. Byleri had loved horses since she was a little girl. In fact, it had been her affinity with horses more than any skill as an archer that had earned her her knighthood when she had served in the Klyrode army.

Since quitting the army and coming to live at Flio’s house, she had been raising horses and horselike magic beasts Flio caught and lending them out to merchants to pull their wagons. Since Flio had opened the Fli-o’-Rys General Store, they’d been using this pasture to tend to the horses Greanyl and the other former Silent Listeners used as the company’s supply and transportation team.

Sleip stood among the other horses. Since coming here, he had not once taken his humanoid form.

“Horsey!” Sleip could hear Byleri’s voice. He looked up, and saw Byleri running towards him from the direction of Flio’s house. “Hi, horsey! Like, how are you do— Wah!” Somehow, she managed to trip on the completely empty road.

A-Again?! Sleip mentally tsked in irritation as he galloped over to help Byleri. He caught her by the collar with his teeth before she hit the ground and pulled her back to her feet.

“Tee hee hee...” Byleri blushed, giggling with embarrassment. “You, like, keep saving me, don’t you, horsey?”

This girl! Sleip thought. I wish she’d stop giving me frights like that!

Sleip tossed Byleri onto his back. “Wah!” she cried, grinning as she settled on to ride. Sleip was an enormous horse, and she patted him gently on the neck as she looked around from her high vantage point. He was far too big, in fact, to be fitted with a saddle or a stirrup, but Byleri seemed perfectly comfortable. She was excellent at handling horses and perfectly capable of riding them without such implements. On horseback, she looked like a completely different person from the girl who had just taken a spill on absolutely nothing.

“Has your injury, like, gotten better?” Byleri asked, watching Sleip’s healthy gait with a forlorn expression. “I guess it’s about time to, like, send you back to the wild.” She was holding on to Sleip’s neck. She clearly didn’t want him to go.

Hm. Sleip turned to look back at her. She sat up and gazed at him with big sad eyes. To think I would have such a sweet girl looking after me in my old age, he thought. And after the Dark One Yuigarde told me I was no longer necessary... Sleip pressed his snout against Byleri, nuzzling her cheeks.

“Wah ha ha?! Are you... Are you, like, saying you wanna stay here? That... That would make me so happy!” Byleri gave him a big hug.

I have nowhere else to go, do I? Sleip pondered, again pressing his head against the girl. Perhaps it would not be so bad to spend the rest of my life in this girl’s care.

Byleri held Sleip close and nuzzled her cheeks against his. “Thank you, horsey! Like, we’re totally gonna get along great! But... I guess I gotta, like, give you a name, huh... I hadn’t thought of one ’cause I thought you’d be going back to the wilds...” She stared at Sleip’s face, deep in thought.

And then, without warning, a woman came up from behind. “How about ‘Sleip’?” she suggested.

“Huh?” Byleri asked. “Sleip?”

The woman walked up next to the pair. “Yes,” she said. “I believe the horse would appreciate that name.”

What? She knows my name? Who is this woman?! Sleip turned to look at the newcomer and stared in surprise. Whahuh?! In front of him, grinning and holding a child in each arm, was Rys. What is the lupine Fenrys doing here?!

Before Rys had become Flio’s wife, she had served in the Dark Army under the name Fenrys. She was the demon who came closest to equaling the Infernal Four in strength. There was hardly anyone there who hadn’t heard of her, and Sleip was no exception. Rys, too, was very familiar with the many battlefield achievements of Sleip, the longest-serving member of the Infernal Four. She recognized not only his humanoid form, but both his centaur-like form and his horse form as well.

Sleip hurriedly faked disinterest and looked the other way.

“That’s the name of someone I knew before meeting my lord husband—someone from the Dark Army,” Rys continued. “A dashing lichsteed soldier by the name of Sleip. I think it’s an appropriate name for such a magnificent horse. Don’t you?” She leaned in close to Sleip’s head, which was turned determinedly in the other direction. “Although the Sleip I knew would never be this much of a sweetheart!” She cackled fiendishly. Despite being a horse, Sleip was starting to sweat under Rys’s piercing gaze.

Rys sent Sleip a telepathic message. “I thought I sensed something strange,” she said. “What are you doing flirting like girls in a place like this, Old Man Sleip?”

