Bonus Short Stories

Side: Kiriha

Kiriha enjoyed a good relationship with her two haniwas, Karama and Korama. They’d been good companions ever since they became her bodyguards, and a mutual respect between the three of them had deepened their bond immensely. The haniwas, however, were always aspiring to better themselves, which incidentally led to them blurting out something most unexpected one day.

“Ane-san! We want to beat you at something, ho!”

“We want to show off our selling points, ho!”

The haniwas stood atop the tea table, flailing their arms with wild enthusiasm. It bothered the two little automatons that, no matter the circumstances, they were never a match for their owner. Mentally and physically, Kiriha was constantly outperforming both of them. Faced with her superiority, the haniwas couldn’t help wondering if she even really needed them.

“When it comes to combat, though, you’re both far stronger than I am,” Kiriha replied calmly as she sipped her tea.

In her eyes, the haniwas were plenty useful. They could scan for enemies with their sensors, attack with fire and electricity, and defend using their spiritual energy field—all things she was incapable of.

“No, Ane-san! It’s just our gear that’s strong, ho!”

“That’s right, ho! With the right equipment, you could do the same, ho!”

“I think it would be difficult to overcome your teamwork with equipment alone.”

The haniwas had another great asset: peerless teamwork that had been developed over years of working together. Kiriha knew it would be difficult for her to outperform them in that regard, no matter the gear she was using. So as far as she was concerned, the haniwas were actually much more of a threat to be reckoned with than she would ever be alone.

“There’s no merit in winning if we can only do it two-on-one, ho!”

“Yeah, ho! We both want to be better than you at something, ho!”

The haniwas, however, insisted despite knowing that. They knew their teamwork was powerful, but they also wanted to be strong on their own individual terms.

When it comes to this kind of creative thinking, I think you both already have an advantage over me... But I guess that’s what makes the heart so difficult to understand, isn’t it?

Kiriha held the haniwas in high regard to begin with, and she admired them even more for seeking to become stronger in creative ways. But she also knew that the haniwas would never settle for that, so she set about finding a solution that would please them.

“Let’s see... Why not try getting good at something that’s not my forte?”

“Ho! Please tell us what that it, Ane-san!”

“We’ll definitely get good at it, ho!”

The haniwas sidled up to Kiriha, their eyes sparkling with ambition. They were so earnest that she had to try hard not to giggle a little.

“Well, there are two things I’m bad at: repetitive work over long periods of time, and eating a lot.”

Whenever Kiriha had work to do, the first thing she did was plan out the most efficient way of doing it. In that sense, repetitive tasks that simply required a time commitment and dedication were troublesome for her. Eating a lot was also something that she disliked doing. Overeating would jeopardize her womanly figure, which was key to her confidence in standing tall at her beloved’s side. Though Kiriha always appeared to be brimming with assurance, she was actually quite self-conscious when it came down to it.

“Repetitive tasks and eating, ho...”

“In other words... We need guts, ho!”

“You could say that.”

Fearlessness in the face of tedious work and too much food... It was true that both of those tasks required guts, so Kiriha couldn’t disagree with the haniwas’ conclusion.

“Got it, ho! We’ll train our guts, ho!”

“Ho! Thank you, Ane-san! We can always count on you, ho!”

“I’m glad I was able to help.”

After thanking Kiriha, the haniwas bounced off towards the bathroom. They were going to begin their training by working up their endurance with hot water.

“Guts and that gung-ho nature... In truth, I could stand to work on those traits a little myself.”

Kiriha took another sip of tea with a wry smile as she thought to herself that she had a thing or two to learn from the haniwas. In fact, that just might be what she needed to get her beloved to look her way.

Side: Theiamillis

Though Theia had blossomed into a splendid princess, she was far from perfect. She was proud, short-tempered, impatient, and could get hung up on the tiniest of things. Moreover, she was well aware of all this. But as far as she was concerned, her biggest shortcoming was... well, her height.

“What’s wrong with being short?”

“That’s easy to say when you’re tall. For someone like me, just a few more centimeters would make all the difference.”

Theia was presently using a specialized camera to optically measure her height—which was something of a sore spot. She’d always been among the shortest in her class, and she was always reminded of it. Whenever they lined up by height, she was right there at the front of the line and she hated it.

“A few centimeters wouldn’t really make all that much difference, you know? You’ll still be just as angry when someone taller stands in front of you.”

Koutarou shrugged in response to Theia lamenting her stature. As far as he was concerned, her height was an advantage—especially considering her terrible personality. There had been plenty of times she’d caused trouble in public and people had been willing to overlook it because they mistook her for a younger child. And because he knew her personality would probably never change, Koutarou hoped she’d stay petite forever too.

“Those are two completely different issues.”

“Talk about selfish...”

“If I were a little taller, I could endure someone standing in front of me.”

“Do you really want to grow that badly?”

“I do.”

Hearing Theia say that, Koutarou realized just how serious she was. It wasn’t every day she said she’d be willing to endure something.

“So... how tall do you want to be?”

“Stand up for a moment, Koutarou.”

“Huh?”

Theia extended her hand to the sitting Koutarou. He obliged and took it, standing up in front of her.

“About this tall.”

Getting up on her tiptoes, Theia was about ten centimeters taller, putting her head right at Koutarou’s shoulder.

“I have to be at least this tall before I attend any official Forthorthian functions.”

“Why’s that?”

“You and I won’t fit in the frame together otherwise.”

Theia was worried about attending official functions with Koutarou. As the legendary Blue Knight, there would be demand after demand for his presence at state dinners, balls, and the like. Such events were always heavily covered by the press, and as things stood, Theia was so much shorter than Koutarou that she’d be cut out of any picture that captured him from the shoulders up. That’s why she needed another ten centimeters.

“I could never stand for the humiliation of being cut out of the picture!”

If she were ten centimeters taller, a tasteful pair of heels would be all she needed to stay in the frame with Koutarou. And because she wanted to keep her place right next to him—to show the world that he was her knight—those ten centimeters were a necessity to her. It was getting them that was the real problem.

“Heh, and here I was worried about what was bothering you so much... Talk about short. Shortsighted, that is.”

“Tease me all you like! You wouldn’t understand! You’re a legendary knight, you know?! Your picture will go down in all the history books of Forthorthe! Now, imagine what that’s like for me! The only part of me that will be in those pictures is the top of my head! My very legacy will be an embarrassment!”

“But there won’t be any problems if Master simply carries you in his arms everywhere he goes, right, Your Highness?”

“Great idea, Ruth! That’s exactly what we’ll do!”

“H-Hey, wait a minute! Come on, Ruth-san!”

“What’s the matter? The armor will do the real lifting for you, so it shouldn’t be much of a burden.”

“You heard her, Koutarou! And besides, you carrying me is the best way to show off our relationship to the world!”

Thanks to Ruth’s intervention, the conversation at hand took a strange turn. Now, instead of Theia worrying about her height, Koutarou was worried about his dignity.