Bonus Short Stories

Side: Elfaria

When Elfaria learned that she’d gotten a message not from Theia or Clan, but from Koutarou personally, a smile bloomed on her face like a flower in spring. And when she realized that his message was only a formal request for aid, said smile wilted with disappointment. She thus began plotting her revenge.

“Oh, that Layous... Couldn’t he at least mention how cute I am or how much he wants to see me again? I can’t believe he’d just send an aid request like such a stickler!”

Seeing Elfaria complain like a little girl, Ceilēshu couldn’t help but smile wryly.

That’s not the kind of behavior you’d expect from a son-in-law...

Since Vandarion’s coup, Ceilēshu had been serving as an assistant to Elfaria. Today she’d brought her usual regular report to share with the empress over afternoon tea. The problem was its content, as Elfaria’s mood soured after reading the message from Earth. It had been several months since Ceilēshu first started this job, and this was the first time she’d ever seen the empress act so childishly.

“What should I do?! This message is so rude to me, the Forthorthian empress!”

“I think it’s the other way around...”

Normally calling the empress cute or asking to meet her personally would be crossing a line. Depending on the circumstances, it might even warrant censure. Koutarou had chosen to be decorously formal, and it was the right call. After all, his message would be seen by others—Ceilēshu included. This, however, was precisely what upset Elfaria. Her surprising temper tantrum was most adorable, but Ceilēshu thought it too rude to comment that aloud.

“Is something the matter?” Elfaria asked.

“Oh... I was just thinking about how special Layous-sama must be to Your Majesty.”

“But of course. He’s a hero of legend, both past and present, not to mention my first love.”

The anger suddenly vanished from Elfaria’s face as she smiled wistfully. She’d only spent a few days with Koutarou, but it had left a lifelong impression on her.

“So you don’t deny that he was your first love...”

“You’d already guessed as much, hadn’t you?”

“Well... yes.”

“Just so you know, it’s top secret.”

“Of course. Hahaha...”

The Blue Knight was Forthorthe’s guardian and the current empress’s first love. He was probably the only person that Elfaria could truly rely on, yet she’d never had many chances to interact with him. Due to her position, she couldn’t reveal her feelings for him either. Moreover, her daughter now had feelings for him too. Nevertheless, Elfaria couldn’t help her excitement upon hearing from him, nor her disappointment at his message’s impersonal contents. As a woman, Ceilēshu understood.

“In that case, I believe an elaborate revenge plot is in order,” she suggested.

“I was thinking the exact same thing,” Elfaria replied. “Layous-sama needs to learn his place.”

“As your lost first love?”

“That’s right. And as the man who left me for twenty years.”

“If he’d taken you with him, that would have been a big problem in itself.”

“I was but a young girl back then! I didn’t care!”

“Haha. I suppose not.”

Following that, the two royals fervently debated how best to respond to Koutarou’s message. How to make a thoughtless boy a little more self-aware. It was a difficult problem, but one they thoroughly enjoyed discussing.

Side: Nana

Nana was once known as a genius magical girl. Her teenage years had been filled with fighting; deadly battles against Darkness Rainbow had been her life. But today, Nana was consulting with Koutarou about a new worry.

“The other day, I was invited to a colleague’s wedding,” she said.

“So she’s quite a bit older than you, huh?” Koutarou asked.

“Yes, I believe she’ll be 28 this year. After retiring from active duty, she’s settling in with her boyfriend, who was honorably discharged before her due to injury.”

“So what’s up? Isn’t this all good news?”

“It is... except that she told me she’ll be waiting for my turn next year.”

“You’re basically on an honorable discharge yourself, so I think it’d be great if you got married too.”

Nana was doing well now with artificial limbs and organs, but that hadn’t been the case until recently. Rainbow Heart still regarded her as retired due to combat injury.

“It just doesn’t feel real, you know?” Nana muttered.

“You mean you can’t imagine getting married?” Koutarou asked.

“I guess so. I just can’t imagine happily living with a man.”

Nana’s whole life had been centered on her work, so she didn’t know what to think of being asked to fall in love and get married. She’d never had any romantic feelings for men when she was younger, and even as they aged, she couldn’t see her comrades-in-arms as anything more. For Nana, settling down with one of them was nearly unthinkable.

“Not to mention... I have a complex of sorts,” she confessed.

“A complex?” Koutarou asked curiously.

“I hate to admit it, but... I pretty much look like a child, don’t I?”

“That’s not true. I’d say you’re more of a child on the inside.”

“Come on!”

“Sorry.”

“Anyway... don’t you think it’s problematic if someone falls for my appearance?”

“Don’t ask me. That’s a tricky question.”

If Koutarou agreed, he’d be saying that Nana looked like a child. And if he disagreed, it’d be like saying he liked her childish appearance. Koutarou couldn’t say either, so all he could do was sip his tea and laugh it off.