“I-I am nothing but an old demon horse,” Sleip responded. “I-I am not the Sleip you once knew. Please, don’t tell anyone...”

“Hmm?” Rys seemed to be considering it. “Well, I suppose. Byleri is quite fond of you, so I’ll keep quiet if you insist, Old Man Sleip.”

“I-I am just an old demon horse...” Sleip said. “But...thank you.”

“Um... Lady Rys?” Byleri said, looking between Rys and Sleip, puzzled. “Why are you glaring at the horsey?” Byleri had no magic power whatsoever. She would have never guessed that Rys and Sleip were having a telepathic conversation in front of her.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” Rys said. “It’s nothing.” She smiled at Byleri and gave Sleip a friendly pat on the back. “I think this horsey likes the name ‘Sleip’ too, Byleri.”

“Yeah! I totally think so too!” Byleri gave Sleip another hug. “It’s nice to meet you, Mister Sleip!” Sleip nodded.

Rys regarded the pair fondly. “By the way, Byleri,” she said. “I was hoping to show Elinàsze and Garyl the other horses...”

“Oh!” said Byleri. “Like, totally!” She darted off for the stables.

Sleip came up to Rys. “Well, Fenrys, is it!” he said. With Byleri gone, he had no reason to refrain from using words.

“I go by ‘Rys’ now, Old Man Sleip.”

“I see. Rys, I have to ask... Whose children are those in your arms?”

“Oh, mine and my lord husband’s, of course!” Rys answered, smiling happily.

“Wh-What?!” Sleip’s eyes went wide. “Rys, hold on a moment! Our lupine empress, who always boasted she was second to no man, who delighted in bloodshed more than anyone... You’ve had children?!”

At this, Rys’s wolf tail materialized at the base of her tailbone. With whiplike speed, it snapped in place in front of Sleip’s neck, hard as steel. “Old man, if you insist on bringing up the past...” She was grinning, but her aura had welled up to a vortex of black energy.

“I-I see!” Sleip blurted out. “I will take care.”

“Of course you will,” Rys said. “This is for both of our sakes, you understand.” Gradually, her smile returned to normal. But Elinàsze, spooked by the black vortex, looked like she was about to cry. “Oh, my!” Rys said. “I’m sorry, Elinàsze. I’m sorry, Garyl. Everything’s all right.” She shushed them and patted them on the heads a little too urgently.

Sleip watched Rys attend to her children from the sidelines. Imagine, Rys...a mother! Doting on children like that... Truly, we live in strange times.

◇Dark Citadel—Throne Room◇

Yuigarde grumbled and muttered angrily on his throne as Calsi’im of the Infernal Four spoke on, desperately pleading with his master. “P-Please, O Dark One! It has been some time, yes, but I assure you that we will find Sleip. You must ask him to return to his position in the Infernal Four!”

Yuigarde spat, loudly. “Who cares? The son of a bitch up and left the Dark Citadel, didn’t he? Why should I invite him back if he won’t listen to orders?!”

“B-But! The Infernal lichsteed Sleip is almost as influential a name as the Dark One among the horse demons! If rumors spread that Lord Sleip has turned his back on the Dark Army, it is certain to cause unrest among their number!”

“Hah! I don’t give a damn!”

“What?!”

“If some wimps are hung up on a senile old man, who needs ’em!” Yuigarde bellowed. “They’re just dragging my army down! If they wanna leave, let them! And maybe let’s chase them a little for good measure!” Yuigarde laughed uproariously. “And anyway,” he continued, “thanks to your plan, we’ve got an endless supply of new recruits! Just pick one of them to replace the dodderer.”

With that, Yuigarde strode out of the throne room, laughing the whole time. His minion Phufun followed after. During the whole time Calsi’im and Yuigarde had been speaking, she had not once so much as opened her mouth.

Calsi’im watched agape as they left. “How terrible,” he said. “I fear my plan may have gone awry!”

Not long ago, Calsi’im had defended the Dark Citadel from Zanzibar’s rebel army. When the Dark One offered him a reward, he asked to be promoted to the vacant seat in the Infernal Four. As a result, rumors began spreading among demonkind that the Dark One Yuigarde selects soldiers for promotion based solely on results—that he was a Dark One who was not concerned about status or standing. Beginning with a devil named Belianna—a member of the same kin as the rebel leader Yuigarde—an endless string of demons affiliated with the rebels abandoned Zanzibar to throw their support behind the Dark One Yuigarde.

All of this had transpired as Calsi’im had planned. Everything had gone perfectly, except for one point. The success had gone to Yuigarde’s head. With all of the demons flocking to his banner, he was more than willing to leave Sleip, the old hero, to abandon their cause.

“Surely Lord Gholl would have understood the gravity of losing Lord Sleip. Lord Gholl would surely have heeded my council! He always admitted when Lady Uliminas was correct, even when she castigated him with the most cruel invective...” Calsi’im sighed. “Ahh, nothing ever goes quite right, does it...?”

The skeleton slumped his shoulders and trod on out of the throne room.

◇Houghtow City—Houghtow College of Magic◇

One day, Flio paid a visit to the Houghtow College of Magic. He stepped in the front gate to see Belano standing by the entrance to the school building, trying to signal him with both hands. “Lord Flio! Lord Flio!” she called out.

Flio waved and walked over to where Belano was trying to flag him down. “Belano,” he said, “aren’t you supposed to be teaching class?”

“Oh,” she said, smiling meekly. “No, I’m free right now...” She led him inside and opened a door near the entrance. Flio saw a sign reading Administrative Office. “Um...” Belano said. “Excuse me... Mister Taclyde? Lord Flio is here...”

“Oh! Thank you, Miss Belano!” The man sitting at the desk inside the room—Taclyde—stood up rather quickly and went to meet Flio and Belano at the door. “You must be Mister Flio, the proprietor of the Fli-o’-Rys general store! I’m Taclyde, the administrator for the Houghtow College of Magic.” He shifted awkwardly. “Ah, I’m terribly sorry. I know this is important business, and the principal promised me over and over that he would be here, but...well, it seems he slipped out when I took my eye off him. I swear, that man...”

Flio smirked as he watched Taclyde peer out the window. “That’s quite all right,” he said. “Today I’m only here to talk. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” He held out his hand.

Taclyde took Flio’s hand, a long-suffering smile on his face. “Thank you so much for your understanding,” he said.

◇ ◇ ◇

Flio stepped into the reception area in the administrative office. Belano, whose classes had ended for the day, sat down next to him, and Taclyde took a seat across from Flio.

Taclyde listened intently to Flio’s proposal. “In other words,” he said after Flio had concluded, “you wish to open a branch of the Fli-o’-Rys General Store on campus as a school store?”

Flio nodded. He gave Taclyde one of his characteristic easygoing smiles and said, “Belano told me that even though you teach night classes aimed at adults, there isn’t a school store or a cafeteria on campus. It sounds like it’s a lot of trouble for the students and the faculty alike. I thought I might be able to help you out a bit, as a merchant operating out of Houghtow City. Only if you agree, of course.”

Taclyde folded his arms and inclined his head. “Hmm...” he said, pondering. “Well, I can’t deny that it would be a real lifesaver for the college, but... Are you really willing to do this, Mister Flio?”

“I’m not sure I understand. What do you mean?”

“Well, you see,” Taclyde began, “our school was established to support the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode by unearthing those with hidden aptitude for magic in regions outside the capital. We’re only a provincial college, you understand. We don’t have many students. I can’t imagine you’ll make much of a profit...” He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.

Flio just kept smiling, as carefree as ever. “Oh, that’s no problem at all.”

“It isn’t?” Taclyde blinked in surprise.

“I myself have learned a lot from the College of Magic,” Flio said. “Honestly, I owe you people a lot. So if I can be of use to your institution in any way, I would consider that simply returning the favor.”

Taclyde could only stare. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re quite the smooth talker, Mister Flio?”

“Not to my face,” Flio said, smirking wryly. “But I am aware.”

“I see, I see! Well, you smooth-talking devil, if you insist, I suppose I have to accept your offer! I’ll let the principal know later.” Taclyde offered Flio his hand, and Flio shook it gladly. “I hope this is the beginning of a long association.”

“I hope so too, Mister Taclyde,” Flio said. Belano watched the two work their magic with a smile.