Nana looked up at him silently, her cheeks puffed out in a pout. She was somewhat unhappy that he was enjoying himself. She took a sip of her own tea and got back to the subject at hand. Understandably, it was a big deal to her.

“I was wondering if anybody would see me for who I am inside...”

Nana was a former genius magical girl. She had a childish appearance and almost half of her body was mechanical. She worried that no one could see past that and love her for who she was.

“I think it’s who you are inside that’s the problem, though.”

“There you go again! You are so insensitive!”

Nana had yet to realize that somebody right next to her saw her that way. Or how comfortable it was to be with him. Or why she’d really come to him in the first place. It would still be some time yet before she put it all together.

Side: Sanae

The bath aboard Clan’s Hazy Moon was quite large—several times bigger than the one in room 106. Because of this, the other girls came to use it every now and then. It was more convenient than spending forever taking turns one by one at the apartment, and it was a fun way to have some girl time together.

“Y-Yay, we won!”

“To think we’d come back with a homerun!”

Sanae-chan and Sanae-san stepped into the bath, gleefully throwing their arms up into the air in celebration. Sanae-nee, however, looked a little puzzled. They’d come to the bath together to bond, but Sanae-chan and Sanae-san had promptly begun shouting when Sanae-nee entered.

“Even if they’re our breasts, can you please not stare?” she asked.

“Sorry.”

“I was just surprised...”

Indeed, they were specifically staring at Sanae-nee’s chest. Her breasts weren’t exactly large, but they looked average. Since Sanae-nee was a little older than the other two Sanaes, they could only assume that they’d grow to be her size eventually. They were overjoyed at the thought. They’d developed a little over the past year, but nothing like Sanae-nee.

“Hey, how did you get ’em so big?!”

“I find it hard to believe these are going to turn into those!”

After they’d finally stopped cheering, the two Sanaes began excitedly pressing Sanae-nee for answers. As girls, they’d given great thought to their breast size, and if there was a way to enhance it, they wanted to know. Even the more modest Sanae-san’s eyes were sparkling.

“My Kiriha told me,” began Sanae-nee, “that the first step is getting a lot of nutrition.”

“Got it, got it! Nutrition first!”

“It’s true that you have to take good care of your body.”

“Next is working the muscles below your breasts.”

“Your muscles?”

“Yes. If you have a good core, it apparently makes your breasts look better. So we all did muscle training together.”

“Muscle training, huh? I guess we’d have an advantage there,” remarked Sanae-chan.

“Since we can train our muscles with our psychic powers?” asked Sanae-san.

“That’s right!”

“I actually did that too,” said Sanae-nee.

“Did it work?”

“Perfectly.”

“Then let’s get to it!”

With a glint in her eyes, Sanae-san reached out for Sanae-chan’s chest. Sanae-chan was in control of their body right now, but it did belong to both of them.

“Hahahaha, don’t touch me there! It tickles!”

“Deal with it! This is for the sake of our future!”

Since she was working her core muscles, Sanae-san wasn’t touching Sanae-chan’s breasts. Sanae-chan was still ticklish, however, so she couldn’t help laughing.

“Ahahahaha, h-hey, stop!”

“No way!”

“Are you that concerned about the size of your breasts?” asked Sanae-nee.

“It’s a point of womanly pride!”

“That’s true.”

“Ahahahaha!”

Sanae-san was being more assertive than usual, so Sanae-chan would be stuck in the tickle trap for a while longer.

By the time Sanae-chan was finally freed, her jaw and stomach hurt from laughing so much. Clutching them both, she scolded Sanae-san. “Y-You know... you really need to learn to hold back.”

“You’re being too soft! You saw those two’s weapons of mass destruction at the beach too, didn’t you, Sanae-chan?!”

By “those two,” Sanae-san meant Kiriha and Nefilforan. Their breasts were so large that they’d looked ready to spill out of their swimsuits. They’d jiggled with every step. Both bounteous and beautiful, they were truly worthy of being called weapons.

“No matter how hard we work, we’ll never be like them.” Sanae-chan looked down at herself, feeling there was no way to surpass the naturally well-endowed.

“Even so, we should make ours as big as we can!”

“Why do you care so much?” Sanae-nee asked, her head cocked to the side. She was puzzled by Sanae-san’s eagerness.

“The problem is when we stand next to Kiriha-san or Nefilforan-san! I could just die imagining what Koutarou thinks when comparing us!”

“What Koutarou thinks...?”

“Comparing us...?”

Sanae-nee and Sanae-chan imagined standing next to Kiriha and Nefilforan, and within seconds, they both changed their tune.

“Right! Let’s make them bigger!”

“I’ll do what I can to help, so help me make mine bigger too!”

“So you finally understand!”

Thus the three Sanaes reached a consensus. Even if they used the same methods Sanae-nee had in another world, there was no guarantee they would achieve the same results. Nothing in life was certain, yet they couldn’t afford to give up. And so they began training for next summer’s beach trip.