The next day, they received permission from the principal of the College of Magic, and set to work opening a branch store on campus.

◇Beneath the Dark Citadel◇

Calsi’im hurried through the underground passageway, looking over the papers in his hands. “Hm, hm! That takes care of that! And now, we move on to...”

Ever since Sleip had left the Dark Citadel, Calsi’im’s volume of work had continually increased. Most of it was little more than chores, not at all befitting a member of the Infernal Four. After all, he had been the one to suggest the Dark One Yuigarde find a way to bring Sleip back—a suggestion that was roundly rejected.

The day after Sleip left, every single one of his subordinates in the Dark Citadel vanished as well, their Demon Rings tossed carelessly in a heap near the throne room. The Demon Ring was the symbol of fealty to the Dark One. To return it was a statement that one was leaving the Dark Army. When Yuigarde heard of this, he told his minion Phufun, “This is all Calsi’im’s fault! He must have said something! Make him do busywork for a while. I don’t care if you gotta make up chores for him!”

Calsi’im, however, worked on as he was told, not issuing a single word of complaint. “I may have been too proud of my strategy!” he told himself as he looked over the papers. “I got carried away because of all the new recruits and said something out of turn. I’m sure this is punishment for that.”

He walked on, and eventually made his way to a door decorated with a sign, declaring it to be Phufun’s Laboratory. He reached out and knocked on the door. “Excuse me!” he said. “It’s me, Calsi’im!”

“Lord Calsi’im!” said Coqueshtti. “Please, come in.” The little mad scientist Coqueshtti was one of Phufun’s subordinates. She worked in the laboratory researching ways to strengthen demons as well as healing injured members of the Dark Army.

“Excuse me, Little Miss,” Calsi’im said as he entered.

“Welcome, welcome,” Coqueshtti said. “You’re here about the magic doll you left in our care, I assume?”

“Indeed I am! I heard that you had something to tell me!”

Coqueshtti removed a cloth that was covering something in one of the corners of the laboratory. Underneath, Calsi’im could see the shape of the magic doll he’d discovered in a pile of rubbish. “Oh my!” He ran up to it, crying out happily as he bobbed his head. “You’ve gotten her so clean! I see you managed to fix her broken arm too. And is that new clothing you’ve made? Excellent work indeed!” Calsi’im gently stroked the doll’s head with his bony hands.

The magic doll was shaped like an extremely petite woman. It was the perfect height for wizened old Calsi’im to lean over and pet. “Little Miss,” Calsi’im said, his voice full of excitement, “you’ve been a tremendous help. But...does she work?”

“Well, that is the crux of the matter, I suppose, I suppose,” Coqueshtti said, folding her arms and lowering her head. “We just can’t get it to turn on!”

“You can’t? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what’s wrong!” Coqueshtti said. “I reconnected the damaged internal magic cords, I did, I did. I even replaced the magic gems! In theory it should be functional, but, well...but, well... Perhaps the magic doll’s life force has simply run out.” She shook her head.

“I see, I see...” Calsi’im closed his eyes and swept the immobile doll into his arms, carrying it princess style.

“What are you going to do with that piece of garbage, may I ask, may I ask?”

Calsi’im turned to look at the mad scientist. “Oh, you know,” he said. “I mean, you got her all prettied up and all. I thought it might be nice to place her somewhere in my chambers as a decoration. Thank you so much for your help, Little Miss.”

Coqueshtti cocked her head as he left. “Garbage as a decoration? How peculiar, how peculiar! Why would he do such a thing?”

◇Dark Citadel Second Floor—Calsi’im’s Chambers◇

As one of the Infernal Four, Calsi’im’s status afforded him a grand suite on the second floor of the Dark Citadel. He lived here alone. A number of skeletons were assigned to him as subordinates, but he had refused any help, insisting that he could look after himself.

“Let me see...” he said, placing the doll on a chair by the bed. “How about here? She could see out the window from this chair. It might help her not get lonely when I’m not around!” He reached out and began to stroke the doll’s head. “I had hoped that you might help me with my work, and that we could pass the time enjoying tea together...” he said softly. “But you’ve done your fair share of hard work, haven’t you? You may live the rest of your life in peace.”

Calsi’im left the doll and went over to the desk at the end of the room. “Now, let’s finish off this paperwork.” He sat down and began to read.

Hours and hours passed before he finished. “Goodness gracious! I somehow managed to get it done!” he said, stretching himself out as far as he could without getting up. In front of him was the mountain of completed papers. “Now all I need to do is take this to young Phufun! But first...perhaps I will take a break.”

Calsi’im sighed and took to his feet, when—clunk!—someone placed a teacup on his desk. “Ah! Much obliged!” he said, and sat down again, picking up the teacup with both hands and slowly bringing it to his bony mouth. He slurped noisily, then sighed with happiness. “Delicious! I can’t remember ever tasting better tea!”

“Would you like another cup?”

“Certainly! Another, if you please!” Calsi’im said, reflexively turning to look at his interlocutor. It was the doll—she was standing next to him. Her eyes were open, but her expression was a perfect blank. She was looking at Calsi’im. “Ahh, I see...” he said. “You figured out how to move, did you?”

“Yes, Master,” she said. “I am awake, and I seem to be moving.” She bowed deeply.

“Oh, there’s no need to call me that,” said Calsi’im. “‘Calsi’im’ will do just fine.”

“It will? Then I will address you as you instruct me, Calsi’im.”

“Good, good!” Calsi’im nodded, satisfied. “Hmm...but we need to give you a name, don’t we?” Calsi’im gave it some thought. Eventually, his eyes settled on the teacup she had brought him. “Tea... Hmm... You do make such delicious tea. Well then, how about I call you ‘Tia’?”

He pet the doll, Tia, gently on her head. After a little while, she stopped moving again. But Calsi’im, whose cheekbones had developed a bit of blush, didn’t notice one bit.

◇Flio’s House, Several Days Later◇

What in the devil?! Sleip couldn’t believe the scene before his eyes. It was morning, and he had gone to the front of the stable to greet Byleri when she came to bring the horses food. But what he saw was a far greater number of horses than he had anticipated outside the ranch.

Flio’s house was located outside the walls of Houghtow City, and so, as a precaution, Flio would set up a barrier around the area every night before bed. The other horses were gathered just outside the barrier’s edge. One of them noticed Sleip. “Ah! Lord Sleip!” he said.

The other horses began to talk at once. “Lord Sleip!”

“It has been far too long, sir!”

“How I have longed to meet you!”

Sleip hurried over to the horses, stopping right in front of the barrier. He took a good look at the horse who had first noticed him. “You’re...Dalc Horst?!”

“Yes, Lord Sleip. I am.”

“You... You’re alive! When I heard that the outpost had fallen, I feared the worst...”

“I am so sorry, my lord. It was under my watch that we lost the position to MacTaulo...”

“No, no, do not blame yourself. With no reinforcements coming, that outpost was doomed. I am just glad to see you alive.” Sleip whinnied happily and nodded his head.

Dalc Horst returned to his humanoid form as he spoke, as did the other horses behind him, including Sleip. “Actually,” he said, “in truth, we owe that to MacTaulo.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“My lord...” Dalc Horst started. “Do you remember the incident with the Wolf of Justice?”

“Of course I do. He and that gang of wolf-mask-wearing warriors broke through our blockade!”

“MacTaulo said,” Dalc Horst continued, slipping into an impression of MacTaulo’s voice, “‘I promised that Wolf of Justice fellow I would not cause any unnecessary deaths. If you surrender, you may leave with your lives.’”

“So, MacTaulo let everyone escape?” Sleip asked.

“Yes. To my shame, I accepted MacTaulo’s offer. We agreed to disarm, and he let us leave, just like he said.”

“I see...” Now that he understood the gist of the situation, Sleip felt a wave of relief wash over him. The Wolf of Justice and MacTaulo... he thought, reassessing the two men in his mind. What decent fellows!

The Wolf of Justice had captured the fast cavalry teams he had sent to cut off the Klyrode supply lines and returned them unharmed to Sleip’s headquarters with a handwritten letter that said: “We wish for peace.” MacTaulo, too, had made it a point to capture his soldiers without loss of life and to release them unharmed. And now, after crushing their outpost with an all-out attack, he had allowed Dalc Horst to leave with his life intact. Sleip closed his eyes in thought.

“We went back to the Dark Citadel,” Dalc Horst said, “but we had heard you were expelled from the Dark Army, my lord. That was the final straw. Why should we ally ourselves with the Dark One if he sends away you, Lord Sleip, the most meritorious soldier in the entire damned army? So we left and made our way here.” He bent down on one knee. “Lord Sleip, may we not take up residence here with you? We, your twenty-one handpicked guards, solemnly swear that we will happily serve as draft horses.”

“We swear it!” the other twenty called out as one.

Sleip looked over his former soldiers, a look of distress on his face. “A-Ah! Well, you see... The thing is... The question of whether or not you may stay here is not exactly at my discretion.” He scratched the back of his head.

Dalc Horst looked up. “Then why do we not take our petition to her ladyship?”

“Her ladyship?” Sleip asked, perplexed. “There aren’t any highborn ladies around—” He turned his head only to see Byleri standing right behind him. Sybe, in its psychobear form, was with her, pulling a cartful of feed for the horses. She regarded Sleip with narrowed eyes.

“So...” she started. “You’re, like, a demihuman?”

“Ngh?!” Sleip started in surprise. He had resolved to live with Byleri as no more than an ordinary horse, but in the joy of his reunion with Dalc Horst and his other soldiers, he had thoughtlessly returned to his humanoid form to speak. Byleri had arrived at the worst moment. “A-Ah!” he said. “W-Well, you see... The thing is...” He faltered, while Byleri stared in mute confusion.

◇ ◇ ◇

It didn’t take Flio long to realize that something was wrong. He showed up at once, dispelled the barrier, and invited the horse demons into his house to hear what they had to say.

“And so,” he said by way of summary, “you, Mister Dalc Horst, and your team, would like to live in our pasture alongside Mister Sleip?”

“We would.” Dalc Horst nodded. The rest of his team followed suit. “We can see to our own lodgings. We have lots of experience with engineering from our time in the Dark Army!” He thumped his chest.

“Oh, there’s no need at all to trouble yourself about that,” Flio said, and a magic circle appeared at his fingertips. Suddenly, tree after tree in the forest was felled by magic and flew up into the air. They arranged themselves and slotted into place, coming to land alongside the stables. Before their eyes, another set of grand stables had assembled itself.

Once again, Sleip could not believe his eyes. “My word!” he cried. “I knew you were a deft hand at magic, Lord Flio, but I had no idea...!”

Dalc Horst cocked his head, clearly considering something. “Dalc Horst,” Sleip asked, “what is the matter?”

“Oh, nothing,” he said. “It’s probably just my imagination. But when I see this Lord Flio from behind...I can’t help but feel like I recognize him from somewhere.”

“You recognize him?”

“Maybe...” Dalc Horst didn’t look at all certain. He was trying as hard as he could to remember.

Suddenly, a wolf came bounding in from the nearby forest. She was a great beast with pure white fur, and she was carrying an animal she must have hunted down. She came up to Flio. “Has something happened, my lord husband?” she asked.

“Hello, Rys!” Flio said. “We just got some new lodgers in the pasture, so I made some quick additions to the stables.”

“Oh, I see.” Still in her wolf form, she nuzzled up against Flio.

Dalc Horst, who had been watching from behind, began to tremble. “The Wolf of Justice...” he said. “I’m certain of it. Lord Flio is the Wolf of Justice! His body’s the same! And that lupine demon... There can be no mistake.”

“Wh-What?!” Sleip balked. Come to think of it, Dalc Horst was captured by the Wolf of Justice. I heard from the reports that a lupine demon was with him too. I see... So that was Rys and Lord Flio...

Sleip watched as Flio put the finishing touches on the new stables, unsure of what to do with this knowledge.

◇ ◇ ◇

Sleip and his twenty-one handpicked elite guard, including Dalc Horst, moved into the pasture surrounding Flio’s home. The first floor of the stable Flio had built for them was made to accommodate horses, but the second and third floors were ordinary human-style rooms for them to use in their humanoid forms. They had also begun working at the Fli-o’-Rys General Store, pulling wagons and the like. Together with Uliminas’s old intelligence network from the Dark Army, the Silent Listeners—who were now in charge of Fli-o’-Rys’s supply lines—they traveled all over the land.

Sometimes, at Flio’s request, they would take human forms and drive off a contingent of the Dark Army that had been attacking towns, or slay dangerous magic beasts, or keep the roads clear of bandits, or other similar tasks. At Dalc Horst’s request, Flio made twenty-one masks for Dalc Horst and his subordinates to wear during these missions.

The Wolf of Justice had utterly defeated them. Indeed, Dalc Horst had come to take pride in the work he did for his former enemy. He enjoyed donning the wolf mask on Flio’s missions. After all, Flio could have easily killed them if he had wanted to, but he instead chose to spare their lives out of a desire for peace. The gesture had touched Dalc Horst’s heart.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Comrades! It is time for the day’s training!”

The other horse demons brayed as one in response to Dalc Horst’s words. In their horse forms, they began to run around the pasture at tremendous speeds with Dalc Horst himself at the front.

Sleip watched the scene from the window of the manager’s office on the first floor of the new stable. His arms were folded—he was in his human form—and there was a smile on his face. “It is good to see that they have adapted to life here,” he said.

“Like, totally, right?” said Byleri, nodding enthusiastically. “They look like they’re enjoying themselves! But like, they were so totally shocked to learn they’d be living with Mister Ghozal and Miss Uliminas!” She chuckled at the memory. “Like, it’s kinda funny looking back, y’know?”

“Ser Byleri, please... I would rather not discuss that incident.” Sleip grimaced. “I’m afraid I made every bit of a fool of myself as the others! But...” He hesitated. “S-Ser Byleri... That is... How long are you planning on staying in my chambers? It’s been quite some days since you returned to the main house.”

Byleri grinned. “Oh,” she said, “I’ve been thinking, like, maybe I’ll just move in here?”

“What?!” Sleip was taken aback. Panicking, he swung around to face Byleri directly.

Byleri’s smile only grew bigger. “Like, I looove horsies, y’know?” she said. “And you’re, like, such an amazing horsey, Mister Sleip! A-And...” She took one of his hands in hers, holding it close. She was still smiling happily, but her face had grown quite red. “You’re, like, a demihuman and stuff...and your human form is, like, uh, y’know. Nice.”

Her words sent him into complete discombobulation. “Wh-What are you saying, Byleri?!” he squeaked. “Look at me! I am an old man! It would not be appropriate for me and a precious young human girl like yourself to...to...”

But Byleri smiled up at him. “Like, y’know,” she said, “there’s lots of stuff I haven’t tried before. But I’ll do my best. So, like...please?” She looked serious.

“I... Ser Byleri...” Sleip choked out. “What...exactly do you mean by that?”

“Um, like...I’ve never lived with a man before, y’know? I’ve never really cooked before...and I totally have no idea how to do laundry. Or cleaning. I mean, I’m, like, totally a pro at cleaning the stables, though! And... And... Y’know...” Byleri started to mumble. “I haven’t, like...in bed...um...like... Yeah... Y’know?”

Sleip stared at her. H-How can anyone be this adorable?! he thought. He was in love. Old demon though he was, his heart had been moved.

◇Less than an Hour Later, beside the Window◇

“Very well,” Sleip said. “Do as you wish.”

“Like, thank you so much, Mister Sleip!” said Byleri. The two embraced.

Outside the window, Hiya and Damalynas were listening in on their conversation. The two were pressed right up to the side of the window, so they could see everything that was happening in the room.

“Finally,” Hiya murmured quietly. “They’ve become a couple.”

Damalynas nodded. “Do you think they’re gonna do it tonight?”

“I will make sure of it.” Hiya nodded back, resolute. “As her companion in pursuit of knowledge of lovemaking, I consider it my duty.”

“Yeah,” Damalynas whispered. “We gotta make sure, don’t we?” The two shared a look and gave each other a slight nod. And then, with a creeeak and a clack, the window was pulled shut. Hiya and Damalynas shared another look. “Your Divinity!” Damalynas said. “Could they be—?!”

“I cannot deny the possibility,” Hiya said. “They may be...even as we speak...”

The two perverts shared yet another look, more serious than the last, and crept up right next to the window, each summoning a small magic circle to get a good look at what was happening inside the room.